Roast 25 Years without an AFL Premiership

[GreyCrow]

While I think the Phil Walsh tragedy was huge I felt both 2005/06 finals were our best shot.

We had beaten Sydney in all 3 games we played against them in 5/6 - so Roo getting suspended then St Kilda choke meant we sat on the Eagle side of the draw and with 3/4 losses we struggled.

Tippetgate - while the sanctions hurt we actually bounce back ok - what really affected us was the puppy dog surrender by the club.

Making up our own sanctions, keeping staff who were culpable and not fighting back was when we became meek in the eyes of the AFL and we became fodder.

This attitude still persists with the club

 

[SugarShane]

Edit - I think the murder of Walsh was massive for the club, he may have ended up a dud coach, we will never know. But it felt like he was changing something in the club. It just didn't last. But that era of player seem to have been a big reason for that.

Astounding that it's been 8 years. I wonder if Walshy would still be at the club now either way.

Walshy was a unique cat. He had a very different way of looking at things. Would his style have yielded long term results? Or would his intensity have burned himself or the players out? Our list back then was only ripe for a few years, thanks to our big gap in talent from the Tippett sanctions. Would we have had that same rise before ultimately falling apart? Hard to imagine a bigger "what if".

 

[SugarShane]

I've only ever attended two matches outside of SA. One was a match against North in 05, and the other was the semi final against Collingwood in 09. I went over with a Crows-supporting girlfriend at the time, and two Collingwood-supporting friends. It's the only time I ever went to the MCG and I was sitting in the pocket right next to Rutten/Anthony when the free kick was given at the end. It literally happened right. in. front. of. me.

The scoreline that day was ridiculous - it's easy to forget we were 5 goals up at quarter time. Still 4 goals up at half time, then somehow 2 goals down at three quarter time before taking the lead late in the game, only to lose it in the last thirty seconds. It was the only thing Anthony had done all game too, Rutten had murdered him.

I still remember it like it was yesterday. Goodwin at his devastating best, Vince with 34 touches, Tippett with 4 goals, Rutten a brick wall, Dangerfield with 16 touches and 2 goals in his first "proper" playing season, Knights having a disappointing day after a fantastic year.

It was a long car ride back home.

I had a shorter long car ride home. We drove 3 hours to the Yorke Peninsula for an engagement party that happened to be that night. Unfortunately for the couple, the game took centre stage. But also to their credit, they had it up on the big screen at the party (which was at the local footy club).

I'd watched the first quarter at the motel, felt good. Then the second quarter started to look worrying but 4 goals is comfortable. At half time we got ready and walked to the party. We walked in and saw they'd already kicked a goal within minutes. I went and grabbed a drink, and sidled up to a few mates I knew around a wine barrel to watch the game. Almost immediately. Bang. Bang. Bang. Lead virtually gone. Bang. Now behind. How depressing.

Then Tippett's last quarter. Like Ben Keays' goal, like Jason Torney's goal, like McGovern's Showdown goal, like Tex's 2012 half time prelim goal, Tippett's last quarter should be the stuff of Crows legend. That last goal he kicked from 50 out should be Crows folklore.

Then Jack ****ing Anthony. The only thing Anthony did all game? The only memorable thing he did in his career. The only thing that bugger had going for him was he was a crack shot at goal. I would've rathered the ball in be anyone else's hands from Collingwood. As soon as I saw it was him I finished my drink. That's it. Game over.

Anyway yeah, only a 3 hour drive home for us but felt like 6. My now-wife drove so I didn't even have driving to take my mind off it.

 

[SugarShane]

Do you like being punted in the nuts by a woman wearing chunky leather boots? If so, then I whole-heartedly recommend checking it out and even enjoying it at half-speed to really let that Cousins second-half pain sink in.

If not, then yeah, I'd recommend leaving it un-watched. :/

It was like watching a car crash in super-slow mo. It all just slowly went to shit and there was nothing we could do.

 

[aabp1978]

Every time I think how bad 2017 was...I will now henceforth remember this stat for Collingwood on SEN..

Since the miracle of '58 - which we recounted at the start of the finals series - Collingwood is 2 wins, 2 draws and 12 losses in Grand Finals.

Imagine going through 2017 12 times....

 

[Jarman3]

Yep. Another complete brain fade from Riccuito which cost us badly. From memory Bock also missed that game.

We need to cherish 97/98 because we are a long way off ever winning another one.

Whenever I feel like that, I remind myself that we were a long way off winning one in 95/96, too.

 

[jackster83]

Whenever I feel like that, I remind myself that we were a long way off winning one in 95/96, too.

We're never going to get a crop of youngsters that talented again though.

We really need SA to start churning out some decent young players again, instead of the slop we've produced in the last couple of years (apologies to Max).

 

[Dangarman]

Every time I think how bad 2017 was...I will now henceforth remember this stat for Collingwood on SEN..

