Football's born-again stars
Date
January 26, 2014
Matt Murnane
Sports writer for The Age
Not that long ago, a player in Josh Hunt's position might not have bothered going another year.
Having plied his trade at Geelong for 198 games over 12 seasons, the easy and perhaps more popular choice would have been for Hunt to retire at age 31 - as a two-premiership hero.
Certainly Geelong supporters would have preferred him to go out that way. Then they could remember the chunky back-pocket with the booming left foot as a Cat for life - just as they do Joel Corey and Tom Harley, both of whom hung up the boots at the same age as Hunt, or Cameron Ling, who did so one year their junior.
Cats supporters might have wished the same for Paul Chapman. As a triple premiership champion, Norm Smith medallist, best and fairest winner, All-Australian and having booted four goals in a final - and his last of 251 games - no one had more reason to ''end on a high note'' than 32-year-old Chapman after 14 seasons with the club.
While he had not been at Simonds Stadium as long, it will probably be just as jarring for fans to watch James Podsiadly stand in as Adelaide's key forward at times this year.
Same goes for Western Bulldogs supporters. What will it be like seeing Daniel Cross in red and blue, without the white?
At 30, and having given the Dogs 12 years of brave and loyal service, Cross could have called it quits with 210 games and a best and fairest, rather than start again at Melbourne.
''I find it hard to believe how people can think it is time to retire just because they feel that is what is expected from them in that situation, once they get to 30-plus,'' said Cross, who is now the oldest player on Melbourne's list.
''It's something that definitely crossed my mind, the prestige of being a one-club player, but when you've got the fire and the drive to train and compete … then I don't see any reason why a player would not try to find another club that wants them.''
For whatever reason - talking from a fan's perspective more than a club's - we would rather see our favourites gone altogether and remember them for what they were.
It is hard for us to watch a player we cheered at his peak perhaps take on a reduced role, much less at a new club.
We would prefer to retain the image of a Daniel Cross diving head-first into a pack to win a ball for the Bulldogs … and no one else. But Cross is a professional footballer, and one whose passion for the lifestyle and all the physical and mental sacrifices it takes to play at the highest level is as strong as ever.
''I still really do enjoy it, and you could ask my wife that. I went out and trained as much as I ever have this off-season,'' he said.
Hunt is also a professional footballer, one with a wife and a daughter and ''not the sort of person who will walk away with what-ifs or regrets''.
''Sometimes it is great to end up a one-club player, and players out there embrace that, but I felt like I still had something to give,'' Hunt said, who has re-located his family to Sydney.
''Once I found out that Geelong wanted to go in a different direction, I had a chat to my wife and obviously having a young family as well, it's not just about me, I want them to be comfortable. Luckily they were really big on saying, 'you just do what you need to do until you can't do it any more'.''
Thankfully, the Americanisation of our sporting culture is starting to rub off on our players, clubs and fans.
It seems more accepted that our veterans, who we have loved or hated but always respected for their longevity, to go around again; even if it means changing jumpers.
The reasons are many.
The introduction of expansion clubs looking for experienced players to balance out their young lists; players using those final years to transition into coaching, if not becoming playing assistants (such as James McDonald); and also clubs putting higher value in player-to-player mentoring from veteran to youngster. There have always been clubs looking for a quick fix or needing to fill a hole in their structure - especially those in the premiership window.
But the emergence of mature-age rookies filling that breach in recent times has, by extension, shown what older players can do for teams when brought in on a short-term basis - such as ageing veterans from other clubs.
And, of course, there is free agency.
The likes of Lance Franklin, Brendon Goddard and Dale Thomas, to name just a few, exercising their free agency rights has made the appeal of being a one-club player seem far less important.
More than 50 players have changed teams since the end of 2013, either as trades, free agents or recycled players.
And so in that changing landscape, what is the big deal if Hunt, Cross and others play out the remaining years in a different jumper. Why wouldn't they?
''For a lot of the guys in my situation, it wasn't the scenario that we were after, coming to the end of our contracts at our original clubs,'' Cross said. ''But the option of free agency and delisted free agency opens up those doors for clubs looking for experience and guys who are able to pass on the benefits of their playing careers to younger guys. That is what free agency is there for, in my mind.''
No doubt the chance afforded to Hunt, and perhaps the likes of McDonald, Chad Cornes and Dean Brogan at Greater Western Sydney before him, will become more limited once the lists at the expansion clubs become more established - rather than the hybrids made up of marquee signings, the odd veteran or two and a host of top draft prospects.
Or, maybe this is just the beginning.
With 18 clubs now up and running, the talent pool at the draft is spread thinner than ever, and perhaps there has never been a greater need to find ways to encourage and promote longevity for our stars and journeymen.
To that end, the success or otherwise of this year's batch of recyclables - one of the most accomplished in years when you consider the resumes of players such as Chapman, Podsiadly, Hunt and Cross - could be crucial.
''Time will tell if it is something that will stay in vogue or something that peters out, and clubs think that it is better to just grab another kid out of the draft and develop him,'' Hunt said.
For the trend to continue, the mindset change has to be embraced by the clubs as well as the players.
For every team that decides a spot on its list is better filled by an 18-year-old, there needs to be another club in the market for a known quantity who can teach its youngsters what it takes off the field, as well as provide an immediate impact on it. Fortunately for Cross and Hunt, Melbourne and GWS are two such clubs.
More than just a cool head and kicking skills out of defence, Hunt brings with him the added know-how gained by watching close-up, and playing in, arguably the greatest team of the modern era, the core group of Cats who won three flags between 2007 and 2011.
It is a golden age that the Giants are trying to emulate themselves, having stockpiled one of the most impressive arrays of young talent yet seen.
Hunt has already been struck by their hunger - a drive to learn and be better that would have been a pre-requisite at Simonds Stadium.
''Whether it is in training or just the day-to-day stuff about what it takes … for me, when you pass on little things, it's very rewarding to then see the little progressions these young guys make,'' he said.
''Having played with the type of guys that I've played with, you learn a fair bit, and the little tips that I've tried to give, the young guys here have been great - if they want to know something they are not shy about coming up and asking.''
Providing an example of how to get the most out of yourself - a mantra Cross has lived by his entire career - is also one of the main reasons the Demons decided to extend his career.
But the hard-nut midfielder will also have another role outside of playing - providing support for Melbourne's leadership group, an area of the club that has been questioned in recent years.
''I was in the Bulldogs' leadership group for eight years and I've learnt a hell of a lot out of that, so that's another area where I can help … with a lot of different things as they come up from day-to-day,'' Cross said.
But it works both ways. Aside from extending their playing days, clubs have also given these recyclables a pathway into assistant coaching, one that Hunt is interested in pursuing once he finishes playing.
But Cross hopes to go in a different direction - the one taken by former Adelaide star Brett Burton, who is now the Brisbane Lions' physical performance manager, or fitness boss.
''I've got an exercise science background and I've got a degree in that, so that's really what interests me,'' Cross said. ''There hasn't been a whole heap of guys transitioning into that field, but what I love about footy is being able to challenge your body.''
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