New Years Wish - 2024 to be a FUN footy season!

[D Mitchell]

F... probably going to struggle a bit to make many games in 2024 as we?re expecting our second child start of March ....

A decent size shopping basket, buy her/him a membership, a scarf and bring the littlie to the footy

[GVGjr]

We have to win at least one finals game this year so I suspect a top 5 finish is required.

[jeemak]

We have to win at least one finals game this year so I suspect a top 5 finish is required.

Do you consider making finals and not wining one an improvement? Like if we finish fifth and just outside the top four, but we lose the final?

[Grantysghost]

Yeah - I don't like Lyon much either.

I'm still not over the ten goals from the 94 SF.

[GVGjr]

Do you consider making finals and not wining one an improvement? Like if we finish fifth and just outside the top four, but we lose the final?

It's an improvement but we need to get a finals win for it to be an acceptable improvement. Limping in and getting dumped from the finals in the first week is an underachievement.

[MrMahatma]

I always found the years we weren’t really expected to do so well, but did, as the most fun.

Expectation for me always seems to lead to a broken heart.

And I expect us to kick ass in 2024 so I’ll get the therapy lined up…

[jeemak]

It's an improvement but we need to get a finals win for it to be an acceptable improvement. Limping in and getting dumped from the finals in the first week is an underachievement.

The competition is extremely even, and if we make fifth or sixth and get done in a final then we've obviously had a better season than we cobbled together in 22 and 23. We draw a team for a final that plays fifteen games at the MCG during the season and all bets are off.

I don't really like to put those types of benchmarks against the side. I mean it's great if you want a yardstick that doesn't really mean anything, but if in the first few rounds it turns out we're shit and it continues then I'll be looking for other ways to enjoy footy. I think as supporters we haven't caught up with how difficult it is to be any good in this competition, we kind of expect it, the club does as well I guess.

And that's fine, but trends are what they are and outside of the optimism that's generated by excellent training reports and an uptick in social media content, there's still at least an even chance we're going to be ordinary this year - but I still want to try and enjoy it anyway.

[GVGjr]

The competition is extremely even, and if we make fifth or sixth and get done in a final then we've obviously had a better season than we cobbled together in 22 and 23. We draw a team for a final that plays fifteen games at the MCG during the season and all bets are off.

I don't really like to put those types of benchmarks against the side. I mean it's great if you want a yardstick that doesn't really mean anything, but if in the first few rounds it turns out we're shit and it continues then I'll be looking for other ways to enjoy footy. I think as supporters we haven't caught up with how difficult it is to be any good in this competition, we kind of expect it, the club does as well I guess.

And that's fine, but trends are what they are and outside of the optimism that's generated by excellent training reports and an uptick in social media content, there's still at least an even chance we're going to be ordinary this year - but I still want to try and enjoy it anyway.

I get that a lot of our supporters don't like expectations being placed on the club and that it can remove some of the fun aspects of the season but all professional businesses have to project the year ahead and that sets benchmarks that need to be achieved.
If we aren't aiming high then our recruitment, trading and player retention approach over the last two years is out of sync with that.
We should be aiming for a top 5 finish and if there are some valid reasons why we don't achieve that then that's okay but we are back training on an elite playing surface and no longer having to make do with a compromised gym and with new coaches etc and I've got high expectations that we can achieve something substantial this year.

[jeemak]

I get that a lot of our supporters don't like expectations being placed on the club and that it can remove some of the fun aspects of the season but all professional businesses have to project the year ahead and that sets benchmarks that need to be achieved.
If we aren't aiming high then our recruitment, trading and player retention approach over the last two years is out of sync with that.
We should be aiming for a top 5 finish and if there are some valid reasons why we don't achieve that then that's okay but we are back training on an elite playing surface and no longer having to make do with a compromised gym and with new coaches etc and I've got high expectations that we can achieve something substantial this year.

I expect the club to go out and be professional week to week and do its best, and where we finish to be a byproduct of that. That's having high expectations on the club, putting a lag KPI on where we finish kind of misses the point to me.

I mean why fifth and not third? Or sixth?

[GVGjr]

I expect the club to go out and be professional week to week and do its best, and where we finish to be a byproduct of that. That's having high expectations on the club, putting a lag KPI on where we finish kind of misses the point to me.

I mean why fifth and not third? Or sixth?

5th means we would get a final in Melbourne, prefer top 4 but I think 5th is a reasonable spot for us to aim for. There is a level of flexibility within whatever result we achieve.
In my thoughts we just can't keep repeat limping into the 8, losing in the first week and seeing that as a sufficient outcome unless there are some clear reasons why.

[bornadog]

I won't be happy unless we finish top 4. I want a season where we are very hard to beat.

[Eastdog]

Need to make finals hoping for a top 4 finish and go deep at least win a final.

To finish top 4 we simply have to be consistent throughout the whole season.

2015-2016 were my favourite seasons. Those first 2 years under Bevo were great after the debacle at the end of 2014.

[Twodogs]

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone.

Here's my new year's wish. A FUN season...and my model for this season is...1998.

In 1998 we all just THOUGHT we would win it. We had confidence in the team...I remember watching a game with my wife and saying - "If the Dogs ran out NOW (it was nearly 3/4 time) and started playing, they would win this game...". That's how confident I was - we could give other sides 3/4 of a game head start and STILL run them down.

We (lol - WE! - they played, I watched!) exciting footy BUT we played with a HARD EDGE. Every week it felt like we would win or quite literally die trying. And the oppo simply couldn't match our commitment to the footy or to one another...or our willingness to cross the line when needed to support our team-mates.

I want 1998. I will even take the finals blow-out for the 20-odd weeks of joy that footy team gave me.

Thanks in advance.

1998 was great but the first baby arrived in mid July so I had my eye off the ball for a while.

1985 was my favourite season. I was 21, we had a team that had strength and flair on every line, we had the Brownlow and Coleman medalists, we won a final for the first time in my lifetime and I went to the footy each week expecting to win.

If only Micky Egan had been able to play in the preliminary final

[bornadog]

1998 was great but the first baby arrived in mid July so I had my eye off the ball for a while.

1985 was my favourite season. I was 21, we had a team that had strength and flair on every line, we had the Brownlow and Coleman medalists, we won a final for the first time in my lifetime and I went to the footy each week expecting to win.

If only Micky Egan had been able to play in the preliminary final

Yeah, my favourite season as well. What a ride it was and soh so close to the GF. Mick would have stopped Leathal.

[Eastdog]

I was born in 1989 but that 1985 season if there was a time machine would be great fun to experience.

Would love to also go back and witness that game in 1978 when KT kicked 13 goals.