Notion of ‘Side by Side’ lost on some Magpie’s supporters

Following an interview with Melbourne radio station 3AW after last weekend’s embarrassing capitulation to the Tigers, Collingwood Captain Scott Pendlebury was subjected to some venomous and vitriolic attacks on social media.

This tasteless vitriol was also repeated ad nauseam in the comments sections of various media websites who published either match reports, or articles on the fallout of the interview itself.

Although one expects this kind of inane commentary from supporters of other clubs, amazingly (or perhaps not), the majority came from people who supposedly support the Magpies.

Calls for Pendlebury to be sacked, not just as Captain, but from the side altogether. Others questioned his commitment, and some quite special individuals, his ability to even play the game.

Of course many of these requests and statements of never a truer fact, were filled with all manner of descriptive language unfit for general publication, emphasising the importance of the writer’s message.

So what did the Collingwood Skipper do to deserve such a reaction?

He admitted to a radio station that he had never played in a game before with such little meaning, as the Magpies were no longer any chance of making finals.

What. How dare he! Collingwood had just been smashed by the Tigers, of all teams. As Captain, Pendlebury needs to be setting the right example. Why, he should be so upset by such a loss he should be punching holes through dressing room walls while weeping uncontrollably.

I mean who does he think he is? Just because he is a five time All Australian who happens to have won three club best and fairest awards, three runners up and a third, as well as being a Norm Smith Medallist in a premiership year and having played over 200 games. That does not give him the right to be truthful.

Collingwood Captain Scott Pendlebury

Yes that’s it, sack him, or if not that at least strip him of the captaincy. I would suggest whoever the new coach is going to be – because Nathan Buckley certainly won’t be there next year – can select a new skipper.

That’s right folks, Bucks is gonskies. At least according to those in the know. Bloke can’t coach, and will never be involved in a premiership. Fact is, these intellectual giants state, is that Nathan Buckley has pretty much single handedly decimated the Collingwood Football Club.

All those premiership stars gone, and look what Collingwood have got to show for it. Taylor Adams, Jack Crisp, Brodie Grundy, Tom Langdon and Marley Williams. What a bunch of no hopers.

Makes no difference they were all selected in the 2015 AFL Players Association’s 22AFL22 squad, or that the Magpies have the second most representatives in the side behind GWS, they’re still hopeless.

That also goes for Alex Fasolo, Jarryd Blair, Jamie Elliott and a host of others.

Although luckily for the four top ten draft picks selected over the last two years in Darcy Moore, Jordan De Goey, Matt Scharenberg and Nathan Freeman, they haven’t played enough senior games yet to gauge whether they should be sacked or not. Although there have been quiet rumblings about one or two of them.

It goes on and on, and does so every time the Magpies have a big loss, or heaven forbid a few honourable ones followed by a form slump.

It’s no wonder Collingwood supporters are so reviled by those of other clubs. Fact is we deserve it.

Yes that is correct. I am one myself, I’m sometimes sorry to say, and have been for a very long time.

Not sorry that I support the Magpies, but sorry that such a vocal and ignorant minority tarnish the rest of us with their tainted brush.

Sorry that I have to cringe looking at ‘my fellow supporters’ almost falling over the fence from the weight of the froth flying out of their toothless mouths while they wildly gesticulate and excessively abuse any Tiger’s player within ranting range.

Sorry that Dustin Martin has to pay a $2000 fine, when instead he and his team mates should be commended for showing such restraint.

Sorry that when someone asks me who I support I feel a caveat of, ‘but don’t hold that against me’, is in order.

Sorry that our coach and our captain have to put up with this sort of crap from our own so called supporters – and particularly sorry that I even feel the need to write this article.

I realise that there are supporters like these at all clubs, however it seems that Collingwood has quite a few more than any other.

Even James Hird, who was coach of a club involved in one of the biggest controversies in living memory seemingly had more support from Bomber fans than Nathan Buckley has had from sections of the Magpie Army. And I dare say Collingwood are in a far healthier position than that of the Bombers.

I do not expect every Magpie supporter to agree with every decision or move the club makes. I also have no problem with it being questioned on social media or through other channels. Nor do I think they should not be able to boo opposition players – as long as it is done with even a minimum of decorum.

Unlike the obviously socially challenged Used Tampon Tea Bag who tweeted on the Magpies Twitter page that Ben Sinclair ought to have been pack raped by the other players after Saturday’s game.

Collingwood’s motto is ‘Side by Side’. However it is unfortunate that the notion appears to have been lost on many of their supporters.

But given the lack of rational thought that went into some comments on social media over the weekend it is hardly surprising that the concept goes over these people’s heads.

Is AFL’s athleticism coming at a cost?

There was once a time when an AFL team ran out onto the field made up of a hodgepodge of different heights and body shapes.

Players of varying athletic ability were able to play at the highest level as long as they had the talent, determination and football nous to compete.

The ruckman usually stood out, towering above all except perhaps for his second, if there was one, and the four key position players.

The rovers and forward pockets were harder to notice, while the rest of team was more often than not made up of flankers and ruck rover types.

Modern AFL teams now have a sameness that is not only a concern for those talented but less athletic young players, but also the supporters who could once identify with a player of similar physique.

