Opinion The Race for Pick #1 - It's ours (almost... again....)

[czero]

... the absurd paranoia ("we'd better tank, I bet Clarko is scheming hard to get the #1 pick for the Hawks...

You mean conspiracy theory, not paranoia. Paranoia if you were a hawks fan tho...

How about this conspiracy theory, maybe clarko was doing some piss poor preparation to help the club set-up for the future, until he found out he was being sacked at the end of the year and now prepares them for a non piss poor performance.

 

[Shermanator]

Why are people getting shitty with getting the spoon - there’s nothing we could do about it..

Bring on draft time..

 

[Rooboy 96]

so I was wondering how many spoons have North won in my life, and with this year it is 4, none since I was 7, my mother saw us get 5 spoons, and my grandfather saw us get thirteen, 8 in our first 15 years in the League.

besides 1970 and 1972 I could not recall another year we got a spoon, so here they are for those like me that can not remember 1926, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1934, 1935, 1937, 1940, 1956, 1961, 1968, 1970, 1972, 2021

most in here should think themselves extremely lucky to not barrack for a club that regularly comes last in their lifetime.

 

[Yianni]

So were we - the difference is simply a matter of timing, in that we're 'collecting' the spoon half a year after the run of 2-24 that represents us at our worst. Melbourne were worse for longer, no question (three very poor years in a row, 14th-last-last, before their first - failed - 'rise'), but we're also not exactly out of the woods yet either... the point is less that we're like Melbourne, so much as that the fan mentality here is every bit as misguided as it was there.

To be 100% clear, I'm not unhappy about getting Pick #1 - that's the pick that's warranted for the team that finishes on the bottom. What bothers me is the ridiculous logic that underpins every argument in favour of wanting the result we've now made a certainty - from the absurd paranoia ("we'd better tank, I bet Clarko is scheming hard to get the #1 pick for the Hawks... Adelaide are desperate to prise him from us... GC would do anything to get their grubby hands on him"), to the nuffieish contrarianism present in all fan communities ("actually, losing is better for us long term, and losing really badly would actually be even better" - not far from "all my favourite band's best songs are their B-sides and unreleased live tracks" really), to the meek unwillingness from some to ever spout anything more than self-serving platitudinous positives ("actually, our future is so bright that supporters of all other clubs are super envious of how woeful we are right now and the draft 'rewards' we'll reap")... and, as I was responding to, this bizarre contention that people having poor memories means history shouldn't inform anything. All of it is so utterly garbage that it's worth pushing back against wherever possible.

Ultimately, only one team since 2000 has taken less than ten years to go from the spoon to a premiership (West Coast, 2010 then 2018 - who, just by the by, 'only' got Pick #4 for that ignominy, and he wasn't even playing on the day...). Obviously it'd be fantastic if we could buck that trend, bound up the ladder over the next couple of years and win multiple flags in the '20s. Now that we're definitely finishing last, I'd like that to be true as much as anyone else here - though, as I've said elsewhere, whilst there are plenty of positives that point to imminent improvement, we're not nearly as worthy of the hype as some seem to think we are. But it is absolutely mental that anyone with any semblance of an understanding of how these things actually work would wilfully seek out a last-place finish; the whole thing is predicated on hollow fantasy.

more posts like this please. Bravo

 

[TennisPlayerAndy]

If Adelaide were the Cleveland Browns, we’d have their next 15 first round picks.

 

[LuvtheKangas]

 

[tazaa]

I have been to 2 home games in 24 months.
If we choose to finish 17th and 18th during these years then I can live with that.
I’m also ready for Horne-eben-Francis to be added to our lineup and to sit back and enjoy the mother****ing ride!

 

[RossHenshaw]

I have been to 2 home games in 24 months.
If we choose to finish 17th and 18th during these years then I can live with that.
I’m also ready for Horne-eben-Francis to be added to our lineup and to sit back and enjoy the mother******* ride!

I said something similar along those lines today...
There is nothing worse staying to the end at the Footy ( I always do) and walk out after the final siren with the opposition side theme song ringing in your ears , opposition supporters giving you crap etc... At least these 2 past years where we have been nearly wooden spooners in 2020 and official wooden spooners as of last night we have not had to live with through that ...
See ? there is a silver lining always

 

[The Warlord]

This kid better be worth it because this sucks.

