Without a fairly large turnaround in form, finals are gone for this year. I am pretty deflated after coming in with an expectation of playing finals and being at least one of the better teams. I didn't expect a flag, or even a top four finish, but expected to be around 5th-6th and at least in with a chance of running the table in September. So maybe the malaise I'm feeling about the season is related to that, but as I flicked through past finals series I wondered if it was at least partly related to not having experienced any finals in person recently.
Stating the obvious, but since 2016 we have:
2017 - missed finals
2018 - missed finals
2019 - Out in EF (GWS in Sydney)
2020 - Out in EF (Saints in Brisbane)
2021 - Lost GF (Perth), after playing (and winning) in Tassie, Brisbane and Adelaide.
2022 - likely to miss finals
The only home final we would've had out of those five years was last year's EF v Essendon, but COVID restrictions made that impossible.
So the last time I was at a ground watching the dogs playing in a final was the 2016 GF, and while I know some posters who are interstate (or travelled interstate) have watched finals since I would guess that the majority of this board are in the same boat as myself.
For a team who has been fairly consistently in (or near) finals for that six year stretch that's a long time to not see a home final, and equally a long time for the players not to have played in a home final.
I don't offer this as evidence for anything, just an observation that may be contributing to my fairly negative feelings of this season. While I hadn't consciously thought about it, I was probably expecting to have the opportunity to take my boys (now 10 and 7) to a final this year after a long wait and that's a downer.
Stating the obvious, but since 2016 we have:
2017 - missed finals
2018 - missed finals
2019 - Out in EF (GWS in Sydney)
2020 - Out in EF (Saints in Brisbane)
2021 - Lost GF (Perth), after playing (and winning) in Tassie, Brisbane and Adelaide.
2022 - likely to miss finals
The only home final we would've had out of those five years was last year's EF v Essendon, but COVID restrictions made that impossible.
So the last time I was at a ground watching the dogs playing in a final was the 2016 GF, and while I know some posters who are interstate (or travelled interstate) have watched finals since I would guess that the majority of this board are in the same boat as myself.
For a team who has been fairly consistently in (or near) finals for that six year stretch that's a long time to not see a home final, and equally a long time for the players not to have played in a home final.
I don't offer this as evidence for anything, just an observation that may be contributing to my fairly negative feelings of this season. While I hadn't consciously thought about it, I was probably expecting to have the opportunity to take my boys (now 10 and 7) to a final this year after a long wait and that's a downer.
