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What is going on out there - book review

sue
in Melbourne Demons

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The Guardian's AFL coverage is about all I can stand from that publication.

Actually, it's about all I can stand from any mainstream media outlet these days.

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    A book like this has been sorely lacking, especially with the footy media's unwillingness to present the tactical aspect of the game and focus on lowest common denominator stuff (like scandals and footy show "humour").

    If only Champion Data stats were made available, at the moment you can't even get easy access to basic stats like "hitouts to advantage".

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    The real essence of the game is man on man, contested footy and the will to win as far as I am concerned.

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    I find the underlying, unquestioned assumption of the article (which may not be in the book) as incredibly condescending to Aussie Rules fans: the portrayal of fans as ‘observers’ who cannot understand the on field tactics in ‘real time’ without the benefit of the likes of Rohan Connolly, Gerard Healy or Champion Data stats is, well is just WOW! The writer appears to not been to a footy game and filled in the stats page of The Record in times past, nor used their mobile phones for stats today. Rudimentary yes, but to say fans are observers who cannot understand what is happening before their eyes, please!!

    The writer fails to differentiate about a fan's understanding of the game and the style of play they like to see. Many of the coaching examples in the article are really about game style as a spectacle rather than fans not understanding what was happening on the field.

    There may be a need for Coventry’s book about a history of tactics in Aussie Rules. However, that the great Norm Smith and Checker Hughes are not mentioned in the article (they might be in the book) among ‘all the coaching legends’ just shows how little these guys know about the evolution of Aussie Rules or its tactics.

    While reading the article, I had the image of an Aussie Rules fan being a pair of eyes without a brain attached!!!

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    I find the underlying, unquestioned assumption of the article (which may not be in the book) as incredibly condescending to Aussie Rules fans: the portrayal of fans as ‘observers’ who cannot understand the on field tactics in ‘real time’ without the benefit of the likes of Rohan Connolly, Gerard Healy or Champion Data stats is, well is just WOW! The writer appears to not been to a footy game and filled in the stats page of The Record in times past, nor used their mobile phones for stats today. Rudimentary yes, but to say fans are observers who cannot understand what is happening before their eyes, please!!

    The writer fails to differentiate about a fan's understanding of the game and the style of play they like to see. Many of the coaching examples in the article are really about game style as a spectacle rather than fans not understanding what was happening on the field.

    There may be a need for Coventry’s book about a history of tactics in Aussie Rules. However, that the great Norm Smith and Checker Hughes are not mentioned in the article (they might be in the book) among ‘all the coaching legends’ just shows how little these guys know about the evolution of Aussie Rules or its tactics.

    While reading the article, I had the image of an Aussie Rules fan being a pair of eyes without a brain attached!!!

    If I recall correctly, though, (and I was only a kid in the 60s), during Norm Smith's reign it seemed to be generally accepted that Len Smith was tactically superior to Norm. Norm may have been more successful for other reasons, such as playing list quality, player management, fitness or his ability to get the most out of his players.

    I think the article is very interesting and perhaps the book may well be, too. It's this sort of writing that I find more interesting than hagiographic coverage that generally populates the sports section of a book shop.

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    I have to admit that I get off on this sort of stuff. I'd love to understand the theory of game plans and the KPIs used more. I've just made a suggestion to my local library to buy this book.

    For what it's worth, this TED talk called The math behind basketball's wildest moves talks about how data scientists are unlocking the patterns in NBA basketball. It seems to me that AFL stoppages are a heap more complex than my naive understanding of basketball, but I wonder if there is an opportunity to apply the same techniques to AFL.

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