Trick of the light, or just another Stevie J trick?

[bornadog]

Bob Murphy (http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/trick-of-the-light-or-just-another-stevie-j-trick-20120530-1zjgp.html)

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa198/mmsalih/art-stvej-420x0.jpg

Playing on Steve Johnson is an event for the ages, and one that can age a tagger.

'GRANDPA, tell us again about the day you played on Stevie J …''
When people complain that there's no characters left in the game, I sometimes wonder if, for some, to be a character you have to play the fool. My answer to anyone holding up this argument is simple: Stevie J.
Here is a character who is no fool. If he were a cocktail he'd be three parts genius and one part rascal.

A couple of Tuesdays ago out at the kennel we were having a light kick-to-kick up the Barkly Street end when coach McCartney walked past. ''Who've you got for me this week?'' I asked. There was barely a pause. ''Stevie J.''
I knew in an instant this was going to be no ordinary week. Stevie J doesn't do ordinary.
The strange thing is that over the past 10 years or so I don't recall us ever having been direct opponents. This assignment has usually gone to Dale Morris.

One of the things I love about playing on a half-back flank is that against some of the most talented players in the game (Johnson, Cyril Rioli, Alan Didak, Mark LeCras, etc), you get to see the game through their eyes - where they run and how far they will run to take hold of a game is as fascinating as it is hard to nullify.

A factor that makes Geelong such a popular champion team is that they just play - they have their style that they've been perfecting for a long, long time, and they back themselves in to beat you. If the Cats were a racehorse they would be Might And Power - they will do what they've always done and lay it down from the start to see how far you're prepared to go to beat them.
I spoke to our back line in the lead-up to last Friday night's game and left them with a simple message: ''Come prepared to run.'' It's easy to be distracted by the fringes of Geelong's forward half: the emergence of Hawkins, Stevie's tricks, their unselfish passing in front of goal, just to name a few. All of this is underpinned by a willingness to cover an enormous amount of ground.

The start of the game was manic. As a backman it's easy enough to tell how we're defending up the ground: if it's going well, when the ball comes forward there's only one side of the ground for your opponents to work in; but if the pressure is a little off, then your opposition forwards have the full width of the oval in which to work you over.
Stevie J might love a beer, maybe even a punt on the races, but what he really loves is open space in the forward half so he can use his bag of tricks to lose you and find the ball. Early on Friday night, Stevie had acres to work in, which is a worry against someone who only needs a car space.

At one point, as I did what I could to stay close, he stopped, gathered, spun and handballed over his head. All that was missing was his cape. Although he was exerting an influence, I took some solace in the fact that he wasn't kicking any goals himself and that more than a few of his touches were coming backward of centre.

When a free kick was paid against a Geelong player for holding the ball, and Stevie took it upon himself to chat with the umpire over the concept of prior opportunity, I took up the argument with him. Before you knew it we were in deep discussion about the incident, and even looked up at the replay to help us sort it out. We decided to leave further discussion until after the game. I'm not sure what the umpire made of our somewhat polite exchange.
Stevie was my responsibility when he came forward, but when he put himself in the centre square - as he often does - I would hand him over. By halfway through the third quarter he was the most influential player on the ground, but still hadn't hurt us on the scoreboard. It was at this point that he turned to me and said, ''I've almost halfway run this flu out!''
It was a cheeky thing to say, a touch arrogant, and just a bit brilliant. The obvious seed he'd planted was, ''I wonder how he'd be going if he was feeling well?''

You have to remember that while all this is going on, a great game of footy was going back and forth, Dogs threatening and Cats pulling away.
In the last quarter Paul Chapman had a set shot from right on the arc, and to my horror I saw Stevie bob up out of nowhere in the forward pocket, hiding next to the point post. God only knows how he got there, but it was so sneaky that even Chapman didn't see him.
A minute later the chat started up again. ''Did you see me sneak on there through the interchange?'' he asked. ''Clearly not,'' was all I could say. And then he smiled for the first time of the night, and out the side of his mouth said: ''It was quite rascal-ish, wasn't it?'' How can you not love that?

