Nathan Motton"Blockbuster fatigue" a non-event (LINK)
June 14th 2008 06:42
Mick Malthouse coined the termed 'blockbuster fatigue' following Collingwood's win over Melbourne last weekend, and club great Nathan Buckley has come out and endorsed his former coaches sentiments in The Age today.
The cynic in this scribe is begging those afore mentioned to stop being insolent and get on with striving to reach that final day in September.
After the Magpies win on the Queens Birthday, Malthouse said his players were suffering from getting up week-in-week-out for 'blockbuster' matches, and that he would be "putting his thoughts to the club."
"There's got to be a respite somewhere where they can play football without the added pressure of 'we're playing Geelong, we're playing West Coast, we're playing Brisbane and we're playing North Melbourne' and it meant everything to the eight, Malthouse said on Tuesday.
No there shouldn't Mick. You're forgetting something very crucial about your football club.
The added pressure is simply a byproduct of your teams support.
And it comes from media organisations who thrive on selling their content.
And like it or not, the Collingwood brand sells.
Television audiences, attendance figures, merchandise numbers and genuine interest are always disproportionate to most other games each week.
Why? Because Collingwood is playing, and no other club polarises opinion more deeply than the Magpies.
Malthouse went on.
"I'll certainly consider my thoughts. It's what's best for our football club and what's best for our team. Sometimes they are a little bit off skew. Not that we get anything out of this game. We get nothing (financially) out of this game."
He then proceeded to question why Melbourne played with such ferocious intent on Monday, but have played such spiritless football all year.
No wait a minute, that's what this scribe said.
But the point of this is to question the merit of two of the most influential figures at the leagues most powerful club, trying to complain somewhat that their club is somehow a victim of it's own success.
As if their elite standing in the competition, as one which has overwhelming support, reduces them to occasional fatigue.
Buckley writes in his column today that "at least a third of the Magpie's home-and-away schedule involves highly publicised matches that pull big crowds and demand interest over and above a "normal" home-and-away game.
So what? The players would learn this very early on in their tenure with the Collingwood Football Club, and would no doubt be 'coached' by professionals with how to deal with such hype.
Buckley writes further.
"His term 'blockbuster fatigue' is a concept based on the cumulative requirements of matching the intensity of opponents who are less exposed to these big-game atmospheres. It's a valid call.
Rubbish.
Surely Collingwood players would be more hardened to such conditions, and therefore better equipped to deal with the intensity of pressure situations in front of big crowds.
Sure they will have lulls in their season, every side does.
But to use this as a reason as to why the Magpies sometimes 'show up' flat, is nonsense.
Malthouse should stop trying to bite the hand that feeds him.
The cynic in this scribe is begging those afore mentioned to stop being insolent and get on with striving to reach that final day in September.
After the Magpies win on the Queens Birthday, Malthouse said his players were suffering from getting up week-in-week-out for 'blockbuster' matches, and that he would be "putting his thoughts to the club."
"There's got to be a respite somewhere where they can play football without the added pressure of 'we're playing Geelong, we're playing West Coast, we're playing Brisbane and we're playing North Melbourne' and it meant everything to the eight, Malthouse said on Tuesday.
The added pressure is simply a byproduct of your teams support.
And it comes from media organisations who thrive on selling their content.
And like it or not, the Collingwood brand sells.
Television audiences, attendance figures, merchandise numbers and genuine interest are always disproportionate to most other games each week.
Why? Because Collingwood is playing, and no other club polarises opinion more deeply than the Magpies.
Malthouse went on.
"I'll certainly consider my thoughts. It's what's best for our football club and what's best for our team. Sometimes they are a little bit off skew. Not that we get anything out of this game. We get nothing (financially) out of this game."
He then proceeded to question why Melbourne played with such ferocious intent on Monday, but have played such spiritless football all year.
But the point of this is to question the merit of two of the most influential figures at the leagues most powerful club, trying to complain somewhat that their club is somehow a victim of it's own success.
As if their elite standing in the competition, as one which has overwhelming support, reduces them to occasional fatigue.
Buckley writes in his column today that "at least a third of the Magpie's home-and-away schedule involves highly publicised matches that pull big crowds and demand interest over and above a "normal" home-and-away game.
So what? The players would learn this very early on in their tenure with the Collingwood Football Club, and would no doubt be 'coached' by professionals with how to deal with such hype.
Buckley writes further.
"His term 'blockbuster fatigue' is a concept based on the cumulative requirements of matching the intensity of opponents who are less exposed to these big-game atmospheres. It's a valid call.
Rubbish.
Surely Collingwood players would be more hardened to such conditions, and therefore better equipped to deal with the intensity of pressure situations in front of big crowds.
Sure they will have lulls in their season, every side does.
But to use this as a reason as to why the Magpies sometimes 'show up' flat, is nonsense.
Malthouse should stop trying to bite the hand that feeds him.
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