Luke Ablett on what faces the new draftees

[Elusive Tunbridge 795]

Not sure how to post links, but this is a good read:

The highs and lows of being drafted into the AFL

[sue 9,102]

He has a future as a writer at least based on that article.

[Ron Burgundy 8,584]

What an excellent article - thanks for posting it.

It reminded me of the book 'Friday Night Lights' - the type of journalism that interrogates the underlying human aspects of professional sport.

Edited December 6, 2014 by Ron Burgundy

[DeeSpencer 25,682]

Luke Ablett. Geez. He's so sanctimonious he makes Tim Boyle look good.

You don't hear swimmers or cyclist or any other Olympic athlete complain so much about 'sacrifices' and lots of them have to do it very tough not just interstate but overseas, with limited financial resources and having to work to support themselves.

AFL players don't have to fit in time in their life for footy training, exercise or playing a game of footy on the weekend. They get paid to do all that. So they can use their day off as well as all their other spare time to study.

He says they miss their adolescence. And sure they have to be professional about their bodies and professional for the 40 hours a week they spend at the club. But in other ways they get a prolonged adolescence. Which other job would let you and 5 mates go stuff around in target filming a charity video?

And don't complain about missing overseas trips. Footballers go on as many of them as most young people. Sure they don't get a whole endless summer in Europe, but the boys made it to Octoberfest just fine a couple of years ago.

First year draftees are pushed not to worry too much about study or future job prospects, which is fair enough as they need to adapt to AFL. After that every player is encouraged and if they aren't doing something they have no one to blame but themselves.

[rpfc 28,386]

Excellent article.

Makes me wonder about the path that Dom Barry didn't choose to take, and the path that some take but shouldn't have.

[Machsy 2,858]

There's nothing new in this article that I haven't considered before, but as GRRM points out, it's fairly self-indulgent and whiny.

I can't find much of a reason to feel any pity for a young AFL player, bar the fact it delays their entry into their life's main occupation for the majority of them.

They make sacrifices in some way, but who doesn't?

The perks heavily outweigh the sacrifices.

[DeeSpencer 25,682]

There's nothing new in this article that I haven't considered before, but as GRRM points out, it's fairly self-indulgent and whiny.

I can't find much of a reason to feel any pity for a young AFL player, bar the fact it delays their entry into their life's main occupation for the majority of them.

They make sacrifices in some way, but who doesn't?

The perks heavily outweigh the sacrifices.

Even the fact that he's presumably getting paid to write this article is proof of the perks of AFL football.

I have a friend who wants to be a sports journalist, and after years of unpaid work the best he can get is a news gig in the back of knowhere and with the cuts to the ABC and the industry in general he's pretty happy with that.

Certainly the kids who have to go interstate get lumped with a fair bit more than the kids who get to stay home. But that's a very Australian thing. In US culture kids are lining up to get to colleges far away from their parents and family. For the kids who get to go to Sydney in particular like Ablett it's a pretty nice deal. One of the best cities in the world to be young, popular and with some money to your name in. 1 hour flight home if anything badly goes wrong and several trips back here to play during the season if they make the senior side. I don't think Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth or Gold Coast are punishments either, and same for the interstate kids who come to Melbourne. They do get 8 weeks at the end of the year, 2 weeks over Christmas and a couple of bye weeks to spend back home each year though.

There's a couple of groups I feel sorry for and that's guys who have constant injuries like Trengove, Morabito etc and rookies particularly if they get injured and never get a chance.

The injured guys get cheap contracts, go through hard yards training in isolating, don't get the joy of playing or the adulation and can often carry injuries post career and have little to show for it. Same for the rookies. I mean 50k to come for a gap year of AFL training, it could be worse. But that wont do much for you financially. You might be able to save for a car or a holiday at the end of it but then it's back to real life and you don't get the other benefits.

[dees189227 12,390]

also they can get an injury and bang they are in surgery that night while poor joe blow has to be out on a waiting list. Look I can sympathise with them when they get hassled going out but i dont feel sorry for them. They are well paid, are guaranteed a pretty good income and they do get definite holidays. plus they get everything done for them.

[Ethan Tremblay 30,856]

What a complete load of whiny, pompous shite.

They are getting payed to train and play AFL.

"..few clubs provide legitimate opportunities for players to pursue other education or employment interests." - The club is paying you to play AFL, just as my employer is paying me to do a job.

When I was 18 I joined the defence force, I didn't have a degree or any higher education at that time. I was away for up to 9 months a year and still managed to complete a degree. I'm sure Mr Ablett, while being cosy at home, could have helped himself with his own education.

I can't believe a person who was fortunate enough to get payed to play a sport has the nerve to talk about sacrifices. Sacrifices come in many forms, being an AFL player is not one of them.

