The season ahead

[hammo]

I think the Saints are the real deal. Too much talent across the board as shown by their first half strangulation of Freo.

However they may have a weakness at the back-end of games after almost being run down by Brisbane and Freo.

Oh for the Swans to have such a problem.

[Margie]

I too think the Saints are the real deal - they almost look unstoppable at the moment. However, like Port, they may do well in the home and away, but come finals time they could be tested. It's a different game then. Having said that, they look the most likely challengers to Brisbane at this stage.

[Bron]

Originally posted by BAM_BAM
I've been feeling pretty bad since the game ended, but I've decided to lift my spirits, just like we're asking the boys to.

Will we win the GF? Who knows. Can we win the GF? ABSOLUTELY. I'm not naive enoguh to think it will be easy, but nothing really worthwhile ever is.

New Motto: Dream, Believe, Achieve (which is something I think Bron has said many times and I agree wholeheartedly with)

I got an email from a friend ... a Roos supporter, no less ... who made a sympathetic comments and said we'd played badly. She pondered on if we were there for the long term.

I told her about the doom and gloom on RWO and how our supporters were damning the team. How can we expect them to be stayers if we aren't!

We are OK, we will steady. We are a good team. We are focused and committed, it's just not shining through yet. The team needs encouragement not criticism (and no, I'm not one of those who applauded them as they came of the field). Kick someone when they're down and they go lower (typically). Give them a hand or some encouragement and there's a much better chance of them rising above it.

So, c'mon Swans and Swans Supporters, DREAM BELIEVE ACHIEVE!

[NMWBloods]

Originally posted by Bron
I told her about the doom and gloom on RWO and how our supporters were damning the team. How can we expect them to be stayers if we aren't!

This is completely backwards. It's not the supporters who should show the way to the players!!

So, c'mon Swans and Swans Supporters, DREAM BELIEVE ACHIEVE!

Dream as much as I want, doesn't mean it will happen without hard work, luck and the right options, none of which I can affect.

[The Boot]

Originally posted by NMWBloods
Dream as much as I want, doesn't mean it will happen without hard work, luck and the right options, none of which I can affect.

I think Bron was also saying that the players have to dream (more than the supporters ... in a sense).

Its a truism that one has to hold onto the thought that even in the direst of circumstances one can turn it around. But, it will not happen without that belief in the first instance. Without it you are rudderless.

[Thunder Shaker]

Re: Season Turnarounds

Originally posted by NMWBloods
If we are trying to find some comfort from other team season turnarounds, here are some:

2001: Brisbane Lions 4-5 and playing Essendon. Won the next 16 games in a row to win the premiership.

1999: Carlton 6-7, manages to win 6 of next 9, finishes 6th, makes GF but loses.

1998: Adelaide 3-5, wins 10 of next 14, finishes 5th, and wins GF.

1997: Adelaide 2-4, wins 11 of next 16, finishes 4th, and wins GF.

Let's not forget the following ...

1933: South Melbourne 4-5 after three consecutive losses, then we won the next 11 games ending with the Grand Final win. (Note that 1933 was an 18-round season with a Final Four.)

[Bron]

Originally posted by NMWBloods
[B]This is completely backwards. It's not the supporters who should show the way to the players!!



Dream as much as I want, doesn't mean it will happen without hard work, luck and the right options, none of which I can affect.

As was noted, the players need to believe. They are the ones who need to win the GF for us.

But I also believe that we need to show our support. How would it be turning up to a few hundred supporters? No wonder the team did poorly in the bleak days of the early 90s. Well done to those of you who were supporters then.

But what I was also trying to say was that if we all bailed out and abandoned ship on the back of a few disappointing games, then who are we to judge? A few weeks ago, they were heros, now we want to dump them. The team isn't that different.

[Jimmy C]

Perhaps last season mirrors the Bulldog's season of '97. They played with total passion last year-something that seems to be lacking so far this season. I'll wait until the season is at the halfway mark before I put a red line through the campaign towards the Finals.

[hammo]

I don't think I am alone in saying I don't feel like encouraging the team after woeful performances, however that doesn't mean I won't be there against Hawthorn and every other game this year hoping for the Swans of old to show up.

An uncritical supporter base only reinforces mediocrity.

I am quietly confident the players will turn it around at Subiaco.