1 hour ago, Dee Zephyr said:

Winning games when not playing our best was huge. In previous years one loss could’ve turned into a 2-3 loss slump. I wouldn’t count a draw and a loss on consecutive weeks two losses in a row. When was the last time we didn’t lose two games in a row in a season?

Agree

Have started rewatching each game and while we had no "lucky" wins there are a few where we were ordinary.

I suppose it's all about building but few games gave a hint of what was to be such a dominant finals series.

And let's not forget that after the round 19 loss to the Dogs we could easily have finished 5th or worse.

A wonderful season that I hope to see repeated before big crowds in 2022

Wait until they fire on all cylinders full four quarters 

2 hours ago, Bang Bang Bang said:

 Dogs were clearly the better team on the night. 

No they weren't 

2 hours ago, Satan said:

Re the pies game , probably the only game our defence was beaten , inside 50 marks were collingwood 18  -to 9 marks . They kicked to their forwards low making spoils and intercept difficult 

The Pies game really gave me the shakes. They looked so impressive with a bunch of promising kids and a good game plan. Their intensity was through the roof. 

Remember feeling very depressed and thinking that the media should be talking up the Pies not the Dees. 

I thought that we had made no progress. 

How wrong could I have been. 

Rule #1 of football:  On any given day either team can win.  So if 'perfect' means winning every game, it won't happen.

On that definition 2021 was far from perfect:  we lost a few games.  And on an emotional level we missed some favourite sons playing in the Grand Final.

Rule #2 of football:  We don't need to be the best team of the season, just the best team in September.

For mine, it was as perfect as I could have hoped.  Max said it best:  After 57 years of pain it 🏆 is coming home!

Edited October 3, 20213 yr by Premiers

3 hours ago, Demon trucker said:

All of the loses were due to the teams inaccurate kicking at goal, 

The Adelaide loss was due to the umpires not paying deliberate at the end of the game.

The irony is that they did pay deliberate against Brayshaw (when it wasn't) in the last game of the home and away season and it won us the much more important game.

 

 

46 minutes ago, hemingway said:

The Pies game really gave me the shakes. They looked so impressive with a bunch of promising kids and a good game plan. Their intensity was through the roof. 

That's funny. The Pies' hallmark this year under Buckley (in fact most years under Buckley, but especially this year) was intensity, but with glacial ball movement, and iffy disposal.

QB was the one game where they got everything to click, and that was because of the "Buckley's last game" pump up.

The result was an annoyance and not much more than that.

1 minute ago, Wrecker46 said:

The Adelaide loss was due to the umpires not paying deliberate at the end of the game.

We let it get to a place where an iffy decision could hurt us. Took the foot off the gas and paid the price.

Some of those losses are the reason we won the flag. 

Can’t say I fully understand what “loading” is. Can anyone explain it further, please?

13 minutes ago, Fanatique Demon said:

Can’t say I fully understand what “loading” is. Can anyone explain it further, please?

They increase training load to maintain / extend fitness levels so they can hold up in September. Short term pain for long term gain.. think of it as a mini preseason during the season. 

Edited October 3, 20213 yr by CYB

If it doesnt rain in RND 19 vs WBD we win.

All the other games we lost ourselves

36 minutes ago, Fanatique Demon said:

Can’t say I fully understand what “loading” is. Can anyone explain it further, please?

 

I just got off the blower with another D'lander. Synchronistically, we spend quite a bit of time wondering if we could go through 2022 undefeated. It would give us 32 wins on the trot. It's not beyond the realms of possibility. 

Objective 1: top 4 finish. Tick

Objective 2: Home qualifying final. Tick

Objective 3: Week off. Tick

Objective 4: Home prelim final. Tick

Objective 5: Win the flag. Tick

Perfect season, the rest is fluff.

7 hours ago, Bang Bang Bang said:

That Bulldogs defeat was the worst performance of the year. Empty stadium, horrendous weather, horrendous umpiring but honestly a game where for the first time all year I thought to myself “We aren’t good enough”. Dogs were clearly the better team on the night. 

