COBURG TIGERS FOOTBALL CLUB

A Year in the VFL

An Assistant Coaches View of the Season and On Coaching

[Type the author name]

2010

S TEVEN B A L L

A Year in the VFL

The Coburg Tigers Football Club 2010

An Assistant Coaches View On the Season and Coaching

Steven Ball

Introduction

At the end of last season, having coached largely the same group of boys for five years, I decided my time was up. Most of the boys were moving up to the Under 18s which is the senior part of the club or trying out for the Cannons or other sports. I was still enjoying coaching and felt I was still impactual (my own word). However, l thought it was time for the boys to experience other coaching styles and approaches.

As fate would have it David Newett, who had been a friend for a few years, was leaving the Kangaroos and had taken a developmental role at Richmond Football Club which included coaching the affiliated side, the Coburg Tigers. Dave wanted to know if I would be his assistant and forward line coach. My role would include; being involved in the process of developing the team’s trademarks, leadership development, overseeing the cultural change process and the players’ goal setting. Thought provoking and challenging. I hadn’t coached adults for some years, other than a cameo role as a defensive coach, but had been running seminars at a few AFL clubs. Dave sold it well on the basis that; I would be exposed to all that goes with the elite and sub elite of football, l would learn a tremendous amount about strategy, game plans and high performance, would be able interact with the RFC coaching group, coach RFC listed players when they were playing at Coburg, and we would train regularly at Punt Rd. I pondered it and discussed it with Sarina, particularly the increased time commitment (which as it turned out I underestimated by tenfold).

It was obvious that I was being offered a fantastic personal development opportunity and access to information and thinking that most of us could only dream about. I rang back. I am in. ( The timeline between being asked and agreeing was quite short which was very similar in length to a phone call from a client asking whether it would be possible to run a leadership seminar in Fiji. I replied I would check my availability and went through the motions of flicking the pages of my diary for effect before saying it was ‘doable’ provided I could move a few things.)

About half way through the season as I started to become more comfortable, and developed some strategic clarity I decided to write an account outlining what I had learnt, the challenges that I, the team and coaches faced, and the ebb and flow of the season. For those who read my recollections of coaching an U12 side I have written this with more technical and tactical insights so that coaches could get ideas that would be applicable at all levels and have again included sections on leadership, efficacy, culture and used the issues that arose in our club or within the football community to branch off to reflect on those issues to hopefully generate reflection by the reader too.

My real hope was to write a book that might be used by coaches to refer back to when they get stuck or are in need of ideas. I still, after twenty years, refer now and again to David Parkin’s book, “Preparing the Australian Footballer”, (which I think came out in 1981).It is now coffee stained and dog eared and still my ‘go to book’.

For those who are familiar with “A season of Achievement “ it will come as no surprise that that the principles of achievement thinking , which Dave Newett and I both believe in, permeated all aspects of our thinking and approaches and became the foundation for our training, leadership, goal setting, performance feedback and culture. The season provided a great opportunity to embed the concepts into the club’s culture. The whole season was a steep learning curve requiring me to unlearn some of the basics I had held as true, and allow myself to be educated in a new game plan. Going from coaching juniors to listed players was initially somewhat intimidating. Did I have the skills and credibility? Would they listen to me? I ran those concerns past a mentor who advised me to make myself someone they would listen to. Good advice .I also knew that doubt brings on hesitation and hesitation brings on failure.#

I hope you find these reflections engaging and of value. As the season unfolds junior coaches in particular will observe that the jump from coaching effectively in the juniors to the sub elite level is a surprisingly small one in terms of approach and philosophy .*

## See Appendix Six for a summary of Achievement Thinking

#”There is nothing wrong with being intimidated but there is something wrong with staying intimidated. We have to decide whether the challenge facing us is bigger than us or are we bigger than it. If we decide it is bigger than us than we will withdraw but if we decide we are bigger than the challenge we will come out on top. ..We make a choice... grow into the opportunity or let the opportunity go.”

(Lou Tice, Investment in Excellence used by the Alabama Crimson Tide.)

*After our first game against reigning premiers North Ballarat the trainers moved amongst the players handing out icy poles and offering snakes from a plastic container. That picture looked familiar. I was however bright enough not to verbalise my thought that every junior coach knows to be true ie that there is no loss so bad that a can of solo and hotdog can’t overcome. I wisely decided to keep that gem to myself.

“... in terms of this players longtermgevity...” (David Swartz making up his own word too on SEN 1116)

“We are leaderful.” (Ric Charlesworth getting in on the trend to make up your own words while commenting on the way he wanted the hockey team to function).

The First Meeting Late October

Our first meeting for the coaches, fitness staff and others was held in a pub in Fitzroy. I was initially surprised by the number of people who sat down at the long table. We were informed that not all could make it however there were still five or six coaches, the same number of fitness staff, a couple of support staff and Peter, the club’s chaplain. We were informed also that a club doctor, more trainers (6 to 8), a physio, a couple more line coaches, five stats people, boardmen (2), team manager and a scribe for the coach during games were yet to be appointed.

(As it turned out the Reserves coach and the Reserves line coaches left the next week for another VFL club so the vacancy list increased).

We went around the room giving a quick overview of who we were and what we had been doing lately. I don’t think I blushed when I mentioned I was a junior coach at Moonee Valley but I might have.

Dave spoke about his goals for the year, what his approach would be in terms of player development and that we would be using the Richmond game plan for consistency and because it was a good plan. We should expect to have, depending on injuries, around 12 to 16 RFC listed players in the seniors each week and a few rookies in the reserves.

The goals and approach to training were discussed with Dave outlining that we would use a game based approach and that there will be very few occasions when we will be running sets of 400s.The fitness /training staff would assess the level of exertion of each drill by surveying the players at the end of each drill and asking for a rating from 1 to 10 with a ten being that the drill was that hard “I am lucky to be alive” would be the player assessment. There was a set points target each week ie 300 and if these were achieved there would be no need to do additional running but that option was there as a top up if required. This process would require honest feedback from the players to work and running calculations by the fitness staff to ensure we remained on track. (The club purchased four laptops to use on the spot at training to upload the data and monitor this issue and a range of other things such as injury management).

Not surprisingly as the year progressed we, at times, questioned the accuracy of some players’ rating of an exercise particularly if they rated it a seven and we thought they were not pushing through hard enough. This process was to be part of a very scientific approach to training as players were weighed before training and games to see who dehydrated more quickly and so would be sought out by the “water boys” first using a prioritised list.

We also talked about our development needs as coaches and the importance of our own growth from not only a credibility point of view but also because we expect the players to set goals to improve so we should do the same.

We would train at Punt Rd. three times a week and then once a week at the new facility at Craigieburn before returning to our home ground in late March when the turf cricket was finished. The players would be expected to do their personalised strength and conditioning program before the 6.00pm start and/or stay back and complete it when we finished around 8.pm. We would have access to the pool, weights, exercise circuit, meeting rooms, ice baths and stationary bikes.

Further, the players would have fitness testing within weeks of starting training to establish a benchmark and that testing would include skin fold tests and a review of each player’s medical history.

With that we were set. The first training session would be November 4 th .

“I have been very lucky to have been involved in the Coburg Football Club.”

(“Grumps” reflecting on 30 years or so at the club doing everything from committee to property steward .It is dedicated volunteers like Al that keep most clubs going. Having said that, I still wouldn’t walk into the Property Room without his permission).

“Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other”. JF Kennedy 1963

“If you are not personally growing and developing why would anyone listen to your advice. Every time we open our mouth the people we influence are asking themselves a question, ‘If I follow your advice will I become more like you?’ “ (Lou Tice, The Pacific Institute)

“It takes people behaving in a particular way to make the organisation productive. These behaviours matter a great deal to how well the organisation performs. Some behaviours are simply better than others.” ( Gordan Husken [email protected] ).

Footnote On any given match day there were sixteen to twenty fitness people and training staff, physios(3) and a doctor led by Jackie and Chris. All this aside from those on the gate, Tony, Gary and Al in the property room, five in the canteen, five on stats, the record seller, Lenore , Lee and Baz doing all the behind the scenes stuff not to mention the scoreboard and Tim on the camera or coaching on the bench. It is almost certain I have left people out but the majority of those above are volunteers. Not CFC, not even at AFL level can clubs function without a large group of volunteers who basically love their footy and being involved.

First Training Night

Our first night at Punt Rd. The ground and facilities are still being developed but the place still oozes history. The grandstand, from which supporters must have watched the RFC champions, was still standing and the gym was no hi-tech post modernist affair but had the aura of a place you were expected to work hard with a “No frills” label. It had the earthy feel of gyms in the 1970’s that were adorned with signs such as “Rest is rust” and “If you quit here you will quit out there” etc.

It is 5.00pm and the ‘old hands’ i.e. second or third season (we have only one player who has played more than 25 VFL games) are starting to arrive. They noisily call out to others and shake hands as their teammates roll in. The new players either invited or trying to be listed are a little more circumspect and uncertain if they are allowed to use the equipment while last seasons’ players are already pumping out the reps, wearing weight vests for pull ups, and have found the music system and had cranked it up.

At 6.00pm everyone is called upstairs and cram into the meeting room where general introductions, welcomes and announcements are made by soon-to- be Football manager, Baz, and then Dave steps up. He explained what our approach will be, how we will train and set out what was expected of everyone.

The first night speech by the incoming coach/captain is always interesting. David Hookes when he took over the Bushrangers apparently discussed his philosophy of coaching. Steve Waugh, according to a former Test player on a course I ran, said nothing on first his day as leader. He was more of a ‘follow me’ type. Ron Barassi told the players in 1977 that they would work harder, train longer than ever before. Paul Roos at the 2007 AFL Conference said when he took over the Swans he told the players he wasn’t sure if he could coach and would need their help and co-operation. Leigh Matthews, in his opening address at the Lions, apparently informed the players that he had a three year contract so he would still be there in three years but less than half the players in the room would remain given the way clubs turn over their lists. I told the Moonee Valley U12’s on their first night that we would have fun, run a lot and play as a team and suggested that if all three didn’t appeal they should try another sport like golf or tennis.

Dave went through a ‘Powerpoint’ presentation on what the first night’s training would entail. This became the pattern for most of the rest of the year. We seldom spend less than20 to 30 minutes before going onto the ground going over the game plan, training drills to support it and general discussion ranging from quotes to video clips. At the bottom of each slide was the night’s quote which soon became a player’s responsibility to email in and be able to explain why they had selected that particular quote.

All our drills were named after Coburg players, were generally game based, and from the first night would build on the previous session. We would do nothing that didn’t fit into the game plan or fit in with the ten team rules. This was at odds with many coaches, particularly junior coaches who are often looking for drills without thinking about whether it fits into the game plan. I love Wheadon’s book on “Drills and Skills” but there is almost nothing in it that we could use that would be applicable to our game plan. Strategic training.

After the first warm up for the year the players divided up into four groups and moved from station to station every eight minutes. I took the defensive square exercise which every coach uses in which two players in bibs try to intercept the ball kicked around a 20 metre square . The players were not allowed to handball and if the ball hit the ground or intercepted the defending players were replaced . The drill is designed to enhance decision making under pressure and improve kicking precision. What normally occurs is that the two players in the middle run helter skelter trying to force a turnover to get themselves out of the middle and really do not use a co-ordinated approach. From the first night Dave educated the players in how to work together to force the player with the ball to kick in a certain direction or deny them the easiest option. This was to become a foundation of what was to become some of our key strategies: • Press up on the player with the ball. Don’t zone off. • Deny them access to the corridor. If they try a loopy kick over the top that is a win because we have a chance to intercept it. • The second defender is already moving to where the kicking player is being encouraged to kick to put pressure on the intended receiver.

We, as defenders , didn’t have the ball but we could corral the ball to where we wanted it. Very basketball like but a natural process. I was invited to a seminar once on Teamwork and Prides of Lions. Normally I am reluctant participant (my eyes glaze over)at some lofty titled program but it was very interesting how the pride worked together to move the intended prey into a killing zone by moving them in a way that gave the prey no option than to move where ‘directed’ or take on the lion. I toyed with the idea of sharing that but decided to hold it over. First night.

Some players picked up the tactic very quickly particularly those with a basketball background and some just didn’t get it.

At the second station the players were being educated in the process of moving the ball out of stoppages using a pattern of movement that required many to unlearn what they had been taught by their junior or local coaches. For some it was a frustrating experience because they continued grabbing the ball at the stoppage and driving forward only to be pulled up by a coach and told again why that was not what we wanted. Clearly it made no sense to a number of players who were no doubt recognised and rewarded at club level for that strategy and now were singled out for, from their point of view, winning the hard ball. Dave explained that given how teams load up their backline a scrambled kick forward would probably result in a costly turnover and the other strategy used by some of a long bomb blindly launched into the forward line would have the same result. We wanted composure and precision. The theme became act quickly but don’t hurry or rush.

Although I had been studying the game plan, I realised that I too had to unlearn a whole range of tactics and strategies I had been espousing to the players for years. I was not quite at the George Costanza level, “Black is white, right is wrong, Up is down”. Everything I thought was right was wrong,” but it was a close call. What I didn’t realise at the time, that the mindset shift required was even greater than I had imagined.

It was an absolutely freezing night and Dave brought everyone together and asked a few clarifying questions and we wrapped it up around 8.15pm. Walking off Murphy A. volunteered that training was already different to last year – competitive training on the first night and no 400s. The coaches had a chat and everyone felt it had been a good night and the expectations had been set out clearly.

I headed off around 9.00pm. For my own part I found the players welcoming and generous. I was pretty sure already that we would meet the Swans recruitment philosophy (no dickheads) based on the people I had met this first night.

I arrived home at around 9.30pm which, as the season progressed, became the norm except on selection nights when any time before 10.45 was a bonus.

“ To be consistently good on the training track gives you every chance to be consistently good on game day....a training session is only as hard as you make it.” (“The Champions”. P114)

“I want players who want to prepare to win.” (Bob Dwyer, Wallabies World Cup Coach)

‘Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.” (J .Wooden, ‘Beyond Winning’ p43)

“(Is success) hard?”Of course it is hard that is why so many men never attempt to acquire success...Nothing worthwhile has ever been achieved without constant endeavour, some pain and constant application of your talents... That is the price of success...Am I willing to endure the pain of this struggle for the...rewards...or will I accept...mediocrity? Will you pay the price of success?” (Len Smith writing over 50 years ago and a pretty good summary of preseason training).

“Your season is made between November to March. It is what you do on the track Monday to Friday. Not the Saturday.” ( D.Parkin, “What makes teams work”)

Training in November

Over seventy players have trained already. Some we see for a night and, for whatever reason, that’s it. There are a few from a particular EDFL club I suspected of training just to get the training top CFC provides and that will do for them. Quite a number of players are straight out of the TAC and hoping to get drafted by Richmond or any AFL club and, like any club, there are players who are training with us and other clubs trying to get the best deal.

As part of list management we are aiming to recruit certain types of players ie inside midfielders or running defenders but essentially at this stage we are just watching. Dave told everyone that “Everything they do provides us with evidence,” and implicitly everything they don’t do. For me it is interesting how few players are over 23 years old (3) and how little VFL experience is on the list. Even with the recruiting of Sam Power as the mid field coach we still have only two players who have played more than 25 VFL games. (From the 2007 Senior and Reserves Finals sides there were only three players still at the club).

We are spending a lot of training time practising manning the mark. Sounds simple but there is a skill to it (which I will not be sharing) but we are also looking for a strategic outcome. If, for example, a mark is taken by the defender in our left forward pocket the person coming in to man the mark comes in on such an angle that it is hard for the kicker to kick into the corridor but will allow them to kick towards the boundary, so we can press in on them. If they do choose to kick over the man on the mark the ball will need to be elevated higher which means more hang time and a greater chance to intercept.

We also practise what is called a ‘bumper’ which basically is a tactic for putting a block on the opposition after they have kicked or handballed with the two fold aim of delaying them and preventing them running down the ground to receive again. A two second delay or block translates into ten metres less they could have run given the average player travels five metres a second. Over the game if each of our players put one bumper a quarter on this would equate to over a kilometre less potential run by the opposition. It’s a good return on the investment.

Dave arranged for the Punt Rd session to be videoed so that we could show players where they were running and where we wanted them to run in drills that simulated the game plan. There is nothing like a video to get through a blind spot. During the season it proved a very effective medium when players would dispute feedback particularly suggestions they weren’t leaving a stoppage quickly enough or were not getting to a contest.

The club organised for a couple of ex SAS trainers to take training with the intention of providing very physical training ie the players were to be ‘smashed’. One of the groups doing the pairs boxing were a person short so I volunteered to hold the punching bag and pads for Houli.

Houli is a big, strong, athletic defender with an ever present smile and the sort of player every club needs to keep the mood buoyant.

We take it turns on the bag - on off, on off for what seemed like an age (apparently timed at three minutes) and I am spent. The SAS now want body punches with one defending and one punching (to toughen us up). I start off and Houli defends my ‘love taps’ easily. It is his turn now. Within moments of starting I am helpless and effectively unable to defend myself. Houli continues punching with some power and is now laughing hysterically. The blows continue to land and he doesn’t stop. My ribs are aching, I am breathless but the onslaught and humiliation continues. Finally a whistle sounds. Houli ,to complete my humiliation, gives me a punch to the right ear for good measure and runs off still laughing to the next exercise. Never again.

We also used the tackle coach from Melbourne Storm to teach technique and the skills of ‘pumbling ‘(simulated tackling)which would become part of the pre-game warm up. This was followed a week later by Gul, the Hebrew Hammer, a kick boxer and ‘cage fighter’. We watched a video clip before training of some of his fights and I was of the immediate opinion that if you caught him stealing your DVD player( not that he would) you would help him carry it out. He and his offsider had the players wrestling which, from a distance now, looked very tiring. It was a great change up and very effective.

The players were beginning to see how everything scaffolded and segued together (two new buzz words). Like the parts of a jigsaw the picture was starting to take shape as the group moved to full ground drills ,while avoiding the turf wicket, and saw how a simple exercise they did on the boundary, the exercises of manning the mark and corralling came together. The challenge was as new players arrived to try out or the players missed a week for whatever reason were already behind the group and struggling to catch up or just stuffing up an exercise.

The new reserves and line coaches were introduced to the players. Andrew S. would coach the reserves and prove very effective with an excellent rapport with the players and meticulous preparation coupled with powerpoint slides that had flames. Dean was the reserves mid field coach and brought with him great knowledge and planning processes and was always looking at ways to improve. The reserves forwards coach, Rob L . had assisted me in the past and had a great capacity to challenge the assumptions or beliefs we might have particularly at the selection table and Remo would coach the reserves back line and treated the players with dignity and respect and like all the coaches put a lot of time into his preparation. The seniors had Dave B. as the off field ‘mids’ coach to Sam Power and would also challenge and constantly amaze with his knowledge of the opposition and football in general. Glen B. had the seniors defenders and was always prepared, knowledgeable and had a ready laugh. Lots of different skill sets with a willingness to share and prepare. Couple with this Craig(Baz)Byron, our excellent football manager who seemingly could answer any technical question, was a great support and would put in long hours to ensure everything was right.

Regardless of the excellent start and set up, for both the players and the coaches the education in the new game plan continued.

“It must have been the milkman.” (Reece G. commenting on the marvels and uncertainties of DNA after I pointed out my, much lighter and leaner, son training on the other ground. Reece at 19 had already had two knee reconstructions and has a great sense of humour and TV presenter looks). Early December

“Footballers will confidently give themselves to a game plan when you can provide evidence of its effectiveness.” (D. Parkin)

“I can’t stand a training session that is just hit and miss. It really gets up my nose and they learn very quickly with me that you’re here to train, we are going to do it and we are going to do it well. We are not going to be just half at it. You know you pick up some new kids who come in and think they’ll do the drill but it’s sloppy. I see coaches who coach a drill but they don’t do any correction about it. They think that because you do the drill, that’s the drill. The drill is how good you do the drill. ....as I constantly say to my players, if you’re doing this crap now it’s exactly what you are going to do on the court. And if it is a pressure situation it’s all going to fold up, because you have never put yourself into a position of being able to do it right.’ ( Norma Plummer, Aust Netball Coach, Parkin p.123)

The game plan education continues. Dave was walking around at Craigieburn with a small whiteboard calling over the defenders or forwards etc and taking them through their starting points and the ball movement we were seeking. At the start of the preseason most players had nominated themselves either a midfielder, forward or defender and already we were giving them specialized training. The downside of this strategy is that the defenders wouldn’t have a clue what the forwards do and vice versa. Even the coaches had only an inkling of what was happening at the other end of the ground. Although we had run the full ground ‘kanda’ drill exercise 20 times already as the forwards coach pushing and shoving, directing and educating the forwards down the other end I was still unsure how it actually started with the defenders! This also meant that players who decided to change lines, become forwards were weeks behind.

