Damn it. I'm saying it again. I would have rather have a premiership in 2012 playing harveyball while the hawks weren't quite as good. That semi final loss to Adelaide was bloody ridiculous. As good an example of why Ross Lyon is an ordinary coach when the pressure goes on. Should never have lost that game. 2013 maybe we would back it up, or maybe a premiership hangover, we'll never know. The 2013 GF was the worst example of how not to play if you were Fremantle. How many goals to half time again?
But that was our window, get used to it folks, we spent it like the Purple Jesus in front of goal rolling the dice. 2014-5 was the post peak of a confident team that had played a lot of footy , but on the way out. And that team, those players, that is substantially Harvey's team or ours from that period of draftiing, plus Zac Dawson, *sigh*
Yes I've read Purple Heart, and the suggestion of communication issues from harvey, not for one moment am i saying he was perfect, but there will always be dissent about a coach whithin a playing group somewhere, somehow. He deserved his shot. I watched the first quarter of football under Lyon, and it was glorious, we smashed the cats, but we were playing Harveyball on instinct; it was the most beautiful thing i had seen from the purple, but i kid you not, the book got thrown at the players that night, we got the defensive structures back in place, and geelong came storming back into the game. From memory we ground out the win. Huzzah. But that was the last time i saw us play run and stun footy that kicked goals. Footy that puts you in the top 2 today, not grinding defensive footy that wearied older bodies with the worst travel arrangements have to recover from. Our footy was and is unsustainable. Time to pay the piper.
