Analysis 2017 = Weak year?

[Tiger71]

Weaker year is mostly bandied about by supporters of clubs whose teams weren't good enough to make the finals.
As if this years premiership won't be as significant. No premiership is allowed to be meritorious anymore.
It must be tainted by father/son selections/tanking/umpires/drugs etc.
Or in this case; weak competition.
BigFooty 101.

THIS.

Also if the op is a real tiger and not a alt account ill eat chiefs shit on youtube

 

[Kummerspeck]

Weaker year is mostly bandied about by supporters of clubs whose teams weren't good enough to make the finals.
As if this years premiership won't be as significant. No premiership is allowed to be meritorious anymore.
It must be tainted by father/son selections/tanking/umpires/drugs etc.
Or in this case; weak competition.
BigFooty 101.

To be honest, I've never understood how two standout teams flogging the rest constituted a strong year, but from reading through this thread apparently it does.

 

[Roobs321]

This finals series thus far has potential to be notably lacklustre.

I wonder what people would regard as a recent case of a poor quality finals series? Including mostly blowouts and/or poor quality games, plus hardly any worthy premiers. I can't think of one in the AFL era.

Very much hope to be proven wrong.

 

[Jedi Tiger]

THIS.

Also if the op is a real tiger and not a alt account ill eat chiefs shit on youtube

Make sure you brush and floss after.

 

[Tiger71]

Make sure you brush and floss after.

You never post on the tigers board so i believe im safe.

 

[Jedi Tiger]

You never post on the tigers board so i believe im safe.

Long time lurker, don't post heaps. That being said, I absolutely have - can't you see my history?

 

[Ron The Bear]

Weak year, sure, but the premiers will get the same cup and pennant as every other year.

 

[Walshawk]

The top teams are weaker and the middle and bottom teams are stronger. Still just as tough to win the flag. Every flag is equal.

 

[Jables]

Rubbish

I mean that shouldn't even be a debate. That year Fremantle and Hawthorn destroyed a better Sydney team than the one everyone is terrified of in finals this year. A team not even top 4, how weird is that ...

 

[DeadlyAkkuret]

If your team isn't in the finals it's a weak year. Call it a coping mechanism for losers.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Golumless]

I think this even year talk is very disrespectful to the crows. For me they've clearly been the best side. Everyone else is even but the crows have consistently been very very good.

Not really, where this year is let down that the two teams that should have been dominant (Adelaide, and Sydney) has had a horror 6-8 weeks sometime during the season.

 

[Jedi Tiger]

If your team isn't in the finals it's a weak year. Call it a coping mechanism for losers.

YES. Essentially feels like a bull**** term to try and discredit other sides' achievements, while simultaneously and inadvertently underlining just how garbage their side is by pointing out that they couldn't even make finals in a 'weak' year.

Was interested to see if any could offer some solid reasoning for the call - best that could be brought up was that 'x team from 5 years ago would flog everyone'.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[Prestigerrycomo]

Yes premierships are hard to win, but I don't think there's been the proper quality in recent times that we saw in the dominant 4 teams(Geelong, St kilda, Collingwood, Hawthorn from 2007-2011

 

[Yellow Feathers]

The competition was so fierce this year that the reigning premiers couldn't make the finals.

 

[The Falcon Strike]

Has been the most compelling year of footy I can remember in years (if ever)

 

[10571z]

2011 and 2017 Geelong finished 2nd. 2011 Geelong is a 10x better side . Does it make it a weak year?

 

[SBD Gonzalez]

I mean that sounds nice and all, but do you honestly think the Fremantle, Collingwood, Geelong, Sydney, Hawthorn teams of roughly 5 years ago wouldn't absolutely stomp this season?

Bigfooty fans are bitter every year, there'll always be some who argue the premiers were 'lucky'. But let's be real, weak years of footy definitely exist. The skills in games between top 4 members this year have been relatively subpar.
That doesn't invalidate the achievements of whoever wins this year, it wouldn't be their fault no one else could beat them, like the Bulldogs last year.

But again,are the skills of the top 4 "subpar", or is the pressure from their opponents now above par?

There's no denying we've seen a growing shift of emphasis in the last decade towards pressure football.

 

[SBD Gonzalez]

I think this even year talk is very disrespectful to the crows. For me they've clearly been the best side. Everyone else is even but the crows have consistently been very very good.

Um even they had a couple of big losses to much lower teams.

 

[SBD Gonzalez]

Since round 6 we've played some of the best footy of the last decade.

Our path now goes through the minor premier Crows in Adelaide then Richmond with 80,000 behind them at the G.

This will be the greatest flag of all.

Like the way you've already chalked up a win against Geelong.

(Mind you, plenty of their fans on BF have.)

 

[#gosaintas]

Just have a look at the Richmond team...goes to how how weak the comp is this year.
HaLF-time on Fri night was 3 goals to 2. Diabolical football full of errors and these were supposedly good teams.

 

[SBD Gonzalez]

All year we've had to hear how this is "the best season ever"....what a myth. This year has been an embarrassment. I would
love see Richmond win the flag but here's a snapshot of "the best season ever"
- horrific umpiring
- dumb rule changes every week
- terrible kicking for goal
- deplorable skills
- Adelaide finishing top- even hawthorn beat them in Adelaide
- Geelong finishing 2nd- have two good players.
- GWS 3rd- played four good quarters all season- two against Melbourne and two against the Bulldogs
- port 5th- carlton beat more top 8 sides then them
- essendon and west coast making finals

Some good points and well worth discussing, but mostly irrelevant to what's under examination here, namely, establishing what is meant by a "strong" year, and does an even year constitute a "strong" year, or does it simply suggest the general standard is lower?

For me it all comes down to asking can we find a way to quantify the level of pressure from one year to another.

That would go a long way to deciding whether lower skill standards can be explained away or not. I have my suspicion that pressure levels have risen considerably in the last few years and that may have caused an increase in fumbles, but I admit it's very hard to prove.

 

[Mattdougie]

Worst year of football in my lifetime by a long way

 

[cannot]

Just have a look at the Richmond team...goes to how how weak the comp is this year.
HaLF-time on Fri night was 3 goals to 2. Diabolical football full of errors and these were supposedly good teams.

teams from the past wouldnt score against modern sydney or adelaide. they may not get the ball past half way

the zones and presses bullshit has come a long way

 

[deflated]

I'm not sure looking at team records works for me in deciding if it's a strong season. How many top end players are performing at the top of their game? I think we're down on other seasons.

Ablett Jr is close to done. Nick Reiwoldt, Hodge & S. Mitchell are done. Selwood hasn't been as influential, neither has Fyfe. Look at the thread on 'Greatest Class of Retiring Players' for how much we're losing. We've had some Crows, Tigers and Swans shine but other young stars like Bont and Parker have been down and/or erratic. The 2016 All Australian team (in 2016 form) looks significantly better than the 2017 AA team.

Yeah, weak(er) year.

 

[Demonic Ascent]

It's definitely a weak year but the strongest team probably finished the H&A season in 6th