AFL Football in South Africa
There are some great stories coming out of South Africa at the moment and some that are just inspiring for all concerned. We have heard a lot from clubs over this pre season about the need for players to not only improve as footballers but evolve as people and it is just about impossible for players involved in the experiences in South Africa to not walk away realising how fortunate they are and how priveledged they should be for being in the position they find themselves in as AFL Footballers. For example the entire Carlton group walked through an AIDS clinic, Sparrow Village, the biggest home for people battling AIDS in the world. If that doesn’t change your view on life then nothing will.
The media outlets generally have nothing to talk about during the pre seasons of AFL Football other the the off field antics of the players and it is great to see these good stories circulate the world. I guess the public at large find great interest in “Player’s behaving badly” news stories and they are the ones that generally fin their way around the world as I saw on Daves’ Football Blog the other day. It is always interesting to see what makes headlines in other parts of the World. Even Mick Malthouse made the news with his outbursts at the AFL over the new interchange rules.
Below is a great news report from South Africa that was aired on Channel 10 in Perth that I first saw on World Footy News. There is some great vision and show what an impact the players are having in the communities in South Africa.
By seeing the enjoyment that AFL Football brings to the faces of these children is quite astounding and is something I am sure will live with these young AFL Players for ever and hopefully will inspire a few new fresh faces in AFL ranks in the near future.
It will be certainly interesting to see how Carlton, Fremantle and Collingwood develop as teams in 2008 and beyond.
New Interchange rule too be trialed in the NAB Cup
The NAB Cup is the AFL’s experimental competition where it can trial, what they would like to say are improvements to the game of Australian Rules Football, mind you many would argue the complete opposite. The 2008 NAB Cup looks like it will follow similar lines as in previous years. It has been announced that during this years NAB Cup there will be a cap of 16 interchange rotations per quarter and 64 per match, and also the number of interchange players will go up from 6 to 8.
The AFL are hell bent on slowing the game down and it has been previously reported that they are undertaking a research project into whether there is a link between injury and the increased use of the interchange bench. Adrian Anderson has been quoted as saying:
“The suggestion is that because of the increased use of the interchange the players are hitting each other harder, are moving at top speeds for longer and more likely to suffer collision injuries but we really need to look at that in-depth to see if the theory holds true,”
From a spectators point of view I don’t think there is any need to change the speed of the game and I am sure if there was a survey conducted amongst the AFL players they would say a similar thing. But I guess the AFL have a duty of care to up hold and that looks like the direction they are heading.
It will be interested to watch how this effects teams like Collingwood and Sydney who in last years elimination final used the bench an extraordinary 174 times. There will need to be some new coaching strategies put in place and if the rule comes into the main competition it will be a race between the coaching staffs of the clubs to see who can come up with another work around.
Bring on the start of the season !!!
Why Nathan Buckley will coach Collingwood in 2010
For one reason RESPECT. Nathan Buckley commands respect when ever he speaks. When Nathan Buckley speaks players will listen. In my short experience at Collingwood Football Club on what was back then the Supplementary List, I experienced first hand what Buckley is like as an athlete and a leader of a football team. The presence he has is amazing. The professionalism and dedication he had for playing for the Magpies was second to none, only Robert Harvey in my opinion would come close.
Buckley is a ready made AFL senior coach, and things are already falling into place for him to return to Collingwood and take the senior coaching position. Mick Malthouse has just signed a deal that will take him up to the end of the 2009 AFL Season, by then Buckley will have had basically 3 years of coaching experience (including 2007 when he missed most of the year with that hamstring injury and spent a lot of his time with Malthouse and the coaching staff). He has just begun his position as the AFL High Performance Coach at the Australian Institute of Sport where he will help mould the careers of the best youngsters in the land. That coupled with the relationship that he still maintains with Malthouse will only further enhance his coaching aspirations.
“Big Red” returns, this time for the Magpies
Lance Whitnall returned to the park yesterday in Magpie colors, he stepped out for Northern Territory side Palmeston. From all reports he went OK, so he should I suppose. Kicked 3 goals and helped them to an easy win over NightCliff 18.19 (127) to 7.9 (51). I am sure he will attract a great deal of attention for local clubs here in Melbourne and probably attract some good coin as well.
Where will be play in 2008? Maybe he and his brother will go somewhere as a package deal. Maybe that should be on the list of things you won’t see in 2008.
