The players will then get strapped and many of them get a rub down before the play. The coaches will hold pre-game meetings with the playing group. On most occasions I will take the players through an on-ground warm up. This is dynamic session with a fair bit of running and movement. The players then return to the rooms and have some personal time before the final address from Kevin Sheedy. When we take the field it is generally 10 minutes before the start of the match. This time is largely taken up with shots on goal.
The main idea of the pre-match warm up - about 40 minutes prior to the game - is to raise the core body temperature and to get the muscles working as they are expected to in a game. It will end with specific movements such as kicking, running and bending. This will take around 20 minutes.
If it is hot weather we may reduce the amount of time on ground. To be quite honest I am not a big fan of stretching pre-exercise. I believe that the main objective is to get the muscle temperature and core body temperature elevated and then to get the muscles functioning as they are going to be required in the competition. A warm is probably not the time to be focusing on flexibility - rather mobility - particularly in a sport like football. After the game flexibility becomes more of an issue.
I am often asked if the pre-match warm up takes much out of the players as they are sweating when they leave the ground. I do not believe so but having said that it is a bit of a balance to prepare the player adequately but not to the point of fatigue. At the end of the warm up the player should have a light sweat covering. It is a bit of a myth that the warm up takes too much out of the players.
We had Sebastian Coe here at Essendon a couple of months back. He said that ""Energy is total"" and I agree with that. The warm up is part of the picture. So is training in the preceeding week and intake of Musashi supplements. If a team loses everyone looks for the reasons because there must be one. It is interesting that no-one has asked me in the past three weeks what we are doing because we have won games. There were plenty around after Round 2!
During the game itself I keep an eye on individual players game time. I will let the coaches know who has and hasn’t been on much. I will also monitor each of the players and look for any signs of distress or injury. At the quarter time and three quarter time breaks you basically you have the coaches, physios and trainers all there at the one time. I will steer clear of that unless I see a player needs something from me.
Half-time can be very hectic. If players have ""corks"" we need to keep them moving. Players need to be hydrated. It is also important that I get the players moving - we still have an hour to go after all. It can be an opportunity to remind players of where they are in a fitness sense and remind them of how much preparation they have done to get to this point. At the end of the major break the players take to the field for a brief stretch.
Another question I’m often asked is whether I can tell how the team is going to run out a game from their appearance at the main break. You can tell with certain individuals but very rarely the team. This was certainly a lot easier when I coached athletics! Footy is a game of momentum - if you can get that going early in the third quarter you will be a fair chance. Some individuals - like Hird - are never going to give up. I think for others though the seeds of doubt can creep in and before long the seeds are a ""strangler vine"".
During the game itself I sit on the bench and try not to barrack and not to get frustrated with umpiring decisions. The truth is I need to have the bench players ready to go at any time so I have to ensure they are mentally and physically switched on. It is important that the bench player has an immediate impact. They need to be kept warm and hydrated.
Sometimes if they have minor injuries you need to keep an eye on that. I also monitor when players are getting tired and on some occasions recommend to the coaching box that a certain players should come off. When a player does come off the ground I walk / jog them to ""bring them down"" and then they are ready to listen to instruction from the coach.
I need to be pretty positive with the players and it’s not my job to coach them footy on the day. Some players are pretty filthy when they come off the ground so its better to say nothing and just let them vent their anger on me. Sheeds probably thinks that they are all very calm and collected. For some they certainly aren't a few minutes prior to picking up the phone to talk to the Head Coach.
I remember doing a story for TV once and they put a sound pack on me. At first I was very self-conscious about it. After half time I forgot I had it on and I actually thought they had finished filming anyway. I discovered later that they hadn't. I also got a surprise at how colourfully I can speak sometimes although with all the bleeps on the segment you couldn’t make any sense of it anyway!
With the players I was basically trying to tell them to focus on their own game and not direct his attention to our coaching box as they had moved on from him anyway. The point was that it is a wasted emotion and that his job was to focus on what he could do when he got back on to the field.
After the final siren we head back to the rooms – hopefully sing the song – and do a warm down which basically involves a light stretch. It is very much our first training session in preparation for the following week.
