Spontaneity On Game Day Is All In The Preparation

The Age

Friday August 17, 2007

Tony Shaw

Match-day magic in the coach's box is rarely spur-of-the-moment and most likely comes from spells conjured during the preceding week.

THERE are 65,000 people at the MCG, two minutes to go and your team is down by four points. The coach of the trailing side is being watched by hordes of supporters. They're hoping he can pull off a miracle - a move that will designate him a super coach.

The over-the-top scrutiny of a coach's game-day ability is comical at times. Game day is, in fact, the easiest part of coaching. The week-to-week process is where a coach wins or loses credits.

Ask any coach, whether they are perceived as successful or not, the number of times a specific move has been made that could categorically be said to have won a game and I would be fairly positive that the reply would be "seldom".

Examples from three games that I saw live last weekend support my view. Richmond started Brett Deledio forward. Collingwood would have seen that as a possibility but got the match-up wrong. James Clement or Heath Shaw would have been a better option than Alan Toovey.

In the Geelong-Adelaide game, Neil Craig put Brett Burton loose in defence halfway through the first quarter to stop the onslaught. Burton would have been one of the designated players for that role before the start of the game.

In Hawthorn v Brisbane Lions, Trent Croad stayed on Jonathan Brown all day despite being beaten. Alastair Clarkson stayed with the match-up because of the positive situation of the game in Hawthorn's favour and would have been thinking: "Who else could do better?"

These scenarios would have been played out hundreds of times in match committees during the week. Match day is important, but it is only a culmination of the week-day process, which needs some explaining.

The final siren sounds and, as coach, you start to plot for next week. Depending on the result, you work hard on controlling egos and over-the-top celebrations to immediately build on the positive aspects - especially after a poor performance.

There's the possibility of a quick review after the game and then follows the injury assessment and initial player availability for next week. The post-match news conference takes shape with the obvious emotional scenarios. Club post-match functions are part of the territory.

Post-match rehabilitation may entail a coach's presence but in this day and age you would think the support staff would reduce the necessity for a coach's presence.

Many clubs have forward scouts, but, where possible, senior coaches would attend games of prospective opponents up to three weeks in advance. It is always better to see with your own eyes what may be transpiring.

It seems that the official game review can be held the day after a match, or if rehabilitation has taken precedence, even two days after a game. This organisation would be based around factors such as short weeks and possible travel commitments.

Game review is the precursor to the busiest time of the week - the game ahead.

Some coaches know their opposition better than their own team, while some coaches have a strong belief in their own game plan and personnel and give the opposition's set-ups less credence.

Statistics, video review and game-style analysis are all part and parcel of a coach's role. Role-playing and areas of concern such as defence, forwards and midfields will have feedback from specific coaches under the guidance of the senior coach.

History can play its part; match-ups that have failed in the past will prompt different strategies while others will be repeated if they have been successful.

The nature of training for your strengths and weaknesses is the most time consuming. What drills best emulate the style of play you require? Player availability constantly hangs over your head like an axe.

New trends in match-ups, such as Campbell Brown and Harry O'Brien playing key defensive roles on bigger opponents, need to be identified and implemented as soon as possible.

The continual "what ifs" scenarios are debated and argued over many hours in many match committee meetings. The very plans you set in place during the week help you cope with a failed strategy 10-15 minutes into the first quarter.

Senior coaches have greater help these days as football department staff expand but the cohesion between all staff is the senior coach's responsibility. Player development on an individual basis is on-going and involves all levels of coaching.

To add to the workload, club commitments during the week and a fairly important issue known as "the family" on a more personal level makes a senior coach's life fairly arduous.

If any coach is surprised by what comes from an opposition coach's box, then maybe they need to look at their mid-week processes. Games that have been won off a one-off move are as frequent as hens' teeth. History says they have occurred but most have been born from necessity more than ingenuity.

We would love to think that game day is the sole domain of a super coach as he waves his magic wand. Reality tells us differently, but who am I to meddle with the romanticism of our game?

You make up your own mind - which of our coaches are the AFL's version of Harry Potter's Professor Dumbledore?