mcgarnacle
Norm Smith Medallist
- Dec 2, 2003
- 9,786
- 4,212
- AFL Club
- Sydney
For all the people saying we are lucky to have won a lot of close games, yet last year nobody was saying how unlucky we were to lose a lot of close games. Last year we lost 4 games by 10 points or less and two games by a single point, including a loss to a goal after the siren.
The reality is last year we were unlucky to be 17th - we finished with a percentage of 85% - compare with this years 17th.
This year the reverse is true and luck is going our way.
So really last year we were more like a 10th to 12th side and have improved a bit with a new coach, a good run with injuries for once and guys like N Daicos and we are now more of a 7th to 9th side. Not a rebuild and not the drastic.
Plenty of variables. Luck might be one. But was it luck for Collingwood that Howe slipped and fell inside the 50 or was it Bombers pressure? Was it luck that Jones missed the kick or an inability to convert under pressure? Was it luck Darcy Moore was free to run off the kick-in or bad defensive set up under pressure? Was it luck that Bianco found himself free or was it hard running and capitalising on Essendon's poor defensive set-up on the kick-in? Was it luck Elliott marked the ball between two players or the ability to separate from fatiguing Ambrose? And was it luck Elliott kicked the goal which Jones missed only a minute earlier?
Good teams take their opportunities, whether it's 6 goals up or a goal down. West Coast did this to Collingwood in the 2018 GF!