Herald-Sun: "Rampant Tigers carry hopes of state in Grand Final"

[demondavey]

It will be a point of interest next year. It took a long time for Dimma to work it out but I’m not sure Goodwin has the same time to prove it. He had a couple more years when the list just wasn’t ready anyway where he was able develop himself a bit too. Unfortunately Goodwin doesn’t have that luxury as the list is at the very least close to being good enough to go all the way, and any season without a flag is to some extent a missed opportunity. There’d be some sense of urgency in club management to make the most of this, so they need to make sure Goodwin is the right coach. Another poor start will have alarm bells ringing for them. I still think Hardwick only really survived 2016 due to having multiple years to run on his contract, which is a big sliding doors moment, but that’s another story. Your last point about losing the players is important. Hardwick never lost the players, even though we weren’t playing well. That’s something for those closer to Melbourne to decide about Goodwin.
It’s a telling pre season. Does the club go down the same path as they have multiple times, back to oblivion, or does it stand up and create a new era of the Melbourne Football Club?

Personally I think our list is a few tweaks away from becoming top 8 again, we’ve got some issues with our run and ball use but I am hoping this can be corrected. Game plan needs to become better, give up on the pure contested inside game and stop transitioning players into inside players, as well as recruiting them.

Fitness is big. We need Lever, May, McDonald all 100%. We’ve got that Burgess chap so hoping he makes a difference. A really good small forward is also required, apparently we are all over Elliott from Collingwood.

Time will tell, but we don’t have that long and neither does Goodwin. Melbourne supporters and members are pretty restless.

 

[Tony Harrison]

If the Giants and Tigers met in the GF in 17 instead of the PF I think more neutral Victorians would have gone for the tigers than what we see this year.

Now we have been successful over a period of time:
a) we lose underdog status
b) neutrals no longer care about "long suffering" tiger fans seeing success
c) our fans now annoy opposition fans (while we may have been just as annoying before, the flag pushes them over the edge )

 

[peternorth]

I hope we win and can improve our percentage

 

[energyquant]

I rank clubs to support in a grand final in different categories:
Category 1: Richmond - because they are the greatest club in the land
Category 2: "Break the drought" clubs - e.g. Melbourne, St Kilda - for all their supporters who weren't even born last time they won one.
Category 3: "Bottom" clubs - e.g. Brisbane, Carlton - for the supporters who were there for the years of pain.
Category 4: "Whatever" clubs - e.g. North Melbourne, Freo, GWS. I'll forget about the GF an hour after it's been played.
Category 5: "Not again" clubs - e.g. Hawthorn, Geelong, Sydney, WCE - plenty of success in recent years. Will only half watch the game.
Category 6: "Scum" clubs - e.g. Adelaide. We've all got our clubs we love to hate as individuals. For me it's the Crows.
Category 7: Collingwood - the club everyone loves to hate.

A great GF is category 1 vs anyone.
A good GF is category 2/3 vs category 6/7.
An ok GF is category 3/4 vs category 5/6/7.

Worst case scenario is category 6 vs category 7. Get drunk and sledge players. Classy.

 

[PerthBoy86]

They do and the SANFL Tigers had a great win over Port whose sooking is gold class.

Glenelg and Richmond have black and gold, doesn't Claremont have dark blue and gold as their colours?

Indeed they do. Kinda similar to Eagles colours.

 

[PerthBoy86]

I rank clubs to support in a grand final in different categories:
Category 1: Richmond - because they are the greatest club in the land
Category 2: "Break the drought" clubs - e.g. Melbourne, St Kilda - for all their supporters who weren't even born last time they won one.
Category 3: "Bottom" clubs - e.g. Brisbane, Carlton - for the supporters who were there for the years of pain.
Category 4: "Whatever" clubs - e.g. North Melbourne, Freo, GWS. I'll forget about the GF an hour after it's been played.
Category 5: "Not again" clubs - e.g. Hawthorn, Geelong, Sydney, WCE - plenty of success in recent years. Will only half watch the game.
Category 6: "Scum" clubs - e.g. Adelaide. We've all got our clubs we love to hate as individuals. For me it's the Crows.
Category 7: Collingwood - the club everyone loves to hate.

