Fundamentally, How Come We Won the 2016 Premiership?

[Anja_Nees]

1. Boyd cutting loose
2. even 22
3. Bevo
4. injured players back
5. actually a great side
6. bye
7. great draw if you’re going to do it from 7th (WC lost Nic Nat, Hawks were cooked and played at the G, GWS’s first finals series then Sydney our bunnies at the G
8. Best contested ball side in history
9. Everyone knew the game plan inside and out
10. Absurdly fit (ask Mottram who trained us in running preseason)
11. Even top seven
12. Ridiculous defensive pressure
13. Best small forward set up in club’s history together for four weeks
14. Clayton leaving
15. Clayton making sure GC weren’t great like they were meant to be
16. Abused third man up
17. Some handy free kicks
18. Basically no old players with the old dogs millstone around their necks
19. Perfect conditions each game
20. Stringer taking best defender despite being in terrible form
21. Bont fit
22. Libba and Cordy father son for nothing
23. Cooney Lake Giggins and Griff all leaving, shedding the old dogs’ ways in one hit
24. Mature recruits
25. Biggs being motivated for one year of his career
26. Buddy doesn’t perform in grand finals
27. Our time
28. Statistically it was going to happen eventually
29. We have always rebuilt and made a prelim, this time we just happened to break through
30. To spite GWS
31. Great effort from medicos to get the side together
32. My dad didn’t come to the prelim

 

[Snake Livermore]

Don Scott was on the radio and his theory about finals is that it's about who steps up the most. And the good players are already good, so they haven't really got anywhere to go. It more comes down to the average players in your team and how (whether) they rise to meet the moment.

He wasn't talking about the dogs but it resonated.

 

[dogwatch]

1. Boyd cutting loose
2. even 22
3. Bevo
4. injured players back
5. actually a great side
6. bye
7. great draw if you’re going to do it from 7th (WC lost Nic Nat, Hawks were cooked and played at the G, GWS’s first finals series then Sydney our bunnies at the G
8. Best contested ball side in history
9. Everyone knew the game plan inside and out
10. Absurdly fit (ask Mottram who trained us in running preseason)
11. Even top seven
12. Ridiculous defensive pressure
13. Best small forward set up in club’s history together for four weeks
14. Clayton leaving
15. Clayton making sure GC weren’t great like they were meant to be
16. Abused third man up
17. Some handy free kicks
18. Basically no old players with the old dogs millstone around their necks
19. Perfect conditions each game
20. Stringer taking best defender despite being in terrible form
21. Bont fit
22. Libba and Cordy father son for nothing
23. Cooney Lake Giggins and Griff all leaving, shedding the old dogs’ ways in one hit
24. Mature recruits
25. Biggs being motivated for one year of his career
26. Buddy doesn’t perform in grand finals
27. Our time
28. Statistically it was going to happen eventually
29. We have always rebuilt and made a prelim, this time we just happened to break through
30. To spite GWS
31. Great effort from medicos to get thebside together
32. My dad didn’t come to the prelim

Our resident numerologist Fossie 32 is disappointed you couldn't stretch this list to 54 items but appreciates that it got to (Peter Foster) 32, and is 2 (flags) x '16.

 

[murphy2bedabest]

Ok, I actually did analyse this shortly after the GF and in short, stacked up we were a top 2-4 side.

-we went 15-7 in 2016, that's top 4 any other year and we did finish 3 games clear of lolnorf (were 9-0 in 16) so it's not like just scraped into finals.
-we had the 2nd worse injury list and had two sliding door moment games that involved injuries, the saints game (Wallis and Redpath) and the Cats game (Libba and Macrae) I strongly believe we would've won both those games, giving us a 17-5 record and finishing 2nd on the ladder giving a better reflection on our season.
-we had the 3rd best defense all year, amazing when you consider our backs where the hardest hit on injuries that year.
-every stat line in 2016 we were top 2-4 in most, comparing that to the rest of the top 8 not many sides were that good in so many areas. as mentioned some of our midfield stats were off the charts, we smashed sides.
-As for the free kick count when you break it down it was only 4 extra a game, that's 1 extra a quarter. think about that.


In the first 2 games of the season we allowed less then 40 points to be scored against us and in round 3 after quarter time we took it right up to the hawks. That game told me that we had the believe to go all the way, what happened after this was due to our injury list we had to play players where we didn't want them.

look at our inside F50s for that year compared to marks inside F50, why is this? was it our manic pressure that we played with all year that got repeat entries and these were just rushed? or was it that the players we wanted to use for that last kick IF50 were either injured or playing in other areas?

What I came up with in 2016 when I looked at the season as a whole, was that because of our injury list we changed our plans to just stay within games, not let them score and just get the win.
I also felt that Bevo learnt a lot from 2015, needing to make finals with your better players fit. In 2016 we were able to do that and yes the bye did assist but we were a far better side then 7th suggests.

 

[Fossie 32]

Our resident numerologist Fossie 32 is disappointed you couldn't stretch this list to 54 items but appreciates that it got to (Peter Foster) 32, and is 2 (flags) x '16.

 

[Byron Street]

Looks like its time to close this discussion. Initially I asked:

"When one reflects on the 2016 finals, one is drawn to ask the question: How could we possibly have won those four finals in a row?"
To start the discussion, I identified and ordered the following four possible factors:

First, the supreme confidence of coach Beveridge, and the feeling that that engendered among the players.

Second, the fanaticism of "ordinary" players like Smith, Biggs, Wood, all of whom suddenly rose to Herculean heights and strength.

Third, the fast-track emergence of highly-talented players like Bontempelli, J.J., Liberatore, and Hunter.

Fourth, the steadying, but inspiring, influence, at all times, of Morris.

Although some contributors took the post seriously, others seemed not to, which is a shame because the question is important from the point of view of the present and of the future.

Given what has been said I think we should add "M. Boyd" to Morris's name (in the fourth point). Also, "Picken" and "T. Boyd" should should be added to the second point.

On giving the matter further thought, I think I should have added a fifth factor -- the importance of the "Handball Club" (which, apparently, was initiated by Hunter). The idea of handballing quickly, even to persons seemingly covered (so that the receiver also handballed on, quickly) was something new to the AFL in 2016. Two years on, it has been adopted, with considerable success by quite a few clubs. The handball club experimented with "over the head" handballs, and "along the ground" handballs. All of that enabled the Dogs to move the ball forward in very unusual, and unexpected, ways.

Thanks to those who made important contributions.

 

[Fossie 32]

Why close the discussion ? There were some serious responses - may be more to come