R1 games ....I heard Whatley and Nick Riewoldt this morning talking about the 2004 game.. and it made me reflect on what R1 games I remembered. Games from the past can be crystal or opac .. one may remember it as it was or it can get a little merky.. I watched a vid on the 1980 PF recently V Collingwood and although I was there ..a lot of what was in the vid was not what I remembered.. so memory are not etched in stone they can be as accurate as myths and legends.. and aven for the players they can get details wrong.. Rielwoldt was talking about the player who hit Ling .. and it turned out not to be him but Guerra.
The 2004 era was the start of that Saints Cats head to head ... and in the 2004 both were still growing. Saints and Geelong coming off the Preseaon GF ..the two young turks side on the way up .. butting heads like young steers and trying to claim the ground that was going to be theirs. Rielwoldt described the game as one the most spiteful he had been involved in , the Saints had won the PS and then the won this game. As I said he talked about the Ling hit ..and I remember Ling getting decked about this time but to be honest I remember more the vibe about game later in the year r18 when Geelong drew the line in the sand at KP. That game had a buzz walking to the ground...maybe because they had beaten us in recent games. Thos years and games were the beginning of time where the Saints and the Cats had some great memorable matches ... and didnt take long this morning before the discussion spilled over into 2009 R14 ..another one where the Saints got the choclates but of course later that year we had the last laugh .. yet again.
For me I think my most memorable R1 1984 ... when we brought in a couple of handy names ...Greg Williams , Gary Ablett and Mark Jackson. Imagine a centre line of Turner Willams and Ablett and them living up to the billing. Fitzroy probably didn't know what had hit them. That game gave one a glimpse of what was in store .. when GA kicked 3 from the wing , took a specy and was reported.. for an elbow if I remember correctly. Williams was on a mission to show those at Carlton he could play... had a lazy 38 possesions back in an era when that meant something. Not many give and gets in that.. a lot of in and under. I think he kicked a torp goal to the city end just to top it off... and Mark "crazy as a fox" Jackson.. kicked 9 goals on debut.. I dont think he ever went near that number again. Plenty today could learn a bit from his 9 goals two behinds from 12 kicks.
Not all R1's were as pleasant as that .. I think the follow up to the great 1989 GF was an aweful letdown.. with the P&W beating us , as they have done too often .. but to beat us by 115 points .. left a cloud over the whole season.
The follow up to the 2007 GF in 2008 against Port was a win but I cant say I remember much about it... I think I must still have been in a "chase the dragon" type euphoria of the Premiership. We had a win so move one. In fact one the most dour and poor R1's that was memorable because of that was when we played the Saints in 2011. It really was such stuggle fest. It leaft me wondering what the hell CS had done to the side I knew had to change ..but was this the answer? We got the points but I remember wondering did it matter if we were to play like that? I was wrong of course as we settled in and started to play some very good footy and the way it worked out 2011 may have been the most enjoyable GF of the lost ... and who did we play... The colliwobble empire , the Carrinbush ... the opponents this week..
R1 memories... this week there will be some players who will be playing their first game ..in r1. Clark and Atkins etc... lets hope their games and memories are good one .. cause Id like to be able to reflect on the game when Clark played the Pies and gave a look at what he would be the future. Go Jordan and Go Cats
The 2004 era was the start of that Saints Cats head to head ... and in the 2004 both were still growing. Saints and Geelong coming off the Preseaon GF ..the two young turks side on the way up .. butting heads like young steers and trying to claim the ground that was going to be theirs. Rielwoldt described the game as one the most spiteful he had been involved in , the Saints had won the PS and then the won this game. As I said he talked about the Ling hit ..and I remember Ling getting decked about this time but to be honest I remember more the vibe about game later in the year r18 when Geelong drew the line in the sand at KP. That game had a buzz walking to the ground...maybe because they had beaten us in recent games. Thos years and games were the beginning of time where the Saints and the Cats had some great memorable matches ... and didnt take long this morning before the discussion spilled over into 2009 R14 ..another one where the Saints got the choclates but of course later that year we had the last laugh .. yet again.
For me I think my most memorable R1 1984 ... when we brought in a couple of handy names ...Greg Williams , Gary Ablett and Mark Jackson. Imagine a centre line of Turner Willams and Ablett and them living up to the billing. Fitzroy probably didn't know what had hit them. That game gave one a glimpse of what was in store .. when GA kicked 3 from the wing , took a specy and was reported.. for an elbow if I remember correctly. Williams was on a mission to show those at Carlton he could play... had a lazy 38 possesions back in an era when that meant something. Not many give and gets in that.. a lot of in and under. I think he kicked a torp goal to the city end just to top it off... and Mark "crazy as a fox" Jackson.. kicked 9 goals on debut.. I dont think he ever went near that number again. Plenty today could learn a bit from his 9 goals two behinds from 12 kicks.
Not all R1's were as pleasant as that .. I think the follow up to the great 1989 GF was an aweful letdown.. with the P&W beating us , as they have done too often .. but to beat us by 115 points .. left a cloud over the whole season.
The follow up to the 2007 GF in 2008 against Port was a win but I cant say I remember much about it... I think I must still have been in a "chase the dragon" type euphoria of the Premiership. We had a win so move one. In fact one the most dour and poor R1's that was memorable because of that was when we played the Saints in 2011. It really was such stuggle fest. It leaft me wondering what the hell CS had done to the side I knew had to change ..but was this the answer? We got the points but I remember wondering did it matter if we were to play like that? I was wrong of course as we settled in and started to play some very good footy and the way it worked out 2011 may have been the most enjoyable GF of the lost ... and who did we play... The colliwobble empire , the Carrinbush ... the opponents this week..
R1 memories... this week there will be some players who will be playing their first game ..in r1. Clark and Atkins etc... lets hope their games and memories are good one .. cause Id like to be able to reflect on the game when Clark played the Pies and gave a look at what he would be the future. Go Jordan and Go Cats