One of the real challenges we were confronted with was the difficulty players had with the tactic of kicking it to a spot or space on the ground and letting the forward run on to it. Years of hitting up a target or putting the ball out in front of the forward meant the ball movement was going too wide. What we didn’t have a problem with was teaching the forwards to get in behind their defender and run towards the goals. Forwards have been doing that for years. What we added was the turning around of the defender so that they couldn’t watch you and the ball in flight simultaneously. The timing on the running was the key –anyone can run towards the goals but as we were finding out not everyone could run in a timely manner.

Dave used a very effective visualisation technique as part of the education process in which all 50 or so players were seated in front of him with their eyes closed and DN would take them through the game plan. He started with the kick in, “Where do we want the ball?” A player replied, “To a player who is...... ” (Where our kick in is going is confidential) “Where to next?,” and so on. Dave would also throw in challenges, “We are held up on the half back flank. What do we do?” The players responded as the ball moved and different scenarios were presented. Cleverly, Dave at times would describe a scenario that was at odds with the game plan which surprisingly, to me at least, the players recognised. The game plan was beginning to become embedded but we were under no illusions that all the players agreed with the plan. At least no one called out during the visualisation, “Kick a long bomb from defence.”

The coach is a lot of things at the sub elite level (or any level) –relationship, performance , recruiting and list manager, mentor to the players and line coaches, the go between RFC and CFC, overseer of a large match day staff, custodian of the culture, whilst still personally growing and developing. The coach is however primarily an educator.

As part of the education process we were constantly explaining what was right or wrong and what to do next time in that situation. Dave would manufacture scenarios to demonstrate what we wanted or stop an exercise if the ball was not being moved the way we wanted, even if it had worked. In game plan education the ‘how’ is more important than the end result .If ,for example, a goal is scored in our scratch matches in a way we don’t want ie a ‘wish and hope’ kick out of a stoppage that the forward somehow manufactures a goal from then we needed to intervene because we are trying to ingrain a pattern. Further, it’s not just the skills or patterns of movement but the trust we are building. Trust is just my reliance on you doing what is expected, that you will be where you are supposed to be and are predictable.

Port Power have a football field, like most elite clubs, painted on the gym floor which they use to step out a new play after a whiteboard explanation. They can then literally step out through the roller door and walk through the play on their oval. Then it can be executed at pace. A very effective education process.(I‘ve heard they also have a room with 360 degree video so the players can make decisions using a laser pointer to select where to move the ball or which player to kick to).

We used a five metre canvas football mat with witches hats to show a set up. The players were often required to set up the hats around a spot marked on the mat to demonstrate their assimilation of the set ups. I purchased cake decoration footballers from the Niddrie Cake Shop and on a small whiteboard the players could move them around to show their understanding of stoppage set ups. (One player naturally tried to bite one thinking it was made of sugar however they were plastic which was still a learning for him).

Coaches as educators use a variety of styles because you have visual types, auditory and kinesthetics in the team. Visualisation will work for some, power point works for some, a verbal explanation for some and so on. We needed to use a range of approaches to hit most of the styles.

For all that, there is still a place for repetition so that the flow becomes ingrained. The education never stopped but as the year progressed the intensity decreased and the focus changed. I think what we did do well was break down the complex into simple components and as they became confident with the simple, the complexity increased.

Our list management continued. We would need to inform another 10 or so before Christmas that they should try elsewhere and what they needed to improve on for next year. Most had tried very hard and it was not something Dave looked forward to. For the remaining players at the next training night someone might ask, ”Where is XXXX?”. “Gone ,”was the answer which they already suspected. Some, no doubt thinking,”There but for the grace of God.’...(and the coaching staff).

Learning from Monkeys There was an article circulating around the football community that summarised an experiment on how and when learning occurs. (No animals were hurt in this experiment but the brighter ones were overfed). ‘If you’ve ever felt doomed to repeat your mistakes researchers may have explained why: brain cells may only learn from experience when you do something right and not when we fail. “We have shown that brain cells keep track of whether recent behaviours were successful or not...when a behaviour was successful,[brain] cells became more finely attuned to what the animal was learning. After a failure, there was little or no change in the brain nor was there any improvement in behaviour. [In the experiment it was found “...that whether the answer was right or wrong signals within certain parts of the brain resonated for several seconds...[this] activity following a correct answer helped the monkeys do better the next time. [In the trials if the]...monkey got a correct answer, a signal lingered in its’ brain that said.”You did the right thing.”Right after a correct answer neurons processed information more sharply and effectively. “In other words, only after successes not failures did brain processing and the monkey’s behaviour improve.(Picower Institute). I am not sure what the actual practical implications for coaches are. It is interesting that there is more brain activity when we experience success and little when we experience failure.

Most coaches try to set up situations so that players learn the right way to do things and reward the players accordingly however given that what gets noticed and rewarded gets done it is probable than most of us as coaches have created a disconnect between what we want and what gets rewarded. We say we want the team things which will be central to our success yet the best team player award is well down the list and most awards at the end of the season and after a game are for individual efforts. It is highly unlikely that the player who ran away consistently to create space for his team mates would receive recognition even if such sacrificial acts resulted in goals.

I am not sure what the implications in the above research are for the tenet of learning from our mistakes other than not as much learning occurs. Error tells you that you got it wrong. It doesn’t, in a sense, tell you what you need to do to get it right. Maybe those photos with inscriptions that used to be in club rooms in the 80’s like,”Success breeds success,” and “Success encourages you,’ were more accurate than I thought. There is however plenty of restrictive approaches to learning occurring still in football – push ups, 400s, verbal abuse. Still some coaches use the approach of painting a picture of the ‘flames of hell’ for mistakes. No coach , presumably, no matter how Draconian would though ask players to continue to dwell on all their mistakes of the first half and,”.. carry those thoughts into the second half and never forget them (!)( I think). It’s funny that when training is good we don’t stop it and ask why it is so yet when it is not tracking well we pull everyone up for a prod. I need to think all this through a bit further.

“...I truly felt that if I had been a good teacher, I could sit in the stands during a game without any diminution in the quality of UCLA’s performance – but only if I had done my job to the team correctly and taught competitive greatness to our team.” (John Wooden, How to be like Coach Wooden P.Williams) Sun Tzu and the Art of Goal Setting

“Ninety percent of football is fifty percent mental.” (NFL player on the psychology of football. I am still at a loss on the maths of this.)

We introduced the concept and strategies for personal goal setting at a short presentation at Punt Rd. The basic points were:

1. We all need a target and picture of how we want things to be better and different in the future.

2. Setting a goal opens our awareness to new information that we didn’t know existed before.

3. Set your goals based on what you believe you can achieve. Don’t get caught up in the how. You will invent the how.(Footnote)

4. We move in the direction of the strongest picture in our minds. The goal must be become clearer then current reality.

5. We must become discontent with the current level of performance to start to move.

6 The reason you want your goal must come internally and not be in response to an external driver ie “I need to prove myself to my friends.”

7. We need to commit to the goal. Too many people like to foster the goal and under pressure give it up. When you adopt your goal you commit and make yourself accountable. Sun Tzu wrote in the ‘Art of War’ that you should never burn the escape bridge of the foe you are about to fight as they will now have no way out and be committed to fight to the death. However, always burn your own escape bridge though because now you have no way out and are committed to fight to the death.

8. Look for ways to measure your progress.

All the players were one on one coached on their goals over a few weeks and some changes were made particularly if the goal was to vague ie “I am going to have a good year”. The goals setting sheets were formally revisited in March when players were asked to track their progress or to add in new goals if they had already achieved their targets. During the season some players continued to track their progress and Dean introduced a weekly goal setting process that focussed on game day goals and areas for improvement which proved very effective.

Coburg Tigers Goal Setting for 2010 (EXAMPLE) NAME: ...... DATE: ...... REVIEW DATE: ......

List your strengths 1. Kicking to position 2. One on one

In which areas do you need to develop? 1. Marking in contested situations 2. Tactical awareness

What are your specific goals for 2010? • To become a consistent senior player.

Where do you want to be and have achieved by April 2010 In the mix to play in the first game and be a member of the leadership group Beep test 13.5

September 2010 Have played 5 senior games, held in regard by my team mates and hit my success targets

How will you chart your progress and measure your success? • Effective disposals • Review goals regularly • Team KPIs • Effective Tackles

What contribution and difference do you intend to make to the team? • Follow the game plan • Support my team mates when they are under pressure • Contest when it is my turn • Run to support, create and block

Imagine it is the 30/9/2010. Write a paragraph on what you would like to see in the coach’s review regarding your efforts, achievements and contribution Daniel has had a terrific year with a top ten in the B and F and his commitment to the team has been an inspiration. His leadership and support for his team mates made a huge difference. Daniel’s work ethic became the benchmark and his meticulous preparation for games put himself in the best position to excel each week. Daniel improved significantly in not only skill areas and fitness but also his communication skills. He was very coachable and handled honest and direct feedback very constructively and his feedback to the coaches was of great assistance. Daniel should look back on this year and be very proud of his accomplishments and the difference he made.

If 2010 is to be a successful year for you what will be your guiding principles to ensure your success? 1. Listen to the coaches 2. Work hard and take no short cuts 3. Working together we can all achieve our goals

Once you arrive at a goal you have set you lose your drive and energy. We never run out of energy but rather we run out of goals. If your goal is to get to training you will go through the motions ok but be lucky to improve . If you don’t have a goal to improve on an aspect of your game at training you are treading water. Further, for many of us, and probably for many teams, the goal is to set the goal and once you have that’s it. You need to revisit the goal regularly otherwise it is just an academic exercise with no real intent. Like when you meet someone in the street you haven’t seen for a while and say,”It’s great to see you. We must catch up again one day.”They know you don’t mean, you know it too. They’re just words. Don’t set any goal unless you are as serious as Sun Tze was about commitment.

“Is there a target on the back of my head? ( Graeme Polak perhaps reflecting on the goal setting process after his third head collision in six weeks. Graeme was a terrific person and on field leader and I was sorry to see him retire) .

‘Humans are teleological by nature. We need a goal to survive. Missiles have a target to correct along the way – too high, too low, too far to the right etc. Constantly correcting following its ‘system feedback. Humans also need a picture, a target and feedback that they are on track.” (Lou Tice Investment in Excellence)

‘The thing that I will miss the most is having very, very high goals to try to achieve.” ( James Tomkins, Three times Olympic Champion reflecting after announcing his retirement)

“His best position is on the moon!” ( A frustrated DN verbalising a mental goal for a senior player during a game. Co -incidentally the same week. NASA announced it was looking for volunteers to colonise Mars on the understanding they would be unable to return to Earth. There are few coaches who ,just for a moment ,might contemplate this opportunity not only for certain players but a for themselves also.)

“ However creative and intuitive you are, you should be clear early on what is your goal to be and how will you achieve it. For gifted players with a record of unpredictably and unevenness of performance, this process is particularly important. A player who relies on spontaneous flair alone has few inner resources to which he can turn on a bad day.” (‘Sporting Body and Sporting Mind’, Connolly and Syer ,Cambridge University Press.)

“My memory of the future came true.” (Brian Cook, CEO, Geelong FC, on the 2007 Premiership and using the goal setting concept of future memory). The Christmas Rush

“People don’t care what you know until they know that you care.” (Lou Tice, Investment in Excellence).

There was a lot to get through by Christmas. We had a bowls night for a change and after a Sunday fitness test Morgs displayed frightening pace in a pairs cricket game at West Preston and some great catches were taken (and reputations as cricketers dented). The fitness testing was important given we were largely doing game sense drills. We came in, as a group, 5% fitter than the previous year’s group. It was a heartening result (and a relief, we are on the right track, whew!) We were treating training as rehearsal and expected the players to be ready for anything at the end of the warm up. In fairness the warm up took twenty minutes and included a number of run through type movements so they should be ready.

Last week the players were a bit flat which always causes concern and reflection. Coaches set a tone and if we are too hyped it can be detrimental equally too laid back brings about a similar result. Tonight everyone is up and about. Same people, same coaches, same ground.(?)You can dig yourself an early grave if you dwell on the mysteries of uneven performance too much.

In terms of motivation we expected the players, at this level, to be self motivated, self directed and accountable for their own development. We probably should have spent more time on this as we assumed they all were or all understood what we were looking for. When we became frustrated with a players performance I think we probably should have gone over again that our philosophy was for them to take the responsibility for their development. We would provide what we considered an unprecedented opportunity for their development via the resources, facilities, processes and education they had access to but ultimately the accountability was with each of them.

There was some discussion amongst the coaching group regarding training standards and when we should halt training to give them a blast. Neither Dave nor I wanted a culture that required players driven via external forces equally you didn’t want a culture where those who chose not to pursue excellence held others back. Later in the year we introduced strategies which proved very effective and became known as zero tolerance , (that phrase for no other reason than it sounded good). Essentially if a kick didn’t hit the target, for example, after mopping up a player would sprint to his defensive spot on the ground to set up for the turnover he had caused. Even in simple keepings off games the players on ‘interchange” would call off players who failed to bumper, block, chase, man the mark correctly etc. It demonstrated cause and effect very well. In basketball if one player doesn’t put their hands up in training to defend all training stops. We wanted the same – if one player didn’t run down the corridor to help the defenders there was a team consequence.

Having said that every coach at every level will at some point say enough is enough. We wanted the players to take control and halt training if standards dropped. Cameron Ling apparently stopped training at Geelong early in his career when he thought it not good enough. However on one occasion after three out of five simple kicks hit the ground I called the group in. “That’s not good enough. No coach would accept that and neither should you. Let’s go again.” The standard improved, of course, which is surprisingly frustrating. Jonathan, one of the club’s excellent leaders called everyone in and said, “We deserved that spray.” Spray! If the modern footballer thinks that was a spray then the coaches of the past would have seemed like a storm of biblical proportions. Nothing was off limits in the past. Your manhood, sexual preference, biology( no heart), colour of hair(redheads) – everything was open slather in the tirade. Worse , while you were being humiliated the committee were standing around nodding. A friend told me that he once had to weather the torrent of insults at half time delivered by his coach who although he had his jumper on had removed his shorts and underwear and moved up and down in front of the chastised players demanding their attention and belittling anyone not staring at him. (Personally I wouldn’t try that because it is very cold at Craigieburn.)

The intensity of training and the level of contact work is steadily increasing. We played a intra club practice match and used it as a catalyst to see who was adhering to the plan and most had at least some idea but there is still, as you would expect, some hesitation as a player wrestled with what he has been doing for success at his local club and what we want him to do for CFC’s success. One of the hardest things for the forwards to come to grips with was to not chase a defender out towards the boundary but to sprint down the corridor to be in a position to help our defenders. The ball is like a magnet and to not get caught up just following the ball and to think strategically was a big jump. For all this, the set ups, stoppage structures, hit zones etc were only starting points and at some point the players still just had to play footy. We were also asking for players to be self less to create a space for others and if they were covered by a defender to duck back into the corridor rather than to just run out into the workable space and clog it up. This was so alien to many players- do you want us to go for the ball or not? Yes but not at the expense of us getting bogged down on the boundary with no option other than the long kick along the boundary.

To finish off training Dave had every player grab the jumper of the player next to them and run down the ground hanging on. Forty plus players in a line laughing and struggling to hold on at pace was great sight and a team spirit lifter.

Dave reminded everyone that the practice match against Richmond was only 14 training nights away and everyone should be aiming to play in it. We would start again in early January.

It had been a big seven weeks. The pace would pick up rapidly in the New Year.

“The North Korean soccer squad which lost all three World Cup games... has been accused of betraying ...the supreme leader...the team was forced to reprimand their coach for six hours at a dressing down in front of 400 officials. [The coach] has been expelled from the Workers Party of Korea.” (Herald Sun 3/8/10) Have you ever noticed how dictators are prone to take sporting losses personally? I think the Iraqi soccer team were tortured by Saddam’s nephew).

A New Year

“It may take twelve months. We cannot get frustrated as coaches. We know we will get there.” (Damien Hardwick)

The list management is continuing. We thought we would have it finalised by Christmas but that didn’t eventuate so we have around 12 to 15 players for the last 5 spots. There are a few who would have been expected to be there but had been invited to try elsewhere or realised their bodies had had enough. The average age of the list is around twenty and probably close to 20% are ex Calder Cannons. Picking up Sam Power as the playing mid field coach was a terrific win for the club and players given his experience and willingness to share that knowledge and the way he trains is a model for any aspiring player. To try to get greater clarity the forwards were given a short document that outlined what it would look like when the forwards were playing well. Each player had to add a sentence based on the team rules. Below is the result. What will it look like when we are playing well?

“We are running our patterns with intent and intensity. Our structures roll up, back and across to be in the best position.

We are continually getting in behind the defence and are engaging the defenders to the point they cannot watch the ball and us. Our top of the diamond player selflessly leads to create space behind him.

We have the defenders frequently puzzled and lost because we set up so quickly and effectively. In the 50m arc we have the defenders under terrific pressure. Our impact and switch coverage players are causing indecision and we own the corridor. When they begin handballing we are all over them and we are controlling where they can take the ball.

Our strategic positioning is causing turnovers and delaying strategies frustration. Our discipline means there are no easy outs for the defenders and we know what to do if outnumbered or if there is a stoppage anywhere on the ground. Our structures and setups work like a machine and even when the ball comes back in very quickly the defenders are still faced with a group who know when they just have to play footy and improvise by selecting the dangerous player to harass.. Our release players are very damaging and our stoppage impact players causing confusion. The level of effective communication and co-operation is high and the number of players prepared to run 80 metres to congratulate or support a team mate is fantastic. The body language of the defenders is dropping as they realise they are facing a drilled, skilled, enthusiastic forward group who have come to play. That relentless pressure we are known for is taking its’ toll and our execution and accuracy has them shaking their heads in disbelief but if they knew how hard we trained and prepared they wouldn’t be so surprised. The defenders realise this is a team within a team who have never taken a backward step – never have and never will.” Really what we are trying to do with such document is reinforce to the players what it will look like when we are playing well. From this we can then determine the statistical measures that will most accurately indicate how we are tracking To try to assimilate the ten team rules I paired up the forwards in the Coaches Room and they took it in turns to explain a rule to each other for around 30 seconds each. Then the other player had their turn. The best way to learn something is to have to teach it is an old saying. I don’t know if it is true but it is one part only of an extensive education process. Those players and coaches who like lots of activity are probably frustrated, at times, by the need to stop and explain something. Dave always favoured education over activity. We never practised for the sake of practice nor is there any value in practising want you don’t want to happen or practising being mediocre.

This week the players were introduced to ‘Hammer Time’- a demanding drill that required a quick switch from an attacking mindset to a defensive one. Essentially, the players were grouped in to teams of five about eighty metres apart. To start the exercise off the First Team would run down the ground sharing the ball via handballs and kicks while maintaining their “shape”. # When they got to about twenty metres out from the waiting group they kicked the ball over their heads to a coach waiting just behind that group who would in turn kick it to the already spreading Second team who would tear off down the ground. The first team were now defending. (If they obtained possession they gave it back and the process continued).

When Team Two got to about 20 metres from the other end they kicked to the coach behind the next waiting team, Team Three, and that coach kicked it wide to a spreading Team Three player and Team Two are now defending.( Teams always return to their starting end).(See Appendix Seven for graphic)

It was gut wrenching running and every player was required to man the mark correctly, apply a self less block and try to win the ball. Aside from any education process Hammer Time enabled the fitness people to get up the training points if the numbers were down for the week. Everyone’s attention was now focussed on next weeks’ Coburg v Richmond game.

# Maintaining shape was to make sure we didn’t get sucked in to being all around the ball or contest. If it spilled out the opposition were away. Alternatively by keeping our shape we had our own exit points. This was a big jump for me because shape had a higher priority than blocking after you gave a handball or shepperding . In fact we never did a single exercise in the season that required some sort of give off and block. Give and provide another option was the preferred tactic. As I learnt this approach I probably for the first time regretted not playing anymore because I am certain my entire playing career was based on staying out wide to receive.

