Is it the coach or the players?

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DOES the coach make the players ... or do the players make the coach?

If the Scott brothers — twins Chris and Brad — changed sides without letting on, would results dramatically alter at Geelong and North Melbourne to emphasise coaches determine results?

Had Sir Alex Ferguson worked with limited budgets at Aston Villa rather than with the chequebook that brought Eric Cantona to Manchester United, would have he had so much success in the English Premier League?

Norm Smith is the legendary master of Australian football coaches.

The "Red Fox" won six VFL premierships while coaching Melbourne — with talented players who have crowded the Australian Football Hall of Fame — with a 64 per cent success rate.

Yet, in his three seasons at Fitzroy, Smith never had the Lions qualify for the finals while chalking up a credible 56 per cent winning rate.

In his four years at South Melbourne at the end of his coaching career, Smith had a 30 per cent success rate — and in 1970 did give Brownlow Medallist Bob Skilton his only finals game, albeit a loss to St Kilda.

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Smith's older brother, Len, is regarded as a smarter tactician but in his coaching stint at Fitzroy and Richmond was not blessed with the talent Norm commanded at Melbourne.

In SA football, the contrasting results achieved by Fos Williams with nine SANFL premierships at Port Adelaide but none at South Adelaide and West Adelaide suggests coaches may never fulfil their vision without extraordinary talent as Williams had at Alberton.

And then there is Neil Kerley who scored flags at West Adelaide, South Adelaide and Glenelg by clearly having differing player groups buy into his plan.

So here is the question of the week in tune with Showdown XXXVII at Adelaide Oval on Sunday:

If Ken Hinkley (Port Adelaide) and Brenton Sanderson (Adelaide) changed sides, who would win the derby? The importance of a coach — compared to the players — does not set up a mutually exclusive question.

There are some players — such as Brownlow Medallist Gary Ablett and former North Melbourne key forward Wayne Carey — who have such natural brilliance that their careers are not defined by their coaches.

AFL — Adelaide Crows v North Melbourne at Adelaide Oval. Brenton Sanderson talks to Brodie Martin at 3 quarter time Photo Sarah Reed. Source: News Corp Australia

But there are many coaches who could never get their grand plans for premiership campaigns off the drawing board because their clubs lacked quality players.

Hinkley has a 3-0 win loss record in Showdowns against Sanderson. And a freakish bounce of the ball from an opportunist kick by Angus Mofries protected that unbeaten record for Hinkley in the last derby played at Football Park almost 12 months ago.

Although it must be said, some of Hinkley's bold decisions to restructure the Power's centre-square plays in the last five minutes of Showdown XXXV did underline the value of a fast-thinking coach.

Will the coaches make the difference at the Oval on Sunday? They will insist their meaningful work will be from Monday to Saturday in preparing their teams and not in the three hours from 4pm on Sunday.

Sanderson's much-repeated line this season that change and success at Adelaide must be "player-driven". But Sanderson must still lead his Crows to that path.

Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley. Photo Sarah Reed. Source: News Corp Australia

Former Socceroos coach Guus Hiddink enters the debate on who makes whom — coach or player — saying: "All individuals who are gifted with a potential to do something can attain a higher level of performance, improve by 10 or 15 per cent.

The key is to identify what will trigger that improvement. If players understand what they have to do on a football pitch, what their mission within the team is, then you obtain a combination that works.

"But how do you identify this 'trigger'? Honestly, I don't know. I like 'playing' with human beings. I like human challenges.

It depends on personalities, of course. You must be able to judge which type of player you're dealing with — as a human being. There is no overriding 'general' approach to the work you do with a particular team."

So are the players or coaches more important in Showdown XXXVII?

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BRENDON Goddard was a free agent planning to leave St Kilda in 2012, opting for Essendon while being unaware that the Bombers were to become a bad choice by the poor decisions made at Windy Hill in a contentious supplements program.

His frustration that spilled on the Footy Show towards the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority on Thursday night is so poorly misdirected.

The next time Goddard passes through an airport, he may want to stop at a newsagent to pick up the autobiography of Argentine midfielder Almeyda.

He should. The chapter recounting his days at Italian club Parma tells a story that has a chilling similarity to the mysterious events at Essendon in 2012.

And Goddard may then ask ASADA to do more to find out exactly what did happen at Windy Hill before he arrived.

One of the most alarming stories in Almeyda's book tells of how he hooked up to an intravenous drip before Serie A matches with Parma.

Today, Almeyda is convinced the drips were used to give the players performance-enhancing drugs which have put his teammates at risk of serious long-term health damage.

"At Parma we were given an IV (intravenous) drip before games," wrote Almeyda. "They said it was a mixture of vitamins but before entering the field I was able to jump up as high as the ceiling.

"Players do not ask questions, but then in the following years there are cases of former players dying from heart problems, suffering from muscular issues and more. I think it is the consequence of the things that have been given to them."

To this day Essendon still cannot tell its players what they were asked to put in their bodies in 2012.

Like Almeyda, these Bombers trusted people who have clearly failed them. How ASADA is to blame for this, as Goddard has it, remains baffling and yet another example of how the AFL players talk a good game when it comes to keeping their sport clean but do not do enough to protect the game's integrity.