Why is it when we beat teams it's only because they were rabble at the time. The Bombers spanked Brisbane two weeks after we played them. Hawthorn were competitive against Geelong the week after we played them. Isn't another possibility that we executed our game plan and we did not allow the opposition to play well. At the start of the season we were one of the hardest teams to score against and that was largely off the back of pressure all around the ground.
I thought we were playing with confidence and willing to take risks. IIRC Lonie was leading our tackle count inside 50 and he was also providing defensive pressure around the ground. IMO when he got injured it seemed to unsettle us. Putting the relevance of the Lonie injury aside however, there is no doubt in my mind that our confidence took a hit in that Crow's game and we were never quite the same team again.
Bad post, needs more brimstone.