 

[see see]

There was a time (pre draft and salary cap days) when if you finished on the bottom, it meant you were genuinely sh*t with little realistic prospect of turning things around in the shorter term. Those days are long gone; the AFL is now predicted on "bottom" teams bouncing back up the ladder.

"Winning" the spoon is absolute balls but in the bigger scheme of things, I'm not losing any sleep over it. Bring on #5.

 

[sutcliffe's hotel]

so I was wondering how many spoons have North won in my life, and with this year it is 4, none since I was 7, my mother saw us get 5 spoons, and my grandfather saw us get thirteen, 8 in our first 15 years in the League.

besides 1970 and 1972 I could not recall another year we got a spoon, so here they are for those like me that can not remember 1926, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1934, 1935, 1937, 1940, 1956, 1961, 1968, 1970, 1972, 2021

most in here should think themselves extremely lucky to not barrack for a club that regularly comes last in their lifetime.

Massive kudos to those diehard Shinboners of yore, like your mum & grandfather.

I remember the unbridled joy I felt when we belted the high flying Hawks at Arden St in 84, meaning the wooden spoon would likely go to the Aints and not us. The hatred I felt the same year when the Collingwood banner mocked us by congratulating us on winning our umpteenth wooden spoon. I knew our history & had always hated that we had so many wooden spoons.

Yet, as you say, in reality this is the first one in my living memory. This year has not felt like we are the worst team facing years in the footy wilderness. If anything, it has felt like a revival. The beginning of good times that will lead to great wins and hopefully an era of domination.

 

[Chadwiko]

This kid better be worth it because this sucks.

Honest and genuine question; would you be any less disappointed if we finished 17th instead of 18th?

 

[Clarke is King]

I am trying to work out why you care so much that we did not want to lose

**** me it’s not the complicated fellas - I didn’t want us to lose.

The meltdowns from posters on here that other posters did want us to lose is a bit much. If this conversation was a thread I’d be locking it. Please move on

 

[pupstar]

fu** me it’s not the complicated fellas - I didn’t want us to lose.

The meltdowns from posters on here that other posters did want us to lose is a bit much. If this conversation was a thread I’d be locking it. Please move on

You misunderstood my post completely.

 

[The Warlord]

Honest and genuine question; would you be any less disappointed if we finished 17th instead of 18th?

I would be elated if we had avoided finishing last. I wish we had.

We haven't finished last since 1972. That's - was - a proud boast.

As I said earlier, the way we finished off the year and the devastating injuries we had, not to mention the awful circumstances in which we had to change coaches, means I know we're not destined for multiple spoons

I'm so surprised you think there's massive difference between pick 1 and 2 - oh no, we only get the pick that's generated Josh Kelly and Christian Petracca and Tim Taranto etc.

 

[Full Chooks]

People in here whinging about other supporters that wanted pick one.

I don't think anyone in here was looking at their TV screaming at it for the boys to screw up that kick, miss that goal or cheered when a defender made a mistake. This is the first year I have ever been happy to have rough treatment from the umpires too.
Most us in here are just happy that the boys showed so much in the last half of the year and also that we have now the BEST CHANCE out of all clubs at improving further through the draft.

I'm going to point out that we as supporters have no bearing, especially at the moment with no crowds allowed to attend games, on what the players and coaches set out to do. We can just see the silver lining in having pick 1.

And how can you watch what Horne-Francis is doing, in a comp with grown men and not be a little excited. I would be excited for next year anyway but now I am bullish!

There is no need to be divisive. What's happened has happened.. Look at the positives and watch the boys rise in 2022.

On SM-N960F using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[Bren]

fu** me it’s not the complicated fellas - I didn’t want us to lose.

The meltdowns from posters on here that other posters did want us to lose is a bit much. If this conversation was a thread I’d be locking it. Please move on

Any supporter that was able and didn't get up / cheer when we got within 5 points last night needs to pack it in and follow someone else... never want my boys to lose... players come and go but the culture and standards stay forever.

 

[Chadwiko]

I would be elated if we had avoided finishing last. I wish we had.

We haven't finished last since 1972. That's - was - a proud boast.

As I said earlier, the way we finished off the year and the devastating injuries we had, not to mention the awful circumstances in which we had to change coaches, means I know we're not destined for multiple spoons

I'm so surprised you think there's massive difference between pick 1 and 2 - oh no, we only get the pick that's generated Josh Kelly and Christian Petracca and Tim Taranto etc.

