Buckley, Hardwick, Ablett, the 2017 season will be make-or-break for 10 footy figures
ROD Butterss once said of Grant Thomas; “He eats pressure for breakfast.” These 10 football figures will hope to do the same in 2017, a make-or-break season.
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“HE eats pressure for breakfast,’’ said St Kilda president Rod Butterss of Grant Thomas five years before he sacked him.
Fifteen years after that famous 2001 line, the ability to thrive under pressure remains a constant in the all-consuming AFL environment.
Luke Beveridge and his boys will sit down over Christmas turkey knowing they almost get a free pass next year.
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But as the football year winds to a close, here at the 10 figures under the most pressure entering the 207 season.
The best of them will thrive on that expectation, taking heed of war-time pilot Keith Miller’s quote that “pressure is a Messerschmitt up your arse, playing cricket is not”.
Then they will hope to do what Tom Boyd did in last year’s Grand Final, after a season spent on exactly these type of lists.
PAUL MARSH (AFLPA CEO)
THE AFLPA boss was hired with a specific mandate to secure a percentage of the league’s revenue in CBA talks.
That promise to his representatives makes it hard for him to claim victory with anything short of that goal.
How hard will he push the AFL before they buckle, because talk of covering up sponsor logos and refusing to play a pre-season competition no one rates aren’t big enough threats.
Marsh has kept his promise to the AFL not to play out this discussion in public but as a result the case for a percentage of revenue has not been articulated to the fans.
Huge three months ahead for the head of the player union.
ROSS LYON (Fremantle coach)
What an off-season.
Shane Yarran arrested and now on personal leave. Michael Johnson arrested and charged.
Harley Bennell’s calf injured again. Lachie Neale under the knife.
And to add intrigue to the mix, rival recruiters raising their eyebrows at a number of players drafted or traded for with a hint of ratbag tendencies.
Ross Lyon’s Fremantle was supposed to endure the 2016 annus horribilis then immediately bounce back towards the top end of the ladder.
You know that cliche about everyone having their best pre-season yet?
Lyon, contracted until 2020, wishes he could trot out that line this time around.
DAMIEN HARDWICK (Richmond coach)
The last Richmond coach to enter a season aware nothing less than finals would save him was Terry Wallace.
He knew he was gone by May.
Hardwick has the midfield he wants with two extra inside bulls — Dion Prestia and Josh Caddy — and now his side needs to perform.
In no particular order he must straighten out his media messaging, find a cohesive game plan that suits his list’s strengths and find another 30-goal-a-year forward.
Alastair Clarkson spoke on Thursday of bold decisions and game-plan revolution, so what will a man who has modelled his progression on his good mate come up with himself?
Then a Richmond side that started 1-6 in 2016, 2-4 in 2015 and 3-10 in 2014 just simply must get away to a start that sees the media pack away from their doorstep.
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BRYCE GIBBS (Carlton veteran)
Gibbs has made it known that while his wife was unfairly saddled with the blame for requesting a trade home, he was the one responsible for the decision.
Now his every move will be scrutinised by Carlton supporters desperate to find a hint of flagging motivation or desire.
All he needs to do is replicate his exceptional 2014 and 2016 seasons then Carlton and Adelaide can consider a win-win trade again come October or he can stay put as a contented Bluebagger.
But a replica of the 2015 season, where injury and poor form caused the critics to circle, will only heighten the focus on one of the AFL’s most polarising players.
GARY ABLETT (Gold Coast superstar)
It’s all about staying on the park.
If the Gold Coast dynamo can play 18-plus games he can hold his head high, put together a seventh season in Suns colours then depart after a trade that surely will be done at season’s end.
If he again succumbs to the injuries that have derailed his past two seasons and the Suns struggle again, some will wonder if he is the rat deserting the sinking ship.
That would be extraordinarily tough, but as ever with Ablett there is no real middle ground — he is painted as either the hero or villain.
If the Suns can do the unlikely — play finals for the first time — Ablett can deliver his legacy moment then depart on good terms.
KEN HINKLEY (Port Adelaide coach)
David Koch runs with the big boys in TV land where you get boned if you don’t produce the goods.
So no one is under any misapprehension about what needs to happen at Port Adelaide for Ken Hinkley to keep coaching this list.
The club talked about making ruthless decisions at its best-and-fairest and yet the trade period was a muddled affair.
No one wanted Matthew Lobbe, Hamish Hartlett’s decision to stay ruffled some feathers and while four kids were taken inside 33 picks at the draft, they will take time.
All of it means Hinkley must rediscover that magic of 2013-14 that saw him sprinkling fairy dust on everything he touched.
NATHAN BUCKLEY (Collingwood coach)
What a draw for Nathan Buckley, who might have hoped for some time to allow a new-look defence and forward line to gel.
Instead they take on the premiers in Round 1, Sydney (SCG) in Round 3, Geelong in Round 6, GWS at Spotless Stadium in Round 8 then Hawthorn in Round 9.
It’s borderline cruel.
Still, it was a mature response to put his cards on the table early and stating the obvious — Collingwood plays finals or he moves on.
His midfield is elite, he has a potential superstar in Darcy Moore and Ben Reid at his best is in the conversation as the best centre half-back in the league.
Now he needs to find a full-back, get his team to play with real energy more times than most and sidestep the controversies that have been a worrying trend at Collingwood lately.
JON GILES (West Coast ruckman)
Nic Nat admits he might not be back next year, Drew Petrie attended eight centre bounces last year and Nathan Vardy just 11 in Geelong’s senior side.
All of it means that if the Eagles are to do anything of consequence, West Coast’s unlikely lead ruckman in Jon Giles must stand up.
He will ruck to a star-studded trio of Sam Mitchell, Matt Priddis and Luke Schuey who just need someone to compete to give themselves a chance.
Giles officially classifies for journeyman status at his fourth club, but has a great chance to do something of consequence this year.
JACK BILLINGS (St Kilda young gun)
Had a beer with a St Kilda supporter Saturday night and he only wanted to talk about one Saint — Jack Billings.
It was a fair query given a mediocre year in which a player with so much talent played 17 games for a wayward 6.12.
It wasn’t his fault he was selected the pick before Marcus Bontempelli then endured an injury-plagued second season.
But in his third year, as Bontempelli again showed he is the future of the AFL, signs of Billings wondrous potential were few and far between.
THE AFLW
What a blaze of publicity.
Those who quibble at the avalanche of stories that have assaulted us about this new league forget the decades of poor treatment women’s sport has been subjected to.
And yet with all the publicity comes incredible expectations.
Will the standard be high after the stars of the game are spread across so many teams?
Do we subject the players to the same standards as the men over poor form?
Will the likely flow of serious injuries and concussions be disconcerting to the viewers?
Let’s hope it can back up the hype and promote its players as superb ambassadors and role models for female sport.
Originally published as Buckley, Hardwick, Ablett, the 2017 season will be make-or-break for 10 footy figures
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