I was watching our goals kicked in the '76 grand final this morning (Thanks giantroo for all the awesome videos

Absolute legend!) - a great way to watch that match, cos watching only our goals being scored gives the impression we were winning or something.
I was struck by how "soft" the game was then compared to know. Now I need to careful what I mean by soft. I don't mean the off the ball and contested stuff - it was brutal, and a hard game for hard men. They hit just as hard, or harder, than now, no doubt.
What I mean was in in-play stuff - the free kicks were so tiggy touchwood and the whistle was constantly being blown for almost nothing (especially holding the man), the tackling was almost non-existent, and a "mark" involved juggling the ball a couple of times before it hit the deck - controlling the ball being optional.
Such a different game! The skills were deplorable by today's standards (other than goal kicking of course - the handballing is hilarious!) and there seems to be almost no set plays or tactics involved, just bomb it long and fly for a mark and hope like hell...but gee it is exciting and free flowing and awesome!