it was a failed year imho.
if you cant win even 1 knockout final you have no chance of going the whole way.
we seem to have players who choke when it counts.
I think I can see both points of view Ramps.
You are correct when you say we failed again this year. Not to win a final was a diabolical result.
However, we also saw the continued development of Miles, Vlastuin and the emergence of some young guys in McIntosh, Lennon and C.Ellis. I still think Menadue has what it takes but needs to put on some weight. Butler had his year ruined by injury but showed glimpses of something exciting prior to this. McKenzie is a beast that is being quietly developed too. Rance has stepped up to be the best backman in the competition and Grimes has been good now that he has had a relatively injury free run. We need more quality mids, a tall back to replace Chaplin and a tall and good ruck to replace Maric eventually. Hopefully we can solve many of our problems through the trade period and draft. The trajectory is still up. We had the best defence we've had for almost 50 years and the best percentage since we came 2nd in 1982.
So I can honestly say we failed but at the same time improved. We really need to finish top 4 next year to really give ourselves a chance. Fifth is admirable but is really no better than eighth bar the home final which didn't help us that much as we played a Vic team.
