September plans activated

So, we have well and truly passed the half way point and if your team is a contender they will now be busying themselves putting into action a plan that will have their charges full of confidence and winning momentum as they hit September.

How that is done may be a mystery for some but there is one ideal that all clubs agree upon, there is no need to be firing on all pistons now.

For some supporters, you may breathe easier after results over the last two weekends but to be playing your best football right now is very much less desirable.

Why? Put simply it's a game of cards. You don't want to reveal your hand too early, better to hold a few aces back. It's also a marathon. A full season of rampaging unbeatable football is physically and mentally too taxing and near to impossible to maintain.

Only on rare occasions have we seen it and that was from the truly great sides. One could argue that the Bombers of 2000 we're of that ilk, bulldozing all before them bar one, all the way to the premiership. The blues of '95 were almost equally as insatiable - losing just twice - but those sides come along once in a blue moon.

Week after week players are expected to turn up at their best and ready to perform to our liking. We see them less as an individual and more of a robot in a jumper and if they do not give us the results we are after, we lambast them. We write them off all too quickly unable to understand what could be wrong.

That may not necessarily be true but as a player, you feel that pressure.

A season for the players starts way back in November the previous year when they are assembled on the training track for pre-season. The Grand Final may well be 10 months off yet but the performing starts then.

Session after session of back breaking training and mind numbing meetings, where coaches harbor the same expectation.

I remember my times at Melbourne after months of a heavy pre-season arriving at a training session and being so physically and mentally exhausted that I could not bring myself to step out of the car. It would take 10 to 15 minutes sometimes to finally work up enough energy to do so.

There would also be days as I was driving down Punt Road on my way to the MCG to play and I would be feeling the same way. I could hear myself saying, 'I can't do this anymore'. The pressure to perform would almost get the best of me to the point of near driving away and here I was about to play football on what may be the greatest arena on the planet.

Yet that is what pressure will do. It can manifest itself physically on a player and leave them lambasted.

The understanding is better now. With more money to spend on resources, football clubs are doing it better. Training is monitored, workload data is logged and kicks are counted so as to make sure those scenarios do not rear their ugly heads. Club psychologists are employed to watch over the flock and identify those becoming affected and coaches use tactics such as resting key players to aid that venture.

We are two months or so before finals and some teams are doing it with aplomb. Playing well enough to win and learn from the experiences. Those teams are just getting the job done whilst still building that confidence and desire to play.

There really is no need to be over exerting now, trouncing sides by 100 points. It may feel good in the short term but it's not the smart play.

When Collingwood won their premiership in 2010 they did so in such a way. Just beating sides and flying under the radar and I get the feeling they are doing the same now. I recall back then wondering if they were good enough? History shows they certainly were.

So far this year they have for mine ticked all the boxes.

They were challenged early but fought their way through it. They have gained strength week by week and even trialled numerous young players and debutants whilst still playing as well if not better. Their good players are performing and the scary thought is, a couple of them will only get better.

Chris Dawes can improve. So can Travis Cloke, despite last week's efforts and perhaps their best in-and-under grunt player Luke Ball hasn't played in a long while. Players have been trialled in different positions and Nathan Buckley seems to have the full support of the players. Yes there is still plenty of upside for the Maggie's, more's the pity.

An AFL season is challenging, played our over 10 months of preparing and playing. The saying goes, 'you don't win premierships in February', or March or any other month bar September but that is completely un-true.

It's like a jockey riding the favourite. He positions himself well during the ride, middle of the front pack near to the rail and awaits his moment to pounce. In footy, that positioning would be the top four for a double chance. He feels out the opposition not wasting his carrots. Then when the right time comes he goes, cracking the whip and breaks free of the slip stream, jetting himself to the finish line.

And, it's not long now until the smart team's coaches will find themselves a whip and by using all they have learnt, break free from the pack and make their charge for the premiership.

I wonder who it will be.

Robbo

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