Greatest (post 2011)missed flag opportunity..?

[Pollywaffle]

In the cold hard light of another ordinary finals exit I have found myself wondering whether we really could have jagged another flag this year
I think this year was probably our best shot, given the evenness of the comp and the possible opponents.
We had a wake up call last year that our pressure game was poor and that our H&A form was no indicator of finals success. We failed to address our dysfunctional forward setup or tweak our game style to accomodate finals style football. I think reactive coaching this year could have easily put us in a position to be running out next week with a real chance. Instead here we are again.....

 

[Daniel McL]

Obviously 2013.

End thread.

 

[Willo_]

2013 easily.
Hawks back is shagged, Simpson looks like turning into a good ruckman hurts his knee.
The nightmare final in Geelong - Chappy as the sub did not cost us that game
And we still had an almost 4 goal lead on the Hawks at 3/4 of a prelim.. just ran out of legs.

 

[Pollywaffle]

Obviously 2013.

End thread.

No way Freo had our measure and would have spanked us..

 

[steady2]

This would be better placed in the Season Review thread, or the We hate Chris Scott thread, or the Prelim Final chokers thread...or the Waah waah GFC let me down thread.

 

[Daniel McL]

No way Freo had our measure and would have spanked us..

Not at the MCG.

 

[Pollywaffle]

2013 easily.
Hawks back is shagged, Simpson looks like turning into a good ruckman hurts his knee.
.

So you still think we could have won that GF? People maybe focussing too much on the close loss to the Hawks we were stiff but I still think Freo had our measure.
I am looking at the way this finals series could have panned out and the potential opponents. All Gettable. Adelaide at the G are potentially flaky, we got the swans at G so could have done that in a GF - particularly going in as underdogs. Richmond are not the uber outfit that everybody makes them out to be..

 

[Cicatriz]

2013 easily.
Hawks back is shagged, Simpson looks like turning into a good ruckman hurts his knee.
The nightmare final in Geelong - Chappy as the sub did not cost us that game
And we still had an almost 4 goal lead on the Hawks at 3/4 of a prelim.. just ran out of legs.

Enright injured as well.

 

[Footy_Fan2007]

2013 followed by 2017.

 

[Pollywaffle]

This would be better placed in the Season Review thread, or the We hate Chris Scott thread, or the Prelim Final chokers thread...or the Waah waah GFC let me down thread.

I was just interested in people's opinions. Footy finals are always about lost opportunities and what ifs. I just reckon that this year is a golden opportunity gone begging.

 

[ATSAM]

Any and all of the above, 2015 was the only year I think that we didn't make top 4.

 

[MarkCatsFan]

I reckon 2012 if we'd won that round 1 match we'd have been right in it, Hawks were ripe for the taking as Sydney showed and 1 extra win would've had us in the top 4.

Freo would've beaten us in 13 grand final

 

[iameviljez]

2013 by the length of the street - though we needed to beat Fremantle first-up in the qualifying final (thus also saving Chapman the trouble of getting suspended).

A fit Hawkins and a fit Simpson would have made the difference IMO. Or, in fact (whisper it...) G. Ablett. 2013 was, though, a genuine three-way tussle, with Hawthorn just in front by the end of the year.

Second after that would be last year - not because we were great, but because the competition was just so open and even.

 

[iameviljez]

2013 easily.
Hawks back is shagged, Simpson looks like turning into a good ruckman hurts his knee.
The nightmare final in Geelong - Chappy as the sub did not cost us that game
And we still had an almost 4 goal lead on the Hawks at 3/4 of a prelim.. just ran out of legs.

The one difference being that we stuffed up a few chances in front of goal in the Qualifying Final, whereas Hawthorn should have been out of sight midway through the third quarter in the Prelim if not for shocking kicking.

 

[iameviljez]

Any and all of the above, 2015 was the only year I think that we didn't make top 4.

2012

 

[Seeds]

2013 Qf

Drop west (who rucked well the week before and beat luenberger) for vardy and blicavs. Blicavs was also playing with a broken hand.

Dont rest hawkins all home and away season despite constant queries in the media because of a view that a rest wont help his bad back. Decide to rest him for the first final. Josh walker is called up as our second key forward.

Chapman one of our best players in the last home and away game. We make him sub in the first final.

