My fears of making the Grand Final

[DaVe86]

I feel the OP's pain. I'm only 33, so have only had to deal with the scars of 02,03,11 and 18. So some of the older posters will have many more scars than myself. But it's definitely gut-wrenching stuff.

i went to the game on Friday night with my brother-in-law. He actually said he hates this time of the year and gets no enjoyment out of it. He gets so tense, and he has seen too many tight losses to enjoy it anymore. He'll keep going because he loves Collingwood, but he actually dreads it.

I think we just need to take solace in the fact that we spent so many years out of the top 8 and we were longing to be competitive again. Now that we have returned to the finals, this is a new team with a new attitude. The scars of the past don't haunt them like they haunt us. They carry no baggage.

I'm just glad I support a team where I can go to the footy week in week out and enjoy a competitive match. Even at our lowest under Buckley, I've never gone into a game thinking we were no chance. Unlike many other sides over the last decades where you knew they weren't trying or had no hope.

You gotta be in it to win it. In the end, at least I can say I saw my side win a premiership in 2010. My dad is a saints fan and has never seen his side win a flag in 60 years. So that has eased the pain somewhat after a traumatic decade during the 2000s.

It's going to be a tough few weeks, but it's all worth it for even the slightest chance of the ultimate glory. And at least with this group, I know they'll give 110%

 

[noideaatall]

Gotta make it to win it. I will celebrate when we make it. Should we lose I will try and forget about footy until January. It will hurt, it always does. We all know this pain well. The only gfs I would have rathered we never played was 1970 and 1980.

 

[frizzle]

Sure GF losses hurt & we may end up in the same predicament as last year.

We realistically weren't the best team in the comp all year last year & aren't this year.
I think we overachieved last year & nearly pinched a flag. Who knows what's in store this year. But better to be at the big dance than watch from afar.

 

[jathanas]

The way I see it, we should focus on supporting the 22 young men that wear the jumper to represent the club on the biggest day of the football year. Invest our hearts fully in them and their moments. They should get confidence from us, not sense our nerves. They are going in to battle, and we're not doing our job as supporters if what we emanate is fear of failure.

Our history is something to embrace and be proud of. The pain of defeat is part of the experience; I wouldn't swap this for any other sport. I love supporting this club.

 

[danielnajdek]

I'm still not over last year. That was devastating.

 

[lvandinter]

I think this year, after the heartache of last year I’d prefer not to make the GF.
If we are going to be shattered again. However I believe the club has this incredible desire to right the wrong from last year, the boys will raise to the occasion and hold up the cup in 3 weeks time!

I want to make the granny this year, because we were there last year and we experienced it, if you can’t succeed, keep trying till we get there. Guts and determination it is called. Look at Sydney v west coast in 05 and 06 if that was to happen with us and the eagles this year, the team that lost the year before got revenge. Hopefully that is the outcome.

 

[SnakePlisskin]

also dont forget, sidey and grundy had pretty poor games last GF. and pendles back was stuffed.
that is unlikely to happen again.
and if those three play well, its not gonna matter that much exactly who else is playing on the day

This is what I’m thinking, and also Treloar was coming back from the shocking double hammy.

 

[Finnishpie]

I think I have one too many scars. I actually feel sick at the thought of making the grand final. Yet I understand that the only way we can achieve the ultimate dream is to walk through the furnace and hope the gods are kind. I actually told my son I don't think I can attend or watch the granny if we do make it. I think our opponent will either be Richmond or the Eagles. I don't think the Cats will get through. The very thought of losing another grand final to either of these teams makes me feel ill. My other fear is that another GF loss will break the heart and spirit of Bucks and the players making our hopes of premiership success even more unlikely in the coming years.

I suppose it's the dilemma any person who has experienced heartbreak in a relationship feels when they finally emerge from their grief and battered self esteem and meet someone they like. Do they pursue the new relationship and hope this one brings true happiness and love or is the risk of further heartbreak and pain too much to contemplate. Is it better not to reach out for the dream and simply become accustomed to living a quiet, less passionate existence but one that is free of the agony we experience when we lose something so precious?

No doubt, if we do make it, I will probably try to get tickets and endure yet another torturous afternoon because there is always that very slight (but highly unlikely) chance we could have a miraculous win which would provide me with memories I will carry to my grave. If only I could live in the moment and simply enjoy the fact that we are in with a chance and our hopes are still alive.

Oh well, time will tell.

I’m the same. I dread the idea of facing Richmond. We’re going to get massacred.

The one way I’m getting over the fear is by hoping we play our best fit team in the prelim.

That means no conservative selection.

Reid and Wells should come it.

If they make it through and we do well then we are a chance in the GF.

Conservative selection has me thinking the Tigers will smash is by 10 goals.

There you go.

 

[Pie eyed]

Click me

 

[Scritchyscroony]

This is a great thread. It’s tough being a Collingwood supporter! Even though we are the winningiest team in history we are perversely the losingiest team in history where it really counts.
I can’t even bear to think or talk about last year.
But this year is another year... either it’s another year another scar; or, weight of numbers has to count eventually right? Scars show you’re a fighter and a survivor anyway. Bring it on!

