Old-fashioned footy hits the mark

Discussion about grassroots football and regional footy leagues.
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Grim Reaper
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Old-fashioned footy hits the mark

Post by Grim Reaper »

Sunday Mail Editorial:

ADELAIDE has witnessed a curious phenomenon with its football crowds this year.

Port Adelaide, pathetic at home, recorded the lowest attendances in its history. The nadir was the 31,662 figure for Showdown XXV.
The Crows, although not as dramatically, slipped as well. Just 37,685 showed up for an elimination final on a magnificent Saturday afternoon, the worst finals attendance in the club's history.

But at the same time, the SANFL has been resurgent. The local league posted a 6.8 per cent increase in minor-round attendances, and has maintained the momentum into the finals. Last week, 15,825 flocked to Adelaide Oval for the elimination and qualifying final double-header, the biggest turnout since 1996.

Today, with Sturt playing Norwood and Glenelg taking on Central, more than 20,000 could attend.

It's tempting to suggest the two phenomena are linked, that footy fans are dropping off the AFL in favour of the SANFL. That would be too simplistic.

There are plenty of other factors – the revival of Glenelg being the most obvious – and the value for money a SANFL game offers.

But as much as the results of the Power, and to a lesser extent the Crows, have turned off fans, so have their playing styles. Possession football, zoning, flooding, uncontested marks across half-back, refusing to kick to a contest. Footy fans (and not just in SA) have had a gutful.

They still love their AFL teams, but they are finding it increasingly hard to stomach how they play.

Last week Neil Craig signalled that the zone defence, and possession football, were here to stay in the AFL. Which must be great news for the SANFL.

The fans are voting with their feet. They want one-on-one contests, pack marks and open forward lines – for want of a better term, old-fashioned footy.

Let's hope SANFL coaches resist the temptation to follow the AFL lead and think about the fans, and the game, before they start messing with a winning formula.
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Re: Old-fashioned footy hits the mark.

Post by spj »

In the Old-fashioned Day Footy a Drop Kick and a Stab Kick were the best methods of passing the ball to the advantage of a team mate. Today a drop punt is called but a stab punt is not. Both these kicks are being kicked today as field passes. Just because the stab kick, which was introduced into Australian Rules football in 1902, had nothing extra done with it till a fifteen year old School Kid named Jim Johnson converted it into his stab punt in May 1949 is no excuse for the stab punt to take so long to be recognized and called by journalists?
"Young footballer invents new kick to counter muddy conditions In 1949 15-year-old Jim Johnson and his older brother Charlie joined Mt Evelyn Football Club, Second XVIII. Mt Evelyn Football Ground’s surface was then uneven and often very muddy. Studying the Sporting Globe Football Book (1948), Jim Johnson adapted Jack Dyer’s ‘crazy’ Drop-Punt … ‘the silliest looking kick in football history’ (p.49) into an effective Drop- Punt (field pass) and later invented a Stab Punt (pass), both kicks being suitable to Mt Evelyn’s mud. These kicks were able to be kicked at full pace with accuracy; they are in constant use today in Australian Rules football. Playing just three games, Jim won the 1949 Second-Best-and-Fairest trophy (The T.O. Millard Trophy). Theo Millard (Jim’s uncle) was Mt Evelyn’s major employer at Millards’ Timber and Trading. Jim, 157.5cm and weighing 51kg, was promoted to the first XVIII, winning the umpire’s vote for best player on three occasions; joined Ringwood Football Club as First Rover for the First XVIII in 1950; and in 1960 played in a Premiership team for Croydon. ‘Johnson was outstanding in the mud with clever turning and accurate disposal.’ The Ringwood Mail, August 1951. Journalists had trouble finding the correct name for Johnson’s Stab Punt. ‘Johnson sent his delightful little drop punt pass direct to Manfield’. Frank Casey, The Post, September 8, 1960. ‘Johnson should write a book on stab kicking – he has found the lost art’. Davey Crocket, The Ringwood Mail, September 8, 1960. From Helen Johnson Jim Johnson’s story appears in the ‘Face to Face’ exhibition at the Yarra Ranges Regional Museum. Jim also donated the concert program signed by Melba, part of our display ‘The Mitchells in Mt Evelyn’ at the Exhibition Space. . Jim Johnson (right) with brother Charlie at Yarra Glen oval, 7 May 1949." See! "Things Past Newsletter 44 October 2011 Mount Evelyn History Group Inc Page 3" and "Stab Punt Jim"
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