Football is a game that is in constant evolution, changing before our very eyes. In the last fifty years, we have seen the death of the drop kick and the rising importance of handballs. We've had 'Hudson's half-acre' and 'Pagan's paddock' and Terry Wallace's 'superflood'. We've had the huddle, tempo footy, zone defence and the forward press.
It is a game in perpetual flux, always moving forward as new trends take hold and new strategies are developed, usually in response to the last tactical innovation.
That is the beauty of football.
And so it has come to be that, in response to the zone defences that have taken hold over the last year and in particular, the famed forward-press which has been the trend du jour over the last two seasons, the long kick is back.
Andrew Faulkner of The Weekend Australian, citing statistics from Champion Data says, after a period where short kicking reigned supreme, the long kick has returned as a viable tactic.
From 2006 through to 2009, the long kick (defined as a kick that "travels 40m to a 50/50 contest or for a goal") was in rapid free-fall, dropping in prevalence from 58 a game in 2006 to 40 in 2008 and 39 in 2009.
The response to the zones and presses was, for a number of years, short passes and handballs, with a focus on maintaining possession and avoiding putting the ball into a contest. The way to deal with the zone was to go through it, feeling your way around like someone in the business of decommissioning a paddock full of landmines.
Over the last two years, though, the cuteness of the short game has taken a back-seat to the renewed taste for the brute force of the long kick.
SANFL Hall of Fame inductee Robert Oatey tells The Weekend Australian that "the game has always been about space and kicking long is another way of creating that space" and that is reflected in the numbers, with long kicks up from the 39 a match in 2009 to 46 in 2010 and 55 so far this season, putting long kicking back near 2006 levels.
Short kicks and handballs are also down with handballs falling from 177 a game in 2009 to 154 this season while short kicks have fallen from 90 to 76 over the same time.
Given the freedom to kick long, we have seen the likes of Gary Ablett and Dustin Martin punching goals from outside 50 along with amazing moments such as young Gold Coast player Trent McKenzie’s 70m monster at AAMI Stadium, described by The Weekend Australian as "one of the longest booted at AAMI Stadium in its 37-year history".
Media Watch certainly hopes the trend towards the long kick continues. There is little more thrilling in the game than seeing the ball sail long and high, either towards the sticks or to the forward line, where the high flyers get the chance to leap towards the heavens.
Lions won't toss Voss
Andrew Hamilton of The Courier Mail reports the Brisbane Lions are set to re-sign coach Michael Voss, extending his tenure for at least two years.
The Lions have only won three of their last 25 matches and Voss has an overall win rate of only 39.6% but after "picking the brains of respected football industry people [the Lions] have decided Voss is on the right path".
The "2012 coaching job is now his to lose," says The Courier Mail with wins and losses seemingly taking a backseat to player development.
One important move said to be on the horizon is the appointment of a football person to the board to "help track Voss's development".
That person could well be former coach Leigh Matthews, with the Herald Sun reporting the Lions coach believes the club should "persist in their attempts to re-engage" Matthews.
"Leigh and I have got a great relationship," Voss told the Herald Sun.
"I certainly hope as a club we get to use him at some point in time, and sooner rather than later."
The Lions lack football experience both at board level and at key administrative posts so a finding an experienced football person for the board can only have a positive impact and there would be few more qualified people to help the Brisbane Lions than Leigh Matthews.
Debate over the sub rule rages on
The football world is divided as debate over the sub rule rages on.
The battlefield this week is the health of players, with Collingwood the most vocal in its opposition as "the Magpies argue an increase in the injury rate is largely the result of greater fatigue because of a reduced bench cut to three players and one substitute," The Age says.
Melbourne coach Dean Bailey and Essendon coach James Hird refuse to be drawn on the matter though, with Bailey telling The Age "it was too early to blame increased injuries on the new rule" with Hird saying "It's a tough game, we are going to get injuries."
Media Watch agrees with Bailey and Hird; it is simply way too early to link an increase in injuries with the new substitute rule.
And with the sub rule making matches fairer and creating more one-on-one contested footy at the backend of games, Media Watch hopes the rule is here to stay.
In Short
The Weekend Australian reports Greater Western Sydney appears to have missed out on all three Collingwood targets with Dane Swan and Scott Pendlebury re-signing and Dale Thomas indicating "he would like to have a new deal in place inside a fortnight".
The Advertiser says Port Adelaide's Danyle Pearce is "prepared to weigh up his options" as to where he plays next year.
Negotiations between West Coast and Dean Cox are moving forward with there being "an agreement on a two-year deal for Cox", reports The West Australian.
Buddy Franklin tells the Herald Sun the focus on his private life has been "suffocating" but he has been helped by leaders at Hawthorn in dealing with the scrutiny.
Garry Lyon is the latest to analyse the downfall of St Kilda, writing in The Age today that last Sunday's loss to Hawthorn encapsulated the woes of the team this year.
The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
