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The 2005 Premiership team that is. Last night was the official demonstration that our players don't have what it takes (physically or mentally it's hard to tell) to repeat last year's effort.
The ability is still there as demontrated by the fact that we have only played 3 out of the last 12 quarters, yet have only been outscored by 10 points or so in that time.
We simply cannot play for 120 minutes a game and the result is three teams in a row jogging down the field with acres of space and a myriad of free options to kick to, as well as only having to compete 50/50 in their back half as any spillage cannot be picked up by non-existent Swans.
This team cannot get numbers to the ball anymore. End of the line for this team.
Unfortunately if we are to win the premiership this year it will have to be with a different team than the one which played rounds 1-4 and rounds 10-12.
Obviously Richards, Chambers and Mathews are not up to it. Beyond that it gets more difficult. Nearly all the other players suffered from either not getting the ball, or getting the ball and being crap with it.
Exemptions Barry Hall and Craig Bolton.
O'Keefe and O'Loughlin got the ball and couldn't kick straight.
Schneider, Buchanan, Davis and Goodes played well with the ball in hand but hardly had any of it.
Fosdike, Ablett, and McVeigh got plenty of ball but coughed it up over and over and over again.
Ablett was appalling, Fosdike was simply shocking - their disposal was Mathewsesque. Mcveigh had brain fades like doing a fabulous spoil......by palming to his own opponent to stroll in to an open goal.
LRT, Kennelly, Barry, Kirk, J. Bolton, Williams, Jolly and Crouch were simply pantsed by much better opponents. That's the most scary sentence of all because it indicates that all is lost for the era if that continues. That's 8 of our ten most important players.
So, in conclusion, it's almost impossible to see how we can get back into the top four. Commentators often trot out the cliches like "this Sydney style of game must take a lot out of the players...." but, unfortunately it would seem that that cliche is true. We cannot compete against top teams without 100% intensity and concentration. At the moment our stars don't have the petrol to give that.
Now we simply have to play half a dozen youngsters with a handfull of games between them and no premiership side has ever had that sort of reshuffle mid-season.
Not to say it can't be done...but our odds should by rights be out to 30-1 at the moment.
The ability is still there as demontrated by the fact that we have only played 3 out of the last 12 quarters, yet have only been outscored by 10 points or so in that time.
We simply cannot play for 120 minutes a game and the result is three teams in a row jogging down the field with acres of space and a myriad of free options to kick to, as well as only having to compete 50/50 in their back half as any spillage cannot be picked up by non-existent Swans.
This team cannot get numbers to the ball anymore. End of the line for this team.
Unfortunately if we are to win the premiership this year it will have to be with a different team than the one which played rounds 1-4 and rounds 10-12.
Obviously Richards, Chambers and Mathews are not up to it. Beyond that it gets more difficult. Nearly all the other players suffered from either not getting the ball, or getting the ball and being crap with it.
Exemptions Barry Hall and Craig Bolton.
O'Keefe and O'Loughlin got the ball and couldn't kick straight.
Schneider, Buchanan, Davis and Goodes played well with the ball in hand but hardly had any of it.
Fosdike, Ablett, and McVeigh got plenty of ball but coughed it up over and over and over again.
Ablett was appalling, Fosdike was simply shocking - their disposal was Mathewsesque. Mcveigh had brain fades like doing a fabulous spoil......by palming to his own opponent to stroll in to an open goal.
LRT, Kennelly, Barry, Kirk, J. Bolton, Williams, Jolly and Crouch were simply pantsed by much better opponents. That's the most scary sentence of all because it indicates that all is lost for the era if that continues. That's 8 of our ten most important players.
So, in conclusion, it's almost impossible to see how we can get back into the top four. Commentators often trot out the cliches like "this Sydney style of game must take a lot out of the players...." but, unfortunately it would seem that that cliche is true. We cannot compete against top teams without 100% intensity and concentration. At the moment our stars don't have the petrol to give that.
Now we simply have to play half a dozen youngsters with a handfull of games between them and no premiership side has ever had that sort of reshuffle mid-season.
Not to say it can't be done...but our odds should by rights be out to 30-1 at the moment.
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