Our Fall Since 2001

[Calavaray]

As things seem to have got a bit heated and personal over the last couple of weeks, I thought I might add a new dimension to the predicament we are in at the moment. I had the pleasure of turning on Foxtel footy over the weekend to see the game vs. the Kangaroos back in 2001. Unfortunately I was not able to watch the full game, but if memory serves me well, we ran over the top of the roos in the last quarter to win by about 50 points. No doubt for all of us, that was a very good year!

I have read over the last couple of weeks how some people have blamed Danny for our fall and ridiculed his coaching ability. I'm sure back in 2001 when we lost the prelim to Brisbane, who would then go on and win the flag, that no one ridiculing Danny and the coaching staff, but rather praising him. I think he and his staff did a sensational and very professional job. But if we were doing so well, how did we ever end up where are now! Wooden Spooners and a large debt, and a club split down the middle.

I hark back to the game I saw, and as I was speaking to a friend who is a keen supporter and loves the game (also is a Melbourne member but I won't hold that against him!), it became a lot clearer! In the game against the roos, we had Broderick, Cameron, Benny Gale, Sziller, Knights etc...... Holland was mainly playing at Centre Half Back and Gasper was the best full back in the league! Sziller was able to tag players out of the game. and the experience and skill of players like Broderick, Knights and Cameron gave us the edge against most teams.

I think if Miller was around when Danny started, things may have been different, but we didn't plan well at all for the loss and replenishment of the above named 5 or 6 players, and with injuries to Ottens, Richo, Gasper and Holland, things fell into a hole. It is amazing how the loss of only a few players can take a side that finished fourth and one game from a grand final, to 16th 3 seasons later. Hawthorn also finished 3rd that sane year if I remember correctly, and their fall has been just as severe.

Some people might think I am going easy on Danny, but I think that 2001 clouded everyone's mind in regards to where the club was going, and I think we all just thought this was going to be the start of something good! I would like to get everyone else's thoughts on why we have fallen to where we have, and was there a way to stop it happening? Looking back, the loss of Knights, Cameron, Broderick, Gale and co. over 2 years or so, was too much for our club to bare, and with the injuries to Ottens, Richo, Gasper and Holland over that period, the writing was on the wall......

 

[JohnF]

Frawley's biggest mistake was believing that we were close to a premiership after 2001.

When we got thrashed against Brisbane that should have sent a warning signal that when the heat was on, we were still way, way off the mark.

But Frawley, being a 'glass half-full' man that he is, believed that all we needed to do was top up with a few experienced players and we'd get over the line. We should have been making adjustments to bring youth into the side, not looking for band-aid solutions in the hope that everything would come together in one glorious year.

We recruited duds like Hudson, Houlihan, Nicholls, Blumfield, Fleming and perservered with duds like Biddiscombe, Hilton, King not to mention that pretty much any kid that we did draft just prior to 2001 or just after it, turned out to be a dud: Dragicevic, Fiora, Zantuck, Pettifer, Poyas, McGrath, Mills, Ednie, Rodan, Proctor, Vardy etc.

This coupled with the fact that the team core peaked in 2001 and is now past its used by date (Campbell, A. Kellaway, Gasper, Richardson, Holland, Cameron) as well as experienced players in Knights, Gale, Broderick departing, leaves us in the predicament we are now in.

 

[Darth_Tiger]

danny did a fair job back then and full credit to him for his efforts that year. however, his record with developing youngsters (i cant say his record with drafting them because he pretty much didnt draft any) is attrocious. as johnf has pointed out. this along with his loss of confidence as a coach (and his decision to adopt a bizzarely negative and posession based game plan) caused us to tumble dramatically. if only they had known where we sat at the end of 2001 (we had a dream run with injury that year - and as has also been pointed out some of the players who were carrying most of the weight were at or near retirement) we could have forced a trade of gaspar and holand even wanted to go to the crows, got some draft picks and picked up some good young players in what is now considered the best draft ever. instead we coughed up a truckload of cash for two players who have both since done knees (one of which plays for melbourne now at least we aint paying for him any more!) and drafted rodan, houlihan and hyde (again after delisting him). what a joke!

 

[cairo tiger]

agree john boy

 

[Cogs]

We certainly overachieved that year and i still don't think danny has relised that, therefore leading to a significant downfall

 

[turtle27]

Simple case of topping up the list rather than refreshing the list with kids, didn't work for the hawks either.

 

[Cogs]

at least now we have started the 2-4 year plan st kilda have currently rebuilt using

 

[Leper]

I had the pleasure of turning on Foxtel footy over the weekend to see the game vs. the Kangaroos back in 2001. Unfortunately I was not able to watch the full game, but if memory serves me well, we ran over the top of the roos in the last quarter to win by about 50 points. No doubt for all of us, that was a very good year!

I remember ducking outside the Apache Bar at Koh Phi Phi in Thailand to the internet cafe to get the score... 47 point IIRC. Was about round 5 or 6??

Well before Osama struck.