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PUNT ROAD END | Richmond Tigers Forum
Every player recruited into the AFL starts with one question foremost in his mind. “Am I good enough to play in this competition?”
In any competitive sport, all participants start from the same point and their response to this question largely determines their success or failure within that sport and ultimately their entire life. In the AFL, due to the salary cap and draft processes, teams are “levelled out” and the question of mental strength or a player’s belief in their ability against competitors is the most important determining factor in a team’s success.
I believe it is the first and primary role of any coach to help his players to answer this question. To convince a player that the coach has faith in them, that they do belong in this competition and that they will succeed. From this the player gains a belief in himself (and his team mates) and the confidence to play to the utmost of his ability and sometimes even beyond what they previously believed they were capable of achieving.
Watching Essendon (against Collingwood) and Carlton (against the Bulldogs), it struck me that each team has a game plan in which every player knows his role, has expanded and developed his skills into it and now is moving beyond it into an ever more effective and expressive role within the team.
Consider the following players:
Hille –last year was questioned as to his ability as the captain and even if he deserved his place in the team, this year he is one of the most effective big men in the competition and is being touted as an All-Australian ruck.
Lloyd - last year it was suggested that the game had passed him by and that he was failing as a captain and a goal scoring forward, this year he has regained his best form and indeed may be playing the best football of his career.
McPhee – last year was failing as a key defender while this year he has become one of the best outside link men in the competition.
Monfries – was failing to have an effect as a wingman and now is one of the best small defensive forwards.
McVeigh and Welsh – were dour stoppers with limited ability and have now become clearance specialists.
You can also include Ryder, Stanton, Watson, Slattery, Lonergan, Jetta and Riemers in the group of player to blossom under Knight’s coaching.
At Carlton, Ratten has improved the team by developing the confidence and increasing the contribution of formerly minor players like Wiggins, Bentick, Carrozzo, Fisher, Grigg, Armfield, Walker and even Gibbs.
The thing that I think has made the difference in the development of all these players is they appear to know what to do and when to do it. They seem to know very clearly what the game plan is and what their role is within that game plan, so there is little hesitation in their decision-making and this in turn leads to confidence in their ability to perform the skills required to complete the action.
A former coach was talking to me about our old team which was very successful.
He said “That team was a really talented side”.
I replied “We weren’t that talented, we just knew what our team mates were going to do all the time”.
He responded “Isn’t that what makes a talented team?”
To be a good coach in any team sport it is essential that you can give a clear, CONSISTENT explanation of your game plan and every player’s role within that game plan as the starting point of your coaching.
At Richmond, I believe we have failed in this area.
The game plan changes constantly - the “run and carry’, uncontested game of the three previous years has now changed to an emphasis on tackling and contested footy.
The roles within that game plan change constantly – Schulz and Polak are constantly switched between forward and back. Even Riewoldt has been switched to defence and Moore to attack. King, Newman, Tambling, Deledio, White, Jackson and Deledio are moved all around the field and into jobs at which they have little or no experience. It is all very well to say that you are developing them as flexible, all round players but at least give them time to gain confidence in their ability as an AFL player before moving them out of their comfort zone.
At Richmond we have a majority of our player that lack confidence – King, Thursfield, McGuane, Tambling, Pattison, Morton, Riewoldt, Deledio, Schulz, Polak, Jackson, White, Foley, Polo, Hyde, JON and Hughes. Even our senior players like Johnson, Newman, Bowden, Simmonds and Tivendale are not immune.
All show signs that they are scared of making the wrong decision, become tentative and hesitant and subsequently their skills fail.
There has been a lot of talk about leadership in the AFL this year. I don’t think you can expect leadership when the player has not gained the confidence of answering the basic question. “Am I good enough to play in this competition?”
Listening to ABC radio about a month ago (before the Port match?), there was an interview with Mark William’s sister (Jenny?) who had been an international lacrosse (?) player and she was discussing her university thesis which deals with recruiting for leadership skills within sporting teams. Her opening line was “If the game is on the line, whose hands do you want the ball in?” Stan Alves response was immediately “Mine”. She then talked about that as the essence of leadership – that you believe you are the one that is best equipped to affect the result. How many of our Richmond players have shown they want the ball in their hands when the result is on the line?
There was a Nathan Brown article recently that said that Richmond had employed both Leading Teams and Stealth Development to consult on leadership development at the club.
http://www.puntroadend.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=32983.0
The thing that concerns me most about this is that I would think the styles of these two companies are more or less directly opposed.
Leading Teams seems to have a philosophy that all members of a team, even the most junior, have the power and even the responsibility to act upon others to improve the performance of the group. The most sensational of the methods they use is the questioning of team leaders to expose how they may be failing the group because of entrenched beliefs they hold. The aim is to result in dynamic, individually empowered teams.
Stealth Development seems to be based on the traditional armed service method which in my experience revolves round a process of breaking down the individual totally and then rebuilding them as members of a mutually dependant group. This is great for team bonding and blind obedience to the established hierarchy, but is not so great for developing leaders.
If Richmond is to develop confident, effective players and leaders I think we need to do a lot better in our processes and not simply blame the players themselves by saying he’s a dud or doesn’t have the skills to be an AFL player.
I am pleased that at least the board are recognising this with the appointment of a sports psychologist as our development manager and a move away from the traditional methods to a more cutting edge process. My only fear is that Jeff Bond was responsible for the (to me) contradictory styles of leadership training.
