What a waste of a season!

[layzie 33,022]

2 minutes ago, titan_uranus said:

We also need to stop dismissing the draw as irrelevant. 

There’s nothing unfair about it. Under the current system, the AFL has no choice but to base it on the prior year’s results. But I don’t think it’s unreasonable to note that from Round 11 onwards our draw was brutal. It’s an important piece of the overall puzzle. Of those 12 games, 11 of them were against sides in finals contention, and that we didn’t have a proper bye, and that we had six weeks in a row at different venues, and with multiple road trips and comparatively few games in Melbourne. No let up. So that factors in to our sore/injured players, whether we could/should have rested players, the pressure we faced weekly, etc. 

Well said. While I don't like to focus on things outside of our control I certainly wouldn't say it was irrelevant and had zero to do with what happened. There was definitely a compounding effect starting from the cruddy bye situation, then 5 days leading into the Geelong game and you know the rest.

Definitely a factor. I'm still not sure how to make this better but less travel in the run home would probably help a little and lessen the compounding effect.  

[titan_uranus 24,656]

12 hours ago, layzie said:

Well said. While I don't like to focus on things outside of our control I certainly wouldn't say it was irrelevant and had zero to do with what happened. There was definitely a compounding effect starting from the cruddy bye situation, then 5 days leading into the Geelong game and you know the rest.

Definitely a factor. I'm still not sure how to make this better but less travel in the run home would probably help a little and lessen the compounding effect.  

The AFL can't control the strength of the run home schedule, as they can't know which sides are going to be good. But they can control travel and short breaks. It's ludicrous that we had six straight games at different venues, inclusive of back-to-back six day breaks. No side should have that, ever.

[Bring-Back-Powell 14,389]

1 hour ago, titan_uranus said:

The AFL can't control the strength of the run home schedule, as they can't know which sides are going to be good. But they can control travel and short breaks. It's ludicrous that we had six straight games at different venues, inclusive of back-to-back six day breaks. No side should have that, ever.

Probably also goes some way to explaining our 10-0 start to the season.

7 of our first 10 games in VIC with 6 of them at the G, thus a very settled schedule.

I think we often play more games at the G in the first half of the year than the second.

Next year I’m hoping for a more even spread of MCG games and to have a season (ignoring the Covid years) where we play less than 7 games interstate (despite our perfect record this year)

That brutal stretch away from the MCG between round 16 and 20 probably took its toll in the end 

Edited September 14, 2022 by Bring-Back-Powell

[layzie 33,022]

Much rather the even spread 

[Ron Burgundy 8,584]

On 9/10/2022 at 9:47 AM, Tough Kent said:

For me, this is not about being bitter or angry. I love this team. They will forever be my sporting heroes. This is just my own honest assessments and views on our 2022 season.

 

I started to worry after the trade and draft period. We brought in a one player, a fringe player from St. Kilda who could potentially crack our 22. “Don’t worry. The improvement will come from within!” we were told. Teams don’t stand still. That Geelong side we beat in the prelim are an 8 goal better side this year due to changes in personnel and a tweak in their game plan. I believe that we just thought incremental improvement would happen.

 

Into the season. We were winning, but there were worrying trends. Failure to bury teams. Drop offs in games. Lack of cohesion going inside 50. Scoring was labour intensive. “That’s okay. We’ll click when it matters” we all thought.

 

Then we started to play the good teams. Teams that were ravenously hungry. Teams that had studied us intensively for 2 years and had worked us out. Teams that out-hunted us, and ran across the top of the ground a lot better than us. Teams that knew that if they stayed in games against us, they could run over the top of us. Did we have a Plan B for such occasions? I’m not sure.

 

The football world could see the issues. Lack of skill execution under pressure. Lack of cohesion going forward. Lack of reliable focal points in attack. Drop off in our pressure game. What was done about it in the second half of the year to buck these trends? Nothing. Goodwin was stubborn. He backed in his game plan. He backed in his core group of players. And by the time it got to last night, we were forced to play banged up players and players in questionable form because it was too late to bring in options from Casey.

 

I am glad the season is over. Truth be told, I didn’t enjoy the year at all. My heart was telling me we could win the thing, but my eyes and brain were telling me something different. The players said all the right things about being hungry, but Sydney showed us last week what it means to be truly hungry for 4 quarters. It is so hard to go back to back.

