THE WEDNESDAY HORN

Channel 7’s documentary The Essence Of The Game surely resonated with anyone with even a passing interest in Australian Rules football, right? Well, maybe not.
I’m amazed at the number of friends of mine who thought it was a stinker. Tedious, overdone and pretentious were some typical reviews. Interestingly, the ones who dismissed it were all current players, all guys in their early thirties who have been playing for years and who are not exactly sentimental about their football. If you’ve done a dozen pre-seasons and trained and played through a dozen Melbourne winters, you tend not to get too choked up about playing the game. In a way, that’s why they last so long.
But as someone who hasn’t played for years, it really struck a chord. I bet I’m not the only former footballer who contemplated pulling the boots on again this season at 10.30pm last Friday! Admittedly, a lot of it missed the mark – it was definitely too Hawthorn centric, a few of the segments were a bit muddled and seemed tacked on and it generally felt as though Rob Dickson was trying to do a bit too much. Above all, the fairytale endings on almost every story seemed a bit too contrived and too Hollywood.
But Dickson had carte blanche to do pretty much what he wanted and he succeeded in humanising elite, highly paid footballers. That’s rare. The relationship between footballers and the media these days is pretty much an exercise in garnering the most possible airtime whilst saying absolutely nothing. The Footy Show has perpetuated this for years – throw a few surly footballers in $3000 dollar suits together with an old fossil who hates the game and doesn’t want to be there and presto, there’s our image of what AFL football is like. The way the game is reported – with its focus on the day-to-day trivialities and its neglect of the big picture and the grass roots, doesn’t help either.
At a basic level, the different camera angles and unprecedented access provided a new perspective on the game at the highest level. Did you see the way the Geelong players walked into their three quarter time huddle? They had kicked the last two goals of the quarter and for once had some sort of momentum. At the time I remember thinking that they would run all over the Hawks. But Dickon’s vision showed it as it really was – they were dead men walking. Contrast that with the footage of the Hawthorn huddle and you know that there could have only been one result.
More than that however, what the documentary showed is that our image of AFL footballers has become skewed by years of careful media management, earnest quotes and people who have tried to become bigger than the game. At the core, the Hawthorn players were just like rest of the young men (and women) featured. They stuffed around, they did stupid things, they sulked, they cried, they doubted themselves, they had moments of brilliance and moments of madness. And all of them, whether they were lining on Gary Ablett Jnr, a hitman from the ‘burbs or some Palestinian renegade, went to bed at night dreaming of winning a grand final.
And that’s what makes football unique. What other game stirs up such passion at EVERY level at which it’s played? I’ve seen grown men in tears after winning D4 reserves grand finals. Can you imagine the equivalent happening in cricket, tennis or soccer? Not on your life. It’s hard to put a finger on why this is – the danger perhaps, the unique nature of having 18 people competing as one, whatever – but the upshot is that football is an emotional game, and you’re bloody lucky to be playing it.
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Don’t forget the All Star Bushfire Challenge Match this Sunday between the VAFA and EFL.
Give that ludicrous car race a wide berth, come and support a good cause and watch the cream of Victoria’s grass roots footballers slug it out.