Football coaches quite often say a lot without really saying much. In modern football, coaches and players are always extremely cautious about what they say, for fear of offering ammunition to the opposition.
It’s because of this that most times post-match press conferences offer up something, but not very much.
But my ears did prick up when listening to Ross Lyon after his Dockers had beaten up the Swans in their preliminary final last Saturday.
He was asked about being the underdogs against the Hawks. Here it was, he had just been presented with the perfect opportunity to pull out the lid and place it firmly over his team’s build-up.
It’s coaching 101. Downplay your chances, pump up the opposition, put the heat on them and the place your own team as far under the radar as you can humanly be.
And it’s true, Lyon’s team are the underdogs, Hawthorn are the favourites, and most tipsters – for what their opinions are worth – will be tipping Alastair Clarkson’s side to redeem last year’s grand final loss to the Swans.
“I think there will be no doubt we’ll be underdogs,” Lyon started his response in excellent ‘coachspeak’. “We need to travel, they have clearly been the best home and away team for the year on win and losses.”
Spot on Rossy. They are the best, they should be favourites, your guys are probably just happy to be there … but no, he didn’t go down that avenue.
Instead he went this way: “but it’s not about the best home and away team we all know that it’s about the best finals team and we’ve had two significant performances, and in particular the Geelong win was really significant cracking it open to create an opportunity, not unlike Sydney did in Adelaide the year before.
“We go over knowing our best can challenge anyone.”
Touche Mr Lyon.
How do you say which team has been the best in the finals? Which team goes into the grand final in the best form? Which team has more momentum than the other?
Well both teams have beaten the same two clubs on their path to the grand final, so it should be easy to say which club has been the most impressive. Shouldn’t it?
Well the Hawks had an empathic win over the Swans at home, a dogfight until halftime, then powering away to win by nine goals.
Then Hawthorn faced their dark nemesis Geelong, and just when the game yet again looked lost, they had to dig deeper than deep and come back from 20 points down to win.
Gutsy, courageous, character building.
Fremantle had to enter Death Valley – the Cattery in Geelong. They had won there once in 18 years. The Cats had won all 14 games at the venue in 2013. They had lost just twice in 51 games at the Stadium, dating back to May 2007.
But – yep, as underdogs – in front of a rabid crowd, they overcame Geelong, by 15 points, to, as Lyon put it “create an opportunity.”
It was then there for them to lose, at home, against a busted-up Swans outfit, they were expected to win easily. But the way they went about it stunned even those still skeptical about the class and ability of the Dockers. It was amazing to watch, and left us with little doubt they can match it with Hawthorn.
We keep hearing about the experience of the Hawthorn players will get them home. They have after all been there before, just twelve months ago.
But don’t be fooled, there have been plenty of teams, with plenty of players, who have not had any big stage experience, but gone on to win the flag. The Swans had 15 first-time grand finalists last year when they got home.
And the old adage, you have to lose a grand final before you can win one. Rubbish.
Let’s look at the figures.
In the past 20 years, just three teams have lost a grand final, and then come back the following year to win the flag – North Melbourne lost to Adelaide in 1998, then beat Carlton in the 1999, West Coast lost to Sydney in 2005, then returned to beat the Swans by a point in 2006, and finally Geelong memorably lost to Hawthorn in 2008, before returning to beat St Kilda in 2009.
In fact there has been three teams in that 20 year period which have lost one grand final, and come back the following year … to lose again. That was Geelong in 1994 and 1995, Collingwood in 2002 and 2003, and coincidently, Lyon’s St Kilda in 2009 and 2010.
So really for the Hawks, history says it could go either way.
But back to Ross Lyon and what he said, and what happens in the first 22 games of the year really is just about getting you in a position for a shot at a flag.
The four weeks of the finals is a new competition, and while the head is still telling me Hawthorn will win, it’s hard to ignore Lyon’s logic.
You would have to say the Dockers have been more impressive than Hawthorn in their two finals’ wins, but, here’s the other thing Ross, those games also now mean nothing.
It’s all about what happens on Saturday afternoon, when we find out which one is better – not Hawthorn or Fremantle, but attack or defence.
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