 

Am I excited for next year? Bloody oath! We finished 5^th in a year where our forward line was broken. We led in 7 of our 8 losses by 20 plus points. When it mattered, our important players were banged up and not at their best. I believe that with a few changes to 22 after an aggressive trade period and some adjustments to the game plan, we can challenge again in 2023.  

Sums it up perfectly for me. I just didn’t enjoy this year, even when we were winning.

It generally just didn’t look and feel right. It felt like a Diesel engine was powering things, not the 6.2 litre V8 high octane petrol engine of last year. I think we really miss Darren Burgess.

And as to the initial post which touches on the “I didn’t get value for money for my $500 spend this season”, I’m not really sure that’s why the very best supporters support footy clubs. It’s not a ‘value for money’ proposition, it’s a commitment to the cause thing. It’s about getting behind the community of a club. There are a lot of intangibles to this, which are really important.

Some of us here are Debt Demolition members. We effectively donated a lot of money to this club when its future was very much in doubt, and its results were simply pathetic. We did this to (hopefully) ensure its future. It wasn’t about ‘value for money’ - the return was just in the club’s survival.

As we sit here today, despite an absolutely ordinary second half in a home final against the Lions (with the season on the line), I’m not complaining about where the club sits now relative to where it was 10-12 years ago.

We have a secure future now. And a good one at that.

I’m now just hoping Dan Ricciardo gets a new F1 contract next year somewhere on the grid.

 

Edited September 14, 2022 by Ron Burgundy

[homsar 416]

On 9/12/2022 at 11:24 AM, layzie said:

Firstly I don’t disagree with you, the facts are the facts and we didn’t get it done enough against quality opposition. What kind of bugs me with this hindsight view that people and media always seem to take is that it doesn’t tell the whole story. 

-    We play the Dogs in Rd 1 in a GF rematch with the opposition desperate to atone and kick things off on the right foot in 2022
-    We play Essendon in Rd 3 who although lost the first 2 were still a finals side from last year and looking to get on the board with what was still a decent team before becoming a basket case.
-    We play Port in Rd 4 on their home deck. Again, a prelim finalist from the previous year needing to make a massive statement at home to get their season back on track
-    We play GWS in Rd 5, another previous year finalist sitting at 1 and 3 and needing a win
-    We play Richmond on Anzac eve, finalist.
-    We play St Kilda in Rd 8 who were sitting 5 and 2 and giving a lot of teams problems around that time.

Now I know a lot of these teams nose-dived but it’s easy to forget that there were a lot of big challenges here that we passed with flying colours at the time. If people think our 10-0 start was all easy wins then they are out of their mind. 
 

To add to this, the performance against Richmond was an amazing show of mental strength. We were so much better than them but kicked so inaccurately. But we just did not give up and kept to the task all game. The difference between that side, and the one that ran out of gas later in the year, is stark. 

[layzie 33,022]

1 hour ago, homsar said:

To add to this, the performance against Richmond was an amazing show of mental strength. We were so much better than them but kicked so inaccurately. But we just did not give up and kept to the task all game. The difference between that side, and the one that ran out of gas later in the year, is stark. 

All for this. Kept up our pressure all game in that one, was definitely a different side to now.

[binman 42,011]

I haven't opened this thread previously, and haven't read any comments. So probably repeating something that has been said.

My two cents.

There's no such thing as a wasted season.

I, like every other demonlad poster love the dees. The club has been a constant in my life.

I started going to tbe footy regularly when i was 11. Predominantly by myself until I was 22 or so, when I finally found some friends who also supported the dees.

I endured seasons where we barely won a game.

i watched big carl try and make us feared

I dreamed of a flag when the great barrassi came home.

i watched robbie dance, Rhino Richards play like barrassi one day a princess park and lead us to a glorious win over the rampant hawks. It was the day Matthews assaulted Smith, one if my all time favorites.

I reveled in the fairy tale of 87. Cried tears of joy at Whitten oval. And tears of pain at Waverley.

i went to our last wver game at vic park. It was packed to the rotting rafters and shwarter and jackovich went bananas. One of my all time favorite games I've seen live.

