July can only mean one thing in footy: It’s ‘big boy month’

5 hours ago 4

I have an eternal fascination with culture in sporting clubs, specifically football clubs. In part, because they’re fluid, mysterious and like the weather, ever-changing.

The truth is that “culture” in football terms is broad, probably too broad. I want to scream at my television sometimes when experts boldly claim that a club has a “good” or “bad” culture: “What specifically do you mean?!”

Collingwood are leading the competition by a big margin.

Perhaps for my own sanity, I break footy club culture into three parts.

Symbolically (jumper, colours, themes, rituals);
Philosophically (mottos, phrases, mission statements);
Practically (behaviours).

The first two are a lot of fun to talk about and kick around, but it’s the last one that is perhaps the most important. If you get stuck in intellectual hyperbole, you’re doomed.

Footy clubs are dominated by kinesthetic ratbags who often thrived at ball sports to avoid all the wordy nonsense. If your club’s way of doing things properly is not understood by the members of your club, then it’s a waste of time.

Words on the wall are great, but show me.

The most famous example of this practical culture is the New Zealand All Blacks rugby team, who “sweep the sheds” as a matter of routine, service, respect and devotion to the larger cause. There are hundreds of other examples. Some physical rituals are big and obvious, others are almost invisible, but they all help tell a story: What’s your club about?

My life-changing moment in clarifying what culture means came in the way of a private conversation, in the corner of a pub, on the eve of the 2016 grand final. I was talking to a friend about this very topic and offered up the view that if the Bulldogs beat the Swans in the upcoming grand final, it would debunk my long-held view that to win the whole thing, everything had to be perfect.

The Bulldogs celebrate their 2016 premiership, a flag that wasn’t built on the chase for perfection.

I was trying to rationalise these thoughts that, despite the romance and momentum that had lifted my club towards a glorious finish that year, there were also imperfections everywhere: Players were taking the odd shortcut or unhappy with their lot; some staff had their nose out of joint.

There was uncertainty and inconsistencies everywhere you looked.

My friend, former Bomber, Mark Bolton, calmly sipped his beer and whispered the immortal words, “I suppose it’s just about how many tickets in the barrell you have ...”

Ding!

It landed in my consciousness like a meteorite. I’ve never forgotten it, and it’s an anchor for most things in my life. Suddenly, the idea of perfection seemed foolish and was quickly discarded.

In its place was a far more practical and attainable means of building and protecting a winning culture. How many deeds, big and small, can we all do to add a raffle ticket into the barrel of chance and destiny? A cold plunge on your own in Port Phillip Bay, one ticket in the barrel. A text message to a lonely, injured teammate, another ticket in the barrel ...

July might be the best month to buy those tickets. This month is a downright slog for players. A footballer’s lot is routine upon routine and a strict physical regime that is difficult to maintain all year round, but it only gets harder in the depths of winter.

In July, the temptation for a shortcut here or a snooze button there begins to burn. Every little choice becomes that bit harder. It is a month for the true believers. A month when teams who are true contenders dig in, and the others simply roll over under their cozy doonas.

Every year at this time, I’m reminded of the raffle tickets analogy. I wonder which clubs are not only maintaining their resolve, but lifting it to a higher gear. For July, once coined “big boy month” by then Richmond coach Damien Hardwick, is the time for planting seeds that will likely not flower until September, when the sunshine, optimism and finals reappear.

Gold Coast’s Noah Anderson and John Noble celebrate a goal with Touk Miller.

Collingwood have been here before, and have the experience behind them. But if Gold Coast, now coached by July enthusiast Hardwick, are to be believed, then this Friday night’s match-up between the two sides has all the makings of a classic.

The temptation for the Magpies is that they’ve achieved so much this season; an internal target of 14 wins, according to Pies coach Craig McRae, has already been ticked off. Does that make them vulnerable this week? Maybe.

But for an emerging team like the Suns, to tell a big story, they first have to tell themselves a smaller, but no less powerful, one. How much do we believe? Are we good enough? Do we really belong among the best when it matters most?

A Magpie scalp in the middle of July might be worth far more than four premiership points for the Suns, who are discovering themselves. It might one day become a fruitful September, given the right elements and care.

Each moment in July is like another raffle ticket into the barrel of the AFL season, but for all the good deeds or shortcuts, there’ll only be one winner.

So fellas, how many raffle books would you like to buy then?