Lets not get carried away, we beat Port yesterday because we were more desperate than them in the conditions. As nice as it would be to win games we need to play the system the same way that the Blues and Dees did over the last few years, especially with the compromised drafts over the next 2 years. If we finish last this year with less than 4 wins, we get 3 picks inside the top 30 and outside GC no other side will have the same access as us.
Now I know that this time last year I was on the same side as the OP, I too wanted to win as many games as possible and build a winning culture around the place, but given all the talk that has come out of Punt Rd this year it is clear that you can still build the right sort of culture even when we're a losing.
Regardless it appears as though Hardwick isn't overly fussed about winning this year, instead choosing to focus on development of the players judging on the comments he made on Friday:
"From our point of view its's about seeing which players can take us forward and what positions they're suited to," Hardwick said.
"Sides at the bottom of the ladder generally turn over their players more than top sides - its just a statistical thing you can back up.
"So from our point of view we're just seeing how players go in certain positions and come 2011 we'll settle our side somewhat as well."
With that in mind I hope wekeep rotating the kids in and out of the side as form warrants and work out which sort of players we need to target to continue building the list, if we happen to win games along the way then great as it will prove that we're coming along nicely, if we don't win then I'm not overly fussed as we'll still get the reward of a top 4 kid and another 2 top 30 kids to add to the crop of kids we got last year. Either way its a win win situation.