In search of the perfect core. Thredbo and Bruce Connor and Essendon Football Club.
Bruce Connor the head physio at Essendon FC took this shot at Thredbo in 1996 and wrote the caption . We were studying the AIS facility in Thredbo for a camp for Essendon. So we went for a walk in the snow and voila “the famous core shot”.
Problem was that the next year Bruce and I went again but this time we decided to ski and I fell and ripped my rotator cuff to shreds. Thus these poses are now impossible given that skiing injury and a future career in bodybuilding ended prematurely .
Bruce is a great skier but I had only been twice and should have stayed in the gym negotiating at best a wobble board. It was October and the snow was almost gone. Only the “real” skiers were out there. I was slipping and falling but went again for another run and let rip. I definitely got my ambition mixed up with my ability. I lost complete control and flew into the air and put my arm out. Dumb. Next minute my arm was hanging and I was screaming. HA. The yeti! They had to gas me and haul me off the slopes and as they did I cursed Bruce Connor. HA. Anyway dislocated and ruptured cuff but the Thredbo disaster had occurred that year so really that put things in perspective. Bruce was driven to drink that night.
Anyway this is what is called functional core and adductor work out on the slopes. Sort of! But due to Thredbo my left delt shot is now a bit off. C’est la vie.
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.
Will Kevin Sheedy Coach the Toscana Club? Italian AFL team of 2 Milleniums.
Photo above is of the Great 1973 Toscana Football team and thats me on far right with hair. This article was in IL GLOBO. A win by the Toscana club at the famous Bulleen Venue against the Valguarnera Club ( who?).
This was my greatest football highlight. Not the 93 Grand Final with EFC or the 2004 Finals with Geelong. Not the NAB Cup win in 2006 with GFC ( NAB Cup: The win thats not a win!). Not the VCFL win in 2006 at Southport with Leigh Colbert as coach! No it was this game. And I am an Italian “true blue” who has dual citizenship. I have fond memories of this game and recognise its true place in the history of the AFL. Peter Riccardi is, I hope a good friend but even though he looks more italian than an italian he doesnt speak a word. How can he get in the team of the century? If I asked most of those boys in “that” team of the century ( except Alessio) to name me who was the famous porn star that made it into the Italian Government would they know? ( La Cicciolina) And they call themselves Italian? I think the selection criteria should have been based on questions like the above. Maybe 10 questions that can identify if you are Italian. After all there is no soul or spirit in some errant “wog” gene that might be present in John Kennedy!
Now Steve Alessio and Rocca are real Ities Downunder. When you go and have coffee with them they order a short black, not a flat white or a skinny cappucino or a “laaarte”! And why didn’t the team of a century have a fitness adviser? This was a glaring omission from this team and I wonder why? The selection committee from the recent AFL team of the century of Ron Barassi , Brendon Gale, Kevin Bartlett, Frank Costa, Kevin Sheedy, Bob Skilton, Bill Stephen and former field umpire John Russo must take accountability for this because I am sure the ALL CROATION AFL team will be lean, fit and strong and these boys of Italian Heritage need to be pushed. Too much “La Dolce Vita” sometimes. The Croatians all stars have been bought up on war and conflict so one just winds them up and off they go. Not that they are better mind you! Just a different approach is needed. We Tuscans are thinking of our next major cultural achievement so sport is just a catharsis for the “arty-farty” brain. We have excellent decision making skills and evasive skills as can be evidenced by the number of warring nations that went up and down Italy and minimal collateral damage compared to Vladivostock.. Who is there to yell “forza ragazzi” for “that all star team”. My grandmother Nonna Tina and mum Rosa were there at the Veneto Club that day and they were amazed at my skills.
