News Epic Barrett smack down of Ricciuto

[King Elvis]

Surely not.

 

[Scrogdogg]

You don't make a grand final if you are a mentally weak side. We were an also ran quality* in a league full of also rans. Someone just had to win it.

That grand final loss really comes down to us being unduly arrogant, and some bad luck. We'll cover the bad luck first which was by the end of the first quarter we had lost the two catalysts for our spike in form in the back end of 2017 in McGovern and Greenwood to injury (both structural pieces, but two players who really did make others better by being able to cover weaknesses). Greenwood is just sh*t luck, McGovern is rather unforgivable because we had time to realise that oh sh*t, we need a small, not Otten. So the lack of a plan B really hurt us. Not only that but we had played right into a high pressure side hands by selecting a slow side. The unfortunate issue with having finals is luck can end up playing a rather key role in deciding who was the best, but I fully accept we deserved that occurring.

What needed to happen was some accountability with coaches and then the rest was show faith in the players, refresh and put it behind you quickly. You do not scapegoat.

Still the margins of any sport are fine enough that if we kicked 6.1 instead of 4.3 in the first quarter, we probably end up with a premiership just by it putting Richmond on the ropes against the 2nd most potent attack that has existed in the AFL era.

Though we have probably ended up being a cautionary tale that there is nothing to be gained by revisiting a lost grand final, if anything.



* obligatory ******* draft sanctions. fu** Trigg and Chapman for costing us a dynasty.

I agree particularly with your first para.
The club put all efforts toward that time window poremiership to the detriment of all other things. Sure some things (Walsh) were beyond our doing but our football direction for so many years has been B grade. Recalling the years of gold pass treatment to Scott Methuselah Thompson always acts to remind me of our years of poor selection, poor recruiting and drafting, our steadfast conservatism and bungled decisions which climaxed in the infamous mental strength camp and other things. Thankfully our one piece of stability throughout all this lumpy decline in our stature and fortune has been Chapman. Where would we be otherwise? ? ? Hmmm?

 

[Scrogdogg]

Revisiting that GF. We were simply overwhelmed by a Richmond who had the PRESSURE game around the contest operating to perfection. We just could not handle it. Virtually all of our play was bustled, closed down and unbalanced. We could not rise clear of it and so we succumbed. And from that day forward the club has been left wondering. It is no surprise that eventually the club began to look at ats internal management. The immediate future will be a measure of our resilience and Chapman must go so as to flag a new way of doing things.

 

[1970crow]

Surely not.

I've a mate who hooked into some gear with a few of our boys back in those days. Didn't believe him at first, but now that I know how widespread use is, it's hard not to.

 

[Golumless]

Revisiting that GF. We were simply overwhelmed by a Richmond who had the PRESSURE game around the contest operating to perfection. We just could not handle it. Virtually all of our play was bustled, closed down and unbalanced. We could not rise clear of it and so we succumbed. And from that day forward the club has been left wondering. It is no surprise that eventually the club began to look at ats internal management. The immediate future will be a measure of our resilience and Chapman must go so as to flag a new way of doing things.

It was always the risk with a slow side. Though it's a bit North '98 about it in that if we capitalised more on our early dominance, we probably win that game.

The s**t that happens when one game is given too much importance.

 

[King Elvis]

Coaching and selection lost us that GF.

I've a mate who hooked into some gear with a few of our boys back in those days. Didn't believe him at first, but now that I know how widespread use is, it's hard not to.

I’ve got no doubt about that at all; more just this specific case

 

[1970crow]

Coaching and selection lost us that GF.



I’ve got no doubt about that at all; more just this specific case

I'm not sure the inference. There was no illicit program back then, so not sure what else it would have been.

 

[cleanhands]

I've a mate who hooked into some gear with a few of our boys back in those days. Didn't believe him at first, but now that I know how widespread use is, it's hard not to.

I've a mate who hooked into some gear with a few of our boys back in those days. Didn't believe him at first, but now that I know how widespread use is, it's hard not to.

Rife, rife, rife, when my daughter told me could have knocked me over with a feather

 

[Anthony Cumia]

I went to plenty of parties during the 90s and saw quite a few AFL players on the gear. Dropping them like tic tacs

 

[Sanders]

Revisiting that GF. We were simply overwhelmed by a Richmond who had the PRESSURE game around the contest operating to perfection. We just could not handle it. Virtually all of our play was bustled, closed down and unbalanced. We could not rise clear of it and so we succumbed. And from that day forward the club has been left wondering. It is no surprise that eventually the club began to look at ats internal management. The immediate future will be a measure of our resilience and Chapman must go so as to flag a new way of doing things.

funnily enough, we still can’t handle that type of pressure around the contest and ball carrier

 

[King Elvis]

I'm not sure the inference. There was no illicit program back then, so not sure what else it would have been.

No inference - stupid naive me believes(d?) it was parvovirus...

 

[kirky]

On the subject of Roo, many years later ...

anyone still believe that ‘parvo’ virus thing? Wonder what the real issue was.

either way it was buddy annoying

What was that saying “things go better with Coke”?

Where has Chapman gone to? Not a word out of him at all recently.

 

[Smoooothy]

No inference - stupid naive me believes(d?) it was parvovirus...

looking back, it was so far fetched that it would even be possible. i'm never heard of anyone else having parvo before or since (which also could come down to naivety on my part)

 

[Smoooothy]

What was that saying “things go better with Coke”?

Where has Chapman gone to? Not a word out of him at all recently.

what a surprise... definition of a downhill skiier

 

[Scrogdogg]

funnily enough, we still can’t handle that type of pressure around the contest and ball carrier

So right. Yet for years we persisted with players who were almost guaranteed to cough up the ball at every physical challenge. The ability to control the ball and work through pressure situations has not figured highly from the selection angle. Hell there is/was one player who was dispossessed in virtually every body contact.
But individual players aside, after many years we are still spoiling each other over the ball, shuffling it at ground level, not protecting the bal carrier and no obvious extraction game to clear delivery space.
Something I have noticed with Richmond in the last few years is the frequent use of the tap on, push out at ground level skirmishes to a player clear of the contest. It must be a coaching ploy. They used it well in their finals wins. It is certainly better than having everyone in there, see ball, pick up ball, compete against your team mate, football.

 

[MRB37]

Revisiting that GF. We were simply overwhelmed by a Richmond who had the PRESSURE game around the contest operating to perfection. We just could not handle it. Virtually all of our play was bustled, closed down and unbalanced. We could not rise clear of it and so we succumbed. And from that day forward the club has been left wondering. It is no surprise that eventually the club began to look at ats internal management. The immediate future will be a measure of our resilience and Chapman must go so as to flag a new way of doing things.

Crows and Richmond were the top 2 pressure sides in the comp that year, the game was always going to go one of two ways. Either both teams stood up and it was a close game with one narrowly getting the win or one side would eventually succumb to the pressure and the other would run away with it. During the year at AO it was the Tigers who crumbled, at the G it was us.

 

[Sanders]

Crows and Richmond were the top 2 pressure sides in the comp that year, the game was always going to go one of two ways. Either both teams stood up and it was a close game with one narrowly getting the win or one side would eventually succumb to the pressure and the other would run away with it. During the year at AO it was the Tigers who crumbled, at the G it was us.

our pressure was never like theirs