southerncross
29-04-2007, 07:41 AM
Old Dog, new tricks (http://www.realfooty.com.au/news/news/old-dog-new-tricks/2007/04/28/1177460036752.html)
THE very model of a modern AFL footballer puts his faith in process, not outcomes.
Players, coaches, media experts - probably even property stewards, if anyone cared ask - readily tell you that if you just get all the little things right, the result will follow.
So when you ask Luke Darcy about his comeback from a second successive knee reconstruction, and whether kicking four goals (three in the first quarter) in last Friday week’s win over Richmond was exactly the confidence boost he needed, you’re not surprised to hear the answer going along familiar lines.
Yes, it was pleasing, Darcy allowed.
"You always want to get the ball in your hands and feel like you’re contributing on the forward line."
Then the hanging "but" kicked in.
"My criteria has been, 'Am I a valuable part of the 22? Can I still compete and give us a good option?'," Darcy continued.
"Some weeks I’m sure it goes your way and other weeks it won’t, but it's still whether you’re a valued player and that's what I judge myself on.
"My whole criteria is whether I’m a valuable player and whether I'm getting better each week. Perhaps the last two weeks (before the Richmond win) I didn't get as much of the ball, but I've felt I've improved every week that I’ve played."
The trouble with the process versus outcome stuff in football is that there is a desired outcome 22 weeks a season, 26 if you’re lucky enough to go all the way, and each player is expected to contribute.
All process and no outcome makes a Werribee Tiger out of a Western Bulldog, a Williamstown Seagull out of a Collingwood Magpie, a Casey Scorpion out of a St Kilda Saint.
Even if Darcy was not quite in that position, the Bulldogs' indifferent start to the season - 50-point losses to Adelaide and St Kilda after a rousing win over Geelong in round one - meant that he came under scrutiny.
Rodney Eade commented publicly on Darcy and fellow 2006 knee-reconstruction victim Robert Murphy either side of the Richmond game.
On the way in, Eade suggested player, supporters and club may be placing unrealistic expectations on Darcy, in particular, who had not played for two years.
"Their pre-seasons were good and their practice matches were OK, but it's probably a step-up in class when you get to the normal season," Eade
said. "Certainly internally maybe our expectations are a bit high and probably the supporters' as well."
Darcy and Murphy both made their best contribution for the season in the Richmond game. Darcy’s early goals helped set the Bulldogs up, Murphy’s fi nal quarter largely sealed the win.
"The side has obviously benefited from (their performance), and I think that’s great for Luke," Eade said last week.
"Early in the game he was able to break the game open and I think that
gives him a fair bit of confi dence. He’s still probably not as advanced as Robert, more the fact he’s been out for a bit longer and being a taller player . . . "
Murphy, for his part, wrote in his Age column last week about his own feelings after the loss to St Kilda: "As I sat in front of my locker . . . I turned to see big Luke Darcy sitting in front of his locker as well and looking straight ahead. We were the only two in the room. Both of us were exhausted and clearly frustrated with the disappointment of our side’s fortunes, with the extra burden of being horribly out of form ourselves.
"To lighten the mood, I asked him if they had changed the rules since we last played. A light chuckle was all either of us could offer."
With two years out of the game, Darcy has returned like a time traveller. He went from a situation where a player of his calibre would play the entire game to one in which everyone goes through the interchange bench at some stage.
"Two years is a long time," Darcy admits, "and the game changes quickly as well.
"Two years ago when I played I don’t think I came off the ground at all, I was never interchanged. I'd either play ruck or play forward and play 120 minutes just about every week.
"It was a real insult to spend any time on the bench (then), now it's an absolute must. Everyone, because of the work-rate involved, you have to come through the interchange at some stage."
The other rule change is the one allowing the kick-in to be taken immediately after a behind is scored rather than waiting until the goal umpire has waved the flag.
"I hadn’t played with (that) before," Darcy says. "That was always a chance to get some air in and to think about what you could try to do to get further in front or get yourself back in the game. Now it just gets played on quickly."
Darcy is also contending with age. Elite sportspeople go through two ageing processes, the one that affects us all, but also the one that starts to
rob them of their powers. It is hard enough dealing with a second bout of major knee surgery; being in the latter stages of your career adds a further dimension.
It is an issue, Darcy concedes, but not one on which he dwells.
"I’m realistic to know I’m in the last part of my career," he says. "In some ways, though, having two years out of the game has given me the chance to freshen up mentally." Other niggling injuries have cleared up.
"I’m feeling fantastic, I’m recovering well from games," he continues. "My enthusiasm and the enjoyment factor (are there). I'm loving training, I’m loving games, I’m loving recovery, loving just being part of the group because I missed it so much.