This was a tough day. As you can see we had no bench. The umpire I remember was Renato Serafini ( ex Fitzroy) . One rule change was to allow headers and if it went through it was a point. We practised our “acting and falling” for free kicks in the warmup and Serafini fell for this a number of times. And only now can I make the startling revelation that some of the boys in the Toscana team were not from Tuscan descent. My dad was Livornese so I couldn’t be more Tuscan. We had a few guys from Veneto and I think one Aussie that looked Italian and could say ciao. We taught him to say. Mi Chiamo Frederico. His name was Fred McDonaghy. We had to play the veneto dudes because then we could use the Veneto Club.
We were sponsored by Lago Smallgoods (which was owned by Rosalba Stocco, my dads other sister and also a Tuscan). and they supplied pregame salami and mortadellas. This was the 70’s remember. Beer and a smoke for recovery after a game at Moorabin. The mortadellas were really good to warm up with because they were like heavy footballs so when we kicked the sherrins they felt like tennis balls. We used the salamis like foam rollers for massage. I have learnt to use any aid I can in my quest to seek out cutting edge cost efficient Sports Science needs. After all I had about 20 Italian Lire at Geelong to run Sports Science when I got there.
Tactically we played a 1 6 4 3 3 1 formation but when the game got tough we played the 17 1 formation ( We had an all in brawl and smashed the shits out of the Valguarnerans ( Who?) !) . My cousin Rudy Villani who could play a bit got about 78 possessions.
The Angele family ( now own Brunettis) supplied carbohydrates with lots of cakes and lots of chinotto as sportsdrink. George Angele is Roman but we accepted his offer because he married my dads sister Gigliola ( a Tuscan of course!). Also they had a special mobile expresso coffee machine for half time and the breaks. We had to be careful with caffeine because 3 short blacks could get us over the limit with caffeine which was illegal then if overdosed. So I worked out using my sports science background that 1 short black, then 1 latte and 1 skinny macchiatto would have us under the limit for caffeine at the end of a game ( or 17 nescafes).
We tried to get sponsored with fruit from the market for postgame recovery and then sought out other big food chains but the rackets of the time ( 50 cents a case racket) with fruit meant that we were also hands off and there was no money left over for sponsorships . Things have changed thankfully.
At the time we made huge offers to get Mario Bortolotto and Vinny Cattogio to play. Not enough. They wanted a years supply of cappricciosa pizzas from Totos ( which was owned by a Tuscan) and we couldn’t crunch the deal. Didn’t need them anyway and they haven’t made any teams since so would not have helped it seems.
At the end in the rooms we sang the TUSCAN NATIONAL ANTHEM and had some “pasta dura” loaves and mozzarella sandwiches which did the carbs and protein thing. Lygon Street was abuzz that night. Horns honked and the chianti flowed. Shots were fired in celebration of course ( this was way before the gangland wars.) Al Grassby sent us a telegram and the celebrations could be heard on top of the leaning tower of PISA. We received an invite to go to Siena and il palio which is the famous horserace in the centre of Tuscany and race some Aussie horses there. It would have interfered with a game we had to play against the Italian Werribee Social Club in Werribee so we cancelled the trip. But still we are looking at it because I think one can fit an MCG size ground in the square in Siena.
Joe Misit, Mark Mercuri and Steve Alessio were at the game as little kiddies and they were inspired to play AFL given they saw us play at this level. They were dribbling their soccer balls and saw us and destiny beckoned. Of course they are not toscani but we accept that Italy has unified now. Steve Alessio is driving a lot of free agency issues in the AFL now and I think we will use him to develop a system to allow free agency between Italian Provinces ( Social Clubs) but there is a long way to go given since the Kingdom of Italy was formed in 1861 and the current flag only evolved in 1946 when Italy became a republic. So just like the Serbians and the Croations there are a lot of underlying tensions between provinces ( Social Clubs) which would make free agency hard to work. I know this day is what drove these boys on to great sporting feats.
And do you know that Mr and Mrs Rocca were there watching in their car on the sidelines and little Sav hadn’t even been thought of but the game was so inspiring that during the 3rd quarter their car fogged up and thats where little Sav er became the big Saveloid.
