Preview Is Lightening up a bit, the new trend in coaching?

[Topkent]

There lives are barely restricted. The way I see it the restrictions in place are beneficial to them so not to turn into trash humans! Being an AFL player is a lotto win in more ways than money

Who the * are you to decide about restrictions?
I hope someone films you or your family in a compromising situation one day and plasters it all over the internet just so you can agree with the treatment they received

 

[estibador]

We will see if you still believe that nonsense when the best player in the game decides to retire early one day because he doesn't enjoy playing anymore.

So be it. Professional sport isn't for everyone and there will be plenty more willing to take his place.

Do I expect players to live like monks and care if they don't? No.

Do I care if players find professional football a tough job instead of a fun hobby? Also no.

 

[tigertigertiger]

Who the **** are you to decide about restrictions?
I hope someone films you or your family in a compromising situation one day and plasters it all over the internet just so you can agree with the treatment they received

Your response shows you're a bigger w***er than I am!

 

[Gethelred]

We all have to work, many of us in s**t jobs that dont pay that well that we dont really love. Imagine your work environment if a large part of it was working out, running around with and playing your childhood dream game with 40 of your best mates for 300k+ a year.

Tell me AFL isnt fun, compared to the bloke sitting behind a desk crunching numbers til 9pm or digging a hole at 7am in the morning. Boohoo they cant snort a line of coke and post it on YouTube, they still get their wild nights if they want to make no mistake.

Imagine doing something you love, over and over, to a standard you yourself are happy with.

Now, imagine doing it every day of the week for six months. Now, imagine that, the whole time, you're competing against 20 or so other people who want to do that exact thing you want to do. Some of them are better than you at it; some of them have characteristics you lack, which is a huge boner killer because you've never confronted that yet in your life. Now, imagine you're doing this, whilst being evaluated by others in your business, looking for weakness in character, lack of commitment; imagine that it isn't just them, but there are cameras outside your house, near your local cafe, at the bar where you used to spend time with your friends. Imagine that your name is on the front page of the newspaper you used to buy to read the sports section, and when you're at said cafe, everyone does a double-take as they notice you.

Now, imagine that you're so up, so high energy, that it's hard to switch off. You struggle to get to sleep, you struggle not to spend all of your spare time not to train or work harder, because you're always under that pressure. You've been handed a diet plan; you're hungry, and you're tired, but there's still another kilometre to run, another set to work through to put that weight on. You're doing so many things for that thing you love, loved; it barely seems about that anymore. Sure, you're well paid now, and you're being told frequently about how lucky you are, doing what you love and being paid for it. But it doesn't seem that way anymore; you only play once a week, which is the same, but now your entire life, your identity, your existence is fixated on those two hours a week. People who you don't know know your first name for those two hours. People who call you a flog or a dud, a spud, who you don't even know. People who scrawl through facebook/instagram/twitter to find something you said that will get page views, who you don't know and wouldn't know even if you saw them. Professional s**t rakers like Kane Cornes talk about you, about how something you did shows that you're not up to it, and you never will be; you hear it in passing, and it doesn't compute, but then a bit later you hurt your knee, and it hits you. All of it.

You loved the game once. For you it was poetry, euphoria; to be that good, the big fish in the small pond. You've translated your game into the big time, kind of, but then it became a job, and you worked your arse off, and now you're tired and injured, and the weight of it all just hits you. All you have, at that point, is the money you earn; you don't have privacy, you don't have a moment to yourself. You can't even have some toast, some comfort food; it'd interfere with your rehab. You sit there, in the dark, wondering if your partner likes you for you, or for the attention they get on your arm as part of the sideshow.

Do not try to tell me that AFL is not stressful, not hard on those who play it. All that happens to 18 year olds, country wide, their eyes glittering with the prospect of playing the game of dreams. Not everyone knows what they signed up for, and not everyone is capable of living la vida loca.

 

[HTT]

Everyone kind of misses the point. Players enjoying themselves isn't some sort of right they have. Whether or not the stresses outweigh the pay or whether you reckon they deserve their time off is irrelevant. It's not about 'deserving' an enjoyable job. It's about how increasing the enjoyment may or may not improve performance - and that's ultimately what we all want.

 

[HolyRioli]

There's also a lot players on a lot less. A rookie not elevated is about 80k, for an adult with a partner and sometimes kids that's way below the average wage.

The scenario you've described doesn't cover most 17 year old rookies. $80k/year for them is way above the average rate

 

[Isaac Cumming No 1]

The scenario you've described doesn't cover most 17 year old rookies. $80k/year for them is way above the average rate

It's from the CBA minimum tables . I dont think it includes Cat B rookies on reflection though.

 

[Isaac Cumming No 1]

Everyone kind of misses the point. Players enjoying themselves isn't some sort of right they have. Whether or not the stresses outweigh the pay or whether you reckon they deserve their time off is irrelevant. It's not about 'deserving' an enjoyable job. It's about how increasing the enjoyment may or may not improve performance - and that's ultimately what we all want.

