- Sep 22, 2011
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Or be the son or brother of a famous AFL name, and just show a modicum if interest in the game.
Do you think if you really tried hard enough, you could make it to the AFL?
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Or be the son or brother of a famous AFL name, and just show a modicum if interest in the game.
I already did.
Started when I was a youngster and used to smash Aussie Rules Footy on my Nintendo … many years later I made an amazing come back and absolutely dominated AFL Live.
I was unstoppable.
Started when I was a youngster and used to smash Aussie Rules Footy on my Nintendo … many years later I made an amazing come back and absolutely dominated AFL Live.
I was unstoppable.
Reckon you need the upbringing for it.
The problem is, we keep hearing from players who have got there telling us it was because of the workload. Yes, without a work ethic to be as good as you can be, you won't make it. But they make it sound as though hard work is all that matters. Sorry, but you need the ability and physical presence to get there as well. We've all known guys who have worked their rings off but no matter how hard they worked, they were never going to make it.
Attitude, work ethic and self belief are all very well, but without some natural ability you haven't got a chance.
Attitude, work ethic and self belief are all very well, but without some natural ability you haven't got a chance.
Mofra
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A lot of the guys dominating bush leagues (or suburban leagues) are guys who have been in or close to the AFL system anyway.
Not many go the other way - Tory Dickson kicked 130 goals one season for Narre Warren before joining the Bombers VFL team, can't think of too many others. Perhaps Dale Morris who was at Doutta Stars at a 19 year old.
Even the Ammos has it's notables - Ayce Cordy won the comp B&F a couple of years ago, and the guy who came second was on draft radars but joined Footscray last year as a VFL player (Anthony Scott)
Exactly this! Every single AFL listed player is an absolute gun that usually wreaks havoc in the 2nd tier.
To make an AFL list you'd have to be uber stringent on yourself and any of the clubs would be uber stringent on you.
It's unlikely that many posters on BF are really of the qualities required to make the top level let alone be very productive. Not none but I'd very surprised if there'd be more than a few.
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My dad wasn't mates with any Eastern Ranges scouts and I went to Public School so there was no chance. Was an absolute gun footballer though, shame they missed out.
StevenwellerHFC
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Yes, easy. Wait until they add more teams. Won't have to try very hard.
Agree and disagree with this statement. You do need certain attributes, no good if you are 169cm, not athletic and have no killer instinct. If you have the attributes, I think it all comes down to work ethic. Of course there are outliers, heard lots of stories about how Dane Swan was slack in regards to training/diet compared to his peers and he obviously killed it and is one of the best ever (no idea if true or just rumours).
I went to school with Trent Cotchin and he trained before school (5:30am - 7:30am) and after school (4pm - 6pm) when I knew him in year 8. He had been doing it for some time, so I daresay he started sometime in year 7 at 12 years old and it probably intensified in his later years. He was also very anal and always tried to get the best out of himself with anything he did (school work etc). I remember our P.E teacher in year 12 (Cotch has moved to PEGS at this stage) say that he was the most talented athlete he had seen. Although I do wonder how much was "naturally talented" and how much was he just trained for 4 hours a day over 5-6 years (7000-9000 hours) while everyone else only really "trained" at footy training.
Also did a course with Joe Daniher the year he was drafted, he had quit school and enrolled into a TAFE so that he could train 3-4x times a day. Same deal as Trent, he had been training himself since his early high school years.
No doubt you need to have certain attributes, but I think if you have these attributes it just comes down to work ethic if you make it or not. I have 3 cousins who are footy mad and between the ages of 14-17. The older two won't make it due to their size/attributes, but the youngest has all of the attributes (14 year old, 185cm, fast twitch muscle fibers that means his explosive etc) and is in some youth program at the moment. Will he make it? Depends how hard he trains/wants it.