Richmond Football Club v Coburg Tigers

There is a terrific crowd and atmosphere at Craigieburn for the game. At least 800 or more. Mostly supporters in black and yellow who have come to see “their boys” smash Coburg. It has been like a countdown for us and I am not over awed but it is a big jump from six months earlier coaching the U16s to preparing for a contest against an AFL side.

Dave has warned the players that with places in Richmond’s NAB Cup game up for grabs our players should be under no illusions about how the game will be played.

In preparation this week we worked on: 1. Getting the defenders to turn their heads so they can’t watch us and the ball at the same time. 2. Forcing a stoppage if you are outnumbered 3. Practising tackling the inside shoulder and not getting side stepped and therefore giving your opponent access to the corridor 4. Pressing up on the ball carrier. We still have players who fold back like they are retreating to a second line of defence and consequently putting no pressure on the ball carrier. All teams want to put pressure on the ball carrier as far from their opponent’s goal as possible.

Not surprisingly we had complete attendance at training but surprisingly training was a little uneven. DN reminded the players that a session lost or missed is one you will never get or reclaim.(He didn’t quite word it that way but I am not sure who will be reading this).

Dave will oversee the coaching and rotations and the line coaches get to coach their groups. For the forwards three things are emphasised for the first quarter: Get in place for stoppages Delay RFC at all times Make sure we have switch coverage to reduce their exits.

We are going to play three 20 minute quarters. Richmond are kicking with a strong breeze. (That’s not fair I thought shouldn’t we have it for most of the game?) We walked up the stairs to the coaches box with the RFC coaching group and then we turned left and they stopped. “You blokes are going off on your own? Is that how it is going to be, is it?’ joked Damien H. First Quarter Adam M is in everything and showing leadership at the stoppages and Jye is tackling well and literally sprints off the ground when rotated which impresses everyone. Rhett is following the game plan and Tom is using his skill and pace to hit up well. Reasonable start by CFC and we are down four or five goals. Beven Newell coming straight from Moonee Valley U18s has caused a goal and must be pinching himself that he is playing against AFL listed players and is not out of his depth. I had a quick chat to ask the forwards to play up higher and to pull back our defence at their kick ins’ and we start again. (If you setup your defensive kick in zone with no opponent between you and the kicker you are guarding grass).

Second Quarter We have the wind and are competitive against a much bigger Richmond but some players don’t seem to be able to get in the right spots at stoppages. If a player is free and running on a back 45 degree lead we want a forward who is guarded by a defender to move out of the area. This wasn’t happening and it is probably true for any level that in the first practice game everyone just wants to get their hands on the ball.

Third Quarter Reece G is contesting well and James S and James L are in everything. It is a cracking pace and we are ringing the rotations. Luke G is presenting well and running the patterns and I am learning valuable lessons on being a forwards coach, that is, I need to up skill very quickly. Richmond have completed the rotations for a number of their players so now CFC players are heading back out in the RFC Tiger jumper.

A great hit out and we go down by ten goals which was a competitive effort. The takeouts were we often overcommitted to a tackle leading to being sidestepped and we rarely impacted on the sweeper at the back of the stoppage. The players think standing behind a stoppage is the same as impacting. We had better practice it a bit more.

Also there is an imaginary line, running from goal to goal straight down the centre of the ground. If the ball is on the boundary line you cannot be on the other side of the ground as it is impossible to impact the play. Come over at least to the centre which has the other effect of opening up one side of the ground that we can switch to. This will require another mindset change. That’s ok as we are all still learning.

“Nobody has got any right to be proud of natural ability- that came to you through the eye of your father’s cock. You didn’t do anything to earn it. It’s only what you’ve done with your natural ability- what you have added with that four letter word ‘work’- that’s a legitimate cause for pride.” (Ron Barassi, The Coach, J Powers, Sphere Books)

The Camp We had a preliminary meeting with the coaches and fitness staff to plan the activities for the camp which everyone had been looking forward to. Only a few in cricket finals wouldn’t be attending. It was to be an action packed, little downtime, demanding two days. There was to be a no alcohol rule apparently based on excesses in the past and DN wanted to set the tone for the year. We were going to Halls Gap to work, have fun and set our trademarks. ( I encourage you, if you haven’t already to read McLeans book ,’Any Given Team’ for a great insight to football camps and alcohol).

Most of the coaches set off Friday lunchtime to check out the camp and prepare for the evening session. The players were to leave Coburg Oval around 2.00pm.Dean and Rob, were steamrolled in to being on the bus and in charge of “activities’ on the bus. We stopped at a town (that to be honest looked like a number of towns we had already passed through) for a snack. Baz rang Deano to check how far behind the bus was. The bus had failed to appear. The schedule was already two hours out of whack.

The camp was perfect for our activities and the accommodation austere with no air conditioning. The senior coaches room was the deluxe room with a tv and fan. Bunk style accommodation would greet the players.

Eventually the bus arrived around 6.30pm and the players were quickly organised and they set off on their first task- an eight km hike to a scenic lookout that when you looked at it from the valley of Halls Gap it looked like a world away. The players had already been placed into teams and most had matching t shirts and points were to be awarded or deducted on each activity with a prize for the winning team.

It was allegedly only an 8 km hike and the first 4 kms is steeply up hill. The older coaches (me)struggled a bit and I was convinced I was lost and off the track. Eventually I arrived at the summit just as the sun was setting to find everyone else chatting and admiring the view. DN’s speech, the sermon on the mount, out lined his expectations for the year and I think something about success and the view from the top but to be honest the sweat in my ears precluded an accurate summary.

We headed down in the darkness for a BBQ dinner and then Peter, the clubs chaplain spoke to the players about how he could help and would be available if they just wanted to talk. The deluxe coaches room had a tv so players started to drift in to watch the NAB Cup. Dave quickly moved them on. This was our area. (Equality and empowerment go only so far). The real motive, of course was to encourage socialisation besides all had to be ready for the 6.00am start.

The next morning the players set off for their ‘triathalon’. They jogged up to the Halls Gap lake in their teams and there was a nice buoyant mood. They were divided into groups. One group were to push tyres around and pull Brisy’s ute using heavy ropes coupled with stomach work while the other group did a run- swim leg. I was positioned on the surfboard as lifeguard and it was a beautiful morning which was easier for me to appreciate as I wasn’t being smashed. There were a few excellent swimmers and then there was Houli. I was immediately concerned and paddled closer. He struggled on and hung onto the board for a while and seemingly inched his way forward to land. The players were laughing and stirring him as you would expect in a ‘blokey’ culture but he seemed oblivious to their taunts. Houli is personable, humourous and a strong athlete. He just can’t swim.

After around two hours we went to a mini golf centre on the way back which was relaxing and a welcome relief from the first session. We arrived back at the camp for brunch and everyone came into the hall to work through what would be our trademarks and values. It is a pretty straight forward process that it enables everyone to participate

Step One Assess Current Reality How are we, CFC, currently seen by others? What behaviours have been counterproductive? What have you seen that stopped us from being our best?

Step Two Develop Vision How do we want to be seen by others in the football community?

Step Three Values and Guiding Principles What will be the values and guiding principles that will be central to our success?

Step Four Behaviours What is unacceptable and will not be tolerated?

Step Five Leadership We had a short discussion around the correlation between culture and leadership behaviour which led to the next question; What will be the criteria we will use to select the CFC leadership group?

(All the players would vote the next day for the leadership group using a 5-4-3-2-1 format and announce their vote in front of the team and a leadership group of ten were elected).

Naturally the answers to the above questions are confidential however the goal was summarised into two sentences using an affirmation format:

“We are a drilled and professional team that applies unrelenting pressure. We are selfless and committed to each other and our shared goal.” The players broke for lunch at 1.00pm. The afternoon sessions(still the first day!) which would comprise team work activities and a round robin of soccer, volley ball and basketball would take us through to around five pm which would give the players an hour to themselves which would be taken up rehearsing for their Red Faces show in the evening.

The Red Faces show and Celebrity Head were very entertaining with some wonderful performances (which would all pale into insignificance at Nick C’s performance later in the year at ‘Coburg Idol”)

A long day but a good one. There was a rumour going around that Newy planned a 3am activity. He played it up well which no doubt encouraged a few to head to their bunks early. Some played cards. Personally I needed no encouragement to hit the bunk.

The next morning at 7.00am we headed off on a four hour walk to the highset point in the Grampians.The first hour plus is uphill. A few of us immediately drop behind. DN realises that we are behind schedule so now teams are jogging up ahead. A German tourist is cheerily come down the mountain and happily informs me that there are 1260 steps to go. Thank you. We(I) finally arrive at the top. There is another club also putting in the hard yards. Dave calls everyone together for a quick chat and photo opportunity.(I am the one in the front with the matted hair and 1000 yard stare).Dave talked about team work and working as one. He mentioned that when Matt Smith had twisted his ankle on the way up we hadn’t left him behind but had supported him to the top and ( I think) we would need to work together.

We head down for brunch and a players feedback session in which each player in turn is critiqued by his peers with no coach involvement. The feedback ranged from,” You need to speak up”, “work harder”, ‘keep doing what you are doing”, “mentor others” and “you are showing good leadership” etc. This was part one of the honest and direct feedback process we are introducing the players to which continued through the year in a variety of ways.

It is 2.00pm. Dave thanks everyone for their efforts, the winning team is announced and the players wearily head for the bus. It is hard to believe we have only been here since Friday evening. All our goals were accomplished and there was a feeling we were on track.

“If I can’t take my cigarettes I‘m not going. I don’t care if you drop me, I don’t care, I am not going. ‘ (Shane Warne laying down the ground rules for his reluctant participation at the Aust. Cricketers boot camp. “It was s...house...run by guys who take themselves too seriously,” was Warne’s observation). Coaching a Line

“We are going to create elite habits.” (Danny Daly, RFC Forwards Coach).

It was obvious to me that I needed to ramp up my knowledge of forward play and the role of the line coach and not only become more familiar with the process of coaching forwards but how that applies to coaching Coburg/Richmond forwards.

I took the opportunity at a coaching course to corner Stan Alves and David Parkin. They were both very consistent on what they expected from a line coach: • No spectating or barracking in the box • Find out your level of authority • Challenge the coach. Offer a solution • Only watch your line. • Look for opportunities to create a mismatch. • Know who is on who at all times • Give a precise summary and two points at breaks to the senior coach.

They both suggested I make a player accountable for different stoppages around the ground ie forward pocket where there is switch coverage required or centre bounces in which players need to stagger their run in.

I also met with RFC forwards coach, Danny Daly and as the year progressed Danny was very generous with his time and always willing to help. We went over the measurements that would gauge our effectiveness with the usual measures of inside 50s etc however the one that was new to me was the opposition rebound efficiency which assesses the number of times the opposition can take the ball from inside our 50 to inside their own 50 without us effectively touching it.

There are lot of other factors that impacted this measurement however it was very important to us given how much time and effort we had put into our forward 50 defensive strategies. If we were delaying the opposition it gave the defenders and middies the opportunity to set up and was a good indicator if we were bumpering, manning the mark and closing down their exits. (As the year progressed it was a very accurate KPI on how the team was tracking in any given quarter).

The point that Danny reinforced was that line coaches, more than anything else, are facilitators and your role is to get the players to work as one unit and be selfless. Danny would later in the year assist us at training and would offer suggestions at breaks when he attended our games which he did frequently.

Like Stan and David, Danny was clear on the role of the line coach: • We are not de facto senior coaches grasping at an opportunity to talk to the players • Give them the 3 key KPIs at the break and assess how they are tracking against the games target. • Give feedback on their running patterns, stoppages. • Ask the players about their concerns or what the line coach needs to know. • Show confidence in them and their efforts • Outline what needs to happen the next quarter. Following this discussion I wrote down the areas I needed to be aware of each game and I stuck a copy on my white board: “ The Coaches Box “ • Look at the match ups – defenders size, no.s • Be aware when a defender leaves the ground or moves position • Match ups – working for us, hurting us? Who is running off? • Where are their spares setting up? • Which of our players are consistently free? Can we take advantage of that? • What are their starting points? • When do they drop off? Can we advantage that? • Are we running our patterns with intensity and deep? • Are we effectively delaying and disrupting? • Are we front and centre?

1. Tell Cam(the board man) of any changes 2. Let Dave know if anything is happening or not happening that could hurt us 3. Give him two points at the breaks Facilitate breaks Give information and reason to tune in Provide targets for the next quarter

What I learned the hard way and it isn’t in any AFL coaching manual, was that senior coaches can say the same sentence but your response needs to be based on an accurate assessment of their needs and the inflection in their voice ie “Bally, what are the forwards doing at the stoppages?” In this case give an answer. However if it is, “Bally, WHAT are the FORWARDS doing....in the STOPPAGES!! ” This is a rhetorical question that it would be best not to answer and definitely not a time to share one of my flippant insights.

The other thing I learnt is that whatever is said in the coaches box, implied about your competence or forcibly directed to you to fix, it is not personal.

March Champions

The players had a meeting following the camp and a few players were on the receiving end of some traditional honest and direct feedback for not knowing the team structures. We have access to computers at Punt Rd to review the game plan and setups, a number of players such as Adam and Rhett are very proficient in this area and are happy to assist others, there are six line coaches and two senior coaches. The boys were informed that it is their responsibility to learn these strategies. To be honest I felt proud listening to the group giving the feedback, with no input from me, because it meant our processes were being assimilated. Aside from all the methods we have used to embed the game plan Dave has introduced a new one where he projects a football field on to the whiteboard and marks a stoppage on the ground. Players are given a whiteboard marker and required to mark where they should stand in relation to their opponent and the game plan. Nothing straightens up the thinking better than needing to walk out in front of forty of your teammates and place and “X” on the board. We played the Northern Bullants in our first official practice match at Visy Park. Our focus areas are to be- own the corridor, win the 60/’40 ball and cover the exits. The reserves played well for a ten goal win with Will S., Andy D and Pat Ambrose playing well. The flow was there and some players like James S. ran the patterns well but in the seniors the Bullants were too strong for us and moved the ball too quickly for us to set up. Not surprisingly there are a few players still unsure of the ball movement we want and are second guessing themselves which usually means the opportunity has gone. James L. kicked three goals and is proving to be a great pick up from the Cannons.

The next week we played the Bendigo Bombers who were simply too big and strong for us. We were certainly out played and with a number of Essendon regulars running around for the Bendigo side we struggled. What we did start to do better was to roll up on a loose player and cover off their most dangerous player. Damien H. was watching because we had a few RFC players having a hit out but obviously became frustrated with our setup for our kickins when the Bombers went man on man. He screamed out, ”Huddle when they go man on man! You know that!’ As they say in the classics, ”We had our pants pulled down.’ A ten goal loss.

The following Friday night we played Collingwood’s VFL side at Gosch’s Paddock. We had no Richmond players so it was good that all the Coburg players available could get a run. The aim was to practice running our patterns deeper, to increase our delaying off their defenders through bumpers and when they started handballing we were to press up and be all over them. We started well with a goal in the first moments and then another. Tom Lucin was in everything and kicked four and both our Tasmanian recruits , ‘Poppa’ and Matt S. were busy at the stoppages. Hamish D rucked tirelessly against their three talls and Nick C was showing true leadership on the field. Collingwood pulled away as the game wore on. ‘Rayso ‘ was momentarily knocked out in the last seconds of the game and was certainly dazed for some time after. An eight goal loss.

We reviewed the game on the Monday night and Dave took the players through the mechanics of different aspects of the game. Most games are filmed from the side and down the ground which when placed up on the split screen provides a real insight to where players are running to or not and where we have failed to set up or impact.

The same night the Leadership group broke the playing group up into teams of five to six and reviewed how we were tracking against our trademarks and what do we need to more of, less of and continue doing. The summary of the discussion was fed back to the coaching group and the rest of the list.(As the year progressed we did a number of surveys but we steered clear of the players ‘well being’ survey used by an AFL side a few years ago which asks the players to rate how they are feeling along a range of criteria including tiredness, stress etc. If the scores came in high, training would be eased. Allegedly after a high rating came back training was cancelled and everyone went to see the film, “The Day after Tomorrow.” The team had won their first ten games and after viewing that film hardly won another game for the season. Personally I think it probably says more about the film than the survey process).

We had Frankston next and would have 16 RFC players including Polak, King, Rance and Taylor in the forward line. We started slowly and were lucky to be still in it at half time. We stormed home in the last half on the back of a five goal haul by Matt Dennis and great round the ground play by Justin and Shane Tuck. Finally a win. Twenty two points.

One issue was emerging was that in our enthusiasm to get the ball or assist we often had five or six players in the contest but other teams were keeping players out wide, holding their width, so when the ball spilled out they were away. Our enthusiasm for the contest was outrunning our common sense and game plan. Every junior coach knows this and has the answer,”...one in only, alright?”

We finished off the practice matches with a game at Whitten Oval against Williamstown. We knew that the Seagulls would feed the ball out the back at centre bounces so we set up for that with our wingers tasked to hit in on the back. Again we started slowly. By half way through the second quarter they were kicking goals from everywhere and doing ‘party tricks’. The reserves lost by six goals and the seniors were on the receiving end of a fourteen goal ‘shellacking.” Next week the season starts and we have dual reigning premiers North Ballarat first up. We are optimistic in spite of an ordinary round of practice matches.

The Jumper Presentation

There was a terrific turn up for the presentation of the jumpers by Damien Hardwick at our major sponsor ,Clipsals offices. Baz and Lenore had done an excellent job organising everything. Damien had already shown himself to be personable and generous and had backed up his words that Coburg would be treated as a partner of RFC by taking training at Coburg wearing the Coburg gear. I thought it was a real statement.(He also had a light hearted go at ‘Lepper’ for keeping his RFC jacket on in the freezing conditions).

GM Lee Fraser introduced Damien after welcoming the 23 new players. Lee used a Q and A approach as a lead in (although his first question was unintentionally memorable). Here is the gist of Damien’s remarks.

“I love footy...I used to sit down with my dad as a junior and pick the team...I love VFL football. I love the physicality... although in my first game with Springvale I had my jaw broken!’

“I never made a junior rep side and was probably only in the best ten at my local club... I tried out at a number of AFL clubs only to be moved on...it was only chance that a recruiter saw me playing well as he had come to see someone else... so don’t give up ... I nearly went back to my local club which would have been the end of my career”

“[My advice to you is] train hard with a purpose. Work on one thing to improve each night at training...Under pressure you and we need to be able to retain possession so work on your skills.” “We will look at recruiting two mature aged recruits for next season so if you can follow the game plan and be a good kick we will look at you. Damien then looked at Matt Dennis in the audience, ”And if you keep kicking five goals(in the last practice match) we will put you in for early elective surgery (to hide you from other clubs).” “The most important thing to the Richmond football club is that you be of good character. It is the most important quality we are looking for.”

“It’s sort of like Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and Richmond is the chocolate factory and we’re the kids going through the factory. There’s just that bit of magic in the air.” (Jack Riewoldt on the Tigers and Damien Hardwick, The Age 21/8/10)

(In response to a question about what was it like to be coached by Sheedy, “One game we walked into the room and he had drawn a wheelie bin on the whiteboard and preceded to outline what a marvellous invention the wheelie bin was and how it had a range of uses! It was hard not to laugh but that was ‘Sheeds.’” It was a great night.) First Game

Coburg Tigers v North Ballarat Roosters

Selection for Round One, CFC v North Ballarat home takes us a few hours with potentially 12 to 16 Richmond players coming into the team but in a lot of cases it is guesswork because Richmond do not name their team until Thursday and often do not finalise it until Friday at 5.00pm and here we are Wednesday night selecting the VFL side. This causes us to do a lot of ‘what if he is selected then we will bring in ‘etc. It becomes the pattern for the year with frequently DN needing to make an executive decision on the Friday. To complicate it further Richmond may insist that someone play in the seniors that we have already selected in the reserves. During the day Adam, the excellent RFC fitness coach also sends us the playing times the RFC players can play and how many rotations they require each quarter this aside from any direction that certain players need to play in predetermined positions to assist in their development or to give them the opportunity to return to the Richmond senior side. It is the up and the downside of affiliation although it is more of an inconvenience than anything else. I think everyone is mindful of the upside in the unprecedented access to data, methods and the opportunities for development that came our way via affiliation.