"It’s what I’ve done for the past 13 or 14 years now and I haven't lost any of the passion."
Remorseless change has been a football constant in the past 20 years. Remember when Anthony Koutoufides was the prototype footballerathlete? Before he had played 20 games for the Blues, David Parkin was enraptured.
"He’s such a phenomenal athlete. He gets in front and jumps, they never
get anywhere near him. He just needs to be played a bit," the then Carlton
coach gushed back in 1992.
There’s still only one "Kouta", but there's a lot more in the same mould than there was 15 years ago. Likewise, when Darcy started in 1994, he was one of the early examples of the mobile big man, tall enough to play in the ruck, mobile enough to hold down a key position.
He stood out then, but not now. Coming back from the second reconstruction was harder, Darcy admits. For one thing, he did not play
in between the two injuries; the first came early in the 2005 season, the
other during the 2006 pre-season.
"You’ve got the doubts from the first time. Will it happen again? A lot of those are allayed in training, once you are able to withstand a tackle, jump, twist and turn."
A competitive game is another level again. "I don’t think you can simulate getting out there and competing in a game for four points. The intensity, the pressure, the speed and everything it takes to play in a proper game is hard to replicate in training.
"Each time I get out there and each time I get the opportunity to try and do it I feel better about the way I’m moving, getting more of the feel for how I want to play."
When Darcy was first injured against Geelong in round six, 2005, he was six games into what he hoped would be a solid stint as captain of the Bulldogs. It is a chance he accepts has now passed him by. Brad Johnson captained the team last year and the change was made permanent this season.
"I’m disappointed, but it wasn"t anyone's fault, just bad luck," he says.
"I felt I was going to be good at it. (But) the way it unfolded I completely understood and completely agreed with the decision. 'Johnno' is a superstar and been fantastic and a great leader. It was a pretty easy choice."
During his enforced time off, Darcy sat in the coach's box and also developed his media skills. He enjoyed the media work, is still carrying some forward, and would like to develop it further after he stops playing. He also has several outside business interests.
Right now, football is the number one as Darcy seeks to make up for his
two lost years.
"I’ve committed to myself to make footy the 100 per cent priority," Darcy
says, "and made sure that my week is first and foremost based around getting myself right for footy. Everything else, on the home front and outside of footy, probably takes a back foot."
THE very model of a modern AFL footballer puts his faith in process, not outcomes.
Players, coaches, media experts - probably even property stewards, if anyone cared ask - readily tell you that if you just get all the little things right, the result will follow.
So when you ask Luke Darcy about his comeback from a second successive knee reconstruction, and whether kicking four goals (three in the first quarter) in last Friday week’s win over Richmond was exactly the confidence boost he needed, you’re not surprised to hear the answer going along familiar lines.
Yes, it was pleasing, Darcy allowed.
"You always want to get the ball in your hands and feel like you’re contributing on the forward line."
Then the hanging "but" kicked in.
"My criteria has been, 'Am I a valuable part of the 22? Can I still compete and give us a good option?'," Darcy continued.
"Some weeks I’m sure it goes your way and other weeks it won’t, but it's still whether you’re a valued player and that's what I judge myself on.
"My whole criteria is whether I’m a valuable player and whether I'm getting better each week. Perhaps the last two weeks (before the Richmond win) I didn't get as much of the ball, but I've felt I've improved every week that I’ve played."
The trouble with the process versus outcome stuff in football is that there is a desired outcome 22 weeks a season, 26 if you’re lucky enough to go all the way, and each player is expected to contribute.
All process and no outcome makes a Werribee Tiger out of a Western Bulldog, a Williamstown Seagull out of a Collingwood Magpie, a Casey Scorpion out of a St Kilda Saint.
Even if Darcy was not quite in that position, the Bulldogs' indifferent start to the season - 50-point losses to Adelaide and St Kilda after a rousing win over Geelong in round one - meant that he came under scrutiny.
Rodney Eade commented publicly on Darcy and fellow 2006 knee-reconstruction victim Robert Murphy either side of the Richmond game.
On the way in, Eade suggested player, supporters and club may be placing unrealistic expectations on Darcy, in particular, who had not played for two years.
"Their pre-seasons were good and their practice matches were OK, but it's probably a step-up in class when you get to the normal season," Eade
said. "Certainly internally maybe our expectations are a bit high and probably the supporters' as well."
Darcy and Murphy both made their best contribution for the season in the Richmond game. Darcy’s early goals helped set the Bulldogs up, Murphy’s fi nal quarter largely sealed the win.
