Noidnadroj
Norm Smith Medallist
- Dec 8, 2020
- 6,997
- 26,363
- AFL Club
- Richmond
This IS the real world. You realise that?
the same people now idolising a EF loss by 1 point like that means there is an alternate universe where we go on to win 4 finals & win the flag in 2022. The forum induced & endorsed insanity here never ends.
That team was never winning a flag. And in the REAL WORLD we never even won a final. They were inconsistent across 4 quarters. Ill-disciplined. Unliked, entitled & playing a style that was completely redundant. Our club culture was shit. The coach a known poor quality person & the team of assistants he had around him were about 50% of the quality we had in 17-20. The team chemistry was miles off whats needed to win a flag. That team was not a pube of the 17-20 team chemistry we had & thats whats required to win flags. How can u forget what it takes to win a flag in just 2 years? You dont win flags with LESS than what we had in 17-20. And 22 was far less than that period.
We may have been close to winning a EF, but who cares. That team was still miles off winning a flag. Stop living in your own idealistic alternate universe & start taking your own advice about living in the real world
The ‘real world’ I refer to is not just about thinking a flag was coming … it’s about what was realistic at the time.
End of 2022 we’d lost a final by a point. We had a legend of the game returning in 2023 at full fitness. We had Shai Bolton who’d just kicked 45-goals, was AA and was touted as one of the best players in the game. Lynch had just kicked 60-goals and should’ve been AA. We hadn’t lost a game by more than 6-points since R6 etc…
Now let’s say the club agreed with you that a rebuild was required and we were not going to contend. So even though our midfield was ageing, we were not going to trade for a 24yo inside-mid who wanted to come home to Victoria and were going to draft kids? This means our tilt at flags was over. So club says : “Bad luck Jack, Dusty, Lynch, Cotch, Prestia, Vlastuin, Broad, Grimes, Nank, Shorty and so on … we are ignoring Taranto as we need to hit the draft…. your flag hopes are finished. And bad luck Dimma … thanks for the 3 flags but it’s rebuild time.
That’s what I mean by ‘real world’. This conversation and scenario was not remotely viable at the time.
It’s like the Pies taking that path now. The oldest list in the comp with questionable youth, and have just missed the finals. They are older than we were and nowhere near as good in 2024 as we were in 2022.
Do you think it’s viable for the club to go to Pendles, Sidey, Moore, Howe, Elliott, Crisp, Mihocek, Mitchell etc… and say “Bailey Smith wants to come to us, but our flag era is over and we are hitting the draft, so we are not trading for Bailey Smith. We will be taking youth at the draft and will actually be looking to proactively trade out a few players to improve our draft hand”
Do you think it’s viable for the Pies to do that?
I think the Pies list is in trouble, and would be very surprised if they returned to flag contention in 2025. But I also think it’s not a snowflakes chance in hell they’ll begin a rebuild this off-season, as it’s just not a viable option.
Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com