And we’re back. The bye has come and gone like a blissful period of ceasefire, and now we get to strap ourselves back in and see what the rest of 2013 has in store for our Eagles. The next month would be flat out terrifying even for the best of teams, and as such we will need to have one hell of a turn around to avoid anything other than embarrassment. But hey, there’s no time like the present.
It’s been two weeks since we fell over the line against a decidedly average St Kilda team, and I think most of us will have spent that time bashing ourselves in the head with a shovel in an attempt to erase all memory of that game. Sadly these attempts haven’t worked for me, and it remains a haunting thought at the back of my mind as we approach a new run of games. Mostly I remember the first five minutes, in which we conceded a handful of the most piss weak goals you could ever wish to concede, and looked completely helpless to stop the run of the Saints. The Richmond game had rolled straight into the next week, and I honestly thought that we were going to get done. We got lucky in the end; the Saints coughed up some silly free kicks, Naitanui did some decent things and Woosha took us all back to the glory days by letting a defender kick the winning goals for us. He later said he had no say in MacKenzie’s move forward, but I don’t believe that for a second. He knows the way to all of our hearts, and to be honest a MacKenzie winner was probably the only thing that could have made me happy by the end of that game.
But we won, and isn’t that all that really matters? Well, no. Because we’ve gone through this season beating up on minnows, and in our last game we couldn’t even do that effectively. My shovel play has allowed me to forget the finer points of the game, so I can’t really remember exactly why we were terrible, but I could probably hazard a guess. Something to do with our midfield, I’d wager. Oh, and Adam Selwood. But whatever it actually was, it needs fixing. I don’t know how to fix it, but that’s not my job. My job is to criticise them until those being paid to deal with it do so, and to be honest, it’s been three months now and almost all of our early season issues have gone unresolved. They were spotted as early as the first quarter of the first game for crying out loud, so sort it out.
What better to stage to announce our return to the big time than Friday night against the Hawks at… Etihad? That’s weird. But inconsequential, because for us to win, we are going to need to play completely out of our skins, in a way that we haven’t shown since probably the midseason Pies game of last year. Which means the time is now for Shuey, Scooter and Gaff to impose themselves on an opposition in a meaningful way. I don’t know about anyone else, but I really, really, really want Shuey to have a blinder. I want him to have a 30+ and two goal game against a top four team so he will know forever that he is capable of it, and so he can do it every single week for the next ten years (fully expecting one of you nerds to drag up proof that he has already had one of these games. Do your worst…). I’d love for Scooter and Gaff to do the same, but I still feel as if Shuey is the one that could make a tangible difference in the here and now.
As I type, the team news has come in and it is gosh darn fantastic. Waters, Kennedy, Glass, LeCras, McGinnity and Dalziell in for a whole wealth of spuds. Well, not all of them are spuds, but we certainly have fobbed off our fair share of tat for this week’s game. Wellingham and Hill aside, it is probably as good a team as we could throw at the Hawks, and fresh off the bye there is no excuse for anything other than a wholly competitive performance. Even the return of McGinnity is an immensely positive one, and not just because I’ve always been a secret fan of his. He gives us exactly what we are missing – crazy, deranged, sloppy energy and a desire to hurt people. Even if he ends up being the sub, he could be perfect for us as an impact player late. Provided that we are within ten goals at that point.
The worry is that the season is already ruined, and that we’ve effectively got nothing to play for. If the best we can do is finish seventh or eighth, then I would tend to agree with that. However it’s true that we are in a similar position points wise to our 2011 season, and similar again to last year’s Hawthorn, who were eventual grand finalist. Miracles do happen in sport, and they certainly do happy for the Eagles. Us making something of this season probably seems as unlikely as winning at Kardinia Park in 2006 did during the second quarter. Who knows, maybe this Friday night will prove to be the birth of one of the AFL’s greatest ever Cinderella stories? Our expectations have never been lower, but our hope should not be completely extinguished. Not until the final sirens sounds should we lose hope in them.
Truth be told, it could be an ugly one. Hawthorn are an excellent side with few weaknesses, whilst ours have never been more pronounced. But if they get stuck in and have a crack, anything is possible. Footy is a messed up game.
