I FOUND myself wondering recently, if I were to one day leave the coach’s box and join the media, how would I keep up to date with the ever-changing face of the modern game?

I’ve spoken to Matty Primus and Adam Kingley about this very issue and they both noted how quickly things have changed from their playing days just two or three years ago.

The media are always trying to give the public a better insight into what’s happening in the game of Australian football, but I wonder if some ‘experts’ are selling the public short.

As I see it, there are two different types of footy media. One section includes the qualified and hard-working journalists, who report on everything that goes on around the game of football, while the other portion comment on what actually happens in a particular game or, in some cases, what happens in one particular instance of a game.

The media throng includes ex-players, and some labour under the title of football ’experts’, but just being a former player doesn’t make you an expert, especially when it comes to the modern game and coaching.

I know my old mates Caro Wilson and Mike Sheahan will agree that playing the game can’t be the only qualification to make you an expert.

A lot of the analysis ex-players use is based on experience from their playing and coaching days, but how long does a player or coach have to be out of the game before he loses his intimate knowledge?  

Do they really know what is happening at or being coached at training? Do they ever go to training? Or how would they cope within the scientific labs and computer-dominated learning environments that surround our players today?

Nathan Buckley is a standout at the moment. His insight and analysis is spot on and involves current cutting-edge, credible analysis. It’s a lot more complicated these days than simply grabbing your bag and ‘going down the club’ to train.

The first piece of advice I would give to all those contemplating employment as football analysts or experts would be to do a level two or three coaching course and to attend up-to-date coaching conferences.

Those with the chance to coach, even at kids’ level, should dip their toes in the water and see what it’s like making on the spot decisions and dealing with the variety of players needs. These are all great learning experiences.

On top of the coaching courses, football experts should also continually seek out specialists in other sports or coaching fields that are vital to today’s game. These include sports science, decision-making, fitness, GPS, interchange rotations analysis and general principles of coaching.

Only after learning about all these areas they would they have a better chance of understanding what, exactly, is happening in the AFL this year.

One area of football analysis I watch with interest is the use of a single ‘snapshot’ in time often used to reflect the norm. The game of Australian football is one of chaos and randomness, and involves massive decision-making.

Given the shape of the ball, the time constraints and the number of people on the ground, things can change very quickly and there are a lot of factors to be considered when trying to analyse the game.

Take the Geelong v Collingwood last weekend. I suspect that you could take a snapshot at one particular time in the game and say for example, “Geelong didn’t have any players inside 50m” and therefore that’s why they lost. You could develop your story from there.

If the Cats were at the bottom of the ladder we could all mount an argument to say that having all their numbers in defence was a significant factor and we could criticise them for that, but given the fact that Geelong has won 27 or so of its past 29 games we know that’s untrue.

Sometimes when I hear ‘expert analysis’ and see the expert using snapshots of incidents within games to ‘prove’ their point, or support their bias (and everyone, myself included, has bias), I sit back and smile.

Yes, that particular instance did occur at that particular time ... maybe even for two minutes in a game lasting 130 minutes, but does it mean the results will always be the same? Or does it mean that the best sides don’t do also it?

No, it doesn’t and I think critically comparing the ‘snapshot’ to what the best teams are doing, rather than focusing on the incident in relation to a win or a loss, is a better way of credibly analysing an individual moment.

We can all spend countless hours scouring through reams of statistical analysis to help support one view or another. For example, would you believe that at the completion of round nine, Port Adelaide had the same number of hardball-gets as Adelaide, which was only seven fewer than Geelong, which is ranked seventh?

Port Adelaide and Adelaide are both ranked higher than the renowned North Melbourne and our only remaining undefeated team, Hawthorn, is ranked dead last in this category, so it seems that HBG don’t matter. Or do they?

Have a guess at which teams lead the league in uncontested possession. Yes, you’re right Port Adelaide is up there; we’re ranked fifth highest, but wait for this; first, second and third place (in that order) go to Hawthorn, Geelong and Adelaide. Go figure.

Before I get targeted in relation to this analysis, believe me, I know what these stats mean and what they don’t, but it does go to show that numbers can lie ... or, worse, be used to ‘prove’ one’s point of view.

When making an analysis you may also have to look at the playing list a particular team has at that moment in time and ask yourself, can that side actually play that way? A favourite is going long and direct to a contest in the goal square, but if you don’t have the players to mark the ball in those positions, does it work?

Certainly, Denis Pagan wanted to play that way with Carlton and it wasn’t as effective as it was with the North Melbourne side.

Again, it’s a little ‘horses for courses’ and you can’t play a particular way just because some other clubs do.

I’m not saying it would be easy to be an expert football commentator, but I think my job would be easier and my opinions would be held in a higher regard if continuous coaching education were part of my commitment to this new role.

At Port Adelaide we invite a variety of AFL coaches, both past and present, coaches from other sports around the world and from the AIS to talk to us about coaching.

We all need to keep learning and challenging ourselves. We have psychologists and Generation-Y experts to help with our understanding of the young players and how they learn. All these people come into our world to make us more rounded in our discussion and understanding of the learning and coaching environment that is modern football.

People who attempt to analyse the game and who haven’t completed these prerequisites, or even attempted to, and don’t watch training, are probably selling the public short or, at least, are using smoke and mirrors.

Move with the game or fall behind.

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily of the clubs or the AFL.