Age shall weary them

Sports Australia football nuts, Justine McCullagh-Beasy and Joel Arnott return to discuss some of the veterans of AFL football in the wake of Anzac Day this week.

Justine: Unfortunately as champions' age their ability to tear a game apart slowly fades into a figment of the past as their legs slow and frustration mounts because of it. In recent rounds Brisbane skipper Michael Voss has twice been left watching his opponent escape from his clutches, the once mighty Lion, along with his crumbling team, appears to be staring down the barrel at a possible switch to the forward line to prolong his brilliant career.

Joel: Players like Voss are definitely surrendering to the process of age. Although you can't deny the fact that players such as Shane Crawford, Robert Harvey, Scott West seem to be getting better with age - Akin to a bottle of port.

Justine: Yes - it appears to be a case of fly or fall. Those three superstars all epitomize the importance of training to the absolute limit, as does Voss but the strain of playing longer seasons may have caught up on him, where as the others listed have had the chance to overcome injuries because of their extended summer vacations.

Joel: Age also raises the question of contractual security. Players like Peter Everitt have been striving for two-year deals, as his fitness has been questionable this season, where as fitness-freaks like Crawford seem to be content with one-year contracts.

Justine: Matthew Lappin of Carlton was also striving for security and was reluctant to accept a two-year deal after his appeal for a three-year contract was thrown out of the window. But I admire Lappin's loyalty, which can't be said for Scott Camporeale who flew the nest when money became tight. Everitt has been playing second fiddle to Robbie Campbell thus far and the big Spider wouldn't be too impressed with Alistair Clarkson's youth policy, after all he was an All-Australian last season and has been warming the bench for most of this year, which is a surprise.

Joel: Another name that comes to mind is Jade Rawlings, who was part of the infamous "Veale Deal". Rawlings was requesting a three-year deal from Hawthorn, and rightfully so Hawthorn put the club before the player, and only offered a two-year deal, as there were question marks over the buckling knees of Rawlings, and if they would still be holding up three years down the track. Rawlings struggled to get a game at the Dogs, and it seems as if the trend will continue at the Kangaroos.

Justine: Rawlings had one or two impressive seasons at his time at Glenferrie and the judges appeared to jump on his bandwagon too soon, his career has taken a terrible slide since he reluctantly joined the Bulldogs and Dean Laidley seems hesitant to give him a game in the Roos line-up, even though they are struggling. A trend with champions' aging well or degenerating is in whether or not their club is successful or has been hovering at the bottom of the pack. What are your thoughts on this?

Joel: Yes, that seems to be true at the moment. The form of these aged champions' seems to be a barometer of the overall team performance. For instance at the Lions, Voss and Jason Akermanis seem to be struggling, as do the overall playing group.

Justine: Where as at the speedy Bulldogs, although success is only starting to register, West has been able to continually gather 30 plus disposals and 300 gamer Chris Grant has been able to produce some solid form as the Dogs sit pretty on the top of the table.

Joel: Hopefully for the Lions, Voss can pickup his form, and lift the overall performance of the side. Thanks for the chat, Justine. It's been great.

Justine: It's terrible to see a superstar tumble and hopefully for Voss he can recapture his sublime best if only for a couple of cameo appearances. Thanks for the chat, Joel and good luck to your mighty flying Hawks next week against the Bombers.

Joel: Good luck to the Dockers against the Saints in Tassie. Obviously the "Shockers" don't have the best track record at Aurora Stadium, so for your sake, I hope they can rectify that.

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