How AFL teams respond after defeat the key to success

HALL of Fame Legend Malcolm Blight says Monday reviews in football mean nothing unless players - and coaches - first look for the answers in themselves.

Power players leave the field after their loss to Essendon.

WHO likes to look in the mirror?

Every Monday, 198 AFL players must do just that. Nine teams win. Nine lose.

And it is how the losers react in defeat that determines if they are to be a chance of becoming winners again.

There are 44 players in Adelaide today needing to look in the mirror. And perhaps a few of their coaches too. There is a fair debate to be had on Don Pyke’s decision to load up his Crows attack with five talls on a wet and windy night at Adelaide Oval and Ken Hinkley’s call to maintain a makeshift ruck battery.

Losing is a shared misery. Make that a bumper sticker. Stick it on your locker if you are a footballer. But don’t share the blame.

Crows players walk off after the loss to Collingwood. Picture: SARAH REED

In defeat, blame no-one but yourself. “Own it”. And what does that mean? First up, look in the mirror. And if you take ownership of your part in a loss, you can be helped. If you want to make excuses, there is no hope for you.

This is where Mark Bickley holds a special part in the Adelaide Football Club’s rise to the back-to-back premierships in 1997-98. There was no excuse with Bickley, making him an ideal captain for setting the perfect example in a team that wanted to win.

In defeat, blame no-one but yourself. Own it. And turn up to training with your demeanour and attitude ensuring there will be a solid response in the next game ... that is, if you want to be picked for the next match.

Monday is traditionally review day at every AFL club. There will be all the “sportscode” video clips showing what went right and what did not. There will be the “line” meetings - forwards, midfielders and defenders. There will be the most-detailed pulling apart of a game.

But nothing changes unless each player “owns” his performance. And if he leans on an excuse, his season - and perhaps his career - will fall apart.

It is the toughest time to look in the mirror. More so when outside there are critics and fans tearing apart a club, a team and individuals to the point you could tremble at your shadow - let alone your image in the mirror.

Power players leave the field after their loss to Essendon.

And this is why the AFL premiership chase is the toughest there is. The season is a marathon. And along the 28-week run to glory there will be moments when some fall and never get up while others find something within themselves.

Richmond did that last year while losing four consecutive games from rounds 6-9. Considering the frustrations that are built up in a 37-year premiership drought - and a 13th placing the season before - it would have been brutal walking out of the Tigers’ Punt Road base. Knowing a five-tonne load of chicken poo was dumped in the team car park in May 2001 would have made everyone nervous during that four-game losing streak last season.

But they looked in the mirror - and changed.

The Western Bulldogs in 2016 were supposedly making up the numbers in the 2016 top-eight final series when they ranked seventh. They defied the cynics to end a 62-year premiership drought.

And the key? Attitude.

There is a snapshot on how this plays out on the football field at Adelaide Oval on Friday night when Collingwood ignored the expectation for a kicking game in the wet. The Magpies handpassed - 56 more times more than the Crows - and sliced their way through the Adelaide defence when every pre-game script would have emphasised putting the ball on the boot.

No-one would suggest Collingwood had a more talented group to carry off such a game against the Crows. Nor did that fascination with handball come from Collingwood players being under such intense pressure that they wanted to unload the ball in those “ring-a-ring-a-rosy” chains of handpasses that come with teams not handling the heat at the contest.

So the next question is why did the Crows allow Collingwood to play this handball game to score the biggest upset of the season - and at Adelaide Oval? And the same line of questioning can be made about Port Adelaide’s failure to deliver their promise to “hold up” Essendon in the speed tunnel at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne on Sunday.

It is all about attitude. When you are the player closest to the contest, will you be honest? Will you compete? Will you get into the face of your opponent - and put him under pressure? Will you get involved? This is a basic part of Australian football that has never - or should never - change.

Or - as it seems to be today - do players “stay in their zone” to guard the grass?

Monday is not a good day when the weekend has brought defeat. But if you are not prepared to look in the mirror to own your part in the loss, there will be many more unhappy Mondays.