Football success is all about attitude, writes Mick Malthouse
MICK Malthouse says in footy or in life, success is often simply one’s state above the shoulders. And last week that was exemplified by a gritty Bulldog and a dual Brownlow medallist.
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If I could sum up the word “attitude” with two recent examples in football, then Liam Picken and Gary Ablett come instantly to mind. For opposite reasons.
I have long been an admirer of how Liam Picken plays the game, but since the start of last year he has become my favourite player to watch in the competition.
The gritty Bulldog epitomises the word courage with his selfless efforts to win the ball at any cost for his team.
Last weekend I watched him run the length of the ground at full pace — after starting the play in the backline — to receive a short pass from a teammate, which he delivered directly to Marcus Bontempelli for a goal.
It was halfway through the final term when a determined Lance Franklin had made the game a contest.
Picken’s never-say-die attitude put the Dogs back in front and ultimately gave them the win.
Attitude.
In contrast was Gary Ablett’s latest game for the Suns.
For a player who prides himself on possession and use of the ball, he let himself down and his teammates down by moping around the ground.
He is a dual Brownlow medallist, a premiership player, an elder statesman of the game, and for that his club would expect him to be showing leadership in every match — whether he has the captaincy or not.
Now is the time when he should be rewarding his Gold Coast teammates with the one per centers — chasing, tackling, smothering and protecting.
Which they have done for him constantly throughout his time at the Suns.
But instead Ablett’s attitude suggests that he doesn’t even want to be out there. (He made that abundantly clear when he asked for a move back to Geelong during the trade period last year.)
He has a chance to change his attitude to a positive one this afternoon against Hawthorn. The Suns desperately need him to.
Attitude and discipline are the key ingredients to any success — individual and team.
I mentioned Franklin earlier and it was solely because of him that the Swans stayed in the contest against the Bulldogs when the result was looking like a foregone conclusion.
His four late goals, three in the last term, were the prizes for his effort.
He virtually willed Sydney across the line and it very nearly worked.
Attitude.
For the first time in 12 years Melbourne opened the season with two straight wins, but for all the psychological benefit that provides the team, losing two important players to suspension undoes it.
Jordan Lewis and Jesse Hogan were selfish and undisciplined in their acts against Carlton’s Patrick Cripps and Sam Rowe.
Their suspensions have hurt everyone at the club because they were so unnecessary.
One can only wonder what sort of mindset they had at the time to commit the offences so far off the ball.
Attitude.
Rory Sloane, coming off an injury interrupted pre-season, courageously put his body on the line for Adelaide against Hawthorn.
Saint Jack Steven didn’t stop for a second against the Eagles, not receiving the diagnosis of a punctured lung until after the game.
Trent Cotchin, maligned in the recent past, has displayed great leadership this year and his desperate attitude has sparked a Richmond revival.
Attitude.
There is increasing evidence that when a player puts off putting pen to paper on a contract that he is weighing up his options, firstly by seeing where his current team is heading.
New Fremantle captain Nat Fyfe appears to be in this bracket. An indecisive attitude can sweep through an organisation.
When the chips were down against Port Adelaide, no one seemed prepared to take the game on. Hence the blowout.
He may well be playing reasonable football, but his teammates would be looking at him and wondering if he is totally committed to the club’s cause.
A commitment can rally a team. Every player with the same goal.
Like West Coast in its fightback against St Kilda. Even though it was on the back of some poor umpiring decisions, it was a remarkable team effort to turn a 12-point deficit in the last quarter into a 19-point win.
Likewise GWS, after admitting to wasted effort in its big loss to Adelaide in Round 1, had the collective mindset to simply work harder and be smarter together against Gold Coast.
Talent alone won’t always win games, but combined with team effort it should. And it did, in a big way.
I take my hat off to Ken Hinkley. Port Adelaide looked like it had lost its way for a couple of years and sometimes that sticks.
But Hinkley stayed steadfast in his belief that they were on the right track and continuously backed his team in.
His focus has rubbed off on his players who are playing disciplined football with a clear belief in their game structure.
Attitude.
Dayne Beams setting high standards at Brisbane, Patrick Cripps proving to be invaluable at Carlton, Jobe Watson’s and Dyson Heppell’s extraordinary comeback, in fitness and in mind, at Essendon.
Just more examples of how a hungry, positive, focused attitude points people in the right direction and drives them to be their best. How it pulls them up when everyone around them is down. How it drags them across the line.
A negative attitude does the opposite.
Football, and life for that matter, is all about having the right attitude.
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