Rory Sloane (left) and Taylor Walker both spoke glowingly of the pre-season camp.
Photo: AAP
After a couple of seasons at West Coast I had an ASA (additional service agreement) built into my salary package, requiring me to provide the Eagles with some form of marketing service.
Expediency is usually the most important thing a footballer looks for when it comes to fulfilling that part of their employment contract, however when I sat down with West Coasts commercial operations to discuss what I could do, I thought writing an article for the website would be a positive way to fulfil the ASA.
My first article was about how I didnt think that footballers were any more special than anyone else in society and as such should not automatically be sought out by young people as role models. I felt they would be better served to model behaviour on individuals they actually knew and could be certain were positive role models.
The level of hysteria that relatively simple argument caused caught me completely off guard. There was outrage that as a young athlete I didnt appreciate the privilege bestowed upon me and that I wasnt living up to my end of the bargain, a bargain implicitly signed by becoming an AFL player with the resultant trappings.
My internal reaction was one of horror, that as part of a team chasing a win each week – and ultimately a premiership – I had created a distraction to the groups common goal. Upon reflection, I vowed to never allow that to happen again and succumbed (against my nature) to the “group think”-type answers when commenting publicly on issues for the rest of my playing career.
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Listening to Rory Sloane at the start of the year talking about the now infamous Adelaide camp, saying that he left the camp as a “better husband, a better son and a much better teammate” reminded me of the pressures you feel as a player to make comments (or not make comments) that will ease pressure on your club.
Of course, its possible that the camp could have been as transformational for Rory as he said, but if it was, its unlikely that Adelaide wouldve parted with the camps organisers Collective Mind, because such transformations over a short period of time are incredibly rare and not to be undervalued.
When your thoughts differ to the group you represent theres a cost if you continually ignore your own thoughts and toe the party line.
Rory is not the only Adelaide player to utter words that contrast with other information about the camp: Tex Walker, Eddie Betts and other senior players have spoken positively about the camp.
Again, its possible this is true, but if its not, and the words were spoken to ease pressure on the club even if they werent believed by the players voicing them, there is a hidden cost to those individuals and in turn the club.
There is nothing wrong with having thoughts or beliefs that are aligned with the majority or the group. But when your thoughts differ to the group you represent theres a cost if you continually ignore your own thoughts and toe the party line.
Players who do so eventually decrease their ability to think critically on all sorts of issues and risk becoming stale as they miss out on the energising effect that comes from learning and evolving your own beliefs.
There is also a cost, however, if players dont succumb to “group think”. They risk significant media scrutiny that may bring unwanted pressure on the whole club, and they must be prepared to deal with the “outraged mob” who are prevalent in todays highly connected world.
Being able to order the world in groups is a simple way for people to make sense of the world and is why the outrage is so palpable when a view is presented that questions the status quo. It challenges the way some peoples world view is, which naturally leads to discomfort.
My article about role models at West Coast was a case in point; the desire by many to group all footballers into one category is a more orderly narrative than trying to explain what 800 different individuals are really like.
Shaun Higgins had a big game against his former club.
Photo: AAP
The balance of celebrating the individual versus what the team needs is arguably the greatest challenge faced by AFL coaches, but is also of the utmost importance. Because when the game is up for grabs, and a critical contest needs to be won, its individuals who are asked to win the contest. And its incredible how often it is the same individuals at each club who continue to answer the call when the game asks the question.
Watching the Kangaroos play the Western Bulldogs on Saturday night reaffirmed this belief. In the dying stages of the game, when all looked lost for the Kangaroos, it was the individual brilliance of Shaun Higgins, coupled with Ben Brown and Jack Ziebell, that carried their team over the line.
Efforts from individuals that bought the group the desired result.
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