When it comes to measuring an athlete’s skills there are a
lot of things we use to evaluate them. Things like size, strength, speed,
endurance, ball skills and more depending on the sport itself. There is also
something we hear about called ‘intangibles’, which is something some athletes
have and some don’t. ‘Intangibles’ includes several things like personality,
leadership, brains, decision making, attitude, heart, effort and all those
attributes that can be harder to quantify and thus they are not tangible.
To create a successful sporting team you don’t need every
single player to have those intangible qualities, but you definitely need a
core of them. Culture is so important in sporting teams and the ones that
create success for sustainable periods are those with an inbuilt culture of
success.
Now obviously we can’t measure every aspect of the
intangibles but we certainly can try measure elements of it. If I were running
a sports team and able to choose the players we sign (and hopefully one day I
will be), I would implement a system to make sure I was bringing in players not
only of high character, but also of high intelligence, decision making in limited
time and logic/reasoning ability.
Quite simply, I would make all players take an aptitude
test. Some players would probably hate it and to be honest it might rule out
certain players who shouldn’t be ruled out. But overall, I think I’d be doing
pretty well on average if I was signing primarily players who scored highly on
an aptitude test.
In the salary cap world, the actual talent of the players
across most teams is relatively even. Yes there are outliers at the top and the
bottom, but by and large most teams have a few stars surrounded by a bunch of
role players with enough talent to be playing in the league. What separates the
good teams from the bad are things like decision making in important moments,
playing and sticking to the team plan and structures as well as some luck with
injuries and the bounce of the ball.
The Melbourne Storm aren’t just built around three of the
most talented players in the league, they are built around three of the
smartest. The same can be said for the San Antonio Spurs, a team that has been
in the title picture without fail since 1998. The Storm and the Spurs have a
lot of similarities. They both are built around a coach and system that ties in
perfectly with their star players and then smartly surrounded by
underappreciated role players. These role players are crucial because they need
to completely understand not only their role, but everyone on the team’s role.
If one guy gets hurt, they are easily replaced because everyone buys into the
system and understands it.
It sounds simple and easy, but if it were, everyone would be
doing it successfully.
Up until they reach the professional level, a lot of
athletes have relied purely on their natural talent levels. But at the
professional level everyone else has that talent level too. This is why we see guys with immense talent
become ‘busts’ and never reach their potential at the pro level.
For this reason, if I was comparing an athlete with A level
talent but a C level brain to an athlete with B level talent but an A level
brain, I’d likely take the B level talent. I want to know I can maximise the
talent of the player and get the consistency that comes with someone who will
fit in to what the coach is trying to accomplish.
To evaluate this, I would likely look to implement the
Wonderlic Test used for players entering the NFL Draft. The Wonderlic is a
multiple choice test of 50 questions to be answered in 12 minutes or less. A
score of 20 indicates average intelligence and 10 points is required to at
least be considered literate.
It is considered important in the NFL primarily for
positions with the most decision making, namely quarterback and the offensive
linemen who protect him. It may surprise you, but those monsters protecting the
quarterback are usually the smartest guys on the field and average the highest
scores in the Wonderlic. This is because to be good as an offensive lineman,
you need to process a lot of information very quickly and make the right
decision, or else your pretty boy star quarterback will end up getting smashed.
It is a high pressure job and requires brains, not just brawn. For reference,
the average score for a quarterback is 24 and an offensive lineman is 26.
In rugby league for example, obviously the positions that
would need to score the highest would be the ‘spine’ of the fullback, five-eighth,
halfback and hooker. They are the playmakers and decision makers pulling the
strings and implementing the coach’s system.
Without naming names, there are many players I have never
rated or felt like were overrated because I felt like they didn’t have these
qualities to lead their team. They had natural ability, but that doesn’t get
you as far at the elite level. These are the players that lead fans to look at
each other in shock when the player makes the worst decision at the worst time
as opposed to someone maybe less talented, but does the smart thing and keeps
his head and composure.
Cameron Smith looks like he should be doing your taxes and
yet he is one of the greatest footy players of all time because he is like a
coach on the field. Darren Lockyer was the same way and believe it or not
larrikins like Andrew Johns and Brad Fittler were genius decision makers, not
just talents, when it came to football. I bet they would score higher on the
Wonderlic than some would imagine.
Look at a guy like Jeff Robson at the Cronulla Sharks. He
would barely have enough natural talent to be in the NRL and yet he has become
the glue of that team and Todd Carney absolutely needs Robson next to him to
harness his own abilities. Fans of other teams and even some Sharks fans may
wonder why they stick with Robson, but I’m sure Shane Flanagan trusts no one
more than their number 7.
Obviously teams need some X-Factor type players and you don’t
need an entire team of brain surgeons to win. But you need brains where it
matters and you certainly do not want the lunatics running the asylum.
I think it would be fascinating if the AFL implemented the
Wonderlic prior to the draft the same way the NFL does. I wonder how much it
would accurately predict success at AFL level and whether teams would value it
as highly as I do.
Also teams struggling and in need of a rebuild, like the
Wests Tigers or Melbourne Demons, could implement the test to their own players
and potential recruits, looking to use a different edge to get back to
challenging for the NRL premiership. They already evaluate other factors; the
brain should be in there too.
Getting a bunch of big, strong, fast guys will get you so
far, but you need to make sure you have enough smart guys pointing them in the
right direction. If the big, strong, fast guys also double as the smart guys,
then that’s even better and how you end up with LeBron James or Greg Inglis.
Sometimes the best ideas are to steal other people’s ideas
and implement them where they aren’t being used. The NFL has a good idea and it’s
time we look to steal it.
