Topical debate about 2007 season

[FishingRick04]

I am bored of Adam Thomson this & dam Thomson that, so I thought I would try a different topic.

Are we better off for making the 2007 GF and being smashed or would we have been better falling short at the last hurdle?

In my opinion, making a GF and winning or losing is better, as the players get experience to the build up and pressure and can learn from it.

However, developing teams like Melbourne in 2000, Sydney in 1996 can seem to struggle to recover from Grand Final humiliations.

Next year will be the gauge for our boys as this year turns into disaster after disaster and I beleive next year will show us what they have learnt from 2007.

Does anyone regret us making the 2007 GF prematurely? Does anyone believe it's effected us this year?

[Natman]

There should never be any regrets about making a GF, however what it has done is focussed more scrutiny by other clubs on our club and players and we are now paying for it - both in a coaching aspect as well as the players.

Perhaps all are being brought back to the field, whereas they might previously have had an inflated opinion of where they thought they were. If the coaches thought that just a tweak of the game plan was all that was required improve this year, then maybe that was a flawed decision because it might have assumed that the players were also going to improve individually and as a group.

In reality a number of players have gone backwards or at least stayed the same and this has exposed flaws in the game plan developed and executed by the coaching staff.

I think that our 2007 and 2008 seasons are reversed in terms of natural progression and development.

[Macca19]

I dont regret us making it.

I regret the final result however.

If we had have lost to the Kangaroos at home in a Prelim, we'd be getting shit from people anyway.

[hereselmo1]

I dont regret us making it at all. We should aim every year to finish as high as we possily can and to exceed what everyone else thinks is possible for us.

That is what we have always done. Previously we have been too old or too slow, now we are too young or too soft. We should strive every year to finish as high as we possibly can whilst always aiming for and planning for the ultimate success.

[wharfie_1870]

I don't regret us making the 2007 GF.

Geelong gave our players a big lesson in that game. The thing that makes me really mad is that, despite all the talk to the contrary, our players learnt nothing from that lesson. :mad:

[MannumPower]

why would you regret making a GF, isn't that what the team plays for?

[Ford Fairlane]

I think there were some important lessons learned from GF week. Personal pov is that we revelled in the week too much and were too relaxed, from the coach down. This was reflected in some ordinary training sessions too. Geelong on the other hand were entirely focused on one thing - winning the game. And they were a tour de force throughout the game. We gave the impression of just being happy to be there.

As for the 'mental scarring' I don't buy that and it's just a cop out. We're having a crap year for any number of reasons that have nothing to do with the result of that game in September.

Whether the club has evaluated the causes of the result and acted on them sufficiently tho is a different point of conjecture.

[Forzaport]

No regrets at all. Of course i'm still annoyed that i took that overnight bus trip there and back, which was a challenge in itself! I had to be there though, didn't want to miss out if we had won it.

[TheFridge]

why would you regret making a GF, isn't that what the team plays for?

We exist to win premierships.

To win premierships you do need to play in GFs, but making GFs is not the ultimate thing the team plays for....

Should we have made the GF in '07. Yes.

Was making the GF in '07 ultimately a good thing or a bad thing, in light of the flogging that resulted? Harder to answer, and will always be a hypothetical. For mine, yes it should be a good thing as the players have the experience and the loss should have sharpened their appetite.

I don't think this years ladder position is a result of the 2007 GF. More, I think it is reflective of a slight drop in performance (for a multitude of reasons) from the core playing group - guys like Cassisi, Ebo, Cornesx2, Burgoyne x2 and B.Lade. Given that most of these guys were a part of the 2004 success, I think the GF loss is immaterial to how they have approached season 2008.

Good topic change, Rick:)

[dreamkillers]

I think there were some important lessons learned from GF week. Personal pov is that we revelled in the week too much and were too relaxed, from the coach down. This was reflected in some ordinary training sessions too. Geelong on the other hand were entirely focused on one thing - winning the game. And they were a tour de force throughout the game. We gave the impression of just being happy to be there.

As for the 'mental scarring' I don't buy that and it's just a cop out. We're having a crap year for any number of reasons that have nothing to do with the result of that game in September.

Whether the club has evaluated the causes of the result and acted on them sufficiently tho is a different point of conjecture.

That sums things up well........the 2008 off season and 2009 season will be interesting to see if the lessons have actually been learnt as it was a little easy to get away with not learning in the SANFL.......

[FishingRick04]

Good topic change, Rick:)
Thanks, I am sick of hearing about Thomson.

To me the GF has obviously had effects irrespective if Port deny it or not.

[wharfie_1870]

Thanks, I am sick of hearing about Thomson. .......We would probably have won the 2007 GF if Choco hadn't been so stubborn and had picked Adam Thomson :p

[PAFC04]

I have no regrets for making a GF in 2007 with young team we had on that day.

It's THE best learning curve which you can't buy.

If you were to ask the players this same question, I guess it would be firm NO.

They can only regret that didn't play in the way they could have played like they did at Skilled Stadium earlier in that season.

[Capital Power]

IMHO it has significantly affected this year's performances. We keep being told "short pre-season" etc but it was no shorter than Geelong's. Last year we were snatching the close games, this year we are capitulating. At least some of this must be psychological. Until that game we were a "team", now we play like a collection of ring-ins

Would I have swapped it? No way.

OH, and of course this wouldn't have been a problem had Thomson played ... :o

[FishingRick04]

We would probably have won the 2007 GF if Choco hadn't been so stubborn and had picked Adam Thomson :p

nnnnnnnnnnnnnnoooooooooooooooooooooooO

[dyertribe]

If we had have lost to the Kangaroos at home in a Prelim, we'd be getting shit from people anyway.

Perhaps a tad off-topic, but speaking of the 07 Prelims I've heard it said by many a Carringbush fan and now a few times in the media (Melb Radio mainly) that Collingwood were "one kick away from a flag" - with the perception obviously being that the Pies would've steamrolled us as easily as the Cats did on the big stage.

With three hard finals in a row (including the XT win over the Eagles at Subi) and Bucks doing his hammy late on in the Prelim they'd have been reduced to a walk by halftime.

We were just dreadfully unlucky to run into a next-generation football team when they were 110% on song.

[bomberclifford]

Perhaps a tad off-topic, but speaking of the 07 Prelims I've heard it said by many a Carringbush fan and now a few times in the media (Melb Radio mainly) that Collingwood were "one kick away from a flag" ...

I guess if you support the Colliwobbles, near enough is good enough.

[Power Pete]

"We the players and management of the Port Adelaide Magpies Football Club accept the heritage which past players and administrators have passed down to us.

In doing so we do not intend to rest in idleness but shall strive with all our power to further this club's unexcelled achievements.

To do this we believe there is great merit and noble achievements in winning the premiership. To be successful each of us must be active, aggressive and devoted to this cause.

We agree that success is well within our reach and have confidence that each member of both the team and management will suffer personal sacrifices for the common end.

Also we know that should we, after striving to our utmost and giving our everything, still not be successful, our efforts will become a further part of this club's enviable tradition.

Finally we concede there can be honour in defeat, but to each of us honourable defeat of our club and guernsey can come only after human endeavour on the playing field is completely exhausted."

[PJ Power]

I still want to talk about Thommo ;)