As football continues to evolve, the traditional centre half back is quietly slipping out of existence.

HAD Bonnie Tyler decided to re-release her famous song ‘Holding out for a Hero, the opening line could well have read “Where have all the centre half backs gone?”
When once the likes of Chris Mew, Glen Jakovich and Justin Leppitsch ruled their eras with an iron fist from the key defensive post, today few clubs have a designated centre half back.
The fact that last year’s All-Australian centre half back Craig Bolton did not finish top 10 in Sydney’s best and fairest suggests the selectors’ field was decidedly thin.
Looking at the past five premiership sides, only Geelong’s Harry Taylor could be considered anything close to a prototypical centre half back, and even then he was still only a second-year player when the Cats defeated St Kilda in 2009.
Hawthorn’s Luke Hodge held down centre half back for the Hawks in their premiership year of ’08.
Darren Milburn filled in for the injured Matthew Egan in 2007 while the under-sized Adam Hunter got the job for much of West Coast’s 2006 premiership year.
In 2005 Lewis Roberts-Thomson performed admirably for the Swans in the thrilling win over the Eagles.
The slow death of the goliath-like centre half back is a trend football fans should get comfortable with, according to Jakovich.
In fact, the two-time West Coast premiership player already pronounces the position dead.
“There’s no need for one any more,” Jakovich said.
“I’d like to think there is, but the way the game is played now, the game has changed tenfold.
“Once upon a time you had to be six-foot four and weigh 100kg to be a centre half back.
“Nowadays you don’t need to be that tall because you don’t play a structured position.”
Throughout the 1990s, the Jakovich versus Wayne Carey duels were billed as heavyweight bouts.
Often their individual rivalry would overshadow the game itself as the media pumped up the contest pre-game, then dissected every jab post game.
In was the game’s marquee match-up for the best part of a decade.
Mick Malthouse, then at the helm of the Eagles, mused on Jakovich’s 1997 finals battle against Carey, fresh off seven goals against Geelong.
“He who doesn’t fear death by a thousand cuts, dares to unhorse the emperor,” he said, somewhat mysteriously.
Fans took it to mean that Jakovich was going to tackle Carey head on.
Today’s equivalent of Carey is Brisbane skipper Jonathan Brown. There is no Jakovich equivalent. No one comes close.
While disappointed to watch the demise of his former position, Jakovich doesn’t view it as a loss to the game.
“That’s just part of the evolution of the game but it’s a better product today,” he said.
“Today it’s a version of Twenty20 cricket, where for two hours you’re on the edge of your seat thinking this is going so fast, plenty of goals and exceptional ball movement.
“For what the public has lost in terms of battles, I reckon they’ve got more in terms of entertainment and a complete package with the game of footy.
“From my point of view I’d love to see some of those battles back, but it’s just not going to happen.”
Of the 16 clubs, only Adelaide’s Nathan Bock and to a lesser extent Geelong’s Harry Taylor could be pencilled in at centre half back on a weekly basis.
Chris Tarrant is making the position his own at Fremantle after being switched to defence early last year.
Of all players considered to be their club’s “recognised” centre half back, only Tarrant, Port Adelaide’s Troy Chaplin, Essendon’s Tayte Pears and Blue Bret Thornton finished top 10 in their best and fairests.
Jakovich, who at 192cm and 100kg was considered to boast the perfect footballer’s physique, fondly remembers his initiation at the highest level.
“In my first eight weeks of football I played on Stewie Loewe, Barry Stoneham, Stephen Kernahan and Wayne Carey,” Jakovich said.
“It was a physical era of footy, the 1990s, and you had all sorts of players to come up against. Today the game is vastly different and so are the players playing it.”
Today, only Brisbane’s Brown could be considered a superior physical player capable of imposing his will on opponents a la Loewe and Carey.
St Kilda’s Nick Riewoldt is imposing, but for entirely different reasons given his athletic game.
“There’s no forward that plays the true centre half forward position bar Jonathan Brown and Nick Riewoldt,” Jakovich said. Magpie Travis Cloke might be a third.
Eight clubs – Essendon, Bulldogs, Fremantle, Adelaide, Carlton, Melbourne, Port Adelaide and Sydney – enter season 2010 without a recognised centre half forward.
The Bulldogs, without a recognised forward at all last season, came within a kick of the Grand Final.
Jakovich says Crow Nathan Bock is the man centre half forwards should fear most.
“He’s a bit old fashioned in some respects in the way he plays, but he has got that running ability and smarts to match any of the forwards,” he said.
“He’s the defender I like to watch.”
While a Bock vs Brown battle doesn’t have the same billing – in fact it probably wouldn’t make the undercard – as Jakovich vs Carey, it’s the best today’s football can conjure up.

BEN CASANELIA