Those #2 picks you listed weren't taken after other clubs picked "their" father-son selections. Each draft is unique in the AFL, and this year if you didn't finish with the 1st pick, there's a whole lot of uncertainty.

But I digress.

For the past 20 years we have heard from around the AFL that NMFC were a team who "couldn't afford" to bottom out due to the supposed financial and PR ramifications that would come from tiny crowds. And what did that lead to? Since the end of the Carey-Pagan era we've made a handful of prelims but each and every one of those was generally considered a surprise, and in none of them did we eventually look close to a flag.

Instead, our identity for the last two decades has largely been of top ups and treading water, and it has simply not worked as a long-term strategy.

The fact that we have timed out first spoon in 40 years to coincide with pandemic lockdowns, no crowds, and guaranteed financial support from the AFL couldn't be more serendipitous.

We get all the tangible benefits that come with a bottom placed finish, with none of the short-term risks typically associated with it.

No one, including me, was actively 'cheering for NMFC to lose'. But there's a big difference with accepting reality and embracing it compared to clinging to meaningless pride.

 

[pupstar]

People in here whinging about other supporters that wanted pick one.

I don't think anyone in here was looking at their TV screaming at it for the boys to screw up that kick, miss that goal or cheered when a defender made a mistake. This is the first year I have ever been happy to have rough treatment from the umpires too.
Most us in here are just happy that the boys showed so much in the last half of the year and also that we have now the BEST CHANCE out of all clubs at improving further through the draft.

I'm going to point out that we as supporters have no bearing, especially at the moment with no crowds allowed to attend games, on what the players and coaches set out to do. We can just see the silver lining in having pick 1.

And how can you watch what Horne-Francis is doing, in a comp with grown men and not be a little excited. I would be excited for next year anyway but now I am bullish!

There is no need to be divisive. What's happened has happened.. Look at the positives and watch the boys rise in 2022.

On SM-N960F using BigFooty.com mobile app

Will you be happy if the umps give us rough treatment next year or does it depend were we are on the ladder.

 

[Dodecahedron]

I feel ok because we are the gold standard spooners.

 

[pupstar]

Those #2 picks you listed weren't taken after other clubs picked "their" father-son selections. Each draft is unique in the AFL, and this year if you didn't finish with the 1st pick, there's a whole lot of uncertainty.

But I digress.

For the past 20 years we have heard from around the AFL that NMFC were a team who "couldn't afford" to bottom out due to the supposed financial and PR ramifications that would come from tiny crowds. And what did that lead to? Since the end of the Carey-Pagan era we've made a handful of prelims but each and every one of those was generally considered a surprise, and in none of them did we eventually look close to a flag.

Instead, our identity for the last two decades has largely been of top ups and treading water, and it has simply not worked as a long-term strategy.

The fact that we have timed out first spoon in 40 years to coincide with pandemic lockdowns, no crowds, and guaranteed financial support from the AFL couldn't be more serendipitous.

We get all the tangible benefits that come with a bottom placed finish, with none of the short-term risks typically associated with it.

No one, including me, was actively 'cheering for NMFC to lose'. But there's a big difference with accepting reality and embracing it compared to clinging to meaningless pride.

You obviously must of missed reading some of the posts i read some were cheering for us to lose to gain pick 1. Well it is or over now so i reckon we all stick together and get that 5th flag.

 

[Psicosis]

For what it’s worth, no way we finish 18th if Cunnington plays out the season.

Our young midfield have come across the likes of Guthrie, Dangerfield, Prestia, Cotchin, Kennedy & Parker the last 3 weeks.

It’s a big ask.

 

[Eggs11]

Everyone on this forum is barracking for North to win. Win a PREMIERSHIP. There are just different views as to the best path to get there. Both sides of that argument have been well articulated.

For better or for worse, we have the indignity of the spoon and the opportunity that comes with pick 1. We may never know if we are better for it, but we are where we are and it’s time to look forward to a new era with optimism.

 

[Kangaroos4eva]

For what it’s worth, no way we finish 18th if Cunnington plays out the season.

Our young midfield have come across the likes of Guthrie, Dangerfield, Prestia, Cotchin, Kennedy & Parker the last 3 weeks.

It’s a big ask.

I was just thinking that last night when Phillips stood next Kennedy and Parker. Even TT looks small standing next to them still. It is going to take a while for some of these kids to develop.

 

[R00StaR]

Woke up this morning, rolled over and the Mrs asked, been thinking about pick 1 have you? I was like wha? Oh, maybe