Milne’s dental protection device of choice makes him look as if he only has a couple of buck teeth, like a cunning little sewer rat. With his black mouthpiece in place, Gardiner looks like he has no teeth at all, his apparently empty mouth matching his unnervingly vacant stare. Montagna’s starch-white mouthguard gives him the phoney teeth of a Hollywood star.
All three - the rat, the psycho and the movie star - had an influence on the game on Saturday night against the Crows, but Montagna was especially destructive: five goals from the midfield, 38 disposals, and 47 flashy smiles.
For three quarters the Crows were good, playing more-or-less the way we expected them to play all year. They nicked off, however, in the last quarter. Viewing the game at a Waikerie pub, I sometimes wondered if they were still on the field, so rare was a sighting of a Crows’ jumper on the widescreen TV.
Craigy attributed the last-quarter fizzle to a lack of conditioning, which seems fair enough. But these are worrying times: the club is as vulnerable to flat-lining as it has ever been. The Crows are not just dropping games: they have just lost two champs to retirement and they have been smacked by morale-sapping injuries, player hi-jinx, and rumours of defection. If ever strong leadership was required, it is now.
Yet the Crows’ leadership group is thinning quicker than the Biggest Loser. The following players constitute this year’s official leadership: Goodwin, Edwards, Burton, Doughty, Stevens, Symes, Rutten and van Berlo. Of these, the first two certainly won’t be there next year, and it is also unlikely that Burton will be around come March 2011. Doughty’s days are surely numbered, and Stevens, great player that he is, is yet to regain the ripper form that preceded the hit he received from MacFarlane last year. There needs to be a restocking of the leadership ranks - fast.
But who among the Crows’ emerging talent have the strength of character needed to guide us through these turbulent times? Who will step forward to be in the next cohort of leaders?
According to an article in The Advertiser last week, the leadership group at the Crows is chosen by the players, who vote on a 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 basis for whom they think best demonstrates the ‘values and behavings’ of the club on and off the field.
Leave aside the question of whether ‘behavings’ is really a word because we can guess what it means. And here’s a stab at a few of the club’s ‘values’: competitiveness, professionalism, persistence, courage and integrity.
Not knowing the players personally (with one exception), I can only judge such values by what I see on the footy field.
The obvious candidates for a revamped leadership group are already in it. Van Berlo, in particular, has A-grade leadership potential: he is conscientious, he runs all day, and he never shirks a contest. His game will soon go to a higher level, too; barring injury he will become one of the elite players of the AFL. Should he get the gig, he will make a great captain.
But other leaders on the field have been rare this year. Douglas is one: he has shown dash, daring and desperation and he is developing a knack of getting to the spots where he is needed most. If he can maintain such exquisite form for a few more matches he will be in danger of becoming a genuine star.
Danger is also in such danger, and he undoubtedly has the courage to be a great leader. But he needs to expand his game and, in my view, is still some way off being ready for the captaincy.
David Mackay is another who can lead on the field. In his comeback game against Brisbane he set himself to have an impact early (before his lack of fitness became a factor), and he did.
That’s leadership.
Porplyzia composed himself in a similar way, and he also came through for the team. Tippett and Thompson seem like men who can inspire others, and Maric has courage, persistence and competitiveness in prodigious quantities.
Some of the best top-dogs, such as Goodwin, have returned from missteps in their personal lives better equipped to lead men through hard times and into battle. Bernie Vince, who doesn’t lack charisma, could therefore still be a leader. Perhaps the same applies to Graham Johncock and Nathan Bock.
It is too early to know much about the leadership qualities of new boys like Sloane, Armstrong, Petrenko, Schmidt and Davis. Without doubt, however, they will need to grow up in a hurry.
With the old blokes gone or fading, the Crows teeter on the brink of a Dark Age. Some say the club should bust its guts to attract a ready-made leader from outside. Chris McDermott, for example, wants Matthew Pavlich. A wildly optimistic respondent to this blog reckoned we should also get Bryce Gibbs, Jordan Russell, Ryan Griffen, Alan Didak and several others, all at once. He didn’t mention Milne, Gardiner and Montagna, but no doubt that was an oversight.
Importing a leader is not the answer, however. Do we really want to trade away top draft picks and a good young player or two to get Pavlich? He is a brilliant footballer and a strong, team-oriented man, but he is also in the latter few years of his career. If he wants to move (which is unlikely now that Fremantle is finally on the rise) let’s get him - but not until 2012, when free agency comes into play.
Rather than in Pavlich, then, the answer lies within. In my view, the Crows’ best chance of surviving this crisis is to keep the group together, and keep them happy.
The old guys will go, as they must, but stay faithful to the youngsters. All those mentioned above, and others, can be leaders. Mouthguards or not, they must grit their teeth because it is their time now. The club will rise or fall on their efforts.
