Following five straight losses it’s crisis time at West Coast with betting agencies installing the Eagles as the new favourites for the wooden spoon. Some fans are pondering where they’ll get their next win, but they don’t need to look too far to realise the reality of the situation isn’t as bad as suggested.
Indeed, it was only a month or so ago betting agencies were offering odds on whether or not Richmond would win a game all season.
In fact, one betting agency paid out all bets on the Tigers to win the wooden spoon… in April! That’s completely ridiculous in hindsight, but then again, that’s how bad Richmond were going.
And sure that was probably a publicity stunt, but the Tigers have emphatically showed them up, winning three of their last four to catch up on points with 14th placed West Coast and 15th placed Adelaide.
In the process, Richmond have also shown many in the footy world how quickly things can turn around. I don’t want to go overboard on the Tigers, as they’re still one of the favourites for the wooden spoon, but no one saw them finding some form and winning three out of four.
Surely, their example is reason for optimism for any club going through a tough period.
Perhaps the best example, though, is the Fremantle Dockers who came into this season at long odds to make the finals, let alone be a premiership contender.
In pre-season with Fremantle given a tough early year fixture, there was speculation on when (rather than ‘if’) Dockers coach Mark Harvey would get the sack, as if it was a fait accompli.
Now Harvey’s Dockers are rated almost a certainty to make the top four.
Perhaps the Dockers are a different story after some bold recruitment over the last few years, but 2010 has shown form plays a big influence in modern AFL footy.
I won’t profess to know the magic formula as to how these turnarounds in form occur… far from it.
What I do know, though, is the 2010 AFL season has been full of unexpected dips and turns in form.
Just look at my tipping record, with winners hard to come by. For a guy who watches six or seven games of footy a weekend, it’s alarming I can barely tip a winner!
But then again, look at a team like Hawthorn, who I saw lose in the flesh in Round 7 prompting me to write them off, only for the Hawks to turn around and win six consecutive games.
The Brisbane Lions are another interesting example of a team fluctuating through form patches this season, after winning their first four games of the year, they’ve won just one of their past eight fixtures.
Port Adelaide are another whose form has fluctuated after they were 5-2 before slumping to five straight defeats.
It’s hard to follow and a tipper’s nightmare.
But it also shows the importance of form in the modern game, regulated by the AFL’s equalising strategies such as the salary cap and the draft.
A win, a bit of confidence and suddenly something clicks and a team is in form, or, of course, the reverse and they’re losing game after game.
Whichever way, on the evidence of 2010 things can change quickly in the AFL, so there’s always hope for footy fans of any club.
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Things heating up in Canberra!
We’re taking a look at one player from each team that needs to make a difference this week, starting with the ANZAC Day games.
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