"The side has obviously benefited from (their performance), and I think that’s great for Luke," Eade said last week.
"Early in the game he was able to break the game open and I think that
gives him a fair bit of confi dence. He’s still probably not as advanced as Robert, more the fact he’s been out for a bit longer and being a taller player . . . "
Murphy, for his part, wrote in his Age column last week about his own feelings after the loss to St Kilda: "As I sat in front of my locker . . . I turned to see big Luke Darcy sitting in front of his locker as well and looking straight ahead. We were the only two in the room. Both of us were exhausted and clearly frustrated with the disappointment of our side’s fortunes, with the extra burden of being horribly out of form ourselves.
"To lighten the mood, I asked him if they had changed the rules since we last played. A light chuckle was all either of us could offer."
With two years out of the game, Darcy has returned like a time traveller. He went from a situation where a player of his calibre would play the entire game to one in which everyone goes through the interchange bench at some stage.
"Two years is a long time," Darcy admits, "and the game changes quickly as well.
"Two years ago when I played I don’t think I came off the ground at all, I was never interchanged. I'd either play ruck or play forward and play 120 minutes just about every week.
"It was a real insult to spend any time on the bench (then), now it's an absolute must. Everyone, because of the work-rate involved, you have to come through the interchange at some stage."
The other rule change is the one allowing the kick-in to be taken immediately after a behind is scored rather than waiting until the goal umpire has waved the flag.
"I hadn’t played with (that) before," Darcy says. "That was always a chance to get some air in and to think about what you could try to do to get further in front or get yourself back in the game. Now it just gets played on quickly."
Darcy is also contending with age. Elite sportspeople go through two ageing processes, the one that affects us all, but also the one that starts to
rob them of their powers. It is hard enough dealing with a second bout of major knee surgery; being in the latter stages of your career adds a further dimension.
It is an issue, Darcy concedes, but not one on which he dwells.
"I’m realistic to know I’m in the last part of my career," he says. "In some ways, though, having two years out of the game has given me the chance to freshen up mentally." Other niggling injuries have cleared up.
"I’m feeling fantastic, I’m recovering well from games," he continues. "My enthusiasm and the enjoyment factor (are there). I'm loving training, I’m loving games, I’m loving recovery, loving just being part of the group because I missed it so much.
"It’s what I’ve done for the past 13 or 14 years now and I haven't lost any of the passion."
Remorseless change has been a football constant in the past 20 years. Remember when Anthony Koutoufides was the prototype footballerathlete? Before he had played 20 games for the Blues, David Parkin was enraptured.
"He’s such a phenomenal athlete. He gets in front and jumps, they never
get anywhere near him. He just needs to be played a bit," the then Carlton
coach gushed back in 1992.
There’s still only one "Kouta", but there's a lot more in the same mould than there was 15 years ago. Likewise, when Darcy started in 1994, he was one of the early examples of the mobile big man, tall enough to play in the ruck, mobile enough to hold down a key position.
He stood out then, but not now. Coming back from the second reconstruction was harder, Darcy admits. For one thing, he did not play
in between the two injuries; the first came early in the 2005 season, the
other during the 2006 pre-season.
"You’ve got the doubts from the first time. Will it happen again? A lot of those are allayed in training, once you are able to withstand a tackle, jump, twist and turn."
A competitive game is another level again. "I don’t think you can simulate getting out there and competing in a game for four points. The intensity, the pressure, the speed and everything it takes to play in a proper game is hard to replicate in training.
"Each time I get out there and each time I get the opportunity to try and do it I feel better about the way I’m moving, getting more of the feel for how I want to play."
When Darcy was first injured against Geelong in round six, 2005, he was six games into what he hoped would be a solid stint as captain of the Bulldogs. It is a chance he accepts has now passed him by. Brad Johnson captained the team last year and the change was made permanent this season.
"I’m disappointed, but it wasn"t anyone's fault, just bad luck," he says.
"I felt I was going to be good at it. (But) the way it unfolded I completely understood and completely agreed with the decision. 'Johnno' is a superstar and been fantastic and a great leader. It was a pretty easy choice."
During his enforced time off, Darcy sat in the coach's box and also developed his media skills. He enjoyed the media work, is still carrying some forward, and would like to develop it further after he stops playing. He also has several outside business interests.
Right now, football is the number one as Darcy seeks to make up for his
two lost years.
"I’ve committed to myself to make footy the 100 per cent priority," Darcy
says, "and made sure that my week is first and foremost based around getting myself right for footy. Everything else, on the home front and outside of footy, probably takes a back foot."