How does season 2004 rate compared to 2003?

[Maureenjenkin]

I think our season has been pretty much as good as last year. I think if there has been an improvement it has been our abililty to stand up in the big games. We stood up against St Kilda, Collingwood, Brisbane, also the last 3 games when it was win or miss out on the finals and of course the final on Saturday night. I hope the trend continues this Friday night. What does everyone else think of this season compared to last?

Cheers Maureen

[Hilly]

yes i agree with you. we started the season off a bit shaky but we've been alot more consistent over the past few weeks. All the regulars have stepped up again in: Brett Kirk, Barry Hall, Michael O'Loughlin, Jude Bolton etc etc. Hopefully we can go that one step further this year and i believe anythings possible.

[BigBadBustlin]

this season has been greater in the sense that we have had to face many obstacles (injury, loss of confidence, tragedy) yet we still are in a chance of the premiership. Also the emergence of O'Keefe, Buchanon, Doyle and Bevan has been pleasing to see

[Barry Schneider]

I still can't believe we lost to Richmond at home.
I was a bit worried at the start of the year that we had overachieved last season due to our miraculous goal kicking accuracy and this year might be a struggle if we couldn't get a decent share of posession.
I am disappointed that Schneider and LRT were injured for a lot of the year as I expected to see big improvements.However Bevan and O'Keefe's improvement has been great as well as Buchanan.

[Thunder Shaker]

Last year we had a 14-8 record in home and away for a 4th-placed finish, this year we had a 13-9 record for a sixth-place finish. Our draw this year was very slightly harder, but not enough of a difference to be worth a game.

We had injuries midway through the season, and this harmed our chances somewhat. We lost to the Tigers at home, and also gave up a 40-point lead against the Kangaroos.

Last season was a little different, we had fewer injuries but the injuries we did have were at a more crucial time.

So are we better or worse? I say it's too early to call. There's still 3 weeks of finals to go. If we make the preliminary final we're as good as last year. If we go further - especially against Port at home - then we are better.

[JF_Bay22_SCG]

Originally posted by Barry Schneider
I still can't believe we lost to Richmond at home.
I was a bit worried at the start of the year that we had overachieved last season due to our miraculous goal kicking accuracy and this year might be a struggle if we couldn't get a decent share of posession.
I am disappointed that Schneider and LRT were injured for a lot of the year as I expected to see big improvements.However Bevan and O'Keefe's improvement has been great as well as Buchanan.

Yes, LRT has been the disapointment of the year to me. Schneider has not been far off it either, but is starting to look like his normal self again of late.

This season we have seen a more complete less one-dimensional footy team. No longer can teams try and flood us to stop our rebounding running game coming off the half-back line. Last year we were probably a more attractive team to watch. This year whilst often having to resort to closing the game up we are a more complete team. And perhaps a better chance to land success in September?

Man, if we hadn't droppped those games against North and Geelong!

JF

[cruiser]

Last year was better because my expectations were lower. Beating Port in the QF was one of my all time football highlights. And at 3/4 time in the PF, I was making plans for the GF.

This year I've been dissappointed at few times bcause I've expected more. The umpiring this year has also really pissed me off and IMHO cost us the games against Essendon at the MCG and North at the SCG. Those two games would have given us 15 wins for the season.

Of course, its still too early to compare. If we win the GF, I'll declare it the best AFL season in my entire life!

[robbieando]

If we won the same amount of games as last season we still would of finished 6th, so regardless of the fact we lost an extra game during the home and away season I would rate our season to be on par with last season.

I really think we should have won at least 3 games that we ended up losing. Brisbane in Round 1, Richmond in Round 7 and North Melbourne in Round 19. Win those and we still wouldn't of got past 4th on the ladder.

We haven't gotten worse the competition above us has gotten better.

[BigBadBustlin]

The umpiring against essendon had to be the worst display i have ever seen. It seems ever since Hird paid that 20k, they have been recieiving free kicks left right and centre. Thank god we wont play them again......

