Roast I've seen Ross Lyon-coached sides play more exciting football

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Oct 20, 2004
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Freo are in a rebuild. Averaging 10 goals a game. However there has been a big difference between their best and worst games.
They do seem slightly more attacking in mindset than previous Ross Lyon-coached sides, though.

I mean, look at StKilda from 2008-11 when they were a seriously good side - they were also incredibly defensively-minded. I'd argue that it cost them the 2009 Grand Final - we were always within striking distance because, although they dominated territory for the first three quarters, they just couldn't get the goals on the board to open us up.

They played three grand finals for nine, nine and seven goals. That shouldn't win flags.
 
Oct 20, 2004
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Worked for Sydney in 2005.

But weight of numbers suggests you're probably a better chance with a side that can score more.
True, but that was an extraordinary grand final pairing - Sydney playing rugby-football, and West Coast with a Rolls-Royce midfield, a BMW defence and a Kia Rio forwardline.
 
Nov 24, 2008
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I know it's against the spirit to bump your own threads, but this stops me from having to make a new one. That was just the absolute nadir of risk-free footy this weekend and we deserved to lose.

The losing sides this week scored 61, 51, 55 & 65. We scored the lowest, but not by much.

But when you look at the winning teams' scores - 116, 61, 113 & 112 - it becomes obvious that only one of those low scores was by design.

Essendon, Bulldogs and Brisbane all lost by plenty more that us, but I didn't think we really ever looked likely to win our match anyway; I'd rather lose by 10 goals playing attacking footy than 10 points playing the type of footy we did on Friday night. Of course, that's easy to say in hindsight and still raw with disappointment - my thoughts would no doubt be different if we'd somehow managed to sneak past the Pies at the end. But it still would have been a shitty game of football to watch.
 

goyoucatters

Norm Smith Medallist
Jan 31, 2008
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The losing sides this week scored 61, 51, 55 & 65. We scored the lowest, but not by much.

But when you look at the winning teams' scores - 116, 61, 113 & 112 - it becomes obvious that only one of those low scores was by design.

Essendon, Bulldogs and Brisbane all lost by plenty more that us, but I didn't think we really ever looked likely to win our match anyway; I'd rather lose by 10 goals playing attacking footy than 10 points playing the type of footy we did on Friday night. Of course, that's easy to say in hindsight and still raw with disappointment - my thoughts would no doubt be different if we'd somehow managed to sneak past the Pies at the end. But it still would have been a s**tty game of football to watch.

I figure I'm as disappointed as just about anyone after our latest finals fiasco. So I understand the emotion that drives a statement like the one I have bolded above. The thought certainly runs through my mind as well.

In the end, though, I have to say I simply think it is untrue. While it seemed like 'game over' for us very early on Friday night, it never actually got to that point on the scoreboard. Which meant we were still the remotest chance of winning with even two minutes to go.

That's something that the supporters of all the other losing finalists on the weekend can never say. So, despite how abysmal it feels to keep surrendering finals this way, surely it can't actually be preferable to get torched on the scoreboard throughout as well.
 

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