Given for this first game both RFC and CFC have few injuries the effect is that there will be 10 to 12 Coburg players sent back to their local clubs to play. Naturally some of the local clubs are not enthusiastic about finding a player on the training track wanting to play in their senior side whom they have not seen for the year and in some cases have never seen ever! (Baz is very good at smoothing these things over).

If we are playing Saturday we always train Friday nights for around 25 minutes which after the warm up is essentially full ground rehearsal for how we intend to move the ball plus a goal kicking exercise. This is the only time the Richmond listed players train with us.

At around 6.45pm Dave takes the senior players through what we can expect from North Ballarat and what we will counter with and deliver. He emphasised three things: • when they start handballing under pressure that is when we sniff blood and we are all over them. • the intensity of our forward patterns needs to be high • we need to delay their exits He went over some of their individual players, what they like to do, when they drop off and how we can exploit it. The forward line is Polak, Nahas, Dennis(from the EDFL), Hislop, Lucin, Astbury and Troy Taylor. Plenty to work with there.

Game Day There is as you would expect a sense of anticipation and nerves. We are under no illusions. We are playing the reigning premiers but there is a great deal of confidence. Chris, the club’s conditioning coach takes the players through a structured and vigorous warm up and each line spends six minutes on the ground doing line specific training which becomes the norm for season. With a final word from Dave they head out down the covered race. First Quarter We are on fire. Graeme Polak is in everything, presenting well, Tom Hislop is fierce at the ball and Rob Nahas is applying enormous defensive pressure. We are winning positions all over the ground and the ball movement is according to plan. At quarter time we have a quick discussion, I read out the KPI’s and ask them to play a little higher so we can get in behind them with a back lead. I ask them for their feedback and if they have any concerns. Dave then calls the lines together for a quick summary and call to action. The throng of supporters that have come out to hear the coach strain to hear him because he speaks quietly because unlike some coaches he is speaking to the players not the throng. (A nice contrast with when I was coaching in the country when a committee man asked me to be also addressing the club room crowd at the half time break because many were tipping in money and they liked to hear an inspirational speech so they would feel their money was well spent. After my next half time talk which revolved around the attacking patterns of Vikings in Eighth century England I never received that request again). CFC 6.1 NBFC 3.2

Second Quarter Pollie starts us off with a great mark and goal. Justin and Jake K are in everything and their determination is fantastic .Jake King sets the benchmark with a chase and run down. Tom Lucin is very composed in his first game. In the coaches box the line coaches are ringing the changes. Over the season we average around 120 per game. At half time we seem very determined and keen for the contest. DN makes a few suggestions and asks them to take it up and apply the pressure. CFC 8.6 NBFC 3.6

Third Quarter The momentum shifts a little. Our stoppage structures are now not quite there and we are becoming more stationary more often and standing still ‘hailing a cab’ for the ball. It’s frustrating and disappointing. We are moving away from the game plan. The tension in the box is up a notch. The visible number of bumpers and delaying tactics is not there.# At the break I emphasise the need for a lift in their intensity and adherence to the running patterns. I ask for comments and Jake is the most forthcoming. CFC 8.7 NBFC 9.10

Fourth Quarter NB is continuing their surge. They are dual premiers and like most successful sides do not go quietly into the night. The run of their backline is hurting us as are our midfield turnovers. We match them on the scoreboard but cannot close the gap. An 8 point loss. Everyone is disappointed and it is quiet in the rooms. DN takes the players through a post match review behind closed doors but there is no shouting or abuse just a look of being non plussed- how did that get away from us? The players file out to ice packs, ice baths, salad rolls and icy poles.

At the post match presentation Lee Fraser, CFC GM interviewed Gerald Fitzgerald, NBFC Premiership coach: “Gerald you have lost a lot of good players from last season?” “Players come and go but if you have a good culture you will be able to keep things going well,” he replied.

“ I have often marvelled at the thin line that separates success from failure.’ (Ernest Shackleton, ‘Shackelton’s Way’,Morrell and Capperell,Brealrley Publishing. Given the situation he and his crew found themselves in, stuck on the ice while their ship was being slowly crushed, he would know.)

“Great leaders look out the window to attribute success to factors other than themselves. When things go poorly they look in the mirror and blame themselves, taking full responsibility. The(competitive leader) looks in the mirror to take the credit for success but out the window to assign blame for disappointing results. (J.Collins, Good to Great, Random House)

‘We must be clear what is the opposite of leadership. It is ‘misleadership’...There are brave and strong minded people whom one wouldn’t follow on any account- because one doesn’t know what they stand for, or where they are going...Misleadership is something false coming through a strong personality and the stronger the personality the worse the crash..” (Field Marshall Montgomery, ‘The Path to Leadership’, Collins)

#(Later people would point to half time and ask how we lost momentum during the third quarter but the KPIs were probably heading south half way through the quarter but not yet showing up on the scoreboard).

ANZAC Day

“If the Coburg coach doesn’t give the players a spray for a quarter like that than I don’t know anything about football.” (David Rys-Jones commenting on the ANZAC Day game at quarter time)

The previous week, Round Two, had us at Frankston with the largest crowd they have had for a few years mainly due to the presence of Ben Cousins in our team. The Frankston President was interviewed pregame and was ecstatic, ”We have stocked up on more beer and hotdogs to sell than ever before.” The number of security staff had increased exponentially largely to keep people away from Ben. (Later when he went for the recovery session in the bay two security staff accompanied him although I am almost certain based on body shape neither had a dip). The game itself could not have been more disappointing with another slow start and storming finish by us that left us 4 points short. This result, (against a side that would not win another game for the year) was like a punch to the chest. Dave went through the post match analysis very calmly but was clearly devastated. He asked rhetorically, ”Does everyone hurt after a loss?” Lots of nods, as you would expect and downcast looks.

This week, ANZAC DAY, is a televised match on the ABC. Training has been good and although there is discussion around slow starts or poor quarters the confidence is there after all we have lost the first two games by a combined twelve points. What is an issue though is the number of 50 metre penalties we are giving away resulting in goals. We are playing Box Hill at the new Craigieburn facility.

At the team meeting on the Saturday the players sat in a circle in the coaches’ room and Dave asked every player what they were going to do and contribute. The highlight was one of the first gamers’ enthusiastic response,” I just want to smash into someone!”

Earlier Dave and I spoke about the use of war stories and analogies in an ANZAC pre match address and neither of us thought it appropriate for us personally. Dave had visited some of the sites of concentration camps in Europe and I have an interest in military history and don’t see the two, sport and war, in the same sentence. I always liked Boris Becker’s reply after he lost at Wimbeldon ,”It’s just a game it’s not a war.” Having said that, I can appreciate the connection between mateship, war and sport. Brigadier General Lefkie who I met in the US told me that his favourite World War Two story was about a wounded soldier who lay on the battle field surrounded by shelling and gunfire. It was too “hot” for the medics to get to him so he lay there. Out of the smoke and under heavy fire his friend appeared. “I knew you would come for me ,Jim.” Jim, at great personal risk then carried his wounded friend back to their own lines.

I have no objection to others using war stories. I told Shakey one which he chose to use with the reserves. The short version is that there is enough evidence that when attacked the more soldiers who stand up and return fire, ’pull the trigger’, the greater the likelihood that the patrol will survive. The more who hit the turf to protect themselves the worse the outcome. When asked, later, why they stood up and pulled the trigger, at great personal risk to themselves most soldiers replied,

”I didn’t want to let my mates down.”For us, under pressure the more players who stand up under that pressure, if only for their teammates, the better off we will all be. #

First Quarter We are kicking with the wind but are having trouble scoring. Box Hill take it to the far end very quickly for a couple of goals. Jake King is linking well and James Lawton’s tackling has commentator Rys Jones singing his praises (So glowing is Rys Jones that later James is referred to as his “love child‘). Matt D is presenting well on long leads but we are getting to space too early taking our defender with us causing us to have no room to work. At the break Dave talks very calmly to the player outlining what is happening and not happening much to Rys Jones chagrin who is perplexed by Dave’s approach CFC 2.2 BH Hawks 3.1

Second Quarter James continues his great play and manufactures a goal out of nothing and Rhett is picking up the pace. Mitch Morton is starting to impact the game and we are kicking goals against the breeze but the forwards are too deep still. Graeme Polak is organising the forward setups and providing a target. Relton Roberts pace is causing problems and there is no defender in the universe would want Relton between him and the goals with the ball bouncing towards the goals. Our kickin zone is working superbly with the Box Hill Hawks struggling to find an exit. CFC 7.3 Box Hill 6.4

Dave tells everyone to press up on the most dangerous player and if you are eighty metres from the ball you cannot have any impact so roll up in a three quarter ground press.

Third Quarter Box Hill take advantage of the breeze and kick four goals including two unbelievable goals by Muston from about the centre. We are responding well and continue the defensive pressure. Rys Jones is actually apologising to the ABC viewers for his premature comments on CFC and the coaching. CFC 9.4 BH 10.8 Last Quarter The breeze is dying and starting to turn around to the Hawks end. Dave has thrown Dean Polo on to the ball and he is winning the contested ball and linking up well. Nick Carnell makes a telling tackle to hold up the play and Angus Graham takes a huge mark that stops the Hawks rebound. Mitch and Jake are getting free and the game is seesawing. We hit the front. Box Hill comes back but we hit the front again and then lose the lead. The thought in the box is ‘not another narrow loss?’ The quarter goes past the 30 minute mark and big crowd are fully engaged as the game’s lead keeps changing. We hit the front. The message goes out,”Stay composed!”(Act quickly but don’t hurry) It’s a draw now. A final thrust forward and a goal for CFC. The siren sounds. Dave looks a bit stunned and there are handshakes all around for our first win. CFC 14.10 Box Hill 13.10 There is lots of back slapping in the rooms and the Coburg song is sung with gusto and it is the first time I have heard it.( Just a note on the protocol around singing the song which basically can only be rendered following a win. Few would consider singing the song if we played well, met our KPI’s and had given our all but fallen short. There is no room for achievement thinking in this tradition. Stan Alves when coach of the Saints asked the players to sing the song after a fighting but losing performance. Robert Harvey told me that he understood the reasoning but it was a hollow version. I think Stan was sacked the next week. The Melbourne Demons sang the song after a narrow last round loss to the Kangaroos. It must have caused some confusion in the visitors rooms next door hearing a stirring rendition coming from the team you thought you had beaten ie “We did win ,didn’t we?” A caller rang SEN Sportsradio after that incident to tell how his VAFA coach at half time, with the team ten goals down, made the players sing the club song. Gerard Healy asked him what happened in the second half, ”We lost by 22 goals.”Geelong this season have apparently refrained from singing the song until after the GF) The players filed into the coaches room for the quick review and Dave congratulated the players on the spirited performance and then its ice bathes, ice packs and physios to see.

Monday Review We still needed to reduce the amount of time we seemly are not switched on and Dave emphasised the importance of sprinting off for the rotations. Some players take four minutes to get off after being told which throws everyone else out because you have players lined up waiting and it means a player who is trying to get off might be left on for ten minutes further stuffing things up. There were lots of positive edits and although the reserves had been beaten by 100 points following a 131 point win the week before there was a lot of energy and a feeling that we were back.

William Mc Inness, Actor & Author, Western Bulldogs supporter (The Age 11/9/10) “It’s always been a bit of a turnoff for me when people try to make some connection between modern footy and Gallipoli. But my son and I came up with one that put my football team in perspective. A few years ago we watched Peter Weir’s film “Gallipoli” and my boy was spellbound as Mark Lee ran towards the Turkish positions awaiting his inevitable fate. It came of course but it’s always a shock no matter how many times I see it. The bullets, the sudden jerk of his body as it is thrown into a contorted image of a sprinter’s desperate lunge at the finish, mocking the whole idea of war, as a game of adventure and sport. My son stared for a while and said, ”Is that it? What was that all about?” “....So I tried to explain the ending of the film. He nodded and then came back a bit later after having a think. “So he‘s gone through all that movie, with his mates, and then right at the end he’s running and he is almost there and he gets shot.” I nodded my head with my best father-wise manner. “Dad, that’s just like the Doggies in September.”

# “Don’t mention the war. I did but I think I got away with it” (Basil Fawlty ,in the German tourist episode). Fire and Brimstone

Regarding Rys Jones observation that the Coburg boys needed a spray for the first quarter performance the general view now is that this approach is at best temporarily effective but there are inherent dangers in the approach and it is at odds with the end result we are trying to achieve with players. Raising the emotional levels very high will probably raise the energy levels however if this is not translated on to the scoreboard it could result also in rollercoaster performance and has Denis Cometti would say, “They have spent all their petrol tickets”. There is also a misconception on the frequency that the spray is used at elite and sub elite levels. In my experience it is used sparingly and it is far more likely to be heard in an U12 game by an aggressive coach. Having said that some players, a small minority, like the verbal attack to spark them. David Parkin mentioned to me that one player he coached required the rev up every quarter. “It’s childish,’ that approach and need, Parkin believes.( In a player survey at CFC we found that 15% would like to see more sprays given out. What we didn’t ask was would they personally like to be on the receiving end or do they think others would benefit and who did they have in mind.) Most players do not like the spray but will not object which is more a reflection of some aspects of footballs culture. Maybe we could ask first, “Do you want to be humiliated, embarrassed, ridiculed or just abused?” As coaches we want self directed, accountable players who are self motivated and driven by the prospect of the contest, testing themselves out and the challenge. We want them with an internal locus of control not waiting for us to manage their motivation levels and morale. Do we really want players sitting around saying.”When are you going to motivate and inspire me?” This season we were ahead of an opponent who, at the break, were given a lashing. That team came out and kicked the next eight goals. This provided some at the club with evidence of the efficacy of the spray. What we don’t know is the frequency that coach uses that approach. I suspect it is a weekly event. (Dave gave the players a spray, his only one for the year, and we barely scored for the quarter). We spoke about this a few times during the season. The spray was at odds with the culture we were trying to create and the leadership style we wanted to inculcate. We were going to use achievement principles that stretched and challenged the players, encouraged self reflection and a desire for feedback and would promote self motivation via how we coached and prepared the players.

“...the belief that the pep talk sparks a team to victory or that a coach ignites a team to victory with a few well chosen words is simply a myth.” (Tutko, Preparing the Football,Parkin.)

“Many coaches... seek motivational gimmicks...Those who seek such simple ways to “turn on’ athletes display a naivety concerning the complexities of human motivation: those who offer such simple solutions,.. are often charlatans.’ (Cratty, as above)

“Lions coach Michael Voss won’t be using the wooden spoon to motivate the team this week. Voss recalled similar threats from his mum...never worked. “(The players)... need to motivate themselves.’’ (Herald Sun 3/8/1)

Round Five Casey Scorpions v CFC “Today is a great opportunity for us.” (DN before the game)

Last week we played Sandringham Dragons at Trevor Barker Oval who were sitting undefeated on top. It was a tussle all day and again we got away to a slow start. We came back strongly in the second quarter with five goals. Polak was dominant all game and Dan Connors, back from Richmond for eight weeks was a prolific ball winner. Ben, Rayso and Dave Gourdis continued their good form. Rhett’s improvement continued and Morgs was dominant in the back half. Again, we fell short.This time by ten points. Four games so far all decided by less than ten points. I heard once that you can take a year off your life for every year you coach - the way we were going we should expect a short retirement.

Prematch We can expect Casey to kick long, run and carry, spread from stoppages quickly and run the ball out of defence. Dave went through our focus areas for the day – composed, disciplined and relentless. The disciplined focus was in response to giving away around 10 fifty metre penalties which had cost seven goals which given the margins in the recent games had been costly. There is a good basketball saying we could have used, ”False hustle ,cheap fouls”.

At the team meeting Dave said to the players, ‘It is difficult to be committed all the time although you strive to be. Too many players like to be involved when they feel like it. Commitment is staying on track and adhering to the game plan.”

In an effort to engage the players and perhaps increase their the level of commitment to the team goals Dave set down on the whiteboard each lines benchmark KPIs and had each line put down their goals for the game in that area ie what we could hold Casey to in terms of rebound efficiency, the number of marks we could take in the forward 50 etc. In his final talk to the players he again emphasised the need to put Casey under pressure both frontal and run from behind.

First Half A reasonable start but our kicking in the first quarter has put us under pressure. Relton Roberts is looking dangerous as is tall forward Ben Griffiths. Casey are helping by kicking 3.5 in the quarter but the scoreboard is not a reflection of the game. It is like something is missing in our game. Dave Gourdis is playing well in the backline and Mitch Morton is learning the role of running defender. Everything shifts in the second quarter. Ben goes off with a shoulder injury, Luke McGuane is taken off to play for Richmond the next day because someone has fallen ill and Nick Carnell has corked his thigh and can only hobble. He is still up for the contest but is struggling. Casey draws away and do so effortlessly. Their run out of defence is hurting us. At half time we are already seven goals down and have only scored two.

The spectators and reserves players are locked out. It is uncomfortable in the rooms. DN takes the players through what is required and asks questions about what is going on out there. We head out again. (It is funny how many will offer observations about the first half – maybe it’s the warm up, the players were very quiet before the game, DN should have launched into them, it’s our training standards etc. One thing is certain the number of 50 metre penalties is continuing and it is now getting up to 9 goals directly scored via the penalty).

Second Half Things get worse. Justin does his ankle and the rotations are being juggled. We have the same number of scoring shots in the third quarter but the margin has increased. We are being outplayed. One highlight is Rhett ‘s goal when he runs his pattern perfectly from the centre wing gets a brilliant kick from Angus Graham and goals after a eighty metre run. The final quarter is more of the same and our thumping is only lessened by Casey’s inaccuracy. In the coaches box we are bereft of ideas. There is no miracle move to be made or clever use of players. We are on the ice and the crash is inevitable. The siren. Twelve goals down and only that because Casey probably eased up.

In the rooms Dave brings out the whiteboard the players had originally set out the figures we were aiming for. Overall not even close. No big finish and everyone quietly moves off and the room starts to empty. It is my first experience of feeling helpless in the box.

“Like all coaches, as he (Leigh Matthews) walks down through the crowd at the... breaks... he hears the crowd urging, ”get into them ” because there is a widespread belief that the more coaches yell at the players the better they perform. That’s absolutely false, Matthews says. He takes the opposite view. Don’t rant and rave –give them confidence. ..”at half time when they are 10 goals down, do you reckon they feel good about it...(his approach is to)...tell his players that it was a bad half and move on, to take a deep breath, get their minds clear and they are going to work out how they are going to improve in the second half.” (Parkin, ’What makes teams Work,” p75)

“Never make excuses. Your friends don’t need them and your foes won’t believe them” (John Wooden, Beyond Winning)

“...the world is not flat...it is still round” (Ross Lyon after the Saints Round 7 loss to Carlton)

“ It is appropriate at this point to acknowledge that we have an undesirable pattern of behaviour which produces a series of outcomes that we are not looking for.” (An NFL coach after four losses in a row. I had a coach in the seventies who could have said the same thing in just four words).

“Losing doesn’t mean you didn’t play well... The pursuit of excellence is where the real rewards lie, not in beating someone. Achievers don’t let their self worth get tangled up in the results.” (Gourley, The Psychology of Rugby, ) ( We may have had our self worth in tack but we still went home with our tails between our legs).

Culture and High Performance A club’s culture is how you are expected to act and behave to be successful and fit in. Everything that happens or doesn’t happen, is said and not said, is ignored or not ignored, Everything we turn a blind eye to and expect or don’t expect of ourselves and teammates becomes the prevailing culture. Some teams have difficulty embracing the process of honest and direct feedback largely because they have a culture of always staying on the good side of others, maintaining superficial relationships and avoiding conflict.

Brian Cook, CEO of Geelong FC recently said that the culture he found on arriving at Geelong some years ago”... was one of being very good at being average...if we won a few games in a row we would lose the next ten.” He went on to relate how a young player called Spriggs arrived at the club and starting running harder in the warm ups than others which was not the norm so some players wanted him to stop it. ‘That’s not how we do things here ,’ he was informed by some of the senior players .Even Mooney being suspended five times in a season was not addressed or the issue confronted. That was not the Geelong way. The Cats culture has changed – you are expected to pursue excellence, give and receive feedback and to go to the source of any issue. Cook went on, ”Players who don’t demonstrate ...commitment to the clubs values are challenged.”

