I guess that’s one way to look at it or you could say we will be one win out of the eight or two wins out of the four. We have a great run home which has me feeling very optimistic.
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Agree. We probably have the best run home. Only have to travel once (against Suns which is one of the easier away games in the comp ATM). Only play a current top 4 once (at home). 7 of the 9 remaining games are against sides below us. Only thing is, most of those sides aren’t all that far off us or are equal in terms of where their fortunes might lie this season. We are going to need our running game to work for us for a big string of games. No doubt we will need to keep improving our contested game because everyone is going to try that on us now. In a sense this is a good thing because it’s the area we have to work on and that’s the best way to get it right. It also means that sides are afraid of our speed and rightly so.
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But in 1999 we should have made the GF. In 1983 we made the GF. This is a loss while we are still a middle side. There is no comparison to those years. If we were in our window of opportunity this year or next and had just finished top 4 last year and lost a winnable final, perhaps.
We are still stuck in the loop of being a middle ladder team - always with potential - but a losing culture when it’s time to take the next step.
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One of the positives, admittedly somewhat trivial in a sense was that it broke the buddy hoodoo that has hung around like a bad omen for years.
Despite the loss I was very impressed with that game. We found a way to stay in it while we where dominated around the ball and in the clearances. The key was our speed of ball movement, its the quickest and best in the comp, I am now convinced of this. To be able to do this while under immense pressure from the inform side, on their small wet ground away from home…very impressive. We have come a hell of a long way from round 1.
Our glaring weakness is still our inside mids. Watson is a shadow of his consistent former self. Hepp while very good in patches seems to go missing quarters at a time. Goddard has been our best inside mid all year, but last night had a poor one. Myers, Howlett, and Hocking are no longer up to it.
Langford is a hff we are trying to turn into a inside mid. He simply doesn’t read the ball quick enough for an AFL player. I really hope he can improve in this area but its something instinctive and very hard to teach. I have not seen enough of Lav to know if he is better in the area, but I also see him as a HFF not a mid.
We have enough very good inside/outside midfield talent, but are missing the big strong tractors which you used to have.
I actually think the rest of our team is good enough to win a flag. Hepp and Jobe are the key, if they can get back to there former selfs, I think we can push a long way into September.
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I’m hoping they will learn. The next few weeks will tell us - all remaining games are winnable.
Actually in 1983 we were still a mediocre team suffering from “eliminitis” - perpetually losing elimination finals. Sure we made the Grand Final in the end but it was not because we were a top team all year. It was Sheedy’s famous speech at the Grand Final dinner that won us the next two flags in my opinion. Otherwise 1983 would have been a flash in the pan like 1988 and 2000 for Melbourne. The sting of defeats like this just have to be used properly. Remember the pain but don’t flog yourself to the point where you lose hope and confidence. Yeap they screwed up, but they can learn from it and do better.
On your last paragraph I definitely agree - we have been wading in mediocrity for a long time and it will take something special to get out of it.
Nobody can cope with our running game while our forward line is so dangerous. We got smashed in clearances until the 3rd quarter when we started to win clearances. Midfield constency is still pivotal to how the rest of our game functions.
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Exactly why the SCG was made slippery before the game!
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I travelled down from bne for that one too, and the one at anz. I should just stay home
I’m not so sure they purposely made it wet. The parkland area around the ground was also pretty boggy. I doubt they watered that too as part of their conspiracy
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I have been thinking about the Daniher kick with a minute to go where he tried to kick it to tippa. Could he have been trying that because he thought tippa could bring the ball to ground and then beat mills for pace? Then tippa would have been out the back. Tippa has been quite good doing that this year, so it may be the answer.
I live here and given the recent weather there is no way that ground should have been that wet, unless the drainage of the SCG is much worse than that of the MCG. No point in comparing with the parkland - that’s not supposed to be used as a sporting ground! (And there was no dew that night)
But if the SCG really does have a drainage problem I stand corrected.
Well considering Buddy Franklin hasn’t been on a losing team against Essendon since early 2010 I’d say there is still a pretty ■■■■■■ strong hoodoo.
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I have to admit when we were 4 goals down nearing the end of the third I was expecting my pre-match prediction of 4-6 goal loss. Credit to them that they stormed back, be it due to Sydney not being like the old Sydney or what have you. I can’t think about the end tho.
It’s over. Lets move on and start smashing teams for at least the next 4 weeks. Back on target.
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Any team who makes the 8 can win it this year.
Each team has shown the ability to play great footy as well as produce utter garbage
It is a strange strange season
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Guess??? Maybe a good strategy by the Swans - to slow us down.
The ground was watered and the grass cut but what would be considered too long for AFL but just right for rugby league. The drainage there is supposed to be very good. The commentators were talking about the wet ground.
Still dirty on this one!
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If it was that it was fkn stupid
We had two players on boundary side of their opponents. All JD had to do was kick it to space out there on the wing and they would have either won the footy or got it to boundary well away from swans goal.
Instead it’s kicked to TIPPAs opponents advantage who takes the mark, gets a quick kick fwd to Buddy who kicks a long point.
And we know what happens from there