Can you have a good 15th?

[The Goon]

Great 15th. Even before the start of the year I thought we'd finish last. Three games into the season I seriously doubted we'd win a game, and was only watching for those glimpses of improvement that might suggest a better future. Although I think we actually overachieved this year, beating teams that were down for whatever reason, I was very happy with the season at the end. Not because of the games we won, but because (as Cogga said) of the genuinely exciting way we played at times.

Anyone else excited at the prospect of Grigg and Tuck feeding the ball out to Cotchin / Lids / Martin / Foley next year and freeing them up for outside roles?

 

[The Cotchin Supremacy]

Cant wait to see this Foley kid. Heard he can play.

 

[nugget_12]

Cant wait to see this Foley kid. Heard he can play.

Im with ya on that 1! seen some footage of him from some Vic V Allstars match and he looked like he could have a future!

 

[peejay]

Depends how good your first 14 were !

My first was average but from memory number 3 or 4 were great !

 

[Rustof]

Well considering our season didn't start until round 9. I think it's not too bad.

 

[Roachy8]

Depends how good your first 14 were !

My first was average but from memory number 3 or 4 were great !

I suspect many on here haven't gotten off zero yet...

 

[Tiger_Stripes]

I judge my footy on enjoyment factor.

I enjoyed the shit out of watching Troy Taylor snap the goal to put us in the lead in R22, screamed till I was hoarse when Deledio came back on and dominated after dislocating his elbow and saw JR kick more goals than I've had hot breakfasts this year.

....and we finished 15th.

I see the youth, the future. The aged past is behind us and finishing 9th again is only a pedestal on which we'll stand to reach the next, greater height, for those of you familiar with Hamlet, we'll "Make Ossa like a wart" such will be the altitudes we achieve.

 

[mhill]

At the end of the day and i dont know about other tigerheads, its not about the win/loss ratio. Its about watching the team play good footy.
For to long and in particular under the guidance of TW, we were winning games and I for one was thinking how shit the footy was. i.e. we were shit, and we would ruin the game enough to make the opposition shit. It works when you are playing against also rans, you get blasted out of the water when you play the cream and you end up 9th and "locked and ****ing loaded".
This year, even though we finished second last, when we won it was predominantly on the back of some pretty slick footy. All that is required now is to get to playing slick footy for more minutes in the game and week in week out. The more minutes will come with the natural development of the youngsters aerobic capacity and strength. The week in week out part will come with experience. The end.

Great Post Cogga. Although wins and losses are like the share price - might not reflect the value of your stock but it still matters most.

I really enjoyed the Hawthorn - despite the loss. It was the "belief game" where the players made it work and you could almost see the conversion in belief during the game.

Really hope this is the start but we have had so many false starts, not sure I could hope with being let down again...

 

[NQTIGER]

Please don't mention Collo anymore! The wounds are still fresh!!!!

Yeah The Sacred White buffalo is gone............................

 

[NQTIGER]

LMAO Cogga... you really 'love' the "locked and loaded" line... heh heh heh

Agree with your post.
Some average talent veterans can get the job done against medium level opposition but there is no real capacity for overall improvement and longer term success.

& as you say the footy is pretty ugly and cringe worthy at times.

15th this year was not ideal but the glimses of the 'new game plan' and the times our young team made it click pretty much had me see a brighter light at the end of the tunnel rather than the 'false light' that we have been seeing for the last 10 years or so.

The BIG difference this year in the second half of the season, you sat there watching and when we were behind there was anticipation that we could make a run and get into the game.

In the past once we got more than three or four goals down you knew we were gone, and that it would get ugly.

there was always a light at the end of the tunnel.

Sure there were still a couple of spankings but with a very young team that happens.

 

[Punt_Road_Roar]

No such thing as a good 15th no matter how much spin you put on it. It is possible to remain optimistic for the new season even if you finished 15th though.

Problem with our club in the past is we have these late rushes in the second half of the season, which makes many believe we are going to come out next season and be one of the big improvers but it never happens. (In the 90's we were the opposite, we would have fantastic first half of seasons but die in the arse).

The thing I will be looking at next season and I think we will finish around the same position and have the same # of wins is how the players go about it. If we continue to see the positive attitude and team effort then we are on the right path.

We will have another big clean out at the end of 2011 probably 6-8 players who just arent up to it. The big test is 2011, how the fans react if we are 1-5 or 3-8. I just hope the club for that matter doesnt let outside factors (small minority asking for the coach and board to be sacked) change their plan like we have seen for the past 30 years at this club.

Ride out 2011, stick to the plan, keep striving to improve and things may just start to turn around in season 2012. That's the way I see it.