When football was a spectacle

[gordon_s1942]

Much of the 'Sport' and 'entertainment' has been removed from both AFL and NRL due to players going from getting a few bob and beer to play to now being contracted 24/7 players with stratospheric salaries and benefits who play where ever the best pay is.
Most of the players were dinky di locals who lived in the area and did all sorts of jobs from the local Council to tradesmen to 'pickajob'.
The one BIG thing in common they had was being loyal to their locality and while they wanted to win, playing the Game was a big part of their physic.
Not so today and the Clubs dont help with their money throwing actions to recruit players and their 'cocooning' of their players by encouraging them to act at times in events or actions unacceptable in general society and cocooning them from any form of redress when the situations get out of hand.

[enf]

Much of the 'Sport' and 'entertainment' has been removed from both AFL and NRL due to players going from getting a few bob and beer to play to now being contracted 24/7 players with stratospheric salaries and benefits who play where ever the best pay is.
Most of the players were dinky di locals who lived in the area and did all sorts of jobs from the local Council to tradesmen to 'pickajob'.
The one BIG thing in common they had was being loyal to their locality and while they wanted to win, playing the Game was a big part of their physic.
Not so today and the Clubs dont help with their money throwing actions to recruit players and their 'cocooning' of their players by encouraging them to act at times in events or actions unacceptable in general society and cocooning them from any form of redress when the situations get out of hand.

I broadly agree, but it is a two edged sword. The modern world makes it far more difficult to make a living, and players are entitled to get what they can while they can IMO. The level of training and expensive expertise and time is far greater now, and the rewards are harder to earn. Especially as they are now full time.

A career ending injury, not to mention a life altering one, is only a tackle or misstep away. After football, they have to fit into the regular world again.

[mkhannah]

Four minutes that echo the name of this thread

[admin]

Don't worry about Fred Cooke, Pt Melb full forward, he did not feel any pain, great anesthetic cocaine!!

How he never played VFL (beyond a handful when he was young) is beyond me. He kicked 1338 goals in his career, a remarkable effort for someone who was considered a great mark, but a poor kick.

During a 1972 pre-season practice match against Brunswick, Cook suffered a heart attack between the first and second quarters, but he managed to play the game out and still take 17 marks. He spent the next three weeks in hospital and was advised to retire from football. But, Cook was determined to play again, and made a return later that year. In his first reserves game after the heart attack, he was played at full-forward to keep him out of the heavier action, and he kicked sixteen goals. He made his return to senior football in the last game of the year, less than six months after his heart attack.

His highest VFA season tally was in 1982, when he kicked 140 goals. He played in all six of Port Melbourne's premierships and the Centenary Cup victory during the 1974–1982 period, and was a noted performer in Grand Finals, kicking 10 goals in the 1974 Grand Final, 12 goals in the Centenary Cup Grand Final, 9 goals in the 1977 Grand Final, and five goals in the infamous 1976 Grand Final, despite having been king-hit in the second quarter. He represented the VFA in interleague competition on nine occasions, including several times as captain.


He announced his retirement from Port Melbourne at the age of 36, shortly before the end of the 1984 season, having played 253 games and kicked 1210 goals for the club over 14 years; although he had little say in the matter, as club officials indicated that he would no longer be selected in the team due to diminishing returns over his final two seasons.

Sadly drugs and alcohol ruined his life. I can remember having a beer with him once at a pub, and he was a bit of a mess.