Ranking the top SEVEN crazy AFL motivational ploys

AFL clubs will try just about anything to find a competitive advantage. Anything. From overseas trips to training in altitude to fire walks, looking back over the years, there have been some questionable motivational tactics employed by clubs. But which are the craziest? Colorado Collingwood The Pies were industry-leaders in attempting to find an edge over an opponent by utilising altitude training. During the Michael Malthouse era, Collingwood players and staff would head to Arizona over the pre-season to improve their aerobic capacity by training at higher elevations. A week-long training regime in Boulder, Colorado, helped put the Pies ahead of the competition in the late 2000s and early 2010s. Rival clubs would partake in similar training in a bid to increase players' red blood cell count and boost their bodies' ability to carry and deliver oxygen. Albeit the fad has since dissipated in the AFL. Collingwood utilised these training camps as bonding experiences, which worked as they became premiers in 2010. Hawks hike Kokoda Hawthorn found success in its trips to Papua New Guinea in 2004 and 2018. The Kokoda Track isn't for the faint-hearted, and the young Hawks, as part of their induction to the club, embarked on the multi-day journey through some of the most difficult treks known. In 2004, the likes of Lance 'Buddy' Franklin, Jarryd Roughead and Jordan Lewis graced the fields where Australian World War II troops were under constant threat of ambush. The Hawks made three further trips since the inaugural journey, ensuring every new player completed the task. The bonding experience, which was shared by 2018 Hawks players such as Jarman Impey, Chad Wingard, Mitch Lewis, Oliver Hanrahan and David Mirra, was second to none. The reasoning behind the trip by Alastair Clarkson was two-fold; one being education of the country and creating a deeper sense of appreciation, while the other was attempting to enhance the importance of teamwork, comradery and helping each other when things get tough. No Sleeves Clarkson Alastair Clarkson was not a fan of the long sleeves. Former club captain Luke Hodge confirmed it. He had a 'no long sleeves policy' for his players, regardless of the conditions. He took his own words literally on one of the coldest nights recorded during an AFL match in Canberra during the 2019 season. Hawthorn travelled to the nation's capital and expected to face the Giants, but they also contended with the conditions. Snow fell at Manuka Oval, with temperatures dipping into the negatives. In the pre-game, Clarkson tore his polo off and started running laps ahead of the clash. The Hawks would go on to win the game comfortably. https://twitter.com/HawthornFC/status/1428205082034704389?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1428205082034704389%7Ctwgr%5E13b91ec3fff72f22ab1ad6e313c2569b2e7d1474%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.afl.com.au%2Fnews%2F666991%2Fend-of-an-era-the-highs-and-lows-of-the-alastair-clarkson-show Power stance by Adelaide The Crows were searching for a flag in 2017, and after claiming the minor premiership, they posed as the biggest challenger for the crown. In order to remain a threat to the competition, they performed a power stance in the finals pre-game, including the decider against Richmond. A ploy to intimidate the opposition fell dramatically on its face, as the Tigers ended a 37-year premiership drought. Former Crow Josh Jenkins claimed Collective Minds, the organisation that led the infamous pre-season camp (which will be spoken about later) "conned" the club into it. "I see the power stance has made a comeback with Justin Leppitsch, who made mention of it. It'll be coming up for 20 years, that stupid stance," Jenkins said on SEN in 2020. "We were conned, mate. We were conned by the crew at Collective Minds. Told us that if we did it we'd go all the way. "In fairness, it didn't affect our game at all because we did it in the other two finals and we blew GWS and Geelong away. So it didn't have any negative impact. "It was just a little bit of foolishness and probably a bit naive on our behalf to think we would have an impact on the game." Running on coals 'Notso' Smart Adelaide premiership player Nigel Smart was an uncompromising defender, and would do anything for his team. In the pre-season of 1992, he walked over hot coals. In Rapid Bay, a motivational speaker encouraged Crows players to step through the heat, and Smart was the first to do so. He suffered blisters and first-degree burns on his feet. Adelaide president Bob Hammond called the fire walk off before any player followed the same fate as Smart. His move earned him the nickname 'Notso'. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0mEt8vc0CI Adelaide training camp The pre-season camp from hell turned the Crows from a premiership contender into a scarred organisation only recently showing signs of being healed. Following the 2017 grand final loss, Adelaide embarked on a camp in Queensland designed to test the mental toughness of the players. Players were scolded with abuse and physicality, according to former Crow Josh Jenkins. Personal and sensitive information was shared and used against him. The use of an Aboriginal digging stick as a talking stick was deemed culturally offensive to the Indigenous players such as Eddie Betts. As a result, the club fell to 12th on the ladder, and multiple players departed the club at the end of 2018, while coach Don Pyke resigned at the end of 2019. It's a bird. It's a plane. No, it's a Bulldog? It ended in tragic fashion, but a pre-season ploy by Bulldogs coach Terry Wheeler to force his players out of a plane to confront their fears would not fly in modern day football. It shouldn't have flown then (excuse the pun). In 1990, Wheeler implored all of Footscray's players to jump from a plane into the Port Phillip Bay. "We had the mis-pleasure of seeing somebody die ... died right in front of us," former Bulldog Mark Hunter said this week. The Dogs players were at Pakenham, training for their own looming jump, when disaster struck. "We were practising how to get out of this makeshift plane, how to get on and off," Hunter recalled on the Danny/Boyd podcast. "I was in the Hawk's (Doug Hawkins') group and the instructor said, 'Come out here, come out here and watch this guy land, he's a professional'. "He came down wind, he turned too late and he just went ... into the ground about 100m from us. "I just looked at Hawk and said, 'You've got to be joking. If you think we're jumping out of a plane, you've got to be joking'." FULL STORY HERE.

		P	W	L	PTS	%
1	FRE	11	10	1	40	135.5
2	SYD	11	9	2	36	142.5
3	HAW	12	8	3	34	114.8
4	GEEL	12	8	4	32	121.9
5	GC	11	7	4	28	116.9
6	MELB	11	7	4	28	106.7
7	ADEL	11	6	5	24	107.9
8	BL	11	6	5	24	106.6
9	WB	11	6	5	24	92.8
10	COLL	11	5	5	22	100.3

Ranking the top SEVEN crazy AFL motivational ploys

There has been plenty of eyebrow-raising motivational tactics, including jumping out of a plane and walking on hot coals.

3Running on coals 'Notso' Smart

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