In the qf final caddy injures himself early in the second and plays like a lame duck. Enright also injures himself and blicavs plays like a rookie ruck with a broken hand is likely to play against the best ruck in the competition.

Disaster of epic proportions.

 

[Ricky Vaughn]

In order
2013
gap
2016
2012
2017
large gap
2014
2015

 

[Pollywaffle]

the most interesting aspect of this thread is how many people think we could have snagged 2013. We matched up well on the Hawks but were definitely Freos bitches... they would have throttled us big time I reckon especially with all the injured/cooked players we had at that point.

 

[Pollywaffle]

.

Second after that would be last year - not because we were great, but because the competition was just so open and even.

How is that different to this year? Very even competition with no great form team except the rampant swans - who we put to the sword. I think we were marginally better ( when we turned up) this year, than last.

 

[Vdubs]

Not at the MCG.

They beat us easily in a final at the G in 2012, and beat us in a final at Geelong.
They indeed had our measure

 

[Vdubs]

No option for NONE OF THE ABOVE?
I do not believe for one minute that we were the best team in any of those years.
All those issues in 2013 meant that we did not cough up an opportunity- we were just not meant to be there.
As we all should know, it takes more than good form to win a flag- a hell of a lot must go right. That includes injuries, suspensions, and when you play a team.

 

[MarkCatsFan]

the most interesting aspect of this thread is how many people think we could have snagged 2013. We matched up well on the Hawks but were definitely Freos bitches... they would have throttled us big time I reckon especially with all the injured/cooked players we had at that point.

Even with our rested players getting us at KP in a final was a huge deal, they were just really unlucky to get Hawthorn that day, they were still hurting like crazy from 11 and 12 and weren't going to let another one get away.

People really underrate our 2012 team, we were 1 win outside the top 4 and Collingwood had a weak September and Hawthorn had a lot of mental weaknesses, we beat Sydney a couple of weeks out from finals and Adelaide as well, I reckon we could've beaten any of the top 4 in a final, and made use of the double chance. That was a great season, probably the last season of the powerhouse teams of the late 00's before the expansion took effect, any of that seasons top 6 would beat this weekends grand finalists in a canter, sad really.

 

[Pollywaffle]

No option for NONE OF THE ABOVE?
I do not believe for one minute that we were the best team in any of those years.
All those issues in 2013 meant that we did not cough up an opportunity- we were just not meant to be there.
As we all should know, it takes more than good form to win a flag- a hell of a lot must go right. That includes injuries, suspensions, and when you play a team.

True. In fact on all those occasions we were not the best team going around and probably deserved our fate. Might even say we over achieved. I guess the claims that we have been allegedly 'challenging' for a while made me reflect on what that meant, and whether we could have gone the distance. In all honesty I have not believed we were really a chance in any of those years, and probably didn't deserve to be. This year, for some reason to me , feels like more of a lost opportunity than the others. A genuine 'changing of the guard' on the upper rungs of the ladder that we could have exploited.

 

[iameviljez]

How is that different to this year? Very even competition with no great form team except the rampant swans - who we put to the sword. I think we were marginally better ( when we turned up) this year, than last.

Because Adelaide is far better than Sydney or the Dogs were in 2016. Both Adelaide and Richmond have been completely untroubled through the finals series, too - whereas each of the top four candidates last year was pretty flawed.

I think we've dropped off compared to last year. I mean, look at the ins and outs - Bartel, Enright and Caddy, and although Tuohy has been great, the other two replacements are first-years in Parfitt and Zuthrie. As promising as they may be, they are just first-year players and can't replace experience and stronger bodies.

 

[iameviljez]

People really underrate our 2012 team, we were 1 win outside the top 4 and Collingwood had a weak September and Hawthorn had a lot of mental weaknesses, we beat Sydney a couple of weeks out from finals and Adelaide as well, I reckon we could've beaten any of the top 4 in a final, and made use of the double chance. That was a great season, probably the last season of the powerhouse teams of the late 00's before the expansion took effect, any of that seasons top 6 would beat this weekends grand finalists in a canter, sad really.

I disagree - we weren't great in 2012 and, in particular, were getting belted in clearances with West shouldering the load. Hawkins pulled out one hell of a season, though. I don't think you can look at a season where we got beaten relatively comprehensively by the seventh-placed team in the finals and say that we were close.