Unofficial Preview The “Getting Way Too Ahead of Ourselves” Thread - Sponsored by lid manufacturers everywhere

image.jpg

Look what I found.
 
Apr 12, 2014
30,323
52,224
AFL Club
Melbourne
When the siren went on Saturday night I didn’t even celebrate (Although that was because I was terrified Trac had just done a serious leg injury). Anyone else finding the season feels very long when you’re waiting for us to start losing? Like 8-0 and should be 9-1 at worst but I’m still not confident of finals till we’ve banked 13 wins, and not confident of top 4 till we hit 16.

Basically what I’m saying is I feel like I’m in a holding pattern watching us play because whilst 8-0 is ‘awesome’ it also isn’t an achievement at all and now I’m extremely anxious about where we will be come end of the year.

tldr; expectation is scary
 
Last edited:

Jamurp

Norm Smith Medallist
Apr 26, 2011
7,999
11,152
AFL Club
Melbourne
When the siren went on Saturday night I didn’t even celebrate (Although that was because I was terrified Trac had just done a serious leg injury). Anyone else finding the season feels very long when you’re waiting for us to start losing? Like 8-0 and should be 9-1 at worst but I’m still not confident of finals till we’ve banked 13 wins, and not confident of top 4 till we hit 16.

Basically what I’m saying is I feel like I’m in a holding pattern watching us play because whilst 8-0 is ‘awesome’ it also isn’t an achievement at all and now I’m extremely anxious about where we will be come end of the year.

tldr; expectation is scary
Every dees supporter I know seems to be in disbelief as we keep banking the wins and going 6-0, 7-0, 8-0.. Nobody expected this start to the season and you’re right it does feel awesome but also a little strange. Part of me is just expecting it to go **** eventually, but I know we’re actually looking like genuinely good football side.

I think we all want the ultimate success though, it’s not enough to just make finals, it’s time to finally win a flag, and perhaps that’s why we have one eye on the pointy end of the season. Gotta enjoy the ride too though.
 
Over the past month I've been relatively calm through most games. I'm really trusting the defensive transition and the back six. Even when oppo has all the momentum we've been able to weather the storm and limit the damage done. It's a strange feeling, but one that I like. Not seeing the runs of 5-7 goals in a row against us that we were not so long ago.
 

Meds

Club Legend
Nov 12, 2008
1,662
4,023
Melbourne
AFL Club
Melbourne
When the siren went on Saturday night I didn’t even celebrate (Although that was because I was terrified Trac had just done a serious leg injury). Anyone else finding the season feels very long when you’re waiting for us to start losing? Like 8-0 and should be 9-1 at worst but I’m still not confident of finals till we’ve banked 13 wins, and not confident of top 4 till we hit 16.

Basically what I’m saying is I feel like I’m in a holding pattern watching us play because whilst 8-0 is ‘awesome’ it also isn’t an achievement at all and now I’m extremely anxious about where we will be come end of the year.

tldr; expectation is scary
The veil of negativity became our security blanket. Keeping up the veil is becoming harder and harder as the wins breed positivity, but living life without it feels like walking down Bourke St naked. Our underbelly still feels a bit too soft to have it so plainly exposed.

There is still lingering doubt about how we bounce back after the eventual loss. Do we accept that losing is a part of football and maintain our system and mindset and keep things on track? Or do we start to second-guess everything, let the mental demons gnaw away at the psyche and regress, letting the external pressure affect us to the point of failure?

We probably should just keep winning and never lose again. It seems to be working so far - why have we never thought of this before?
 
Watching us right now is like an out of body experience.

Feels like one half of me is actively dissociating as it can't comprehend that we're actually good and the ramifications of that come september: "Finals? Prelim? Grand Final? FLAG!?"

The thought of going to the G to watch us in a grand final makes me feel ill.
I’m actually having this chat with Dad. This is the best he has ever really seen us and he’s in his early 60s. It’s some level of disbelief and out of body experience.

Right now I’ve gone to hard calculations. Hurdle 1 is 13 wins (guaranteed September); hurdle 2 is 15 wins (virtually guaranteed top 4) and then hurdle 3 is top 2 which is simply as many wins as we can get.

But yes it’s definitely a state of disbelief. We are 3 games clear in the top four after eight rounds. What the actual *.
 
The veil of negativity became our security blanket. Keeping up the veil is becoming harder and harder as the wins breed positivity, but living life without it feels like walking down Bourke St naked. Our underbelly still feels a bit too soft to have it so plainly exposed.

There is still lingering doubt about how we bounce back after the eventual loss. Do we accept that losing is a part of football and maintain our system and mindset and keep things on track? Or do we start to second-guess everything, let the mental demons gnaw away at the psyche and regress, letting the external pressure affect us to the point of failure?

We probably should just keep winning and never lose again. It seems to be working so far - why have we never thought of this before?
 
When the siren went on Saturday night I didn’t even celebrate (Although that was because I was terrified Trac had just done a serious leg injury). Anyone else finding the season feels very long when you’re waiting for us to start losing? Like 8-0 and should be 9-1 at worst but I’m still not confident of finals till we’ve banked 13 wins, and not confident of top 4 till we hit 16.

Basically what I’m saying is I feel like I’m in a holding pattern watching us play because whilst 8-0 is ‘awesome’ it also isn’t an achievement at all and now I’m extremely anxious about where we will be come end of the year.

tldr; expectation is scary
The Melbourne in you is strong and I'm right beside you. Its almost like I want to drop a game so the sense of normality can return where hope and expectation go to die. I can't bring myself to believe the two weeks have been 'mature' wins, rather I still see them as a weakness that has been exposed.

