Warby wrote:
We older followers of Carlton have been spoiled in the past....we've had sides that were so good they continually embarrassed opposing teams with class and sheer ability.
We've had teams that combined class with toughness where it counted....we always seemed to get the recipe right.
The constant talk today is midfielders.....(used to be called Rovers).....I yearn for a Michael Sexton at CHB.....he was a Rock.....a Mark Maclure at CHF....a Geoff Southby or SOS at FullBack.....a Des English in the back pocket....a Peter Dean or Ang Christou on half back flank....a long goal kicking Bryan Quirk on the Wing....a gutsy Garry Crane on the other wing.....and I can hear them all shouting
But; they'd all be too slow today!........HELLO GREG WILLIAMS !!.....good players adapt.
Sadly Warbs, we will never see those times again. The AFL now controls everything, like one great big fat bureacracy. Just look at how recruitment is regulated these days.
The game is now bedevilled by rules and laws.
The risk of litigation is a major concern and duty of care dictates much of what is allowed and practiced by clubs. Someone else is responsible for an individual's actions. As a result we are seeing much of the ruggedness of the game that you speak of being outlawed and umpired out of the game.
I have a growing fear that the day will come when the bench is no longer made up of players, but lawyers with their beady eyes and their shopping trolleys of files. You watch. Timeouts will be introduced to allow lawyers to debate umpire decisions. Appeal systems will be set up with dedicated courts of ivory towers and wigged individuals ferreting around the place and getting in the road of everybody and everything. Protests will be lodged before the ball is even bounced. Players will be interogated by cross benches before being allowed on ovals. With all these risks the game will then move computer based simulations. And cheats will then be developed to combat the proliferation of the likes of Greg Williams and Craig Bradley.
It is called progress.
Meanwhile our game is slowly eroding away and runs the risk of being lost forever.
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