I think we should go in with the upper hand, but I’m not going to melt down if we lose.
I even think our terrible loss to Port wasn’t as bad as it seemed, in the sense that, we pressured, tackled and ran the entire game, we tried just about everyone to stop Horne-Francis. So much so, that Setters injured himself trying to keep up with him and Caldwell had to have his face patched up when he got a knock to the head. We were simply out-classed and out-coached on the day. I felt like the effort was there, and our coaches made multiple attempts to counter. Which is more than we’ve been used to from this team in bad losses over the last few years. We even added some strategy, after that loss, around handling our opponents when they switch to one-on-one, and kicking to tall targets when our opponent sets up well for our usual running transition, and pulled some of that off well against the dogs.
I see this as a team that has a recognisable game plan, for the first time in many years, and is working on refining the game plan based on how our opposition defeats it. The effort is there, and we seem to be pulling in the same direction.
The consistency isn’t there yet, but if we keep putting in the effort, and tweaking the plan, it looks like something that could work. In the past, we just relied on individual brilliance and form from game to game.
If that’s what’s on the label, it’s a few years old. Some crappy international exclusivity liquor licensing naming crap, meant that Tokay produuced in Australia had to be called something else.
Hence, I have a half flagon remaining of superb Saint Anne’s Liqueur Topaque… I might join ya. Topaque.
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