If Pies beat Swans this week, should Swans play kids & lose last game

[bennyfrou]

In 1970 I stood (for 5 hours) and watched the Bloods run onto the MCG for the first final in many many years.
We had tears in our eyes as we watched Bobby run around for his only ever final.

Never take a finals experience for granted. It should not be devalued because we have a winning culture now, i.e. we expect to be in finals !

Every season and every chance should be taken.
Enjoy 2008 for what it has given us (yes a share of heartbreak) and what it still might bring.

Finals experience is exactly what Bird, Ves, etc need to get that hunger.

Top post! almost shead a tear reading about Bobby's only final!

[johnno]

In 1970 I stood (for 5 hours) and watched the Bloods run onto the MCG for the first final in many many years.
We had tears in our eyes as we watched Bobby run around for his only ever final.

Never take a finals experience for granted. It should not be devalued because we have a winning culture now, i.e. we expect to be in finals !

Every season and every chance should be taken.
Enjoy 2008 for what it has given us (yes a share of heartbreak) and what it still might bring.

Finals experience is exactly what Bird, Ves, etc need to get that hunger.

Exactly, although I have no 1970's experiences to talk about, I can tell you, having followed the swans from around 1979 onwards, that it was pretty dry in the early to mid 80's as well. When the Dr Edelston period came about, it was great, unfortunately even that only lasted a couple of seasons. We got smashed in the finals, but it was great to be there. We then had to wait another 10 seasons...thats TEN seasons people, until we tasted finals actiona again(1996). So just remember, dont take finals games for granted.

[bigswan]

You can recover your form by kicking two goals in a row. If we beat Brisbane of course we can win a final in Melbourne!

[Lohengrin]

Beating Brisbane at home is a far cry from beating Hawthorn or Geelong or even the Bulldogs in Melbourne.

There seems to be a bit of a perception that we could be a threat in finals because of our past or something. Unfortunately that's gone and it's unlikely we will be a finals threat. A drop in our performance is hardly going to be surprising though. Most teams that appears in a number of consecutive finals seasons, including one or two GF appearances, drop back to the bottom of finals or outside the top 8 in the next few years. There are few exceptions to that and there is little reason why we should be. The critical issue is for the club to recognise that quickly, dump any underperforming older players and rebuild effectively over a couple of years to return us to the top quarter of the ladder.

[2005]

In 1970 I stood (for 5 hours) and watched the Bloods run onto the MCG for the first final in many many years.
We had tears in our eyes as we watched Bobby run around for his only ever final.

Never take a finals experience for granted. It should not be devalued because we have a winning culture now, i.e. we expect to be in finals !
Every season and every chance should be taken.
Enjoy 2008 for what it has given us (yes a share of heartbreak) and what it still might bring.

Finals experience is exactly what Bird, Ves, etc need to get that hunger.

Love it !
My old man saw some great players in ordinary teams, then Ive watched some very good players in real bad teams and for the last 10 or so years have watched a pretty competitive,proud footy team go around in finals year after year. Wouldnt want the early 90s back .

[johnno]

Beating Brisbane at home is a far cry from beating Hawthorn or Geelong or even the Bulldogs in Melbourne.

There seems to be a bit of a perception that we could be a threat in finals because of our past or something. Unfortunately that's gone and it's unlikely we will be a finals threat. A drop in our performance is hardly going to be surprising though. Most teams that appears in a number of consecutive finals seasons, including one or two GF appearances, drop back to the bottom of finals or outside the top 8 in the next few years. There are few exceptions to that and there is little reason why we should be. The critical issue is for the club to recognise that quickly, dump any underperforming older players and rebuild effectively over a couple of years to return us to the top quarter of the ladder.

So according to you, we should just give up on 2008 right now. Paul Roos to players....

"O.K. Lads, its round 21, we are sitting in sixth place on the ladder, if we win one of our next 2 games, we will enbark on yet another finals campaign, unfortunately, I think it would be better to lose those 2 games, dump a few senior players, make way for some youth, dwell down the bottom of the ladder for a couple of seasons and hopefully draft and trade well enough to get us back up the ladder in seasons 2011 and onwards. Apologies to Hall, O'loughlin, Kirk, Jolly Bolton and co.."

God am I glad you have nothing to do with selection at the club and also am glad I dont have to sit next to you at the games. I'm sure you would be a riot.

[Lohengrin]

So according to you, we should just give up on 2008 right now. Paul Roos to players....

"O.K. Lads, its round 21, we are sitting in sixth place on the ladder, if we win one of our next 2 games, we will enbark on yet another finals campaign, unfortunately, I think it would be better to lose those 2 games, dump a few senior players, make way for some youth, dwell down the bottom of the ladder for a couple of seasons and hopefully draft and trade well enough to get us back up the ladder in seasons 2011 and onwards. Apologies to Hall, O'loughlin, Kirk, Jolly Bolton and co.."

God am I glad you have nothing to do with selection at the club and also am glad I dont have to sit next to you at the games. I'm sure you would be a riot.

What on earth are you on about? I didn't even mention that I think we should lose these next two games. Whether any supporter thinks we are unlikely to win a game also has little to do with the preparation of the coach and players. I am talking about the future. As a supporter of course I want us to win as many games as possible, but like a number of people here (and Roos) I think we are unlikely to make much of an impact in finals and we need to make sure we are planning for the next few years (which means dropping underperforming older players in the next year or two, not next week!). Perhaps you should read or clarify before you rant about what you think is the case according to me!

[johnno]

What on earth are you on about? I didn't even mention that I think we should lose these next two games. Whether any supporter thinks we are unlikely to win a game also has little to do with the preparation of the coach and players. I am talking about the future. As a supporter of course I want us to win as many games as possible, but like a number of people here (and Roos) I think we are unlikely to make much of an impact in finals and we need to make sure we are planning for the next few years (which means dropping underperforming older players in the next year or two, not next week!). Perhaps you should read or clarify before you rant about what you think is the case according to me!

Well, it sounded to me like you have given up on the year, the players and on the coach. If this is not the case, than I apologise.

[Lohengrin]

Well, it sounded to me like you have given up on the year, the players and on the coach. If this is not the case, than I apologise.

Just settle! Most of us don't give up hope, but still take realistic and long term views.

[JF_Bay22_SCG]

Nahhhhhh. We'll play the old blokes, get flogged and finish 9th.

That means PICK 8 will be ours.

I sadly agree. If we scrape into the finals, we will only be there for week 1. We are in a physically worse for wear condition which is similar to 2004 when we fell over to the Saints.

The scary thing is how the media & club seemed to be wetting themselves over the return of Leo Barry (who has shown that with ages his trick of running around in circles means he gets pinged more often than not )

If he is our saviour, then heaven help us both tomorrow night & in the finals!


How do the finals look? If we finish 4th we play the Cats at the MCG. If we finish 5th we have a home final against team 8, right? What about if we finish 6-8?

JF (who hates this time of year, logistics-wise)

[Lohengrin]

Interesting now...