Not long after this, the Dogs came roaring home, and threatened to steal the game. True to form Geelong wasn't done with, and kicked clear once more.
With the game still in the balance but slipping out of our grasp, the ball flew out of a centre bounce with Stevie on the lead. It took everything I had to make a spoil, but the job wasn't finished. He gathered the loose ball, spun, cut and danced his way out of trouble before firing off the obligatory no-look handball, my arms and legs flailing after him.
Then he sidled up to me one last time and said, ''I usually save that stuff for finals …''
I don't think he was saying all this to be arrogant or to rub it in. He just wanted to give me the whole show, the full Stevie J extravaganza.

He was best on ground but I felt like I could still hold my head up.
And at least I'll have a pretty good story for my grandkids.

[SlimPickens]

Don't particularly like this article, Stevie J had a field day last week and for Murph to come out and compliment it gives me the shits to be honest.

Stevie J is a gun, there is no doubting that. Murph had a poor game on him if he was his direct opponent.

[LostDoggy]

Don't particularly like this article, Stevie J had a field day last week and for Murph to come out and compliment it gives me the shits to be honest.

Stevie J is a gun, there is no doubting that. Murph had a poor game on him if he was his direct opponent.

Have another read of the article Slim.

He had him only when he was forward of centre. As it should be

[SlimPickens]

Have another read of the article Slim.

He had him only when he was forward of centre. As it should be

Get that, just don't like the jist of the article. The guy had 36 touches therefore someone wasn't doing their job.

[LostDoggy]

I think you miss the point. I'm not sure anyone could have contained him. And anyway I loved the article and the insight into the personality of an opponent as gifted as Stevie J. It's an insight you rarely get and it's an honesty and freshness from Murphy that is so welcome. It's not as if he has given away any secrets.

[Ghost Dog]

Point taken about praising the enemy. Must say though, I kind of enjoyed it as I can't remember the last time Bob actually wrote about on field happenings. Wish he would do it more often.

[Ozza]

Get that, just don't like the jist of the article. The guy had 36 touches therefore someone wasn't doing their job.

Was a bit of a balancing act for both coaches. We wanted to have Murphy stay in defence to rebound - so the sacrifice is that Steve Johnson essentially had no opponent defensive side of the centre.

See where you're coming from - but I don't have the same feeling about the artile Slim.

[LostDoggy]

He openly admitted that he just couldn't keep up, and not once did he blame a teammate. It showed a bucketload of respect for the guy, and there's nothing wrong with that.

Imagine Stevie J. had written it about Murph. We'd all be delighted.

[Grantysghost]

Sounds to me like he thinks we aren't in the same league as the Cats and Johnson. Dont like the overall sub-text but loved the relaying of exchanges which demonstrated Stevie J is as big of a smart arse as he appears !
Good read for the neutral.

[bornadog]

Sounds to me like he thinks we aren't in the same league as the Cats and Johnson. Dont like the overall sub-text but loved the relaying of exchanges which demonstrated Stevie J is as big of a smart arse as he appears !
Good read for the neutral.

Murphy is way too nice to admit it, but the way I read it, the things Stevie said to Murph, were from the mouth of an arrogant person who is up himself.

[w3design]

Don't particularly like this article, Stevie J had a field day last week and for Murph to come out and compliment it gives me the shits to be honest.

Stevie J is a gun, there is no doubting that. Murph had a poor game on him if he was his direct opponent.

Oh for heavens sake Slim, lighten up a bit.
While it may be life and death, it is still just a game.
Have a bit of fun...jeeezz!

It was a very well written piece, that made for a great read. It demonstrated both Murph's intelligence, and his understanding of the game, along with due respect for an enormously talented opponent.

Not sure about others, but I would much rather read something like that than usual mechanically recycled pap: "just taking it a week at a time"..."we respect them as an opposition"..."we are just concentrating on getting our processes right".

Don't know which line he might want to go down once he retires, but I reckon Murph sounds like he has the makings of either a decent coach, or a better than average media performer.

[Remi Moses]

Must admit marveling at the skills of Steve Johnson in the warm up.
He was off one step slotting goals left foot from the boundary line!!!
Probably 40 out

[Cyberdoggie]

Murphy is way too nice to admit it, but the way I read it, the things Stevie said to Murph, were from the mouth of an arrogant person who is up himself.

True but how often do we see arrogance with brilliance.