Going to the footy in the 90s and into the 2000s was an all day and all night event. Went with my demon posse, and carried on before, during and well after.

I went to Robbie's memorial, the only time I've ever gone to one for someone i didn't know. Cried again.

Last year was a dream. The dees made lockdown bearable.

But it was just another chapter.

It's about the journey, not the destination.

Goody has made it clear the goal is not one flag. He has built a team and model with sustained success as its bedrock goal.

For perhaps only the third time in all the years I have supported the dees, I really believe sustained success is probable.

I hate with a passion we ate not playing this weekend. I still feel queasy. 

But I can't wait till the next chapter.

Go redlegs.

Edited September 15, 2022 by binman

[Dr. Gonzo 23,725]

11 hours ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

Probably also goes some way to explaining our 10-0 start to the season.

7 of our first 10 games in VIC with 6 of them at the G, thus a very settled schedule.

I think we often play more games at the G in the first half of the year than the second.

Next year I’m hoping for a more even spread of MCG games and to have a season (ignoring the Covid years) where we play less than 7 games interstate (despite our perfect record this year)

That brutal stretch away from the MCG between round 16 and 20 probably took its toll in the end 

And a proper bye! No Thursday night game the week after Queen's, oops King's, Birthday!

[Fritta and Turner 4,185]

16 minutes ago, binman said:

It was the day mstthews assaulted Smith

Were you there too?  What a MFC defining moment ;  Where were you when Lethal dropped Smith.....

I think I may have gone berserk coz a couple of years later a stranger asked me 'Were you there when.....'

[Dr. Gonzo 23,725]

Par for me is top 4 (Prelims) - we finished 5th. On that measure the season was under par. If you call that a failure or waste then I guess it was.

My nagging concern is we are a one hit wonder who won a drought breaking flag when the majority of our supporters could not witness or celebrate it - I don't want to waste this list, another flag is a must. But things move quickly, no-one would've thought after 2000 Essendon would win only one flag or that after 2001 they wouldn't be back. Collingwood in 2010 and Bulldogs in 2016 were talked up as young teams built for sustained success. No one hands it to you in this comp, you have to demand it and be ruthless. This year we were anything but ruthless despite the rhetoric. I hope the players and coaches rediscover that selfless and ruthless edge that led us to the flag in 2021 or I worry we will just meander along for another few years and watch our chance fly by.

[layzie 33,022]

46 minutes ago, binman said:

I haven't opened this thread previously, and haven't read any comments. So probably repeating something that has been said.

My two cents.

There's no such thing as a wasted season.

I, like every other demonlad poster love the dees. The club has been a constant in my life.

I started going to tbe footy regularly when i was 11. Predominantly by myself until I was 22 or so, when I finally found some friends who also supported the dees.

I endured seasons where we barely won a game.

i watched big carl try and make us feared

I dreamed of a flag when the great barrassi came home.

i watched robbie dance, rhino Richards play like barrassi one day a princess park and lead us to a gorioes win over the ramapnt hawks. It was the day mstthews assaulted Smith, one if my all time favourites.

I revelled in tbe fairy tale of 87. Cried tears of joy at whiiten oval. And tears of pain at Waverley.

i went to our last wver game at vic park. It was packed to the rotting rafters and shwarter and jackovich went bananas. One of my all time favourite games I've seen live.

Going to the footy in tbe 90s and into the 2000s was an all day and all night event. Went with my demon posse, and carried on before, during and well after.

I went to Robbie's memorial, the only time I've ever gone to one for someone i didn't know. Cried again.

Last year was a dream. The dees made lockdown bearable.

But it was just another chapter.

it's about the journey, not the destination.

Goody has made it clear the goal is not one flag. He has built a team and model wirh sustained success as its bedrock goal.

For perhaps only the third time in all the years I have supported the dees, I really believe sustained success is probable.

I hate with a passion we ate not playing this weekend. I still feel quesy. 

But I can't wait till the next chapter.

Go redlegs.

Nailed it. 

[binman 42,011]

1 hour ago, Jontee said:

Were you there too?  What a MFC defining moment ;  Where were you when Lethal dropped Smith.....

I think I may have gone berserk coz a couple of years later a stranger asked me 'Were you there when.....'

I was at opposite end of the ground - standing behind the goals at the Royal Parade end.

