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Time and Space: The tactics that shaped Australian Rules football and the players and coaches who mastered them
An accomplished book about the genius and ingenuity of the game's greats (and the forgotten) and how they have shaped the game through the innovation of tactics.
From Pagan's Paddock to Clarkson's Cluster, from Fitzroy's huddle to Sydney's flood, the tactics of Australian football have become part of the vernacular.
In this groundbreaking book, ABC journalist James Coventry reveals the secrets behind them all. You'll meet the German gymnast who taught Geelong how to break the game from its rugby roots; the two Test cricketers who became footy's first great coaches; and the water polo player who shaped the modern AFL.
Along the way you'll learn how South Australia pioneered the flick pass; how a rule suggested by Tasmania helped Collingwood win four straight flags; and how Fremantle revolutionised the use of the interchange bench.
Time and Space is essential reading for any fan who wants to know why their team does what it does, and why it wins or loses.
From Pagan's Paddock to Clarkson's Cluster, from Fitzroy's huddle to Sydney's flood, the tactics of Australian football have become part of the vernacular.
In this groundbreaking book, ABC journalist James Coventry reveals the secrets behind them all. You'll meet the German gymnast who taught Geelong how to break the game from its rugby roots; the two Test cricketers who became footy's first great coaches; and the water polo player who shaped the modern AFL.
Along the way you'll learn how South Australia pioneered the flick pass; how a rule suggested by Tasmania helped Collingwood win four straight flags; and how Fremantle revolutionised the use of the interchange bench.
Time and Space is essential reading for any fan who wants to know why their team does what it does, and why it wins or loses.
- GenresNonfiction
368 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2015
11 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 7, 2019
On the surface, Coventry’s book is the story of the evolution of football into the modern game. The instability/flexibility of the game’s rules and tactics is the key feature of this story, more so (perhaps surprisingly) than the slow and inexorable professionalisation of the sport. But this story is given a counterpoint in the decline of the identity of football in non-Victorian states. Coventry’s story is really the story of how football as it was played in Victoria became the way to play it across the nation. (There's no triumphalism about this, and it’s hard not to feel some disappointment at the decline of the classy South Australian game and some pleasure in the rise of Neesham’s water polo-inspired football from Western Australia.) There are many interesting and startling facts that emerge as this story is told, but the book is just as useful as an explanation of why it is difficult to compare historical eras in football: many teams’ successful eras are grounded in the exploitation of unique combinations of rules and tactics.
It’s a complex and at times confusing story, and while there may be a temptation to tackle the topic thematically (e.g., the rise of the hand pass, the decline of the flick pass, changes to the ruck, the rise and fall of forwards, the moves from positional play to zones) Coventry has done the right thing with a broadly chronological narrative. The book is well referenced from a broad variety of sources, and rather than provide a single bibliographical essay Coventry has headed each chapter’s footnotes with a bibliographical note for that chapter.
An index would have been helpful for keeping track of elements of the story. The illustrations of tactics are clear, but there could have been more of them as not all the tactical concepts in the book are illustrated. A timeline chart allowing the reader to cross-reference rules, eras of dominance, and coaches would also have been a nice touch – perhaps even a Len Smith family tree of coaching. These matters could be addressed in a second edition, which is needed not only because of the continuing changes to the rules and tactics, and the development of the semi-professional women’s competition and its own set of rules, but also because of the discovery of evidence that erodes the argument, supported by Coventry, that Wills was not exposed to Marngrook.
Books like this are rare. It’s one that the reader will be wanting to return to almost every season, if only in part, to refresh their understanding and appreciation of the game. ‘Time and Space’ is essential reading for fans of football both spectacle and sporting tradition, and mandatory reading for anyone who has ever wondered, ‘why can’t they leave the game alone?’
It’s a complex and at times confusing story, and while there may be a temptation to tackle the topic thematically (e.g., the rise of the hand pass, the decline of the flick pass, changes to the ruck, the rise and fall of forwards, the moves from positional play to zones) Coventry has done the right thing with a broadly chronological narrative. The book is well referenced from a broad variety of sources, and rather than provide a single bibliographical essay Coventry has headed each chapter’s footnotes with a bibliographical note for that chapter.
An index would have been helpful for keeping track of elements of the story. The illustrations of tactics are clear, but there could have been more of them as not all the tactical concepts in the book are illustrated. A timeline chart allowing the reader to cross-reference rules, eras of dominance, and coaches would also have been a nice touch – perhaps even a Len Smith family tree of coaching. These matters could be addressed in a second edition, which is needed not only because of the continuing changes to the rules and tactics, and the development of the semi-professional women’s competition and its own set of rules, but also because of the discovery of evidence that erodes the argument, supported by Coventry, that Wills was not exposed to Marngrook.
Books like this are rare. It’s one that the reader will be wanting to return to almost every season, if only in part, to refresh their understanding and appreciation of the game. ‘Time and Space’ is essential reading for fans of football both spectacle and sporting tradition, and mandatory reading for anyone who has ever wondered, ‘why can’t they leave the game alone?’
December 21, 2019
This is quite an unusual book: the history of Australian Rules football, recounting the changes in the rules and tactics as the game evolved. From the 1860s (before global football was even encoded as a sport) cricketers in Melbourne started organising games with a view to keeping themselves fit in the off-season. They sought something less physical than rugby, to avoid injuries, but that proved to be a vain hope. The earliest days of the sport were dominated by violent low-scoring affairs, and the earliest rule changes were with the intent of cleaning up the sport, reducing scrimmages and making it more appealing to watch.
AFL fans today would barely recognise the game in its original form. It was played on a rectangular pitch, rather than an oval. Position names were different; the full-forward was known as the goal sneak, a term that implied the somewhat shameful behaviour of hanging back out of the play to snaffle a goal. Captains doubled as umpires, and this enabled the early giants of the game, such as Tom Wills, to try and stamp their own interpretation on what the rules should be and how the game should develop.
The book recounts regional differences in how the sport was played and the political battles waged between states as a unified code began to be adopted. Controversial tactics such the flick pass ebbed and flowed over the decades as rules continued to be amended. Coventry highlights the influence of some of the games early thinkers such as Len Smith, whose thoughts on attacking football can still be seen in the tactics coaches use today.
This is quite an engrossing book with information likely to surprise even people who think they know AFL well. It is, however, for aficionados of the game only, in my opinion.
AFL fans today would barely recognise the game in its original form. It was played on a rectangular pitch, rather than an oval. Position names were different; the full-forward was known as the goal sneak, a term that implied the somewhat shameful behaviour of hanging back out of the play to snaffle a goal. Captains doubled as umpires, and this enabled the early giants of the game, such as Tom Wills, to try and stamp their own interpretation on what the rules should be and how the game should develop.
The book recounts regional differences in how the sport was played and the political battles waged between states as a unified code began to be adopted. Controversial tactics such the flick pass ebbed and flowed over the decades as rules continued to be amended. Coventry highlights the influence of some of the games early thinkers such as Len Smith, whose thoughts on attacking football can still be seen in the tactics coaches use today.
This is quite an engrossing book with information likely to surprise even people who think they know AFL well. It is, however, for aficionados of the game only, in my opinion.
March 1, 2021
After watching Australian Football live since 1978, I’ve witnessed the game unpredictably evolve. This book gives you the opportunity to see how those changes occurred far before my time and how coaches used tactics from places I’d never have thought about myself. This book is a must for any avid fan of the great game of footy.
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