Imagine what Kevin Sheedy could do with this team. He is available and he loves wine. He also loves his sweets and I would think he is at that stage in life where he could combine sport and culture. Imagine that. The first AFL game in Siena straight after IL PALIO RACE is over in the square ( after they have swept up all the horseshit). Sheedy in Siena. A marketing coup. I reckon Silvio Berlusconi should have a word to Sheeds. Forza Sheeds.
Anyway these are the links to the “ugh” team of the century and some other obscure italian team.
http://www.italianteamofthecentury.com.au/final-team.php
http://www.italydownunder.com.au/issueone/afl.htmll
And here a link to La Cicciolina
CIAO
Bailey at Epping Football Ground
Went for a run at Epping with Bailey. This is one great way of doing agility as against change of direction. When I was running strides Bails just runs at me and I have to work out where he is going then make my move otherwise I am injured given he is almost 50kg and fast twitch. This is agility whilst running around cones is change of direction and involves extra qualities. These terms often get confused and research by Young and Shepherd clarified the terminology. He also made friends with some people that were at the wake of a young player from Epping and I think brightened their day. All that sort of stuff puts thing in perspective and my condolences to his family and friends.
Kevin Sheedy and Loris Bertolacci
Congrats to Sheeds
I started at Essendon in February 87 and finished up in 98 so I think I know the bloke really well. And how could I forget 1998 when there were question marks on his remaining at EFC. And even 1991 when I had coffee with him and he was mulling over offers to Sydney. Amazing. Meetings with him at the Hilton near the MCG. HA. He would take all the little jam thingos home for his kids. The doctor would be talking about injured players and Sheeds would see someone he knew and just waltz over in the middle of the meeting. Only he could do it.
I probably went through a total football department and nearly the full list in my time at Essendon with Sheeds. Even with administration I think an accountant was the only stayer through that period with Sheeds and I.
I remember a team building exercise we had in the country somewhere in 98 and all the staff had to do all the personality questionnaires. ( DISC) Well I was totally gobsmacked when the psych told me that I had the same personality as Sheeds. It really amused Mark Thompson no end. What the psych told us later was that I had an “objective” side to my personality whilst Sheeds was all arty farty. Thank heavens for that. But he left that till after so he could amuse the boys.
Sad to leave in 1998 but I thought it was time to try something different so I resigned and thanked Sheeds for my time there. I never forget that day. Sitting in that office talking to Sheeds about going to Geelong, Mark Thompson just walked past with his little bag and waved to us and said bye bye. Danny Corcoran had left the year before and David Wheadon also. The one constant in life is change.
Lucky to have my time at EFC with Sheeds and who could forget when we were in Canberra and Peter Costello showed us around the Cabinet Room and Sheeds sat in the PM’s chair. That said it all. Very funny stuff.
