Jump forward to 2002 and 16 games would have finishing clear third – with a double chance in the finals. A lot more things, though probably not heartlessness and ruthlessness, have changed as I approach my 17th finals series as a coach.
In 1982, as this year, the Western Bulldogs/Footscray finished 12. Back then they got the wooden spoon with just one win. This year, they had nine and a half wins and the wooden spoon has gone to Carlton, who finished 16th in the expanded competition. All of which begs the question: is it easier or harder to make the finals now than two decades ago?
And the other one doing the rounds at the moment – does the final eight, instead of the final four, or five, encourage mediocrity? It might do, but then again, it might also make it possible for sides suffering various disadvantages over the year, not the least not getting to play every side twice, to get something out of September.
If you’ve had a stack of injuries mid-season, but then started to get your best team back on the field in August, it probably benefits everyone if you can get into a final eight rather than missing out on a final five. The more good players and good teams you have running around in September, the better the promotion for our game.
I reckon John Worsfold wouldn’t believe it is easier now to play finals football, even though the West Coast, along with Fremantle, Port Adelaide, Adelaide and Brisbane, weren’t in the competition 20 years ago. Last Sunday, after flying from Perth to Canberra, his Eagles had to beat the Kangaroos to make the final eight. And even before they were on their flight home, they learned they had to come back to Melbourne to play us today – a dreaded six-day turnaround and a totally unreal decision.
But Eagles supporters, including the West Australian premier, shouldn’t be the only ones upset at the way things have panned out. A six-day turnaround is rough for anyone, whether you’re flying across the continent or not. Going into the finals, it is even tougher and that’s what Essendon have to deal with. Like the West Coast, we also played last Sunday.
A six-day turnaround puts tremendous pressure on everyone at your club. You can’t rush a player’s rehabilitation from those bumps and bruises that are an inevitable part of any game. And if the injury is a bit worse than that, then you’re really up against it. So coaches are left in the precarious position of having to decide whether to play someone who is a sore or still suffering from a niggling injury.For different reasons, Mick Malthouse had to grapple with that one at Collingwood this week. Nathan Buckley has been on the slow mend from a hamstring. Buckley, as we all know, wanted so much to play in AFL finals games he quit Brisbane for Collingwood. It would have been hard for Malthouse to weigh that ambition up against the need to ensure he put the best possible team on the field.
Darryl Wakelin will test Mark Williams’ wisdom over the next few weeks after he announced he was making a quick recovery from a smashed jaw and wanted to play again this season.
For us the issue has been James Hird. He’s an out and out champion, the third best player in the history of our club. Do we take the risk of playing him 70 per cent fit, 80 per cent fit or whatever the ratio is by the time we have to declare your final team 40 minutes before the start of play?
Are we better off with a half fit champion or a fully fit youngster hell-bent on proving himself in finals football? These are the things we ask our coaches and medical people.At times like these we really do people on whom we can rely. However, in the end, the responsibility for whatever decision is taken will rest with the senior coach.
He finds himself torn between the wishes of a player who wants to play finals footy no matter what and his responsibility to the player as a person, to the team. So the coach listens good and hard to the medical people. He listens to the assistant coaches, his heart and finally his head.
Which means if James Hird plays against the West Coast today, it will be because he has passed all the tests required of him as an AFL player to take his place alongside his team-mates in the heartless and ruthless environment of the finals.
