Game is over 4 quarters though smokey. Playing 2 quarters per game as we did for most of year doesn't cut it. Of our 5 wins three were by less than a kick. Standard wise we were the worst team in the comp.
Carl - flogged
Geel - played one great quarter kicking 8 goals. Flogged in the other 3.
Dogs - flogged
Melb - embarrassing even though we lost by only 8 points.
Roos - comfortable win. Shocking game standard wise though.
Syd - were playing catch-up footy all day and as a result one bad mistake (by jack) cost us.
Bris - competitive for 2.5 qtrs then flogged.
Port - choked in final 5 minutes. Should have won.
Ess - dominated first half but because we aren't very good only lead by 2 goals. Flogged in second half.
Freo - toss of a coin game. Just got over the line by 3 points.
Dogs- flogged
WC - blitzed in first quarter and should have been more than 4 goals ahead. Ordinary game after that by did enough to stay arms length ahead to win.
St K - good first quarter holding the Saints goal-less then flogged.
Adel - flogged. Scoreboard flattered us thanks to a decent last qtr when the game was over.
Carl - dominated 3rd qtr but couldn't kick straight. Blues well on top in the other 3 qtrs.
North - dominated first half; flogged in second half. "Lucky" to get away with a draw.
Ess - only win we should be proud of even if it was by only 5 points. Good standard of footy for 4 qtrs.
Melb - joke of a game. Only time ever I've walked out after a win and didn't sing the song. Too embarrassed to do so.
Syd - flogged
Coll - flogged
Haw - fought hard but not good enough. Hawks won easy in the end.
WC - flogged (because we didn't care)
Yep MT, absolutely agree your point about 4 quarter games but that is a byproduct of age and experience as much as anything and when you add the abysmal disconnect between the coaching group and playing list last season then that combination was always going to see us lose most games (even though most of us didn't see it coming pre-Round 1).
It's easy to say in most of the above games that we got flogged but the reality was that in spite of all our 'handicaps' - age, experience, coaching, confidence, skill level - we were in winning positions late in many of those games. We didn't have the attributes necessary to take advantage of those positions in most games however we have already addressed some of them and others are being or will be addressed as a flow on. For example, our terrible skills can in some way be blamed on our total lack of confidence and lack of pressure on the ball carrier. By getting older, gaining more experience, increasing our pressure and re-instilling confidence we will 'magically' appear more skillful than what we were without any visible change to the playing list but if you look underneath then the reasons will be plain to see. Then add in the influence of new gameplans, coaching methods/focus and more highly skilled draftees and that's what I'm basing my opinion on. Here's my take on last year's games:
Carl - 59 points down at 3/4 time - unwinnable.
Geel - point in front at 3/4 time - winnable.
Dogs - 21 points down at 3/4 time - winnable.
Melb - lost by 8 points - winnable.
Roos - won by 36 points.
Syd - 15 points down at 3/4 time - winnable.
Bris - 3 points down at 3/4 time - winnable.
Port - 4 points up at 3/4 time - winnable.
Ess - 12 points down at 3/4 time - winnable.
Freo - won by 3 points.
Dogs - 42 points down at 3/4 time - unwinnable.
WC - won by 15 points.
St K - 60 points down at 3/4 time - unwinnable.
Adel - 40 points down at 3/4 time - unwinnable.
Carl - 31 points down at 3/4 time - unwinnable.
North - 14 points up at 3/4 time - winnable.
Ess - won by 5 points.
Melb - won by 4 points.
Syd - 64 points down at 3/4 time - unwinnable.
Coll - 97 points down at 3/4 time - unwinnable.
Haw - 32 points down at 3/4 time - unwinnable.
WC - 72 points down at 3/4 time - unwinnable.
I make it we were in winnable positions in 8 games not including the 5 wins so just a repeat of last season would see us potentially with up to 13 wins. No, we won't win them all but we will win some we lost - hence my reason for seeing ladder improvement next season. And interestingly, of the 9 games that were unwinnable at 3/4 time, 7 of them came in the final 10 rounds, when it was obvious that most, if not all of the coaching group were gone.