I don't like it but they seem to run together more often than not.

Take any number of american NBA basketballers, they make Stevie J look shy.

Just about any champion formula 1 driver has been an arrogant so n so.
Schumacher, Prost, Senna, Hill.

I guess any sport that relies more on an individual being great emphasizes this.
In a team full of greats Stevie J somehow stands out differently to others.

[Sockeye Salmon]

Not too long ago I read an article on Billy Slater.

Slater famously turned over a ball in a state of origin game that handed the win to NSW. Thinking he must have been shattered, his teammates tried to console him. Slater wasn't concerned one bit about it. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

Brilliance doesn't usually think about it too much, it just happens.

[chef]

Murphy is way too nice to admit it, but the way I read it, the things Stevie said to Murph, were from the mouth of an arrogant person who is up himself.

Or someone just having a joke/being a smart arse.

[SlimPickens]

Oh for heavens sake Slim, lighten up a bit.
While it may be life and death, it is still just a game.
Have a bit of fun...jeeezz!

It was a very well written piece, that made for a great read. It demonstrated both Murph's intelligence, and his understanding of the game, along with due respect for an enormously talented opponent.


Don't know which line he might want to go down once he retires, but I reckon Murph sounds like he has the makings of either a decent coach, or a better than average media performer.

All for having fun and all in all I don't mind the piece. The reason it gave me "the shits", was the timing.

We lost a very winnable game last week and Stevie J performance was a big reason for that, that's all.

[Rocco Jones]

I follow him on Twitter and he has Stevie J as his profile picture.

[Nuggety Back Pocket]

Have another read of the article Slim.

He had him only when he was forward of centre. As it should be

The problem being EJ was that we allowed StevieJ to play unaccountable football away from their attack. A costly mistake by the MC.as he was clearly best afield. Pushing Murph forward could have given us a better attacking option.

[G-Mo77]

I follow him on Twitter and he has Stevie J as his profile picture.

Stevie J also tweeted back to him about it.

They're in love. :p

[Rocco Jones]

Stevie J also tweeted back to him about it.

They're in love. :p

Jake King tweet to Bob was a classic. Went along the lines of...

'I like V8s, you like weird shit...we should do a pilot for a sitcom. '

[w3design]

Its not arrogance that gives me the sh1t's. It is arrogance with nothing to back it up, or to earn it.
Some times arrogance is a disguise or cover for self doubt. I don't think that is necessarily the case with Stevie J. He is just bloody brilliant, and he knows it. I am pretty sure the self belief is a serious part of what makes him as good as he is.
Good luck to him I say.
Might worry for him a bit once age takes that brilliance away. Hopefully then the arrogance is not all he is left with.

[AndrewP6]

Murphy is way too nice to admit it, but the way I read it, the things Stevie said to Murph, were from the mouth of an arrogant person who is up himself.

This bit sums it up for me.

[AndrewP6]

Bob Murphy (http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/trick-of-the-light-or-just-another-stevie-j-trick-20120530-1zjgp.html)

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa198/mmsalih/art-stvej-420x0.jpg

Playing on Steve Johnson is an event for the ages, and one that can age a tagger.

'GRANDPA, tell us again about the day you played on Stevie J …''
When people complain that there's no characters left in the game, I sometimes wonder if, for some, to be a character you have to play the fool. My answer to anyone holding up this argument is simple: Stevie J.
Here is a character who is no fool. If he were a cocktail he'd be three parts genius and one part rascal.


Don't know Stevie J from a bar of soap, but from what I've seen in interviews, I'm not sure "genius" is a word I'd attach to him.

[AndrewP6]

I'm sort of with Slim on this one, I'd rather a bit less "I love Stevie J" and a bit more "Jeez I'm p***ed off we dropped that game".

[Maddog37]

Life is too short to not stop and enjoy yourself occasionally guys. Lighten up.

