Then and Now
Big Headed Players
If I were coach of an AFL team I would gather the players about me and tell them of an
impressive young man that I had met. This young man is a tennis player and may be
of assistance to the team with his tips on training and mental preparation for matches.
I would ask the players if they would consider hearing a talk by the young man.
No doubt there would be a few murmurs of assent. Then I would casually reveal that
the young man was rated 240 in Australia and was probably in the top 5,000 in the world.
Then comments like "Why should we waste our time with this loser?" would surface.
Aha! That's when I would strike. I would explain that an AFL footballer
ranked as his team's 10th best player has up to 160 players ahead of him in the
"rankings". If he was a tennis player he would be considered a hack. An AFL
footballer ranked as his team's 15th best player has up to 240 players ahead of him
and this little exercise doesn't take into consideration all the classy players in
other leagues who never aspired to AFL honours.
So some of these posturing, primping, posing young boofheads, who will never be in their
team's top 10, should make a major reassessment of their standing in the sporting world.
Don't even begin to compare them to the likes of Grant Hackett, Lleyton Hewitt and
Matthew Hayden.