We plotted the culture that we believed would guarantee us on and off field success and we also plotted our actual culture We used as did Geelong, Human Synergistic’s Culture Survey. Below is an overview of the preferred culture’s behaviours and expectations. The culture we are developing is characterised by: • The pursuit of excellence and continuous improvement • Personal accountability and the desire for feedback. • Players are expected to have high personal integrity, • Enjoy what they do, be optimistic and respectful of others. • Being supportive of each other, • Developing excellent interpersonal and communication skills. • Being great team players and think in terms of the group’s success. We also measured the actual culture of the Coburg Football Club which naturally cannot be shared but the summary to the players presented to them by the leadership group was that based on the results (and we were compared to the cultures of over a thousand other organisations) we should

More Often • Challenge teammates and coaches • Say what we think and speak up • Increase the positive feedback to others • Make decisions and be accountable for them Less Often • Doing things to stay on superiors good side • Setting goals to please others • Looking for mistakes without offering a solution

Continue

• Helping and encouraging others to grow and develop. • Resolving conflict constructively • Communicating our ideas • Being a good listener • Being open about self • Thinking in terms of the group’s success. • Pursuing a standard of excellence • Working to achieve self set goal

Overall we had a good foundation to grow and develop but were a little unbalanced in that we were very supportive of each other but needed to raise expectations in the area of the pursuit of excellence if we were to make the jump from a good culture to great, high performance culture. The commitment is to measure the culture every year to assess our progress and align everything we do (training, selection, leadership behaviours, induction and exit of players) to the desired culture.

“What gets rewarded and noticed gets done.” (The vast majority of our club awards are for individual performance and most teams’ trademarks revolve around teamwork).

“What have you seen that has stopped us from being at our best” (Leading Teams, It is a question we should ask regularly)

“Questions for the leader: • Have you got the guts to ask the “right people”(the people who want just tell you want you want to hear) what they think of your culture? • Does your team’s culture harbour any deep seated excuses for poor performance? (‘the shin boners spirit’? ‘We are a blue collar club’? Etc) • Can you acknowledge that you might be a significant part of the problem? (Team Work,McLean,Penguin)

“What the f... are you doing here? You were traded today. Get to Essendon!” (An AFL player learning about his club’s culture when it came to the treatment of players.)

“You’re a loser No.2! Get him off, Jeff. He is stuffing everything up. That is his second mistake this quarter!” (Parent positioned near the coaching box shouting honest and direct feedback in the U12s. Not one person, official or the coach asked him to cease and desist, that is, shut up. What is ignored also becomes the culture)

Coach Review

Following a meeting Dave and I had with David Parkin we decided to set up a process for all the coaches to receive feedback from the players regarding our behaviour. Parkin had stressed to us that clubs that were not conducting regular coaching reviews were not serious about the development of the coaches. The format was fairly simple- what is this coach doing that they should stop, continue and begin and there was space provided for general comments. Ideally you would want the players to put their names on the surveys but it was decided to make it optional which was disappointing on a number of levels but it also precluded the opportunity to follow up with someone to ask for examples ie “You are favouring the senior players.” An example would have been of assistance in understanding how we might be doing that. None of us wanted however to use the process used to give Stan Alves, feedback when the coach of the Saints. He was sat in the middle of a circle of players who could raise any concern or issue and Stan was not allowed to comment. We were not at that point yet.

When we received our feedback there was a tendency to rationalise, justify, excuse your actions etc. We needed to assume for arguments sake that there was some merit in the feedback and perhaps there was a disconnect between what we were saying and doing and our intent. All of us could have the best intent but the impact of that intent is to cause some players to feel out of the circle or belittled.(The road to [coaching] purgatory is paved with good intentions). For me I received feedback that I was favouring certain players. This came as a punch to the chest. What was happening was that I would get around to the forwards, for which I was responsible, and a few other players, like the rucks or players I got on well with to show them their video edits. I was one of the few with the ‘Sportscode’ software to be able to edit the game and thought I would be helpful. I didn’t sit down with most of the midfielders as I didn’t know them as well. Good intent but a bad outcome. Every week players would see me showing other players their edits which are a wonderful development tool and they would get nothing. Again, a disconnect between intent and how that is received by others.

The solution was easy. Nobody gets one on one coaching of their edits. Only joking, I still did the editing but the line coaches got involved with the players and every player could see their compliant or non compliant edits. Some would borrow the laptop in between training or sit with another ruckman, for example, to coach each other through their stoppage edits.

Again the downside of not having names on the survey to follow up was a view by some that there was not enough feedback provided on performance. This was mystifying. We spend twenty minutes each week reviewing the game as team, hours taking players through the edits on laptops, at Punt Rd they could log on to desk top computers which would show all their involvements and all this aside from the traditional one on one chat that all coaches have each week, usually informally but not always. In response to this feedback we increased our time with the players and spent less time chatting in the coaches room before training and tried to cover off every player.

The real punch to the chest came from the players who were playing local football. Each week the players would break in to their lines and review each others’ performance and give suggestions for improvement. We never thought to ask how the players not selected for Coburg went in their local sides. They would just sit there and listen to others. From then on Dave would ask each player who had played local in front of everyone, how they had went on the Saturday. We, the coaches, also resolved to get around to more local games. Simple things but fundamentally important.

The collective feedback we received was as a group was that we should: Stop • Being too nice and give negative feedback if needed • Favouring senior players, currently playing or on past form • Communicating with only a few players

Continue • Providing positive feedback • Being enthusiastic and committed • Expecting excellence • Being organised and prepared • Educating and providing good reviews

Begin • Giving a spray more often • Talking to players who played local and including them in the reviews • Letting players know where they are at and more specific feedback • More feedback to the reserves and get around to all players

Each coach received their individual specific feedback to reflect on and address. The resolve was to run two coach reviews a year.

“(I) never wanted to lose sight of what it means to be a player... players never go out to make mistakes.” (Paul Roos talking about how important it is to continually remind ourselves that it is a tough game after going down to the boundary line to watch a game.”(AFL Conference 2007)

“Measurement is critical. Companies that are less effective communicators are three times as likely as highly effective communicators to report having no formal measurement of communication effectiveness.” (Jones Watson, Communications and ROI. I had to read this a few times. Is it just me or there is some irony in a comment on effective communications that requires a couple of readings?)

“All this talk that coaches are effective when they’re toughest and most demanding is just an impression that has been developed through the national media” (Don Shula,Miami Dolphins)

Honest and Direct Feedback Last week we played Williamstown and got away to a flyer. A six goal to one goal quarter. This was heartening because we had emphasised the importance of a quick start particularly after last weeks’ dismal showing against Casey. The second quarter we squandered our opportunities by kicking 1.7 but held ‘Willi’ to only two goals and went in at the break with a four goal buffer on the top side. In the rooms there was a lot of noise and we went through a vigorous warm up and headed out. We had to wait a while because apparently their coach was giving his team direct feedback on what he thought of their first half performance.

In the third quarter we were smashed. We couldn’t get the ball out of the centre or stop their run. Our turnovers were hurting us and our composed decision making had gone out the window not to mention the mood in the coaches box had gone south. An eleven goal quarter by Williamstown. The final quarter saw us rally to an extent having the same number of scoring shots but conceding two more goals to the total. A fourteen goal thumping. We were not quite back to square one but we were questioning everything- the coaching dynamics, the fitness staff’s warm ups, the way we trained-everything. The loss also brought out the different views on how we should be going about our business which had, up until now, lay dormant – their coach gave them a fearful spray and they kicked eleven goals maybe we need to get on board that train?

The stats for the first six games told an interesting story. In the six first quarters we had played we had roughly broken even with our opponents scoring 16 .17 to 16.24. The second quarters told a similar story – 16.17 to 17.21. The third quarters were killing us. We had scored only 14.12 in the first six games against 35.24! In the last quarters’ we were breaking even.

All this led to the senior CFC and the RFC players currently playing for us deciding to meet on the Monday night at Punt Rd. for an honest and direct feedback session to be facilitated by Kim, RFC psychologist, with me as note taker and support. There would be no coaches involved.

Kim started the meeting off by setting out the parameters and highlighting that the effectiveness of the process will be dependent on each of us being honest and saying what is on our minds. He stated off with a global question,” In that third quarter what would you have done differently and what should we do when we get into that situation again?” What would you do differently next time? • Identify the change earlier and slow down game • Do something team oriented or increase the one % er’s • Force stoppages , be composed and take a breath • Play closer, get lines together and forwards play higher • Not panic and blaze away. Lock it down. • Not drop our heads and think,” Here we go again.” • Stay team oriented and not be so concerned about making a mistake • Come in lower than them and not get ahead of the ball looking for the easy kick • And we should not get into the mindset that individualism will save the game

“In the future we should call a code if two or more consecutive goals are kicked and go man on man. We need to tell players when they are dropping off, not getting to stoppages, when their body language is poor or they have stopped acting enthusiastically. “The coaching group need to recognise the change earlier and provide clearer direction given it is harder for players to observe the signs and shift. Be careful our mindset doesn’t become one of trying not to lose rather than focusing on sticking to the game plan and winning it. Don’t wait for the leaders or someone else. Each of us should start encouraging and supporting.”

“At training we should practice tempo football.”

Everyone was in a large circle and each person in turn was given feedback by who ever wanted to comment on them. Kim advised people to not go defensive or to try to explain but to listen to the feedback as developmental information. Kim also told the players that if they decided to not be blunt or direct then they would need to find another way to make it work and that the motivation behind all of this was team improvement. From my point of view the cost of not providing the feedback that is required and you may want to give is a lowering of the achievement thinking for team and an increase in the passivity for you and the team.

Below are examples of the type of feedback given.(The players have given their permission to use this feedback.)

What we appreciate about... What is missing or need to do?

Sam P. Hard runner, always an option and wants the ball Give more feedback to players Excellent leadership and provides direction as you are very credible. First to spread from stoppages Smart within the game Matt S. His energy is contagious Start attacking ball movement Lightens things up and looks like he is having fun Needs to know all the structures Kissing is alright on the field (!?) Keep working on touch and h/balls. (I think he blew a kiss at an opponent at a centre bounce) Justin K . Fitted in well and excellent on the ground When doing extra take others with you Does extra before training Opens up, good relationships and talks to most players. Role models excellence at training.

Last Comments by the players The most selfless players are Carnell, King, Rayson, Clifton, Brown. “When you have team spirit you feel you can take anyone on and that your team mates will be there for you”.

The session lasted over two hours and if we were not quite at the open and honest stage we were heading there. What was really impressive was the challenging of generic statements For example, “Nobody picks up their player.” That would be challenged immediately. “Who doesn’t? Name them. Give us an example.”

There are a lot of hurdles to overcome in setting up this process. For passive people it is difficult to speak out because they are often worried about being liked and fitting in. For aggressive types they are comfortable giving out constructive advice but are often hostile or evasive when receiving it if it is critical because for some their self worth is tied to being ‘seen as a winner’.

It was a good session but just one part of an overall process of getting and giving feedback that was permeating everything we did.

“When you have open and honest feedback you just seem to get things done more quickly. When issues crop up, they get resolved.”

“There were things a lot of us didn’t want to hear. But it gave us a chance to work on what our team mates saw as our weaknesses. If you don’t know your weakness, then you can’t fix them.”(Daniel Giansiracusa)

“Don’t react just because you didn’t like the feedback. You have got to be bigger than that. That person is actually going out on a limb to help you be better at what you do.” (All quotes above from ‘TeamWorks’, McLean)

“No leader is exempt from criticism and his humility will be nowhere seen more clearly in the manner in which he accepts and reacts to it.” (Oswald Sanders)

Seeing what you can’t see

Have you ever lost your car keys and looked all over the house for them only to eventually find them where you left them? Rather than look silly to yourself for having a belief the keys were lost then finding them where you left them humans have a great capacity for rationalising our way out of a tough spot(and coaches probably more so). “Well, they weren’t there when I first looked. Someone moved them!” So when you give yourself the strong belief ‘”I have lost my keys,” the thing that would make you look silly is finding them so we build a blind spot, a sensory locking out, to any information that doesn’t match our starting premise. The stronger the belief the less likely you are to see information that is at odds with your belief. (Sometimes a person will come up to and ask,” Have you seen my sunglasses?”You are not sure if it’s is a joke given the glasses are perched on the head).

If this principle is true or even partially true it has enormous significance for effective coaching, self Improvement and handling honest and direct feedback. For coaches if we only ‘see’ that which we what to see then it can limit how accurately we rate a player’s performance , who we might think ‘doesn’t have it’ and when they do play well we may rationalise their performance ,”He got lucky. His opponent was hopeless. Every dog has it’s day.” Equally those players who we like will get an arm chair ride in terms of their errors. As coaches we need to be continually mindful of the beliefs we hold about player, other coaches, our team and the ‘right’ approach given we can limit ourselves by the way we think and how uncomfortable ‘being wrong’ can make us. For the players, we as coaches , often need to get through their blind spots ie flying against others , not applying defensive pressure or an attitude they hold which we think might hold them back. Every coach has had the experience when we try to highlight something, the rationalising(excuse making) and the endless explanations about why they failed to do something or execute a tactic. Most us have had the experience too of having a discussion with a player and then walking away thinking, “I don’t think he gets it.” With a couple of AFL teams I used the following exercise to demonstrate that all of us can have blind spots and perhaps when a coach and/or teammate is giving you feedback you should at least start with the assumption that there may be some merit in what they are saying and be ‘open minded’ to their views. I had every one read the following sentence on a card I had handed out and after one reading then asked them to read it again and count the number of letter “F’s that were contained within the sentence: FINISHED FILES ARE THE RESULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTIFIC STUDY COMBINED WITH THE EXPERIENCE OF MANY YEARS OF EXPERTS After they had counted and written the number of ‘F’s they had found on the back of the card I asked ,’’How many had the card with three Fs?”About seventy percent put their hand up. “How many found four Fs on their card? A couple of hands.“ Five, six or seven?”The remaining players except for one (who claimed there were only two on his card). I asked someone who had found three, ”Are you sure?” “Yeah, there are only three”, he replied. “Are you prepared to bet money that you are right?” “Sure.” “Swap cards with the person next to you,” who had said they had six on their card. “How many can you find on their card?” A perplexed reply, ”Three!” “But they said there were six.’ “There can’t be!’ To everyone else I said,”We are all looking at the same thing but we don’t all see the same thing. What would be the effect of missing fifty percent of the opportunities for improvement?” “You would only be half the player you could be,” someone said. “How would you feel about that?” “You wouldn’t know because you can’t see it,” another offered. “Every card has seven f’s in the sentence.’ “No way,” “Bullshit.’ ‘You need to count the fs in the ‘of’s in the sentence.’ All those who didn’t get seven originally are now getting the ‘ah ha’ experience. “That’s incredible,’ and ‘This is freaking me out.” “How can we have missed something so obvious?” someone asked. “We are taught to read phonetically so the ‘f’ in the word ‘of’ is ‘seen’ in the brain as a ‘v’ as on ‘ov’. It means that we could look right at something or being shown something and be unable to see it. Right now you are miles ahead of most because they don’t know they have blind spots. What we need to do is de-condition ourselves from some of the mindsets that might be holding us back and always be on guard for when your thinking might be creating blind spots.’ “This also has implications for our leadership because we need to help others see what they can’t see right now. Always keep the accountability with yourself. If they don’t get it then you need to come up with another way of explaining it. The problem isn’t them. ‘I must not be explaining it right.” To finish off the short session I put the following diagram on the board ‘

I asked a player what could they see in this. ”Traffic signals.” “Can you see the letter K?” “Sure. There are two.” I drew another diagram on the board. “What can you see in this?”

‘Two ‘H’s”, he replied confidently. ‘No, it’s three rectangles. You have, in just a few moments, been conditioned to look for letters and now have a blind spot to the shapes.“ For honest and direct feedback to work effectively one of the elements is the recognition we all have blind spots and can become defensive when told something we don’t want to hear but for our development and the teams it is important we be receptive and appreciate that we all have blind spots.

( The more ‘blokey humour you allow or have the more difficult it will be to embed a process of honest and direct feedback because the players if challenged about a criticism they have given will always have the exit route in place, ”It was only a joke.”) Coach Box Dynamics

“People have asked me, ’In your first 18 months, what are the things that have really struck you?”One of the main ones is that sometimes in the coaching box you are really helpless, and there is nothing you can do, as much as we think we are the be all and end all(as coaches)and we know everything and control everything. I can do this move or that move and I can make a roaring speech at half time, but the players are ultimately the ones who are going to have to do it.” (Paul Roos, ‘What Makes teams Work,’ Parkin)

Forget what you see on TV where there is an orderly seating of the coaches with the appearance of military precision. At the sub elite level at some of the decrepit grounds it is every man(and line coach) for himself. There is, though, a pecking order. The senior coach gets the middle seat with his scribe, the person who takes down all of his comments, well most of them, there are some I assume that are not to be recorded or are to be re-interpreted ie “You’re kidding! He’s done it again. Flying against the tall forward! He’s gone this time.”Chris, the scribe, writes something about the coach needs to speak to that player about their ‘running patterns’. After the senior coach and scribe have their seats the next in the pecking order is the driver of the laptop, Baz, who records all rotations and players time on ground. The board man,Cam, is next who monitors where all our and their players are at any given time. Cam at the start of any quarter does a very good impersonation of Abbott and Costello, “Who’s on first?”

Brisy, the rotations expert and most knowledgeable about the VFL, comes next and he deals with all the communications with the bench and runners.(Except when the coach wants someone put on the phone to explain the facts of life(and football) to them. Now the line coaches squeeze in. Bakes and I rotate depending on which end we are kicking to so that for at least half a game we are seated up the front. Shakey, the reserves coach and senior mids coach is left stuck behind. Finally, Kim, RFC psyche, is a spectator who can keep things calm and provide feedback on our approach, or lack of.( Interestingly, there is a correlation between when Baz asks for the air conditioner to be switched on and how we are tracking on the scoreboard). One of the reserve line coaches tried to beat the system by setting up before the warm-ups under the mistaken belief he could just walk in and take up a reserved seat. Not a chance.

There are generally around 120 rotations a game with many preset after RFC send us the time that a listed player cam play ie 67 minutes and that the player will require two four minute breaks per quarter. Kim helped us restructure our roles in the box so now Brisy is in control which is ideal because he can anticipate well. For all the spread sheets and plans some players won’t come off when asked which causes angst in a variety of ways and areas not the least being the players lined up on the boundary trying to get on. One final factor on the rotations is the amount of running required of the high forwards who cover between 12 to 16 kilometres a game with up to 40 very hard efforts. To ask them to have a run on the ball is asking a lot given they are often covering more ground than the mids.(Defenders need fewer rotations and cover about a third less per game). Given there is no ‘spectating’ or barracking there is often periods of silence in the box when there are no moves or rotations occurring. This silence is punctuated by high volume activity. In the other room,if we are lucky,are the five stats people who are often in relative luxury compared to the coaching group. The usual stats are taken ie kicks, marks, tackles etc plus 17 other stats like midfield turnovers, our rebound efficiency, that is, how often we can gain the ball in our defensive 50 and get it to our forward 50. All the stats are linked to the video of the game so all forty or so areas recorded can be accessed almost immediately. So if DN wants to see how the goals were scored against us he can click on the relevant tab and all those incidences are ready to view. We still have to add in other compliant and non compliant incidents like bumpering or not manning the mark correctly by going through the whole game again. It literally takes the three coaches with the laptops a collective minimum of six to eight hours to complete those edits.

Those who have read ‘A Season of Achievement’ will be no stranger to my capacity for shameless name dropping, be that as it may, when Paul Roos took over the Swans I introduced him to Bob Dwyer, the Wallabies World Cup coach. Roos was saying that for all the stats they collect he can’t use too many on game day and the issue for him was that his team were all fairly quiet so what he wanted to know from Dyer was how to make them more talkative. It was a good discussion but what I chimed in with was that they should collect stats on each time somebody is encouraging or communicating and have rewards for that. There was a polite silence for a moment then they continued their chat. For us I am certain if we noted every time someone ‘points the finger’ in a game (communicating for a player to cover an exit etc) or noted every time a player ran over 20 metres to congratulate or support a team mate that there would be a correlation between that and how well we played that game. We would be trying to measure team spirit. I will keep pushing for that one.

At the breaks we are handed the stats sheets and give our two precise points to Dave which Kim might facilitate. Personally I generally don’t rush to the players who at a break will group automatically in their lines. They always start talking amongst themselves about what is happening and the Richmond listed players might be pulled aside by a RFC line or development coach to highlight something. A couple of times Damien H. might have seen something he is moved to comment on. Then I show them the stats, ask their concerns and outline our focus for the next quarter. DN will occasionally talk to a line if he is frustrated by something or needs to highlight a strategy. Then they all come together for the team talk. All in five minutes plus keep hydrated and set themselves again!

