There were all the familiar comments from the commentators, saying how we had lost games in similar situations and I thought to myself no not this time, even though I knew I was watching a replay. I am the eternal optimist when it comes to the tigers and before anyone asks, yes I am part Irish.
With my failure to watch the replay in mind, I have decided to talk about something else this week and that is about the disappointment of the players, coaches, fans and moving forward. I believe it was one of my fellow bloggers Paul Howarth who mentioned the ups and downs and how they are part of true development (a nice piece of insight by the way, almost like he had a crystal ball).
I was hopeful throughout the game and we got off to a great start, but the second quarter fadeouts have really killed us in the last few weeks and have been a steadily getting worse. My heart sank when Brock McClean’s kick went through for a goal, there was no-one in the goal square. Steve Morris needn’t feel bad he did the right thing with the wrong outcome, a little too much on the kick.
The disappointment of the coach and players at the loss against our old rivals was plain for all to see as Dimma dropped his head in the coach’s box. That coupled with the vision of the players in the rooms after the game, as a fan was hard to watch but was necessary, I felt what they felt.
One thing that Paul said that rings true is the bumpy ride to success and I got sucked in mid-season as did we all when we had seen a glimpse of what is to be. The lid was off at Tigerland and the media hyped up our chances along with the fans, only to lose to Fremantle in the wet.
When we started to lose players we tested our depth and came unstuck, but the club is adamant in the direction it’s taking and so it should be, we have seen a glimpse of what we can do and liked it.
After Terry Wallace left and Damien Hardwick was brought in there was an air of uncertainty about how we would prosper. The changing of the guard with the CEO and the new coaching staff has signalled that era of prosperity, I think we had all felt it, this year especially.
It’s easy to feel let down from the recent losses but we have to look at the positive steps we have taken this season. I reckon we have taken some huge steps, we no longer get blown away and our percentage is a testament to that.
We talk about taking the next step and that will come, hopefully sooner rather than later.
We are 7 and 10 with 5 winnable games to play, with only 6 and half wins last season and not being flogged by anyone, we have moved forward. The rest of the season is about how much we can improve on last season, and to set us up for next year.
