Players that changed the Game

[Hump 17]

Simple question which players have changed the way the games played? Which player has had coaches change tactics and at the same time given other players something to work towards.

Two Saint players come to mind one is Riewoldt as the zone was a defensive structure to counter his running ability. The other is Robert Harvey mid fielders today have him to blame for the kms they do.

 

[Prestigerrycomo]

Daicos

[YOUTUBE]9sdZMMwJcHs[/YOUTUBE]

 

[WCE_phil]

Of recent times primus is one that springs to mind. Dominant to the level that the afl changed the rules twice because of him imo.

 

[vjknight]

yes 1st player thought of was daicos - not just cos he is collingwood, but more his approach to goalkicking.

for years his little dribble kicks & ability to get the ball to turn, following some magical line between the goal posts was considering arse/fluke, but as modern players have come to realise, its simply hours n hours of practice and trying something different. essentially everyone now knows how to make the ball turn, make it ball follow that magical line.

sandilands is doing the same to ruckwork - expect plenty of 210cm monsters in coming years.

 

[Rioli magic]

one is Riewoldt as the zone was a defensive structure to counter his running ability.

I really don't think that's why the zone was implemented, he's just a victim of it.


...
Barry Cable

 

[Fastback]

Daicos

[youtube]9sdZMMwJcHs[/youtube]

Agreed, his work off the ball to get into position and create something from nothing was extraordinary. Would still be as good as any medium fwd today including S Johnson as his skills on both sides was sublime and reading/anticipation better than any.

 

[NeRFaHoLIc]

Of recent times primus is one that springs to mind. Dominant to the level that the afl changed the rules twice because of him imo.

First that came to mind.

 

[Jamie007]

From Carlton..

Greg Williams, made handballing a weapon of mass destruction.

Kouta. Led the way for pure athletes to be selected at the draft over pure footballers. Leigh Matthews said Kouta was the perfect person to clone to be your ultimate footballer.

 

[Collins-Langford-Ayres]

Dermott Brereton.

They actually changed the rules of the game because of him.

 

[Hump 17]

I really don't think that's why the zone was implemented, he's just a victim of it.


...
Barry Cable

Edd said in his interview with Riewoldt Tuesday that Malthouse basically structured his zone to help stop Riewoldt.

 

[Rioli magic]

Edd said in his interview with Riewoldt Tuesday that Malthouse basically structured his zone to help stop Riewoldt.

I thought you were talking about changing the way the game is played? Malthouse wasn't the first to adopt a zone, and his (forward pressing) was an extention of Lyons, who certainly wasn't trying to counter Reiwoldt's effectiveness...

 

[blues_future]

Two obvious ones are Bartlett - the rules on bouncing/dropping the ball were changed due to him; and Hudson - the 50m centre square was brought in to counter Kennedy's tactics of isolating him in the forward line and having every other Hawk on the ball.
Silvagni and other full backs helped hasten the hands in the back rule
Cousins through his super fitness/gut running brought in the era of super running that enabled the game to be much more crowded and led to the sub rule
Coaches have changed the game more than players as you would expect. The 50m penalty was a reaction to coaches using 15 m to slow the game down. Then there is flooding, possession, zones etc etc. Was it Peter Moore and Gary Dempsey whose wrestle fest in the ruck started various changes to the rules about rucks
And of cause two Brisbane bears led to changes about manning the mark when one (Richardson?) got on the others shoulders to successfully defend a shot after the siren by Beasley??

 

[winty]

From Carlton..

Greg Williams, made handballing a weapon of mass destruction.

Polly Farmer was doing that 20 years before Williams even entered the league.

 

[Honeyboy Wilson]

Of recent times primus is one that springs to mind. Dominant to the level that the afl changed the rules twice because of him imo.

Yep, first one I thought of.

 

[The Teacher]

Dermott Brereton.

They actually changed the rules of the game because of him.

How so C-A-L?

Although he not the first to play a 'ruck rover' role, Ron Barassi made it compulosry for a few decades.

Walls - the huddle from kick-ins.

Roos - the flood?


Dicko

 

[speedpeck23]

and Hudson - the 50m centre square was brought in to counter Kennedy's tactics of isolating him in the forward line and having every other Hawk on the ball.

Agree, they should call it the Hudson/Kennedy square.

 

[Jamie007]

Mr Carey tried to change our game..

Umpire Carey that is..

 

[blitzer]

I suppose Lloyd warrants a mention for the wrong reasons - the rule change for a shorter period of time to kick at goal came in because of his goal kicking routine.

I'd say in most of these cases it wasn't the players themselves that changed the games more like opposition coaches using tactics to gain an advantage or nullify an edge of the opposition.

 

[Scodog10]

IMO Dane Swan. He isn't so much a player that coaches changed game plan's to negate, but rather changed game plan's to emulate. Which intern led to a rule change.

10 years ago the interchange was trending towards increasing, but with the introduction of mass interchanges the AFL will look to further limit the size of the interchange bench in the future.

Swan's overall endurance isn't particularly flash, but his burst running is. He'll spend 5 minutes on the ground then 2 minutes off monotonously for the length of a match which allows him to run at his peak for that short burst and pick up 4-5 possessions in that period.

I don't know if burst footy is a good thing for the game or not, but it's something that can be linked with the success of Swan as a footballer. For example rotations soared at the end of 2007, which was when Swan started to breakout as a player. They peaked in 2010 when Swan was at his zenith and dropped off slightly in 2011 along with Swan's form.

 

[Timmy from Thomastown]

No Dane Swan, no sub rule.

 

[1980GFVideo]

Aaron Fiora.

After we selected him before Pavilich, no club would ever make the same mistake of picking a flashy small man over a potential star key position player.

Ohh wait...........

 

[Igloo]

Primus was the first to come to mind.

Was Libba one of the first really tight "taggers"? Everyone else would be before my time, so I wouldn't know.

 

[1980GFVideo]

Primus was the first to come to mind.

Was Libba one of the first really tight "taggers"? Everyone else would be before my time, so I wouldn't know.

Shane Heard was one of the first in that area. He may been the bloke who took minding your opponent to the level of tagging. Libba took it to a higher level though.

 

[Sin City]

Of recent times primus is one that springs to mind. Dominant to the level that the afl changed the rules twice because of him imo.

Yep.

Also Luke Darcy grabbing hold of the ball in ruck contests so often led to the holding the ball rules being changed.

 

[thecatattack]

Polly Farmer revolutionized the handball.