I have a deep curiosity about the language we use in football. The phrases, the tropes and the pieces of wisdom. All of it. From the quizzical, such as “lower your eyes”, to the rhythmic nonsense of “would-be tackler” and the eternal guiding force of footy’s optimistic spirit, “there’s always next week”.
For the purposes of simplicity, let’s bundle them all into the same basket, marked footy cliches. Within that basket, one diamond, for me at least, shines a little brighter than the rest.
Cameron Zurhaar (left) and Nick Larkey celebrate during last year’s Good Friday clash.Credit: AFL Photos
“Play your role” might be the most beautiful cliche in footy. You’ve heard it a million times from players or coaches and you’d be forgiven for tuning out. It’s become almost an industry default catchphrase when a microphone is put in front of people.
But it deserves a more considered hearing.
If done right, each player’s determination to do their bit, even if it goes unnoticed from the masses, is all in service for the greater good. Understanding and executing your role gives each player their dignity, a sense of inner peace, because they know that it helps their teammate. The mantra of “play your role” can quieten down any intrusive inner thoughts, worries or anxieties that will hamper a footballer’s creativity, clarity and ultimately, performance.
And it’s performance that footy on the biggest stage is all about. Under the brightest lights the game has to offer, the judgment can be as searingly hot as those burning lightbulbs in the sky. This Friday those lights will be shining down on the Blues and the Kangaroos, just so we can all get a better look at who they are as a collective.
The pressure is always on if you’re an AFL club; it’s just a matter of what type. The Kangaroos have been a developing side, under the eye of Alistair Clarkson, for some time now, and the moment for some significant results has arrived. North Melbourne, who are you?
The Blues are the fascination of the league. Like a macabre mutation of everyone’s second team. Everyone has got a friend who is a tormented Blues supporter. The spotlight on them has gone past the comical though; their pressure situation could be described as like living, training and playing at altitude. The air is thin up there, on those rocky peaks of doubt, and it’s hard to breathe. Only wins can bring Michael Voss and his boys down the mountain to breathe with freedom once again.
It’s for high-pressure occasions such as Good Friday football where the value of playing your role is at its highest and that is down to its practicality.
A simplified way to look at this footy cliche is to watch what happens to a team when they have two quick goals kicked against them. The best teams in the league train themselves to be disciplined in their thinking and their actions will likely follow.
For teams who are inexperienced, low on confidence or simply not up to it, the thinking can get very murky indeed.
“What if the other mob kick the next one as well?”
“What will it mean for me if we get thumped?”
“If I can just get my hands on the ball, I’ll be safe”, etc, etc.
The frantic thinking can bring out the more self-centred “me” instead of leaning into the meditative “we”. That’s what understanding and executing your role is. It’s peace, both for individuals and the group.
Good teams, despite any rising anxiety, can centre themselves by returning to the mantra that allows them to set up where they need to stand, react to the play unfolding and then competing as if your life depends on it. All in the knowledge and comfort that your teammate next to you is doing the exact same thing, but perhaps with a different role.
Long before I knew it as a cliche, my Bulldogs requested a placard to go on the wall at the club that said: “play your role”. The sign we got back was slightly amiss – “play your roll”. Sounds OK, but not quite the same thing. That’s the thing about mantras and roles and football wisdom – it all has to be understood, intellectually and instinctively.
The major questions asked of the Kangaroos and Blues at Marvel Stadium on Friday will be, how well do you know your role? Are you capable of executing it? Are you still capable of executing it when the tide turns against you or your team? And how much faith do you have in the teammate standing next to you to do the same? That’s just a part of what coaching is about, but it’s a pretty big part.
Keep up to date with the best AFL coverage in the country. Sign up for the Real Footy newsletter.
