Apologies if this has been posted already. 
ADELAIDE tagger Rob Shirley is imploring his younger teammates to take a ‘no regrets’ policy into Saturday’s elimination final as both he, and the club, try to heal the wounds of consecutive September heartaches.
Shirley will start Saturday’s knockout clash with Collingwood as one of seven Crows with 10 or more games of finals experience.
But Shirley, unlike fellow veterans Simon Goodwin, Tyson Edwards and Andrew McLeod, is yet to experience the euphoria of grand final day or a premiership.
Shirley, 28, has 10 finals to his name and knows all too well the feeling of utter despair that sinks in after a loss, having played in seven unsuccessful September fixtures.
On Saturday, Adelaide will field a handful of finals debutants and Shirley said the club’s older heads had taken it upon themselves to prepare the wide-eyed youngsters for what lies ahead.
“Us older guys have experienced the excitement and nervous energy that you feel at the start of the game and during the lead-up to it,” Shirley said.
“But we’ve also experienced the disappointment of walking away and looking back and saying, ‘if only’ and carrying that sort of feeling with you.
“We’ll be making sure that the boys understand we don’t want to finish up left with that attitude again.”
Last year, the Crows had a semi-final berth ripped from their grasp by Hawthorn.
Adelaide led by 14 points at the final change, but a turnover and consequent major to seven-goal hero Lance ‘Buddy’ Franklin in the dying seconds snatched victory for the Hawks.
Shirley said the result served as a bitter reminder of what can happen when a team fails to put in a four-quarter performance.
“We played really well in that first part of the game last year and we were in control. We got a good lead going, but basically, we’ve seen from the second half highlights where it all went wrong for us,” Shirley said.
“It was definitely based around the contested ball. The things that we were doing well in the opening half weren’t there in the second, so it’s got to be a four quarter game- especially against Collingwood because they’ll always hang in there.
“It’s going to be a tough one on Saturday, so were focussed on making sure it’s a full, consistent effort across the whole game.”
ADELAIDE tagger Rob Shirley is imploring his younger teammates to take a ‘no regrets’ policy into Saturday’s elimination final as both he, and the club, try to heal the wounds of consecutive September heartaches.
Shirley will start Saturday’s knockout clash with Collingwood as one of seven Crows with 10 or more games of finals experience.
But Shirley, unlike fellow veterans Simon Goodwin, Tyson Edwards and Andrew McLeod, is yet to experience the euphoria of grand final day or a premiership.
Shirley, 28, has 10 finals to his name and knows all too well the feeling of utter despair that sinks in after a loss, having played in seven unsuccessful September fixtures.
On Saturday, Adelaide will field a handful of finals debutants and Shirley said the club’s older heads had taken it upon themselves to prepare the wide-eyed youngsters for what lies ahead.
“Us older guys have experienced the excitement and nervous energy that you feel at the start of the game and during the lead-up to it,” Shirley said.
“But we’ve also experienced the disappointment of walking away and looking back and saying, ‘if only’ and carrying that sort of feeling with you.
“We’ll be making sure that the boys understand we don’t want to finish up left with that attitude again.”
Last year, the Crows had a semi-final berth ripped from their grasp by Hawthorn.
Adelaide led by 14 points at the final change, but a turnover and consequent major to seven-goal hero Lance ‘Buddy’ Franklin in the dying seconds snatched victory for the Hawks.
Shirley said the result served as a bitter reminder of what can happen when a team fails to put in a four-quarter performance.
“We played really well in that first part of the game last year and we were in control. We got a good lead going, but basically, we’ve seen from the second half highlights where it all went wrong for us,” Shirley said.
“It was definitely based around the contested ball. The things that we were doing well in the opening half weren’t there in the second, so it’s got to be a four quarter game- especially against Collingwood because they’ll always hang in there.
“It’s going to be a tough one on Saturday, so were focussed on making sure it’s a full, consistent effort across the whole game.”
