Zahki
Norm Smith Medallist
- Aug 13, 2009
- 5,548
- 529
- AFL Club
- Collingwood
There's been a bit of sour grapes on this board about the loss, a lot of vitriol directed at the Cats, some warranted, some not. I wanted to change tack for a moment and say what I like about the Cats, a trait I'd love our players to take on. The Geelong players hate to lose, and I don't mean like players from other clubs, obviously they all love to win and hate to lose but Geelong really, really hate to lose, and they take it personally when they do. They take pride in their performances and their record and any loss is a thorn in their side they can't ignore til they wipe the floor with the next hapless mob they meet. In 2010 Geelong lost 5 times. The week after these losses they had 5 wins, with an average winning margin of 80 points, the most striking of those wins being the 101 point demolition of the dogs the week after they copped us.
After their loss in the prelim I guarantee this game would have been circled on the Calandar since the fixture was released. A game against a side they've lost to last time around isn't just another 4 points to them, it's a chance to set things right, that kind of pride in their record and performances is a key part of what has made them a very good side over a long period of time, look at their infamous pact to never lose to the Hawks. The GF loss stung them like no other and even though they've challenged by Hawthorn ever since they've always found that little bit extra to get up over the top.
At the start of this year a lot were predicting that Geelong would slide, no Ablett, a year older, less hunger. How wrong they were, Geelong look hungrier than ever, success hasn't dulled their edge it's made it stronger. How I'd love Collingwood in 2014 to look as hungry as the Geelong unit does now.
I think if our players want to look at an example of a club that has handled itself well during a period of success they could do worse than take a page out of Geelongs book, they love being the best, and they'll do their damnest to stay up there as long as they possibly can. If our guys hate losing as much as Geelongs do, well, we'll find that out next week. No doubt they were looking on with envy while Geelong reached the top of the mountain in 07 and 09, now we're the ones on top while everyone else struggles to catch up, the only question remains, how badly do we want to be there and for how long?
After their loss in the prelim I guarantee this game would have been circled on the Calandar since the fixture was released. A game against a side they've lost to last time around isn't just another 4 points to them, it's a chance to set things right, that kind of pride in their record and performances is a key part of what has made them a very good side over a long period of time, look at their infamous pact to never lose to the Hawks. The GF loss stung them like no other and even though they've challenged by Hawthorn ever since they've always found that little bit extra to get up over the top.
At the start of this year a lot were predicting that Geelong would slide, no Ablett, a year older, less hunger. How wrong they were, Geelong look hungrier than ever, success hasn't dulled their edge it's made it stronger. How I'd love Collingwood in 2014 to look as hungry as the Geelong unit does now.
I think if our players want to look at an example of a club that has handled itself well during a period of success they could do worse than take a page out of Geelongs book, they love being the best, and they'll do their damnest to stay up there as long as they possibly can. If our guys hate losing as much as Geelongs do, well, we'll find that out next week. No doubt they were looking on with envy while Geelong reached the top of the mountain in 07 and 09, now we're the ones on top while everyone else struggles to catch up, the only question remains, how badly do we want to be there and for how long?