Any bloke with a bulging waistline, sitting on the couch with beer in hand, would get a burst of adrenaline watching the galloping gasometer Mick Nolan bounce his way towards goal in the seventies? As would those who looked up to anyone taller than average height, or couldn’t run to save their lives, cheering on the likes of Greg Williams and Tony Shaw in the eighties and early nineties.

During the telecast of a game involving Carlton earlier this season the commentators were discussing first year midfielder Patrick Cripps. One made the point that Cripps, at 194cm, was a good deal taller than Carlton team of the century ruckman John Nicholls, who stood at only 189cm.

Tony Shaw (left) Scott Pendlebury (right)

Of course Cripps is by no means the exception, he is now the rule. Collingwood Skipper Scott Pendlebury is listed most weeks in the Magpies line up as rover, or to be more precise, the third follower. At 191cm he towers over 1990 premiership captain Tony Shaw, who during his illustrious 313 game career as a rover/forward pocket was listed at a mere 170cm.

Jordan Lewis (186), Luke Shuey (183), Andrew Swallow (183), Luke Parker (183) and Josh Caddy (186) were all listed in the same position in Round 20.

Standing at 190cm, Fremantle midfielder and Brownlow Medal favourite Nat Fyfe is considered by many to be the quintessential modern day footballer. Tall, fast, agile, as good above his head as he is at ground level, and a superb athlete.

And therein the issue lies. Recruiters are now looking to draft athletes rather than footballers, believing they can teach these natural athletes the skills of the game.

While young and talented footballers around the country may be earmarked early as being potential AFL players in the future, as they rise through the ranks it is just as much their athletic ability as any football skills that keeps them in the forefront of recruiters’ minds.

Indeed the annual draft combine not only analyses the football skills of potential draftees, but also their athletic ability. Players who may not have made as much of an impression as others in under 18s competitions throughout the season are looked at in a new light should they excel at the combine.

While there is no doubting the amazing prowess of the modern footballer, one has to wonder how long this trend will continue, and where it will eventually lead.

Would Tony Lockett – arguably the greatest full forward of all time, and the games’ leading goal kicker – even get drafted today? Plugger was not the most disciplined of players, nor was he renowned for his fitness, but he once kicked 12 goals in a game from only 14 possessions – which surpasses the efforts of Cyril Rioli last week, who has been acclaimed for his 12-disposal game on the weekend which yielded five goals.

Caleb Daniel. Image courtesy Michael Klein

Rioli is one of the few players left in the AFL under six feet tall, and is arguably the most exciting player in the competition. Other little men, such as Eddie Betts, Hayden Ballantyne, Jarryd Blair, Lachie Neal, Paul Puopolo and Brent Harvey, are loved by their respective clubs’ supporters for their willingness to take on the comparative giants around them.

In Round 14 this year the AFL’s new shortest player, Caleb Daniel, came on for his first game early in the third quarter against Carlton. It took him less than half a game to become a cult figure among Bulldogs supporters due to his tenacity and willingness to contest with players almost twice his size.

Unfortunately players of Daniel’s stature are getting rarer. Those that do make it more often than not enter the AFL system through the rookie draft after toiling away and proving themselves in second-tier competitions. Seldom are they picked up in the national draft, and if they are it is unusual to see one in the first or second rounds.

There are many football pundits that lament the loss of characters in the game, questioning if the players are becoming too homogenised. It would be a tragedy if this homogenisation spread to the game itself, leading to a situation where the only possible way to identify individual players in the future would be by the number on the back of their guernseys.

This article was also published on The Roar

Little master still number one

All too often the media and general sporting public prematurely predict the demise of a champion. On many of those occasions the champion comes back and makes us all look like fools.

Such has been the case with one Gary Ablett Jnr.

After an ultimately failed attempt to return from the shoulder injury he sustained against Collingwood last season in rounds one and two, many began to question whether the little master would ever be the player he was only 12 months previously. Indeed, some even pontificated that he would never even play again.

In May of this year (11 games since Ablett last played), Scott Pendlebury overtook him as the AFL’s official best player, while the majority of ‘those in the know’ had Fremantle’s Nat Fyfe unofficially crowned the games new number one player, and a lock in for this year’s Brownlow Medal.

A little over two months later, and only three games since his return to the field, Gary Ablett Jnr. has proved once again, and without doubt, he is the game’s premier player, and barring injury will be for quite some time to come.

On the weekend against the Giants, Ablett collected 30 possessions – half of which were contested, nine clearances, six inside 50s and three goals straight. He also laid an astonishing 17 tackles to amass a round high 176 fantasy points.

In the previous two rounds against North Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs he also topped the 30 disposal mark, while scoring 119 fantasy points in both games.

In his first three games Ablett has averaged over 30 possessions, nine tackles and 1.7 goals per game. Over the same three rounds, Ablett’s heir apparent Fyfe has averaged 23 disposals, three tackles and has failed to hit the scoreboard, while Pendlebury has averaged 28 possessions, made eight tackles and kicked just the one goal.

While there is little doubt that both Pendlebury and Fyfe are champions in their own right, there really can be none that Gary Ablett Jnr is the best player in the AFL, and may very well continue to be so, until he decides to hang up his boots for the very last time.