Motivation

[Dave]

Read an interesting article in the Age this morning. Basically the premise was that teams (in this case Essendon and Melbourne) should not be too heavily focused on revenge in their prelims this year. It cited the Doggies succesive defeats in 97/98 to Adelaide as an example of why this is a bad thing.

I'v also read that Denis Pagan refused to use '98 as a motivator last year. Whilst I accept that Denis may not have mentioned it overtly, I do not believe that that defeat would not have rankled personally with the Nth players who played in the day and that they would not have used it last year to spur themsleves on.

Having witnessed a number of teams that went on to win a GF after losing finals (dons/hawks/blues/eagles/roos) as well as teams that have bombed out after losing a GF (Swans/Saints/Cats) I believe you need to take a "balanced" look. I think that you can use the defeat as a spur as long as you don't focus too heavily on the other side.

Opinions?

 

[GoEagles]

Definately Dave! Most teams take the positives out of their losses and change their weaknesses so they will be better the next time around.

For North Melbourne, I do think they will give Melbourne a run their money but I cant see them go all the way, let alone making the GF unless they get a good head start (something they failed against Essendon, but did well against Hawthorn) and then having fadeouts in the 2nd half.

For Essendon, I think last years Pelim. final will be in the back of their minds, but they know they are playing a team who they have beaten twice this season, without its star players (SOS, Rice, possibly Kouta)

 

[Grendel]

Notice the authour, one Rohan (im bleeding black and red) Connelly. I read it too, makes quite a bit of sense really. The Blues while not in essendons class, IF allowed to by the Dons focussing elsewhere are more than capable of upsetting the apple cart.

I would think that Connelly has some cause to be concerned with past history over his putting this article forward. Really the Dons have been quouted this year about how they 'owe' the Blues. Now is not the time to be thinking about 'revenge' or anything of that nature. They should just focus as they have for the majority of the season on the game at hand. History cant be changed by the result of the game coming up. Last year is over and done. Come saturday what they must do is play THIS preliminary final, not last years.

 

[Dave]

Grendel - yeah I noticed the author

Nearly as bad as a couple of Ch$ commentary team eh? Agree with what you said too.

 

[Stealth bomber]

I think revenge motives are more bad than good. Seems like whenever one team gets into the head of the other one it turns into a real psychological edge.

Essendon can be motivated to beat Carlscum comfortably but if the match is close for a half they could start thinking about last year and let go to their head.

In situations like that I think teams don't focus as well on the match itself and think about the result more than the task needed to achieve it.

 

[Eagle_Fan]

IF (and I hope it doesn't happen) Essendon lose on Saturday, where does it leave them? They have achieved so much this season, which appears to have been motivated by last year, that it doesn't really seem possible they can improve again....

 

[Daniel]

I agree. Teams that focus on revenge against a particular side rather than concentrating on themselves are bound to ultimately fail because it’s not positive motivation. That said, many teams need a painful finals loss to spur them on in the next season. This is fine, as long as they are using it to achieve greater heights, not gain revenge out of bitterness to resolve something that can never be changed. I don’t think that should ever be the primary focus.

For example, I imagine Essendon’s main concern is creating their own piece of history this year by winning a premiership, not exacting revenge on Carlton for something that happened last year. That would be a pleasant by product, or in footy terms an “added bonus”. Winning a premiership is surely better than simply preventing another team winning a premiership, which is why it has to be better motivation..

 

[Dan26]

Daniel,

That's why I despise Carlscum.

They think preventing us from winning a premiership is better than winning one themselves.

Where are their priorities ? They seem so angered that another team could possibly challenge their supieriority as the most successful that they only want to stop Essendon. I don't know about the players, but the supporters feel this way. I have to put up with the idiots every day.

While it would be great to beat Carlscum, I'm more concerned about winning a flag ourselves, rather than stopping that mob.

 

[Shinboners]

Dave

I reckon that Pagan was being a bit economical with the truth about '98 as a motivating factor. He may not have said it to the players, but he probably didn't need to. The thing about North in '99 (besides belting the Crows twice...now don't tell me that revenge wasn't in the players minds) was, as I mentioned in another thread, a few games where North were 5 to 6 goals down, but we came back to win. I think that among the players that survived '98, there was a determination to make up for it.

I'm pretty sure that the Dons won't be too focus too much on revenge and trip themselves up. The difference between the Dons and the Doggies is that Essendon have a coach and several players that have had premiership success. It keeps the club focussed. The Dogs don't have the same knowledge within their club and they probably panicked on the day in '98. It was entirely new territory for them. We are also underestimating how good the Crows were that day.

As Daniel put it, the Bombers seem intent on creating their own history. I reckon they'll get the chance to do it. But interestingly, they will face an opponent that will also be intent on creating history too...if it's North, then they'll be the first Kangaroo back-to-back premiership team. If it's Melbourne, then it'll be their first since 1964. Plenty of motivation all 'round.

 

[Daniel]

Further to my argument, here is quote from Kevin Sheedy that appeared in Thursday’s Advertiser: “I have not shown that (preliminary final) tape at all. I’m not even interested. To me it is about this year, the year 2000 and you play that way. One third of this team didn’t play last year.”

Now, we know that coaches routinely lie to the media and some of the Essendon players may well be partly motivated for this game by last year’s loss, but it still shows they are mainly concerned with just the current season, which I think is a healthy attitude.

 

[golions]

Yeah a loss definitely teaches you a lot. Last year Carlton lost to Brsibane by about 80 points but after that they really played some good footy and even beat Essendon. They just couldn't get over the final hurdle last year. Again this season they are really playing well and I reckon that Brisbane loss last year taught Carlton a lot