Al, so if I have this right - playing your team out of position is a pure tank versus booking players in for early surgery as it could be deemed player management?
I do not think that there are similar numbers of players booked for early surgery as "player management" today compared to 30 years ago. It is completely different today - for professional reasons and because the draft gives you more to gain by "booking players" into surgery earlier.
The pure tank has many more examples that that Demons game you refer to.
Carlton vs Melbourne at the end of 2008, Richmond vs Hawthorn was as well - that was the single most disgusting game of football I have attended - hawthorn treated it like a praccy match and there was one involving Freo that landed them Haselby.
That is taking the tank to it's lowest common denominator - agreed.
I would still maintain that booking players in for early surgery and coaching the "go through the motions" is a form of at least "giving up" if you don't want to use tanking.
It is still taking a cynical approach in that it is used to leverage draft picks.
It never happened before the draft system so isn't it ultimately trying the achieve the same result?
I'd also add, is it not valid to do in the odd year as an opportunistic measure I.e magpies and hawks?
Compared to:-
A Systematic "tanking" or "giving up" over several year which i have an issue because it defines part of the culture of that era. It will be interesting to see how far the Blues go with this current list.
It did happen before the draft system, granted probably not the extent that it does now. It never was unusual to see senior players get a rest and a number of debutants come in for the last games once a club knew their season was over.
When it's all said and done to rest a player carrying an injury or to send him in for surgery that was planned at the end of the season is the smart thing to, whether you get another reward besides getting this player ready for next year or not.
when you talk about coaching through the motions though. Really, i wouldnt want to be involved with a coach capable of doing that. make selection decisions that have a valid purpose that may decrease your chance of winning, but come match day everyone should be focused on doing all they can to win.
perhaps it's just wishful thinking, but i dont believe that there have been as many incidents of match day coaching to loose as some people believe. I argued this with a mate , an essendon supporter, one night though and he said that when footscray were admitted into the league they had to play and beat essendon, the reigning VFL premiers, to be accepted.
the players supposedly were paid, (or recieved gifts of some sort) to loose, which they did.
Then again it could a story made up by feral essendon supporters to excuse them for loosing to a VFA side.
