Honestly, as a supporter, it has been a great ride. Whist there may be a slim hope we are back here again in September, it's more likely that we take our wins and begin the long rebuild.
Still, when I consider the ebs during the 90s, and early 00s, this has been one hell of a ride. Never would have thought we would get three in a row after 2012. All comments saying it was a weak league, Hawks breezed through, etc is just one big barter to justify their own clubs failures in the same time period. We all were teams in 2004, we all had the same chances, there were the same opportunities.
We just we the club to take them. We were lucky to have a visionary coach who could see the game evolving in front of him and repeatedly adapt his side to the changing game, on and off the pitch.
Anyway, vent it all out. I remember doing a similar thing when the Lions fell away during '04. Feels good to finally see a juggernaut fall.
But don't belittle the past triumphs and the real veterans of those wins. Any club would have killed for Hodge, Mitchell, Burgers, Birch, Rioli etc in their prime. Whilst they may not have won the most possessions or got the most golden stars, the ability that made them great, is they stood up in big moments. Everytime. Norf sure could have used some of those players. West Coast are currently crying out for their players to stand up like these boys do.
Will be an interesting ride to see where we go next. But we made the most of our time in the sunlight and that's all you can ask for in this league. It's bloody hard to win one, let alone 3 in 3 years and 4 in 8 or so.
Good luck to the four remaining by the end of today. Would love the Doggies to win the whole thing, would just be such a great story.
Peace out! xo