Starting to get heaps of mates ask questions or make statements like 'are the Dees the real thing? or 'are you getting excited?' My standard response it 'If we're up by 6 goals with two minutes to play in the GF, I lift the lid then.'

Funnily enough, the only time I've felt settled was the tigers game when the expectation by all is that we would lose and a honourable loss was ok.
 
The veil of negativity became our security blanket. Keeping up the veil is becoming harder and harder as the wins breed positivity, but living life without it feels like walking down Bourke St naked. Our underbelly still feels a bit too soft to have it so plainly exposed.

There is still lingering doubt about how we bounce back after the eventual loss. Do we accept that losing is a part of football and maintain our system and mindset and keep things on track? Or do we start to second-guess everything, let the mental demons gnaw away at the psyche and regress, letting the external pressure affect us to the point of failure?

We probably should just keep winning and never lose again. It seems to be working so far - why have we never thought of this before?
Quality post, the veil comment is spot on, we're open and exposed and waiting for everyone to laugh at our junk.

This is the (the bolded) one area I have a little confidence. The talk about a team and selflessness has me thinking players are no longer primarily self concerned. The team mantra seems to have built a collective confidence and solidarity I haven't seen before in our players. I hope this translates into a resilience amongst the playing group. The coaching group will have set them for an eventual loss. Just look to teams like bombers 2000, unstoppable, yet they lost a game and cats 2007 who started 2-3. Losing is part of any AFL season and they must be expecting this.
 

Topkent

Confirmed ITK Drafting King
Aug 29, 2010
61,043
84,951
Canada
AFL Club
Melbourne
Other Teams
Winnipeg Jets
When the siren went on Saturday night I didn’t even celebrate (Although that was because I was terrified Trac had just done a serious leg injury). Anyone else finding the season feels very long when you’re waiting for us to start losing? Like 8-0 and should be 9-1 at worst but I’m still not confident of finals till we’ve banked 13 wins, and not confident of top 4 till we hit 16.

Basically what I’m saying is I feel like I’m in a holding pattern watching us play because whilst 8-0 is ‘awesome’ it also isn’t an achievement at all and now I’m extremely anxious about where we will be come end of the year.

tldr; expectation is scary

I think the reason for the holding pattern is while we are defending well we also haven't played well for a whole game this year. Feels like we need to just smash someone by 15 goals to be able to enjoy it a little more.
Also every win is closer to a loss, almost want to get it out of the way so we can focus on finishing first and not being perfect. Plus I think we are all going to be nervous after our first loss, because whilst that won't be surprising we have no idea if this side can handle it
 
Apr 12, 2014
30,323
52,224
AFL Club
Melbourne
I seriously don’t know how I would deal with a close GF

Reckon I’d be that nervous if I didn’t get tickets I’d struggle to watch it. * me imagine being 20 points up at 3/4 time - I’d be calling an ambulance for myself in advance.

The veil of negativity became our security blanket. Keeping up the veil is becoming harder and harder as the wins breed positivity, but living life without it feels like walking down Bourke St naked. Our underbelly still feels a bit too soft to have it so plainly exposed.

There is still lingering doubt about how we bounce back after the eventual loss. Do we accept that losing is a part of football and maintain our system and mindset and keep things on track? Or do we start to second-guess everything, let the mental demons gnaw away at the psyche and regress, letting the external pressure affect us to the point of failure?

We probably should just keep winning and never lose again. It seems to be working so far - why have we never thought of this before?

Brilliant post mate - summed it up way better than I did. You’d hope considering how many games this club has lost they’d be able to cop with one measly loss when it comes up 😂



I think the reason for the holding pattern is while we are defending well we also haven't played well for a whole game this year. Feels like we need to just smash someone by 15 goals to be able to enjoy it a little more.
Also every win is closer to a loss, almost want to get it out of the way so we can focus on finishing first and not being perfect. Plus I think we are all going to be nervous after our first loss, because whilst that won't be surprising we have no idea if this side can handle it

Agree mate, although I’m sure you’d agree when we were pounding teams in that run in 2018 for fun mid season we still felt more vulnerable than we do now. Our mids are the big one, forwardline is playing really well but our centre clearance work is awful right now. Get that right and oh boy we could keep someone to under 40 for the game.


I think we all want the ultimate success though, it’s not enough to just make finals, it’s time to finally win a flag, and perhaps that’s why we have one eye on the pointy end of the season. Gotta enjoy the ride too though.

Yep. We’ve started so well and waited so long I think every supporter deep down sees anything less than a flag as a fail. I’ve watched us thrill then disappoint in multiple finals series and I’m only 31, just win the ******* thing please.
 
Conversely, I don’t know how my body will be able to handle a grand final win.
Certainly don’t know how my liver will handle it
 

netslave

Norm Smith Medallist
Apr 6, 2017
6,276
5,858
AFL Club
Melbourne
I think we can sneak into the top 2 with 17 or 18 wins if we have a good run with injuries and form.
Running countless permutations of the Ladder Predictor gets my hopes up :devil:
 
Last edited:
Western Bulldogs, Gold Coast, GWS, Fremantle, Port - these are all teams who have never had a 10 match winning streak (as we are currently on)

* I hope this season doesn't end up like a North 2016...
 

Jamurp

Norm Smith Medallist
Apr 26, 2011
7,999
11,152
AFL Club
Melbourne
Western Bulldogs, Gold Coast, GWS, Fremantle, Port - these are all teams who have never had a 10 match winning streak (as we are currently on)

fu** I hope this season doesn't end up like a North 2016...
That North 2016 side is nothing like ours, they were the oldest list in the comp and one of the oldest lists of all time from memory, everybody knew they'd struggle the rest of the season and drop off, we have winners on every line and are playing the sort of footy which should hold up come finals.
 
Back