I was watching a doco on Kobe Bryant yesterday, he spoke about how he trained 2-3 times a day as a 8 year old kid and then all throughout the NBA. Get up at 5am, train at 6am, then again at 10am, then again at 2pm, then again at 6pm then again at 9pm etc. Sure, he has every attribute in the world, but if you put in 8-10 hours a day at something you're going to be ****ing good. I'm a teacher and kids these days complain and whinge about doing a 3minute lap around an oval and have every excuse under the sun not to do it (sore/asthma/period/allergies/didn't get a good sleep the night before blabla). In fact, some will just sit and refuse to do it with no reason. Worth ethic is pretty piss poor from so many 12-18yr old kids, so if you have others willing to put in 4 hours per day over those 5-6 years of course they are going to be better than their peers regardless of attributes.
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There are a few chicken and egg arguments in here. Does a young Trent Cotchin train like a maniac because he’s already demonstrating outstanding athletic ability, or does the ability come from manic desire? And are his efforts entirely related back to footy skills? A lot of athletic training/hours spent practising are on skills, fitness and mindsets that are transferable to other sports.
The 10,000 hours argument that Malcolm Gladwell popularised doesn’t consider that complementary training time very much, nor the fact that if you don’t show some proficiency early on, then you won’t be motivated/encouraged to get in the hours that separate the good from the great.
The Kobe Bryant example raised above is also a case of nature versus nurture. In Michael Lewis’ Moneyball, the importance of having a baseball-playing father was huge because kids had the right genetics, plus a mentor who knew what training rigours and attitudes were required to make it to the top. Therefore the sons of former MLB players had a much higher likelihood than other talented juniors at making it to the professional game. Kobe had an ex-pro Dad (and the financial security to pursue his sport), so he knew what was required, had the opportunities and the right people to push him. It’s hard to define how much of an athlete’s success is down to them and how much is due to their environment.
Ultimately though a lot of these debates also downplay the aspects that are uncontrollable. You can do everything possible to get yourself to the top, but a lot of outside factors intervene.
The 10,000 hours argument that Malcolm Gladwell popularised doesn’t consider that complementary training time very much, nor the fact that if you don’t show some proficiency early on, then you won’t be motivated/encouraged to get in the hours that separate the good from the great.
The Kobe Bryant example raised above is also a case of nature versus nurture. In Michael Lewis’ Moneyball, the importance of having a baseball-playing father was huge because kids had the right genetics, plus a mentor who knew what training rigours and attitudes were required to make it to the top. Therefore the sons of former MLB players had a much higher likelihood than other talented juniors at making it to the professional game. Kobe had an ex-pro Dad (and the financial security to pursue his sport), so he knew what was required, had the opportunities and the right people to push him. It’s hard to define how much of an athlete’s success is down to them and how much is due to their environment.
Ultimately though a lot of these debates also downplay the aspects that are uncontrollable. You can do everything possible to get yourself to the top, but a lot of outside factors intervene.
Welcome to Essendon
As for me. Could mark quite strong. Couldn’t kick to save my life.
Maybe I could have made head office
telsor
Hall of Famer
No.
On the pro side, I'd be a decent size (185cm), could run all day and the few times I tried, put on muscle pretty easily and am generally pretty good at quick thinking and decision making.
Unfortunately, my coordination is...woeful (years of playing cricket, rarely made double figures, even in very low grades), and sadly that's something that no amount of work would make up.
I think the best summary of my sporting prowess is that later in life, I took up hockey with some mates, and we worked out exactly how I was most use to the team. I played wing, ran up, down and all over the place, and when we launched an attack, I exploded...I was smart enough to know where to run to and fast enough to put the fear of god into defenses as I opened them up. I drew defenders like bees to honey....and my team mates knew to treat me as a decoy because if they hit the ball to me, odds were I'd fumble it.
On the pro side, I'd be a decent size (185cm), could run all day and the few times I tried, put on muscle pretty easily and am generally pretty good at quick thinking and decision making.
