Post Game Analysis: AFL 2021 Rd 12: Carlton vs West Coast

[kruddler]

As you are not happy with WASurfer's opening sentence, I invite you to commence reading his post from the paragraph beginning "Look back about 5 or 6 years ago..."

I am sure the views he expresses there would sit quite easily with the majority of contributors to this thread.

I assume you draw comfort from the statistics of the match and believe that success, although elusive at the moment, will come in due time.

On the other hand, I rely on what I see to form my views.  During and at the end of the game I saw a group of Carlton players who had played without leadership, with little or no spirit when the game was in danger, seemingly without a game plan, and looking utterly dejected.

We have many problems with no easy fixes, and I don't see a challenge to teams in the 8 any time soon.

OK, i'll play one more time.

A lot of what you describe, and what he describes is what i've talked about....a roller coaster ride.
Same goes for the players and their belief. Currently its down....way down. It won't stay down forever, 3 easier games coming up could be all thats required to restore confidence levels in the players, coach and club as a whole. We are a fickle bunch.....well most of us.

Now to the "but team xxxxxx are ahead of us now" comments. Sure, and we are ahead of Collingwood now.....and Hawthorn....and...Its all subjective and irrelevant. It makes supporters feel better (or worse depending on your inclination) to play that game. Same is done with individual players too. Ultimately it means little. You want to look at up and down form, look at the thread i posted the link at before.....go to the section on highest losing margins. All of those clubs that have gone past us....and even the ones that were well ahead of us, have had worst days than we have. Some HUGE losses there. West Coast got beaten by the cats by 97 points a few weeks ago. Remember that roller coaster?

So yes, i look at trends, statistics and past history to form my view that success is not that far away.
However, that is also in line with using my eyes to see the same thing you describe, disappointment from the players, despair even. BUT.....that doesn't last.

There will come a time when the tables turn and TBH that is half my point in all of this.

We are (supposedly) playing so bad that everybody needs to be sacked. Take the emotive alarmist nature out of it and you'll find that....
We are down on form.
We are down on confidence.
We are down on fitness.
We are down on personnel.

....and despite all of that we are in each and every match.
There have been games we have lost which we won the I50 count.
There have been games we have lost which we won the scoring shots.
There have been games we have lost which happened in the space of 5 minutes.

How can you see all that and NOT realise that with a bit of luck and a fair chunk of confidence that results will change.

Every man and his dog will tell you why we are bad.....but it doesn't translate to the scoreboard.