It was a non-negotiable. Whether as ambitious, ego driven individuals we liked it or not, that is the way it is and that is the way it should be. The acceptance of this most basic principle of team is what effective teamwork is based on. And it’s something that was ingrained into all the players John coached.
Over all my time around elite team sport there are a couple of themes that are constantly repeated.
One, the harder you work, the luckier you get. And two, good and bad fortune can and will help or hinder your progress.
Luke Power played his 250th game for the Brisbane Lions last Saturday night. It was possibly the very best game he’s played and a fitting milestone for an outstanding individual who has always been beyond reproach when it comes to the way he’s prepared for his football and lived his life.
Luke is one player who can genuinely say he’s got the best out of his natural talent.
But at the outset of his football journey he was fortunate enough to be drafted to Brisbane. It wasn’t his preferred choice at the time but he’s played in four grand finals and won three premierships. That’s good fortune at its very best.
Team success is very much about being in the right team at the right time.
When I was a teenager dreaming of a chance to play in the then VFL it was in the days of zoning. And I just happened to be zoned to Hawthorn.
That was good fortune, too. Not only did I get to a great club during what became a most successful era but I got the opportunity to play under the legendary Kennedy and learn to be subservient to his ‘team first’ ethos.
As I ponder recent events, I can’t help but note that Jason Akermanis never had the good fortune to be coached by John Kennedy.
Aker has never been able to live the team first principle and apparently nothing has changed.
On a similar theme, I’m finding it a little hard to digest the fact that this weekend Adelaide’s Tyson Edwards and Richmond’s Troy Simmonds will play farewell games - in round 11.
I can understand and welcome a farewell game in, say, round 21 or 22 when the season is done and dusted, and finals are out of the question. That’s fair and reasonable, and it can be a nice way for the fans to say goodbye to a long-time servant.
Last year Adam Simpson got a farewell game in round 18 by which time North Melbourne were out of the finals race. Likewise Richmond’s Joel Bowden in round 20 and West Coast’s Chad Fletcher in round 22.
But only half way through the season in round 11?
OK, put retirees in an open top car, load them up with kids and whoever, and send them off on a lap of honour so the fans can bid them goodbye . And vice-versa.
But not for the life of me can I reconcile mid-season farewell games with my firm belief that the team interest comes ahead of the individual, not usually, but always.
This is nothing against Tyson Edwards, who has given wonderful service to the Crows over 16 years. Or Simmonds, who is in his sixth season at the Tigers after time at Melbourne and Fremantle.
But in terms of who owes who, let’s not forget they’ve been well paid along the way so their clubs owe them nothing except honesty.
In the Simmonds case it also means that one member of Richmond’s breakthrough winning side from last weekend will miss out just to give him a game. He has not won his spot on merit. What will the kid who misses out think? Is that putting the team interest first?
The Edwards situation in Adelaide created a messy issue for coach Neil Craig that he could do without.
If my understanding of the situation is correct, Edwards was told last week he’d be left out of the Crows side for round 10. Rather than going back to the SANFL he chose to retire but requested one last game the next time Adelaide played at home.
Craig, charged with the responsibility of doing what is best for the team, said no to a farewell game. Fair enough. He runs the footy team. That’s his job.
Twenty-four hours later, seemingly after intervention by the powers that be, it was decided that Edwards would make one last appearance at AAMI Stadium this week.
If this decision was made by the Chairman, the CEO or the Board of Directors on the basis of backlash from the fans, or whatever, that’s fine too. They run the club.
And just as the team comes before the individual, the big picture club interest comes before the team’s weekend game.
But it should have been very clear where the decision was made, and that it wasn’t the coach, whose sole responsibility is to put his best 22 on the field.
The way the back flip panned out has not been a good look and can’t have helped the senior coaches standing and status around the Adelaide Football Club particularly at a time when he’s already under increased pressure because of a below expectations 2-8 win/loss start to the year.
Anything that puts the individual before the team is foreign to my understanding of building and maintaining elite teams and farewell games in mid season are exactly that.
The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