We shoot the messenger most weeks. The runners can get a fearful verbal beating as the object of the coach’s anger is too far away to confront them. This is a typical message, ’Send Browny forward, Vickers into the ruck, Justin to high forward and Jordan to the back flank .Do the rucks first , then the defender. Got it.” Bull, the runner tears out and starts the moves only to hear the other runner screaming,” They meant Rhett Jordan not Jordan McMahon!!’ For the life of me I can’t understand why the runners come back each week! In the reserves they used a player coming back from injury as the runner without providing him with an outline of running protocol, the rules of running or what to expect when he picked up the phone. We are optimistic he will return next year from the trauma clinic reasonably ok. #

For all the coaches in the box, our access to technology, the two runners we have, GPS, state of the art communication it still takes, if we are lucky, more than thirty seconds but more often a couple of minutes to a get a message to a player providing there is a runner available as mostly they spend their time rotating players. So ultimately it comes down to the players taking control and doing the right (and Coburg) thing. This is further evidence that games are in many ways won on the training track and the direct result of very effective one on one coaching, support and game plan education.

“The more accountability you give the players the more support they need.’ (Brian Cook,CEO,Geelong Football Club)

“The emphasis must be on the improving of every athlete every day. The team goals ...could never be achieved without this.” (R.Charlesworth, Staying on Top, Pan McMillan).

“Often a coach will remark that we don’t have the leadership material in the club then take the best of the ‘worst’ and develop them into leaders. Look for people who have a track record of success under pressure, who have bought into the trademarks and model the behaviours. Have the players ask the question , “Who do you trust to lead?”

Parkin calculated that Michael Voss spent 25% of his time on the field coaching and leading - a % that Voss felt was pretty accurate. (Parkin, What makes great teams”)

‘Game day is the result of planning and preparation...( the questions we ask are) 1. What can he do? 2. What do we want him to do? 3.What is he capable of being?..It’s up to the players to know exactly what they have to do and carry it out....the coach takes accountability for the failure of players who were not ready.” (Paul Roos AFL Conference 2007)

#Fortunately for us, Tim Clarke often runs for us or handles the phones on the bench. To have a former AFL player, CFC B&F winner who has an intimate knowledge of the game plan via his work as RFC Development Manager plus Tim has an terrific manner with the players and so was wonderful bonus for us.

Round Eight Bendigo Bombers

Last week we headed out to the Cramer Street Reserve( where I played in the 1966 U12 Grand Final) to meet the Northern Bullants. For all that had happened this season we were confident we could cause an upset. The planning that Dave had put in was meticulous . We again however, had a slow start and trailed by three goals at quarter time. We came back in the second going in with a one point deficit. Postie was marking everything and James Lawton continued on his mercurial way and Poppa in the centre was at his bullocking best. At three quarter time the difference remained one point. We continued to attack in the last quarter but went down by 10 points .Our fourth loss by 10 points or less for the year. We outscored the Bullants in the final three quarters but were unable to close the 1st quarter gap.

Naturally there were plenty of opinions be offered on why teams might lose close games. The usual suspects trotted out were training wasn’t rigorous enough, lack of team spirit, selfishness, a lack of mental toughness and a failure of the coaches to impact the game strategically. Personally, I am not a big fan of the single cause approach. It is seldom one thing in my experience. I did a little reading in conjunction with talking to a few people I trust and the most frustrating thing I read was that the best way to develop a winning culture and mindset was to win consistently! (#!#%!) At no time though did we question that maybe we are just not good enough. Training for the week was good, the boys were up and about. We looked forward to playing the Bendigo Bombers at Windy Hill.

In the pre match session Dave emphasised that the Bombers like to run forward and will give the ball to Cloke at every opportunity.The forwards must work hard at delaying their exit and when Cloke drops off his player we must roll up to him and make it a 2v1 but he cannot be left to his own devices. We will continue to employ the ¾ quarter ground press we have been practising and deny the Bombers access to the corridor.

For the forwards it is always a difficult juggling act. They are expected to roll up to pick up a loose player on, near or inside our defensive 50 and be front and centre when the ball comes back inside our 50 and have equalised numbers(not be outnumbered). Tough gig.

Match Day First Quarter It was cold and surprising wet underfoot. Again a slow start. We are working well but their mid field is getting it out of the centre and our turnovers are hurting us. Nick Carnell and Ben C are tackling fiercely and Graeme Polak looks in great touch. Opposition rebound efficiency is only 22% which tells us that the Bombers are having trouble getting the ball from our 50 to their own. Robbie Hicks,in for his first game is brilliant as the crumbing high forward(Robbie will go from CFC reserves to RFC seniors in the space of ten weeks).

At the break we have contested well, minimised Cloke’s impact but are down three goals. Dave reminds everyone to ‘hold their width’ and continue to push them in close at stoppages.

Second and Third Quarters

Sam Power is in everything and James, our Irish recruit, is doing a great shut down job on the terrific EFC rookie Marigliani and Jordan McMahon is playing his best game for the year. Cloke is winning the ball now but is getting it back deep so it is not a big concern yet. We are working as a unit and following instruction. Troy Taylor is in the game now and produces a few remarkable passages of play in which he seemingly waltzes through a pack of players without anyone laying a finger on him. Jonathan Morris is,as you would expect the commited team player , running with the flight of the ball or backing into packs with a complete disregard for his own safety. Dave Gourdis is continuing his great run and like Robbie, James and Dylan will later in the season play his first game for Richmond. At the ¾ break we are three points down.

(It is one of the mysteries of football at any level that the forward left free by the zoning defender is seldom used by the players coming down the ground. Every coach says the same thing,”Lower your eyes”,” Go through Peter to make their defender accountable,” etc but to little avail).

Final Quarter Nick is playing the captains game and in everything. He now has two goals and Pollie is the dominant tall on the ground. In the ruck Browny continues to courageously put himself in harms way and we are collectively showing spirit and resolve. We are starting to move away from the Bombers. We kick 5.2 in the last quarter to 1.8 for a 15 point win. Fortunately they kicked badly but we‘ll take it. Nick does a memorable jig when the siren blows and we are back in the hunt for a finals spot.

“My obsession with winning was often my undoing. I would push so hard to succeed when things weren’t going my way that it would hurt my performance. That lesson was an important turning point for me.’ (Phil Jackson, Chicago Bulls)

‘Nobody died.” (Jeff Kennett putting the Hawks loss to the Dockers in perspective).

“..you can learn as much through winning as you can through losing.” (John Wooden)

Why Coaches Worry

Achievement thinking has been discussed implicitly and explicitly throughout this journal and has formed the foundation of CFC’s approach to training, performance management, culture development and people. The fundamental difference between this achievement or constructive thinking style and that of a a passive or aggressive style as it applies to coaches is the difference between being driven by ‘I want to’ versus ‘I must, should and/or I have to or else’.

For the passive style coach the underlying driver is,”I am ok if you like me.”For them they must not experience perceived disapproval from the players, board, other coaches or anyone. The passive coach will do things to stay on everyone’s good side even if it means changing their decision, not making a required decision or not addressing an obvious conflict in their effort to keep everyone on side.

“I hate conflict so if I keep everyone happy everything will be fine and if I have to ‘give up the farm’ or change my priorities to please others it is a small price to pay.”

The result is ineffectual decision making and strategy. We won’t pull up the star player (or any player) about their performance if there is the slightest chance they will challenge us. If they do challenge us we will start back peddling. We cannot address team issues head on, honestly and directly in case the impact is someone will disapprove. I must be liked.(Everyone wants to be liked but this is a ‘must be’). Frequently they will be haunted by the wish to have said something at a meeting about an issue and not doing so.

This passivity will be apparent in their body language and verbal style with sentences that trail off, little eye contact, indirectness, being overly polite and offering no objection to being interrupted or talked over the top of.

Most feedback is perceived as critical and but we don’t challenge that criticism if it may get you off side so we just take it.

At the heart of this is the desire to avoid being found to be inadequate so we follow procedures as strategy to avoid attention, certainly have escape routes so we can never be blamed and try to appear competent even though we are wracked by doubts. The word in our hearts, as Seligman, Learned Optimism, would say is ,”No” We are pessimistic about most things. For us appearance and pleasing people has a higher priority than achievement.

So we worry about being liked, fitting in, be ‘found out’ and not doing what is expected by others. The aggressive style coach on the other hand, is more task oriented and which is essentially because they have trouble interacting with others particularly if it is going to get emotional. They indulge in a lot of self promotional behaviour, must be seen as a ‘winner’ and have a tendency to exaggerate. They have the capacity to turn any conversation into a ‘pissing’ contest. They like to be the centre of the conversation and must be in control and must sound knowledgeable. They have an opinion on everything and expect to be admired. Listening is not their strong point because that means t hey are not talking and so they routinely interrupt or talk over the top of others.

Feedback is taken as personal criticism and disagreement is disloyalty. In the review process when they receive ‘developmental’ feedback their body language is tense, arms folded across the chest and face set. What they are thinking is,”After everything I have done for these bastards, this is how they repay me!” For the aggressive coach their esteem and their sense of security come from proving themselves superior or others weaker.”I am ok if I am a winner. They like to stay on the attack which assists them to avoid getting close to people and by belittling others makes them feel better.

The aggressive coach believes that by making you more anxious you will go out and perform better and have’ a sink or swim ‘approach to coaching- the survival of the fittest(except when it comes to the stars who can increase their chances of winning). This coach will be, at best, indifferent to any discussion on the success of others because that discussion is not about them. This lack of generosity towards others leads to jealousy and envy of their success.

The aggressive coach may say the right words re empowerment and player engagement but can’t possibly commit to a process that means their sense of control is diminished. At the heart of their coaching is a negative view and a paternal view of people, ”Father knows Best’.

What worries this coach is being ‘found out’- that they are not perfect and they are flawed like the rest of us , not being in total control and not knowing the answer to everything. There is an ache inside them which is the underlying doubt about themselves that only ‘winning’ can temporarily alleviate. At its extreme, the only thing that makes them happy is beating others. They are externally motivated and in a sense controlled by the perceptions of others so are always on stage never certain how their act is coming off.

It must be a long day playing the comparison game day in and day out. What worries you?

“Perhaps the best test of how you truly define success is how you react to pressure. If success depends on outcomes then the demand to succeed-pressure- increases with the rewards of the challenge... This pressure generates stress because achieving success through outcomes is beyond your control...and this stress can greatly interfere with performance. Knowing that you did your best to the best you are capable of becoming...(frees) you from stress because achieving it is always fully under your control .” (Sorry , I can’t remember where I found this quote))

. Thank you to Shaun Mc Carthy,Human Synergistics, for creating the framework for this discussion. Visit WWW.Human Synergistics Australia for more information.

“You cannot prevent the birds of worry and care flying over your head. But you can stop them from building a nest in your head .(Chinese proverb).

Round Nine The Circus comes to Craigieburn

Last week the club arranged for Arthur Bolkus to speak to the boys. Arthur had been a wayward youth and was now a lawyer. It was an excellent presentation and pretty deep at times but I think what he was saying is that we and the community need to develop a sense of dignity. That when you have dignity regardless of your personal circumstances you cannot be humiliated or embarrassed. (The opposite of dignity and hope is indignity, that is, despair- almost a feeling of ,“What’s the point?”and a loss of self respect). That as you become self actualised and grow your dignity not everyone has to be like me or think like me and they are still alright. And that too often we get our worth from our titles and try to impress others with our ‘achievements’ but, I think this was what he was saying, it won’t do me much good to be impress you if I am not impressed by me. You’re important but I am more important. I need to grow and become the kind of person I would like to be around. Arthur challenged us to reassess what constitutes success for us and the foundation should be internal motivation, self direction and dignity.

This week we have the Gold Coast at Craigieburn and Guy McKenna has announced that their new NRL import Karmichael Hunt will play his first game. We have been told to expect a big crowd, lots of coverage and plenty of attention. The ABC has decided that 10 th v 11 th warrants a direct telecast. We under estimated the interest. Five thousand came to see the game and there was over a twenty minute wait to get in. Dave was contacted by journalists wanting to know where the GC would play Karmichael Hunt. Dave naturally suggested they should contact McKenna as that was a matter for them. One journalist persisted. “Doesn’t Richmond have an Irish recruit?” “James O’Reilly,’ DN replied. “Well, where do you play him?””Mostly in the backline so he has everything in front of him.” The next day the article’s bi line was, ”Coburg Coach says Hunt should play as a defender.”(!)#

At the pre match meeting Dave outlined what the Gold Coast want: Run and Carry Keep players out wide Hunt in numbers (No pun intended as Kim pointed out)

What we would deliver would be: Get them 1v1, isolate our stronger marking forwards. ¾ ground press Stoppage pressure Run our patterns

Game Day Before the game DN gave everyone a sheet of paper with a pledge on it: “I am committed to these three aspects of my game that will enhance the team’s performance.’ Each player filled out the sheet listing the three things they intended to do which had to be clear and specific then shared those items with a team mate. Every player’s ‘Pledge’ was then placed on the wall of the coaches room for all to see. Each would be accountable for those pledges and they would be revisited at half time and after the game.

First Half

The Gold Coast got off to a flyer with the first two goals of the game. Hunt kicked one from a handball over the top and then a CFC player, in a sporting gesture to all the media up at Hunt’s end pushed him after kicked the goal to cause the umpire to provide him with another kick for another goal. Great television. Hunt must have been thinking how easy this gig was if you get a kick from a push given what happens in the NRL for no reward. To add to the theatre Rayso got into Hunt’s face with a bit of push and shove and so Rayso received national media coverage as the bravest CFC player or the ...?

We came back in the quarter but the athleticism of the GC was worrying and their tactic of running forward of the ball was upsetting our set ups and plans given nearly every other team feeds it back at a stoppage. Robbie Nahas and Dean Polo were creating havoc and James Lawton and Pollie had the measure of their opponents. Sam Power was racking up the possessions at will and is on track for his usual 30 plus game. At the long break we are up by 13 points and the game is in the balance.

Second Half We are all over the young GC boys. Goals are coming from everywhere and our forward defensive pressure is making it difficult for the GC to get the ball out of their back 50. Robbie Hicks chimes in for a goal and Rayso is backing up his bluster with devastating runs through the corridor.(Equally urgent is the canteen has run out of food and drink for the third time causing yet another dash down to the shops which they do with poise). An eight goal quarter.

The last quarter sees the GC come back with five goals and cause some angst in the CFC box but the gap is too big. A 47 point win. There is lots of laughing and singing in the rooms. Our third win for the year and amazingly given the other results we are still in the hunt for a finals spot.

“The Crows leadership use a three tiered model when addressing player issues

1. Is it a new player who doesn’t know the rules?

2. Is it a player who is currently lacking confidence?

3. Is it a player who’s attitude is causing the challenge? The basis of this is that punishing a player who lacks confidence, for example , may end up being counterproductive.’ (AFL Coaching Conference 2009)

Efficacy, Coaching and Teams

“When all other things are equal and the difference between winning and losing comes down to fractions of a second or a single point, the athletes who are more confident are more likely to be successful than the athletes who lack confidence.” (Self Efficacy in Sport, Feltz, Short and Sullivan, Human Kinetics,p.218)

When I used to walk home from Preston South Primary School No.824 and passed the Catholic boys school I sometimes got pushed around and slapped a few times so I would return to my school and ask for assistance,” Anyone interested in going after the Catholics and throwing stones at their church?” I could influence kids to follow me. That is efficacy- your ability to cause or bring about that which you desire. I could make those things happen. When you have efficacy you can ‘gang up’ on the problem. (If you lacked efficacy you wouldn’t even bother going to get help because, ”they wouldn’t help anyway.’)

Efficacy in teams is our collective belief in our ability to bring about the desired result we want and execute a strategy to bring it about. We ‘gang up’ on the challenge and make things happen. Teams that are highly efficacious take on big goals, have a strong commitment to that goal, when things are not tracking well they try harder and when they fail their collective self talk is ,”We should have worked harder. We are coming back. These teams cannot be intimidated by the challenge. Their collective ‘word’ in the heart is, ’Yes. We can do this.’

They believe they can learn the new game plan and/or strategy. If they don’t currently have the skills, ”we can learn them, no problem”. That’s efficacy.

Naturally, confidence is no substitute for a lack of skill or lack of motivation. The players still need the necessary commitment and willingness. What we are talking about is a strong sense of mental toughness or ‘sticking’ power.

There is a lot to building the collective efficacy of a team. Dave didn’t give the players the whole enchilada at the start of preseason but rather built it up and as the player’s mastered one piece the next was added so it was challenging without being overwhelming.

The example used earlier in this booklet about stepping out a strategy on a mat, then walking through it on the ground followed by running through it at half pace and so on. That is part of the efficacy building process.

All coaches use a variety of techniques to build the collective efficacy- the ‘inspirational’ speech, role clarity and clear direction and/or simulated match play at training. Also our own modelling of self confidence in the team and the plan has an impact.

The easiest way to build efficacy is to win consistently which is easier said than done but efficacy can still be built by changing the way you measure success ie number of blocks, tackles, chases, runs to encourage, number of times players get to a stoppage, ’sacrificial acts’ etc. Put a greater emphasis on what you can control and impact on.

From a coaching point of view past failures due to a lack of effort or just not being prepared or switched on are easier to remedy because the solution is straight out of any coaching manual – work hard on the track. More importantly, those losses were caused by a temporary event, lack of effort and not a permanent one such as we are simply not good enough.

Further watching others like yourself succeed builds efficacy. When we go and watch a team in our own league prepare for or play in a final the players are subconsciously thinking, ’We could do this. We could be here.’ As they see themselves in the situation and succeeding their confidence levels just clicked up a notch.

Coaching one on one to build efficacy (or in a group discussion): ‘Tell me about something we did really well in the game. ‘Think about a time when your teammates showed confidence in you. ‘Give me an example of when your team mates praised you. ‘Give me an example of when we were getting beaten and didn’t give in. ‘When you were getting beaten early on what did you do about it to get back on top?

If efficacy is the ability to take a hit and get back up then dwell on those incidences that occurred in the game

For coaches it is important that we build our own efficacy and it looks like the easiest way to build our own efficacy is to undertake more training and coaching courses according to Feltz#. The more information and skills you have the more confident you feel. At the club level the more you can sit around manufacturing different scenarios, that is, ‘What if they throw a tall into the centre? What if they go small in the forward line?” the more confident (efficacious) you will feel during the game as different situations arise. I think we should have spent more time in this process ourselves this season. It would have been a good investment.

Finally, no player, no team and no coach should be allowed to or allow themselves to pass through their successes too quickly or too lightly.

“For those who doubt their ability trying (for their goal) is not worth the effort.” (Albert Bandura)

As a parent we don’t care that our kids know a new subject but we do want them to believe they could learn it. They don’t need to know where the jobs are but believe that they can find one and convince the hirer that they should be the one hired .That’s efficacy.

# Self Efficacy in Sport, Feltz,Short,Sullivan, This is the definitive study on sport and efficacy and has an Australian flavour.

Round Eleven CFC v Port Melbourne

Last weeks’ round saw us playing the Werribee Tigers in a televised game at Chirnside Park. Again we got off to a slow start but ended the quarter only two points down courtesy of a 1.10 quarter by the Werribee Tigers. During the quarter Graeme Polak had a sickening head clash with an opponent and was stretchered off the ground. We came back in the second quarter on the back of Browny’s dominance in the ruck and the class of ‘Webbers’, Jordan McMahon and Mitch Morton. ‘Rayso’ was giving us good run out of defence and Poppa was enjoying the heavy centre square. Half time found us 12 points up. I was surprised to see ‘Pollie’ in the rooms at the break I assumed he had gone to hospital but he was smiling which was presumably a good sign. The third quarter saw Werribee kick 7.6 to our 2.6 and so our small lead was now a 22 point deficit. We charged back in the last quarter with four goals but we couldn’t make up the gap. A seven point loss and yet another loss by under ten points and yet another indifferent performance in the third quarter. Statistically in that quarter they were operating at 60% rebound, that is, frequently the ball is moved out of their defence into their forward line without us touching it and we were unable to counter attack. In the midfield our turnover differential was -4 and clearances out of the centre came in at -3. We couldn’t get our hands on the ball and when we did we turned it over too often. What to do?

