Be Proud!

[dees01]

I know it may seem strange, but I was really proud of the team last night. To finish 6th I think is a very good effort. Its about 5 places higher than what I thought we would finish. The good thing is that the team will only get better. In about two years time it will be our turn.

The start was nothing short of disgraceful. We were a bit like Ray Charles playing golf in that we did not see enough of the ball.

The 2nd and 3rd quarters was some of the best footy I have seen us play. It was inspiring stuff. I can understand why the players were exhausted at 3/4 time, I was stuffed from all the yelling and standing I was doing. It was just outstanding footy. In the end they just ran out of puff. Also, could the Crows kick any more accurate?

And the crowd was great last night. We were all in shock but we made plenty of noise which was good to see!

In a way, I was not that upset in not winning. We would be exhausted after that match and to face Collingwood with a weeks break to their advantage may not have been pretty. I also think the Crows have a better chance against the Pies. If there midfiled gets on top, the Pies are in trouble.

I could also not face having another Grand Final thumping. When we make it, we play against sides that are the best in decades. No one, especially the Crows, will get within 8 goals of the Lions.

Anyway, be proud of the team and their efforts. Exciting times are ahead. Now bring on the cricket and the Spring Carnival and before you know it, the footy will be on again!

 

[Deestroy]

The time is near to look forward to next year.
Thompson - Is all class by injury ruined his year
Nicho - Should come back about round 10, possibly earlier, was in AA form earlier in the year.
Broady - Will boost our defensive stocks
Molan - Give him a full year of footy at Sandy and see how good he is
Rigoni - Has had a back operation, and has stated that he will be back for round 1 next year.
Whelan - Will be back from round 1.
Arma - Give him another full pre-season, bulk up a bit and he will be able to play in the midfield next year.

We could also be recruiting heavily, will space in the cap due to retirements/delistings. The club has also stated it wants to get back to a full list of 38 players, instead of the 36 we had this year to improve depth.

 

[CowboyFromHell]

Extremely well said Andrew. For a while I was in shock to the fact we lost, as we had played such fantastic football, yet still lost.
The boys just ran out of legs, but looking back, I was proud of the boys who wear the red and blue.

Losing Powell AND Brown hurt us badly as they are big in the midfield rotation. White got flogged early, but came back and Johnstone was just outstanding in the middle. Poor bloke ran so hard that he was buggered by 3 qtr time. Neita stood up again to kick 5 from limited opportunities and Vardy once again showed us his experience by kicking 3. And Bruce.......do I have to remind everyone of how classy the boy is?

I am glad we didn't go to the Grand Final as I doubt highly we would have won it. Finishing now will probably do us alot better, and we can lift our ehads and work hard to next season, with some quality players returning, and the team stepping up that extra notch.

P.S - Armstrong, like I said from game one, will be a superstar. Over the last month he has been great, and you can tell that he is the type of player who has TONS of time, poise and plenty of class. And - Molan for CHF next year!

 

[dees*gal]

Originally posted by CowboyFromHell


I am glad we didn't go to the Grand Final as I doubt highly we would have won it. Finishing now will probably do us alot better, and we can lift our ehads and work hard to next season, with some quality players returning, and the team stepping up that extra notch.

thats actually very true... hopefully now, they'll be hungryer for success next yr. i dont really know what else to say - as its all been said - but i think theres a hell of alot of positives to be taken out of this season, and i think the team can only grow from it. next yr should be a good one, but it'll be a long 6 months without footy

 

[BIG POPPA PUMP]

I dont know if we ran out of legs, or if the Crows just wanted it more than what we did. The game was over at the beginning of the last quarter. We knew it, the Crows knew it and the crowd knew it. All we had to do was play some attacking football for the first 10 minutes, put some decent pressure on and we wouldve been 10 goal winners and going into a prelim final right now. Instead we played soft, defensive football, let them back into the game and just didnt have anything left to make another charge.

I'm deffinately not proud. Chances like this don't come along every day. We were 2 wins away from a premiership, something most of our supporters have never experienced. Collingwood have only really played 1 decent match in their last 5 and no-one including Brisbane is unbeatable on Grand Final Day. I hate it how we always accept 2nd or 3rd best.

 

[Deestroy]

Originally posted by BIG POPPA PUMP
I dont know if we ran out of legs, or if the Crows just wanted it more than what we did. The game was over at the beginning of the last quarter. We knew it, the Crows knew it and the crowd knew it. All we had to do was play some attacking football for the first 10 minutes, put some decent pressure on and we wouldve been 10 goal winners and going into a prelim final right now. Instead we played soft, defensive football, let them back into the game and just didnt have anything left to make another charge.

