Short cuts replace time and effort
AFL draft free kicks and cricket injury subs thin edge of the wedge
It may be a reflection of modern society but short cuts have become commonplace in elite sport.
Whether it is West Coast seeking – and receiving – numerous recruiting free kicks because of their recent self-inflicted mediocrity, the AFL doing away with the central bounce because not enough umpires are capable or interested in perfecting the traditional skill, or cricket introducing injury subs because they don’t like the occasional 11 v 10 contests that occur when a player breaks down during a match, the essence of sport is being eroded from within.
It is all about the search for instant success and a lack of interest in time and effort being the method for teams, organisations and individuals to overcome a lack of competitiveness.
The Eagles have had a shocking half-decade full of wilful blindness, entrenched incompetence and evaporation of the ruthlessness that was once in their DNA.
Now extra draft picks are provided as a reward for their failure.
Comfortable participation appears more important than using the bitterness of defeat to drive a new level of excellence.
The extinction of the bounce is another symptom of the same disease.
Football’s quintessential bounce is about to become obsolete.
One of the unique traits that makes Australian football such a rare and special sport, the bounce has been abandoned because not enough umpires can do it well enough.
But what about those who can? Why should their excellence be compromised by their inept colleagues?
Why should standards drop to the lowest common denominator, not rise to the heights of the best?
The game is better with umpires bouncing the ball.
The ball rises to a greater height, provides a superior spectacle and gives the better ruckman more time to position themselves to take advantage of the contest.
It is a brilliant and spectacular part of football which will be poorer for its loss.
The move to experience with injury subs in Sheffield Shield ranks is the thin end of a wedge that will lead to games being played by opposing squads, not teams, and the blight of interchange diminishing cricket’s purest form – the games played in the first-class arena.
First-class status requires matches to be played by teams of 11 – not 12 or more – which was why another former selection chairman, Rod Marsh, argued vehemently that some shield matches should lose their status when players were replaced to allow them to manage their preparation for Test matches.
“I don’t like it,” the singular Marsh told me in 2016 while he was chairman.
“I don’t think anyone who has played a lot of cricket likes to think you only play half a game. I hate the thought of a first-class match being diluted in any shape or form. If it was my decision they would not retain first-class status.”
Diluted. Marsh hit the nail on the head with that description and it applies equally to Cricket Australia’s latest brain fade.
Getting rid of the bounce is a ridiculous decision by the AFL. It’s a feature of footy. A number of years ago I was at a Richmond v Melbourne game and was seated next to two Poms who had arrived in Australia that morning for a year long teaching exchange. Their first question was, “Is this the game where they bounce the ball at the start?”. Enough said.
Does this rule change automatically apply to all other competitions such as the WAFL, Amateurs and suburban leagues? Shame, AFL, shame.
JT Oh how right you are. Yes, bring the bounce down to the incompetent and dilute the wonderful asset it is to OUR game. As for the cricket we have built a bunch of softies. Get Geoff Lawson on the line again to repeat for the thousandth time. "I bowled for half an hour in the nets every day" now that cricket.