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Collingwood
coach Mick Malthouse helped to motivate Ballarat’s crew
ahead of commissioning.
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By
Peter Johnson
Collingwood
coach Mick Malthouse provided plenty of words of wisdom during
a recent visit to HMAS Ballarat.
Malthouse, who grew up in the Victorian town of Ballarat, touched
on what it takes to bring people together.
“If you took off your uniforms and went in different directions,
you might ignore each other going to different jobs,” Malthouse
said.
He said that the moment his players were given their black and
white jumpers they were expected to respect one another and follow
the game plan.
This was similar to what is expected of Ballarat’s ship’s company,
heading towards the common goal of developing as an operational
unit.
It was an important motivational moment for the crew of Ballarat,
which commissioned at Victoria Harbour, in Melbourne, on June
26.
After tracing his early football years, Malthouse shared the view
that at some stage in life you have to make a decision to let
things happen or make them happen. He made the decision to leave
his mates at Wendouree West in Ballarat and move on.
“We all come from different areas and we have bumps.
It is how we go with those bumps,” he said. On leadership, he
observed: “There are some strong-willed people.
“I have seen some great players who think they are great leaders,
but they look over their shoulders and there’s no-one there.
“Leadership is one thing, strong leadership is different.
All leadership has a price.” On motivation, his view is: “I go
to the game enthusiastic.
My philosophy is, if we have lost, dissect it, work through it.”
CO CMDR David Hunter said that Malthouse had provided the ship
with a number of key points which would help “set us down the
path we need to follow in the next few months”
