Jon Anderson the myth maker.

[The Linton Street Flash]

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/a ... 5801289556

Read this article and you'll see what ! mean.

I responded - posted below, but i doubt they'll print my response.

Here it is - I'm sure you'll all agree.

"Nothing had taken place that had taken place that day would have meant that they couldn't have been premiers" - what a load of bulls&%t Anderson!

Nothing other than the fact that two teams - one who had blown them off the ground in a little over a quarter of football two weeks prior and another who had played poorly yet had still beaten them the week before, for the third time of the year! (fourth if you include a practice game) - had just taken part in one of the most intense games of football in the modern era, an intensity that the hapless Doggies had never once come close to matching throughout the year and will struggle ever to match, with their aging, (and let's be honest here) over-rated, list.

This bulls*%t that the dogs were "soooo close" amounts to little more than mythology - it sounds nice but it just aint' true - they beat the Cats once through the year and face facts, it was when the Cats were limping, with their eyes fixed on a football match many weeks in the future against an opponent that they would eventually face - St Kilda. And they had been blown off the park twice (go back and recall the actual matches), by the Saints, who were FAR in a way their superior, throughout the year.

Had the Dogs managed to beat St Kilda in the Prelim it would have been a travesty and the GF would have been a massive anti-climax - the Cats would have put them away with absolute ease, as would have the Saints playing at anywhere near the level they reached on GF day or throughout the home and away season.

Go ahead and try to propagate this myth that the Dogs were the equal of the Cats and Saints in 09, it might make the battlers in the west feel better - but to a real footy person, and by that I mean someone who actually goes to games and was lucky enough to see the Cats and Saints at their best in 09, it doesn't wash - why? Simple - Because it's Crap Ando, and that's a fact!

Any true Doggie person - someone who actually saw them in action this year and was also lucky enough to see the Cats and Saints, knows in their heart of hearts, that this is true.

There was only two teams this year - Cats and Saints. They played off in the GF. The Cats won - Simple!

[meher baba]

Gee, I can't see too much wrong with the article. The Dogs were only one straight kick (Gia's running shot on goal, which would have put them more than a goal up with 2 mins left) away from beating us. And the GF was desperately close.

It is completely reasonable for Dogs fans to ponder what might have been. And even more reasonable for a journo to suggest that, with their ageing list, this might be as close as the Dogs ever get.

IMO anyway

[plugger66]

I cant work out why they wouldnt print your article. His article makes perfect sense your makes none so they should print it for a laugh.

[bigcarl]

the dogs are a good side and they'll catch us next season unless we keep improving. same goes for a few others.

[SainterK]

Dogs last crack with this team next year I think?

[saint66au]

Had the Dogs managed to beat St Kilda in the Prelim it would have been a travesty and the GF would have been a massive anti-climax

Now go back and watch the PF again and have another go....you keep banging on about form during the season but on that day the Doggies had us on toast at various times and were prolly the better side overall over the course of the match. We had a key forward superstar to get us out of jail..they didnt.

God the amount of vitriol that gets spat around here if anyone dares suggest that St Kilda wont win the next 20 flags really gets to me lol

DId you watch the Qualifying Final either? Doggies totally outplayed Geelong in the last quarter and had they taken their chances would have beaten them

[goodie]

What a dumb opening to that article. Of course Saints fans were sadder, Doggies had a week to come to terms with what might have been.

[ace]

Gee, I can't see too much wrong with the article. The Dogs were only one straight kick (Gia's running shot on goal, which would have put them more than a goal up with 2 mins left) away from beating us. And the GF was desperately close.

It is completely reasonable for Dogs fans to ponder what might have been. And even more reasonable for a journo to suggest that, with their ageing list, this might be as close as the Dogs ever get.

IMO anyway

Yes, Doggy fans may well ponder what might have been.
Like getting whooped by Geelong by over a 100 points just like Port Adelaide a couple of years earlier.

Only one team could rival Geelong in 2009 and sadly they lost.

[3rd generation saint]

I have to agree with the post, if the Doggies we're that good, why did they lose their two finals against the teams in the GF.
Yes, prelim was close, yes we we're lucky, but we played crap, they played as good as they could and we still managed to win.
Why, did we win, because our defensive presuure was great, and we had forwards that could mark a ball.
Getting Hall will not solve their problems, and as much as I love the G Train, I think Hall will be as effective next season as G was in 08.
I suppose Pies fans could think the same way about 07.

[joffaboy]

Facts are this.

Dogs not good enough to beat Saints once throughout the year.

Coulda woulda shoulda

If my aunty had balls.............

If they kicked straight........

Seemed to hear much of the same after we lost to Geelong in the GF.

Best two sides of the yeasr played off in the GF. if we weren't playing anyone but the best team this decade, we would have won.

Same cant be said for the Dogs.

They weren't good enough - simple.

[Moods]

Guess we should have won the 04 GF then.....

Ridiculous for journos to talk about how the doggies were unlucky. If WE had lost it would have been unlucky. WE had finished on top of the ladder, and beaten them easily twice during the year. If we had lost it would have been by less than a kick - but instead they would have talked about how we choked.

[The Linton Street Flash]

Had the Dogs managed to beat St Kilda in the Prelim it would have been a travesty and the GF would have been a massive anti-climax

Now go back and watch the PF again and have another go....you keep banging on about form during the season but on that day the Doggies had us on toast at various times and were prolly the better side overall over the course of the match. We had a key forward superstar to get us out of jail..they didnt.

God the amount of vitriol that gets spat around here if anyone dares suggest that St Kilda wont win the next 20 flags really gets to me lol

DId you watch the Qualifying Final either? Doggies totally outplayed Geelong in the last quarter and had they taken their chances would have beaten them

I've watched the PF several times and each time i see the same thing - one team playing very poorly (couldn't hold a mark, couldn't stick tackles, couldn't hit targets, fumbling) and another playing probably their best football of the season and the poor team winning.

I'm not sure how you read a game - but in my books it suggests Saints 09 (even at the worst) were superior to the dogs 09 at their very best.

This "on toast" crap is just the kind of mythology i'm talking about - fact is we outscored them for three quarters despite them playing to their optimum level.

As for "outplaying" the Cats in the final quarter - Pffft - Gimme a break! - outplayed my arse - the game was over from half way through the second quarter - a few junk time goals from the dogs when the Cats were in cruise mode hardly amounts to a serious challenge.

This love affair everyone has with the hapless dogs is hilarious - you can believe they were close to us this year if you like but the fact is they were nowhere near us - as the four defeats would suggest.

The dogs wouldn't have got within 80 points of either Cats or Saints in the GF 09 but we're gonna hear this crap about how they were "sooo unlucky" til the end of time!

doggies a genuine challenger in 09 - pffft - gimme a friggin' break!!!!

[plugger66]

Didnt we outscore a certain side in 3 quarters one week later. I would say we were unlucky and so were the dogs against us. We were the better side for the year but we didnt win the flag. Maybe we should see if the Cats will give us the cup. It is about finals and yes the winner is whoever is in front after the final siren but you can be unlucky. And to say the Dogs wouldnt have got within 80 points in the Gf does nothing for your credibility.

[joffaboy]

And to say the Dogs wouldnt have got within 80 points in the Gf does nothing for your credibility.

yes thats correct,

They couldn't get within 80 points of Geelong on GF day.

They couldn't get within 68 points of St.kilda.