The Demon Who Doubted Himself - Hamish Ogilvie's role

[-VC-]

On the surface it doesn't look that relevant to us, but I found the involvement of Hamish Ogilvie in identifying and pursuing with Col Garland quite fascinating. Garland is looking quite good for Melbourne this season and for those who don't know Ogilvie is our Melbourne based Recruiting Manager these days.

Even if there is no interest in that angle, it's a good article to read anyway.

http://www.realfooty.com.au/news/ne...1216163236114.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1

COLIN Garland loves everything about football. At Melbourne, his teammates give him grief because he keeps up with statistics and knows most players' names.

"I'm fairly analytical in nature," explained the 20-year-old this week. "I just like to know a lot about football and the boys all give me stick about it, but sometimes I think it comes in handy. I just really love the game."

This has not always been such a great thing. When Garland was chosen for his first match last year, under Neale Daniher, he didn't feel ready. He was so shy he still struggled to make conversation with his teammates, and he wasn't even sure why he had been picked.

"I wasn't sure why I was there, and I think that hampered me a little bit," he said. "Even when I played my second game, about 10 weeks later, I felt more prepared for it form-wise, but mentally I still wasn't sure. I was thinking about all the blokes in history who only got one handball in their first game and I found that really hard.

"I guess when I first went in I was worried about making mistakes. Then, this year, I got sent back to Sandringham after three games and something sort of changed. I played two games down there and I just thought, 'I can do this level, so why shouldn't I try and step it up?' My confidence sort of flowed from there."

Garland's love for the game is even more interesting considering he didn't play football for a long time, a junior career being something he was not only uninterested in, but deliberately avoided for almost four years. Hamish Ogilvie, who ran the Tasmanian junior program for several seasons, spotted him for the first time when he was 14, playing in a school game in Hobart. Ogilvie was umpiring the match, but it was impossible to not keep an eye on the tall, athletic teenager.

"He was playing at centre half-back and every time the ball came down, he marked it," he said. "He would have taken 19 marks. At that level of footy, anyone with some talent will stand out. But it was clear he had something special."

After that match, Ogilvie asked Garland to play for the Southern Swans in the under-16 state championships. He agreed to, and played well, then didn't show up for an under-16 state team trial in Launceston. He played only under-17 football for North Hobart the following year, resisting Ogilvie's monthly calls, emails and pleas to join the state program. Having played against the likes of Jack Riewoldt, Mitch Thorp and Tom Hislop, Garland felt he could play well alongside them. But he had reasons for staying away.

"Coming from a single-parent family, there were things going on and it was more about not wanting to ask my mum to get me to training and putting that extra pressure on her," he said. "The other reservation I had was that I didn't want to just walk right in and take somebody's place in the team. They'd all done a pre-season and I hadn't, and I didn't want people thinking, this guy reckons he can just walk in and do what he wants.

"I always knew I could play when I was older, when I could get myself to training and games. I always loved the game, watching it and playing it, so I always thought I could do it if I wanted to, but at the time I just didn't want to be there."

The following year, though, the "harassment" stepped up. Off no pre-season training, Garland played some practice games for the North Hobart seniors, then kicked six goals in his second game and 10.6 in his fifth. His coach, Brent Williams, and a handful of teammates rounded him up, and told him he shouldn't be letting this chance go.

Talked into training with the under-18 team, Garland was then thrown on a plane to Melbourne, where the Mariners were to play the Western Jets in a TAC Cup match, on the premise that it would be handy for him to see how the team did things on the road.

Ogilvie's plan all along, however, was to play him. "We were a bit sneaky," he said. "We got out to Williamstown and we said, 'OK, this guy's out, you're playing. Out you go.' And he played really, really well. I'd almost given up on getting him in, to be honest. I didn't give up, but I never thought he would come."

From there, his journey quickly sped up. He played for the under-18 state side at the national championships, finishing the year in the Tassie Devils VFL side and finally at draft camp.

"It was weird. At one point Hamish came up to me and said, 'I haven't asked you, do you actually want to play AFL footy?' I hadn't thought about it and even after the camp I didn't know if I could make the transition.

