Well that makes it seven for me ... but have we ever really been good enough?

[angelopetraglia]

Well I have now been to seven losing prelims We all know the years 85, 92, 97, 98, 08, 09 and 10.

But are we chokers? Can we not handle it when it gets hot in the kitchen?

Not really IMHO.

The hard truth ... we have never been good enough. We have been good, but never great. Most of the time it takes great teams to win premierships. Some times, teams get lucky. We have had good teams that have not taken a chance or have not had luck.

1985: We lost by only 10 points, but we were massive underdogs going in. We lost the other final to Hawthorn by an embarrassing large amount.

1992: Geelong had our measure in both the qualifying final and the prelim. Again we were huge underdogs going into that game. Never good enough to trouble the best at the pointy end.

1997: The one that go away. We should have won that game. But again we were not the best team in the competition that year. We had a very easy path to the prelim by beating only the 6th best team in the comp after Geelong lost their first final to the Kangaroos. We started favourites.

1998: Started red hot favourites again in this game. But under the old system we only had to beat the 7th best team in the comp to qualify for the prelim. We also were not the best team in it that year either, North was the best team that year. They chocked and lost the GF.

2008: Again, massive underdogs. Courageous effort, but simply not good enough against a super team in Geelong. Geelong chocked to lose the GF.

2009: Again, massive underdogs. Come up against a team with a 20-2 H&A record. Looking back at that game. We should have won. But did not take our chances in the last quarter. But we did not have the best team that year either, not even the 2nd best. Saints and Cats clearly the best two teams in it.

2010: Again massive underdogs in the prelim. Were always the 4th best team this year. Never ever hit our peak form after the NAB Cup GF. Didn't have luck either with a shocking run of injuries to key personal at the worst time.

So 5 out of the 7 prelim losses since 1985 we have started as massive underdogs. The two we started favourites in, we got a very, very easy passage to the prelim under the old final eight system and lost to the eventual Premiership winner.

In summary;

-we have not beaten a quality team in September in my lifetime (this hurts)

-we have never been the best H&A team in my lifetime (probably never been the 2nd best team in it except for 1998)

-we can get frustrated in getting so close and not taking that final step, but I think we have never really been good enough

-we should have take our chance and got lucky a couple of times ... possibly

[AndrewP6]

Just not good enough.:(

[Remi Moses]

Agree Just Not Good Enough!
For mine 97 will always be the ultimate heartbreaker.
We controlled that game!
In 85 we kicked a couple of goals when the game was over
In 92 we were a mile behind Geelong and even further behind W/C
In 98 we were abysmal !
In 08 Not good enough to beat Hawthorn or the Cats
In 09 Had our chances but the game could have gone either way
In 10 Never good enough through the whole season!:mad:

[LostDoggy]

Well I have now been to seven losing prelims We all know the years 85, 92, 97, 98, 08, 09 and 10.


Maybe you might be the problem?

[Desipura]

been to all of them:mad:

[comrade]

If weren't good enough this year, why take in the same players and expect different results? We can blame the playing group for not stepping up but the same output has been served up for years.

We either should have developed these players to better handle the pressure of finals football or tried new personnel.

That burden must fall on the MC - clearly they thought the players who let us down last year would improve in 2010 despite all the evidence suggesting otherwise.

[Sedat]

We were good enough in 2009 but didn't come to play first week of the finals. Certain grand final berth thrown out the window by gassing it against the vulnerable Cats in the QF.

[cinder]

I've been to all except 85 cos I think I was in grade 1.

It never gets any easier. 97 was dreadful since we were up so much at half time, similarly last night we awful because again they gave us hope. I guess at the end of the day that's a good thing but so much harder when we end up losing.

And the final game for Johhno particularly sad ....

[gohardorgohome]

I've been to every Melbourne based final for the dogs since 1976. (excluding the 1992 Qualifying final).

The only time where we really favorites to win a GF was 1997.

