There is a very fine line between bravery and foolishness. The fact of the matter is that the outcome often dictates which term applies to a certain person in any given situation. If you succeed, your bravery is commended – you’re the hero.
However, should you fail, that brave decision starts to look a lot more like foolishness.
Imagine for a moment you’re Brad Scott.
You’re sitting in the coaching box just before halftime and your stats man tells you that Nick Daicos has had 21 touches of the footy over the first two quarters. How do you feel?
Are you slightly concerned that he is getting so much of the footy? Do you shrug and accept it, knowing that this was to be expected if you opted to go without any one particular person responsible for placing pressure on him? Or does a little alarm bell start sounding in your ears, warning you that you’ve been relatively let off the hook until that point of the game?
Because to that point of the Anzac Day game pitting the Bombers against the Pies, Nick Daicos had plenty of the footy, but had been unable to capitalise on it. He was good, but he wasn’t brilliant. In his mind, do you think Brad Scott was feeling like his bravery in not tagging him was the right move?
It’s hard to see how he wouldn’t have.
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