Carn Eagles.
EDIT - Friday Night Footy we are on the big stage - Live Chat will be here with the rest of BF - larri
It’s been two weeks since we fell over the line against a decidedly average St Kilda team, and I think most of us will have spent that time bashing ourselves in the head with a shovel in an attempt to erase all memory of that game. Sadly these attempts haven’t worked for me, and it remains a haunting thought at the back of my mind as we approach a new run of games. Mostly I remember the first five minutes, in which we conceded a handful of the most piss weak goals you could ever wish to concede, and looked completely helpless to stop the run of the Saints. The Richmond game had rolled straight into the next week, and I honestly thought that we were going to get done. We got lucky in the end; the Saints coughed up some silly free kicks, Naitanui did some decent things and Woosha took us all back to the glory days by letting a defender kick the winning goals for us. He later said he had no say in MacKenzie’s move forward, but I don’t believe that for a second. He knows the way to all of our hearts, and to be honest a MacKenzie winner was probably the only thing that could have made me happy by the end of that game.
But we won, and isn’t that all that really matters? Well, no. Because we’ve gone through this season beating up on minnows, and in our last game we couldn’t even do that effectively. My shovel play has allowed me to forget the finer points of the game, so I can’t really remember exactly why we were terrible, but I could probably hazard a guess. Something to do with our midfield, I’d wager. Oh, and Adam Selwood. But whatever it actually was, it needs fixing. I don’t know how to fix it, but that’s not my job. My job is to criticise them until those being paid to deal with it do so, and to be honest, it’s been three months now and almost all of our early season issues have gone unresolved. They were spotted as early as the first quarter of the first game for crying out loud, so sort it out.
What better to stage to announce our return to the big time than Friday night against the Hawks at… Etihad? That’s weird. But inconsequential, because for us to win, we are going to need to play completely out of our skins, in a way that we haven’t shown since probably the midseason Pies game of last year. Which means the time is now for Shuey, Scooter and Gaff to impose themselves on an opposition in a meaningful way. I don’t know about anyone else, but I really, really, really want Shuey to have a blinder. I want him to have a 30+ and two goal game against a top four team so he will know forever that he is capable of it, and so he can do it every single week for the next ten years (fully expecting one of you nerds to drag up proof that he has already had one of these games. Do your worst…). I’d love for Scooter and Gaff to do the same, but I still feel as if Shuey is the one that could make a tangible difference in the here and now.
As I type, the team news has come in and it is gosh darn fantastic. Waters, Kennedy, Glass, LeCras, McGinnity and Dalziell in for a whole wealth of spuds. Well, not all of them are spuds, but we certainly have fobbed off our fair share of tat for this week’s game. Wellingham and Hill aside, it is probably as good a team as we could throw at the Hawks, and fresh off the bye there is no excuse for anything other than a wholly competitive performance. Even the return of McGinnity is an immensely positive one, and not just because I’ve always been a secret fan of his. He gives us exactly what we are missing – crazy, deranged, sloppy energy and a desire to hurt people. Even if he ends up being the sub, he could be perfect for us as an impact player late. Provided that we are within ten goals at that point.
The worry is that the season is already ruined, and that we’ve effectively got nothing to play for. If the best we can do is finish seventh or eighth, then I would tend to agree with that. However it’s true that we are in a similar position points wise to our 2011 season, and similar again to last year’s Hawthorn, who were eventual grand finalist. Miracles do happen in sport, and they certainly do happy for the Eagles. Us making something of this season probably seems as unlikely as winning at Kardinia Park in 2006 did during the second quarter. Who knows, maybe this Friday night will prove to be the birth of one of the AFL’s greatest ever Cinderella stories? Our expectations have never been lower, but our hope should not be completely extinguished. Not until the final sirens sounds should we lose hope in them.
Truth be told, it could be an ugly one. Hawthorn are an excellent side with few weaknesses, whilst ours have never been more pronounced. But if they get stuck in and have a crack, anything is possible. Footy is a messed up game.
Carn Eagles.
EDIT - Friday Night Footy we are on the big stage - Live Chat will be here with the rest of BF - larri