"Most elite footballers, however, will not reach the heights theyd hoped for or attain the career they dreamed of. When their expectations are not met, life can quickly become lonely and disappointing." - At least they got a chance, how about those people who wanted to be a doctor, a pilot or an architect however couldn't afford the education or didn't get high enough grades?

I'm sure he still enjoyed attending family and friends birthdays and Christmases. Give a thought for those who miss those things, year in year out. Those people who lost there lives fighting overseas. That's sacrifice, not getting payed to play AFL.

[Ethan Tremblay 30,856]

There's nothing new in this article that I haven't considered before, but as GRRM points out, it's fairly self-indulgent and whiny.

I can't find much of a reason to feel any pity for a young AFL player, bar the fact it delays their entry into their life's main occupation for the majority of them.

They make sacrifices in some way, but who doesn't?

The perks heavily outweigh the sacrifices.

We don't always agree Machsy but I completely agree with you on this one.

[jabberwocky 2,301]

Ironically it is only through his experience as a player that has given him the opportunity to both record his experiences and gain a profile so that it would be read.

[ThreeOneSix 954]

I think the structure and routine does a lot of these players the world of good.
I shutter to think where Dustin Martin or Dane Swan would be without it.

Lance Franklin, Wayne Carey, Ablett Snr, all players who would've been in jail without football.
So I understand Luke's point about structure and routine - I just don't think it is a bad thing.

I think the landscape is changing, players are becoming more educated and clubs are pursuing players with academic potential.

Players are now setting themselves up early for life after football.

[Bang Bang Bang 5,825]

AFL footballers have it better than 99% of the world's population. Ablett can use any amount of fancy words and spin that he likes, but it's hard to have any sympathy for them what-so-ever.

[angrydee 842]

Most footballers playing in local leagues would give their eye teeth to put up with the 'hardships' of being an AFL footballer.

[Elusive Tunbridge 795]

AFL footballers have it better than 99% of the world's population. Ablett can use any amount of fancy words and spin that he likes, but it's hard to have any sympathy for them what-so-ever.

Thanks for that. By that criterion, I don't have to waste my sympathy on anyone I know, or am ever likely to know.

[ILLDieADemon 804]

Good article but what a loud of Shet.

I have heaps of mates coming up to 30 and still have no degree, trade or direction in life. Some of them have just moved out of the parents house to buy or rent a house.

Plus in our day most of the players study or do something out side of there football career and almost every player travels away on there off season.

Give a brake, 1000's of kids dream of being a footballer and only 70 get to live there dream a year.

Cry me a river mate.

[bush demon 2,039]

Thanks for that. By that criterion, I don't have to waste my sympathy on anyone I know, or am ever likely to know.

Looking forward to reading the article. What is coming across in the comments is a degree of envy and miserliness.

[CARN THE DEES! 14]

What a complete load of whiny, pompous shite.

They are getting payed to train and play AFL.

"..few clubs provide legitimate opportunities for players to pursue other education or employment interests." - The club is paying you to play AFL, just as my employer is paying me to do a job.

When I was 18 I joined the defence force, I didn't have a degree or any higher education at that time. I was away for up to 9 months a year and still managed to complete a degree. I'm sure Mr Ablett, while being cosy at home, could have helped himself with his own education.

I can't believe a person who was fortunate enough to get payed to play a sport has the nerve to talk about sacrifices. Sacrifices come in many forms, being an AFL player is not one of them.

"Most elite footballers, however, will not reach the heights theyd hoped for or attain the career they dreamed of. When their expectations are not met, life can quickly become lonely and disappointing." - At least they got a chance, how about those people who wanted to be a doctor, a pilot or an architect however couldn't afford the education or didn't get high enough grades?

I'm sure he still enjoyed attending family and friends birthdays and Christmases. Give a thought for those who miss those things, year in year out. Those people who lost there lives fighting overseas. That's sacrifice, not getting payed to play AFL.

I don't think Ablett is trying to make the case that being an AFL footballer is a harder life or more difficult than the more traditional pathways followed by those unfortunate not to be selected on draft day - in fact he recognises that it is something that thousands of young men would happily do. Rather he is providing a glimpse into the strange and unique life of an AFL footballer for all its glory and pitfalls. We all have to make sacrifices in life, particularly when pursuing a career, and the point of Ablett's article isn't to compare the difficultly or intensity of those sacrifices but merely give more understanding about how those sacrifices - made at a very young and naive age of 18 - can shape the lives of these young boys.

