At the break of Gawn

Abundantly clear how much you need to pressure your opponent in a final. Still gobsmacked by our lack of intensity last night. Absolutely disgraceful that Pies will have a better season than us when you compare the stars we have.

I will also add the worst part of this season is that next year we won’t have the slightest clue whether or not 2023 is going to be a good year unless we finish top 4 and win our first final. Finishing 2nd and then not even winning one of 2 home finals just dampens any optimism during a home and away season until the real stuff starts.

Oliver improved Fritsch perhaps slightly improved I thought. Pickett on par but second half was elite Petty improved. Brayshaw showed he’s a great intercept mark. That's about it for me for on field.

If fitness really is the reason for our second half fade outs, why didn’t Goodwin just say so? Is he trying to deflect the blame on one department or are there really other elements to it like he suggested? Certainly, a new game plan in 2023 is on the cards. I’m tipping some other big personnel/positional changes.

The main reason we failed this season was an abnormally unlucky fixture. We played no genuine contenders in the first 10 weeks and so there was no obvious signs to the coaches that anything was wrong (despite many of us on here having some serious doubts). We then started to play some genuine contenders and the coaches had an “oh [censored]” moment and realised that our method doesn’t really stack up and that pressure is the new black. They tried to tinker with things as the season went on but not radically enough which left us on the back foot. One thing that was beautiful about 2021 was that we played all the big contenders by round 12. We played Geelong, Richmond, Bulldogs, Lions etc and we won all those games which proved a fantastic audit to our game which also provided enormous belief among the playing group. We knew we had a winning formula and we had the competition on the hop. Thankfully we made the most of it with a premiership. Unfortunately in 2022 our audits came too late, and in this caper, it’s very difficult to make wholesale changes mid season, or at least Goodwin and co don’t have the skills and experience to do so. This loss will put the spotlight back on the FD. We have the best list in the AFL with the most A-graders in a prime age bracket. This off-season, we will really know how good this FD is because they need to devise a completely new game plan in 2023 and catch the competition off guard again.

As far as I’m concerned, we just didn’t play “Finals footy”. Sydney lifted their pressure and intensity, as did Brisbane. For us it just looked like a home and away game and hence we deserved that result. It’s incredibly disappointing way to finish the year, and to think they go by that motto “when all is said and done, more is said than done”. Well, Gawn said he wanted to win one in front of our fans… and all he did was say it. Not do it.

As I said in a few other threads, a win is just simply expected tonight. I can’t remember the last time a finalist was >$4 to win a final. Even we were close to $2 against West Coast in the PF in 2018! A loss will be a complete disaster for this footy club after starting 10-0 and finishing 2nd. Just get it done and we’ll be back where we rightly belong - playing in a PF.

A win is just expected. It’d be a disaster if we don’t make the prelim. To lose two home finals in a row against 2 interstate sides would just be an embarrassment.

I’m not really concerned too much about outside noise on crowd figures, just as long as we win tomorrow. Next Friday will be 90k+ if we make it. Guaranteed.

I’m not surprised at all, but if we win, then surely Tmac comes in for Melksham the week after.

Given the weather forecast (showers and most likely in the afternoon and evening), surely TMac only comes in for a tall. There's no way we can go TMac, Ben Brown and a resting Gawn in our forward 50 - the ball will bounce back like it's just hit a trampoline.

Tackle on McCartin

If Brayshaw could hit 50% of his targets it would actually work ok.

Probably look back on it and say, “Nice. Finished 2nd and won the flag”. Our remaining games are: Brisbane at home (won the last 4 against them) Geelong at home (won 3 of the last 4 against them and 2 of them at the MCG) Sydney at home (The toughest ask but certainly doable) At a bare minimum, we need to make the prelim.

With odds being at $1.30 for a semi-final, a win won’t be a miracle, it’s very much expected. Only once has a team who’s finished 2nd gone out in straight sets in the last 10 years…. And it was Brisbane. In my opinion, Brisbane won their grand final last week and a loss to them, will be simply put, an embarrassment. I’m wary of them and think we’ll have to play very well but, a loss to them will be a disaster for this footy club.

To be fair, we haven't had one game this year where the opposition has had all the momentum and we've been able to turn it around in the second half and run away with it. This happened a number of times last year and I don't know what it is about this year. It almost seems like when a team gets in front of us from the 3rd qtr onwards, we just pack up and lose. If we had somehow been able to respond to the Swans 3 goals in the 3rd qtr and regain the lead and win from there it would have been very off script for us.

Unbelievably confident group of supporters considering they lost both games this year by 10 goals. It's funny how one average game by us and all of a sudden any team out there thinks they can beat us. FWIW, I'm wary of the Lions. I just feel it's not going to be as easy this time and the pressure will go up a notch. If we lose on Friday night this season will be an enormous fail.

I wonder though, is it the ground or the quality of opposition? Teams we’ve lost to: 5th, 3rd x2, 4th x2 All good teams around our mark.

Mid 60s would be a great result. No doubt last week would have discouraged quite a few supporters. If we can win well, we’ll no doubt get >90k against the cats.

It’d be great if you guys can discuss the strategy of playing Gawn as a forward for the majority of the game. Gawn has barely fired a shot as a forward, he provides little to no leads and almost tempts our midfielders to bomb it in long as opposed to lowering their eyes. Why has Goodwin been pursuing it for so long and is it finally time to just scrap the idea?

Changing this to a ‘No’ now. The last 5 games I’ve been to we’ve lost (I missed the Brisbane and Carlton game) and 4 of those losses were at the MCG. To lose so many games at our home ground as the reigning premiers is so disappointing.

It’s amazing how Brayshaw escapes so much scrutiny with his disposals. He absolutely butchers it and is the worst offender in our team. I’m not sure if it’s arrogance but he doesn’t seem to be working on improving his disposals at all.

Was anyone else disappointed with Goodwin’s post match presser? I felt he didn’t really address the core of the issue. He pointed the finger at indiscipline for 3 50m goals, and not executing fundamentals in the front half etc We haven’t beaten another top 4 team this year. We can’t seem to get our game going at the MCG, and we just lack avenues to goal when Kozzy and Fritsch aren’t getting 6-8 between them. Gawn is not and will never be the answer as a forward. We also can’t have guys like Melksham playing a negating forward when he can’t even kick a set shot or even keep his feet. I’m in two minds whether we just go in with no changes and see if we can replicate what we did to Brisbane two games ago and then change things up for Geelong. Surely Gawn has to play 80% ruck against Fort and absolutely dominate him. Got no confidence whatsoever we’ll be there PF week. It wasn’t just that we lost it was the way we lost. It was the worst of us all bundled into one game. I feel like we’re the Port Adelaide of 2021. 2nd on the ladder was a massive over achievement for a team who can’t beat the teams around them. Our 2nd spot on the ladder almost feels fraudulent.

Real danger of going out in straight sets. Yesterday I thought we had great insurance playing the Lions if we lose, but honestly that’s as bad as we’ve looked all year and I’ve got real concerns that Fritsch and Kozzy are going to save us again.

If we lose to Sydney and then lose to Brisbane, it'll have nothing to do with Brisbane but everything about us.