The break could not have come at a better time for the team.

The first half of the year could be broken into two halves – the good footy we played from rounds 1-7 and the not-so-good from rounds 8-12. The positive out of having these two distinctly different phases is that we could analyse what we were doing when we were playing well and not doing later, and what we have started to do since Round 8 that has affected our game.

Following a couple of days spent on this reviewing process it was time for the players to get away. On the Monday following a break like this, everybody wants to tell their stories. One of the common threads in the stories involves watching local footy with lots of players going back to their junior clubs and watching friends or family play.

I went back to Melbourne and spent my Saturday afternoon freezing my toes off watching my older brother Luke play for St. Kevins Old Boys (SKOBs) in the amateurs. There is nothing like watching a game of footy with your mates.

A typical Melbourne footy weather day greeted us as we arrived at the infamous Righetti Oval. The twos had just had a huge victory, with the other team only kicking one goal. One of my mates was playing full back and said that he let his opponent get a few kicks out of sympathy. Whatever.

The ground itself was looking as though it had been going through some tough times. The grass was trying to break through but it had been strangled by the dirt that had become mud due to Melbourne’s recent rain. In racing terms it was a dead track.

By half time Luke’s SKOBs had taken the ascendancy, however bad kicking is bad footy and Melbourne High were still close enough. The third quarter saw a huge swing in momentum, all of a sudden Melbourne were winning possession, getting it forward and importantly kicking the goals and by the last break they were ahead by nine points.

Listening to the three-quarter time address, the SKOBs coach was obviously unhappy with the quarter and it was stressed that a return to basics was required.

“Go in hard, help your team-mates, win the ball and kick your goals,” he said.

Funny that, it felt like I had heard that same message before somewhere, actually earlier that week

By the last quarter when the whitest boots had become black and the shorts were preparing for a couple of days in the bleach, the momentum swung again and SKOBs got up by four goals.

Footy is a basic game that we sometimes try to confuse. In most occasions getting back to basics is the answer to all problems. Whether it is in the AFL or the amateurs.

This realisation could not have come at a better time for me, as I too have complicated the game lately and look forward to returning to the basics.

mahns