AFL Development and Carlton
Martyn Pyke on SEN today spoke as well as I have heard on developmental needs in the AFL. He was straight to the point and objective and not going on and on about the week that was and one game in isolation or individuals. He was talking about how Carlton missed their opportunity to draft players in 1999 and then 2000 versus other clubs like Geelong who jampacked their list with good kids. Not the best but good. But he then simply spoke about the “equations” required for success in the AFL. Draft heaps of good young kids then nurture them for 5 to 8 years in an environment where they have some older players and some relative success and wait. Get other areas up and running and after 8 years see the good times roll ( ie win a few games and be competitive and give some hope). So if everything is set to go he pointed to things such as administration as areas needing to improve for instance to win a flag. The mistake he said was trying to put a heap of kids together in the absence of leaders without any success for year after year. IE That it is not as easy as sticking 22 Franklins in one team. This is why Guerra is at teh Hawks and how many pre-seasons has Campbell Brown done now? Quite a few. He also spoke about young players in good teams looking better early than others and how he was better at Kangaroos than Fitzroy. IE A young player in Geelong versus one at Carlton this year. Often I find people use the presence of one or two young players as evidence that fast tracking can occur. Can happen but rarely. Simply what I liked about his comments were that they were objective and general. Not that this club and that club had better coaches or the odd star player or whatever. The one little point I wanted to pick him up on was when he spoke about the Baby Bombers and how they were an exception but really one must remember they had many great older players ( Salmon / Thompson /Harvey / ODonnell and hard heads like Grenvold and so on) and really there only a few young ones. Paul Hills had been there since 1988 and the others were at U/19’s in 1990. Hird / Mercuri /Calthorpe / Olarenshaw with Fletcher being the youngy and anyway I think Kernahan kicked a few anyway! . So really he was saying that in a draft, success is cyclical as we know and is what the AFL wants but moreso by mentioning “years required” was almost getting back to that 10 years of practice needed in elite sport and the predictable nature of the AFL competition. This is why coaches cannot outlast these “years required” unless they simply survive!. People cant wait 8 years without a final. Geelong won the VFL final in 2002, just missed the finals in 2003 and then made finals in 2004 and 2005 so played 5 finals and had relative success and gave some hope to supporters as against a Carlton. So if a coach can take over when players are 23.5 to 24.5 on average and almost 80/90 games with more young than old but heaps at 24/26 and a few good oldies ( ie a slightly skewed bell curve to the left) he might just get some early success if they can play a bit ( IE Within 3 years!) Seen that before haven’t we! Good unemotional stuff on Radio as I was driving to Wandong at 7pm for my wifes 50th. Happy Birthday Pamela!
Leigh Colbert and Loris Bertolacci and VCFL
Leigh Colbert asked me to do the fitness in 2006 for the VCFL team. It was also an opportunity to work with Jeff Oxley who used to be the physio at GFC with me. Leigh organized a few sessions at the Lexus Centre and dragged everyone in from James Hird to Paris Hilton .
Anyway off to the Gold Coast ( hard gig in July!) and game 1 at Carrara . It was pouring and we played and lost and then the other games were called off. That night we hatched a few plans to get through the tournament with more rotations, more gatorade and better breakfasts. Also Anthony Stevens and I had a dance off that night. I won. He was a great footballer but wont get a gig on Dancing with the Stars.
We were eating brekkie smack bang in surfers and bacon and eggs was the favourite. We had to change that to cereals and toast. Mind you I must admit the original brekkie was nice but not sports science friendly. Recovery sessions at Surfers and Lectures on the beach were the go.
Next day the games were at Surfers and due to the rain the rooms were shocking. So Leigh decided to set up the rooms under some trees in a park about 400m away from the ground. Shaded and airy and simply beautiful. I poured Gatorade down their throats and we won all our games and clawed our way into the finals the next day.
Finals day was a challenge. Real hot. I went all over the Southport ground and sought out anything I could use. Fans, cups, ice and so on. I made the VCFL staff buy so much drink and ice and get so many fans they thought I was crazy. We warmed up in a primary school under some trees about 100m away from the ground to get away from the sun and there was a concert being set up there. The organizers of the concert turned the speakers up to 100% volume and let loose with classics like “eye of the tiger” whilst we warmed up. Out of control and more gatorade.
Game was a beauty versus ACT. We went into the shade at the breaks but ACT stayed in the sun. So be it. We rotated the players and poured gatorade down their throats and cooled them down at every opportunity. Basic heat prevention strategies. We were a goal behind at the end of the game and Joe McLaren ( ex St Kilda) kicked a huge goal from the centre. Massive kick that if done in an AFL final would have been legendary. Extra time and we bolted away and maybe that is when the cooling and gatorade kicked in. Thats the theory. Big day and big win and great fun.
Victorian Country Football League win against VAFA
Last week I went to Ballarat with the VCFL where they conquered the VAFA in a thrilling game. We arrived in Ballarat on Saturday.
