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New Post has been published on http://www.sportsbanter.com.au/micks-big-decision/
Three years ago, I was in an audience listening to Mick Malthouse.
In a crowded Sofitel function room, Malthouse chronicled his journey from the deprived suburb of West Wendouree to a prominent playing and coaching career at the elite level.
Malthouse told a series of stories, each bearing witness to what makes him tick.
He remembered a conversation he had with a police officer, who told him, “There are two types of cars that come through your area- one’s a cop car and one’s a hearse. I can assure you that you’re going to be sitting in the back of one of them unless you make a change in your life.”
“Little did I know that I was making a decision that was quite critical for my life,” Malthouse said.
While his appetite for coaching was still intact, his speech revealed far more than just a yearning to renew his coaching. Of greater interest was an insight into leadership.
Malthouse was a leader by example.
During a pre-season, he took a group of first-year recruits to Tasmania for a caving expedition. He remembered being filled with trepidation upon entering the cave but still went through with it. Later that day, he asked the recruits about the experience and they told him they only went into the cave because he had gone in first.
“How could I ask them to put their bodies on the line if I wasn’t prepared to do the same,” he said.
“Leadership tests you all the time. No matter who you are or where you are, you have to come up trumps.”
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Last week, Malthouse was rightly feted in the lead up to his record breaking game.
It was a long time in the making, but the media finally dispensed with the provocative, disrespectful and in some cases, vindictive swipes at the coaching great.
A grand contribution to the game was acknowledged, even if some sections of the media had to be dragged kicking and screaming to do it. It was refreshing to read and hear something about Malthouse that wasn’t absorbed by the fineprint of his contract.
We had the game-day extravaganza, which had its moments. The Carlton mascot rode around on a hovercraft, smoke machines were wheeled out and the MCG lights turned off.
It verged on the completely ridiculous, but there was a moment of clarity. Malthouse, family in toe, entered the ground ahead of his team. AFL football rarely stops for anyone but this was a once in a lifetime achievement.
If only the match wasn’t played.
No News Limited journalist has shown as much disrespect to Malthouse, as his team did on Friday night. It was sad.
The Blues were dismantled, brutally. It was a slap in the face to their Coach who needed some respite. A coach, whom the players say they love and respect. What a fallacy.
The next day, Carlton’s media department decided that retreat was the best form of attack. No players were put up for interviews, one radio program was ‘selected’ for Malthouse, and the Club ran from its problems. Unfortunately, the Club will likely run on a well trodden path for embattled football clubs; sack the coach.
Sack a coach, who in many ways was set up for failure.
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Over 31 years, Malthouse has been a bedrock of wise counsel. Over the next few weeks, he should pay homage to one particular piece of advice.
About a month before Chris Judd decided to play on in 2015, Malthouse offered an interesting little morsel about playing mortality.
“My advice to all players, go when there’s a little bit left.”
“Because I’ve seen too many great players, unfortunately, walk the boundary at the end of their careers and people only remember them the way they played their last year,” said Malthouse reflecting on Judd’s impending decision.
His words then, carry significant weight now.
Last week, Colin Sylvia and Fremantle ‘mutually’ parted company. Many will harangue Sylvia for untapped talent, but what people will remember most is that he was unable to meet the standards of an elite club. That’s his legacy.
Adam Goodes, a statesman of the playing fraternity and a dual premiership player, recently wore the degrading fluro vest. A week later, he was running around in the sub-standard NEAFL competition. If 2015 continues like this for Goodes, who knows how he’ll be remembered.
Eventually everyone outlives their usefulness and to use a Ross Lyonism, the past counts for nothing.
Not everyone gets the Lenny Hayes farewell circuit.
There was a blonde-haired, yellow boot wearing number 12 who once played for the Brisbane Lions. Name an accolade, he would’ve won it.
Yet people remember Jason Akermanis with an asterisk. His career is frequently opined, never solely about his on-field exploits.
It’s the delicate position Malthouse finds himself. While he has previously said that he’ll be a ‘coach for life’, I wonder how much he truly has left.
Not dissimilar to when he lead the youngsters through the cave, he must now live his doctrine.
Lead by example Mick, don’t become that figure walking the boundary.
