We didn't lose yesterday's game because of game plan, lack of endeavour, Bailey or strategy.

We lost it because we were slaughtered in the clearances and contested ball. All our problems started with failure to win contested ball. Sometime during the game the clearance stats were something like 35-12. The more it occurred, the more defensive we became, and the less players attacked the ball, which lost even more clearances and balls in dispute. If we'd won more, the ball wouldn't have been locked in Hawthorn's forward 50 for large portions of the second half of the game.

Until we get 75-100 games into players like Scully, Trengove, Mackenzie, Gysberts, Grimes, Bail, Bennell, Morton and Tapscott, we simply won't have the experience, the mid-field depth or the bodies big enough to compete with the likes of Hawthorn and Collingwood in those contested situations. So I agree with RR's 'experience' analysis.

We've also got to find other ways of beating a forward press than "kick it to Jamar". "Kick it to Jamar" will work if either Jamar marks it, we can win the ball when it comes to ground or it goes out of bounds and we win it from there, but we didn't and it came back countless times.

I think there are a number of ways to try and beat the forward press, among which are:

1. Take the kickout quicker before the opposition has a chance to establish the zone.
   
2. Accurate short passing to leading players until the ball is outside the 50 (good teams though simply roll their zone back to counter though).
   
3. Station your talls in one area, supported by midfielders to try and win contested ball when it comes to ground.
   
4. The good old 'huddle'
   
5. Long bomb down the middle to a marking contest.
   
6. Kick to yourself and play on from the square, supported by a block from another backman, gets the ball further out

But we haven't been successful with any of these, and the fall back position yesterday was only number 3. Again it's an experience issue.

Yes, we would have been a better side if we'd snared one or two of Judd, Ball, Burgoyne and Hale, or retained Macdonald and Bruce. But maybe they'd have taken us only three-quarters to a premiership, not the full distance. There's not much point topping up when you're not in the 'window'. I think the Bulldogs and St Kilda might find that out sooner rather than later.

We appear incapable of 2.

the Geelong experience & the time it took is well worth keeping in mind. We have come off a lower base than they did.

The analogy works for Brisbane as well, perhaps more so... back to back spoons, followed by a second last, then third last and then fourth last before finishing 8th and then another spoon in 98 ( keep in mind they had pretty much their premiership team playing by then - sans Brown) a couple of years playing finals and then the three in a row. from start to finish 9 years. How ironic I'm listening to Soundgarden right now... Jesus Christ Pose... Bails assume the position!