6 out of 7 losses under 21 points. Are we mentally weak?

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#52
Hang on a second...are you not the guy...
Yeah i am ...

If we drop games to the bottom sides the next few weeks and dip out on finals i will not be blaming those losses . As i have just posted in another thread i think we have been "up" pretty well all year and its inevitable , especially with a reletively young side , that at some point you are going to flat spot ... i suspect our flat spot is just around the corner . really hope im wrong ...

But if it happens i will not be blaming this flat spot on our missing finals , i will be blaming our failure on the annoying inability to win 1 or both of the Bomber/West Coast games in particular . I stand by that

BUT .. being objective and looking at our season overall , our competetiveness in the first 13 weeks has been the best its been in nearly 20 years

I just got really frustrated as a long suffering Gen Xér who has seen it all that we couldnt close out at least a couple of those games ... i stand by everything i have said , we still have a great opportunity to play finals footy and i hope the club as a whole throws everything but the kitchen sink at it in the last 9 games to try and get there ... but i worry about the toll it has taken on our players in playing as they have in the first half of the season .

If Dimma gets us over the line and we jag 8th this year then i reckon he will have done a sensational job
 

Livonski

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#53
Yeah i am ...

If we drop games to the bottom sides the next few weeks and dip out on finals i will not be blaming those losses . As i have just posted in another thread i think we have been "up" pretty well all year and its inevitable , especially with a reletively young side , that at some point you are going to flat spot ... i suspect our flat spot is just around the corner . really hope im wrong ...

But if it happens i will not be blaming this flat spot on our missing finals , i will be blaming our failure on the annoying inability to win 1 or both of the Bomber/West Coast games in particular . I stand by that

BUT .. being objective and looking at our season overall , our competetiveness in the first 13 weeks has been the best its been in nearly 20 years

I just got really frustrated as a long suffering Gen Xér who has seen it all that we couldnt close out at least a couple of those games ... i stand by everything i have said , we still have a great opportunity to play finals footy and i hope the club as a whole throws everything but the kitchen sink at it in the last 9 games to try and get there ... but i worry about the toll it has taken on our players in playing as they have in the first half of the season .

If Dimma gets us over the line and we jag 8th this year then i reckon he will have done a sensational job
Very well said. Whether they can keep up the intensity will decide finals or not, couldn't agree more. Of concern also is that sides that we might have drawn a line thru a month ago are now up and about as they say eg Norf, but also Briz and we play them in vegas. So while many say we have a good run home...that won't be the case if we drop off even a fraction.
 

Tiger2709

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#54
I like to think we are a "bloody good football side " too... Arguably we have the AA ruckman.... Cotchin and lids in AA calculations.... Grimes and Rance( recent form poor) ... Tuck an elite extractor.... Jack coleman medalist.... Martin a young gun.... etc....

Are we alllowed to wonder what it would be like if we had Bomber Thompson or Malthouse at the club??? I'm not saying Dimma is not doing a good job ... but is it possible to believe we might be playing well below what we should be????
That's a bit harsh, cant see how any supporter could be upset with Hardwick, just look where we have come from since he signed on, we are now not far off the top 4 sides, we had the toughest draw and sit at 6/7.

I think we are right on track and not many coaches would have had the balls to turn over the players Hardwick has at the risk of his credibility, he could have tucked the issue like many of our recent coaches and carried on with things as they were.

As things stand I wouldn't trade him for Malthouse or Bomber, lets not forget how long it took them to turn their clubs around, Hardwick has the players loyalty and they believe they are going somewhere, lets not ruin that like so many times in the last 30 years.
 

Bojangles17

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#55
Whats evident to me is we are only a couple of players shy of being right up there. Ive been a broken record all year about the lack of forward options. The crows had walker tippet and porplyza...we have jack miller and elton...same pattern with all top sides yet we have only been a couple of goals off them by levering the talents of resting midfielders as goalkickers.

Bleedin obvious where we need to bridge the gap going forward
 

Tiger2709

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#56
3rd youngest list in the competition and as Leigh Matthews says, you need 30 top players for the depth to be a team that's a premiership challenger.

we barely have 22. we just don't have the depth yet.
This pretty much says it all really, we have waited 30 years lets not start dumping shit on Dimma's doorstep just when he is building a team that should be able to compete with the best for quite a few years yet.
 

rideclutch

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#59
Bump. You sure fellas?
I was. Little less so now. Bottom line is there were a lot of mentally weak players out there tonight, ones who either will have a chance to learn, or ones who will be shown the door at years end. Overall, full strength line-up? I'd still put us on par with other young sides, no more, no less.
 

PHX

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#60
Our average losing margin is now 17 points. The "best" in the league.

Out of our 15 games we have won the first and third quarters 21 out of 30 times but only 8 out of 30 second and fourth quarters.

Take from that whatever you like. What goes wrong at the short breaks that we get right pre-game and at the long break?
 

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THE_GUN

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#63
Cotchin 22, Riewoldt 23, Rance 22, Morris 23, Connors 23, Edwards 23, Martin 21, Grimes 20, Griffiths 20, Elton 19, Ellis 19, Dea 21. I think a lot of people forget how young these guys actually are, composure in tight games will only come after experience, we did against the saints. Look at Geelong, until there core group of players got to their mid 20s with 100-150 games under their belts they had talent but were nothing special, it takes a lot of time, experience and playing together as group over a number of years where they understand each others game and know what team mates are going to do before they do it. Through smart trading in the national draft, rookie picks and targeting players for certain roles, together with a consistently higher effort each week slowly the wheels will turn. I think we are going well only 2 1/2 years into hardwicks tenure and he's doing a great job
Agree wit everything you said except 1 thing !!

Replace Connors with Conca :p
 
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