A great GF is category 1 vs anyone.
A good GF is category 2/3 vs category 6/7.
An ok GF is category 3/4 vs category 5/6/7.

Worst case scenario is category 6 vs category 7. Get drunk and sledge players. Classy.

I like you've made a whole category ranking system lol


Why the hate for the Crows though?

 

[energyquant]

I like you've made a whole category ranking system lol


Why the hate for the Crows though?

I lived in Adelaide during the 90's. Enough said!

 

[PerthBoy86]

Interesting, I thought they would’ve been ex WAFL supporters.

I mean, when the Eagles joined in 87 most West Australians were behind them, in some capacity. They were the only team for 8 years until 95 (and were successful in that period winning 2 flags) so most Freo fans were either WAFL fans before the Eagles then became Eagles fans, like current Eagles fans, or not that into footy, were Eagles fans then Dockers, or Dockers fans if below say, 30 or so, if they were too young to be around when it was only the Eagles. Also not all necessary switched over straight away when Freo entered in 95.

 

[PerthBoy86]

I lived in Adelaide during the 90's. Enough said!

Ah say no more

 

[Rusty Brookes]

If the Giants and Tigers met in the GF in 17 instead of the PF I think more neutral Victorians would have gone for the tigers than what we see this year.

Now we have been successful over a period of time:
a) we lose underdog status
b) neutrals no longer care about "long suffering" tiger fans seeing success
c) our fans now annoy opposition fans (while we may have been just as annoying before, the flag pushes them over the edge )

That's it in a nutshell. I remember in 1991 a big wave of support came to Hawthorn from other Victorian clubs. Outside of our first flag in 1961, I reckon that's the only time that's happened and it was due to the big bad threat of the West Coast Eagles. Who were perceived as a state club and people felt threatened that they'd dominate the competition and us poor suburban sides would go by the wayside. Well it didn't happen that way (although Fitzroy did merge and we came perilously close) and I think now most of see clubs just as that now - clubs. Not proxy representatives of a state side. You'd reckon the Herald Sun would recognise that was nearly 30 years ago.

So our own biases and relationships will determine who we support in the GF. My son hates the Tigers due to a long running feud with a kid at school - my bro-in law is a member and I hope he gets to go and see a win. More importantly, I hope as many genuine fans of the clubs get to see the game and it's a cracker.

That being said, I will be smirking like crazy if the Giants win

 

[scoman]

Queenslanders buy into this sort of thing. For example if the Cowboys are in the league GF you can bet most Broncos fans are cheering for them. I would imagine if the plastics from down the M1 somehow made a GF it would be the same in the AFL for Lions fans despite what we might say most weeks. Perhaps it's the us v them QLD thing, SOO or just that we are a bunch of redneck conservatives with a strong dose of patriotism.

Anyway carry on.....

 

[PerthBoy86]

^ state identity/pride was bigger back then, there was also State of Origin. But it was a different comp, still practically the VFL, and the WCE were seen as invaders.

Likewise, the Eagles were basically the WA side, and when we won in 92 much was made of us taking the cup out of Victoria, the same way we pinched the America's Cup.

White some WA fans still consider state identity, like in Melbourne, the derby rivalry is still strongest. I personally was behind Freo in 13 though, it was a good year for WA footy and I didn't begrudge them winning their first after 18 years. Some BF posters have made it hard to maintain such an attitude though lol. Also I favour non Vic clubs with the exception of Freo and Sydney, and the Bulldogs and North.

 

[PerthBoy86]

Queenslanders buy into this sort of thing. For example if the Cowboys are in the league GF you can bet most Broncos fans are cheering for them. I would imagine if the plastics from down the M1 somehow made a GF it would be the same in the AFL for Lions fans despite what we might say most weeks. Perhaps it's the us v them QLD thing, SOO or just that we are a bunch of redneck conservatives with a strong dose of patriotism.