"I guess I always thought that if I made the decision to go in the draft and did get drafted I was going to have a fair crack at it. Once I decided to nominate, I was always going to try and succeed."

That remains the case: Garland has enjoyed playing against Lance Franklin, Nick Riewoldt and Robert Murphy, among others, and is starting to think less about how big their names are. Over his first 14 games, he has slowly found himself worrying more and more about his team, rather than his own progression.

He also knows how proud his mother, Shirley, is of what he's achieved.

"She rings after every game and tapes every game," he said. "At the nursing home she works in, they all sit around and watch the game. Her last name is Miller, so because all the old people are pretty senile they all think her son is Brad Miller. She was pretty popular when he kicked the winning goal against Brisbane."

 

[Dogga79]

Good article.

You know stories like that always make me wonder about all the genuine talent that goes to waste. Some blokes like Garland are lucky and get rounded up before they blow it. But seeing as much junior footy as you have I'm sure you have got many story's that begins with " I wonder what happened to......"

Some people cant be convinced and only realise it when its too late. Especially in AFL where being 19 or 20 is nearly too old to be drafted. There are always exceptions,but they are few and far between.

I wonder how many gems Ogilvie will identify and send our way. The late draft picks are where the really recruiters earn their dough. Seems to be where we have been most successful too.

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

You know stories like that always make me wonder about all the genuine talent that goes to waste. Some blokes like Garland are lucky and get rounded up before they blow it. But seeing as much junior footy as you have I'm sure you have got many story's that begins with " I wonder what happened to......"

Some people cant be convinced and only realise it when its too late. Especially in AFL where being 19 or 20 is nearly too old to be drafted. There are always exceptions,but they are few and far between.

When you see footballers like Jason Porplyzia - not wanted by any club, sent back to the SANFL and barely scraping onto an AFL list - emerge as a star you have to ask how many other gems are being missed.

The emphasis on endurance running and speed, height and athleticism seems to have reduced the opportunity for the old school, skillful footballer to be drafted. The above qualities are valued higher than ball handling, reading the play, finding the footy etc.

There was a fad in international cricket where it was thought that multi-faceted allrounders were the way of the future. The South Africans lead the way - Pollock, McMillan, Klusener, Kallis, Kemp, Hall, Boje... and there were a million others. All handy with the bat and handy with the ball without being a superstar at either. However, time and again it was proven that it was the pure cricketers - Shane Warne, Steve Waugh, Glenn McGrath, even Damien Fleming - who won games of cricket.

I wonder if football will go through the same evolution? At the moment a typical line up features two key forwards, two key defenders, two ruckmen... and 16 six foot two running machines rotating through the midfield and other positions.

The specialist forward pocket seems to be re-emerging as a pivotal role - Lindsay Thomas, Alan Didak, Matt Campbell, Rhan Hooper, Leon Davis, Austin Wonaemirri... And Sam Mitchell is the closest we've had to a Diesel Williams since he retired. Will AFL swing back the other way?

 

[Dogga79]

I wonder if football will go through the same evolution? At the moment a typical line up features two key forwards, two key defenders, two ruckmen... and 16 six foot two running machines rotating through the midfield and other positions.

The specialist forward pocket seems to be re-emerging as a pivotal role - Lindsay Thomas, Alan Didak, Matt Campbell, Rhan Hooper, Leon Davis, Austin Wonaemirri... And Sam Mitchell is the closest we've had to a Diesel Williams since he retired. Will AFL swing back the other way?

Players like Jake King are starting to find their way back on to AFL lists as well.

I found it interesting when I was watching the U/18 champs on Fox they were discussing who gets selected for state representation. Cant remember who said it but most players were selected on who would be best suited for AFL footy. To me that says that some young players who are just as talented but don't fit a perceived AFL player stereotype maybe don't get as many opportunity's as they should. I can see why it happens but, how many 5'8 players that cant run the Beijing marathon in record time are wasting away in state and club leagues. It looks like ability these days is only a small part of it.

But I don't profess to know better, and I am sure all clubs exhaustively look at ways to improve their list.