In the pre match planning for Port Melbourne who were sitting fourth on the ladder DN put the focus on getting our stoppage setups right and going in to pressure the ball carrier, denying them access to the corridor and getting back to help the defenders. We are going to pull back the high forwards 10 to 20 metres because they are having trouble getting from the back 50 line to be front and centre.

At training we have been simulating our press when the ball is in their forward line and getting our starting points right for when the ball comes out. We still have players who stand out wide waiting for the ball to be kicked out by our defenders and have dragged their opponent with them causing us to have no space to work in.(This was called ‘burning our space’).

The reserves whom were coming off a disappointing loss played well in the early game. There is supposed to be a link between a fighting reserves performance and a good performance in the seniors but not generally for us. First Half We were in a real arm wrestle in the first half with neither side able to get a break. James was as elusive as ever and Hicksie was displaying great courage but the real standout was Robbie Nahas playing against his old side and he was racking up the possessions. In spite of the game plan we were getting sucked too deep and their defenders were clever enough to just let us go and forming a wall around the centre square effectively blocking our way back.

Ryan came off with a corked thigh so our forward line is for the first time mainly smalls(we usually go in with three very tall players). Rhett is presenting well and Nick C,who received a free at the start of the game, something he is seemingly able to engineer at will, is laying some crunching tackles.(It would be interesting to know why defenders seem to want to hit him before the game starts).

At half time there is nothing in it. We have set Rhett to play as a defender of one of Ports dangerous running backs and DN asks for more players to hit in on the back of stoppages and to hold our width.

Second Half We are following instructions and Webbers is devastating on the wing and Nahas continues his good run but really it is a team effort. The move of Rhett is working better than we could hope for and Robbie H. has now four goals To finish the quarter James casually sidesteps an opponent to kick a great goal.

Twenty two points up and we have had a good first and third quarter .The last quarter is a slog and Port are not giving up. Alex Rance is inspirational off half back and Sam continues to accumulate possessions as if he has his own ball ( 42 possessions!). Damien is running off his opponent and providing drive and Port cannot make any headway. A twenty three point win. Wonderfully satisfying and frustrating at the same – we have beaten a good side , lost 5 games by under 10 points and the only win Frankston, firmly entrenched on the bottom have had for the season was against us.

The song is sung with great passion in the cramped rooms and it is still mathematically possible to make the finals. Dare to dream.

At the Monday review night before we go through the team edits all the players get into their lines to discuss the game. Each player reviews their own game and give themselves a rating out of ten- a seven is a very good game and then the other players provide their comments on what they saw , highlighting developmental areas and give a collective rating. The coach also rates the player’s game prior to the meeting. There is surprising consistency across the ratings and if there is a big gap, a gap of two is a significant gap , the player is followed up.

“The biggest single problem with communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” (George Bernard Shaw quoted on “Criminal Minds’, the most depressing show on television)

A Perfect Storm Every player, every process and every coach is under scrutiny

In the preparation for Collingwood who we know they like to chip and run and are happy to go wide with the ball and then come back inboard past the centre we rehearsed setting up our defensive zone a little wider and putting in place switch coverage so that when they looked up to take the ball out of defence to the ’fat side’ we were already waiting. A lot of teams talk about what to do if they do this or that but it is really difficult to execute a strategy without rehearsing it first.

Collingwood are similar in some ways to us in that they are more developmental and so have less big bodied players. On a number of occasions at the end of a game someone would comment how small we looked comparatively.

We got away to a flyer. Goals are coming from everywhere. ‘Pollie’ is organising the set ups for centre bounces. We have people tasked to watch opposition teams so presumably someone scouts us and notes our setups. To reduce the predictability every second centre bounce leads to a different setup. Browny is taking on the three Magpie rucks and in control and Mitch Morton is doing well in his new role as a mid fielder. We are up two goals at the first break. A quick word on playing higher and we have not recorded a single bumper and we go again. Again we are teaming well but a few easy shots on goal are missed and we go into half time leading by a goal.

Given we have had a number of poor third quarters it is a real dilemma for the coaching group- if we continually remind them of that will it build an expectation in the collective psyche like the proverbial self fulfilling prophecy? Equally is it negligent to gloss over it? DN hits the right balance and puts the emphasis on the need to win the 60/40 ball and the game recommences.( A 60/40 ball is you win a contested ball that the odds were against you gaining possession). ‘Morgs’ is continuing his dominance in the back half and we break even in the third quarter which is heartening (and a relief). In the final quarter Collingwood pile on 3.5 to our solitary one point. A four goal loss.

Next week we met top of the table Williamstown with a “I should be in the Doggies team” Akermanis striving for a recall. Again a good start and we have the Seagulls under pressure but in the second quarter they kick 5.5 to our one point. In the third quarter we have more scoring shots but a last quarter assault by the Seagull nets them seven goals and us a ten goal loss. Bill, the club President locked out all spectators and coaches from the room (except DN) for presumably a State of the Nation speech about their performance. I never heard what was said which I think is a good thing. At the review on the Monday there were a few players rankled by the practice of milling around with the opposition after the game, often smiling and wandering off chatting amiably. The resolution was we all come off together and we can catch up with friends at the post game function.

The losses certainly caused reflection. We are discussing list management again and already deciding what we need,(and don’t need) for next year. We reviewed the way we coach the players and how we give them feedback. Rhett is a great example of what we were doing right and what we needed to do more frequently. It was made clear what Rhett needed to do to regain his spot in the seniors with a specific list of three skills to improve. He worked on them at training, used the edits to monitor his improvements and returned the seniors a valuable player with more to offer. Training went up a notch and our level of expectation and probably our level of irritability too for errors increased.

We played Geelong at Cragieburn next and again we let down by a third quarter fade out and to be honest we were run over the top in the final quarter and not for the first time in the coaches box we were powerless to impact the game in any meaningful way. Which stimulated the big questions including– are the line coaches up to it? Maybe more experienced coaches would have been good? Probably, however it is a myth that there is a telling move that the clever coach has up their sleeve. On three occasions that I asked for a player to be sent forward from the mids or backline to steal a goal for us it worked. The other 17 times it didn’t.

We were not quite in the Garden of Gestemane in which Jesus was apparently in such despair he was sweating blood .Nor were we spitting chips and we were certainly not copacetic about things however there is no doubt there was a greater sense of urgency and motivation to get back on track Playing well and losing is one thing but not playing well and losing puts everyone and every approach under the microscope.

For all this a win against Frankston next week keeps us in with a chance for the final eight. Miraculous.

“The more frustrated and angry you get (in the coaches box) the narrower your vision becomes.’ (RFC psychologist Kim Stephens, giving the coaches feedback after observing us. Kim‘s insights and change suggestions proved invaluable through the season and was another upside of affiliation.)

“Ten strong horses could not pull an empty baby carriage if they worked independently of each other” . (John Wooden).

“It was like sleeping with my girlfriend.” (A tennis player commenting on how tired and hot he was from a five set match in 36 degree heat. I am guessing after that comment he won’t need to worry about the challenges of sleeping with her again. ‘The Age’, 2/9/10)

“Never stick your head where your backside won’t fit.” ( A commentators observation on Ch 7 Port v Melbourne. I think it was an observation on turning your body before the impact but I am still not sure).

“Boys I have one word for you and one word only. Selfish football .” (A very Kath and Kim line from ‘The Essence of the Game)

#Readers of James Lee Burke hopefully will appreciate my homage to the Dave Robicheaux novels in the second last paragraph) Team Spirit

“It is the selfless way players commit to the team and respond to the calls for excellence.” (Gourley, The Psychological Edge In Rugby, p159)

Three consecutive losses. We need to remain optimistic and be mindful that we are accountable to maintain the team spirit and the players are also co-responsible in this process. In a question I sometimes put to the AFL Level Three participants,’ who is responsible for team spirit and commitment?” a number will always say the coach but more and more believe it to be shared responsibility. We help build team spirit through a variety of strategies and the players must also be involved otherwise they are sitting around waiting for you to motivate them and we have never subscribed to that view. (I always like the title of a chapter in change management book, ”Manage your own Morale”’ the theme being if you are going to sit around waiting to be inspired you are probably in for a long day).

The challenge of team spirit is we know when we have it and we certainly know when we don’t have it but it traditionally is a difficult one to measure. ’Spirit’ gives players the capacity to gain energy from each other, to go beyond self and is a leap from a mindset of ‘me ‘ to a culture of ‘we” working together can accomplish great things. You will have team spirit when each person has a vested interest in the improvement and success of their team mates. (It is certainly a trademark and observable behaviour of the Swans).

This spirit leads to an increase in trust, commitment to a common purpose, a greater reliance on others, a willingness to take risks, respect, the will to excel and become the best team we can be. This spirit is a catalyst for mental toughness. You can only have team spirit though when the bulk of the team are ‘freedom for’ types, that is, are happy to commit to a mission or purpose and don’t see this commitment as restraining but rather enabling. When you examine the cultural profile of the two AFL premiership sides in the last six years, that have allowed access to their cultural results ,both teams dominant style was team work and support for each other which they ranked higher than personal success and yet both sides had multiple players selected in the All Australian side proving that a commitment to the team and individual success are not mutually exclusive.

We can measure aspects of team spirit with the culture survey many clubs are now using and the team cooperation exercises (GSI*) but also by using the technology available to highlight team acts such as unrewarded chasing, the body language after goals are scored, number of bumpers laid given that act is only designed to assist your teammates, the number of time players run to congratulate another player for a team act, the number of times a player deliberately takes an opponent away from a contest so his team mate can get the ball, the number of times players are ‘pointing the finger’ at stoppages getting others in to position and so on. Carlton in 1995 under David Parkin introduced the ‘sacrificial acts’ award which the players awarded to their team mate who during the game had done the most to help others without thought of personal stats ie blocks, runs to assist, sheppards, running with the flight of the ball etc. After a while it was the one that everyone wanted to win probably because it was awarded by your peers (we probably should have done this at Coburg which would have fitted in with the engagement strategies we were using).

Just a comment on stats. I think, nothing scientific here, but following a loss there seems to be there is a rush to see the stats sheets that denote kicks ,marks, handballs etc which for some was a comfort ie “we lost by ten goals but I played well.” What we should have done is make the team stats freely available after the game so the focus was squarely on rebound efficiency, effective tackles per quarter and so on.

The strategies for building spirit include: • Being very consistent in our values and behaviours as coaches • Talking to every player on the list giving them both attention and affirmation • Making only positive, objective and performance based criticism. Stan Alves told Nick Carnell and I when we met that at times he would say such terrible things in anger on match days that it would take the following week to restore trust again with some players. • Control the controllables. When confidence is down and nip any negative talk by the power types in the bud. Bad mouthing others or engaging in the blame game is like treason to a high performance team and team spirit. • Maintain contact with all the reserve and injured players. • Ensure all players work equally hard and all are governed by the same rules of behaviour. • Encourage positive thinking. When players make a mistake the team mates can deliver a prod in a firm manner but it must be accompanied by a solution,”You are on the wrong side. The NEXT TIME get on his right side.’ From a leadership perspective we contribute by making the right rather than popular decisions, noticing when the team things are done, enabling the players to set the benchmarks and discipline their team mates who fail to adhere to the values, being optimistic about what people can achieve, painting the picture of what tomorrow can bring by working together. Finally, being open to the player’s ideas rather than operating unilaterally.

If we always see more in the players than they see in themselves, treat everyone in the club with the dignity and respect, value everyone’s contribution and give without thought of what we are getting and we are on the right track.

“I have great trust in our playing group...in terms of their ability, character and personality. I want to know what they think.’ (Neill Craig ,Adelaide Crows)

“(Team) spirit is what makes us come alive...and helps us to go beyond.” (Father Spitzer, ‘The Spirit of Leadership’ , a brilliant analysis of the comparison game, ethical leadership and giving without thought of getting back. To be honest I never thought I would find a book by a Jesuit priest engaging. A blind spot on my behalf perhaps? Gourley’s book mentioned earlier and available from Human Synergistics Australia is the main source for the best summary of the above strategies I have read. Some cynics would argue that a discussion around ‘spirit’ is a discussion about ’fluff”- it can’t be measured but it is an “expectation’ (similar to demanding commitment). “If it can’t be measured it’s not relevant’ but not attending to it is a far greater waste of time and greater risk. Besides it can be measured. Spitzer, The Spirit of Leadership ) Ruminations on Effective Leadership (Part One)

There are two world views both originating from mathematicians who were also theologians. One view, perhaps harshly named after Issac Newton, is that God created a perfect world with one exception- people. That people when left to their own devices will basically stuff up a good thing, are inherently lazy, incompetent and are inherently in need of direction and control. Further, they lack a sense of accountability, need constant prodding but mostly structure and discipline. Given their lack of ‘self control’ they need controlling from above. That’s where the coach comes in.“By the power invested in me by God (and the Board) I volunteer to shape this team up”. All power is in the hands of the leader.

The result is a top down, military type command structure underpinned by a, ’Do it my way because it is the right way”(or hit the highway). The number of people contributing ideas is reduced because there is a lack of faith in anything they could offer up. Further because accountability (but not blame) lies with the leadership , people have been conditioned to wait for orders from above so initiative is stifled and there are a lot of ‘good followers’. The Newtonian leader derives their sense of worth from their position and status.

In contrast, Alfred Whitehead believed that God created the world but that creation is not over yet. People are meant to be creative, accountable, empowered and that control should be shared. The Whiteheadian leader’s esteem comes from supporting and mentoring.

The Whiteheadian leader wants to develop the leadership skills of the group (and successors). They want your bright ideas and input and that we are all in this together- we are co responsible for our success and future. Remarkably this view promotes flexibility in leadership – you may at times be a follower behind someone with a better skill set for a particular task and then on the completion of the task the leadership snaps back to you.

The Newtonian likes to have favourites, acolytes and a circle of ‘insiders’ and can be very critical of those not in the inner sanctum. They can be surprisingly inflexible, are often caught up talking about the ‘good old days’(history) and love the comfort that stats bring not realising that the stats are only a record of what has already happened.

For the Whiteheadian leader they believe their co-responsible role is to free up the players, remove the structures and cultures that are preventing high performance. (Empowerment has never been freedom from restraint but rather freedom from unnecessary restraint and imposed barriers).

So what? Your basic world view is going to determine how you coach and the strategies you will embrace. Do you really think the Newtonian leader will promote or give anything more than lip service to empowerment and tolerate a consequent loss of control to the playing group? That would mean allowing the lunatics to run the asylum! In setting up empowerment and engagement processes you will certainly be careful to retain a UN Security Council power to veto ideas at odds with your own.

If you are Newtonian you will want the players to ‘fear’ you and fear your wrath whereas the Whiteheadian leader is trying to drive out fear. If you are coaching (or parenting) you need to reflect on this given its’ importance. This ‘world view” is the foundation of your philosophy of coaching.

In the short term if you choose to go down the Whiteheadian path: I. Start carefully explaining the ‘how’ and the ‘why’ II. Show concern for how things get done and let go of the close supervision of experienced players. III. Start spending time with those who aren’t performing well IV. Spend more time focussing on what is well done and not the negative and certainly stop becoming visibly angry at all hiccups in performance. V. Stop demanding perfection but continue striving for perfection. VI. Don’t let people sink or swim. Support and coach them into the future. VII. Look for the ‘good news’ in people. VIII. Examine all the tasks you do and start delegating to others. That might require training for some and certainly letting go by you.

Examine and alter any process, approach or structure which may prevent the team from performing at its best.

There are lessons from past seasons and games that may still be relevant but let go of dwelling in the past and spend your time talking about the future and how things will be better and different.

Finally how you respond to a slump, loss or poor performance will reflect your philosophy via your behaviour and body language. Players watch your actions and not your words.

“Your actions are so loud I cannot hear a word you are saying.” (Leading Teams)

Footnote I can only guess at the consternation that occurred for some members of the coaching group when the Carlton Football Club’s leadership group selected the team that would play in the 1995 Grand Final and handed it to the selectors. Ruminations (Part Two) Being a constructive leader isn’t a choice between ‘Door One” or ‘Door Two.’ That is,’ “I have to choose to be ‘nice all the time’ or a ‘prick’(as one coach said) .”A constructive, achievement oriented leader can still deliver a strong, forceful message that highlights the urgency of the change required and the strategy to enact that change. Achievement leadership is not ‘soft’ or an acceptance of lower standards but rather constructive leadership is strong, decisive leadership that is in pursuit of excellence and the challenge. Constructive leaders will, at times, express frustration and some anger at a performance level but it is never nasty, cruel or bullying using fear as the whip.

It is really a frequency issue. You just want to spend more of your time and energy in the constructive side and less in the passive/aggressive quadrant. We will all drift into behavioural areas we know are not productive and there is not a single coach who doesn’t regret some of the things they have said to player. Even moving to a three constructive to one aggressive behaviour ratio would be productive given most players will forgive you for a ‘rush of blood’ if you are credible and generally supportive.

It is just a matter of changing your focus by spending more time: 1. Having a long term view v a short term fix 2. Emphasising the hope of success v increasing the fear and exaggerating the cost of failure 3. Encouraging co operative goal setting v handing the team goals out 4. Promoting self evaluation v coach evaluation. 5. Being open to others influence v making decisions unilaterally.

An assessment of over 500 leaders in Australia to ascertain what the effective leaders do more often was disappointingly simple-when they watch or as they are wandering around they tend to notice more of the good things that are happening compared to the ineffective leaders whose focus is only on errors. There is still philosophy for some that, ”The good things I take for granted. It’s my job to point out their faults”. They may have been the case in the 60’s but I defy you to find that in any coach job description or AFL coaching manual. It’s just that that philosophy suits you So if you do nothing else – stop penalising mistakes as frequently and start celebrating the successes more often. Simple choice?

“Reward and punishment are two powerful strategies coaches have in being able to shape the culture and performance of teams. Obviously selection in the team has to be earned and is a reward for those who train hard and perform well. Those who don’t meet the standards won’t be selected. Players will put in the effort if they feel they are being recognised and rewarded. Rewards can include raising a players visibility, providing more challenging tasks or celebrating their success. The use of rewards has an impact on the achievement orientation of players. The use of punishment breeds competitiveness and perfectionism.” (Gourley, The Psychological Edge in Rugby, p.73. There is always a price to be paid for an aggressive/passive style. The upside of a power approach is players do what they are told and you get your way. The downside is disempowerment and players waiting for orders from above. There is no downside to taking an achievement approach) The Run Home

“Punishment comes naturally. Rewarding takes thinking.” (Shaun McCartney HSI)

In the midst of the disappointment of no longer being in the race for the finals came the news that over the next few weeks Robbie Hicks, James O’Reilly, Dylan Grimes and David Gourdis would all make their debut for the Richmond seniors. Remarkably the first three had started the year in the CFC reserves and on the back on consistent performances were now being rewarded with AFL senior selection.

We met bottom dweller Frankston at Craigieburn and given we were the only side they had defeated this season they were no doubt building themselves up for their second win. They played that way too. (As one of the few non affiliated sides in the VFL they were probably bigger than us and against Frankston and Port Melbourne we were only allowed 12 RFC listed players). It was an arm wrestle all day and we finally won by 16 points largely on the back of a seven goal haul by Nick Carnell. Nick had one of those games you day dream about.

Training continued to be well executed and the boys were still up and about. The competition for spots was still high and with a finals spot looming for the reserves and around 36 players were going to eligible for selection. Dave moved around the ground with his whiteboard educating different groups while I took training for a change. Some players stood out for their leadership particularly Johno who provided direction and positive feedback during the drills.

Round 16 North Ballarat v CFC It was freezing in Ballarat with an icy wind to make the chill factor worse. Dave took control of the line meetings for each line and the general team meeting for a change or perhaps because he wanted to ensure the tactics of stopping their chip and run were clear in everyone’s mind. You are never really sure of the impact of these types of incidents but in a heart beat after the start of the team warm up in the room ‘Bomber’, the runner, was cleaned up and had sustained serious facial injuries and was spitting out teeth and blood in front of everyone.

With a final word from Dave, “Smash into them from the start, stick to your structures and back yourselves,” the players headed out. The Roosters got away quickly. In seemingly a few moments they were four goals up and we are struggling. We pull back a couple and on the back of their inaccurate kicking stay in the game – 17 points adrift at the first break.

