Opinion Our grand final drought breeds negativity

[MarcusP2]

I think that's the key issue here, we have the 4th longest Grand Final drought and the natives (myself included) are getting restless.

The 3 that are longer have 20-30 years on us too. Ugh.

 

[relapse]

The 3 that are longer have 20-30 years on us too. Ugh.

Actually I made a mistake (I overlooked Freo's GF last year).

We actually have the 3rd longest GF drought with only the Bulldogs and Richmond above us.

Last GF appearance
1954 Bulldogs
1982 Richmond
1998 Adelaide
1999 Carlton
1999 North Melbourne
2000 Melbourne
2001 Essendon
2004 Brisbane
2006 West Coast
2007 Port
2010 St Kilda
2011 Collingwood
2011 Geelong
2012 Sydney
2013 Fremantle
2013 Hawthorn

 

[Smoooothy]

Actually I made a mistake (I overlooked Freo's GF last year).

We actually have the 3rd longest GF drought with only the Bulldogs and Richmond above us.

Last GF appearance
1954 Bulldogs
1982 Richmond
1998 Adelaide
1999 Carlton
1999 North Melbourne
2000 Melbourne
2001 Essendon
2004 Brisbane
2006 West Coast
2007 Port
2010 St Kilda
2011 Collingwood
2011 Geelong
2012 Sydney
2013 Fremantle
2013 Hawthorn

dammit, we should have been 8th on that list

damn you cousins and your "superhuman" gut running

 

[OzSparrow]

dammit, we should have been 8th on that list

damn you cousins and your "superhuman" gut running

You think 2005 was our wasted year? I think 2006 was more of a chance. We should have been 9th.

 

[Smoooothy]

You think 2005 was our wasted year? I think 2006 was more of a chance. We should have been 9th.

i dunno, a 4 goal lead at half time of a prelim is usually enough

2005 we plain and simple blew it, 2006 i think we ran out of legs. had a horror run with injuries in the back half of the year. losing biglands in the prelim didn't help either

 

[OzSparrow]

i dunno, a 4 goal lead at half time of a prelim is usually enough

2005 we plain and simple blew it, 2006 i think we ran out of legs. had a horror run with injuries in the back half of the year. losing biglands in the prelim didn't help either

I am still haunted by the wasted opportunity that 2006 was. It was ours for the taking and we choked. Plain and simple.

I agree that some injuries hurt (Roo and Rhett) in the Prelim but we should have, at the very least, made the GF. We would have rolled Sydney as well had we not choked in the Prelim against the Toasters.

 

[relapse]

You think 2005 was our wasted year? I think 2006 was more of a chance. We should have been 9th.

and West Coast would have only had 2 premierships, interesting sliding doors scenario.

 

[Dirty Bird]

We blew 2005 in the Qualifying
We blew 2006 in the Preliminary

I think we should've won both.

 

[OzSparrow]

We blew 2005 in the Qualifying
We blew 2006 in the Preliminary

I think we should've won both.

Agree. But the 2005 loss did have the benefits of the Dream Final win the next week. Gold!

 

[Dirty Bird]

Agree. But the 2005 loss did have the benefits of the Dream Final win the next week. Gold!

I find Port fans amusing when they say they never stood a chance so dismiss the game.

Ummmmm, it was the wooden spoon favourites vs the reigning premiers!

 

[OzSparrow]

I find Port fans amusing when they say they never stood a chance so dismiss the game.

Ummmmm, it was the wooden spoon favourites vs the reigning premiers!

Idiots! This is so not true given how the Ferals (8th) had smashed the Kangas (5th) by 87 points the week before in Melbourne. They then front up and we belt them by 83 points the next week.

Smacks of self justification to hide a crap performance to me.

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

Cursed since trading Modra!

 

[alex_is_on_fire]

Actually I made a mistake (I overlooked Freo's GF last year).

We actually have the 3rd longest GF drought with only the Bulldogs and Richmond above us.

Last GF appearance
1954 Bulldogs
1982 Richmond
1998 Adelaide
1999 Carlton
1999 North Melbourne
2000 Melbourne
2001 Essendon
2004 Brisbane
2006 West Coast
2007 Port
2010 St Kilda
2011 Collingwood
2011 Geelong
2012 Sydney
2013 Fremantle
2013 Hawthorn

Quite damming isn't it.

At least we can say, we haven't stooped as low as bottoming out and we will fight to the bitter end.

 

[alex_is_on_fire]

Cursed since trading Modra!

Curse of the babebino.

 

[BACCS]

Hmm, that's a bit depressing to read, didn't realise we were so low on that list.

 

[alex_is_on_fire]

So, how do we turn this around?

What do we have to do?

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

So, how do we turn this around?

What do we have to do?

Persevere!

 

[Jello_B]

Not trolling at all but I have never seen this before. Anyone who supports the bulldogs has some serious commitment (or they're into masochism).

 

[alex_is_on_fire]

Persevere!

That's working like a treat.

 

[jenny61_99]

That's working like a treat.

So what then? Give up?

 

[40porpoise]

Terrible stat. I was 7 in our last grandfinal. I can't imagine what it actually truly feels like to see our team in the big GF.

Just out of curiosity, how many premierships do you think one can realistically expect over the course of their adult life? Say you live until 80. That's ~60 years of adult life. Given our current drought and future prospects, I think it's probably reasonable to expect at least 3 grandfinal appearances and around 2 premierships. Certainly makes you appreciate every opportunity we get, but also makes you angry about our missed opportunities in 05 and 06

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

It comes back to that fundamental question of what are we trying to achieve. The club targets the 8, aims to be competitive. A few planets align, hey presto it's 97/98 all over again. That's been the thinking for a long time.

Always competitive, always best 22, winning culture... success will follow.

Under this mindset recruiting Pods, M Crouch in the SANFL, drop Walker, Angus Graham as cover, they'll get games when they're ready etc all make perfect sense.

What I am interested in is whether Ricciuto, the new CEO and Noble agree with this mindset.

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

So what then? Give up?

Or do things differently to what we've done in the past

 

[alex_is_on_fire]

So what then? Give up?

Yep - can not win, don't try.

 

[Mattrox]

Or do things differently to what we've done in the past

Like develop young players differently or spot talent differently than we have recently?

How about we do things better?

Differently =/= Better.