The main point of the article seemed to be that the structured life of an AFL footballer removes individuality and limits personal growth because everything is provided for you, meaning that you define yourself through football, the football club and the people within those circles. You eat what you are told to eat, exercise when you are told to exercise, who to talk too, what to say etc. etc. Combine that structured lifestyle with the incredible ego trip provided through the celebrity of AFL football and most 18yo's will probably struggle to ever explore a life outside of that bubble. When that structure and celebrity is taken away, either due to retirement or delisting, it would be incredibly confronting - I imagine that many ex-footballers have to question and explore who they are outside of football for the first time once they stop playing footy.

Of course people make bigger sacrifices and live harder lives, that isn't the point. The point is that the emotion, fanfare and life of an AFL footballer can often have unnoticed consequences and that even though these kids (sometimes) get paid big money to kick a ball around it doesn't make those consequences any less difficult.

[djr 1,447]

AFL footballers are highly skilled practitioners that happen to work at a profession that we call a sport. To them its a business. Its no different from a law, medical or building practitioner that gets paid well for their skills that they have developed. But there is a big difference in the lifespan of these professions. An AFL footballer's employment is, on average, only 6 years. Most other careers can span over half a century.

An AFL footballer works extremely hard but unlike most other professions they know that they have a very short time to achieve their goals. I saw it first hand last Monday at how hard they train. Its tough. Very tough. And its tough for almost 12 months a year. They need to be paid well to make it worthwhile. If they weren't the AFL would not be the AFL of today but would be like any other suburban league. Athletes would be attracted to other sports that may be less physically demanding and have a longer career span. Public interest and membership levels would be dramatically lower and more than likely we would be doing something else than writing on a football forum.

The physical demands of our game are so high that the majority of players retire early or get delisted because their bodies / mind can't take it anymore or are just not physically / mentally up to it. In most cases the extreme running, constant physical contact and emotional demands take a lasting toll on their bodies / mind for the rest of their lives. Just ask Gary Lyon. He can hardly walk. The life expectancy of a NFL player in the US is just 55. As mentioned in the article, many players find it difficult to re-adjust to life beyond football. Who knows what path Rohan Bail's health will take after he retires.

I certainly do not have a problem with how much AFL players are paid and how much they are looked after. Each week I marvel at their skill and often wish that I could have been that good but know that I did not have the drive, discipline and skill to even get on a list let alone excel at it.

Edited December 7, 2014 by djr

[rpfc 28,386]

Being a tad unfair here.

Ablett is telling you what you don't know, that he experienced.

No vocation is like that of an athlete that is in a well known sport - it is not for everybody, it is not all that it promises to be, and it is still a pedestal on which we place these people and tell them to look happy being up there.

I have seen teenagers cry at their first training, I have seen intimidation from 'senior' players at the club, I have heard awful vulgarities, I know that the 'Hollywood Blvd' exists at all clubs and that the life we think is the norm for an AFL is the life of maybe a quarter of those that our on the lists we dissect.

I would have loved to have had a chance to give this life a go, but don't tell me they can't whinge.

So if all you got from that was a whinge - then that is fine, but I got other insights from it.

[obbafan 128]

I read no whinging or complaining in the article just an account of his experience and observations and a well written one at that.

The footballers life is a peculiar one. Just look at all the comments they cop here. I read stuff and I really hope our players have nothing to do with this site.

Any one of us could write of our personal experience and it would include sacrifice and reward bur rarely would it include intense public scrutiny and judgement, potentially crippling physical demands and such a short and uncertain professional time span.

You are never more than a second away from an injury that could destroy your career. We have all seen the stretcher leave the ground and wondered just what the outcome will be.

I am not arguing that they deserve sympathy but a little empathy would not be inappropriate.

[Bitter but optimistic 22,239]

I read no whinging or complaining in the article just an account of his experience and observations and a well written one at that.

The footballers life is a peculiar one. Just look at all the comments they cop here. I read stuff and I really hope our players have nothing to do with this site.

Any one of us could write of our personal experience and it would include sacrifice and reward bur rarely would it include intense public scrutiny and judgement, potentially crippling physical demands and such a short and uncertain professional time span.

You are never more than a second away from an injury that could destroy your career. We have all seen the stretcher leave the ground and wondered just what the outcome will be.

I am not arguing that they deserve sympathy but a little empathy would not be inappropriate.

Are you trying to write serious Sh ite Obba - or are you just taking the [censored]? I can't tell.

[djr 1,447]

Are you trying to write serious Sh ite Obba - or are you just taking the [censored]? I can't tell.

Why do you question whether he is serious? To me its quite obvious.

[daisycutter 29,613]

Are you trying to write serious Sh ite Obba - or are you just taking the [censored]? I can't tell.

are you trolling obi, bbo?

[Ron Burgundy 8,584]

Are you trying to write serious Sh ite Obba - or are you just taking the [censored]? I can't tell.

Serious?!