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Joined March 2019
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I reckon you have underplayed the influence the addition of a couple key defenders can have (Moore finally fit and hopefully Roughead). Plenty of people ignore the injury run owing the fact they made it to the finals, but does anyone remember Madgen, Murphy, Oxley? That’s right, all those guys were playing regularly towards the end of the season… I think key injuries also contributed to the losses against GWS, Sydney, Eagles through the regular course of the season and (with some bias) an additional, fit key position defender may have helped in the Grand Final just to quell those two big blokes who didn’t get any smaller as the game wore on (and our midfield wore out…). Having said that – I agree with earlier posts that it was one-way traffic in the last half of the game and the pies did well to be so close at the death (and yes WCE the better performing team through the year).
Had some losses early in 2018 which were poor but certainly improved as the season wore on. I accept all the rhetoric about ‘havent (didn’t) beat any decent teams’, but you can’t really defend that argument. Thumped Adelaide early in Rd 4 (oh wait – they turned out to be no good), then thumped Melbourne on Queen’s Birthday after they had been red hot (we’ll ignore that one). Poor against the Cats, yes, and lost a heartstopper against Sydney with that McCartin grubber. The Pies actually DID beat “good” sides when it mattered in both GWS and Richmond in the finals. I’d also like to flip the statement around a bit to say “didn’t lose to any bad sides’…
Also good pick up to the poster who highlighted the “come out early and then hang on grimly” game plan. I felt like that a bit through the course of the year and that was certainly evident on some important losses where the pies led and then got run down. In contrast, however, I think that there was also evidence on other games where it was close and the Pies kicked on (both times vs Ess.) or even came back from behind (such as in the Swans game).
Anyway, stats and opinions aside, it’s all about to get real. I don’t think the Pies are lacking in any area of the field with (all of a sudden) plenty of forwards, backs and mids to chose from and (hopefully) a decent run with injuries. Will need to tap into the same spirit as last year and I am hopeful that because they didn’t win the big prize (unlike the Dogs of ’16) the hunger will still be there. Probably need to snatch another flag in the next year or two given the quality of the list right now because they’ll have to find a way to keep talent through the next 2-3 years to avoid another drop off. Surely finish top four (having beaten quality teams along the way…) and then anything can happen in September.
2019 AFL season preview: Collingwood Magpies