By Caroline Wilson
March 16 2003
Yesterday's sport section of The Age heralded the return of Wayne Carey, looking resplendent and cheeky in Adelaide colours, alongside the headline: "What a difference a year makes."
The same could have been said of the man in the Port Melbourne strip pictured smaller alongside him, Carey's former teammate Jason McCartney, who celebrated his 29th birthday on Friday with a milestone of which he could not have dreamt following October 12 last year - a practice game in the VFL reserves.
Suddenly, football, like Carey and McCartney, seems to have come alive again and, yes, 12 months has made a staggering difference. A fact that should provide some small solace for Richmond, given a year ago the Tigers were Wizard Cup grand finalists who would be on the verge of soundly beating Collingwood in round one at the MCG - something that proved to be no indication at all of what lay ahead.
As Brad Ottens prepares today for his first swimming pool session following last week's back surgery, he would do well not to look back to that Collingwood game.
Ottens and Matthew Richardson dominated that night and the young All-Australian had the football world at his feet. But the season fizzled out for him and his club and now Ottens and his promise will be tested like never before.
Twelve months ago, Ottens had a big new teammate in Greg Stafford, who came to Richmond from Sydney with a body more damaged than the Tigers realised. Stafford loomed as a rare AFL gift, a ready-made ruckman, but so fragile was his commitment to football that his contract boasted a get-out clause at the end of year one.
But Stafford proved one of the success stories in a poor annual chapter at Tigerland. Now he appears to have become one of the leaders at the club and suddenly has a whole lot more responsibility on his hands, responsibility he once doubted he could cope with.
If Ottens' prognosis provided the dying days of the 2003 pre-season with its most sensational low point, then the most entertaining off-field moment came at Optus Oval five days ago when Ian Collins and Eddie McGuire teamed up to announce the forthcoming Carlton-Collingwood legends game.
What a difference indeed a year makes.
Twelve months ago, Collins had his hands full with the cash-strapped stadium formerly known as Colonial. Now he's running a dilapidated Carlton as well and juggling the futures of at least four key senior club staff.
Collins laughed off suggestions he had put forward a contractual demand upon the AFL to play last night's grand final at Telstra Dome and pushed the attractive nature of Optus as an AFL venue, a venue one year ago he had convinced the Blues to partially abandon.
And back then, McGuire was in classic defensive-attack mode, believing his professional credibility had been threatened by Tim Lane. A year later, he is flying.
The question marks have been removed from McGuire's football club, which stands as we speak as the most powerful in Victoria on and off the field. Some clubs believe his unbeatable media influence is forcing the AFL's hand and certainly Collingwood is putting forward plenty of opinions.
If there is a moral in all of this for the 352 footballers who will take part in round one, then it's a hackneyed one.
Play like there's no tomorrow because who knows what lies ahead.
Or, more conservatively, just take it one week at a time. Maybe it's the times we are living in but suddenly that cliche doesn't sound so hackneyed after all.
March 16 2003
Yesterday's sport section of The Age heralded the return of Wayne Carey, looking resplendent and cheeky in Adelaide colours, alongside the headline: "What a difference a year makes."
The same could have been said of the man in the Port Melbourne strip pictured smaller alongside him, Carey's former teammate Jason McCartney, who celebrated his 29th birthday on Friday with a milestone of which he could not have dreamt following October 12 last year - a practice game in the VFL reserves.
Suddenly, football, like Carey and McCartney, seems to have come alive again and, yes, 12 months has made a staggering difference. A fact that should provide some small solace for Richmond, given a year ago the Tigers were Wizard Cup grand finalists who would be on the verge of soundly beating Collingwood in round one at the MCG - something that proved to be no indication at all of what lay ahead.
As Brad Ottens prepares today for his first swimming pool session following last week's back surgery, he would do well not to look back to that Collingwood game.
Ottens and Matthew Richardson dominated that night and the young All-Australian had the football world at his feet. But the season fizzled out for him and his club and now Ottens and his promise will be tested like never before.
Twelve months ago, Ottens had a big new teammate in Greg Stafford, who came to Richmond from Sydney with a body more damaged than the Tigers realised. Stafford loomed as a rare AFL gift, a ready-made ruckman, but so fragile was his commitment to football that his contract boasted a get-out clause at the end of year one.
But Stafford proved one of the success stories in a poor annual chapter at Tigerland. Now he appears to have become one of the leaders at the club and suddenly has a whole lot more responsibility on his hands, responsibility he once doubted he could cope with.
If Ottens' prognosis provided the dying days of the 2003 pre-season with its most sensational low point, then the most entertaining off-field moment came at Optus Oval five days ago when Ian Collins and Eddie McGuire teamed up to announce the forthcoming Carlton-Collingwood legends game.
What a difference indeed a year makes.
Twelve months ago, Collins had his hands full with the cash-strapped stadium formerly known as Colonial. Now he's running a dilapidated Carlton as well and juggling the futures of at least four key senior club staff.
Collins laughed off suggestions he had put forward a contractual demand upon the AFL to play last night's grand final at Telstra Dome and pushed the attractive nature of Optus as an AFL venue, a venue one year ago he had convinced the Blues to partially abandon.
And back then, McGuire was in classic defensive-attack mode, believing his professional credibility had been threatened by Tim Lane. A year later, he is flying.
The question marks have been removed from McGuire's football club, which stands as we speak as the most powerful in Victoria on and off the field. Some clubs believe his unbeatable media influence is forcing the AFL's hand and certainly Collingwood is putting forward plenty of opinions.
If there is a moral in all of this for the 352 footballers who will take part in round one, then it's a hackneyed one.
Play like there's no tomorrow because who knows what lies ahead.
Or, more conservatively, just take it one week at a time. Maybe it's the times we are living in but suddenly that cliche doesn't sound so hackneyed after all.
