BigMart wrote:So it's Nick Riewoldts fault we haven't won a flag?
A man who's won 6 best and fairests
Strange
Wonder who has been our best in the Prelims leading into the GFs
Perhaps no grand finals without him
And please remember some things about the GFs
Massive pressure to the end = poor delivery and low scoring
Harder for fwds than mids to get a kick
Wet day in 2009.. Easier for Harry than Nick
Lyon playing a sweeper meant there was a plus one in our defense in both games
Guess who was double teamed?
Replay we were smashed in the middle... Ball hardly went forward
It's a bit silly to blame nick r for not winning... There were a few actual liabilities
Exactly right. Ppl forget 09 so quickly. We were down on form believe it or not coming into the finals. Guess who sparked us in the qualifying final? B.O.G. by a mile and tore the heart out of the pies.
In the prelim he literally willed us over the line in the 2nd half.
In 2010 ppl forget we were not the favourite to win the Qualifying final against the cats. In the wet, he was superb providing a brilliant target up fwd early in the game and being a major factor in us upsetting the cats.
The 2010 Prelim, we were strangely subdued against an opponent that we were expected to smash. Once again, it was the skipper's spark that broke the game open in the 2nd half.
The 2010 GF he was double teamed and our inside 50's were ridiculously low compared to the pies. Still he played a good game without being great. In 09 it was a horrendous day for fwds, and in GF week he was rumored to have nicked his groin before the game. Now I know no-one cares about these excuses, it's the end result that counts.
Ppl bang on about Luke Hodge's performance in GF's and they're right, he has been great. How did he go in the 2012 GF when they lost???? Far easier to play well in a winning team.
It's the reason I admire Gary Ablett Jnr so much - particularly in his prime. He simply didn't play a bad game, regardless of the result. Who was best for their team in the losing 2008 GF team? He was. Who was best player (by a mile) in the losing 2010 prelim final - he was.
BigMart's point is well made too about key fwds in GF's. Occasionally they have games out of the box but it's actually quite hard for them to dominate due to the incredible attention they command. The only GF Jonathan Brown played really well in was the 03 GF that the Lions dominated from the beginning. Roughead has struggled in the GF's in quite a few - unless the hawks have been dominating and get's plenty of supply. Buddy has played well, and he's the exception imo.
No-one (including Lenny who I loved) has done more for this team/club in the last 15 years.
