what we REALLY need for premiership in 2006

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...A Little Bit of Luck. That is it. Not some radical trade or a 100 goal a year full forward. We had one of those through the 90s and I still havent seen a flag. We just need a little bit of luck. Some say you make your own luck which is somewhat true but I dont think we are far off. For example:
a run with injuries would be nice
those one or two close games decided by a few points to go our way
a nice fixture - an easy run home, few interstate trips and games nicely spaced and some hard teams at geelong.
3 seconds less in the quarter final next year!


Even some other things that could help us out:
Saints winning the flag this year - no more Harvey and possibly G-Train. Hamil is already nearly gone. This makes the saints a bit less scary come 06.
Come trading time if trades dont go for us they dont go against. Meaning none of the big contenders in 06 get that key signing.
The dockers to keep their coach.

I agree we should look at our list but lets face it. We are not getting a gun player for nothing. We were lucky to get Ottens for what we gave away. So lets not get rash and start bagging our players and saying this and that. So cut with the whinning and the player bashing and the poor me I have never seen a flag cr@p.
All we need come 06, is the current desire, list and that little bit of luck.
 

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Shell

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#2
Absolutely,

Can we all just cast our minds back to about a month and a half ago?? When we were losing to the doggies, essendon, etc. Geelong were down n out for the count, confidence shot, and the coach was on the chopping block?! Yet later on, we were 3 seconds away from the same spot we made last season.

If we can ahieve that with an injury-riddled season, can we dare to dream what can happen next year with few injuries??
 
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All hail common sense. Just waiting for the doomsdayers to take over the thread though.

Well said Scotty. It's not all going to fall in our lap, but it's foolish to think we didn't make the most of what we had this season - we certainly did.
 
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And some more sense from Paul Gough. Walls, Sheahan and co. could do worse than have a read of this.

Looking on the upside
6:57:49 PM Mon 12 September, 2005
Paul Gough
Exclusive to afl.com.au

It might seem a small consolation right now to anyone with Geelong blood in their veins but all clubs that have ultimately gone on to secure premierships in the cut-throat world of the modern-day AFL have suffered the kind of devastating loss endured by the Cats on Friday night along the way.

The Cats' season ended when they went down by three points to Sydney in a thrilling semi-final when Nick Davis kicked his fourth goal of the final quarter to win the game for the home side with just three seconds remaining.

The loss came despite the fact the Cats led by four goals early in the final term in a low-scoring game in which the Swans managed just three goals in the first three terms and despite Sydney trailing for all but just under seven minutes of the game.

There were tears aplenty from the Geelong players after the game and so determined are the Cats' players to use the loss as a foundation to build on next year that they did not even participate in the traditional "Mad Monday" post-season drinks - instead going through a detailed post-game analysis on Monday with coach Mark Thompson.



It is the second year in a row the Cats - without a flag since 1963 - have let a golden opportunity to progress further in the finals slip away after last year losing the preliminary final to Brisbane by nine points after kicking a costly 10.15.

However recent history shows that clubs rarely win premierships during their first finals campaign and it often takes several years of finals disappointments before the ultimate triumph is secured.

Port Adelaide was famously labelled as "chokers" after losing home finals in 2001, 2002 and 2003 before breaking through for its first premiership win last year and even the great Brisbane side won only five of ten finals between 1995-2000 before becoming the first team in 46 years to win three successive flags from 2001-03.

Essendon suffered a shock one-point loss to Carlton in the 1999 preliminary final before embarking on its incredible 2000 season when it won the flag after losing just one game for the entire season.

The Kangaroos suffered preliminary final losses in 1994 (to Geelong after the final siren) and 1995 before winning the 1996 premiership and West Coast lost the 1991 grand final before winning the 1992 and 1994 premierships while Carlton bowed out of the finals in straight sets in 1994 before winning the 1995 flag.

Even the two most surprising premiers of the modern era - Adelaide in 1997 and Essendon in 1993 - had been through the pain of finals defeat before breaking through for premiership glory.

The "Baby Bombers" premiership side of 1993 still featured eight players that had been part of the losing 1990 grand final side to Collingwood while Adelaide threw away a seven goal half-time lead in the 1993 preliminary final before winning its first flag four years later.

The Cats now not only have the valuable experience of having gone through the pain of two failed finals campaigns behind them but have two other major factors going for them as they attempt to turn the pain of 2004 and 2005 into glory in 2006.

That is a young playing list and a stable administration and coaching set-up.

Geelong coach Mark Thompson has now had six years in charge and enjoys the total support of president Frank Costa and chief executive Brian Cook with that trio responsible for huge turnaround in the club's fortunes both on and off the field since 1999.

And apart from the retiring Brenton Sanderson and veteran Peter Riccardi, the rest of the Cats' list is still young meaning the Cats' window of opportunity to win a flag has far from closed.

