Quote Originally Posted by D Mitchell View Post
Assuming you are right, it's not for me to say you aren't, then you are on to him. Sift out the has-it-in-for-Bev stuff from where he might have a point. A couple of anecdotes
(a) many years ago, I sat next to Brian Royal at a game at the MCG for a quarter, dees v dogs. I made a comment about how a couple of late goals by someone (can't remember, now) and Ilija Grgic had turned the game. In a few short sentences, Brian pointed out to me the circumstances under which those 2 goals came about, how lapses in concentration by a couple of Melbourne's defenders worked in Grgic's favour, stuff I wouldn't have ever worked out;
(b) in an interview with Brendan McCartney commenting on Bev's coaching, McCartney observed that Bev had our defenders stand in front of their forwards (defenders mostly play from behind, now, so they can see what the forwards are up to) so that an opposition mid/high forward, bringing the ball out of defence, if under pressure, would look up and the first thing he would see would be bulldog jumpers, confusing them. There's no way I would ever have been able to work that out.
We learn from our betters, who better at understanding footy than blokes who've played at that level, in Royal's case, and coached a bit.
Nicely said. It is interesting to see the lens that the high achievers have on the game and taking out the emotion you can learn quite a bit. Cornes is OK and I can accept some of his criticisms.