I have hated Matthews ever since. 

That was such a satisfying win.

[Guest]

The year kind of felt like 2004 and 1990.

Lots of good work diminished in the space of a month or less. 

I guess the difference is at least this group has a flag to its name. I would be a lot dirtier if we hadn't won that flag.

Either way, I think we can definitely come back better from this (as previously stated).

[YesitwasaWin4theAges 6,590]

On 9/12/2022 at 3:13 PM, Grand New Flag said:

It is true. 

WE BLEW IT!

Too banged up, not fit enough and in the end simply not good enough.

The fitness coach must come under pressure.  He was meant to be following Burgess' plan as his understudy.......... but in January our players said they had never trained so hard and from there we went from running all over teams in the second half (2021) to being blatantly out of puff in the 2nd half's 2022. I say we went from by far the fittest teams to close to the least fit team in the course of 12 months.

I feel the lack of break after 2021 was part of this.  Remember all the players in full training in their holidays without a break.  The body needs rest.  I think this caught up on us.

 

This has not been mentioned enough in my book. 

Players have got to learn the value of rest.

Edited September 15, 2022 by YesitwasaWin4theAges

[speed demon 804]

8 hours ago, YesitwasaWin4theAges said:

This has not been mentioned enough in my book. 

Players have got to learn the value of rest.

Agree this needs to be looked at. There were rapturous articles about Petracca getting back into training very early in the off season. His form peaked in rounds 1 and 2. 

Haile Gebreselassie, one of the all time greatest distance runners, who would easily run >200km per week during a training cycle, spoke of the importance of complete rest at the end of the season. No running at all for a couple of week. Eat well. Let niggles subside. Then climb back up the mountain...

[Dr. Gonzo 23,725]

19 hours ago, YesitwasaWin4theAges said:

This has not been mentioned enough in my book. 

Players have got to learn the value of rest.

Was back running within 2 weeks of the GF wasn't he? At the time I thought it was great but now it seems it was a big mistake. Obviously you don't want to go full Tom Liberatore in 2016 and decondition completely but you need some recovery time too (physical and mental).

From memory I think part of it was the lockdown in Melbourne - there was nothing else to do except sit on their [censored] playing FIFA or NBA2k22 so might as well get out there and do some running sessions.

[titan_uranus 24,656]

14 hours ago, speed demon said:

Agree this needs to be looked at. There were rapturous articles about Petracca getting back into training very early in the off season. His form peaked in rounds 1 and 2. 

Haile Gebreselassie, one of the all time greatest distance runners, who would easily run >200km per week during a training cycle, spoke of the importance of complete rest at the end of the season. No running at all for a couple of week. Eat well. Let niggles subside. Then climb back up the mountain...

3 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

Was back running within 2 weeks of the GF wasn't he? At the time I thought it was great but now it seems it was a big mistake. Obviously you don't want to go full Tom Liberatore in 2016 and decondition completely but you need some recovery time too (physical and mental).

From memory I think part of it was the lockdown in Melbourne - there was nothing else to do except sit on their [censored] playing FIFA or NBA2k22 so might as well get out there and do some running sessions.

It's all about balance.

We may well have got the balance wrong in having players go back to training too soon after the GF. But if you're going to get it wrong, I'd prefer to have players doing more training rather than not enough. It's very easy to criticise now, but no one was criticising their desire and drive back in December, were they.

[Bring-Back-Powell 14,389]

I'm more disappointed we didn't win a final than actually winning the flag itself because history was always against us in winning a flag. It was the media more than anyone who declared us premiers before we the whips started cracking from round 11 onwards.

Since the VFL became the AFL, only 21% (7/32)of premiers have gone back to back. The stat is even worse for the grand final loser who has made amends to win a flag the next year only 15% (5/32) of the time. Refer to sides such as the Dogs, GWS and Adelaide of recent years who have been scarred by a GF loss. 

The moral of the story is that it's more unlikely than likely for a reigning premier to go back to back so the fact that we didn't win a flag isn't a disaster. It's the way we lost games in a similar manner, team selection, injury management etc... was a bit disappointing.

Definitely excited for next year though.

 

[Diamond_Jim 12,367]

7 minutes ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

Definitely excited for next year though.