Off to training in a bus with coaches and players and staff. We were driven to a small barren ground and the driver bundled us out. In the bus we had the Collingwood and Geelong game blaring on radio in front of a huge crowd and what we stepped out onto under this mountain could not have been further removed from the MCG. It was freezing and eerie and very quiet. I think it was right next to Mt Helen but it was so cold and misty it could have been Kilimanjaro.
Anyway this ground was just a little kids ground and was overun by shrubs. The rooms were well too old to be given National Trust rating and anyway we couldnt get in and I think if we opened the door a few skeletons would have fallen out. I saw a small human being on the other side of the ground and ran to him hoping he could get us in but it was a kid with a Geelong jumper on. He ran away! Wonder why? What had happened was that the driver had dropped us off at the wrong ground.
There was no water tap for the bottles so I ran into a front yard over the road and filled the bottles up. Anyway the boys were very positive and trained and to be honest it looked like a scene from the TV AD for AFL footy with kids “gimme that thing” .
On Saturday night the boys had a dinner, team photo and coach Kevin Morris spoke to them. Nathan Bower presented a video to the players that was very motivating on the difference between country and city players.
The game on Sunday was tight all day and really my main function was to hydrate the guys and make sure they were well nourished and warmed up. This is an area that is always lacking at anywhere below elite level. Like last year in Queensland Brett and Shaun Connell gave me everything I needed.
Great result on the siren with Saad Saad marking and kicking the vital point. I had to leave on the siren and drive straight to Green Gully to warmup the soccer team prior to a draw with South Melbourne. Long day and really Green Gully could have used Saad Saad to get over the line. Should have put him in the car. After all he is a Brunswick boy!
Anyway I think I should also document last years final in QLD with Colbert and CO because that was an amazing sporting experience.
Do fitness tests reflect speed on the ground
Recently I was asked whether the 20m test generally used as a speed test is reflected on the ground. To be honest most times yes. Some players just read it better so in games dont look as slow as their tests suggest. Watching Pearce from Port Adelaide run at a draft camp a few years ago one could see he would explode later. The 20m test obviously doesnt measure max speed and/or many other variables. But in reality if one strips the science away from it I have always found that players who test quick generally look quick on the ground. Agility as researched by Young and Shepherd is a complex mix of speed, acceleration, change of direction abilities and many other attributes, with the ability to see what is happening and process it a crtiical factor. So players such as Harvey from St Kilda may have just reasonable tests results ( don’t know his speed) but due to decision making and change of direction abilities can get on their bike and scoot away from supposedly quicker players. Players like Dustin Fletcher at Essendon tested very quick and with his tennis background and football ability has been the package deal. Of course in his prime a player like Saverio Rocca at Collingwood was the best over 5 metres, a reflection of his ability to power clean nearly 150 kgs and throw a discus 60m plus. Wanganeen was simply the quickest I have measured over 10m ( 1.54) and I saw him run 11.1 sec for 100m at Aberfeldies one day without blocks and untrained. Again the package deal and like Fletcher these two were fast twitch animals with not so good aerobic qualities. In fact that day he ran 11.1 and Michael Long ran 11.2 and I think Lachlan Ross 11.3 and the next one home was a guy called Mick Symons who ran 11.6 ( 2,75 for 20m in gates). So yes test in a straight line and then test change of direction but as Warren Young and Jeremy Shepherd found in their research on reactive agility , getting away from players requires quite a lot of variables to come together. Then put it together at game speed in enclosed areas. And get strong in the gym and powerful with plyos in both legs. Some quick players can run one or two repetitions but after a few repeat speed efforts “slow” guys run past them. This is why rotations have had a big effect in footy allowing the fast guys to come on and smash it and why limiting rotations coupled with the new rules from 2006 will even more bias aerobic “slower” players and possibly stunt the explosive bursts from “fast” guys as the game goes on and even maybe limit their careers.
loris bertolacci 