Review In hindsight in 2023…

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Shouldn’t have beaten myself up about that Gather Round loss to Brisbane

Sure we were rubbish, but look where they are now…
I was there that day. We played a very good first quarter, but after that we were a sieve.

Funnily enough remember McKay getting done over the back countless times because he reacted far too slow.
 
Shouldn’t have beaten myself up about that Gather Round loss to Brisbane

Sure we were rubbish, but look where they are now…
Giants V Lions and countless articles about the death of Victorian football?
 

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I was there that day. We played a very good first quarter, but after that we were a sieve.

Funnily enough remember McKay getting done over the back countless times because he reacted far too slow.
It was the whole defence. We tried a zone defensive setup that resulted in some hilariously bad moments. McKay had a mare, but so did Logue, LMac and the rest of them
 
I should have realized 42.6% of posts would be two guys talking about McDonald, Sleevo, and Bailey Scott.
 
I should have realized 42.6% of posts would be two guys talking about McDonald, Sleevo, and Bailey Scott.

Lomas gets the thread…

The One Where Estelle Dies Episode 15 GIF by Friends
 

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Here’s one.

Signed up to grilled relish membership.

Told me that if my team won, every Monday you get a free burger.

Was going ridiculously well for the first two rounds, thought this was awesome…

Nothing until the final round 😪

May have lost Reid, but scored a free burger.
 
Shouldn’t have beaten myself up about that Gather Round loss to Brisbane

Sure we were rubbish, but look where they are now…

I get what you’re saying, but look where GWS and Carlton were and where they ended up.

We’ve spent 2 decades trying to comfort ourselves every year that our opposition were ridiculously great so we can’t be blamed for losing to them.

Whereas teams like Collingwood who were widely tipped to finish bottom 4 last year just go about being that team.

When is our turn? It’s been too long. We have a low-expectation losing culture. Time to do better.

Also, Brisbane aren’t that good away from the Gabba. I was hoping Carlton would make it so that the Pies might actually be challenged at the G.
 
Hindsight for each game.

Round 1 v West Coast - Exciting with Sheezel at the time. But totally meh now.
Round 2 v Fremantle - Remains an excellent win by it never should have been so close.
Round 3 v Hawthorn - What if we won this? We could have been 3-0 and flying. Sliding doors.
Round 4 v Carlton - Screwed by appalling umpiring. Probably lose anyway but it was all downhill from here.
Round 5 v Brisbane Lions - Reality hits.
Round 6 v Gold Coast - Reality hits hard.
Round 7 v Melbourne - WE SUCK AGAIN!
Round 8 v St.Kilda - Shocking game of football. And we lost it.
Round 9 v Port Adelaide - face palm
Round 10 v Sydney - Shoulda won. Stupid way to lose.
Round 11 v Collingwood - Like a cat playing with a mouse. We're the mouse.
Round 12 v Essendon - This is the game. We can go with OK teams. Don't know how to win.
Round 13 v GWS - Fair effort. Not good enough.
Round 14 v Bye. Some respite
Round 15 v Western Bulldogs - Still not good enough
Round 16 v Adelaide - I'm over this s**t.
Round 17 v Geelong - Still over it.
Round 18 v Hawthorn. OMFG. I AM OVER THIS s**t!
Round 19 v St.Kilda. They sucked again and we still somehow lost.
Round 20 v West Coast. That's it. I'm done. Totally checked out.
Round 21 v Melbourne. I told you. I checked out.
Round 22 v Essendon. Farewell Cunners but I've checked out.
Round 23 v Richmond. Farewell Ziebs but I've checked out.
Round 24 v Gold Coast. Totally cool with losing...but finally we won.
 
Hindsight for each game.