 

[NeverWobble]

For what it’s worth. In the Favorite Finals Moments thread I think 3 out of the 5 moments I listed involved losing grand finals.
After posting I pondered why that was the case.
I feel that in some strange way investing so much hope and emotion along with like minded barrackers makes even a loss memorable and precious.
I often wonder if the last line in our club song, which I think was coined with a wink and a sense of humor, acknowledges that winning the Premiership is never a cakewalk.
Barracking side by side is what it’s all about.
Collingwood Forever!!!!

 

[adammania9]

Always important to remember that whatever happens, we’re still alive and well. Football isn’t everything.

 

[HeathySure]

Totally agree with the OP. I think its more because we are not the best side in the finals which has been the case in so many of our Finals appearances and even worse Richmond is the best side this year. I just cannot handle losing to them especially in a grand final and at the moment it looks like being Pies Tigers. Their supporters are insufferable and i am totally surrounded by them. I seriously will have to go into hiding for 12 months if it happens! I already feel sick!

 

[Reg Grundy35]

Fantastic thread with people really putting it out there. Im 62. 3 flags in those years but only 2 that I remember and i dont even count up the losses and draws. I never watch them again. Last year and 02 hurt the most. You do get "gun shy" and I went on Friday with trepidation. But ultimately the collective wisdom in this thread is right. The pain will make the next win even more glorious. Whether its this year or another I don't know. But we must be in the fight. Its what we do and if we fall short - we will fight on together.

 

[10571z]

I think I have one too many scars. I actually feel sick at the thought of making the grand final. Yet I understand that the only way we can achieve the ultimate dream is to walk through the furnace and hope the gods are kind. I actually told my son I don't think I can attend or watch the granny if we do make it. I think our opponent will either be Richmond or the Eagles. I don't think the Cats will get through. The very thought of losing another grand final to either of these teams makes me feel ill. My other fear is that another GF loss will break the heart and spirit of Bucks and the players making our hopes of premiership success even more unlikely in the coming years.

I suppose it's the dilemma any person who has experienced heartbreak in a relationship feels when they finally emerge from their grief and battered self esteem and meet someone they like. Do they pursue the new relationship and hope this one brings true happiness and love or is the risk of further heartbreak and pain too much to contemplate. Is it better not to reach out for the dream and simply become accustomed to living a quiet, less passionate existence but one that is free of the agony we experience when we lose something so precious?

No doubt, if we do make it, I will probably try to get tickets and endure yet another torturous afternoon because there is always that very slight (but highly unlikely) chance we could have a miraculous win which would provide me with memories I will carry to my grave. If only I could live in the moment and simply enjoy the fact that we are in with a chance and our hopes are still alive.

Oh well, time will tell.

Tbh you’ll be just as nervous if your watching it or not.

If your not watching it and we smash it you’ll regret it forever

 

[lyfsux]

Click me

So I take that as you fear nothing Pie Eyed

 

[Pie eyed]

So I take that as you fear nothing Pie Eyed

Running out of Scotch holds small terror, but I stock pile like all good doomsdayers.

 

[legendstatus]

I’ve seen 13 GFs for 2 wins. The thrill of making a GF for the week makes you walk 10 foot tall. Happy to be in another one but gee my heart is getting weaker every time.


On iPhone using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[Drought Break]

Agree with the OP. Personally would rather not make GF then loose it and yes I know you have to be in it to win it. Took ages to calm down after last years heartbreak and was not good company at all in last quarter.

 

[domus]

Tbh you’ll be just as nervous if your watching it or not.

If your not watching it and we smash it you’ll regret it forever

I know. You are right. I've walked away from the tv a few times in titanic interstate clashes, including finals and the agony of not knowing is torturous. I remember going outside during the last term of the Pies clash with West Coast in the 2007 final. I stood out on the road (we live in a court) but I could hear the screams coming from our neighbour's house (all Pies supporters and a family which has produced a couple of outstanding footballers in Ryan and Aaron Mullett) but I digress! I couldn't stand not knowing if they were screams of joy or despair so I ran back inside and saw the last 8 or 9 minutes and what a high I was on after Swanny ran in and sealed the game on the siren!

 

[Vedder]

ha, i was just talking about this today at work, someone said to me i must be happy we won against the cats, of course i was but I said to her I dread the thought of losing another GF, if we happen to make it through


Still scarred from last year, I guess you got to be in it to win it though

 

[domus]

I’ve seen 13 GFs for 2 wins. The thrill of making a GF for the week makes you walk 10 foot tall. Happy to be in another one but gee my heart is getting weaker every time.


On iPhone using BigFooty.com mobile app

During my lifetime we have played in 15 grand finals for two wins. In 64 I was a pie fan but still too young to feel deep pain, I remember watching the replay sitting on dad's lap and seeing Gabbo's famous run and goal which put us in front with only a couple of minutes remaining. From 66 on I felt genuine grief each time we lost. I have actually attended 12 grand finals for 2 wins.

 

[domus]

And:

Are you prepared to pay the price.

It just seems to me that Collingwood fans have always paid a much bigger price than any other team's supporters when it comes to heartbreak on the last day of the season.

 

[Good_Old]

Gotta get there first.

 

[JB1975]

It just seems to me that Collingwood fans have always paid a much bigger price than any other team's supporters when it comes to heartbreak on the last day of the season.

Keep those Saints in mind. They've been up there in recent decades, but no relief since 1966.