Since the miracle of '58 - which we recounted at the start of the finals series - Collingwood is 2 wins, 2 draws and 12 losses in Grand Finals.

Imagine going through 2017 12 times....

Q: "Who did Collingwood play in the 2018, 2011, 2003, 2002, 1981, 1980, 1979, 1977,1970, 1966, 1964 and 1960 grand finals?"

A: "The Premiers!"

 

[GreyCrow]

Q: "Who did Collingwood play in the 2018, 2011, 2003, 2002, 1981, 1980, 1979, 1977,1970, 1966, 1964 and 1960 grand finals?"

A: "The Premiers!"

West Coast , Hawthorn or Geelong , Brisbane x 2 , Carlton, Richmond, Carlton, North, Carlton, St Kilda , Melbourne x 2

( #TriviaLife )

 

[Slippery Pete]

One of the things that often gets overlooked about the Carey trade / the 2003 team. He was supposed to be a complementary piece. And it was working early in the season.

Stevens stays fit, and we've got a genuine multi faceted attack up forward, and might have given that year a shake.

Carey‘s first pre-season with the club was horribly botched (another feather in the AFC’s cap).

He said that the club was obsessed with running and had him do more running than he’d ever done his whole career, and he blew out his back and hamstrings, which plagued him for most of that year.

He still played pretty well despite that, the skills and the nous were still there… he just wasn’t robust anymore, the body wouldn’t allow it.

 

[Mr_Moogle]

Carey‘s first pre-season with the club was horribly botched (another feather in the AFC’s cap).

He said that the club was obsessed with running and had him do more running than he’d ever done his whole career, and he blew out his back and hamstrings, which plagued him for most of that year.

He still played pretty well despite that, the skills and the nous were still there… he just wasn’t robust anymore, the body wouldn’t allow it.

Well that training regimen backfired. He looked too bulky and slow as **** in his time at Adelaide.

 

[Slippery Pete]

Well that training regime backfired. He looked too bulky and slow as * in his time at Adelaide.

Believe it or not he was actually lighter when he was playing for Adelaide, but most of that weight probably came off the lower half, he did look a bit more top heavy.

 

[Jarman3]

Believe it or not he was actually lighter when he was playing for Adelaide, but most of that weight probably came off the lower half, he did look a bit more top heavy.

His shoulders were already ****ed before he came to us. He could barely raise his arms above his head during his time with us... it was all chest marks.

 

[Slippery Pete]

His shoulders were already ****ed before he came to us. He could barely raise his arms above his head during his time with us... it was all chest marks.

Yeah but that wasn’t his issue in 03… it was his back and hamstrings, which were entirely avoidable if he’d had a tailored program like a player of his age & ilk should have.

 

[Minor Threat]

Parvovirus

 

[aabp1978]

Q: "Who did Collingwood play in the 2018, 2011, 2003, 2002, 1981, 1980, 1979, 1977,1970, 1966, 1964 and 1960 grand finals?"

A: "The Premiers!"

Was just listening to Eddie Maguire on radio over here...shouting to the roof tops about how Collingwood average a GF every three years (over their history)...does this mean then they are the greatest jokers in Australian sport? Like, in the "AFL' era they have literally won a single flag (not counting 1990...was still the VFL). He also helpfully reminded me of why I want Brisbane to win this weekend....the team is fine, but the arrogance of a supporter base that has literally won less than us over the last 30 years is staggering..

 

[Jarman3]

We're never going to get a crop of youngsters that talented again though.

We really need SA to start churning out some decent young players again, instead of the slop we've produced in the last couple of years (apologies to Max).

But how highly rated were our young players heading into that season? Obviously Roo was widely acknowledged as a gun from his first year, but McLeod was a solid role player best known for that last gasp winning goal he kicked against Hawthorn in 95, Tyson Edwards was a fringe player we'd taken in the preseason draft a couple years earlier, Simon Goodwin we'd just plucked from the preseason draft, Kane Johnson had 2 games to his name coming into that season, etc.

I guess what I'm getting at is that this wasn't a bunch of highly rated kids delivering on their destiny to win a flag (the way we might have expected GWS to do but never quite came to fruition). It was the other way around - winning that flag was what earned those young players their rating. I don't recall anybody at the start of that season predicting us to win the flag at all, let alone due to the outstanding crop of youth we had coming through. It was a bunch of kids who all came of age at the same time.

But on top of that, it was also a bunch of established players at their peak who won that flag, including a bunch we brought in from other clubs. Guys like Jarman, Bickley, Robran, Caven, Smart, Rehn, Modra (didn't play the GF but obviously played a huge role that season in getting us there), Bond, Connell, etc. A lot of these guys were around in the sh*t years in 95/96, but everything clicked in 97 following some significant list turnover that year and a bunch of young kids all hitting their straps at the same time.

