“IT’S like looking at slow motion,” remarks Hassa Mann when discussing footage of his playing days with the Melbourne Football Club, during its golden premiership era in the '50s and '60s.
Mann, an Australian Football Hall of Fame inductee, Melbourne Team of the Century member and three-time premiership player (1959-60 and 1964) finds the differences in the game, from his era to now quite profound. Though he is quick to mention that some aspects of his era would transfer comfortably into a modern setting.
“A lot of the good players who played in the '50s and '60s in our very successful era ... would certainly be very good players in today's football. A guy like [Ron] Barassi would be an outstanding player in today's era,” Mann said.
It startles and captivates me to hear Mann recall memories of his teammates from his playing career.
From consuming raw eggs in a glass before a game to cigarette smoking or a swig of whisky at three quarter-time.
“I know Don Williams had a very special trainer who would give him a nick of scotch to keep him going. I think he just liked it, though I dare say it gave him a little bit of a pep and didn’t worry him," Mann said.
Although the fundamentals of football have remained almost the same throughout its history, it seems the mechanisms around football have changed dramatically.
“When I compare, our whole training was conducted by Norm Smith ... we didn’t have the fitness people. Our training became quite tedious and boring - every night was basically the same. We would come down to training, we would do a few laps to warm-up, [do] some end to end kicking, then circle work. Then [we] always finished off with sprints - very basic, very primitive when you compare with today,” Mann said.
With charm and comfort, Mann speaks of modern commitments to training in comparison to his era. For example, he tells of his teammates holding down full-time jobs, along with football commitments.
“The attendance at training was dependent on the job or the profession a player had," he said.
