“Gone are the days of turning up to training to work on your skills, and then playing the game to the best of your ability.”

You must be kidding yourself Mr. Rollins! AFL footballers must be some of the fittest and skilful sportspeople in the land.  I can guarantee you that the 25+ hours per week that these players spend training is not about taking pills (of every variety) or wearing ice vests - but about game plans, tactics and refining individual skills to mould within the team structure.

Yes, the days of large neanderthals dominating the game with booming kicks (and fists) are over. Instead, we see amazing athletes - a greaty many who would bolster our national athletics team - running, jumping and kicking at a level never seen before.

Mr. Rollins, you must never have been an athlete or sportsperson. I guarantee you that 99% of elite athletes (including footballers) would punch you fair on the nose if you said to them they didn’t want to play to the best of their ability. Because that is why people play sport, to compete at their best - and have fun.

Regards,

Mark Worley

Mark,

My point in relation to: “Gone are the days of turning up to training to work on your skills, and then playing the game to the best of your ability” is that this alone is apparently no longer enough - players are now involved in this trendy technological nonsense. 

I was not suggesting that players don’t give 100% at training or in games - but I understand that that is the impression I gave based on how it was written.

Further, I completely agree with your paragraph two.

Apart from that your last two paragraphs are completely irrelevant.  I fail to see how the more traditional method of training equates to “neanderthal” behaviour, and your assertion that the old days had more fistwork in it is both irrelevant to the argument and untrue based upon the pathetic crap that occurs week in and week out on the football field.  The public and administrative attitude towards football violence has changed, but the behaviour on field hasn’t.

Finally, your carry on about whether or not I am an athlete leads me to believe that: 1] You consider yourself an athlete and therefore you are required to enter into a comparison of size contest, 2] As a self-determined “athlete” you think you have exclusive rights to sport opinion, 3] As an “athlete” you have a brain that evolved to be smaller than the rest of the human race.

I threw point three in to see how you like generalisations.  You didn’t like it, did you Mark?

Geoff Rollins’ view seems to be that if money is involved in an activity or pastime, then ipso facto it must be judged, and dismissed, as prostituted.

And is there anything intrinsiclly evil about applying empirical bio-physical science to high-level physical activity?

And to [sneeringly, it seems] diss players as programmed robots reduces Rollins’ point to one of personal invective.

Granted there are many aspects of the modern game which grate [for example, having, arguably, the nation’s most hated corporate entity as a venue and website sponsor], for spectacular athleticism and physical endeavour it has few rivals -  and this from football incompetent!!

Despite the media’s tendency to publicise only the occasional dill, AFL players, by and large, come across as reasonably decent people and, being very aware of the very temporary tenure of their current jobs, as quite capable of leading sensible and balanced lives.

There’s nothing wrong with using bio-physical science at all.  However IV drips, hypoxic therapy, low altitude flying etcetera is just plain ridiculous as anyone with an ounce of commonsense will be able to see.  Perhaps these methods and the others I originally mentioned do work - but so what?  It’s become a joke.  If these are the lengths that coaches will go to, to go one up on the opposition then what will be next? Just play the bloody game.

And Leonard, your first paragraph is simply incorrect and was clearly not the thrust of my argument.

Geoff, Geoff, Geoff!

I certainly did not expect such an agressive response!  I am certainly not an athlete anymore — the biceps get a bit of a workout from beer drinking (maybe that is what is making my brain smaller!) — but having been involved in the sporting community for more than ten years I can see the points you are making from a different point of view.

If caffeine tablets are legal, then the players should be able to use them. Simple.  Or should we stop athletes from taking vitamin C tablets and good nutritious foods-which also help improve performance?

If an athlete has the means available to try (and sometimes use) non-traditional training methods, then as far as I am concerned they should do it.  Why wouldn’t it be a good idea to use legal means of increasing performance?  Of course you maybe a well studied sport science who has the evidence to back up your claims that these practices are ‘absurd.’

I don’t know what your profession is, so you’re right I may be generalising a bit - but I am sure that the AFL coaching and administrative fraternities would like to see your research papers on the topic as they may be able to save a bit of money.

An issue in football that does require some airtime is recreational drug use.  And local Tassie Devils coach Mathew Armstrong needs to begin a drug testing regime for his charges before the rumours flying about town turn out to be substantiated.

Athletes will always attempt to better their performance.  The sporting community needs to make sure that athletes and the public are educated as to why some supplements are banned and others are legal.

No offence intended Geoff,

Mark Worley

Mark,

Thanks for the reply.

There’s not much point talking to me about aggressive replies when you replied to me originally stating that 99% of elite athletes would like to punch me in the face.  So you probably need to step down from the high horse.

Look, my opinion is quite simply that the focus on technical issues and so called science is bizarre and has gone way too far.  I was just gobsmacked when I first heard of players getting hooked up to a drip at half time.

That’s it, that’s all the point was - it’s stupid, so utterly stupid.

To try and address some of your other points briefly - the caffeine tablet thing isn’t big news, but it is fairly typical of the AFL environment at the moment.  It’s all about external means of betterment and whilst this trend continues to grow, it is my opinion that the point is somewhat lost.

I believe this attitude at the elite level ultimately filters down through the ranks and leads younger players to believe that using external supplements and technologies are critically important to their development.  This is erroneous and a concern.

But generally speaking, in my book what you are saying is quite logical and sensible particularly in regard to recreational drug use.  I just won’t agree that some of the more extreme training methods are worthwhile or hold merit.