Enforcers

[Hartijon]

All the talk about BBBB made me think about the role of an enforcer in the side. Back in the 70's every side had to have one and country sides today all boast one . The big tough player to keep the opposition honest but AFL I thought had become too slick,too fast and too closely watched to run a heavy just to protect the young players and sort out any trouble. But maybe I was wrong?
Maybe BBB has actually done this for the Swans and contributes a lot just by being on the field. Maybe the fact so few Swans are ever reported and we know it's always the retaliator that gets booked, is because the opposition knows it's not worth it to aggravate our players.Why not? BBB is there and crazy enough to make them pay!The fear factor might be real.When you walk out to play the Swans and see a guy like him out there with boxing proficiency would you start a fight?

Maybe having an enforcer still works in modern football ,providing he can run and play a bit too??

[laughingnome]

An interesting thought. I do think it's a rariety in the modern game to have players "hunt" a specific member of the opposition, but in the instances it does occur the threat of retribution no doubt weighs in. I don't think, however, that most of what happens on the field in that manner is pre-meditated by more then a few seconds, and payback doesn't come into it.

The AFL has been fantastic in the last 10 years in virtually killing the melee by allowing play to continue. Players have learnt that if they "fly the flag" they will invariably cost their team goals and momentum, and as such the practice has all but disappeared of thought-initiated rough contact.

[SimonH]

'Total football' killed the role of the enforcer. To the fans, it's been a soft landing because there are blokes who will play that role anyway just because it's their personality. But those blokes still have to be in the best 22 for their football prowess or they won't be picked. The enforcer was a selection luxury you could afford when the ball moved slower and your bench was genuinely just used to keep players in reserve. So far as clubs and selectors are concerned, the days of making sure that you had a solid, angry bloke in your squad who could niggle and put yr opponents off their game (regardless of whether his skill level left something to be desired), is at least 20 years gone.

Certainly, you still need to have hard-at-it ball players (or 'inside midfielders' as people now call them), but that's a totally different thing.