Anyway carry on.....

Well NRL State of Origin is practically bigger than the NRL Grand Final.

Brissie vs GWS was as close to an AFL version I guess. Maroon seems to be the Brisbane/Queensland colour. Queensland, Broncos and Lions.

 

[scoman]

Well NRL State of Origin is practically bigger than the NRL Grand Final.

Brissie vs GWS was as close to an AFL version I guess. Maroon seems to be the Brisbane/Queensland colour. Queensland, Broncos and Lions.

Yeah in all seriousness I think there are a lot of factors at play. Queensland clubs have only been involved in the 'national leagues' for quite a short period of time and the rivalries with other state clubs are still fairly good natured. The club's are also seperated by significant distance. There just isn't the generational hatred or rivalry there. If your club is out here in Queensland you may as well cheer for another Queensland club or even Melbourne in the League with their line up of Qld SOO heroes.

 

[This Is Anfield]

This brings back beautiful memories of 1974 when the world was on the North Melbourne bandwagon and the Tigers were ruthless, feared and hated... bring it on!!!

 

[MVille Swan]

Awesome to hear all Victorians are pulling together to help bolster Richmond's fortunes against the interloper from the north.
Has anyone told the Collingwood Cheer Squad that they'll be shelling out $400+ dollars each to don the Black & Gold on
Saturday to express their state pride?
May I suggest people stop buying the HS. Then they'll stop printing it.

 

[Tiger2709]

It's been the AFL since 1990.
Apart from the odd appearance, like in yesterdays's game by the VFL ARC operators, the VFL finished in 1989.
Go GWS.

Marlion Pickett stars as Richmond win VFL grand final

 

[Hawks1523]

It’s the herald sun, of course they’re pushing this shit.

 

[jc12]

awww cmon guys, go for us, we aint that bad

 

[Coach_Required]

Our train is full ... no ticket for you.

 

[Coach_Required]

What a rag publication. I will firmly be cheering on GWS not because I am anti Victorian but because the over abundance of unnecessary arrogance from Richmond flogs in comparison to their relatively meager sliver of recent success is completely over the top.

Shame you have been given a day off, but your constant bitching the past month has been glorious to read.

Keep on melting

 

[BBC1967]

Tiges have 103k members and we don't need supporters from other clubs.Not that I would expect it anyway.

 

[ep2018]

Meh its the state paper. We've had similar front pages too ("WA is behind you" etc) when we've played in GFs.

 

[Whatname]

How the's form on the Eagles fans in here, what a bunch of hypocrites.
The sooking from some of them last year because Nat Fyfe dared say he wanted Collingwood to win.
"should be supporting WA" was the common cry.
Now they complain about Victorians doing the same thing.

The sanctimonious carry on from eagles supporters is exactly why Freo fans cant stand them.

Also there are some on here sprouting that most Freo fans are ex eagles supporters.
Why would you change from the Eagles to Freo? especially if you were living in WA and coming off two premierships.

That's because no one did, most Freo fans left Victorian clubs or simply had refused to jump on West Coast bandwagon.
Also have a look at WAFL attendances before and after Freo joined, especially the two Freo clubs as there was quite a drop off.
The other one was a lot of younger people got on board in the late 90's early 2000's as it was easy to get a ticket to the games.

 

[Back One Out]

I don't know why the media persists with this rubbish. Year after year, we hear "Insert Victorian team" carry states hopes.

Anyone who understands tribal footy culture going back 100 years, knows that we as Victorians hate the other Victorian clubs.

To be fair to the Herald-Sun headline writers, the Hawks actually did carry the hopes and dreams of all Victorians during our Threepeat. It was quite touching to read the glowing tributes written about Hawthorn here on Big Footy from 2013-2016, not to mention the many condolences after our heartbreaking GF defeat in 2012. Real solidarity from the Big V. Something I'll never forget.