The stats are telling us that we are not getting back to help the tall forwards when the ball hits the ground and that our new tactic of rotating the high forwards through the half back line is not working because their defenders are very experienced and just drop off and fill the hole. North Ballarat are unable to shake us and our tackling is causing turnovers and delaying giving us a chance to reset. NB certainly ,like most clubs, play their home ground well though. At the break the players are questioned by Dave and believe they are doing what is required. In the line meeting Nick Carnell grabbed the whiteboard to explain the starting points we needed. (Definitely a coach in the making). In the third quarter we can only manage one goal to their three but in the last there is just a glimmer of hope that we can steal an unlikely win but NB steady and we go down by 22 points. After the game Dave gathers everyone around the whiteboard and goes through the KPI’s. We had 11 more inside 50’s than NB and midfield turnovers are in our favour. Opposition rebound efficiency is only 14% which is a remarkable result and testament to our defensive pressure and delaying tactics.

Dave finished with, ”We had a red hot go. We need to play for four quarters though.’ His final heartfelt comment was, and I think this was the first time during the season he said, “I am very proud of you and your efforts today.”

We completed the season with another almost unlikey win with a spirited performance against the Bendigo Bombers going down by 20 points and wrapped up the season against a very strong Northern Bullants finally secumbing by 36 points but remaining competitive to the end.

And that was it. There was no stirring victory that the AFL media like to say gives club’s hope and purpose over the summer. In the rooms after this final game there were a number of speeches- Dave thanked everyone for their efforts, Club president ,Bill, had a few words, I think someone else said something, Keith who has been a timekeeper for RFC and CFC for over 40 years was retiring and was thanked for his contribution. (Keith’s reply in which he claimed to still be young at heart and was willing to prove it brought the house down).

The reserves had made next weeks elimination final so training would continue for most at Coburg. With that I grabbed my gear and headed home reflecting on what might have been.

Footnote “In finals, you will run further than ever before. You will tackle and be tackled more often. “ These words from ‘A Season of Achievement’ are just what every coach knows- finals are hard work. This week a study using GPS tracking devices found that in finals players ran 11% further with an increase of 9% intensity.”What increased (most)was the number of times a player accelerated during a game. The number of maximal accelerations undertaken in finals games was 97% higher -virtually double.”(www.vu.edu.au/professor-football) The Wash up ‘He (Hardwick) said to us,’ “Enjoy the time off but remember we are 15 th in the AFL’” (Mitch Morton on Damien’s final words to the RFC players after the last match)

With the reserves out of the finals in the first week the review process commenced the following week. The season was broken down into its phases and we went through each with an emphasis on what we would continue doing and what needed to change or be improved. The feeling was with almost every player we wanted to keep already re-signing that the level of game plan education would probably decline somewhat and that training would probably flow a lot smoother as a consequence. The effect of this would be a decreased tolerance for errors and we would design a process so that if, for example, your kick didn’t hit the target after you had mopped up you would need to sprint to a defensive set up point. Rather than punish players for mistakes the emphasis would be on the team consequences of their error or sloppiness and the requirement, like in match to immediately go into a defensive position. Also given the number of coaches available there would be a coach positioned at those defensive points requiring the arriving player to affect a tackle or field a few ground balls etc.

Further the players would be better educated in the style of thinking we required from them in terms of accountability and self direction but the pre training skills sessions such as weighted kicking would not be voluntary option for nominated players as it was last season.

During the season there will be an increased education of the leadership group and we will have laminated cards on the interchange bench for players to review stoppage setups particularly if they are being sent into an area they haven’t trained in. This will also mean that there will be more ‘across line’ training so each player at the start of the preseason will need to nominate two roles they will play ie forward and mid fielder.

The honest and direct feedback process would continue and we are toying with the players in their lines rating each other from best to least effective along the set criteria and naturally required to explain why they rated a team mate the least effective defender and provide examples. If culture is the effective management of messages then this strategy will need a lot of thought before implementation.

The coaching groups roles are also being reviewed with the idea of a ball movement coach and opposition coach being introduced and if that happens, do we need three line coaches?

Finally, as part of this review process, in another session the playing leadership group went through a number issues and discussed two main questions, “What did you see this year that prevented us from becoming a high performance, successful team?” and “What did we say we were going to deliver this year but failed to?” And that was it. In spite of any review process tending focus on the negative there were lots of positives and lots to look forward to. Training for next season starts again in eight weeks.

“We have started...to gain respect but respect is hard earned and easily lost.“ “...there is no short cut to success.” (Damien Hardwick quoted in ‘Inside Football’ 15/9/10 and at the RFC Presentation night).

Appendix One Leadership Review

In keeping with the aim to provide as much feedback as we could the next group to receive feedback from the players was the Leadership group which comprised ten players across the two teams. It was emphasised that the feedback had to be aligned to the criteria used to select them at the camp.

CFC Leadership Group Mid Year Review Please rate each of the leadership group along the agreed values and behaviours Rating system • 0 not at all • 1 to a slight extent • 2 to a moderate extent • 3 to a great extent • 4 to a very great extent

Name ...... To what extent is this leader: 1. Honest 0 1 2 3 4 2. Hard working 0 1 2 3 4 3. Selfless 0 1 2 3 4 4. Professional 0 1 2 3 4 5. Leading by example 0 1 2 3 4 Comments

Below is the cover sheet we attached the feedback summaries given to each playing group leader:

Overall the feedback to the leadership group was very positive.

Across the group the leadership behaviours of honest, professional, hard working, selfless and leading by example were assessed to be at” a great or very great extent’ consistently.

When you are reviewing your feedback remember in areas you receive a “3”that is still a team mate observing that your behaviour is aligned to the values “to a great extent’.

In areas you were assessed by individuals as moderately (2) displaying the leadership behaviours if there is a cluster of responses (ie 3 or more ) suggesting you are not working hard enough for example, or not as selfless as you could then it might be useful to ask others in the leadership group or team mates for an example of when you might be perceived in such a way. Keep in mind that while it may be only a few who have stated this it would worth considering that you may act and behave differently with different people or groups and reflecting on why that would be the case.

From the feedback you have received it would be in the team’s interest and your own to decide is there anything you should be doing more (or less) of and discussing any gaps between your own perception and the perception of your team mates.

Overall, a strong collective vote of confidence in the leadership group and the way they are going about their football.

Some of the leaders received feedback by some of the players that they were not working hard enough or were more concerned with their personal performance which probably came as a surprise. Dave wanted to have another vote mid season which would have been interesting to see if the ten were re elected.

We did a range of things to try to assist in the leadership group’s development. Nick Carnell and I met with Stan Alves to talk about the trademarks and leadership, some players asked me to show their body language and leadership behaviours in the edits ie when their head dropped or whether they were ‘finger pointing’ at stoppages (telling players where to set up). Earlier in the year we ran a session for the leadership group and presented to them three things they could start doing that would have immediate impact and would take little effort only willingness: Third Person Affirming , that is, using one person to tell another what you admire or appreciate about them. So when a board member or supporter came up to you while you were talking to a young player when you introduced the player to not just stop at their name but to go on to affirm them, ie “Bill, this is Sam. He has made an enormous difference to the forward line through his attack on the ball. He will be pushing for senior selection soon” You are using one person to tell another that which you admire about them and how you see them. Correcting Mistakes . Whenever anyone made a mistake always point out the error and offer the solution. “Jeff, get with it. You are too far back at the stoppage. The NEXT TIME you must be within three metres and impact on their sweeper.” Efficacy. Never let any player go through their successes too quickly or too lightly. “You did a good job on their dangerous forward today.’ “I had a lucky day.” “No, you were getting beaten and you came back. How did you get back on top.” “I realised he was quicker so I played two metres in front and kept between the ball and him.” It is important for everyone that we do not take good performance for granted.

Appendix Two

One of the issues that came out of the goal setting process was the number of players who said they had concentration issues. We put the handout below together for them: Improving our Concentration

Concentration is your ability to focus on something for an extended period of time

What can impact on your levels of concentration include your opponent, spectators, personal experience, teammates, uncertainty regarding our structures, mistakes, fatigue and your interpretation of messages from Dave or line coach.

Your ability to deal with the various distractions while processing information while remaining focussed will determine your consistency and effectiveness.

Enhancing your concentration strategies include

• Having a clear picture of what is expected and what you expect of yourself. If you know what you want to accomplish there is less room for nerves and distractions. • Having a pre match routine and being around other focussed players • Setting goals or target areas (ie getting to stoppages early )for each quarter and for the game (effective kicks, 8 selfless acts) • Remain focussed on the controllables and spend no time reflecting on past mistakes or what might happen in the future. • Be task/ processed oriented rather than outcome driven • Recharge batteries when there is a natural break then use a trigger that works for you such as , “Focus now,” “Switch on,”’ Let’s go’” or clap your hands as a signal the play is about to restart. • If your selftalk is “I am not good at concentrating’” next time you find yourself saying that change it to something like ,”That’s not true anymore. It is easy for me to stay focussed and switched on.”

Practice at training particularly when you are fatigued or the weather is inclement at Craigieburn.

Appendix Three Football Review We reviewed the players partly in response to a questions being raised re our performance. We should have done it at least three times and established a benchmark Summary of Results CFC Football Review 26/7/10 1 Not at all 2. to a slight extent 3. to a moderate extent 4. to a great extent To what extent • do you understand the game plan 1 2 3.8 4 • understand your role in the game plan 1 2 3.7 4 • have personally improved this season 1 2 3.1 4 • have your leadership skills developed 1 2 3.0 4 • are you expected to train hard 1 2 3.5 4 • pursue excellence 1 2 3.4 4 • is CFC a positive environment 1 2 3.2 4 • is performance feedback given 1 2.9 3 4

Of the 25 who completed the survey:

Four players believed they had personally improved only slightly and one not at all
Seven felt their leadership skills had only improved slightly
Three believed they were not expected to train hard
Four felt that they were only expected to pursue excellence to a slight extent
Two thought that CFC was a positive environment to only a slight extent
Four thought that performance feedback was given to only a slight extent and one believed it was not given at all
Of the 26 scores of two or less, 13 came from three players.

Overall the majority believe that to a moderate to great extent they know the game plan, their role, have improved, are expected to pursue excellence and CFC is a positive environment. The area to improve is in performance feedback which was also the feedback we received from the coach survey. Unfortunately we have no benchmark to assess whether our changed approach from that feedback has made us more effective in that area. The lower score in this area does correlate to our only slightly above the Australian average achievement thinking score for the CFC Culture survey in April.

Appendix Four Coaching One on One to Build Achievement Questions to ask to overcome barriers to achievement Making a difference • What have been your accomplishments and wins this year? • What factors made these successes possible? • Any unrecognised wins? • How did you achieve these results? • In which area could you make an immediate impact? How? • In which areas have you made a difference to the team’s performance? Self development • In which areas have you developed this year? • How have you recognised this development? • In which areas do you expect to improve in the next 12 months? Why? For what benefit? • What are you looking forward to? • It’s 12 months from today. What comments or memo outlining your development would you like to receive? Stretch goals • What are your goals for the next: i) 12 months? ii) 12 weeks? iii) 4 Weeks? • How do you set your goals? • How do your goals for next year differ from this year? • If you knew you couldn’t fail, what goals would you set? • In terms of your goal setting what should you stop, continue and begin doing? • Which goals didn’t you realise this year? Why? • In which areas could you experiment a little, with a more risky approach? Specific things to do to grow achievement

• Think of an area which you can make an immediate, measurable difference. Take an action to improve something in this area • Admit your mistakes openly and encourage others to do so • In team meetings use “and” instead of “but”, use “and you might consider …………” • Focus on pleasing yourself first, doing what’s important to you rather than pleasing others • Try to bring the quieter people into the discussion in team meeting

Appendix Five

Evaluation of Selection Meeting

As part of our ongoing review of a number of parts of the CFC club including coaches, players and processes one of the attendees of the selection meeting last week completed a survey known as a Group Style Inventory (GSI) which measures an individual’s perception of how the group interact with one another and approach the task to be accomplished. The survey focuses on the behaviour of the group, atmosphere and the impact of the group on individuals. The aim is rotate the survey to each coach (which we did)). The GSI results are tallied and then compared to an average team (about 770 teams have been used to create this benchmark).

For us the areas we measured well included

• Constructive and supportive communication • People seemed really listen • The group stayed focused on the objective • There was leadership without people taking over • The group made good use of the time available and • The problem was viewed as an interesting and challenging task.

The development areas were to a moderate extent

• People tended to go along with the majority without discussion • There was a need for greater involvement on the part of certain members

Overall the group worked effective effectively together to a moderate or greater extent.

Suggestions to improve are (aside from knowing RFC’si selections!)

• Dave to outline the opposition’s strengths, weakness game plan etc with input from others followed by our game plan and match ups • Bring the seating together to reduce the potential for side conversations • All of us to avoid side conversations, talking over others or hesitantly offering ideas • Ask more reflective questions, “Why is that important to you?”etc • “Rock the boat’ if necessary

“Selectors don’t select teams, players do.’ (Bob Dwyer,Wallabies)

“Why aren’t you picking me in the team?’ Allegedly Nick Davis asking Paul Roos about his omission from the team. Roos apparently replied ,” You aren’t picking you in the team.” ( via his approach to his football).

Appendix Six Achievement Thinking

Achievement thinking is a: • preoccupation with excellence • preference for self set goals • desire for feedback on performance • High but realistic goals and standards • Desire for the contest and challenge This thinking will impact every aspect of the coaching process from training to match preparation. In the match preparation the emphasis is on the game plan and how to deal with the oppositions strengths The closer to the game the focus shifts to concentrating on how we are going to play and less on winning. Achievement people are very focussed, analytical, have high efficacy, are self starters, internally motivated and self directed, need to be challenged and mentally tough. Achievement teams select team members to complement each other, set mutually shared goals, take calculated risks, expect excellence from each other and see feedback from teammates as a developmental tool. Achievement cultures establish plans to achieve their goals and achieve excellence, pursue their goals with enthusiasm and effectively deal with issues and constructively resolve problems. Achievement thinking is not a preoccupation with winning, a concern for ‘looking good’, a need to be in control, a need to be perfect, a concern about what others think about you and fear of failure. Achievement leaders are tough, can be demanding and encourage you to strive for excellence. They are tough but never nasty, cruel or bullying. They are optimistic about people and what the team can achieve.

“..(leaders) say they want people to behave in constructive ways and want a constructive culture but the actual culture is promoting passive/aggressive behaviour .” (Human Synergistics.) We continue to reward aggressive behaviours with $s and promotion despite knowing there will be a cost to this but proving the end still justifies the means for many leaders.

“I did heaps of extra sessions whether it be goal kicking sessions or extra tackling sessions just trying to get myself up to a level. There were a few things I knew I lacked and I put a lot of effort in to getting them to a high standard.” (Robbie Hicks, RFC, Robbie went from CFC reserves to RFC in the space of less than ten games. For all that has been written about achievement thinking this is a pretty good summary.)

Appendix Seven Hammer Time

1. Coach B

Team Three X x x x x

Team One 0 0 0 0 0

( The ball starts with Team One who move towards Team Two and kick over Team Two’s head to Coach A who then kicks to the spreading Team Two causing Team One to now be defenders. When Team Two get within 20 metres of Team Three they kick to Coach B who in turn kicks to the spreading Team Three so now Team Two are defending and so on. Teams always return to their starting points Except when the first move down the ground all teams attack and then defend.)

60 to 80 metres

Team Two # # # # #

Team Four * * * * *

Coach A

Appendix Eight

This was the other perception tests we used as part of the overcoming blind spots session and to also highlight the earlier session on the goal setting in particular the reticular activating system – that unless you know what is important to you won’t ‘see’ or take notice. It is the same principle that enables us at a party at which the noise is so loud you can barely hear the person you are talking to and yet if someone clear across the other side of the room mentions your name you are immediately alert and trying to hear what they are saying about

you.

If you want a demonstration of this concept, better known as the Reticular Activating System, then you need look no further than any hard rubbish collection day when people are driving down a street and spot a part for a washing machine they have been looking for or a bookcase they have been thinking about. Once you know what you are looking for the information screams through. Looking for a new drill for training? It is amazing how we find one in a manual we haven’t looked at for a while or watching someone else’s training while waiting for your kids to come out of where ever. The goal comes first then we see. Here is your challenge. You are to look for a 1970 green Valiant Charger. I guarantee you will see one within two weeks of setting the goal.

Quotes I couldn’t fit in

“..72% of soccer player’s goals for the next season were to improve and keep their place in the team. The second goal contradicts the first.” “If a player feels they lack confidence they train harder but if they lack confidence and consistency they don’t train six weeks for it. To be mentally fit we have to train as hard as we do physically.” “The Russian perception of competion is you are all equals so it forces you to draw upon (your) ‘hidden reserves’.” (Lars Ustanal , Rustin College, 1981?)

‘For injured players a sense of identity, belonging and being needed are important for their and the teams general confidence...when confidence is down you tend to underestimate yourself and magnify your weaknesses...you feel everyone is watching you.” (Rudi Webster,’Winning Ways’)

I heard this story at the 1980 VFL Coaching program at Melb. Uni. As related by a member of a VFL club medical staff. “A player who had a big night and was feeling pretty crook before the State game, asked me (his club doctor) if I had anything that would help him. I gave him two tablets,”Swallow these and don’t tell anyone I gave them to you, right?” The player went on to star and after the game asked the doctor what he had taken and how could he get more. ‘Go to your local milk bar and buy them .They are small minties.’ (The placebo effect -If only it was that easy ).

“We have only got four good players... stop conning us... we can’t play in the finals.” (Only one third of the players mentioned playing finals football in their goal setting). This was the magnitude of the cultural change that confronted Stan Alves on his St Kilda appointment. Stan realised that not only would he need to change his approach but there would need to be a major shift. Stan gave Ray Mclean his opportunity at AFL level as a result).

“Don’t use words like commitment if you can’t measure it. And don’t tell me I am not committed if we can’t measure it. I am not going to be judged by something we can’t even agree on what it exactly is.” A Melbourne Storm player in a session giving his honest and direct feedback on the tendency to bandy around words without a full discussion on what they mean.

“Have you ever given the players a spray (now that your coaching)?” “I have given sprays that took the paint of the walls,” Daniel Harford replied. “What was the effect?” “I felt so dizzy from it I had to sit down for a while.” (A question to Daniel Harford on SEN 1116)

“You’re a pie, Meyers!” An exasperated junior coach providing young Geoff M. with on the go feed back as he went past the coaches box. I think it is a South Australian thing. I once told a player after a game that he was a colossus out on the field. “Is that good or bad,?”he asked.

Appendix Nine The Interview you never had

“Thanks for your time Rob. The Coaching sub -committee would like to go over a few things with you to try to understand your approach and outline our expectations of what we want in a senior coach’. ‘What we believe the team needs at this stage is an aggressive bully who will whip them into line. Honestly they are an immature rabble with skill but lacking motivation. You are going to need to inspire them and be on their case constantly. We believe they will respond to a person who can be sarcastic and uses a spray to goad them in to playing well. “I don’t think that is the best approach” “We do. This club doesn’t need fluff or New Age philosophy. We need someone you can play favourites, take losing personally and focus on errors. Ideally every now and again you should publically say, “I did take this job to have you blokes play like that’, and “After everything I have done for you this is how you repay me!” “So we need you to get visibly irritated when challenged and try to be the centre of attention at all times and if possible, take the credit for the wins and blame the players and line coaches for losses.. Is that ok? What is your approach to training?” “I believe in a game based approach that emphasises accountability and..” “Stop right there. We want endless 400’s run in blinding heat that will build toughness. Penalties for errors and punishment for most except the stars because we can’t afford to lose them.” “None of this was in the job description on the website.” “Don’t take any notice of that waffle. That is just so the League remains happy. It is all about appearances. We fill out the Respect Others paper work each year. It’s not worth the paper it’s written on. We are not creating a social club.” We want to win whatever it takes and whatever the cost. “Can you do that?”

( For junior coaches add in,’ We will need you to play the guns on the ball at all times and preferably go through a charade of rotating by putting the ‘duds’ in the backline went kicking with the wind and in the forward pocket when we are against the wind. Ideally if you could complain about the umpiring while standing on the boundary line looking agitated most quarters that would be helpful and at the breaks focus your attention and praise on the stars and save your criticism for those just making up the numbers. Every now and again a post lock out of the parents from the rooms would be good for appearances. A speech at the start of the year on the importance of kids growing and developing and your commitment to a fair go for all regardless of ability would be good for a laugh and placate the parents who are teachers.”)