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As a footy fan, you can be one of 2 types: a glass half full supporter or a glass half empty supporter. You are either an optimist or a pessimist.
As a Geelong fan who has had to deal with my fair share of disappointments, I find it easier to be a glass half full supporter. I honestly believe that if I was a pessimist, it would have been very difficult to follow the Cats during the time I have followed them.
Probably because I am an optimist, I find it difficult to understand at times the level of vitriol that is directed at players who quite simply do not deserve it. Over the years, there have been a number of players who have for one reason or another been the target of fans' ire that I just couldn't understand. It usually becomes a bandwagon thing, and all the players faults are magnified and all their strengths are ignored.
So, I have been thinking about these players recently and decided to start a thread to see what players other posters thought had got a raw deal from supporters over the years.
I will start off with a guy who I think got a much harder time than he deserved:
Ben Graham
Ben broke into the Cats team during a strong period for our team and gradually entrenched himself as the cornerstone of our defence. At a time in the late 90's he would have been considered among the best full backs in the league. At the start of the 2000's Geelong had struggled for years to have a reliable key forward, so Ben moved forward to try and fill a need. It was felt that his strong marking and long accurate kicking would suit this role well. Ben had moderate success as a forward, but never really took to the position as well as hoped.
This is all well and good, but during his time at Geelong (especially in the latter part of his career as a forward) he copped a lot of stick from fans, and for the life of me I could never figure out why. I will always be grateful for the contribution Ben made to the Cats, especially the following:
- In 1999, when the club was on it's knees financially, Colbert and Ayres had walked out, and we had a terrible list, Graham was at the peak of his powers. He was off contract at this time, and was courted heavily by a number of clubs. Rather than leave, which would have undoubtedly been the easy option (reference: Colbert, Leigh) he stayed on and took over the captaincy of the club.
- During the early 2000's our list was still average, but our greatest area of strength was our defence. We had a number of developing defenders (Scarlett and Harley were at the top of this list) but had no key forwards of any note. Despite the fact that it was not his preferred position, Ben moved forward for the good of the team.
I am sure there are other players that come to mind, and I have been meaning to start a thread like this for a while. The level of hatred that has been spewed on this board since the GF has sparked me into action.
PS. Can the mods please red card the first poster who mentions Shannon Byrnes in this thread.
As a Geelong fan who has had to deal with my fair share of disappointments, I find it easier to be a glass half full supporter. I honestly believe that if I was a pessimist, it would have been very difficult to follow the Cats during the time I have followed them.
Probably because I am an optimist, I find it difficult to understand at times the level of vitriol that is directed at players who quite simply do not deserve it. Over the years, there have been a number of players who have for one reason or another been the target of fans' ire that I just couldn't understand. It usually becomes a bandwagon thing, and all the players faults are magnified and all their strengths are ignored.
So, I have been thinking about these players recently and decided to start a thread to see what players other posters thought had got a raw deal from supporters over the years.
I will start off with a guy who I think got a much harder time than he deserved:
Ben Graham
Ben broke into the Cats team during a strong period for our team and gradually entrenched himself as the cornerstone of our defence. At a time in the late 90's he would have been considered among the best full backs in the league. At the start of the 2000's Geelong had struggled for years to have a reliable key forward, so Ben moved forward to try and fill a need. It was felt that his strong marking and long accurate kicking would suit this role well. Ben had moderate success as a forward, but never really took to the position as well as hoped.
This is all well and good, but during his time at Geelong (especially in the latter part of his career as a forward) he copped a lot of stick from fans, and for the life of me I could never figure out why. I will always be grateful for the contribution Ben made to the Cats, especially the following:
- In 1999, when the club was on it's knees financially, Colbert and Ayres had walked out, and we had a terrible list, Graham was at the peak of his powers. He was off contract at this time, and was courted heavily by a number of clubs. Rather than leave, which would have undoubtedly been the easy option (reference: Colbert, Leigh) he stayed on and took over the captaincy of the club.
- During the early 2000's our list was still average, but our greatest area of strength was our defence. We had a number of developing defenders (Scarlett and Harley were at the top of this list) but had no key forwards of any note. Despite the fact that it was not his preferred position, Ben moved forward for the good of the team.
I am sure there are other players that come to mind, and I have been meaning to start a thread like this for a while. The level of hatred that has been spewed on this board since the GF has sparked me into action.
PS. Can the mods please red card the first poster who mentions Shannon Byrnes in this thread.
(If the last few days is anything to go by its all true)
