I personally see this is a comparison about how we went compared to expectations.
I expected we would finish last, so clearly I am going to think we had a better year than most others.
Having said that, I think we have objectively had a fantastic year, though it doesn’t feel like it right now.
Positives:
Cohesive game plan for the first time in years
A number of players reinvented themselves with new positions - Laverde, Hind, Stewart
Career best seasons from a wide range of players
Emergence of Parish as an elite midfielder
Energence of Draper as the competition’s best young ruckman
Young kids showed promise - Cox, Perkins
2MP trade looks inspired
Negatives:
Walloped in final
Reid didn’t get on the park
Bottom end of list still looks flaky - Clarke, Guelfi, Gleeson etc
Shiel, McGrath, Caldwell all spent majority of year injured
Only one win against a top 8 side.
Overall, despite the awful ending, I thought we had a really good year all things considered. Particularly given it was Truck’s first year in charge and we lost three of our best players in the trade period. Better than anyone could have expected and for the first time I have some actual hope we are headed in the right direction in a sustainable way.
Would have been a B+ if we won today, and B if we lost but were competitive.
2nd half capitulation resulting in another finals smashing drags it down and really put a dampner on what was for yhe most part a highly promising season.
I think the mood on here prior to today’s last half gives the rating; we all have hope, can see the way forward. Today was a reality check, but we have plenty of improvement. B rating when we all thought it would Z
I’m probably in the minority around here, but I got past the disappointment of the finals loss pretty quickly. I thought we’d end up bottom 4 for sure, so my expectations were blown right the ■■■■ away.
We consistently fielded one of the youngest sides in the league each week.
New coaches and new gameplan.
Our backline was completely unrecognisable compared to last year.
It’s almost impossible to rank this season based on this season alone. In my opinion, I’ll only be able to rank at the end of next season.
By then I’ll know if this season was the first step of a number of positive steps towards becoming a competitive football club again, or it was just a flash in the pan due to it being first year of new coach and new plan.
I’m a harsh marker, if I HAD to rank it now it would be an F. This sport is about winning finals and winning premierships. And we did neither.