Unfortunately, my coordination is...woeful (years of playing cricket, rarely made double figures, even in very low grades), and sadly that's something that no amount of work would make up.
I think the best summary of my sporting prowess is that later in life, I took up hockey with some mates, and we worked out exactly how I was most use to the team. I played wing, ran up, down and all over the place, and when we launched an attack, I exploded...I was smart enough to know where to run to and fast enough to put the fear of god into defenses as I opened them up. I drew defenders like bees to honey....and my team mates knew to treat me as a decoy because if they hit the ball to me, odds were I'd fumble it.
- Oct 14, 2011
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My coach told me I had to choose between footy and things like my beloved pork roast as I could not have both.
15 years later I’m still happy with my choice.
15 years later I’m still happy with my choice.
telsor
Hall of Famer
My sister was (is?) a naturally talented Tennis player.
At about 11 or 12, she'd take on and beat almost all social level players, and her coach wanted her to step up the training to the level required to (potentially) go pro in years to come (several hours every day). End of the day, she decided she'd rather have a life and gave up on tennis because she was too good for it to be fun any more (the only 'social' level players she could get a competitive game from were adults..not fun for a kid).
Years later, a couple of her mates who played regular social games talked her into having a hit...After 20 odd years of not playing she still wiped the court with them.
I know it's just one example, but I'm going to say there is such a thing as natural talent.
Forward Press
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A friend of mine was on some C-grade circuit in Spain maybe a decade or more ago and he would wipe the floor of any social club players in Perth. Went there for a few tournaments, didn't win any however because he said that many were simply far more talented - and they would be about rank 500 in the world. Could have maybe turned professional if he kept training and playing but in the end university, career and kids took priority.
He stated that the gulf between a rank 500 and a rank 100 was immense, and it becomes exponential from there. A player that qualified for the main draw in a grand slam would be immensely talented, he said. And we all know what the absolute cream like Fed, Nadal, Djokovic etc can do to a rank 100.
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I’m still pissed off I didn’t get drafted lasted year, I’m super fit, great skills, only just turned 53..
WTF.??
WTF.??
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What I lack in kicking ability I make up for with sheer work rate.
My grandad is an umpires association life member from the vfl days. Count for anything?
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I could definitely have made it if given the right opportunities. Literally the only thing preventing my participation is my lack of athletic skills, height, awareness, talent, application and work ethic.
Big difference today is that you don't have to excel to be given a contract. If you can run and jump at a reasonable level and have been in the right system you are a chance to be drafted.
In my day as a young footballer only the very best footballers were given the chance and you had to perform to be given that chance.
That there is arguably 6-8 players on every AFL list that are not walk up start league players at State league level is testament to that.
The AFL has become a colts competition in some respect, players are drafted on potential not ability and then given numerous seasons and excuses to fit in.
Based on how it currently is I would back myself to be AFL listed these days, it wouldn't change how good a footballer I was but simply how the system now is I reckon I would of got through Juniors and colts with my name in lights.
In my day as a young footballer only the very best footballers were given the chance and you had to perform to be given that chance.
That there is arguably 6-8 players on every AFL list that are not walk up start league players at State league level is testament to that.
The AFL has become a colts competition in some respect, players are drafted on potential not ability and then given numerous seasons and excuses to fit in.
Based on how it currently is I would back myself to be AFL listed these days, it wouldn't change how good a footballer I was but simply how the system now is I reckon I would of got through Juniors and colts with my name in lights.
Mofra
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Boooooooooooo!
Were they elite runners back then too?
The OP's question could easily be reframed to "Do you think if you really tried hard enough, you could make it to the AFL as an umpire?". For many people the answer is no based on the running requirements. They're probably fitter than 98% of the population.
I played the last 4 games of an under 14s season because they were short of numbers and paid my fees. We got thumped by 100 points every week but I gave off a cracking goal assist once and a girl from school with big boobs told me I played well. Based on that, it's hard to see how I wouldn't have made it had I stuck with it.
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