Yes it hurts tonight....but thank you Swannies for a great season!

[Red]

Agree 100% with the consensus that it was a positive season with a disappointing finale.

Today though I'm telling myself that unless we won The Flag (highly unlikely) then the season was always going to end with a loss. This way we got a classic, Swans-style nail-biter where the contest is alive until the final siren like so many of our great games in the Roos/Kirk era.

All things considered, it's a fitting send-off. I don't think this would've been the case next week had we won.

[goswannie14]

I have crazy thoughts that haven't settled. Part of me thinks we should have won and be playing a prelim next week. Part of me thinks we shouldn't have made the finals and have done well.

But the overwhelming part of me just feels the hope for the future. I hope we have got what I think we have because there is a core group that is going to be a force for the next 5-6 years. There are the ones we've seen in the seniors but add a few who are running around in the ressies and our future looks good for next year and its into the next decade.

The other thoughts are for Kirky and Roosy champions of our club and though there presence may be different I'm pretty sure some stuff these guys have started will live for a while yet

Exactly how I feel, should have won tonight, but did way better than I thought we would this season. Unfortunately with a number of younger players you are going to lose some of those close ones, but with experinece that will change.

[Matty10]

I?ll need some time before I can reconcile the despair of last night with soothing ideas of ?exceeding expectations? or ?potential for the future?. The Swans have made four prelims in the last 20 years (Geelong?s record of the past 4 years) and the game therefore represents a massive lost historical opportunity for the Swan?s family - one which we cannot assume will repeat itself any time soon.

During that 2nd quarter when the team was sweeping all before it, I was also silly enough to assume the result and think about next week?s game. I haven?t made that mistake since the gf in 1996 and it was an emotional killer when a seemingly inevitable victory failed to materialise.

Well said - my feelings echo your sentiments.

[Nolie]

Agree 100% with the consensus that it was a positive season with a disappointing finale.

Today though I'm telling myself that unless we won The Flag (highly unlikely) then the season was always going to end with a loss. This way we got a classic, Swans-style nail-biter where the contest is alive until the final siren like so many of our great games in the Roos/Kirk era.

All things considered, it's a fitting send-off. I don't think this would've been the case next week had we won.

Ditto. Well said. As are all the comments on this thread. One of the best threads I have read.

[R-1]

Agree 100% with the consensus that it was a positive season with a disappointing finale.

Today though I'm telling myself that unless we won The Flag (highly unlikely) then the season was always going to end with a loss. This way we got a classic, Swans-style nail-biter where the contest is alive until the final siren like so many of our great games in the Roos/Kirk era.

All things considered, it's a fitting send-off. I don't think this would've been the case next week had we won.

Well, we could have missed the finals and gone out on a win...

But yes. Once we made the finals there was only one way Kirky and Roosy were going to leave on a win.

Echoing all the sentiments here, I'm just proud of the club and so glad I support them. Have we been the most consistent finals-playing side over the last ten or 15 years? Feels like we have. And there's more to come.

[DST]

I am looking forward to next year already.

We will have a new coach which should make it interesting , he won't tinker with too much but we are bound to be slightly different under Longmires guidance.

How much of an effect on our performances the last years of Roos and Kirk had on the team, will also be interesting to see come 2011.

We have the potential to improve next year with the likes of Rohan, Reid, Johnstone, Vespa, White to all push for selection as best 22 players and the return of C Bolton, Seaby, LRT and Bird will strengthen the squad.

Could see us anyhwere form 3 to 10th next year.

DST

[Melbournehammer]

I am looking forward to next year already.

We will have a new coach which should make it interesting , he won't tinker with too much but we are bound to be slightly different under Longmires guidance.

How much of an effect on our performances the last years of Roos and Kirk had on the team, will also be interesting to see come 2011.

We have the potential to improve next year with the likes of Rohan, Reid, Johnstone, Vespa, White to all push for selection as best 22 players and the return of C Bolton, Seaby, LRT and Bird will strengthen the squad.

Could see us anyhwere form 3 to 10th next year.

DST

i'm with cardinal on this. we could just as easily have 3-4 players go down next year who are critical to us and other sides will also improve. remember the afl is designed for teams to make a gf once every 8 yrs presently and 9 years soon. to win a flag once every 16-18 yrs. this was a wasted opportunity and one which we may look on as the forging of the next bloods premiership or the beginning of a long period like 1997-2002 where we made finals but never looked a serious threat....and seeing a preliminary final was something that other fans managed.

[Cosmic Wizard]

No we won't beaten by a better team, just feel we lost it, and that the part which really hurts.!
Five points in the third quarter and Bradshaw missing a direct shot, really bad.

Still look at the positives. I think Our players learned more with two very close games, both win and lost, than they would have if they had been Geelong against Freeo.

I so sorry to see Kirky go, but a bit like Micky O, there was nothing left in the tank and he went out on high, better a semi-final than the last game of the regular season.

His position can be filled by many players, and that the greatness of the swans at the moment, unlike last year when we all though they would finish out of the finals for a long time this season and next.

On the whole, sitting in Melbourne Airport, we have made real progress toward the goal of winning another premiership. Just a few more players and better luck with our injuries and we are there.

[satchmopugdog]

I am stoked with the season.....had 3 weeks of being First on the ladder...that was good..seeing Kennedy and Mumford and Jetta and Smith and Jack develop ..that was good.....two finals ..that was good...Bradshaw's torp..that was good....Ted Richards renaissance...that was good...Grundy's improvement..that was good....LOve my Swannies.

Devastated but happy.....yes it is possible

[Primmy]

Now Satch, you probably don't feel so very bad for not getting on the plane.
Will you promise to go to the Grannie and boo Collingwood for us?

[satchmopugdog]

Now Satch, you probably don't feel so very bad for not getting on the plane.
Will you promise to go to the Grannie and boo Collingwood for us?

You'll hear me loud and clear and will see me on the broadcast as I will be sitting in a Collingwood area..so I will be dragged off by security people I reckon.

[ScottH]

I said it a month or so ago, A great year given the 7-8 senior players out of the team for most of the year.
I'm a proud R&W fan and glad I got to see TWO finals live.
Much more than I had anticipated.

I'm usually a quiet supporter, but I screamed my lungs out in the last two weeks.
Go Swans.

[Primmy]

You'll hear me loud and clear and will see me on the broadcast as I will be sitting in a Collingwood area..so I will be dragged off by security people I reckon.

In your Swans colours I trust!

[Lucky Knickers]

I've just got home from Melbourne and am feeling my usual flat disappointment that the season is at an end. Like Scott I am so proud of my team and my club. For everything that they stand for, the way they conduct themselves on and off the field, it makes supporting them such a pleasure. I love the wonderful fans that you sit with each week, the awesome people I have met through games and on here. Connecting with the Melbourne fans last night was excellent. I couldn't have had a better time and everyone was in fine voice.
As for the boys, I couldn't have been prouder last night. They tried their hearts out and left nothing undone. They worked and worked all night.
Watching them tightly huddled in the centre of the ground at the end of the game made my heart swell with pride and I'm so grateful that they have given us two superb finals performances.

[pirouette]

long time lurker, first time poster... but just wanted to say how proud I am of the team this year! Definitely exceeded my expectations, and although I'm really sad about the loss, on reflection, I'm pretty happy with the year we've had