[sharpie]

i think at this stage we are on par with last season. only 1 less win in h&a, from what could be considered a tougher draw and far more injuries. add to that 1 win in finals. very similar stats.

but a back-to-back prelim appearance would make this year more successful in my opinion, considering that we would have to win 2 finals to get there. 2 finals wins would be sweet. 4 would be even better, but lets not get ahead of ourselves.

[NMWBloods]

I think our form as been worse than last year until a few weeks ago, even taking into account injuries.

However, I think we have entered finals in better shape with less injuries and more flexibility in the game plan.

We really should have finished 5th or even 4th. The Richmond and North losses were shocking, while the Brisbane and Geelong games were there to be won and we failed.

As it is, finishing 6th is probably better than 5th as we're on the 'right side' of the draw. Finishing 4th may have been better as we could have tackled Port fresh and had the week off like last year. However, if we had lost to Port we would also have entered the 'wrong side' of the draw. As it is I think we're sitting about as well as can be expected.

If we beat St Kilda I'll be really pleased with our season, even if we lost to Port which will be very disappointing in itself.

If we lose to St Kilda then I'll be disappointed with the game and a bit with the season itself for missing the opportunity for at least two finals wins, including one at the MCG.

[liz]

I like to think of this season as building on last, rather than trying to decide which is better.

Roos is still a novice coach and he had to face the challenge at the start of this year of how to counter the fact that other clubs had "worked out" his game plan and were giving our players much less space. There were times last year when we questioned whether there was a plan B when the preferred game plan didn't work. There is no doubt now that the team can win ugly as well as attack. The style has produced the odd quarter of dull football, but with another off season I'm hopeful that the coaching panel will work out ways to release the flairy stuff a bit more often. Having a fit Adam Goodes will be big start.

Player wise, Kirk and Barry have shown that last year wasn't a one-off. Bolton probably hasn't to the same degree but his last couple of months have approached the form he maintained for all of last season. I think that the other Bolton has proved that last year wasn't just a case of doing well in one's first year at a new club.

Micky, Schaubs, Ball, Maxfield and Willo have all demonstrated that they are still capable of making important contributions. The last two weeks from Willo have been particularly encouraging since they prove it was injury, not age, hampering him earlier.

James and Fixter have been the two biggest disappointments for me - Fixter because he deserved a change of luck and James because I thought this would be the year that he would finally prove he could play at senior level. I'm hopeful that both will get next year to try again.

[Snowy]

Well anything less than a prelim is statistically worse but Roos seems to think that the year has been better given the number of injuries at various times. James has looked like he will be no more than handy while Scheider hasn't followed up last season's excellent start and looks a tad overweight. Kirk has been solid apart from his usage of the ball at times and will again be in contention for AA. O'Keefe has been the big improver. Lewis RT has looked more a dud than a player and needs a big pre-season. Apart from the Port Adelaide debacle there have been no floggings and every match has been competitive. Goodes has struggled at times and rarely shown his best form due to injury but has done well to get out on the park.

[Thunder Shaker]

As liz said, this year is building on last year.

There are some encouraging signs. We've won a final two years in a row for the first time since 1936. We've had our biggest win in a final since 1934. These are good omens. People discussed omens in another thread, but forget such stuff as lucky socks, lucky scarves and not carrying flags in a particular car. It's the on-field omens that are really important. The next omen to watch out for is a finals win at the MCG, and we get our chance on Friday night. If we win a final by seven goals and follow it up with a win in the holy month of September on the hallowed ground of the MCG, now that is an omen.

But if you want more omens, shaking down the thunder from the sky during the second quarter of a final has to be right up there.

[punter257]

Originally posted by Snowy
while Scheider hasn't followed up last season's excellent start and looks a tad overweight.

no arguments there, but i was stoked with his goal in the 3rd qtr. reminded me of vintage schneids in '03. he is the type of player that is bloody handy come finals time, lets just hope that he can gradually improve in the next couple of weeks and make a massive impact