The best thing about last night was the kids. The future looks bright. Cordy Jones, Roughy, Wood, Reid, Libba, Howard, Wallis, Grant all show promise.

Keep the faith!!

[SonofScray]

Under Rocket I feel we've just gone back to the well again and again with a leaky bucket.

The three finals campaigns have been fairly similar, with a reasonably similar squad and set up. Each year I felt we had the same issues: failure to convert under pressure, poor focus over four quarters and always missing one key element to execute the plan.

This year we had a handful of other issues, injuries included but we should have been able to overcome that stuff. If you want to be the best, you have to.

I'd like Eade to go back to the well with a different bucket this time. One that can do the job, not a leaky one, not one with a broken handle, or one with sticky tape over cracks. A bucket that will do its job and have us all drinking success!

Rocket please consider:

Pace. Give someone, or a handful of guys the responsibility to play the Eagleton role, gut running speed up and down the wings. Long kicks in to break through the floods.

Goalkicking. Be the best at this. Train correctly, in all contexts so that we stop wondering what if when we fail to convert time with the footy into scoreboard pressure.

Leadership. Stop rewarding guys who have not done the business when it counts. If you are 26+ and haven't taken your chances, you don't deserve to lead the way. Chances are that guy / those guys won't be doing it as 27+ year olds either. Its time to strip some responsibility off people and chuck it on younger players. Give them their time.


Obvious ones I know but this year I just feel cheated. We should be better than this.

[bornadog]

If weren't good enough this year, why take in the same players and expect different results? We can blame the playing group for not stepping up but the same output has been served up for years.

We either should have developed these players to better handle the pressure of finals football or tried new personnel.

That burden must fall on the MC - clearly they thought the players who let us down last year would improve in 2010 despite all the evidence suggesting otherwise.

We had five players that played last night that didn't play last year. Of Course a fit Cooney and Higgins may have reduced the five to three. We need more changes and more younger players next year.

[Twodogs]

I'd forgotten 1992. That makes 7 for me too.



Geelong had our measure in both the qualifying final and the prelim


Werent we nearly 6 goals up in the second quater of the Qualifying final? Del Re was marking everything and kicking goals out of his arse and Justin Charles was dominating in the ruck. Then an injury (Barnes?) forced Geelong to move Barry Stoneham into the ruck and they took over from there. That was fairly hard to take.

[LostDoggy]

i too have suffered through the 7 - the sad point for me is that I have now exposed my 2 kids both under 13 years of age to 3 losing prelims that they have had to have the resilience to sit through. I keep telling them that it is better to have gotten to this stage rather than the 12 other teams that are sitting on the bench. Will this hold? Is there still hope? Or will we drop to arise again? Wallis and Liberatore give me the hope which I will carry with my kids into 2011.

[immortalmike]

In 97, 98 and 09 we were definitely good enough. Unfortunately a combination of luck, bad coaching and injuries conspired against us in those games. In 98 we had every right to be minor premiers and North only just pipped us at the post by beating us by 5 points in the last game of the season (the prelim was a debacle though:(), Last year we were as good as Geelong (los to them by a point and beat them in the regular season and fell asleep in the first final and still only lost by twoish goals), unfortunately we were a few missed shots on goal and a couple of bad umpiring decisions away from proving that in the grand final. In 97 the prelim was won and Libba kicked the sealer (okay we choked:o).

In the other years we barely deserved to make the prelims.

[Grantysghost]

Yep im a 7 time sufferer also......
I vaguely remember as a member of the cheer squad being part of the filming the Brad Hardie Swan Lager "They said you'd never make it" commercial before the 85 prelim! Thought it was our day and very nearly back then. Never mind, surely its our time soon (rinse and repeat!).
As for ever being good enough, I though 98 was our best chance as it was impossible to split Nth and the dogs that year and we really were the best one or two in the home and away. Stone the crows!