I'd have some empathy remembering that for every Martin on a mill a season there's a lot of guys battling, but yeah the OP was about performance.

 

[bkozican]

Just clubs trying to impose the footy culture on the modern day athlete...footy player

On the financial side of things...yeah 500k is good when you are 25 but once you factor in the fact that 10 years down the track, your knees are bone on bone, Your 35 and have the brain of 75 year old, bad hips, shoulders are shot...500k isnt that much

 

[Giant Pete]

I noticed Higgins wasn’t pulling gags against the Pies. Tigers got way ahead of themselves.

 

[Leeda]

all good points people.. I like to think I might have had a hand in those things about awareness, teamwork, mental arithmetic, human endeavour
helping a neighbour, noticing when things are not right, and even that .. crumbly thing ... It is not always about you...

humour is my everlasting notion... what I try to return to the grass when I can't return the grass to my self...

it is always taking a lot of brain power but this is a self improving thing over time...

thanks for the indulgence..

 

[HTT]

I noticed Higgins wasn’t pulling gags against the Pies. Tigers got way ahead of themselves.

I'd say the opposite happened. We got wayyy too serious. Club almost closed its doors in prelim week when it should've been open like 2017. No more cracking jokes at half time as was working for us.

 

[Zoom]

I think Dimma has done an exceptional job of humanising the players. He let Dan Rioli stay at his house and now Sydney Stack is. He relates to them on a personal level and not just a professional level. I can see this being a trend in the future. Won’t be long until Bucks is housing young indigenous kids.

 

[Leeda]

I think Dimma has done an exceptional job of humanising the players. He let Dan Rioli stay at his house and now Sydney Stack is. He relates to them on a personal level and not just a professional level. I can see this being a trend in the future. Won’t be long until Bucks is housing young indigenous kids.

I like the story about the players and what happens between the coach and players... however this is an elite game and it doesn't equate to the 'normal' system...

I guess what I am saying is that there has to be a difference between the elite and the local jock who goes good with the local coach who drops a few pints every game..

Just saying that equations are not the same.Rioli number one is not the same as Rioli number two...

Do coaches always take into account that there are these subtle differences..? rhetorical.. dude..

 

[Zoom]

I like the story about the players and what happens between the coach and players... however this is an elite game and it doesn't equate to the 'normal' system...

I guess what I am saying is that there has to be a difference between the elite and the local jock who goes good with the local coach who drops a few pints every game..

Just saying that equations are not the same.Rioli number one is not the same as Rioli number two...

Do coaches always take into account that there are these subtle differences..? rhetorical.. dude..

Wat

 

[Leeda]

Wat

what.. . hemmed in like a chris..
be dynamic...

 

[juss]

Imagine doing something you love, over and over, to a standard you yourself are happy with.

Now, imagine doing it every day of the week for six months. Now, imagine that, the whole time, you're competing against 20 or so other people who want to do that exact thing you want to do. Some of them are better than you at it; some of them have characteristics you lack, which is a huge boner killer because you've never confronted that yet in your life. Now, imagine you're doing this, whilst being evaluated by others in your business, looking for weakness in character, lack of commitment; imagine that it isn't just them, but there are cameras outside your house, near your local cafe, at the bar where you used to spend time with your friends. Imagine that your name is on the front page of the newspaper you used to buy to read the sports section, and when you're at said cafe, everyone does a double-take as they notice you.

Now, imagine that you're so up, so high energy, that it's hard to switch off. You struggle to get to sleep, you struggle not to spend all of your spare time not to train or work harder, because you're always under that pressure. You've been handed a diet plan; you're hungry, and you're tired, but there's still another kilometre to run, another set to work through to put that weight on. You're doing so many things for that thing you love, loved; it barely seems about that anymore. Sure, you're well paid now, and you're being told frequently about how lucky you are, doing what you love and being paid for it. But it doesn't seem that way anymore; you only play once a week, which is the same, but now your entire life, your identity, your existence is fixated on those two hours a week. People who you don't know know your first name for those two hours. People who call you a flog or a dud, a spud, who you don't even know. People who scrawl through facebook/instagram/twitter to find something you said that will get page views, who you don't know and wouldn't know even if you saw them. Professional s**t rakers like Kane Cornes talk about you, about how something you did shows that you're not up to it, and you never will be; you hear it in passing, and it doesn't compute, but then a bit later you hurt your knee, and it hits you. All of it.

You loved the game once. For you it was poetry, euphoria; to be that good, the big fish in the small pond. You've translated your game into the big time, kind of, but then it became a job, and you worked your arse off, and now you're tired and injured, and the weight of it all just hits you. All you have, at that point, is the money you earn; you don't have privacy, you don't have a moment to yourself. You can't even have some toast, some comfort food; it'd interfere with your rehab. You sit there, in the dark, wondering if your partner likes you for you, or for the attention they get on your arm as part of the sideshow.

