Two weeks of football means we’ve got averages. Players do, tipsters do, coaches do and, more generally, lovers of the game do. There are comparisons to work with.
Some supporters found solace last weekend in a better performance. Some felt disappointment after a bright start. And the Suns supporters consoled themselves with the fact that they still have the chance to get a better average this weekend. With two weeks under our belt in Season 2011, we are officially back on the bike. The wheels are turning.
And now that we have a season, we can begin comparisons with the seasons which have gone before. Comparative beasts aren’t we? Perhaps it’s all about finding a handrail in life. Or is it a habit we have developed to keep the apparently repetitive, cyclical nature of a footy season – and therefore life – interesting?
Luckily footy, at least, is constantly re-inventing its wheel. There are some obvious changes in Season 2011:
The SUB
It felt a little like watching a pair of caged bear in a third world zoo on the weekend, as Nathan Lovett Murray and Brett Meredith stalked the boundary line for three long quarters. But the subs have proven themselves as an excellent water-cooler topic. Milburn, Macaffer, Petterd and Krakouer all picked up excellent numbers or kicked match turning goals in a single quarter of footy. The accompanying term – ‘activating the sub’ – is already a favourite of mine. The question of the ‘versatile ruck’ will go on and on. And the effects of mass cramping add a certain tension to the final ten minutes of matches.
The PRESS
The customary mimic of the reigning premiers is on and the terminology is stunning! The Bloody flood and Clarko’s Cluster (Hawthorn’s deep defensive rolling zone) have been replaced by … 'the press', and more specifically, 'the half ground press.' Oh happy, happy me.
Technically, the press is defined as the structure set up by the attacking midfielders and forwards, inside the arc of their forward 50, designed to keep the ball inside their scoring zone. The attacking side’s six defenders will press-up high - usually four around the forward 60 mark, and the other two back around the centre circle, meaning 16 players are inside 60. Got to go over or around them.
The ensuing congestion has meant that defenders with a long accurate kick are gold. And I for one love half backs and kick-in specialists. And another positive fall-out of ‘the press’ is the countering terminology – ‘neutralising forward pressure.’ Love it, love it, love it. I’ve already used it in a sentence at the Year 1 Easter Bonnet Parade today.
Scott Pendlebury’s HAIR
Enough said.
In addition to these easily perceptible changes, there are the subtle shifts to which only the highly trained eye and mind affix. Only experience makes them evident. On Australia Day this year, I sat in a local police station making a statement (victim, I assure you, rather than perpetrator). The Senior Constable one-finger typed my statement while simultaneously fielding repeated calls about stolen property. I sympathised with him.
‘It’s going to be a Stolen Goods kind of year,’ he intuited. ‘Last year was a break-and-enter year.’
You get a feel for these things. And a football season is no different.
PREMIERSHIP
There has been early, unseasonal use of the ‘P’ word. It started with Rocket Eade blasting the Bombers into Premiership contention after the Dogs’ heavy loss in Round 1. This week Melbourne skipper Brad Green looked into the glass and saw Hawthorn challenging for the flag. Cat, Matthew Stokes is even claiming Premiership status for his own team. It seems unnatural for such predictions to be flying around unchecked at this time of year. Whatever happened to one week at a time?
PRAISE
In previous seasons, clubs have worked hard to maintain an equilibrium between self belief and healthy respect for the opposition. But this week, a mere two rounds in, we’re facing a ‘love-in’. Pie skipper, Maxwell, is calling the Blues ‘very, very good’; Bailey is calling the Hawks ‘very very good’; McKenna’s calling the prospect of the Bulldogs ‘frightening’; Goodes is hailing Naitanui. Only James Hird is sticking to his guns and assuring us that Sydney’s four-goal-come-from-behind win was simply the loss that was due for his men.
High praise for the opposition may be a handy excuse for a sub-par performance. But I suspect the shift is a clear tick for the Tip Mistress’ favourite football phenomenon – the JU-JU. Killing the opposition with kindness. It certainly worked on the Bombers, despite Hird’s assurances. The game's gone all offensive.
UNPREDICTABILITY
Teams are looking for a sly way in. Richmond’s medicos took Jack Riewoldt down the rooms in the first five minutes of last Friday night’s match and worsened any head injury he had suffered, ensuring he would wear the red vest for the remainder of the night. Richmond had ten goal kickers. Collingwood is averaging 12 goal kickers a game. Major injuries to Mark LeCras, Lenny Hayes and Jonathan Brown are all suspect. Jude Bolton, the veteran hospital on-baller, is the leading goal scorer for the Swans.
The CHAOS BALL
… formerly known as the loose ball.
The DRAW
It has been 100 years since the game had a draw in Round 1 and Round 2.
Mick Malthouse doesn't believe ‘anyone's over the rusty part of the year’ after two rounds. I suspect he’s right. I’m certainly only warming up. It won’t be until three rounds in that we can iron out the anomalies. One good one, one bad one, what will the third be? One draw, one close one, can we get a rout? Dream team prices go up or down after week 3. Fits and starts are over.
Happy tipping!
Bits 'N' Bobs
My video of the week.
My written word of the week.
My favourite, Bob Murphy, is back.
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