In any competitive sport, all participants start from the same point and their response to this question largely determines their success or failure within that sport and ultimately their entire life. In the AFL, due to the salary cap and draft processes, teams are “levelled out” and the question of mental strength or a player’s belief in their ability against competitors is the most important determining factor in a team’s success.
I believe it is the first and primary role of any coach to help his players to answer this question. To convince a player that the coach has faith in them, that they do belong in this competition and that they will succeed. From this the player gains a belief in himself (and his team mates) and the confidence to play to the utmost of his ability and sometimes even beyond what they previously believed they were capable of achieving.
Watching Essendon (against Collingwood) and Carlton (against the Bulldogs), it struck me that each team has a game plan in which every player knows his role, has expanded and developed his skills into it and now is moving beyond it into an ever more effective and expressive role within the team.
Consider the following players:
Hille –last year was questioned as to his ability as the captain and even if he deserved his place in the team, this year he is one of the most effective big men in the competition and is being touted as an All-Australian ruck.
Lloyd - last year it was suggested that the game had passed him by and that he was failing as a captain and a goal scoring forward, this year he has regained his best form and indeed may be playing the best football of his career.
McPhee – last year was failing as a key defender while this year he has become one of the best outside link men in the competition.
Monfries – was failing to have an effect as a wingman and now is one of the best small defensive forwards.
McVeigh and Welsh – were dour stoppers with limited ability and have now become clearance specialists.
You can also include Ryder, Stanton, Watson, Slattery, Lonergan, Jetta and Riemers in the group of player to blossom under Knight’s coaching.
At Carlton, Ratten has improved the team by developing the confidence and increasing the contribution of formerly minor players like Wiggins, Bentick, Carrozzo, Fisher, Grigg, Armfield, Walker and even Gibbs.
The thing that I think has made the difference in the development of all these players is they appear to know what to do and when to do it. They seem to know very clearly what the game plan is and what their role is within that game plan, so there is little hesitation in their decision-making and this in turn leads to confidence in their ability to perform the skills required to complete the action.
A former coach was talking to me about our old team which was very successful.
He said “That team was a really talented side”.
I replied “We weren’t that talented, we just knew what our team mates were going to do all the time”.
He responded “Isn’t that what makes a talented team?”
To be a good coach in any team sport it is essential that you can give a clear, CONSISTENT explanation of your game plan and every player’s role within that game plan as the starting point of your coaching.
At Richmond, I believe we have failed in this area.
The game plan changes constantly - the “run and carry’, uncontested game of the three previous years has now changed to an emphasis on tackling and contested footy.
The roles within that game plan change constantly – Schulz and Polak are constantly switched between forward and back. Even Riewoldt has been switched to defence and Moore to attack. King, Newman, Tambling, Deledio, White, Jackson and Deledio are moved all around the field and into jobs at which they have little or no experience. It is all very well to say that you are developing them as flexible, all round players but at least give them time to gain confidence in their ability as an AFL player before moving them out of their comfort zone.
At Richmond we have a majority of our player that lack confidence – King, Thursfield, McGuane, Tambling, Pattison, Morton, Riewoldt, Deledio, Schulz, Polak, Jackson, White, Foley, Polo, Hyde, JON and Hughes. Even our senior players like Johnson, Newman, Bowden, Simmonds and Tivendale are not immune.
All show signs that they are scared of making the wrong decision, become tentative and hesitant and subsequently their skills fail.
There has been a lot of talk about leadership in the AFL this year. I don’t think you can expect leadership when the player has not gained the confidence of answering the basic question. “Am I good enough to play in this competition?”
Listening to ABC radio about a month ago (before the Port match?), there was an interview with Mark William’s sister (Jenny?) who had been an international lacrosse (?) player and she was discussing her university thesis which deals with recruiting for leadership skills within sporting teams. Her opening line was “If the game is on the line, whose hands do you want the ball in?” Stan Alves response was immediately “Mine”. She then talked about that as the essence of leadership – that you believe you are the one that is best equipped to affect the result. How many of our Richmond players have shown they want the ball in their hands when the result is on the line?
There was a Nathan Brown article recently that said that Richmond had employed both Leading Teams and Stealth Development to consult on leadership development at the club.
http://www.puntroadend.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=32983.0
The thing that concerns me most about this is that I would think the styles of these two companies are more or less directly opposed.
Leading Teams seems to have a philosophy that all members of a team, even the most junior, have the power and even the responsibility to act upon others to improve the performance of the group. The most sensational of the methods they use is the questioning of team leaders to expose how they may be failing the group because of entrenched beliefs they hold. The aim is to result in dynamic, individually empowered teams.
Stealth Development seems to be based on the traditional armed service method which in my experience revolves round a process of breaking down the individual totally and then rebuilding them as members of a mutually dependant group. This is great for team bonding and blind obedience to the established hierarchy, but is not so great for developing leaders.
If Richmond is to develop confident, effective players and leaders I think we need to do a lot better in our processes and not simply blame the players themselves by saying he’s a dud or doesn’t have the skills to be an AFL player.
I am pleased that at least the board are recognising this with the appointment of a sports psychologist as our development manager and a move away from the traditional methods to a more cutting edge process. My only fear is that Jeff Bond was responsible for the (to me) contradictory styles of leadership training.