Do not try to tell me that AFL is not stressful, not hard on those who play it. All that happens to 18 year olds, country wide, their eyes glittering with the prospect of playing the game of dreams. Not everyone knows what they signed up for, and not everyone is capable of living la vida loca.

Yeh its stressful. Like every other job in life. Only a lot of them dont get all the other benefits that come along with AFL footy.
Players know despite all of the above how incredibly, incredibly lucky they are compared to the "average" Australian, some who may be working just as hard, suffer as many injuries, look after their kids, get paid a fifth of what they get paid but without all the free medical, psychological, welfare support AFL players get.
They do all of your above quoted stuff, because it's far better then their alternative life would be without footy. Most of them know this. Why do you think clubs send misbehaving players to go and get a real job and see the real world? It's to show them just how damn privilaged they are.

There are entire teams at football clubs who's sole job it is to look after the players. That doesn't mean their lives are 100% perfect all the time, but it means if anything is going down people are helping them through it.
If Dustin Martin's cat breaks a toenail, the club knows about it and is trying to get it sorted for him.

 

[Papa G]

The majority of AFL players would be on $150k plus.

There aren't too many jobs in the wider community that pay $150k and dont come without significant stresses. Biggest difference is that sportspople by nature tend to be a lot younger/immature. On the other hand they probably lack the pressures of domestic life other people have in that salary scale.

Professional sport is a total performance industry. All players would be well aware of that fact. Mental Health is a huge issue and it is one that is will be supercharged under a professional sport spotlight. Clubs and league have to very mindful of it.

 

[juss]

The majority of AFL players would be on $150k plus.

There aren't too many jobs in the wider community that pay $150k and dont come without significant stresses. Biggest difference is that sportspople by nature tend to be a lot younger/immature. On the other hand they probably lack the pressures of domestic life other people have in that salary scale.

Professional sport is a total performance industry. All players would be well aware of that fact. Mental Health is a huge issue and it is one that is will be supercharged under a professional sport spotlight. Clubs and league have to very mindful of it.

Comparing it to say a nuerosurgeon who might be on 600k a year but working 12-15 hour days due to being on emergancy call for their patients but without a team of people that look after their welfare. Probably a lot more stressful though when you have peoples lives at stake in your hands each day.

 

[Gavin Excell]

How many jobs are actually fun though? Like fun to the point that you would still do it if you weren't getting paid?

The problem professional sportsmen have is their perspective is warped because they compare it to a time when they literally used to play for fun. I bet it's still more fun than 99% of jobs and this is reflected in how few players voluntarily quit to go slave for a normal wage.

Job satisfaction is a lofty goal. Great if you can achieve that in your day to day job but the reality for a lot of people is that tolerating your job is probably what the mark is.

 

[Gethelred]

Yeh its stressful. Like every other job in life. Only a lot of them dont get all the other benefits that come along with AFL footy.
Players know despite all of the above how incredibly, incredibly lucky they are compared to the "average" Australian, some who may be working just as hard, suffer as many injuries, look after their kids, get paid a fifth of what they get paid but without all the free medical, psychological, welfare support AFL players get.
They do all of your above quoted stuff, because it's far better then their alternative life would be without footy. Most of them know this. Why do you think clubs send misbehaving players to go and get a real job and see the real world? It's to show them just how damn privilaged they are.

There are entire teams at football clubs who's sole job it is to look after the players. That doesn't mean their lives are 100% perfect all the time, but it means if anything is going down people are helping them through it.
If Dustin Martin's cat breaks a toenail, the club knows about it and is trying to get it sorted for him.

I don't necessarily disagree with you, and player management/support is way better than what it was.

Just, most of the time players are plucked up by clubs before they've become an adult yet, and before anything they're pushed into a high pressure environment. It's natural that some of them will struggle a bit with a club that sets a harsh tone for players who cannot immediately make the grade, or set players against each other to make a point. And not all players are going to be treated as well as Dustin Martin, either, and most AFL careers are shorter than 8 years. Some will be lucky and earn enough over than time frame to set themselves up for life, but most 18 year olds in my experience don't set themselves up from the get go.

Sometimes, more money, more problems.

 

[Isaac Cumming No 1]

To those who think AFL players have it easy take a look at this Dawson Simpson video. Part of our Monday series. Not every player is a superstar.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Wjo93dACKtg&ved=2ahUKEwjxtqyR7azfAhUbSo8KHSHUDLMQjjgwAnoECAgQAQ&usg=AOvVaw3BAsfMOoh33BKX0MnUga2a&cshid=1545255594072

 

[HolyRioli]

It's from the CBA minimum tables . I dont think it includes Cat B rookies on reflection though.

Sorry, I meant more the scenario of people trying to support a family on $80k/year.

That's not a reality for most 17 year olds.