I'm deffinately not proud. Chances like this don't come along every day. We were 2 wins away from a premiership, something most of our supporters have never experienced. Collingwood have only really played 1 decent match in their last 5 and no-one including Brisbane is unbeatable on Grand Final Day. I hate it how we always accept 2nd or 3rd best.

Hear, ****en hear!

 

[CowboyFromHell]

Originally posted by Deestroy

Hear, ****en hear!

Both of you - sorry, but I disagree.

We would not have won the Grand Final, and I think the loss will end up becoming a positive as the boys will look to next year hungrier to go a couple of steps further. I think you are being too harsh.

 

[Deestroy]

Originally posted by CowboyFromHell


Both of you - sorry, but I disagree.

We would not have won the Grand Final, and I think the loss will end up becoming a positive as the boys will look to next year hungrier to go a couple of steps further. I think you are being too harsh.

Making the finals is good, sure, but we have been near-enough and close-enough for too long. This club needs to win a premiership, and it can only do it by being mentally tougher than it is now. I sure hope losing the final on the weekend the way we did gives the club a new tougher attitute, but we have lost finals before over the last 40 years.

 

[CowboyFromHell]

Originally posted by Deestroy

Making the finals is good, sure, but we have been near-enough and close-enough for too long. This club needs to win a premiership, and it can only do it by being mentally tougher than it is now. I sure hope losing the final on the weekend the way we did gives the club a new tougher attitute, but we have lost finals before over the last 40 years.

It would have been nice to see us win, but I truly think we can hold our heads high as we didn't disgrace ourselves this year.

We will be back next year for sure, ready for a HUGE tilt at a flag and remember - most people wrote us off this year, it's been a damn fine effort to finish 6th.

 

[dees01]

Originally posted by CowboyFromHell


It would have been nice to see us win, but I truly think we can hold our heads high as we didn't disgrace ourselves this year.

We will be back next year for sure, ready for a HUGE tilt at a flag and remember - most people wrote us off this year, it's been a damn fine effort to finish 6th.

As always Adam, I agree with you! You have to be realistic, it was highly unlikely that we would be able to beat Brisbane. I don't think we would even beat Collingwood. To be a serious threat come finals time, you have to finish in the Top 4.

 

[SPUNKY_MONKEY45]

Originally posted by BIG POPPA PUMP
.

I'm deffinately not proud. Chances like this don't come along every day. We were 2 wins away from a premiership, something most of our supporters have never experienced. Collingwood have only really played 1 decent match in their last 5 and no-one including Brisbane is unbeatable on Grand Final Day. I hate it how we always accept 2nd or 3rd best.

actually i very much agree with you!
but the season as a whole was well as i predicted but we surprised most people in the footy world.

 

[BT]

While I do agree that we should be proud of our team, I do not think for a second that finishing 6th is a good result. We were handed a golden opportunity to at least make the Granny & we blew it, big time!

Considering also we won 4 of our first 5 games it's a terribly disappointing result.

I am proud of the way we fought out every single game (Apart from round 21 ).

I'm also extremely pleased with the players who stepped up this season & surprised me Brown & Lamb in particular.

We held on well despite losing 3 tall defenders, a very gutsy effort.

 

[BT]

Originally posted by BIG POPPA PUMP
I dont know if we ran out of legs, or if the Crows just wanted it more than what we did. The game was over at the beginning of the last quarter. We knew it, the Crows knew it and the crowd knew it. All we had to do was play some attacking football for the first 10 minutes, put some decent pressure on and we wouldve been 10 goal winners and going into a prelim final right now. Instead we played soft, defensive football, let them back into the game and just didnt have anything left to make another charge.

I'm deffinately not proud. Chances like this don't come along every day. We were 2 wins away from a premiership, something most of our supporters have never experienced. Collingwood have only really played 1 decent match in their last 5 and no-one including Brisbane is unbeatable on Grand Final Day. I hate it how we always accept 2nd or 3rd best.

As for the night itself, I think I said to Adam at Quarter time "I'd just be glad if we showed some spirit". Which we did, an enormous amount of it I reckon. I was desperately disappointed at the final siren but we had no luck because we lost Powell & Brown early on. We missed their run late in the game.

Credit to Adelaide they were fitter & smarter than us in that last quarter.

But I agree over the season as a whole 6th was a terrible result. We can't accept as supporters or as a club.

Hard decisions have to be made to get us anywhere near it next season. No more sitting back, we have to go for it!