The Makings of a Successful Team - Mark Thompson
For those of you that don’t know the annual AFL Coaching Conference is on at the Gold Coast this weekend and the Key Note speaker was premiership coach Mark Thompson. In his speech Thompson expressed is philosophy on what he believes makes a successful side. He drew on experiences he had a Essendon in the mid 80’s and he reflected on how confident they were as a team saying he can remember games where we (Essendon) went out there and just thought we were going to win. Some say that is arrogance and yes it is but that is what successful teams have, opposition clubs and supporters hate them for it and their own fans love them fore it.
Here is what Thompson believes all successful teams have in common.
“What they all had in common and what stands out is that they were all very skillful and were able to move the ball from one end of the ground to the other.
“It doesn’t matter what era you are talking about, the most successful teams are harder, more confident and look smarter.
Thompson also mentioned that there were times in 2007 where he was able to relax in the coach’s box and watch his players go about their business. “It’s not that the coach isn’t relevant – but the players know what to do,” he said.
It’s great hearing successful players and coaches talk about their personal experiences and what they think about the game.
See how I think the Cats will go in 2008 by reading their 2008 Preview.
FREE WEEKLY AFL NEWSLETTER
We now have a FREE Weekly AFL Newsletter we call “Inner Sanctum” so make sure you subscribe to it so you don’t miss out.
