The 225 Days of Season 2014
140 days has been building to this. Off-season personnel changes. Coaching changes. Team meetings. Gameplan discussions. Game style changes. Physical training. Mental training. Time trials. Practice matches. For 140 days every AFL club and every AFL player, coach and official has been looking ahead to the unofficial start of the 2014 AFL season. Tonight that moment arrives. With the first bounce of the first ball in the first NAB Challenge all 18 AFL clubs are on a journey. A journey that will last 225 days (1). A journey that ends with only one premier. And while that journey is battled on field by those 18 teams; one man commences his own journey off field, to give the story of the 2014 season. This is ‘The 225 Days of Season 2014’.
Day 1: Wednesday February 12
The Daily Thought
If the AFL administration could recruit just one person across the globe to join their team, that one person they would chase the hardest would be the head of marketing with the NFL. Over the past decade the AFL behind the scenes has tried to get its own to start thinking in the same way that NFL administrators think. The growth in AFL over the past decade is not dissimilar to that of what the NFL has been able to do in its country of origin, the United States. This is not by accident but rather by a meticulous design that the games current administrators are sticking too. This meticulous plan is easy to appreciate. The NFL 20 years ago had limited international appeal and was still running second in terms of the big four American sports. Over 20 years though, because of gutsy decision making, the NFL has become the undisputed number one sport in America and has an international presence. The success of the NFL comes down to marketing, exposure and promotion. A quick look at the big four sports in Australia (2) and for the most part the AFL domestically has a similar overwhelming share that the NFL has domestically. The difference is that the NFL started from a position behind and has been able to pull ahead of both MLB and NBA. On top of that the presence that the NFL has internationally is a pipe dream for the AFL at the moment. The NFL through a gutsy administration went hard on media exposure. Now 20 years on; the game is a 365 day sport. The NFL used to be one day; Super Bowl Sunday. Instead now throughout America and really across the world the game has marketed itself year round. From drafts to training camps, from free agency periods to trial periods, from Super Bowl win to pre-season, the NFL effectively markets itself year around. The AFL is close. Think back through the off-season. Of the 140 days between Grand final win and pre-season start the AFL has been able to command television sets, newspaper columns and website pages for almost the entire way through. If you want to look ahead to changes that could come through the AFL look at the NFL. But instead of thinking of game play and game style; think instead of marketing, promotion and media exposure. It is where the AFL is going; and where it wants to have even bigger wins.
One of the gutsier decisions of this year’s off season by the AFL is the decision of putting names on jumpers which is widely seen as another step in embracing American sporting culture. This decision has divided fans but realistically this move has not been made for current fans of the AFL but to encourage growth both domestically and internationally. Both the NBA and NFL have had success in marketing global stars. Part of this marketing was individualising the game and the start of individualism was putting their names on a jumper or singlet. Now instead of it being about a team, it is about players. That is what this change means. The AFL knows that outside of Australia it is hard to market a West Coast, a Gold Coast or a Collingwood. It does though have a far better chance of marketing Nic Naitanui, Gary Ablett or Heritier Lumumba (3) to an international audience. This idea does go against the grain of Australian sporting tradition where it is really a club that people support. There is the chance that the AFL actually loses fans through this individualisation with people feeling that the club they have supported and cherished is now about the people rather than the club itself. It is a calculated risk. Taking a further step though and on greater glance individualisation has already advanced. If you were to pin-point where the individualisation came, it was with fantasy football. As fantasy football has grown so too has interest in players rather than in teams. Fantasy and names on jumpers; both are Americanisms that the AFL administration is gambling on in an endeavour to market globally. Will global growth come at the cost of domestic loss though? (4) It is the risk the AFL is taking. Possibly the best advice that the AFL should have heeded on jumper names though comes from one of the great movie quotes of all time from ‘Miracle’.
