Melbourne defender Oscar McDonald was named the round 21 NAB Rising Star this week. In the publicity that followed it emerged the former North Ballarat Rebel achieved an ATAR of 99.30 in Year 12, putting him in the top 1% of students in his age group in Victoria for academic attainment. Reports of his performance at the 2014 draft camp indicate his responses to recruiters’ deliberately obtuse maths questions were unnervingly quick. It’s hardly surprising considering he achieved a perfect score for Year 12 further mathematics – when he was in year 11.
Hearing this took me back to a conversation I had with Dermott Brereton recently about the benefits of smart footballers, particularly in the contemporary game with its intricate structures and the premium placed on decision making. The former Hawthorn superstar suggested there was a correlation between successful teams and intelligent lists. Unsurprisingly, Hawthorn provided the go-to example of best practice, with an eye for intelligence at recruitment and a commitment to further education as a culture building tool.
“Just look at someone like Sam Mitchell, seriously intelligent,” Brereton noted. “Ian Dicker saw that Mitchell and Luke Hodge and a couple of the other boys were wandering through football and got them to go and do university degrees and MBAs. These boys are capable of getting higher level qualifications during their careers, and not everybody is.”
If intelligence can amplify a player’s performance, the reverse can also be true. Brereton questioned whether a number of notable ball winners had the intelligence to manipulate their games the way the likes of Mitchell and Hodge have. “You have some players who you know don’t have spatial awareness. You know they’re incapable of going to that defensive grid each time,” Brereton said. “Sometimes you don’t want your players to be hunting the ball. Sometimes you want them to walk their opponent into a stoppage and guard their exit point. Some players are almost unteachable in that area.”
Another Hawk, Matt Spangher, studies at La Trobe University, alongside Carlton’s Dennis Armfield and Collingwood’s Brodie Grundy, now an AFL Players Association student ambassador. The benefit to the players is obvious but there are strong brand association payoffs to the institutions as well. In a competitive marketplace, being known as the university of choice for professional footballers and being seen as part of the pathway to the AFL is a drawcard.
At club level, Western Bulldogs have a long and rich association with Victoria University. The kennel is now officially the Victoria University Whitten Oval, representative of a community leadership partnership in Melbourne’s western suburbs.
It’s a similar situation with Geelong and Deakin University (one I know first hand as a former Deakin staff member). The Cats now access a bespoke MCG-sized training oval at Deakin’s Waurn Ponds campus, the most visible example of a partnership that sees Deakin’s world renowned sports science expertise inform Geelong’s football operations.
Deakin’s relationship with sport grew over the decades under the guidance of David Parkin who combined his coaching and teaching careers to develop courses at the university, and more recently lend his name to the annual David Parkin oration for sport and social change – delivered this year by Caroline Wilson. Parkin has consistently promoted the benefits of further education to footballers, to provide them a complementary focus, one that can enrich what can be narrow experiences inside the football bubble.
“Your identity as a footballer is based on your ability to kick and catch a football,” Parkin told Future Stars TV in 2015. “But when you can no longer do that you lose some of your identity. Getting a good education and a qualification, particularly a university qualification, helps make a difficult transition a little easier.”
Gone are the days when a footballer with the misfortune to wear glasses or handwrite legibly is nicknamed ‘The Professor’. Also gone are the days where strategic accountability extended to beating your direct opponent. Footy is becoming increasingly sophisticated on and off the field, and an advantage above the shoulders is becoming as valuable as any other attribute.
Photograph of the week
If you look beyond a couple of footy’s more regrettable moustaches you’ll find one of the most joyful images of the season here. The father-son rule has its critics but the sight of a gangly Joe Daniher and a boyish Jake Long celebrating together tells the most recent chapter of a story that enriches the game.
It’s been a challenging year for Bombers supporters but there’s finally light at the end of the tunnel. For the first time in what feels like forever they can look ahead to a new season with unmoderated optimism (and Michael Hurley).
Quote of the week
There’s no smoke and there’s no fire.
Outgoing Fremantle president Steve Harris tried to downplay speculation over his oddly-timed departure from the Dockers, insisting his handover to vice-president Dale Alcock was long-planned. It’s done little to stymie reports of discontent at the club.
Last year’s minor premiers are enduring an historically awful season on field and unable to quell rumours of acrimony off it. As well as Harris, assistant coach Peter Sumich has gone, Nat Fyfe has indicated he’s no guarantee to remain a Docker for life, while crowd favourite Hayden Ballantyne hinted in a truly odd press conference that his short-term future was on the table. With a number of other senior players set to retire or walk away from the club in the coming months, Ross Lyon’s coaching credentials will be put to their sternest test yet.
Bits and bobs
A topsy-turvy year took another twist last week with GWS conceding their spot in the top four and West Coast suggesting their moribund campaign may still have a pulse. The Eagles have the perfect opportunity to give their season CPR with the visit of Hawthorn to Domain Stadium on Friday night. The Hawks seem assured of a top-four finish but with a comparatively low percentage one more defeat would likely see them travelling interstate in the first week of the finals.
Should the Hawks fail in the battle of the angry birds, Saturday’s opening encounter takes on even greater significance. Sydney have shown arguably the strongest form of any flag contender in recent weeks and their trip to Tasmania to take on a fading North Melbourne could prove decisive at both ends of the eight. With Melbourne now breathing down their necks the Kangaroos will have to be at full throttle at Blundstone Arena, and the venue could prove decisive. The Roos have won eight in a row in Hobart, while based on last week’s squad, it’s likely up to 15 of Sydney’s 22 will be making their first AFL appearance at Bellerive.