If only there was some way to redeem ourselves…

7 hours ago, Bang Bang Bang said:

That Bulldogs defeat was the worst performance of the year. Empty stadium, horrendous weather, horrendous umpiring but honestly a game where for the first time all year I thought to myself “We aren’t good enough”. Dogs were clearly the better team on the night. 

You must of watched a different game to me. Had we kicked straight and not been cruelled by woeful umpiring we would of won comfortably. I think that game gave the dogs false hope. 

23 minutes ago, Roost it far said:

You must of watched a different game to me. Had we kicked straight and not been cruelled by woeful umpiring we would of won comfortably. I think that game gave the dogs false hope. 

I have no plans to rewatch it but seem to recall the Dogs lead all game, were challenged late then flexed their muscles again to win comfortably. Agree on the umpiring, but kicking straight and taking your chances is part of being “the better team on the night” IMO. Anyway it’s irrelevant now, the losses helped shape our flag and like most of us I get overly emotional and read too much into things in the immediate aftermath of any loss. 

3 hours ago, Fanatique Demon said:

Can’t say I fully understand what “loading” is. Can anyone explain it further, please?

 

From back in June

Also another linK - load management

Throwing it out there... with finals essentially assured, this helps with planning.

Perhaps they’ve been doing a hard block of aerobic training, so more fatigued for this particular game, rather than having it easy for 10 days...which will continue over the next fortnight.

Which fits into a bigger picture of tapering before the finals in 12 weeks  
 

So if you’re doing a particular hard block of training, it’s more than likely not an attitude thing.

the team looked flat from the word go...  but there is 3 months of evidence that they are a professional and hungry unit who have delivered against high quality teams. 
 

so in my mind it wasn’t ‘attitude’ per se - something else is going on
 

if you’ve got a bye coming up and some teams at the lower end of the ladder - If you were Burgess,  and has to plan, where would you put the hard training block in? 
 

let me digress to Geelong and how they often lose after a bye - when they’ve got x amount of games at kardinia park - near certainties to make finals annually.

Just might be some correlation to training loads and intensity in preparation for finals - and how it interplay’s with game day fatigue 

Just sayin... ( volume and intensity looks pretty high right now if you’re to use it as a guide as to what may be occurring behind the scenes in training. when you ‘know’ you’re in for finals, so to speak

Edited June 14 by Engorged Onion

Edited October 3, 20213 yr by Engorged Onion

12 hours ago, Queanbeyan Demon said:

I just got off the blower with another D'lander. Synchronistically, we spend quite a bit of time wondering if we could go through 2022 undefeated. It would give us 32 wins on the trot. It's not beyond the realms of possibility. 

Realistically, I cant see us ever losing again. 

48 minutes ago, Deefiant said:

Realistically, I cant see us ever losing again. 

 

48 minutes ago, Deefiant said:

Realistically, I cant see us ever losing again. 

Someone thinking straight on Demonland. 

21 hours ago, Bang Bang Bang said:

That Bulldogs defeat was the worst performance of the year. Empty stadium, horrendous weather, horrendous umpiring but honestly a game where for the first time all year I thought to myself “We aren’t good enough”. Dogs were clearly the better team on the night. 

Frees 25 to 11.

Dogs kicked 7 goals from fwd half stoppages - that was never going to happen again.

We got to within 4 pts late in the last qtr.

Bucketing with rain at the beginning - the end margin was close to the 1st qtr margin.

Not much in it.

17 hours ago, Fanatique Demon said:

Can’t say I fully understand what “loading” is. Can anyone explain it further, please?

It comes from Athletics where a runner for example will do a big block of heavy training say 1 month before a race and taper their workload as they reach their performance date. The aim is to be in peak physical condition for the big race.

Clubs have adapted that to football and If I recall correctly Neil Criag and CHarlie Watts (the Olympic cycling coach)  introduced it to Adelaide under Malcolm Blight. They won back to back flags in 97/98

Big blocks of hard training during July to be in peak condition for finals.

For the GF I woulda loved to see Gawn hold that mark in the goal square Sparrow kicked to him in the 3rd.
Woulda loved to see him hit that one from 55 outta the middle in the last.
Trac missing from 50 in the last.
Frittas poster.

We were the best team all home & away season

We were the best team of the finals

To me, that's perfect