Mick Malthouse: How AFL clubs can get the best from their young talent

Patrick Cripps has been a shadow of himself this year — and there’s a big lesson for every club in his form, as Mick Malthouse writes.

The beauty and the beast of youth.

It’s an age-old issue that is magnified within AFL clubs when teenagers are drafted and prepped for senior footy.

Youthful enthusiasm and determination is a beautiful thing, but it can quickly become ugly if things aren’t managed well.

Pre-season form can be very misleading.

Young kids tend to excel, because each practice match is like a dream come true and they build themselves into a frenzy to be recognised by the coach and match committee.

While the more experienced players know that practice purely means preparation — no busting their guts, no necessity to be urgent.

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So to the naked eye the young player stands out, and the romance makes it enticing to play the first-year kid in the opening round.

Sometimes it works.

Sam Walsh is a standout. Picked first in the 2018 national draft, he made his debut in Round 1 of the 2019 season against Richmond, picking up 24 disposals. He hasn’t missed a match through form since. In his 45 games he has rarely been out of the top six or seven best on field. The boy from Ocean Grove has the true markings of a champion.

Mick Malthouse says Sam Walsh has all the markings of a champion.

The problem is, often when a young player performs well in his first outing it is expected that this form will last forever. In most cases it won’t, for several reasons.

The main two issues are the tempo of the game at senior level, which takes it out of them and leaves them tired; and in the case of taller players, there’s still filling out to be done and the heavy body contact makes them sore.

Remember, these kids are still maturing physically and mentally. They will be inconsistent in their first couple of seasons because of that.

Riley Thilthorpe celebrates one of his goals on debut for Adelaide.

We see so much rising talent burn up in space like a shooting star because there’s been too much expectation, too early on.

Clubs have a responsibility to remember that these young men have potentially 10 to 12 years or more of footy ahead of them, so they need to be nurtured through the first couple of seasons. Youngsters must be helped over the hump.

Adelaide finished bottom last year, but still it waited six rounds to play Riley Thilthorpe this season. Number two pick in the 2020 draft, he booted five goals from 10 kicks and five marks in the Crows’ narrow loss to Hawthorn. We can’t expect that to happen every week, but the fact coach Matthew Nicks recognised that the 18-year-old forward needed a full pre-season and a little taste of South Australian football before he came into the side will no doubt help his transition to the senior ranks.

Jacob Koschitzke has made the most of his senior chances after having to bide his time.

On the other hand, it was a five goals, 14 disposals, nine marks effort that won Jacob Koschitzke the Rising Star nomination last week. The Hawks forward has missed just one game since his debut in Round 1 this year.

Established winning clubs can afford to carry younger players for longer, through the support of senior personnel. Whereas struggling clubs are looking for all players to contribute consistently, to get out of a rut and get a win. But without senior assistance young players can fall away quickly.

Patrick Cripps has carried massive expectations from a young age.

I’ve always feared for Patrick Cripps.

He wears more bandages than Phar Lap.

Once he established himself as a top midfielder, heavy expectation was placed on his shoulders.

It can wear a player out.

It is a rare event that a young player will win you a game of footy.

Matt Rowell made his debut in Round 1 last season in Gold Coast’s loss to Port Adelaide.

The Suns went on to win their next three games and Rowell was magnificent, with 20 or more disposals and two goals in each contest.

In Round 5 he suffered a contact injury and we didn’t see him again until Round 1 this year when he was injured again. He is a rare talent in a team that lacks senior player influence and stability. He is good enough to become a champion, but his biggest issue now is just to get through a season, and that will take support and management.

So much depends on what the coach and match committee deem as the procedure for young players. Do you lock them into a block of X number of games to complete a season? Do you play them on merit? Do you look at his maturity or lack of? Do you have an eye of the length of the season and whether you’ll need that player at the back end of the year?

Smaller players and bigger bodies tend to get through better than tall, skinny or medium-sized kids.

Of my three favourite players at Port Adelaide — Connor Rozee, Zak Butters and Xavier Duursma — two are suffering long-term injuries. Just kids in their third year of football. We want to be able to see players like this contest for a long time. Port’s success depends on their availability.

We have some wonderful young forwards coming through — Thilthorpe, Koschitzke, Ben King (Gold Coast), Logan McDonald (Sydney), Max King (St Kilda), Mitch Georgiades (Port Adelaide), but they will only last as long as we look after them. It is so vital, that when in doubt clubs choose the option of resting their young talent.

Essendon and Carlton had such contrasting games last week. The Bombers won an Anzac Day showdown, while the Blues lowered their colours to the Brisbane Lions.

Carlton is yet to debut a player from last year’s national draft. Rookie drafted Luke Parks has played two games.

Essendon has used a host of young talent this year, headlined by Nik Cox. Picture: Michael Klein

From the 2020 draft the Bombers have played Nik Cox and Harrison Jones in all six games, and Archie Perkins in four.

Essendon coach Ben Rutten is not afraid to have multiple first-year players in his team.

Sometimes that’s due to a shortage of manpower, a lack of form with senior types, or a need to get games into the kids. It’s probably a combination of all at Essendon.

The benefit of playing three youngsters in a game as big as the Anzac Day clash is seeing who can handle the big stage. While they weren’t dominant, their contribution was vital.

Winning and losing are both habit forming. The Bombers and Blues are in the bottom third of the ladder, with two wins each from six games with little percentage separating them.

Essendon will be better off for having played five debutants already this season.

If I look back, I made Glen Jakovich wait to debut at the Eagles. I wanted him to really have a feel for the tempo of the game before he came in.

At Collingwood, Ben Johnson, Rhyce Shaw and Leon Davis all played Round 1 in their first year. They were in and out of the side in their first couple of seasons. Dane Swan was picked late in the draft and then had to prove himself in the VFL before he moved up. Once he was in the side, the Brownlow medallist was never out on form.

George Bernard Shaw said youth is wasted on the young. In football it can go either way, but the anticipation is always exciting.