markp wrote:meher baba wrote:
It strikes me that B4E is not alone on this forum in fervently espousing two seemingly irreconcilable propositions.
(a) GT ruined our list and we were "in decline" in 2006.
(b) The club was destined for a flag if we could only get ourselves a decent coach.
i cannot accept the idea that these two propositions could possibly both be true in the same rational universe.
Let's put emotive words like 'ruined' and 'destined' to one side for a moment....
If you cant concede we missed a chance for a flag in 2004 and 2005, and we were in decline in 2006 then you're not being fair dinkum.
Of course we missed a chance.
We missed a chance last year, and even the year before that.
Do I think we were the most likely side to win the flags in 04 and 05? Absolutely not.
We were not the best team in the comp in 04 by a longshot. We played a great first half of the year, then as young teams do, we came back to the pack as the season took it's toll.
As history dictates, the hardened mature teams played off for the flag. As disappointing as it was, I never once felt we 'let it slip'. We weren't good enough. Simple.
In 05, ahead of schedule, we were the best team in the comp. Had we not had 7 of our best 22 missing in the Prelim, we would have won the flag.
And Geelong too had every right to say 'had we not lost 4 players during the 3rd quarter against Sydney, we would have won the flag'.
We didn't win in 05 because of injuries. Nothing else.
In 06, our injuries were even worse. Yet we still plugged away and dominated a final until we lost 4 players through injury during the match.
Did we miss a chance? Of course. As did 5 other teams every year during this period.
Did we lose the unlosable? No.
Was the cause of us missing a chance, the fault of the coach? No.
Were we in decline in 06? No more than other team who has been a contender for 2-3 years in a row.
Did Geelong decline in 06? Who's fault was that?
We, like all other clubs who have 3 years in the top 4 were facing a situation where the older players are over the hill. It's called a mini-rebuild.
For some clubs, it's a full rebuild if the coach hasn't loaded up on the youth end of the list. Thomas had done this, so for us there was always going to be a lull of 2-3 years around the 2007 time.
So, to answer your question - were we in decline in 06? To a point.
Was it the fault of the coach? No.
Was there any way to avoid any form of decline, whilst remaining a contender within the rules of the AFL?
Geelong declined in 06. It's football. It's the way the system is designed.
Are Hawthorn in decline now?
The thing that our club did very well, was load up on quality youth. So, when the inevitable dip happened (which I always predicted would happen at the end of 07) it would only be a short wait until our core group of guns became the mature, hardened 100-150 game group that you need to be a premiership contender.
I've never argued the Thomas sacking. Only the timing. In my view (and now that we're 19-0 it doesn't really matter) he should have coached 2007 as the inevitable dip or 'decline' was going to happen anyway. So if he didn't get a flag in 07 (which I still feel we were capable of) he would have been sacked for a new coach to come in and start again.
