Barassi learned from his coach the legendary Norm Smith, who learned from his coach the legendary coach Frank ‘Checker’ Hughes, who was a devotee of the legendary coach John ‘Jack’ Worrall.
All of them coached multiple Premierships and had golden eras. Hughes with two clubs (Richmond and Melbourne) and Worrall at two clubs (Carlton and Essendon). All of them were “super coaches” of their times. All of them handed down the principles that Barassi learned and espoused.
The principles of team sport have been the same forever, the differences over time being the learnings, data and application.
Barassi also said that the saying that “practice makes perfect” was crap. Rather, he said “perfect practice makes perfect”. Natural ability is nothing to be respected, rather uncompromising effort is the only thing to be respected. Basic stuff. Honesty and integrity.
In simple terms, Barassi believed teams won’t succeed until they ruthlessly implement exemplary standards for people, skills, expectations and culture.
Among all of the coaches in the AFL, the one with a similar ruthless mindset to Barassi is our coach, Ross Lyon. He may not have the talent or resources of other clubs, but there is no doubting his intent and his transparency. That’s why we are now in good hands.
