David Miller's new article - 05/05/03

[desredandwhite]

http://redandwhiteonline.com/content.php?page=features/03/davidm030505.php

Feedback etc goes here as per usual

[Steve]

I think Roos has always been realistic and honest about the position we are in. They seem to be addressing the obvious areas that require attention, some of which had been neglected.

Hopefully Roos takes all the researching and benchmarking that has been done (eg. Brisbane, US sporting teams) on board and finds its relevance within the way he wants to lead the club - backs his ability to lead the club to success and not piggy-back off the ideas of others who operate in other situations.

There are some very average teams out there at the moment, so the last thing we should do is benchmark ourselves against them according to ladder position. Again, from everything he has said, Roos seems to understand this.

The secret (if there is one) to 'rebuilding' is to make sure you don't hit rock-bottom. Clubs like Essendon and Brisbane have used isolated poor seasons (as well as well-timed strategic trades) to bring in top quality kids to complement talented squads, as well as holding on to the players they really want to.

There's just so far to climb back from the depths clubs like Collingwood, Fremantle, St Kilda, and now Carlton let themselves slip to to have any real confidence they'll become truly successful sides any time soon.

So with other clubs such as Richmond and Adelaide patching up their lists for the short-term, and the Kangaroos and Bulldogs handicapping themselves to 92.5% of the salary cap, there's a real opportunity for Sydney to do very well in the medium-term if they make wise decisions now.

Despite all the (legitimate) positivity surrounding Saturday night, it was only 2.5 hours (of game time) ago that we were playing unsure scrappy football and looked headed for a 1-5 record.

But it would be great to see guys like J.Bolton, Fosdike, Mathews, Kennelly, Saddington, Crouch etc consistently playing the confident, positive footy they would with that extra bit of belief behind them.

[penga]

what was collingwood's record this time last season?

i get the feeling that collingwood overachieved last year and we have the potential to do the same...

they were picked by a few 'experts' to 'win' the spoon as well last year... they turned that belief around, as can we

[NMWBloods]

Originally posted by penga
what was collingwood's record this time last season?

i get the feeling that collingwood overachieved last year and we have the potential to do the same...

they were picked by a few 'experts' to 'win' the spoon as well last year... they turned that belief around, as can we

Collingwood had a relatively strong start to the season last year, and was 4-2 at this stage, and went 8-3 at the half-way mark, but only 5-6 in the second half.

There's every chance we could be a smokey. We really could do anything, sort of like we did in '96 (although our team this year is not as strong) or Essendon in '93.

It's a huge adventure!! As long as they remain competitive and the lapses are few and far between I'll be happy.

[Steve]

Not wanting to put a dampner on things, it's amazing how a couple of good or bad performances create such positive or negative thoughts.

These are thread titles started here 2 weeks ago:

19/04/03 - Another pathetic effort!!
19/04/03 - Easter Bunny predicts No 1 Draft pick
19/04/03 - Can we get any worse?
19/04/03 - Clean out time
20/04/03 - How long to 16th?
21/04/03 - Insipid Sydney
21/04/03 - Spoon
22/04/03 - How long will Roos escape criticism?

Sorry to pick on you NMW but in your thread "Another pathetic effort!!" your second sentence was: "This is really going to be a long season."

But 17 days later you're much more positive: "We really could do anything, sort of like we did in '96".

Don't get me wrong, I think it's great people are feeling positive about things, and as those threads listed above were created straight after the Hawthorn game (ie. maybe too soon whilst emotion was still high) maybe on reflection their authors would have put things differently.

But if we get thumped by Brisbane and then put in a shocker against Geelong the following week, will we be again back to wooden spoon predictions etc etc?

[NMWBloods]

Sorry to pick on you NMW but in your thread "Another pathetic effort!!" your second sentence was: "This is really going to be a long season."

But 17 days later you're much more positive: "We really could do anything, sort of like we did in '96".

I think that's a fair call. But I really think we could do anything - that means anywhere from doing really well to doing really badly. Up until this week against Collingwood, I was more inclined to expect the perform really badly outcome. Having followed the Swans for a long time though I know that anything is possible. If they play like they did this week then they could do really well. It really is an adventure as you don't know which team will come out this week. My main problem with them prior to this week was too many periods of atrocious play. I find that frustrating. I have no doubt I will find them frustrating again in the near future. I'm hoping I'm wrong though!!

I should have said, as what I meant was, - "We really could do anything, sort of like we did in '96, or alternatively like we've done in a number of Eade's years post '96 - ie: promising one week and disappointing the next." Who knows!!

[Rizzo]

I was down in Melbourne helping my Brother In Law exhibit at the International Beer Awards and managed to get along to the game. Although we really ripped them apart in the third quarter I think the guys made in harder on themselves with some poor decision making and skill errors. There is still some improvement to gain and when it happens the guys will be pretty hard to stop.

Well done Melbourne supporters for creating a great atmosphere in the face of the baying Pies supporters. Guess it helps when you have something to cheer about!!