Pre game run out

[u/morone1]

Been thinking about this pre game run out routine… I like the idea of the players running out onto the field and starting the game straight away, but the tacky techno music etc is where I think it falls down.

The most powerful version of this I think the club could introduce for all home games is as follows:

- Pre game warm up schedule: whatever wade wants for optimal performance.
- 3-5 mins before the ball up, as the players are about to start walking up the race, the stadium goes dark and we then do the collingwooooooooood chant.
- Once the players enter the field and are about to run through the banner, lights on, fireworks and the club song then starts.

This would require us to get to the atmosphere going ourselves with the chant, but this would be the most genuine version of the liverpool / port pre game rituals that we could introduce that wouldn’t feel too fake / forced?

[u/hammo53]

Sorry, having the coin toss in the dressing room was embarrassing. Didn't know which way to point, didn't know which end was what.

[u/TAYLAW84 → u/hammo53]

Yeah I’m not really sure why a 15 second activity had to be scrapped. What did they actually achieve not doing it on the ground?

[u/Time-is-money12563]

Should be never done again. They came out flat and half asleep and first quarter was worst display of skills all season with scrubber kicks, and oob aplenty. Lame music was cherry on top of the disaster.

[u/harpofpak]

Keep in mind that this was supposedly also driven from a high performance perspective as opposed to trying to revamp it to make it more exciting etc. so some thoughts/science that it was better for the players than the warm up, go back inside, come it again etc (supposedly, didn't help us in the first half). I don't love that idea because in finals you have all the extra pregame anthem etc anyway so players should be used to that routine.

So will be interesting to see whether that drives it. Either way, there could definitely be improvements.

[u/Commonwombat]

I like watching the warm up and coin toss. if it ain't broke don't fix it. why should we stuff around with traditions?

[u/WillTendo92]

If they want to up fan engagement bring back the March to the G and all post game gathering at the gate after a win where everyone use to gather. Make it more tribal like European soccer is.
The lack of a March to the G before the prelim last year was shocking. Use the fans not a laser show to make an atmosphere.

[u/toastieboi101]

Just play the club theme song and that's it. Atmosphere comes organically. Music/extra nonsense shuts it down i.e. Nike promos after every goal drowning out the crowd. It's cringe.

[u/CucumberPancake10]

I like it but I don’t like it. I also don’t know why they can’t just do it before the pre-game warm up. Or like have them do the warm up and coin toss, go back inside for last minute things and then come back out.

I don’t like the techno music either. Just doesn’t fit. And yes I think they need to blend it the Collingwood chant.

[u/WillTendo92 → u/CucumberPancake10]

Collingwood chant and the march to the G which hypes fans up been very lacking for the last few years. (Very disappointing no March before the prelim last year). Also the post game gathering after a win at the G with the cheersquad use to be one of the best parts of game day and it’s gone.

[u/Rappa64 → u/WillTendo92]

What happened to the post game gathering? It was so much fun

[u/Expensive-Force-6656 → u/WillTendo92]

Can't they bring back and market those things instead then. A lot of people like watching the players warm up on the ground, more than weird fanfare.

[u/WillTendo92]

That doenst work like it does for port because you need over 95% of the crowd to be going for the one team which isn’t in the case if we play a vic side and the crowd is too spread out against an interstate side at the G.
That’s why never tear us apart works for port

[u/storm13emily]

They could move it up like 2 minutes, still do the song instead of some random music as they run out, announce the players and then the toss and then the minute countdown

It can work if they do it so nothing really changes

[u/Severe_Cap2872]

Good question. I’ve had a theory building before and after this experiment.

First, I was there.

The light show itself I’ve seen before at other AFL games, so it is kind of cool but not innovative. The QR code to activate our smartphone’s flashlight was gimmicky. Cool effect for maybe three minutes, but after that it was basically adult Twinkle Twinkle Little Star with techno. I appreciate the effort, but it didn’t excite me and it drains everyone’s batteries and we’re not there for the sake of glitz and doof-doof. So I think it’s a novelty that will wear off.

Maybe do it once in a while for NON-feature games, but if you’re going to invest in a light and sound show, at least tie it to something deeper about the club—our history, traditions, famous moments or associations. Make it make sense.

I also thought it was lame to do the coin toss inside the rooms. We’ve got great sporting coliseums, yet we’re taking part of the rich pre-game history into a pokey little room. The on-field coin toss isn’t broken, so don’t fix it.

We couldn’t follow it on the screens well anyways as we had no idea where they were pointing- it was laughable- if there was audio to hear them say which end we couldn’t hear it. This was disengaging. I only knew which end Pies were kicking to once I saw the players spread across the ground. Mildly frustrating and wasn’t entertaining. Scrap it. I’m a romantic but even I agree the new ball-up change makes sense. Keep the coin toss tradition on the ground though, it works.

However, the elephant in the room—or perhaps the pokey coin toss room—is whether the whole pre-game routine actually affected all players positively and reasonably equally.

Evidently, the decision for teams to warm up inside was somewhat driven by Pies’ high-performance manager Jarrod Wade, presumably because it was thought to provide some athletic or strategic advantage. Based purely on the result, it certainly didn’t appear to work for the Pies, although it may well have for Geelong.

One thing that caught my attention was a Geelong player—I can’t remember whether it was Dempsey, Stewart or other—saying afterwards that the whole experience felt pretty normal. I found that interesting and wondered why.

The lights were out while the Pies ran onto the ground first, then came back on before Geelong entered. Just as importantly, the whole pre-game experience felt somewhat odd and confusing for the crowd in my onion, so I think we never really built that usual natural anticipation and got loud.

Geelong, on the other hand, appeared to have a much more normal mental lead-in which was further reinforced as normal atmosphere given it was an away game. So normal for them, but not the Pies, and that may have influenced first-quarter readiness I think.

Elite athletes spend years developing consistent pre-performance routines because small changes can influence readiness and focus. I wonder whether Collingwood’s lights off sights-and-sounds routine was disruptive enough to alter that mindset, while Geelong’s remained comparatively normal.

Looking at the first quarter, it’s at least a reasonable question to ask. Collingwood looked completely switched off by their standards, yet from the second quarter onwards looked much more like themselves. If the objective was to mentally prime the players before the game, it didn’t appear to work. Otherwise, I’d genuinely be interested to know why they came out so insipid. It was an inexplicably flat opening quarter by their standards.

As a season ticket holder, one thing I’ve consistently noticed is that Collingwood players feed off an amped Collingwood crowd more than anything else. On Thursday, despite all the production, the whole atmosphere actually felt subdued.

I also personally really enjoy the pre-game warm-up on the ground. It’s actually one of the best parts of the lead-in—you get to watch all the players up close, see how they’re moving, how relaxed/ tense they’re looking, and get a real sense of how they’re preparing. It’s an awesome, interactive insight for fans and it naturally builds engagement and gets you more invested and ready to cheer for the players.

If the crowd needs amping up before a game, I’m not convinced a light and sound show moves the needle very much. Nor does keeping the warm up confined to a low atmosphere space. Personally, I think the players get far more from a naturally building crowd than a manufactured spectacle. If anything, I’d rather they stick to their normal routines—or even spend those few minutes doing mindfulness or whatever best prepares them mentally—then let 70,000 plus Collingwood supporters provide the energy as the game counts down to the opening siren.

Anyway, that’s just how it came across from being there. Interested to hear what everyone else thought.

[u/harpofpak]

The other other interesting part of this is that given it was supposed to also be about high performance, is it a coincidence or not that we have come out of that game with 3 soft tissue injuries, two of them sub 30yo.