Does getting a spray actually ... work?

[juss]

Some bunch of blokes love this sort of stuff and respond accordingly.

Depends what league you’re in and how the general vibe is at the club.


Personally I think this speech is superb. Makes you want to run outside and hit a power pole

Would struggle not to piss myself laughing in that scenario.

You can tell the style of the group though, probably works for that audience.

The line that gets me every time "Fair enough she came like 10th or 20th or something like that, but that's not important"

 

[HairyO]

Alan Jeans noted he knew which players would respond to a spray (Dipper), a challenge (Dermott) or encouragement (Buckenara). The smart coaches figure out how each player in their team is best motivated - some will respond to a spray and go out and dominate; others will have their confidence shattered.

Dipper was more than just a spray from Jeans. One time Dipper was being an arrogant **** and Jeans grabbed him and pinned him to a wall and tore in to him. Dipper never did it again.

 

[Shane Heard]

Would struggle not to piss myself laughing in that scenario.

You can tell the style of the group though, probably works for that audience.

The line that gets me every time "Fair enough she came like 10th or 20th or something like that, but that's not important"

“ the ****ing point is she never gave up. The poor b#### ****ing crawled on her hands and knees exhausted to get to the ****ing finish line. That’s what I want you campaigners to do”

 

[MisterMarcus]

Alan Jeans noted he knew which players would respond to a spray (Dipper), a challenge (Dermott) or encouragement (Buckenara). The smart coaches figure out how each player in their team is best motivated - some will respond to a spray and go out and dominate; others will have their confidence shattered.

Stan Alves tells the story of his time at Melbourne, where one of the coaches (can't remember if it was Norm Smith or not) would be incredibly hard on captain Hassa Mann, giving him brutal bakes at every opportunity. Alves became quite upset at this, feeling Mann was being treated very unfairly, and plenty of other blokes were deserving of a rocket before him.

Alves eventually talks to Mann about it, whereupon Hassa apparently laughed and said "Don't worry about it, he's told me he's going to stuck real hard into me. Not because I'm the one who deserves it, but because he knows other blokes can't handle a spray and will either crack the shits or drop their bundle. I can take it, so having a go at me gets the same point across to the team without upsetting the sensitive/short-fuse guys.."

 

[Bunk Moreland]

It’s gotta be used tactically. I’ve had coaches (I’m sure everybody has) who lose their shit every week and it very quickly loses any effectiveness. People just roll their eyes and tune out.

Can only think about the best / most successful coaches I’ve had and they used the spray very rarely. And not without due notice / reminders in a more reasonable manner beforehand. So more of a last resort.

 

[FRUMPY]

In most workplaces if your boss walked in and started abusing staff about performance it would be completely unprofessional and counter-intuitive.

By all accounts everyone in the industry sees the afl as a workplace first and foremost - so what’s the difference?

On the flipside there are a few ex-players (particularly Nick Riewoldt) who stress that’s what they needed to perform at their best.

There’s modern examples such as Noble completely butchering a serve and losing the players. Ross Lyon is being considered for the Essendon job is another interesting watch - will the master of the spray manage to turn around Essendon’s lack of standards?

I’d be interested to hear from people who have played footy at whatever level - did you cop a spray? did it work?

Will Jaiden Stephenson be wearing sleeves rd 1 next year?

Football is very different to the average worksite/job. It's a competitive game where you need to play with an edge and adrenaline going.

I took criticism better than getting positive feedback. I was the type of player who always knew what I was doing wrong and even if I had played well I would think of the stuff I didn't quite do right. So I appreciated a bit of criticism as I would have probably already been thinking it. Made me want to be better the next qtr, half, game.

Getting positive feedback sometimes made me flat for some reason.

I quite enjoyed a bake as team because if it was given it was most likely deserved and I probably wanted to tell a few to pull their heads in and play better.

Never understood players who could never take any criticism, they'd tell you your wrong and continue to do the wrong things.

