Easy target, mind you how we laughed when Brendan Gale made his outrageous statement.
Now it has come true.
Were we in as bad a state as Carlton is now?
Depends on when you equate the two based on 2018 being Bolton's third year.
* 3rd year of Wallace's reign (2007), we were arguably just as bad. Didn't win a game until R12 and our second not until R19. Finished with just 3 wins and a draw. Of our future premiership players, it was Riewoldt and Edwards' first year of AFL. We picked up Cotch & Rance in the draft at the end of that season. All up a decade off it.
* 3rd year of Dimma's reign (2012), we had beaten both eventual Grand Finalists Hawthorn & Sydney and knocked off a still good St Kilda on a Friday night at Etihad before falling away in the second half of the year (choking losses to Gold Coast [Karmichael Hunt goal/"worst 45 secs of footy"], Carlton, etc...). All up 5 years off it (played finals the following year though).
In 2010, Dimma's first year, for those first 9 rounds I'd say we were. Getting pumped every week, Relton Roberts and co running around for us. Dark times. Having said that, round 8 we played really well against Hawthorn, who were a very strong team, and we sort of turned a corner. We won 6 games from our last 13 and ended up finishing second bottom. I always felt, even when we weren't competitive, that we went out and tried our guts out during that period. We got smacked a few times but even then I didn't see anything as insipid as Carlton have been v Freo or Melbourne.
Flash forward 2 years and we were pushing hard for finals. I think we won 12 games that season 2012?
Edit: 10 wins and a draw.