Round 1 v West Coast - Exciting with Sheezel at the time. But totally meh now.
Round 2 v Fremantle - Remains an excellent win by it never should have been so close.
Round 3 v Hawthorn - What if we won this? We could have been 3-0 and flying. Sliding doors.
Round 4 v Carlton - Screwed by appalling umpiring. Probably lose anyway but it was all downhill from here.
Round 5 v Brisbane Lions - Reality hits.
Round 6 v Gold Coast - Reality hits hard.
Round 7 v Melbourne - WE SUCK AGAIN!
Round 8 v St.Kilda - Shocking game of football. And we lost it.
Round 9 v Port Adelaide - face palm
Round 10 v Sydney - Shoulda won. Stupid way to lose.
Round 11 v Collingwood - Like a cat playing with a mouse. We're the mouse.
Round 12 v Essendon - This is the game. We can go with OK teams. Don't know how to win.
Round 13 v GWS - Fair effort. Not good enough.
Round 14 v Bye. Some respite
Round 15 v Western Bulldogs - Still not good enough
Round 16 v Adelaide - I'm over this s**t.
Round 17 v Geelong - Still over it.
Round 18 v Hawthorn. OMFG. I AM OVER THIS s**t!
Round 19 v St.Kilda. They sucked again and we still somehow lost.
Round 20 v West Coast. That's it. I'm done. Totally checked out.
Round 21 v Melbourne. I told you. I checked out.
Round 22 v Essendon. Farewell Cunners but I've checked out.
Round 23 v Richmond. Farewell Ziebs but I've checked out.
Round 24 v Gold Coast. Totally cool with losing...but finally we won.

Round 12 was the pits of hell
 
Round 12 was the pits of hell

I reckon Round 12 was the eye to the future. We had an opponent not worthy of too much respect but in a better place than us in the moment. We were terrible early. Very poor. But not only did we stay in the game, we got on top of it. Our lead was quickly whittled away but we didn't roll over and regained the lead late. Wardlaw, Sheezel, Phillips were great. We scored freely, albeit against a team with little defensive instinct, with a spread of goalkickers. In the end it was errors from senior players that cost us.

Our best can match it with the OK teams for moments. The next six weeks were really bad. But towards the end we had the best of the Saints for 3/4s, dominated the Dees for a quarter, went toe-to-toe with * again, had 15 awful mins v Tigs and from half way through the 2nd quarter kicked 18 goals against Suns.

We suck. No doubt. That Eagles game killed my love of football. The second Hawthorn game was almost the worst I've ever seen in terms of effort. But in Round 12 we played some very exciting football. And then late in the year we'd boss moments in games without the skill or maturity to maintain it for four quarters.

If we get the next 2 months right, and this week we've been given a huge leg-up, I'm confident that better days aren't too far away.
 

Those senior players are gone. It's not their team anymore. Love Goldy, Ziebs and Cunners but they were on deck during the descent of our club.

Maybe I'm an optimist but I look at 2024 like NMFC around 1992. Not much of a team but...

A few players linked to the previous years of mediocrity (Larkin, German, McDonald) but pushed into the margins somewhat. Rock, Schwass, Stevens, Carey, Longmire, Martyn, Sholl, Allison etc - all <100 games but taking the reins. The next few years able to bring in quality from elsewhere (Laidley, Roberts, Scott, Bell, Blakey). Add in quality from the draft (King, Archer, McKernan, Simpson).

There were games late in 1992 where we lost but put the wind up better sides (Collingwood, St.Kilda, Carlton). The * game and probably the Sydney one this year might be the equivalent.
 
I reckon round 12 was one of our better displays for a while. We just got massively let down by our mediocre leaders.
 
Was pleasant to see so many players outdoing my expectations. Bergman did it (briefly), Sheezel did it, then Wardlaw and Scott did it, then TT did it. Then Larkey did it at the very end.

Comben's injury was the least surprising thing all year. I was holding my breath from R1. And I'll be doing it again this year, if he even makes it to R1.

Logue disappointed me. Started off brilliantly, then faded badly, forgetting how to spoil at one point. McKay disappointed me then impressed me. It's a strange brain inside that head, presuming he has one.

No 100 point beltings was nice, even if Godees switched off. A win over AFL level opposition by more than a goal was nice too.

We got unlucky with Clarko's mental wellbeing. A preseason based on fitness and a season with no off field drama would be a ******* godsend. I think 2021 was the last smooth year we had off field, but then David Noble had his brain smashed with a hammer, which null and voided any progress.

Wasn't as bad as it could've been, but certainly wasn't as good as it could've been. May the team kick the leather around the grass more effectively next year
 

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