[LostDoggy]

I caught the tail end of Mark Stevens & the host of AFL 360 discussing this last night, they both loved the article & Bob Murphys articles in general. The topic heading at the bottom of the page was "Bob Murphy - my night with Stevie J". ;)

[bornadog]

I caught the tail end of Mark Stevens & the host of AFL 360 discussing this last night, they both loved the article & Bob Murphys articles in general. The topic heading at the bottom of the page was "Bob Murphy - my night with Stevie J". ;)

You mean Robbo:)

[The Pie Man]

For insight into banter/interaction on the ground, this was one of Bob's better articles (and I like pretty much all of them)

Opinion pieces....or more explorations of ideas/experiences don't have to be liked by everyone - I've got no problem with people taking issue with timing etc, but I wouldn't share that view. It was a great read IMV, and I've no doubt he's hurting as much as anyone that we dropped that game.

Also liked the 'I'll let you keep hitting me if you can explain the mo to me' earlier this year after playing Melbourne re: Dunn.

[Sedat]

I'm a little biased because I am good mates with Stevie J's sister and brother-in-law, but I reckon he is fantastic for the game. His vision and awareness are top drawer, and his courage and determination are extremely underrated - the amount of work he put in to be not only fit but be able to contribure significantly to the GF win last year, after badly hurting his knee in the PF, was amazing. And only Lenny Hayes has a better record of completely destroying us with monotunous regularity. I don't mind his cheeky little comments as well - let's face it, he backs them up.

I'd love to have such a player at our club.

[LostDoggy]

Or someone just having a joke/being a smart arse.

My read on it. Not much point being stupidly arrogant on-field unless you can back it up.


The problem being EJ was that we allowed StevieJ to play unaccountable football away from their attack. A costly mistake by the MC.as he was clearly best afield. Pushing Murph forward could have given us a better attacking option.

Dreamin' mate. He's a halfback now and is likely to stay there. We've all gotta let go.


For insight into banter/interaction on the ground, this was one of Bob's better articles (and I like pretty much all of them)

Opinion pieces....or more explorations of ideas/experiences don't have to be liked by everyone - I've got no problem with people taking issue with timing etc, but I wouldn't share that view. It was a great read IMV, and I've no doubt he's hurting as much as anyone that we dropped that game.

Also liked the 'I'll let you keep hitting me if you can explain the mo to me' earlier this year after playing Melbourne re: Dunn.

With umpires miked up, cameras from every angle, this is the one area of the game we never get to see, so I'm very thankful to Murph for letting us in for a peek.

[PedroArvy]

I once heard Donald Trump say that you should hate your competitors in business. And if you want to be successful, I agree. No matter how well written, insightful, nobel prize winning this article is I'd prefer it if Bob just hated this guy's guts and was determined to completely destroy him in their encounter. It would be a more fruitful attitude to winning the game.

[jeemak]

I'm a little biased because I am good mates with Stevie J's sister and brother-in-law, but I reckon he is fantastic for the game. His vision and awareness are top drawer, and his courage and determination are extremely underrated - the amount of work he put in to be not only fit but be able to contribure significantly to the GF win last year, after badly hurting his knee in the PF, was amazing. And only Lenny Hayes has a better record of completely destroying us with monotunous regularity. I don't mind his cheeky little comments as well - let's face it, he backs them up.

I'd love to have such a player at our club.

He was amazing in the last two weeks of 2011. Apart from a one or two year period post 2007 when he'd stage a lot and get looked after (alon with Ablett, mind) I've loved watching him play. Skills, smarts, athletic ability and freakish talent. If he could convert from set shots at the level required he'd be the most complete player in the game, for the position he plays. If he's a bit of a cheeky smartarse, then good on him as he can back it up. As long as he learns to pull his head in as he gets older and influences games less then I don't see an issue.


I once heard Donald Trump say that you should hate your competitors in business. And if you want to be successful, I agree. No matter how well written, insightful, nobel prize winning this article is I'd prefer it if Bob just hated this guy's guts and was determined to completely destroy him in their encounter. It would be a more fruitful attitude to winning the game.

I think separation between what happens on the field and what happens off it is healthy in AFL. For some people hate works, for others it doesn't. Adversarial people like Trump get the most out of themselves when they're in a conflict that they bring to a personal level, guys like Bob don't.

[LostDoggy]

I once heard Donald Trump say that you should hate your competitors in business. And if you want to be successful, I agree. No matter how well written, insightful, nobel prize winning this article is I'd prefer it if Bob just hated this guy's guts and was determined to completely destroy him in their encounter. It would be a more fruitful attitude to winning the game.

