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I've recently been reading a book about Gary Ablett Snr - Playing God: The rise and fall of Gary Ablett by Garry Linell. It talks about how naturally talented Gary Ablett Senior was (and about his poor training habits). It got me to thinking about our list. Who are our most talented players? We tend not to get a lot of focus on individuals in this way and also, when we do, we tend to hear more about how hard working a player is and there attention to detail (a la ROK).
The most obvious of our talented players is Buddy Franklin. I think Isaac Heeney is another. Conversely, players like Smooch, Reg and even Joey (despite his bloodlines and physique) seem to have achieved their success more by dint of hard work and discipline.
The whole question leads me to a lot of quasi-philosophical ruminating about, what is 'talent'? In Gary Ablett's case it seemed to relate to his physical abilities: his strength, his speed, his ability to kick the ball a long way. But not only. In addition he was apparently (I say apparently because I didn't really follow footy when he was playing) an excellent reader of the ball, had excellent timing and these gave him the ability, in combination with his exceptional physical attributes, to take spectacular high marks. It seems he was also a pretty good kick (based only on his career ratio of goals to behinds - a very rough measure, I know - which was 1030:690 - which compares favourably with Buddy's 860:615 to date (but nowhere near Plugger's 1360:590 - which, to be fair was probably based on a much higher proportion of set shots)).
Talent seems to be a measure of potential, which may not necessarily be realised. The best yardstick of talent seems to be where a player is drafted; the further a player gets into their career the less relevant the question seems to be - then it becomes a measure of the product of what the player has actually done with their talent. Even the drafting yardstick is fallible: Rampe was overlooked for years but surely you wouldn't say that he is not talented and has succeeded more in the vein of a player like Nick Maxwell (Collingwood) or Tom Harley (Geelong) in spite of his limited talent and due to his discipline, leadership etc. Other examples of the draft system not being a reliable measure of talent is the way that injuries or off-field issues can skew where a player is drafted. Also, increasing emphasis is now being placed on draftees' 'character' and ability to get the most out of themselves and fit in to the high pressure AFL environment.
I guess the correlation between talent and potential explains why the other players that leap out at me as being talented are many of our younger players (mostly but not exclusively high draft picks) e.g. Florent, Hayward, Papley, Ling.
I know this is all a bit abstract but I feel the need of something to chew over and debate while there isn't that much else going on. Hopefully there are others who feel the same way and who may be interested enough to join the conversation.
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p.s. On the topic of footy books - can others recommend other good books about footy and footy players? I haven't read many. I did read In the Blood by Jim Mains, which I found interesting and illuminating but a bit lacking in depth and detail. I'm keen to read Roos' recently published autobiography. Playing God is pretty good - lots of detailed research and colour about Australian and footy history.
The most obvious of our talented players is Buddy Franklin. I think Isaac Heeney is another. Conversely, players like Smooch, Reg and even Joey (despite his bloodlines and physique) seem to have achieved their success more by dint of hard work and discipline.
The whole question leads me to a lot of quasi-philosophical ruminating about, what is 'talent'? In Gary Ablett's case it seemed to relate to his physical abilities: his strength, his speed, his ability to kick the ball a long way. But not only. In addition he was apparently (I say apparently because I didn't really follow footy when he was playing) an excellent reader of the ball, had excellent timing and these gave him the ability, in combination with his exceptional physical attributes, to take spectacular high marks. It seems he was also a pretty good kick (based only on his career ratio of goals to behinds - a very rough measure, I know - which was 1030:690 - which compares favourably with Buddy's 860:615 to date (but nowhere near Plugger's 1360:590 - which, to be fair was probably based on a much higher proportion of set shots)).
Talent seems to be a measure of potential, which may not necessarily be realised. The best yardstick of talent seems to be where a player is drafted; the further a player gets into their career the less relevant the question seems to be - then it becomes a measure of the product of what the player has actually done with their talent. Even the drafting yardstick is fallible: Rampe was overlooked for years but surely you wouldn't say that he is not talented and has succeeded more in the vein of a player like Nick Maxwell (Collingwood) or Tom Harley (Geelong) in spite of his limited talent and due to his discipline, leadership etc. Other examples of the draft system not being a reliable measure of talent is the way that injuries or off-field issues can skew where a player is drafted. Also, increasing emphasis is now being placed on draftees' 'character' and ability to get the most out of themselves and fit in to the high pressure AFL environment.
I guess the correlation between talent and potential explains why the other players that leap out at me as being talented are many of our younger players (mostly but not exclusively high draft picks) e.g. Florent, Hayward, Papley, Ling.
I know this is all a bit abstract but I feel the need of something to chew over and debate while there isn't that much else going on. Hopefully there are others who feel the same way and who may be interested enough to join the conversation.
- - - Updated - - -
p.s. On the topic of footy books - can others recommend other good books about footy and footy players? I haven't read many. I did read In the Blood by Jim Mains, which I found interesting and illuminating but a bit lacking in depth and detail. I'm keen to read Roos' recently published autobiography. Playing God is pretty good - lots of detailed research and colour about Australian and footy history.
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