Bring-Back-Powell

It will be if all they cough up is pick 14 and Bailey Banfield as a sweetener.

Hunger. The group were so invested last year in producing something special. This year it's over to the Collingwood's, Geelong's and Sydney's of the league who are going that extra mile in the pressure stakes because they want it a bit more than us, and they feel as though their time is now. This is where I admire Richmond, Hawthorn and Brisbane for somehow achieving back to back when they would've had a bunch of hungry clubs chasing them.

From 2002 - 2022 when QBDAY game became a staple in the fixture: We were 6-13-1 and that includes the 2021 SCG game We were 4-2 after 2007. For the record we beat them in 1993, 1996 and 1999, and didn't lose to them in the 1990's.

Looking forward to another afternoon of "COOO-LLLL-IIIII-NNNN-GGGG-WWW-OOOO-DDD' and "'USA - USA - USA- USA"" And Pies supporters inevitably booing Petracca or Oliver when they get awarded the Neale Daniher medal despite same supporters getting offended when Pendlebury got booed on the same stage on Anzac Day. Other than that I love going to Pies v Dees games of late.

I'm sure Jackson made up his mind half way through the season and the club was well aware of it, hence their meetings with Grundy, and I'm sure Freo and Melbourne have been talking trades for months such is the magnitude of this up coming trade. Had Jackson confirmed his intentions in the second half of the season but pledged 100% commitment to the MFC in his final games for the club, he may have had some clear air and been able to play a finals series that consisted of more than two marks. He may have avoided going from premiership hero to a heavily criticised player in the space of 12 months. Hopefully the AFL can become more mature in this space, where players can feel more comfortable in signaling their intentions prior to the season ending. The player and current club will benefit from this IMO.

We had some good wins, but it's hard to classify it as a good year overall.

Spot on. Leppitsch has proven himself to be one of the very best assistant coaches in the modern era. Someone like a Ben Rutten might fit the bill. A failed senior coach but did some very good things during Richmond's 2017 and 2018 seasons, and was then poached by Essendon.

It's disappointing that we haven't won finals in consecutive years since 1991.

Very true. Petty ended the season as a player at the top of his game and in brilliant physical nick compared to BBB, Gawn and/or LJ who were labouring in our fwd line. Could’ve made a massive difference to the scoreboard the other night.

That’s a hard one to quantify as the leads yo-yoed in some of our 25+ wins such as the Dogs, Port and Essendon wins. GWS, St Kilda, WC, North, Brisbane x2, and Freo were genuine margin extending wins. (Although the Lions pegged us back a bit in the Rd 23 game) The Port win at the Adelaide Oval we won by 32 points but the margin got out to 54 which demonstrated our season long fragility. Does that one count?

And also gave off another handball to Kozzie who somehow hit the post. 3 score involvements between the 26 and 29 minute marks. Staggering to think what could’ve been had he played more time up forward the other night.

In the second half of 2021, our MCG form was definitely not as good as other venues. Similar story to this year. Scrappy win over Essendon, draw with the Hawks, largest loss of the year to Bulldogs and survived a 3rd qtr scare against lowly Adelaide. I don’t know if it’s possible, but could they look at tinkering their game plan to suit the G more?

If the Pies held on against Geelong last week, I honestly think they’d be in the box seat to win the 2022 flag. They would’ve faced and beaten Brisbane in a prelim and gone into a grand final with absolute sky high confidence. As it turns out, they’ll be playing in front of a pro Sydney crowd at a venue that probably doesn’t suit them as much as the MCG. Geelong 16.7.103 - Brisbane 9.9.63 Sydney 11.13.79 Collingwood 9.12.66

I would love Hayden Young and he would be a fantastic long term replacement for Salem when his career is over. However, he just signed a long term contract with Freo and clearly won’t be going anywhere.

Clearly this thread was poorly executed by me and served no purpose on reflection. I’ll put my hand up. I wouldn’t mind if the moderators locked it.

For those citing a hard fixture this year, it’s not going to get any easier next year as we’ll still be in the 1-6 band. We would’ve got a 7-12 fixture had we lost one of the last 2 games and presumably then lost our elimination final. Hopefully we don’t have a repeat of that absurd Adelaide-Geelong-Alice Springs-Docklands-Perth 5 week stretch. No wonder our performances at the MCG were no good in the end.

Don’t you think it highlights that we’ve still got a way to go to becoming a consistent, ruthless team that contests prelims and grand finals, year after year without fail such as the Hawks in 2012-2015 and Geelong from 2007-2011. I guess the frustration comes from the media talking us up as a dynasty club that simply needed to roll up to the Gf this year and the flag was ours.

Can you explain exactly why it’s such a pathetic thread? And if you think it’s so pathetic then why did you waste your time responding to it? I’ve just stated the facts. It’s an unusual fact, but a fact nonetheless and it was bitterly disappointing that we couldn’t rectify the record. We had a golden opportunity this year with two home finals against interstate sides but couldn’t get it done. Now we rue another September of no finals wins.

Any chance a new look fwd line next year? Two of Petty, JVR and T Mac with a resting ruck. Turner to replace Petty. BBB to play mainly at Casey or retire due to he degenerative knee.

Our performances interstate. 7-0 is remarkable and who knows how we would’ve gone against Sydney if they took second off us.

So I take it those who have responded with smart Alec responses to this thread are all honky dory with the fact that we haven’t won a final in consecutive years since 1991. You posters are easily pleased.

Doesn’t help when our opponents kick a combined accurate 28.15 across the two finals.

Yeah I’d suggest we may have won the game had it not been for those two late ones. The players and crowd were up and about after we got 12 points up and then we inexplicably coughed up the lead in the blink of an eye. Not sure if Brisbane would’ve been capable of bridging a 2 goal margin given they weren’t as defensively sound as Sydney were the week before.

Do explain please?

Hasn’t happened since 1991 when we beat Essendon at Waverley, after winning at least one final from 1987-1990. Clearly this record will continue into a 32nd year and won’t be rectified until Sep 2024 at the earliest. Carlton has the next drought - haven’t won back to back since 2001. Gold Coast obviously haven’t even been in a final. We all love and cherish Goodwin and will be forever indebted to him for winning a flag. However this is a record that he and us ought to be disappointed with. We clearly should be in the middle of a sustained run at prelims and grand finals with this current list. Consistency and continuity of success (by way of finals wins) has eluded Goodwin’s tenure so far.