On CPH2005 using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[PhatBoy]

It’s gotta be used tactically. I’ve had coaches (I’m sure everybody has) who lose their s**t every week and it very quickly loses any effectiveness. People just roll their eyes and tune out.

Can only think about the best / most successful coaches I’ve had and they used the spray very rarely. And not without due notice / reminders in a more reasonable manner beforehand. So more of a last resort.

This was discussed on nrl 360 a few nights ago.

Kevin Walters gave Brisbane a spray - which they deserved having done their best impression of carlton to blow a potential top four spot and probably miss finals altogether.

Apparently two players have broken rank and complained about it.


On 360 it was mentioned that Phil Gould had a theory that you get 2-3 sprays a season and you have to use them wisely.

Any more than that and it a) becomes uncomfortable and b) loses its impact

 

[Moley Russels Wart]

Interestingly there was a recent interview with a Cats player (can't recall who) ... & the commentators were goading him for some goss about the coach doing his nana

He mentioned behind closed doors he had never really heard Chris Scott yell - seems to be the culture is shifting

Unbelievably, Chris Scott said that Leigh Matthews never really yelled as coach, if you can believe that

 

[Catsace]

Been some pretty impressive 'sprays' in times gone by. John Devine would come out with a bit of a 'hot gospelling' type of rev-up, but despite a side that had a young Gary Sr, Turner, Lindner etc, Geelong were at best spasmodic in his era, and Gary Sr i think missed a few games at the end of 1987, and was even musing about rejoining Hawthorn. A contract may have even been signed or at least seriously considered. It's no surprise that Gary flourished under Blight..then again he also retired at the end of 1990 and only returned as a 29 y/o in halfway through 1991.

There was also the famous Sheldon vs Davenport spray during a Pies/Saints game in 1992, which perhaps all's well that ended well as the player kicked the winning goal in a season the Saints made the Finals. Not sure what may have happened had Davenport actually misses that go-ahead goal late in the game.

And Denis Pagan famously chewed out a suspended Wayne Schwass

Wayne Schwass

Age

57

Ht

180cm

Wt

80kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

21.4

5star

K

14.5

5star

HB

6.9

4star

M

2.9

3star

T

2.3

4star

No current season stats available

D

16.6

4star

K

12.2

5star

HB

4.4

4star

M

2.6

3star

T

2.2

4star

after the Roos lost the Preliminary to St.Kilda with Wayne sitting in the coaches box as a suspended player. Certainly it was a heated exchange, and it was probably no surprise that he left the Roos to join Sydney the following year, so that spray certainly was something that made Wayne realise that relations with the coach were perhaps broken forever after that.

Malcolm Blight also grabbed Peter Riccardi by the jumper, i think at quarter time in the 1994 PF against the Kangas, but that may have been more a demonstrative action than perhaps a pure verbal spray. In any case Riccardi remained at Geelong for his entire career, and Blight after three GF losses and a PF loss in his rollicking ride as Cats coach, retired after that season.

 

[Blackhawk42]

Players complete personality profiles. Coaches then use these results to help determine the best way to coach players on an individual basis.

Are you a confident extrovert and notorious 'mosquito' moving from one thought to the next without ever overthinking anything? You'll probably be copping a few sprays when required.

Are you more likely to wear your heart on your sleeve and consider yourself a quiet introvert, even just occasionally? You'll probably be spoken to calmly, directly and firmly but won't be berated.

I know for a fact this was happening inside the last 10 years. Times have changed since then so it's possible even the extroverts are treated a little more delicately.

 

[_Mike_]

 

[SBD Gonzalez]

I have it on very good authority that by the end of his time at the Swans, Rodney Eade had totally lost the squad with his OTT sprays. A well-judged spray might work from time to time, but he had gone too far too often, and they had all just tuned out. Just Rocket having another of his spasmos.

Then Roosy took over and treated the players with dignity and respect, and they really wanted to play their best for him.

 

[Heaps of fun]

If you dont like your boss, get a new job.

I'm not gonna like my boss at the next job either though.

