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Aker's article this week....
Sydney Swan Barry Hall's big trust issues
The Herald Sun
Jason Akermanis | July 30, 2009
IS Barry Hall gone? The question is being debated loudly this week, and maybe, just maybe, the answer now is "yes". When you are in your 30s and are trying to make the most of what little time you have left in professional sport the last thing you can afford to have happen is the loss of trust of teammates.
It doesn't matter if you're married and are settled off the field, or even if you are best of best mates with one or two of your teammates, if you lose the trust of a few blokes, you're in trouble.
In a footy club, the most important ingredient is trust.
I should know because during the 14 1/2 years of my career, I have had trust in spades and I have also had periods without it. No trust from them feels like crap.
Barry Hall has shown on many occasions that even his football talents, as well honed as they are through years and years of hard work, can so quickly and thoroughly be eroded by a lack of discipline.
We all know what an impact he can have as a key forward and in fact has had in the last few weeks. As the saying goes you dont lose your talent you just slow down. He isnt slowing down that much.
When you are young in this business you will be given time to prove you can be trusted and ample chance to prove your worth. But when you get past 22, maybe 23, the patience of your teammates and coaches, as well as club officials, starts to run out.
By the time you're in the late 20s or let alone 30s, there is no patience left.
Barry is 32. From what we've seen coming out of Sydney the past two years, I get the distinct feeling he has by now totally lost what was left of the trust of his club.
I can remember a younger Jonathan Brown going through a similar situation. While Browny's renowned toughness is universally respected, his actions early in his career brought the same lack of patience for trust from his teammates.
The opposition knew if they could rile the big fella, fire him up, that he could let himself and his team down by giving you one.
Our coach at the time, Leigh Matthews, took a simple view. He said: "Browny, you cant be intimidating in the stands."
Browny, to his full credit, has managed to stay aggressive and intimidating without breaking the game's, and maybe even more importantly, the team's rules.
Sure, Browny can go. I've seen him spar enough and he hits hard. But it has no place on the footy field. He knows that, and eventually the penny dropped and his ability to play hard footy minus the suspensions is proof of his preparedness to do everything he possibly can to gain and keep the trust of his teammates.
To me Browny actually showed more courage to his teammates by just walking away from those on-field skirmishes.
Unlike Browny, Hally hasn't been able to contain his emotions and fists when things get hot on the ground.
Hang on. Maybe I have got it all wrong. Maybe Hally is a lot smarter than all of us. Maybe if he retired now or was sacked at the end of the year, he'd be able to sell out any boxing venue in the country.
Maybe this is the best marketing strategy of all. Well, it may just be the perfect starting point to the next phase of his career.
I can't write this week without reference to Sunday's mouth-watering, top-of-the-ladder match between Geelong and St Kilda.
Who would have thought in this day and age in one of the most even competitions in the world two teams would be playing each other in round 14, both undefeated?
Wow! Who will win? The only issue that I can identify that may assist in making a decision is this: Have the Saints learnt from last years qualifying final loss?
They are playing a different style of game now, the Saints. Is it a style good enough to beat the Cats this Sunday? Geelong for mine. Just.
Sydney Swan Barry Hall's big trust issues
The Herald Sun
Jason Akermanis | July 30, 2009
IS Barry Hall gone? The question is being debated loudly this week, and maybe, just maybe, the answer now is "yes". When you are in your 30s and are trying to make the most of what little time you have left in professional sport the last thing you can afford to have happen is the loss of trust of teammates.
It doesn't matter if you're married and are settled off the field, or even if you are best of best mates with one or two of your teammates, if you lose the trust of a few blokes, you're in trouble.
In a footy club, the most important ingredient is trust.
I should know because during the 14 1/2 years of my career, I have had trust in spades and I have also had periods without it. No trust from them feels like crap.
Barry Hall has shown on many occasions that even his football talents, as well honed as they are through years and years of hard work, can so quickly and thoroughly be eroded by a lack of discipline.
We all know what an impact he can have as a key forward and in fact has had in the last few weeks. As the saying goes you dont lose your talent you just slow down. He isnt slowing down that much.
When you are young in this business you will be given time to prove you can be trusted and ample chance to prove your worth. But when you get past 22, maybe 23, the patience of your teammates and coaches, as well as club officials, starts to run out.
By the time you're in the late 20s or let alone 30s, there is no patience left.
Barry is 32. From what we've seen coming out of Sydney the past two years, I get the distinct feeling he has by now totally lost what was left of the trust of his club.
I can remember a younger Jonathan Brown going through a similar situation. While Browny's renowned toughness is universally respected, his actions early in his career brought the same lack of patience for trust from his teammates.
The opposition knew if they could rile the big fella, fire him up, that he could let himself and his team down by giving you one.
Our coach at the time, Leigh Matthews, took a simple view. He said: "Browny, you cant be intimidating in the stands."
Browny, to his full credit, has managed to stay aggressive and intimidating without breaking the game's, and maybe even more importantly, the team's rules.
Sure, Browny can go. I've seen him spar enough and he hits hard. But it has no place on the footy field. He knows that, and eventually the penny dropped and his ability to play hard footy minus the suspensions is proof of his preparedness to do everything he possibly can to gain and keep the trust of his teammates.
To me Browny actually showed more courage to his teammates by just walking away from those on-field skirmishes.
Unlike Browny, Hally hasn't been able to contain his emotions and fists when things get hot on the ground.
Hang on. Maybe I have got it all wrong. Maybe Hally is a lot smarter than all of us. Maybe if he retired now or was sacked at the end of the year, he'd be able to sell out any boxing venue in the country.
Maybe this is the best marketing strategy of all. Well, it may just be the perfect starting point to the next phase of his career.
I can't write this week without reference to Sunday's mouth-watering, top-of-the-ladder match between Geelong and St Kilda.
Who would have thought in this day and age in one of the most even competitions in the world two teams would be playing each other in round 14, both undefeated?
Wow! Who will win? The only issue that I can identify that may assist in making a decision is this: Have the Saints learnt from last years qualifying final loss?
They are playing a different style of game now, the Saints. Is it a style good enough to beat the Cats this Sunday? Geelong for mine. Just.
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