“The name on the front is a hell of a lot more important than the one on the back. Get that through your head.” (5)
18 Days – 18 Teams – 18 Games – 18 Random Thoughts
Geelong Vs Collingwood
1. This match is the second between these clubs to be played in Geelong this millennium.
2. These two clubs met in pre-season last year at this ground with Geelong winning by 51 points.
3. Therefore surely in a match between two hot rivals of the past decade Geelong will want this more for its home fans and to keep that millennium streak alive.
4. But come on. Now with no silverware on the line and no recognition for a win or loss, this truly is a practice match no matter which way it is jazzed up by the AFL.
5. So what crowd attendance and what viewing audience does this game get? If it was a premiership match you are looking at a near sell-out no matter the ground and an audience that reaches top 10 views of the year. If this is a fizzer audience wise; does next year mean the pre-season matches are not covered on television and instead is used as a driver for a potential AFL website channel? (6)
6. The intensity of this match will likely dictate the 17 days to follow. With both clubs still being considered benchmark clubs, how these two go about it will likely be similar to what the other 16 teams try to replicate in the NAB challenge.
7. Didak, Johnson, Jolly, Krakouer, Shaw and Thomas. Six names that were mainstays of Collingwood over the past five years. Six players who all had key roles in the team. Keep an eye for which of the highly regarded youngsters step into these roles, in particular Shaw’s rebounding role and Thomas’s outside midfielder role.
8. One of those guaranteed key additions will be Taylor Adams. Adams renowned for his toughness though, is likely to add to a loaded inner midfield group of Scott Pendlebury, Dane Swan, Dayne Beams and Luke Ball.
9. Likewise Corey, Chapman, Hunt and Podsiadly. Four names that were mainstays of Geelong over the past five years. Four players who all had key roles in the team. Keep an eye for which of the highly regarded youngsters step into these roles, in particular Corey’s as a defensive midfield and Chapman’s as an attacking midfielder.
10. Most interest for Geelong is perhaps up forward where the loss of Chapman and Podsiadly is likely to be felt. Geelong does have young talls but which one of these step up to partner Tom Hawkins could be a question of pre-season for the Cats.
11. Last year Collingwood were one of only two teams (7) that Geelong did not beat during the home and away season.
12. Interestingly though, Geelong beat those same two teams in pre-season last year which was part of a 10 game winning run spread over pre-season and the home and away season.
13. The team that ended that 10 game winning run last year, Collingwood, winning a Saturday night classic by six points in round eight. The last match between these two teams.
14. While new captain Scott Pendlebury will lead Collingwood for the first time since being officially appointed; Geelong will miss its own captain in Joel Selwood in this match.
15. After 178 games and 1656 kicks as Harry O’Brien, it will instead be Heritier Lumumba that gets his first kick in an AFL sanctioned match tonight.
16. Likely Cats that will be in new jumpers is four.
17. Likely Magpies that will be in new jumpers is nine.
18. Odds these two clubs meet first in the season proper when Geelong gets the capacity above 40,000 seem to be fairly good. Call it 5/1 (8).
Footnotes:
1. Ok, so it technically is 227 days because the AFL decided to start the NAB Challenge two days earlier. For the sake of tradition though it calls for creativity and by season end it will be 225 days.
2. So I guess if we are giving Australia a top four sports we say Australian Rules, Rugby League, Association Football and Cricket – AFL, NRL, FFA, CA.
3. Naitanui marketing is a no brainer as his athleticism and look will always give an international appeal as would the look and opinions of Lumumba. Ablett as a second generation genuine superstar seems another easy marketable piece to a wider audience.
4. In number term of course not. But as a share percentage. Oh HELL YEAH this will cause loss.
5. Want to guess an over-under before a coach or commentator uses this quip; put it at round three. Going a step further put Gerard Healy or maybe Jason Dunstall on the clock as the first commentator to use it.
6. Another Americanism that seems a certainty by the time next television rights come up for grabs.
7. Adelaide was the other.
8. Richmond (5/1), North Melbourne (6/1) or Fremantle (8/1) would be the other three that would be potential good drawing games when the ground size warrants.
