Josh Kaplan wrote:
The problem is our ingrained culture of knee-jerkedness and our inability, as a football club, to swim ahead of the tide. This is something that can never be measured by wins and losses.
I just want to address this single point Josh made at the end of his post. So the discussion is a little bit away from Ratts and his future at the club.
But basically, AFL footy is now a game of intellectual one upmanship. Sides are so even, that any small break over the rest of the field may provide the basis for a premiership. If you look back at the Premiership sides of the last ten years, I think you can see at least one innovation they brought to the field which may have been the difference between a flag or otherwise.
2010: Collingwood... strategic innovation. Malthouse based his onfield plans around understandings of Roman battalions and the way they could often outfight the opposition despite being outnumbered. They also implemented the Arizona training program.
2009 and 2007: Geelong... really developed the football manager's role (or whatever it is that Balme is called) as a support structure for the coach. I think they were also the leaders in using Leading Teams (sorry if I am incorrect on that point).
2008: Hawthorn... scientific list management over a period of years at the foot of the ladder to identify the types of players on which to build a premiership. This dominated their drafting strategy. Remember, they were laughed at for taking Buddy and Roughy while the Tigers got Deledio and Tambling. Clarkson then also brought elements of waterpolo strategy to the game.
2006: West Coast... I'll be honest and can't say I remember their innovation here. But as a well resourced side, I wouldn't mind betting they were at the forefront of injury management.
2005: Sydney... Dave Mission brought fitness to the forefront, and injury management was top notch. They also implemented psychological programs designed to improve set shot kicking for goal. Plus of course, Roos implemented a more vigorous form of flooding strategy than had previously been seen.
My point is this... I see Carlton since Richard Pratt came back to the club as being great at following the innovations of others. We now have strong off field skills in fitness and injury management, and the resources to complement. We've also implemented an coaching structure that borrows from the successful strategic innovators of the last five years (Hawthorn and Collingwood). We've used Leading Teams, but only after others have done it.
So I would ask - as a club, what is there we can point to which is our own strategic innovation? Where is the march we are going to get over the competition? Premierships have been won in terms of game strategy, scientific list management, fitness and injury management, and leadership development. We've implemented similar programs now. But where exactly is the next break for the competition going to come from? And are we in a position to identify it and exploit it for ourselves? Because unless we are, then I would say the last five-ten years are showing us that premiership glory may remain elusive.
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