TOPIC:

Effort is a word spoken about in inner football circles more than any reference to possessions, inside 50s or goals etc.

Effort is a really good word to describe activity on a football field. It doesn't designate a particular action, instead it requires an attitude towards any action. It is all encompassing, which is why many coaches use the term. Effort refers to the spoils, chases, tackles, covering space, talk, possessions, blocks and leads that don't necessarily end in possession. This is why coaches require a certain level of effort from their playing group. It is the attitude (especially under fatigue) to working hard for four points.

This is the beauty of our great game. It is not defined by one particular skill, it is not for the pure athlete (who doesn't know where to run), it is not for a lazy yet skillful player. It requires all cylinders firing.

Effort is the reason that people say some (made up) percentage of football is played above the shoulders. It's a favourite saying, but with good reason. It underpins the essence of our game. An individual's attitude to hard work (or their work rate) determines their outcome - that is, effort determines the outcome of the game.

Effort is defined as "a vigorous or determined attempt". The definition embodies an attitude in your attempt.

So many of the "great" commentators, critics and journalists talk about the entertaining players, but coaches and team-mates alike talk about the stalwarts, the consistent players and the negating defenders. That is because within a club, effort is a key measure of success. The entertaining players quite often reap the reward sewn by these other players.

It can be as simple as creating space for a team-mate.

There are also elements to effort that contribute to total level of effort. There are number of efforts, which can be measured to an extent, and then there is the type of effort (correct decision, talk, pressure, chase, tackle) and also the intensity of effort. Two players can have the same number and type of efforts, but the intensity of effort can mean the difference between win or loss.

If effort has such a massive impact on the outcome of the game, that will be the key focus of coaches. The question to ask is how you get your players to maximise effort. This is why footy is played above the shoulders. A players attitude to never give up, to go again and again and to make every effort as intense as possible emulates the harder for longer mantra amongst strong teams.

There are clashes between top sides that are impossible to predict until the last two minutes of the game. That is because as a spectator, you can have a feel for the effort level at that point in time.

The truth is that every player in the AFL is capable of giving the right level of effort individually. Teams win based on the ability of the whole team to collectively produce high intensity effort for longer periods in the game.