Review GBU - 1998 GF

[Cromulant]

It was his final year, everyone knew it and the old fairy tale finish was was what the club was looking for. Based on the clubs performance for the year and scraping into finals, they knew winning while on the cards was not a certainty and if Roo ruled himself out due to injury and we lost, it would have been the end.

I cans see why we rolled the dice.

Club champion - best ever player clearly in his final year
finished 8th barely - not even in the discussion to win the premiership playing the 5th ranked side in good form.

I think those who are criticizing the selection are being unfair. If it was a regular h and a match he would have sat out. But as it was a do or die final, what if we lost anyway? everyone would rip the club on not selecting Roo and ending his career in a dreadful manner. Its easy to operate in hindsight but honestly, this scenario hardly ever happens.

Nope.

The guy couldn't bend down to tie his shoes up for a month prior to that game, and it was getting worse. He could barely get out of a waddle during warm up..

We lost that game by a kick and effectively played 1 down for its entirety. If he doesn't play, we very likely win.

 

[adelaidecrows]

Nope.

The guy couldn't bend down to tie his shoes up for a month prior to that game, and it was getting worse. He could barely get out of a waddle during warm up..

We lost that game by a kick and effectively played 1 down for its entirety. If he doesn't play, we very likely win.

I get it. But I can see the thinking.

On CPH2371 using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[Apsaalooke]

It was his final year, everyone knew it and the old fairy tale finish was was what the club was looking for. Based on the clubs performance for the year and scraping into finals, they knew winning while on the cards was not a certainty and if Roo ruled himself out due to injury and we lost, it would have been the end.

I cans see why we rolled the dice.

Club champion - best ever player clearly in his final year
finished 8th barely - not even in the discussion to win the premiership playing the 5th ranked side in good form.

I think those who are criticizing the selection are being unfair. If it was a regular h and a match he would have sat out. But as it was a do or die final, what if we lost anyway? everyone would rip the club on not selecting Roo and ending his career in a dreadful manner. Its easy to operate in hindsight but honestly, this scenario hardly ever happens.

We lost that game by 3 points with Franklin kicking a goal in the last 8 seconds after we led for most of the game - the Roo and Massie decisions don't happen and we win.
Sure Geelong was the dominant team that year, but you roll the dice in home and away matches not in finals.

 

[Cromulant]

We lost that game by 3 points with Franklin kicking a goal in the last 8 seconds after we led for most of the game - the Roo and Massie decisions don't happen and we win.
Sure Geelong was the dominant team that year, but you roll the dice in home and away matches not in finals.

Well no, you dont do that. Why would you risk anyone in a game that doesnt matter ??

If Roo was even 70% fit you'd consider playing him in a final. Thing is, he wasnt even 50%.

 

[1970crow]

Nope.

The guy couldn't bend down to tie his shoes up for a month prior to that game, and it was getting worse. He could barely get out of a waddle during warm up..

We lost that game by a kick and effectively played 1 down for its entirety. If he doesn't play, we very likely win.

I recall he was the fastest or 2nd to 300 games, kicked 5 in his 300th. And then cooked a handful of games later.

 

[Cromulant]

I recall he was the fastest or 2nd to 300 games, kicked 5 in his 300th. And then cooked a handful of games later.

Not entirely unpredictable, given the way he played and the lack of looking after himself.

The cliff did come mighty quick though.

 

[pjcrows]

Tim Watson's exasperated "Oh, no!" in the third quarter when Smart marked on the goal line was glorious. Couldn't hide his bias.

 

[dogs105]

Tim Watson's exasperated "Oh, no!" in the third quarter when Smart marked on the goal line was glorious. Couldn't hide his bias.

What would our fine be nowadays for letting Smart play on, concussed?

 

[Bovo]

What would our fine be nowadays for letting Smart play on, concussed?

Yeah looking back, it’s no wonder so many ex AFL players of that era struggle with many long term effects of concussion. Last year I got to attend a conference with Johnny Platten as a guest speaker. He says he has no memory at all of the last quarter of a grand final he won. He went on to say how difficult family life was from all the changes due to his many concussions. That Nigel Smart one was terrible!

 

[Slippery Pete]

One of the things not as evident at the ground, on the day (from where I was sitting anyway) was how well McLeod played. Wasn’t until you watched the TV replay that you could see why he was BOG.

The interesting thing is it wasn’t the “vintage” McLeod we came to know later in his career — there were no long runs, or flashy goals (because his knee was gone that day).

It was just an absolute masterclass of winning the footy in heavy traffic, and setting up teammates on the outside, often with a handball, left or right, didn’t matter.

Watch that second half and count how many scores he had a direct hand in. An incredible performance from a footy purist perspective.