First let's track my own personal expectations back to the end of 2010.
In 2011, of course, I entertained the idea of a dynasty beginning. Unfortunately things unravelled badly at the crux of the season, with injuries, Malthouse's media sook and timing our run too early all playing a part.
In 2012 I still believed we would be right up there. As it so happened, we had about 5 or 6 season-ending injuries and eventually scraped through to a prelim and got thumped.
In 2013 my faith was dwindling but I was still looking to believe we could do it. Once again we had a frustrating number of injuries but for the most part it was our attitude that startled me. There was a real feeling of insolence that had spread into our on-field performance. The mutterings were that it was Buckley, it was the rat-pack, it was injuries, or even maybe it was an illusion and that the Pies were going to flick into their 2010 form at any moment.
For mine it was ANZAC day last year that was my final straw. It was another pathetic performance in which we showed just how much our hunting attitude had been lost. We had nurtured this inexplicable tendency to go missing not unlike Melbourne.
FUNDAMENTALLY, we were a new side, and we all had to come to terms with that in our own time.
So, on ANZAC day 2013 I finally dropped this idea that we could flick a switch and become our 2010 self again and began looking at the list overhaul that Buckley was undertaking. I don't need to explain the changes that we have seen, we all know them well. What I wanted to say after all this is that for the first time since 2010 I came into this season as a blank canvas. I look at a loss to Fremantle as hopefully an anomaly but an all-too-familiar reminder of this lack of effort which I find unwatchable. I look at the win against Sydney and I see a great effort, maybe our execution left a lot to be desired but at least we tried for 3 quarters and even when we weren't really trying we didn't just bend over. I see the loss to Geelong as a HUGE positive. With a backline that has more than half our regular VFL team and a host of our young up-and-comers who I am itching to see develop, there was a lot that could go wrong and a lot that could've lowered our resolve. I see a game plan that that is slowly looking more familiar. I see players like Grundy, Elliott and Marley showing genuine star quality on a regular basis. I see other kids like Fasolo, Seedsman, Frost and Thomas who look like becoming above-average contributors. I see heaps waiting in the wings for an opportunity who could be anything like Kennedy, Scharenberg, Broomhead, Freeman and Adams. What we are all seeing is a mid-tier team which is a complete blank canvas. Unfortunately we will always be living in the shadow of our former selves and our reputation. But so far, with the right attitude, I am thoroughly enjoying what I am seeing in 2014.
Put it this way, at least we aren't losing games with 30 year old ******s like Brock McLean and Andrew Carazzo still getting a game
In 2011, of course, I entertained the idea of a dynasty beginning. Unfortunately things unravelled badly at the crux of the season, with injuries, Malthouse's media sook and timing our run too early all playing a part.
In 2012 I still believed we would be right up there. As it so happened, we had about 5 or 6 season-ending injuries and eventually scraped through to a prelim and got thumped.
In 2013 my faith was dwindling but I was still looking to believe we could do it. Once again we had a frustrating number of injuries but for the most part it was our attitude that startled me. There was a real feeling of insolence that had spread into our on-field performance. The mutterings were that it was Buckley, it was the rat-pack, it was injuries, or even maybe it was an illusion and that the Pies were going to flick into their 2010 form at any moment.
For mine it was ANZAC day last year that was my final straw. It was another pathetic performance in which we showed just how much our hunting attitude had been lost. We had nurtured this inexplicable tendency to go missing not unlike Melbourne.
FUNDAMENTALLY, we were a new side, and we all had to come to terms with that in our own time.
So, on ANZAC day 2013 I finally dropped this idea that we could flick a switch and become our 2010 self again and began looking at the list overhaul that Buckley was undertaking. I don't need to explain the changes that we have seen, we all know them well. What I wanted to say after all this is that for the first time since 2010 I came into this season as a blank canvas. I look at a loss to Fremantle as hopefully an anomaly but an all-too-familiar reminder of this lack of effort which I find unwatchable. I look at the win against Sydney and I see a great effort, maybe our execution left a lot to be desired but at least we tried for 3 quarters and even when we weren't really trying we didn't just bend over. I see the loss to Geelong as a HUGE positive. With a backline that has more than half our regular VFL team and a host of our young up-and-comers who I am itching to see develop, there was a lot that could go wrong and a lot that could've lowered our resolve. I see a game plan that that is slowly looking more familiar. I see players like Grundy, Elliott and Marley showing genuine star quality on a regular basis. I see other kids like Fasolo, Seedsman, Frost and Thomas who look like becoming above-average contributors. I see heaps waiting in the wings for an opportunity who could be anything like Kennedy, Scharenberg, Broomhead, Freeman and Adams. What we are all seeing is a mid-tier team which is a complete blank canvas. Unfortunately we will always be living in the shadow of our former selves and our reputation. But so far, with the right attitude, I am thoroughly enjoying what I am seeing in 2014.
Put it this way, at least we aren't losing games with 30 year old ******s like Brock McLean and Andrew Carazzo still getting a game
