FEARLESS 2019 Round 4 – The times have changed…the Festival of footy Part One

Hi all,

 

Alastair Clarkson is onto something…Brad Scott knows something, after all he’s on the Rules Committee…the scoring has slowed in AFL footy. Compared to 2018 where after 4 rounds 26 teams had scored more than 100points in games. Excluding JLT…AFLX…AFLW…in 2019 only 14 teams have scored less than 100 points. Some have done it twice, Brisbane have done it three times and some haven’t done it at all. Maybe Brad Scott is correct in that the coaches have started conservatively within and it will relax over the season. Who knows in all honesty?

 

I had the rare opportunity to watch the 1990 Grand Final. By chance an opportunity to look into the past…players’ muscles were far bigger (generally speaking) and the game seemed to be more aimed at crash and bash. The definition of muscles within AFL was more pronounced – refer Millane, Barwick, Craig Kelly, Kerrison etc, even Tony Francis, a rover, seemed more muscular…Certainly, this game showcased physical clashes that would’ve earned 2019’s players big suspensions – I was thinking of Terry Daniher’s clashes with Gavin Brown and Craig Starcevich and also the quarter time brawl. Funnily enough, it was probably on a par with the 1989 Grand Final between Hawthorn and Geelong. A defining aspect to games of that era perhaps…Mark Yeates v Dermott Brereton for those that remember. Collingwood in 1990 certainly seemed to be believers of the great benefit  of muscular development. From the second quarter onwards, Collingwood literally seemed to outmuscle the Bombers and there was not a great deal Essendon could do about it.

 

The physique sought by AFL sports scientists and medical staff is less reliant on muscles and more on endurance and aerobic capacity. The muscular development has to fit into those broader contexts.

 

Times have changed. Evolution continues to shape the development of the prototypical AFL player.

 

Cheers PT