gab213
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- Aug 29, 2013
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Rebuild smebuild.
All the talk is about how we don't have any depth, our midfield is weak, forward line is non existent and we have no good kids.
In 2011 we were a kick away from a prelim final and we had the following names play that evening against a red hot eagles side at Subiaco: O'Hailpin, Thornton, Joseph, Davies, Duigan, Ellard, Armfield and Laidler.
Our key forwards were the big irishman and T Bird and we lost T bird before half time. We also had Gibbs and Kruezer out.
What does this tell me?
That it is not always about the cattle that run out on to the park but its about the game plan and the players adhering to it, the willingness of the players to have a go, the pride in pulling on that navy blue jumper with the white CFC monogram that most of us would give up our left aggot to wear.
That team that played in 2011 was as far away from being a premiership team as today's is. Having a look at the names you came up with proves the point. None of those players were good enough to be premiership players. The difference between that team and today's is that the top players in that side were at their peaks and three years later they can no longer carry the rest as they did then.
If you want a comparison in our history compare the 1993 and 1995 grand final teams. The reason we were able to win in 95 was that the bottom 6 or 7 players in the 95 team were better than those we had in 93 and the top end players were still performing at a higher level.
If my memory serves me correctly we never beat a top 4 team in 2011, so whether we were 3 points away from a preliminary final or not is largely irrelevant, we weren't capable of mixing it with the top sides anyway. If we made the grand final we would have been exposed big time and most likely have been beaten by a massive margin.
People need to stop referring to 2011 as if it was some great achievement. That team at it's peak was only ever good enough to finish 5th.