Al Paton a football expert, the Superfooty website editor, former SuperCoach little black book writer and resident SuperCoach guru.
Al Paton from SuperFooty
1) First of all, I honestly think you have the best job ever. Getting payed to talk about Supercoach! Any chance of taking the Mike Sheahan route and retiring? Maybe give the Sarge a job?
I wish that was my whole job! SuperCoach is just part of my position but it is getting bigger every year. Soon we will need a full-time SuperCoach expert, I'm sure there would be plenty of applications.
2) What is your role at Superfooty?
I'm the editor of the SuperFooty site. So I'm in charge of all the
content we put up, from writing and editing stories to deciding how the website looks and producing videos. SuperCoach is a huge part of all that.
3) Supercoach, what about it interests you?
I love the community aspect of the game - there are a bunch of people on Twitter I feel pretty friendly with even though I've never met them, all because of SuperCoach. It's an extension of the friendly rivalry that makes AFL the best game in the world - sit with mates who go for opposite teams and bag each other out, then shake hands afterwards (mostly). Now SuperCoach is a key part of that. Also it makes you watch the games a lot closer, I have a much greater understanding of players and what makes them good or bad than I did before.
4) Will you be appearing on the Supercoach Show any time soon?
Haven't had a call from Fox, so I don't think so. Happy stay behind the keyboard!
5) What's the most difficult part of putting the little black book together?
The first Little Black Book was an interesting experience - I was told we were doing a 100-page booklet on SuperCoach and no one had any idea what was going in it. I had to pull it all together in a few weeks, from thinking of a format to writing all the profiles. That's something I'm pretty proud of. But having something in print is always problematic
because the deadline is 2-3 weeks before it hits the stands - look back at the players we were all watching at the start of the NAB Cup and you'll see how much can change in that time. Having said that, I still think it was a great resource especially for people new to the game.
Hopefully we'll see it again in the future.
6) Are you allowed to go onto the Supercoach site and make trades and tinker your team while at work? Or do you get in trouble just like the rest of us blokes?
If they blocked the SuperCoach site here people would tear the building down! My desk is in the Herald Sun sport dept so Robbo, Ralphy, Jay, Sam and all the guys are tinkering with their teams all the time. My problem is I spend a lot more time researching and writing about SuperCoach than I do working on my own team (that's my excuse, anyway).
7) What made you get into journalism?
Hard to say. I originally wanted to be a cartoonist but I've always loved writing and footy so I'm pretty much in the dream job. It's a very difficult profession to break into at the moment so I feel pretty lucky, even if the long hours can be taxing.
8) What advice would you give to people who want to get into journalism?
Doing a journalism course is great, but in my experience it definitely isn't essential. The most important thing is to show how keen you are. My first newspaper job was on the Murrumbidgee Irrigator - I had to move from Melbourne to a town called Leeton, which is hours from anywhere in NSW. Write anywhere and everywhere and keep samples of all your work.
9) What do you want to say to the people who are on the fence about the paywall?
Give it a chance. Newspapers are going through a very interesting time and a lot are going out of business, especially in the US. Papers are still figuring out how to deal with a changing world where more people are getting their news online or on their phones. Ad revenue in the
paper is down and online ads don't go anywhere near covering the cost of running our website. The site used to just be another version of what's in the paper but now there are a lot of great stories, columns, videos and other products that you can only see online, and they all take time (of people like me) and effort to produce. We think that's worth 50 cents a day.
I wish that was my whole job! SuperCoach is just part of my position but it is getting bigger every year. Soon we will need a full-time SuperCoach expert, I'm sure there would be plenty of applications.
2) What is your role at Superfooty?
I'm the editor of the SuperFooty site. So I'm in charge of all the
content we put up, from writing and editing stories to deciding how the website looks and producing videos. SuperCoach is a huge part of all that.
3) Supercoach, what about it interests you?
I love the community aspect of the game - there are a bunch of people on Twitter I feel pretty friendly with even though I've never met them, all because of SuperCoach. It's an extension of the friendly rivalry that makes AFL the best game in the world - sit with mates who go for opposite teams and bag each other out, then shake hands afterwards (mostly). Now SuperCoach is a key part of that. Also it makes you watch the games a lot closer, I have a much greater understanding of players and what makes them good or bad than I did before.
4) Will you be appearing on the Supercoach Show any time soon?
Haven't had a call from Fox, so I don't think so. Happy stay behind the keyboard!
5) What's the most difficult part of putting the little black book together?
The first Little Black Book was an interesting experience - I was told we were doing a 100-page booklet on SuperCoach and no one had any idea what was going in it. I had to pull it all together in a few weeks, from thinking of a format to writing all the profiles. That's something I'm pretty proud of. But having something in print is always problematic
because the deadline is 2-3 weeks before it hits the stands - look back at the players we were all watching at the start of the NAB Cup and you'll see how much can change in that time. Having said that, I still think it was a great resource especially for people new to the game.
Hopefully we'll see it again in the future.
6) Are you allowed to go onto the Supercoach site and make trades and tinker your team while at work? Or do you get in trouble just like the rest of us blokes?
If they blocked the SuperCoach site here people would tear the building down! My desk is in the Herald Sun sport dept so Robbo, Ralphy, Jay, Sam and all the guys are tinkering with their teams all the time. My problem is I spend a lot more time researching and writing about SuperCoach than I do working on my own team (that's my excuse, anyway).
7) What made you get into journalism?
Hard to say. I originally wanted to be a cartoonist but I've always loved writing and footy so I'm pretty much in the dream job. It's a very difficult profession to break into at the moment so I feel pretty lucky, even if the long hours can be taxing.
8) What advice would you give to people who want to get into journalism?
Doing a journalism course is great, but in my experience it definitely isn't essential. The most important thing is to show how keen you are. My first newspaper job was on the Murrumbidgee Irrigator - I had to move from Melbourne to a town called Leeton, which is hours from anywhere in NSW. Write anywhere and everywhere and keep samples of all your work.
9) What do you want to say to the people who are on the fence about the paywall?
Give it a chance. Newspapers are going through a very interesting time and a lot are going out of business, especially in the US. Papers are still figuring out how to deal with a changing world where more people are getting their news online or on their phones. Ad revenue in the
paper is down and online ads don't go anywhere near covering the cost of running our website. The site used to just be another version of what's in the paper but now there are a lot of great stories, columns, videos and other products that you can only see online, and they all take time (of people like me) and effort to produce. We think that's worth 50 cents a day.