140 days has been building to this. Off-season personnel changes. Coaching changes. Team meetings. Gameplan discussions. Game style changes. Physical training. Mental training. Time trials. Practice matches. For 140 days every AFL club and every AFL player, coach and official has been looking ahead to the unofficial start of the 2014 AFL season. Tonight that moment arrives. With the first bounce of the first ball in the first NAB Challenge all 18 AFL clubs are on a journey. A journey that will last 225 days (1). A journey that ends with only one premier. And while that journey is battled on field by those 18 teams; one man commences his own journey off field, to give the story of the 2014 season. This is ‘The 225 Days of Season 2014’.
Day 1: Wednesday February 12
The Daily Thought
If the AFL administration could recruit just one person across the globe to join their team, that one person they would chase the hardest would be the head of marketing with the NFL. Over the past decade the AFL behind the scenes has tried to get its own to start thinking in the same way that NFL administrators think. The growth in AFL over the past decade is not dissimilar to that of what the NFL has been able to do in its country of origin, the United States. This is not by accident but rather by a meticulous design that the games current administrators are sticking too. This meticulous plan is easy to appreciate. The NFL 20 years ago had limited international appeal and was still running second in terms of the big four American sports. Over 20 years though, because of gutsy decision making, the NFL has become the undisputed number one sport in America and has an international presence. The success of the NFL comes down to marketing, exposure and promotion. A quick look at the big four sports in Australia (2) and for the most part the AFL domestically has a similar overwhelming share that the NFL has domestically. The difference is that the NFL started from a position behind and has been able to pull ahead of both MLB and NBA. On top of that the presence that the NFL has internationally is a pipe dream for the AFL at the moment. The NFL through a gutsy administration went hard on media exposure. Now 20 years on; the game is a 365 day sport. The NFL used to be one day; Super Bowl Sunday. Instead now throughout America and really across the world the game has marketed itself year round. From drafts to training camps, from free agency periods to trial periods, from Super Bowl win to pre-season, the NFL effectively markets itself year around. The AFL is close. Think back through the off-season. Of the 140 days between Grand final win and pre-season start the AFL has been able to command television sets, newspaper columns and website pages for almost the entire way through. If you want to look ahead to changes that could come through the AFL look at the NFL. But instead of thinking of game play and game style; think instead of marketing, promotion and media exposure. It is where the AFL is going; and where it wants to have even bigger wins.
One of the gutsier decisions of this year’s off season by the AFL is the decision of putting names on jumpers which is widely seen as another step in embracing American sporting culture. This decision has divided fans but realistically this move has not been made for current fans of the AFL but to encourage growth both domestically and internationally. Both the NBA and NFL have had success in marketing global stars. Part of this marketing was individualising the game and the start of individualism was putting their names on a jumper or singlet. Now instead of it being about a team, it is about players. That is what this change means. The AFL knows that outside of Australia it is hard to market a West Coast, a Gold Coast or a Collingwood. It does though have a far better chance of marketing Nic Naitanui, Gary Ablett or Heritier Lumumba (3) to an international audience. This idea does go against the grain of Australian sporting tradition where it is really a club that people support. There is the chance that the AFL actually loses fans through this individualisation with people feeling that the club they have supported and cherished is now about the people rather than the club itself. It is a calculated risk. Taking a further step though and on greater glance individualisation has already advanced. If you were to pin-point where the individualisation came, it was with fantasy football. As fantasy football has grown so too has interest in players rather than in teams. Fantasy and names on jumpers; both are Americanisms that the AFL administration is gambling on in an endeavour to market globally. Will global growth come at the cost of domestic loss though? (4) It is the risk the AFL is taking. Possibly the best advice that the AFL should have heeded on jumper names though comes from one of the great movie quotes of all time from ‘Miracle’.
