FOOTBALL might be changing, but according to Geelong premiership coach Mark Thompson, dominant teams still look alike.

Addressing the sixth annual AFL National Coaching Conference on the Gold Coast, Thompson drew on both playing and coaching experience to shares his views on successful football.

“Every coach needs a philosophy and I got mine from looking at successful teams,” Thompson said.

“In the 1970s I can remember watching the Kangaroos, then in the 1980s it was Hawthorn and Essendon, then Essendon in 2000 and, more recently Brisbane.

“What they all had in common and what stands out is that they were all very skillful and were able to move the ball from one end of the ground to the other.

“It doesn’t matter what era you are talking about, the most successful teams are harder, more confident and look smarter.

“I was lucky enough in the mid 80s to be directly involved in an era like that as a player (at Essendon) and we were really confident – I can remember games where we went out there and just thought we were going to win.”

Thompson’s Cats, of course, set a high standard of their own last year, at one stage winning 15 games in a row en route to a 119-point grand final thumping of Port Adelaide.

He conceded there were times he was able to relax in the coach’s box and watch his players go about their business.

“It’s not that the coach isn’t relevant – but the players know what to do,” he said.

“Certainly that’s what has happened in my experience at Essendon and I’m sure it happened in previous eras too. And it’s what happened at Geelong last year.

“We were skillful, we were hard and we were really confident. In a lot of games I sat back and things were on autopilot – and I was amazed by what the boys were able to do.

“Sitting back, I couldn’t believe the quality of footy we played sometimes. I remember the feeling of being part of a team that played that type of footy in 1985, but I still couldn’t believe it.”

While his players might have known just what to do at many stages of 2007, Thompson provided an insightful glimpse into the work – often behind the scenes – that goes into preparing a team.

Geelong has a support staff of 44 people, from assistant coaches, to player welfare managers, leadership advisors and sport science experts.

“We try to cover everything that a player will need in his time at Geelong and provide a service to those players,” Thompson said.

“We just try and be professional as we possibly can to our players – which sounds simple.

“The players are there to play. We pay them a lot of money, recruit them, we take them out of people’ homes – from WA, from Queensland – and we have a responsibility to give them as much help as we can.”

Thompson was followed on the podium by former Australian cricket coach John Buchanan, who provided evidence of the value of the cross-pollination of sports.

Buchanan’s views on leadership were certainly applicable to the AFL environment.

“Cricket is a one-ball game – it’s a simple game like almost every sport,” Buchanan said.

“Pretty much every sport, I think, is simple, it’s just that we, as coaches – me being one of them – have a tendency to complicate it at certain times.

“Cricket is a wonderful game, you can only bowl one ball, you can only hit one ball and you can only field one ball.

“So, in the moment, when one of our players has to face one, or bowl one or field one, that person is our leader.

“Irrespective of all the plans we put in place, the meetings we have, what the players might know about the opposition and what the captain might be telling you he wants you to do, that person makes a decision and is always a leader.

“And in the next moment it will require another person to be the leader.”