Apart from those two, no other player will be 30 next season with the oldest Darren Milburn turning 29 during the season.

And it is worth remembering the Cats went into Friday night's semi-final without key injured trio Paul Chapman, Brad Ottens and Riccardi while skipper Steven King suffered a match-turning injury during the game and Corey Enright was underdone.

So while Cats' fans are entitled to be frustrated and shattered at another lost finals opportunity, they still have plenty of cause for optimism that their long premiership drought could soon be broken.
 

patdman

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#7
Mad post Scotty...while I doubt we can get everything on your wishlist (the Saints winning the flag would be good), it just shows how fickle this game can be.
 

VikingCat

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#8
Great stuff! Yes, a little luck would go a long way - so does a little positivity. Nice to think about bigger, better things next year. We have plenty going for us! Bring on 2006!

BTW, just asked my magic eight-ball if Geelong would win the 2006 premiership and it replied:

"YES, DEFINITELY."

No doubts, no "THE ANSWER IS UNCERTAIN" or anything weak like that - just confidence.

Just remember, you heard it here first! :)
 

Copernicus

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#9
VikingCat said:
Great stuff! Yes, a little luck would go a long way - so does a little positivity. Nice to think about bigger, better things next year. We have plenty going for us! Bring on 2006!

BTW, just asked my magic eight-ball if Geelong would win the 2006 premiership and it replied:

"YES, DEFINITELY."

No doubts, no "THE ANSWER IS UNCERTAIN" or anything weak like that - just confidence.

Just remember, you heard it here first! :)
Go the Magic 8-Ball! I'll take his word over a pundit's any day ;)
 

Partridge

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#10
scottydeewah said:
Saints winning the flag this year - no more Harvey and possibly G-Train. Hamil is already nearly gone. This makes the saints a bit less scary come 06.
Good post, but I have to disagree on one point. Maybe I'm blissfully ignorant, but I'm not scared by the scum at Moorabbin in any way, shape or form. We played them twice this year, for one win and one loss. I'd hardly treat them with awe and reverence just yet.

Another point no one has acknowledged - yes we had injuries, but they also dropped some games they absolutely should not have - Fremantle and Collingwood spring to mind. Don't get too eager to paint over bad losses with "injuries", it some cases (Brisbane) valid, in others (Melbourne Round 20) not.

Having said that I can't wait to see the get even better next year.
 

patdman

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#11
Hey, I'm not crapping my pants over the Saints at all, but I'd prefer the chance of them being hungover like port this year, rather than crazy hungry like I expect us to be next year. Not saying I'm scared at all of those guys, but it would just be nice, if StK couldn't be stuffed next year :)
 

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Turbocat

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#12
Luck ehh, how do we get that in hooped jumper? Iv been listen to this cra*p for too long.Ohh we have got plenty to look forward to, oh our list is young.More substance in fairy floss.
The article by Gough talks about teams that have just missed and come and won a flag but just like any comparrison it has flaws.
None of these clubs had a dry spell of over 40 years and most of them had top forwardsThey are either new clubs, or clubs that had won Flags more recently than us. If the tight loss thing was a iron clad way to win a flag, wouldn't the Dogs have won one after 97, would we have won after 89,91 etc
I dont know, Im just jack being promised tomorrow cause tommorrow has a way of not turning out like one thought it would.
I reckon the way its going were building a team that will be a very good team but so are most of the others. Look at the Bullies and say that wont be handy in 2 years time.By 06 who knows who will be good, Richmond, Hawthorn?
Right now, I still to pi*ssed off to be positive Im afraid
 

jmain14

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#13
scottydeewah said:
...A Little Bit of Luck. That is it. Not some radical trade or a 100 goal a year full forward. We had one of those through the 90s and I still havent seen a flag. We just need a little bit of luck. Some say you make your own luck which is somewhat true but I dont think we are far off. For example:
a run with injuries would be nice
those one or two close games decided by a few points to go our way
a nice fixture - an easy run home, few interstate trips and games nicely spaced and some hard teams at geelong.
3 seconds less in the quarter final next year!


Even some other things that could help us out:
Saints winning the flag this year - no more Harvey and possibly G-Train. Hamil is already nearly gone. This makes the saints a bit less scary come 06.
Come trading time if trades dont go for us they dont go against. Meaning none of the big contenders in 06 get that key signing.
The dockers to keep their coach.

I agree we should look at our list but lets face it. We are not getting a gun player for nothing. We were lucky to get Ottens for what we gave away. So lets not get rash and start bagging our players and saying this and that. So cut with the whinning and the player bashing and the poor me I have never seen a flag cr@p.
All we need come 06, is the current desire, list and that little bit of luck.
fantastic post, agree with everything you said.
 
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