i) For the last month, I've set my eyes on our qualifying final as a gauge to see how we are really going, whether we are just coasting to the "real season" and going to turn it on in the finals, or whether our last month is indicative of our actual form line. The verdict? IMHO it's the latter, sadly, we are simply not firing on all cylinders...that third quarter nearly made me tear what little hair I have off my head. Guess it's why that is possibly as flat as I have felt after a win in a while...but as one of my mates say as we were leaving the game yesterday, if we are playing crap and still can make it to prelims, just imagine what is possible if we are played well...
ii) Speaking of that third quarter, it really seems like there is always one quarter per game that we fall away badly...last real 4-quarter effort is probably the game vs the Roos in round 8 this year, and whilst I'm still living in the hope that we can re-produce that, bloody hell we are leaving it til late...
iii) Surely some credit has to Sydney, they definitely made us earn out win...73 possessions between 2 of their prime movers is simply too much, man I miss Crowls...and we simply cannot afford to give 25 scoring shots to teams like the Hawks or Eagles, otherwise it will be all she wrote...
iv) Similarly, some credit to the Weagles win on Friday has to be attributed to how crap the Weepoos were...when players like Hodge and Lewis are missing 20m targets, you know something is amiss...
v) I was thinking the same thing as Loyalsupporter, what happened to our manic pressure of 2013? Is it all down to the reduction of the number of interchanges, which means that it is just not possible to carry that out for the whole game now?
vi) Spack does have a role in our team, but just not against the opposition's number 1 big man...I'm praying AA Luke's calf comes good for the prelims...
vii) If we do end playing the Hawks for the prelims, I promise to boo as loudly as I can every time that b@st@rd Mitchell goes near the ball...as good as Fyfe was yesterday, he simply lacks that explosiveness from the earlier rounds, especially with his one-on-one battles, just not winning as many of those as before...
vii) Ballas, I love you...may I never speak ill of you ever again...