I took a $3million account off a competitor
I totally respect a couple of Fridays ago. He rang me on the Monday and asked if I'd slept well over the weekend. "like a baby" was my response. We had a chat about the how/why and he ruefully agreed he would have done the same thing. I loved pinching it off him and he hates the fact I've done it. Doesn't mean we can't have a mutual respect as he's really good at what he does and I like to feel likewise. I love the fact Murph is totally comfortable in his own skin that he can give us so much insight into a competitor he clearly admires. It says much about Murphs confidence (and rightly so) that he's able to write like this. Despite the man-love, if they play on each other again I'd be confident both these guys will be desperate to impose their respective wills and destroy each other on the field. Doesn't mean they shouldn't have a beer afterwards.

[LostDoggy]

I took a $3million account off a competitor
I totally respect a couple of Fridays ago. He rang me on the Monday and asked if I'd slept well over the weekend. "like a baby" was my response. We had a chat about the how/why and he ruefully agreed he would have done the same thing. I loved pinching it off him and he hates the fact I've done it. Doesn't mean we can't have a mutual respect as he's really good at what he does and I like to feel likewise. I love the fact Murph is totally comfortable in his own skin that he can give us so much insight into a competitor he clearly admires. It says much about Murphs confidence (and rightly so) that he's able to write like this. Despite the man-love, if they play on each other again I'd be confident both these guys will be desperate to impose their respective wills and destroy each other on the field. Doesn't mean they shouldn't have a beer afterwards.

Agree with this.

I can't believe one can go around living with hate and still remain healthy -- I don't think Mr. Trump represents a healthy ideal to live up to in any way, shape or form.

Being willing to hate while maintaining ridiculous amounts of greed to keep screwing people over despite already having more money than God is a recipe for disaster, as is amply demonstrated, I think, by the personal life stories of people like Trump et al. (it's not about the 'wealth' per se -- there are plenty of balanced billionaires -- it's their attitude towards what one needs to do to get it).

Ruthlessness and being a bitter, ultra-competitive arsehole are not the same thing.

[jazzadogs]

One of the GWS players (Dylan Shiel, I think it was) tweeted that towards the end of their game on the weekend, he got a kick and Stevey J said to him 'I let you get that one because you're in my SuperCoach side'. It's just the way he works!

[LostDoggy]

One of the GWS players (Dylan Shiel, I think it was) tweeted that towards the end of their game on the weekend, he got a kick and Stevey J said to him 'I let you get that one because you're in my SuperCoach side'. It's just the way he works!

That is hilarious. Hard not to like a larrakin.

[LostDoggy]

One of the GWS players (Dylan Shiel, I think it was) tweeted that towards the end of their game on the weekend, he got a kick and Stevey J said to him 'I let you get that one because you're in my SuperCoach side'. It's just the way he works!

Love him or hate him as a player he's clearly got game in the banter arena.:D

[LostDoggy]

I once heard Donald Trump say that you should hate your competitors in business. And if you want to be successful, I agree. No matter how well written, insightful, nobel prize winning this article is I'd prefer it if Bob just hated this guy's guts and was determined to completely destroy him in their encounter. It would be a more fruitful attitude to winning the game.

Donald Trump is not a man I admire. I'd love his money, sure, but he's not somebody to look up to.


Agree with this.

I can't believe one can go around living with hate and still remain healthy -- I don't think Mr. Trump represents a healthy ideal to live up to in any way, shape or form.

Being willing to hate while maintaining ridiculous amounts of greed to keep screwing people over despite already having more money than God is a recipe for disaster, as is amply demonstrated, I think, by the personal life stories of people like Trump et al. (it's not about the 'wealth' per se -- there are plenty of balanced billionaires -- it's their attitude towards what one needs to do to get it).

Ruthlessness and being a bitter, ultra-competitive arsehole are not the same thing.

Said exactly what I was thinking. There's nothing wrong with respecting your foe. In fact, it's the best way to be. Sorry to use what must be my 314th military reference, but look at the Turks: We invade their country in World War I and one of the most bitter campaigns of the war is fought out, where an estimated 87,000 Turkish soldiers lost their lives. About 11,500 ANZACs died. Yet both sides, after the battle, have held the utmost respect for the other.