 

Why

It will be the same gameplan and we are unlikely to win the first ten games.

Injuries were minor in 2022 and as you say exacerbated by bad management.

Other than a first year player in JVR we are adding little to our forward line.

The second half of 2022 was abysmal and the coaching staff could not arrest the slide.

2023 is a new year so there's hope but I fear we will stagnate around 5-6 ladder wise

[Bring-Back-Powell 14,389]

4 minutes ago, Diamond_Jim said:

Why

It will be the same gameplan and we are unlikely to win the first ten games.

Injuries were minor in 2022 and as you say exacerbated by bad management.

Other than a first year player in JVR we are adding little to our forward line.

The second half of 2022 was abysmal and the coaching staff could not arrest the slide.

2023 is a new year so there's hope but I fear we will stagnate around 5-6 ladder wise

Can only hope the coaching staff go to school on the second half of the year and identify what went wrong.

You're right in that our injury list wasn't as horrendous as people make it out to be. We just had a bit of bad luck with in game injuries, (particularly the Freo, Sydney, Pies mid season disaster) but compared to other sides we were going into games with the vast majority of our best 22.

I could be pessimistic and predict us to fall down the ladder, but I'll give us the benefit of the doubt after such a fantastic 2021 and a very good first half of 2022.

Edited September 16, 2022 by Bring-Back-Powell

[Fork 'em 6,940]

On 9/15/2022 at 11:01 AM, binman said:

I was at opposite end of the ground - standing behind the goals at the Royal Parade end.

I have hated Matthews ever since. 

That was such a satisfying win.

I was behind the goals and had to look past the goal umpire to see Matthews clock Smith with a similar swinging arm he got Bruns with but from behind.
Was off the ball but couldn't believe the umpire didn't see anything.
Didn't get reported.

And Smith was also a favourite of mine.
Saved up my pennys over the off season to run the #35 on the prized duffle coat.
Then he runs out rd1 wearing #1.
Gotta be kidding me, coulda saved myself about $6 🙄😅

Edited September 16, 2022 by Fork 'em

[binman 42,011]

14 hours ago, Fork 'em said:

I was behind the goals and had to look past the goal umpire to see Matthews clock Smith with a similar swinging arm he got Bruns with but from behind.
Was off the ball but couldn't believe the umpire didn't see anything.
Didn't get reported.

And Smith was also a favourite of mine.
Saved up my pennys over the off season to run the #35 on the prized duffle coat.
Then he runs out rd1 wearing #1.
Gotta be kidding me, coulda saved myself about $6 🙄😅

From memory it was only just behind the ball, as i was watching the ball and still saw Smith go down. And yes, Matthews was behind Smith, such a dog act - on any player of course, but Smith was as fair a player as they day is long.

It was a genius coaching move putting the much taller Smith on Matthews. Was thrashing him and Matthews, who was in the last part of his career, couldn't handle it.

Iron or sew on?

[Fork 'em 6,940]

3 minutes ago, binman said:

From memory it was only just behind the ball, as i was watching the ball and still saw Smith go down. And yes, Matthews was behind Smith, such a dog act - on any player of course, but Smith was as fair a player as they day is long.

It was a genius coaching move putting the much taller Smith on Matthews. Was thrashing him and Matthews, who was in the last part of his career, couldn't handle it.

Iron or sew on?

Iron on ... 
Sewing skills were learnt on the badges 😉👍

[Monbon 1,787]

On 9/15/2022 at 11:01 AM, binman said:

I was at opposite end of the ground - standing behind the goals at the Royal Parade end.

I have hated Matthews ever since. 

That was such a satisfying win.

I was on the Northern wing. What annoyed me was that Matthews - as usual- got away with it. 

I'll never forget standing on Camberwell Station listening to the Geelong Hawthorn game on my Trannie - a Trannie was a Transistor in those days - on the famous day Matthews got his comeuppance. After the fireworks began, all of the commentators blamed one man - a certain ex Demon, Mr Jackson. Years later I watched the build up to the Bews hit on Matthews.  Geelong had kept bombing the ball towards their forward line,, Jackson kept flying, Ayres or anyone else, repeatedly punched the back of Jackson's head, Jackson kept looking at the umpires, it went on like this until Job Jackson blew up. It was all Jackson's fault, see...