It was clear early last season that there were several players who were well bellow their best, and there were many excuses peddled around, mainly the GF heartbreak theory, and it was especially frustrating to watch two elite players in Roo and BJ perform at an intensity well bellow previous years. Their attitudes permeated and effected the whole club. Intensity is a difficult thing to measure and I don't think there is a stat or a cluster of stats that can accurately measure it. So yes while various stats for players like Roo and BJ still looked good by comparison, it was plain as day that they just weren't the same players. I don't think many argue against that.st_Trav_ofWA wrote:Here's the thing historically speaking clubs like geelong Hawthorn and collingwood do a much better job looking after their players after they have finished up their career so taking a pay cut to stay true to the team is not as big a deal ... Our club has a history of forgetting about players the minute they walk out the door ( just ask J Allen ) ...as for these comments that Goddard isn't that good any way it smacks of sour grapes in case he does leave .. Last year Roo had arguably the worst season of his entire career and therewere talks of trading him taking the captaincy off him ect ect but you look at theway he was able to fight back into some good formthis year .. Champion players do have luls in formbut truechampions will eventually fight their way out of their lul .. Mark my words BJ will be in the top tier of players again very soon hopefully though it's in red White and blacknot some other teams colours
I agree St Trav that champions fightback and Roo fought his way back this year. Goddard is yet to fight back IMO.
We need champions to commit to making this club successful long after their playing careers are over. Hawthorn have promoted this culture for decades now, however probably the reason it works for them is because of the fact that they look after their players in a way we don't. The reasons are many but mainly because of bad management by the club and also having selfish talented players (which most are BTW) that were big fish in a little pond, i.e. at a club with very little talent or success. The past decade of relative success needs to exploit the Hawthorn culture and players like Burkey, Thomo and Maxy are examples, maybe Harves in the not too distant future. We now need Roo, Lenny, Kosi, Dal, Fisher, Milney, Monty and these types of players to be committed to the clubs success long after their playing days are over. If BJ leaves it will be because of money and clearly that is not the attitude of a clubman.