“The name on the front is a hell of a lot more important than the one on the back. Get that through your head.” (5)
18 Days – 18 Teams – 18 Games – 18 Random Thoughts
Geelong Vs Collingwood
1. This match is the second between these clubs to be played in Geelong this millennium.
2. These two clubs met in pre-season last year at this ground with Geelong winning by 51 points.
3. Therefore surely in a match between two hot rivals of the past decade Geelong will want this more for its home fans and to keep that millennium streak alive.
4. But come on. Now with no silverware on the line and no recognition for a win or loss, this truly is a practice match no matter which way it is jazzed up by the AFL.
5. So what crowd attendance and what viewing audience does this game get? If it was a premiership match you are looking at a near sell-out no matter the ground and an audience that reaches top 10 views of the year. If this is a fizzer audience wise; does next year mean the pre-season matches are not covered on television and instead is used as a driver for a potential AFL website channel? (6)
6. The intensity of this match will likely dictate the 17 days to follow. With both clubs still being considered benchmark clubs, how these two go about it will likely be similar to what the other 16 teams try to replicate in the NAB challenge.
7. Didak, Johnson, Jolly, Krakouer, Shaw and Thomas. Six names that were mainstays of Collingwood over the past five years. Six players who all had key roles in the team. Keep an eye for which of the highly regarded youngsters step into these roles, in particular Shaw’s rebounding role and Thomas’s outside midfielder role.
8. One of those guaranteed key additions will be Taylor Adams. Adams renowned for his toughness though, is likely to add to a loaded inner midfield group of Scott Pendlebury, Dane Swan, Dayne Beams and Luke Ball.
9. Likewise Corey, Chapman, Hunt and Podsiadly. Four names that were mainstays of Geelong over the past five years. Four players who all had key roles in the team. Keep an eye for which of the highly regarded youngsters step into these roles, in particular Corey’s as a defensive midfield and Chapman’s as an attacking midfielder.
10. Most interest for Geelong is perhaps up forward where the loss of Chapman and Podsiadly is likely to be felt. Geelong does have young talls but which one of these step up to partner Tom Hawkins could be a question of pre-season for the Cats.
11. Last year Collingwood were one of only two teams (7) that Geelong did not beat during the home and away season.
12. Interestingly though, Geelong beat those same two teams in pre-season last year which was part of a 10 game winning run spread over pre-season and the home and away season.
13. The team that ended that 10 game winning run last year, Collingwood, winning a Saturday night classic by six points in round eight. The last match between these two teams.
14. While new captain Scott Pendlebury will lead Collingwood for the first time since being officially appointed; Geelong will miss its own captain in Joel Selwood in this match.
15. After 178 games and 1656 kicks as Harry O’Brien, it will instead be Heritier Lumumba that gets his first kick in an AFL sanctioned match tonight.
16. Likely Cats that will be in new jumpers is four.
17. Likely Magpies that will be in new jumpers is nine.
18. Odds these two clubs meet first in the season proper when Geelong gets the capacity above 40,000 seem to be fairly good. Call it 5/1 (8).
Footnotes:
1. Ok, so it technically is 227 days because the AFL decided to start the NAB Challenge two days earlier. For the sake of tradition though it calls for creativity and by season end it will be 225 days.
2. So I guess if we are giving Australia a top four sports we say Australian Rules, Rugby League, Association Football and Cricket – AFL, NRL, FFA, CA.
3. Naitanui marketing is a no brainer as his athleticism and look will always give an international appeal as would the look and opinions of Lumumba. Ablett as a second generation genuine superstar seems another easy marketable piece to a wider audience.
4. In number term of course not. But as a share percentage. Oh HELL YEAH this will cause loss.
5. Want to guess an over-under before a coach or commentator uses this quip; put it at round three. Going a step further put Gerard Healy or maybe Jason Dunstall on the clock as the first commentator to use it.
6. Another Americanism that seems a certainty by the time next television rights come up for grabs.
7. Adelaide was the other.
8. Richmond (5/1), North Melbourne (6/1) or Fremantle (8/1) would be the other three that would be potential good drawing games when the ground size warrants.