Obviously a big part of that is Malcolm Blight coming in - not just for his coaching nous but for the fact he grabbed hold of the club and shook the place up in a way that nobody else had had the balls to do prior.

I've completely lost track of the point I was trying to make But something along the lines of success can come surprisingly quickly even when you're not expecting it.

 

[Firewalker]

The 2008 last game of the home and away season is one that always still pisses me off, which is why I put it on the list. St Kilda need to win by over a hundred & keep Essendon to under 6 goals to jump the Crows into the top 4 and Essendon just put in at that time probably the most putrid effort in their club history, they were just jogging around giving the ball back to their opponents, it was like watching a slow motion car crash.

Essendon just literally need to kick one goal in that last quarter but go on holidays early and give up 13 scoring shots to 1 in the quarter. Remember the next week against Collingwood in the Elimination final all the air was sucked out of the whole club and it was then a classic Neil Craig final result, it’s why Essendon don’t ever deserve to win another final.

 

[Slippery Pete]

The 2008 last game of the home and away season is one that always still pisses me off, which is why I put it on the list. St Kilda need to win by over a hundred & keep Essendon to under 6 goals to jump the Crows into the top 4 and Essendon just put in at that time probably the most putrid effort in their club history, they were just jogging around giving the ball back to their opponents, it was like watching a slow motion car crash.

Essendon just literally need to kick one goal in that last quarter but go on holidays early and give up 13 scoring shots to 1 in the quarter. Remember the next week against Collingwood in the Elimination final all the air was sucked out of the whole club and it was then a classic Neil Craig final result, it’s why Essendon don’t ever deserve to win another final.

Would’ve played Geelong in week 1 and Collingwood or St Kilda in week 2.

Would’ve been a straight sets exit. So you should probably get over this one.

 

[TubbsFarquhar]

The 2008 last game of the home and away season is one that always still pisses me off, which is why I put it on the list. St Kilda need to win by over a hundred & keep Essendon to under 6 goals to jump the Crows into the top 4 and Essendon just put in at that time probably the most putrid effort in their club history, they were just jogging around giving the ball back to their opponents, it was like watching a slow motion car crash.

Essendon just literally need to kick one goal in that last quarter but go on holidays early and give up 13 scoring shots to 1 in the quarter. Remember the next week against Collingwood in the Elimination final all the air was sucked out of the whole club and it was then a classic Neil Craig final result, it’s why Essendon don’t ever deserve to win another final.

While a double chance would've been nice, we weren't close that year so that result didn't make all that much difference.

It was:
Geelong and Hawthorn

Gap

Bulldogs

Gap

Us, Saints, North, Swans and Magpies

 

[relapse]

Every time I think how bad 2017 was...I will now henceforth remember this stat for Collingwood on SEN..

Since the miracle of '58 - which we recounted at the start of the finals series - Collingwood is 2 wins, 2 draws and 12 losses in Grand Finals.

Imagine going through 2017 12 times....

Also too both of those Collingwood premierships have massive asterisks against them.

Both 1990 and 2010 were unfairly influenced by the replay rules that were in place.

If there was extra time in 2010 they most than likely would have lost and the 1990 finals system turned into a complete mess after Collingwood and West Coast drew in the first week of the finals. After the draw Essendon were forced to have a 21 day break between Round 22 and their first final against Collingwood and West Coast (who finished 3rd) had to unfairly play an extra game than everyone else had to. 1990 turned into such a mess that that AFL scrapped the replay rule for non grand finals from the start of 1991.

If they were to win on Saturday, you could argue that it's their first clean premiership since 1958.

 

[Firewalker]

Would’ve played Geelong in week 1 and Collingwood or St Kilda in week 2.

Would’ve been a straight sets exit. So you should probably get over this one.

I know but at the time I was still a young delusional supporter and thought it was one of if not the biggest corrupt VFL results I’ve seen, I think many like me were holding on to the idea that the 2008 team still had that 2005/06 teams ability to at least make a deep run and despite the likelihood of the Geelong smashing it would put you on the other side of the draw to them which at the time did seem weaker, I think it was also soul crushing as the year prior in 2007 we saw first hand how shit elimination finals were compared to the double chance.

 

[Slippery Pete]

If they were to win on Saturday, you could argue that it's their first clean premiership since 1958.

First one in September since then. That’s another quirky little stat

 

[kirky]

Well they will be making history if Collingwood win Saturday.

Both their 1990 and 2010 wins were on the first Saturday in October. They have not won a Grand Final in September since 1958 .

 

[Sanders]

One of the things that often gets overlooked about the Carey trade / the 2003 team. He was supposed to be a complementary piece. And it was working early in the season.

Stevens stays fit, and we've got a genuine multi faceted attack up forward, and might have given that year a shake.

We were bookies favourite for the flag in 2003, before injuries destroyed the season

It’s one of the things that gets lost in the Craig hype, that we were a loaded team he took over