When were we last this.........

[melliot]

....ordinary as a team?

Was thinking today when last time we were this ordinary..

I guess 2005 we were really poor. And we aren't that bad.

2006 we started like a house on fire, but tailed towards the end of the season.

2007-2009 we were always improving and I'd suggest those teams were better than (up to date) 2013.

So I'd suggest that we are about as good as the 2006 model but better than 2005.

Hopefully, the rest of the Season sees us rise to something like the 2007 season (was one of my faves), where we show awesome grit in the finals.

[rand corp]

Smashed by injuries to key players: Beams, Toovey, Thomas, Fasolo, Goldy

Couple of veteran stars dropping off their very best: Swan, Heater, Jolly

Couple of Vets not being able to get on the park: Didak, Johnson

Even the new kids have not had a chance to break through because of injuries: Young, Frost, Grundy, Ramsay, Broomhead have all had major setbacks

Been a tough year for all concerned.

[mattys123]

2008 is the answer you are looking for, and that year we were smashed by injuries too, went to Adelaide first week of the finals and caused a massive upset, before limping back to Melbourne and losing to St Kilda.

Injuries aren't the only excuse for where we are this year, but there's little doubt that we'll never know how good we could have been this year due to the injuries we now have.

If we can get Beams up and running again, add Young, Keeffe, Krak, Goldy Daisy and a fit Jolly to our finals side we may do something similar this year also.

[HAL]

Do you think everyone will agree?

[Jezza]

I'll briefly analyse each year since 2001.

2001 - Clearly on the rise after a disappointing 7 years near the bottom of the ladder. Ended up finishing 9th on 11 wins. SLIGHTLY BETTER THAN 2001

2002 - Made the Grand Final which no one expected and came within 9 points of beating the Brisbane Lions. 2002 WAS BETTER

2003 - Once again we made the Grand Final and probably had a better year and more experience going into the Grand Final, but the big day was a massive letdown. Interestingly though we were 8-6 after round 14 in 2003. 2003 WAS BETTER

2004 - Declined because of injuries, a loss of confidence and a poor start to the year. We didn't tank though as we ended up with 8 wins. BETTER THAN 2004. SIMILAR INJURY LIST BUT WE'VE ALREADY WON 8 GAMES SO FAR THIS YEAR

2005 - Really poor year but injuries decimated us. We ended up with 5 wins in the end. MUCH BETTER THAN 2005

2006 - A massive improvement from 2004 and 2005. Our injury list was substantially short and we recruited the likes of Thomas and Pendles who did reasonably well in their first year. Finished 5th in the Home and Away season but the elimination final against the Bulldogs was a massive letdown. ON PAR WITH THIS YEAR, BUT 2006 WAS MORE EXCITING TO WATCH

2007 - An improvement from 2006 in terms of maturity and development. Despite finishing 6th and losing to Richmond and Melbourne that year, we still ended up with a Prelim spot and almost won. 2007 IS SLIGHTLY BETTER AT THE MOMENT, BUT THE UPSET LOSSES TO RICHMOND AND MELBOURNE DID HURT THOUGH. IT WILL DEPEND ON HOW WE PERFORM IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE YEAR IN COMPARING WHETHER 2013 IS BETTER THAN 2007 OR NOT.

2008 - I think we went slightly backwards in 2008 after a great 2007, but we still made the 8 and beat the Crows in an elimination final upset. I think injuries hurt us a bit that year, but we did ok. ON PAR WITH THIS YEAR.

2009 - Improvement from 2008 after a slow start to the year. Disappointing finals campaign but it was a promising year. 2009 WAS SLIGHTLY BETTER

2010 - Great year from start to finish and we only had a slight dip for about three weeks in the middle of the year. Obviously PREMIERS was the ultimate result in the end . 2010 IS BETTER

2011 - A fantastic year, and arguably better than 2010 despite the final result. Disappointing end though. 2011 IS BETTER

2012 - Another solid year, but not as good 2010 and 2011. It reminded me of 2009 to be honest, but our list was decimated with injuries as well. 2012 IS BETTER THAN THIS YEAR THOUGH

So in review, it seems like we're in 2006-2008 mode at the moment. I would say this is where we're performing at this stage in terms of standards, ladder positions and the way we're playing at the moment. Matty saying 2008 is just about right I think.

[Dave The Man]

[E]

[David]

I'll go with 2008. Let's not forget though that we're well on track for our 8th finals campaign in a row... it could be worse.

[Frohickey]

We are still the gun factory.. the injuries have obscured it and at the same time accelerated it.. half a dozen or more 30+ year olds have to be replaced before we can challenge again


30+ years of age (2014)

Jolly - Witts
Hudson - Grundy Moore
Lynch - Keeffe Paine
Johnson - Williams Seedsman
Krakouer - Kennedy Martin
Didak - Elliott Mooney
Maxwell - Oxley Frost
Swan - Broomhead
Ball - J Thomas

[uuuuu..... The LoneSTAR]

The loss against Port was hard to take.
Still, if we do manage to bring some players back & put things together in time for a late surge, we could certainly give it a shake!

[The_Staunton]

Don't know the last time we were this vanilla and irrelevant, that's where I am at the moment...

Not even a good old controversy to stir things up - it's the most blah season I can remember in years. Hard to feel inspired about anything. Even in 08, we smashed the Cats and had the St Kilda game after Shaw and Didak, rallying points.

Whats our rallying point this year? A 6 point win over Geelong and then...er...Brisbane at the GABBA?

[melliot]

[woftam]

My foxtel IQ is devoid of 2013 games. Even when we have won we have been bloody ordinary to watch. I'm not convinced just getting a few players back will turn that all around either.

[David]

[Greening gold]

I thought we did all right tonight, but then I remembered who we were playing - just another also-ran vying for 9th now that Richmond has given it up.