Malthouse , Old Coaches and Young Players.
Quote in Real Footy Coaching veterans pay the penalty
Dan Silkstone | July 28, 2007
“Malthouse, who turns 54 next month and has coached three clubs across three decades, remembered that in 1984 he coached at Footscray alone. Now he commands a football staff of more than 20. Still, he says, he can communicate well with young men such as Scott Pendlebury and Dale Thomas.”
Have young players in the AFL changed? Do old coaches not have the ability to communicate to young ones? Why did Hiddink at 60 have such great success?
People in 1754 were much the same as now. They ate, they argued, they cried and they had egos. That young people are soft or have changed totally is a crap argument. Life is very tough now. Circumstances have changed and kids do want more variety and employment choices but what i am talking more about is psychology not sociology. There are changes and coaches have to be aware of what this generation wants for the future but emotions and psyche and ego. Nah………..Have people from 1971 changed so much to people now.? What has happened of course are things like the information revolution and parents having to work a lot and so on. But the psychology of growing up and socialization is really much the same.
My father coached young kids and in fact the last kid he coached was Saverio Rocca in the discus. He was awesome with kids in his 60’s . Why? Because he made the whole thing enjoyable and progressive and didnt overtrain them. But still he wanted results and he got them.
What has changed in the AFL?
Specifically what has changed is that AFL players play for a living. Probably only since 200o really. IE Many players didn’t work before that but still didn’t need to be at a club 24/7. Now they get to work at 8am and leave at 6pm. They interact and eat with their coaches. They see them all day and realize they are human becuase of that. In fact this is a worldwide trend. Rugby Union went professional in the late 90’s. Soccer was all over the place til the 80’s and 90’s.
It wasnt in the 80’s. Even the 90’s. Training would start late in the day and one could almost do a full days work. Then get to training and walk into a meeting and cop a “roast” from the coach. Train. Go home and back to work for the day or university and switch off and get “kudos” or simply interact with the real world. Have lunch with a friend and “spray” the coach. In the main a young mans “persona” often was not totally linked to his sport and there were outlets. The player simply expected to go to training and cop a belting both in the rooms and on the track and so often just created a veneer.
In the old days ( early 90’s!) the player would leave the club at 8.30pm and buy a drink on the way home and just shake his head at what the coach had said. The coach would call them the next day and explain the roast and see you at 5pm tomorrow.
But now there are so many pressures. Add peer group pressures because in sporting clubs “winners are grinners” and there is a bit of “peer group” follow the leader stuff. So in a full time environment if you have been belittled and somewhat ostracized then sometimes others do the same until they see a different “nurturing” attitude emanating from the leaders. Its called “keep your job”.
I saw the transition from the VFL to the AFL. I started in AFL at 32 from Athletics and so was not a football person and what I saw amazed amd amused me with regards to a coach having the right to abuse and berate people. Didn’t make sense and still doesn’t. Hard nosed home truths are ok. IE ” You didn’t do what I told you to do etc ” or even an animated 3/4 time address that “rams” home what has been and hasn’t been done to an individual. We all like honesty in the end. And yes the coach is allowed to swear!
For those directly involved, the AFL scene is a workplace and an environment where young men grow up and socialize. That is what changed. Professional full time sport is very new in the worlds history as we know it. Of course I dont know how the gladiators were employed or the spartans , but I presume there was a big dropout then so we are talking World War 2 onwards here!
These days coach has to be aware that 30 minutes after ripping a player to shreds he has to eat a sandwich with him in the canteen and talk about politics or family or anything. Player might just look at him and think “f&%k off”.
Sure a few things have changed in the world but I think much more has changed in the AFL. Maybe just as an example 15% the world and 65% AFL since 1984.
Coaches that are “infected” by the past ( ie VFL and suburban footy) often struggle to realize they are just at work. And so age is not the variable here. Of course most coaches in all sports probably peak in their late 40’s? Not 60’s. But that doesnt stop a 60 year old coach knowing how to manage a team. Just like it doesnt stop a 31 year old athlete winning a gold medal. Just doesnt’ happen as much. Games will be won and lost and only one club wins the flag and I dont think a coaches rantings and ravings will have hardly anything to do with it whether young or old.
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