Schulzenfest
TheBrownDog
At the absolute very least we should've beaten Richmond in Round 4 and GWS last week. Forward line selections cost us both of those games. That would put us at 10-8 and odds on to play finals. There are definitely a few other games you could argue we should've won as well.
But ladder position isn't the big deal to me. For me there are two ways you can have a 'successful' season; win a flag, or develop your list in a manner that's going to help you win flags in the future. Only one team gets to do the former on any given year, but we've well and truly failed at the latter. The games we've given Ryder + Motlop + Sutcliffe + Sam Gray + Broadbent and the games we haven't given Marshall + Frampton + Ladhams + Garner + Atley + Drew all stand as evidence of that. As does the fact that we're still wasting time on a gameplan that's never gonna win us a premiership.
But ladder position isn't the big deal to me. For me there are two ways you can have a 'successful' season; win a flag, or develop your list in a manner that's going to help you win flags in the future. Only one team gets to do the former on any given year, but we've well and truly failed at the latter. The games we've given Ryder + Motlop + Sutcliffe + Sam Gray + Broadbent and the games we haven't given Marshall + Frampton + Ladhams + Garner + Atley + Drew all stand as evidence of that. As does the fact that we're still wasting time on a gameplan that's never gonna win us a premiership.