Culture classes (2)

Is it only here at Aussierulesblog-Central or is this off-season dragging interminably?

Each day we turn to the sports pages, hoping they’ll be filled with all of the panoply of footy, but we’re forced to wade through page after page of horse racing (yawn), yachting (falling asleep) and tennis (fast asleep), not to mention ‘fudball’ (comatose). Only occasionally is there a contribution to the footy landscape, and even more occasionally, it is meaningful. Such, however, is the case today.

Emma Quayle’s piece on the AFLPA draftee induction program provides a longer than usual glimpse into the week-long effort to appropriately equip the stars of tomorrow to meet expectations.

One can imagine there are many, many massively unmemorable moments through this induction program, and it’s asking a lot of young men chosen for athletic qualities rather than academic to have them all take it all in. Nevertheless, Quayle picks out some seminal moments to highlight.

Bachar Houli relates how teenaged teammates were unexpectedly considerate and interested when he asked for quiet for his prayers. Harry O’Brien counsels these young men to find out why they’re doing a clinic and who and how they’ll be helping. All good stuff.

We’re also told that AFL players drink far more alcohol than their general public equivalents — a surprise to the innocence of these brand new draftees. “When an AFL player gets into trouble, [Steve] Alessio [AFLPA general manager of player development] reminds them, alcohol is usually a factor.” It’s not mentioned whether Carlton rookie Levi Casboult was called upon to provide first-hand corroboration of Alessio’s claim.

Quayle ends her report with quotes from a couple of draftees:

''It shows that you can't be ignorant, that you have to think about every little thing that you do,'' said Adelaide ruckman James Craig, and Andrew Hooper, a Western Bulldogs rookie, agreed.
''It's not good enough to say, 'I didn't know', because now we do,'' he said. ''We've been told how it is and we're the ones who have to put it in place and make the most of the chance we have.''