 

[Kwality]

I'm not gonna like my boss at the next job either though.

As long as your boss isnt into productivity, you'll find somewhere for a life of quiet quitting. Big part of your life on the scrap heap with no sense of satisfaction ...

 

[Heaps of fun]

As long as your boss isnt into productivity, you'll find somewhere for a life of quiet quitting. Big part of your life on the scrap heap with no sense of satisfaction ...

You're speaking truth, brother.

 

[Dr Tigris]

Negative feedback provides a larger performance boost than positive feedback.

But not all the time. If you are told you are garbage often enough then you'll start believing it. That's when regular positive feedback is best.

It's the mix of messaging and the individual that matter.

Good coaches know that and do it well. And treat the person, the group and sub-parts of the overall group differently to get the best result.

 

[Rusty Brookes]

FWIW, I've gotten two sprays in my football playing days. The first one actually put me off playing - I was 12 playing in the under 14s. I was playing in the ruck against a much larger and older opponent. The only reason I was in the ruck was because we had injuries, I was tallish but still dwarfed by my opponent. I thought I was having a crack in a position I had no right to be playing in. I hated my coach that day and chucked it in at the end of the season. Didn't play for years - found other things to occupy my time.

The second time I copped a decent spray was in my 30s. I made a stupid mistake in the backline coughing up a goal. Copped a spray from a club legend for not keeping my feet. Last game of the season, I was promoted to the seniors. Put in a really solid game, we won a close one and same club legend came up to me to complement me on my game. I was chuffed.

Context is everything.

 

[PT Bar None]

I have it on very good authority that by the end of his time at the Swans, Rodney Eade had totally lost the squad with his OTT sprays. A well-judged spray might work from time to time, but he had gone too far too often, and they had all just tuned out. Just Rocket having another of his spasmos.

Then Roosy took over and treated the players with dignity and respect, and they really wanted to play their best for him.

I heard the very same thing from an at the time player.

Almost word for word. I wonder if it was the same player?

 

[NaturalDisaster]

It can work, imo as long as the coach is respected by the players in the first place. Coaches like Clarko, Dimma aren’t afraid to give a spray, and it usually works because the players love and respect him.

We saw Voss give a pretty brutual one earlier this season and it worked because he has the respect of the players.

The reason people like Eade/Pagans never worked was because they tried too hard to make players hate them rather than simply respect.

 

[Rusty Brookes]

I have it on very good authority that by the end of his time at the Swans, Rodney Eade had totally lost the squad with his OTT sprays. A well-judged spray might work from time to time, but he had gone too far too often, and they had all just tuned out. Just Rocket having another of his spasmos.

Then Roosy took over and treated the players with dignity and respect, and they really wanted to play their best for him.

I loved Rodney Eade as a player but surely I wasn't the only one that saw the resemblance between Coach Eade and Dr Doback from Step Brothers.

NSFW by the way

 

[Tulip]

You have to know your players and the dynamic of the group. The occasional spray is part of life, but guys like Neeld and Noble going off their nut every second huddle is just bad management. If your group trusts you, your sprays will get better results.

 

[Kanga Commando]

Alan Jeans noted he knew which players would respond to a spray (Dipper), a challenge (Dermott) or encouragement (Buckenara). The smart coaches figure out how each player in their team is best motivated - some will respond to a spray and go out and dominate; others will have their confidence shattered.

This is an important point.

A coach or manager or leader who screams and yells has no more tricks in their book - they are bereft of ideas. They are the dumbest in my book.... My last boss, a CEO, was like that. Arrogant, yet deeply insecure because he felt threatened by others who were smarter than him... I once told him that i thought one of my staff was the smartest guy in the company ( albeit he was a social imbecile ). My boss took that as an insult. Thats how insecure he was.

Truly smart people figure out that everyone is different, and they work out that different people need to be led differently.

Pretty simple really.

 

[danster168]

I don't think a spray works. The AFL is a very backwards sporting code though. I think the spray is more for the coaches to help them alleviate their own pressure and stress.