James Coventry

This is quite an unusual book: the history of Australian Rules football, recounting the changes in the rules and tactics as the game evolved. From the 1860s (before global football was even encoded as a sport) cricketers in Melbourne started organising games with a view to keeping themselves fit in the off-season. They sought something less physical than rugby, to avoid injuries, but that proved to be a vain hope. The earliest days of the sport were dominated by violent low-scoring affairs, and the earliest rule changes were with the intent of cleaning up the sport, reducing scrimmages and making it more appealing to watch.

AFL fans today would barely recognise the game in its original form. It was played on a rectangular pitch, rather than an oval. Position names were different; the full-forward was known as the goal sneak, a term that implied the somewhat shameful behaviour of hanging back out of the play to snaffle a goal. Captains doubled as umpires, and this enabled the early giants of the game, such as Tom Wills, to try and stamp their own interpretation on what the rules should be and how the game should develop.

The book recounts regional differences in how the sport was played and the political battles waged between states as a unified code began to be adopted. Controversial tactics such the flick pass ebbed and flowed over the decades as rules continued to be amended. Coventry highlights the influence of some of the games early thinkers such as Len Smith, whose thoughts on attacking football can still be seen in the tactics coaches use today.

This is quite an engrossing book with information likely to surprise even people who think they know AFL well. It is, however, for aficionados of the game only, in my opinion.… (meer)

The first substantial historical survey and examination of the tactics, strategies, coaches and their methods that have shaped and defined football at the elite level. The scope of the book is from the game’s origins to the present day. A groundbreaking work that has been meticulously researched. The game as it developed in the VFA, VFL, AFL and SANFL competitions is given the most attention. Includes a comprehensive bibliography and endnotes. There are no images but there are numerous diagrams which provide very helpful insights into the game plans and tactics deployed by various coaches over more than a century of football competition.… (meer)