AFL Rd 5 2022 Post Game Carlton vs Port Adelaide

[tonyo]

Dominating the opposition and having a big lead in games has been very unfamiliar territory for our club for years. Do we just need to learn the psychology of dealing with it? do we need to be physically fitter? do we need more active leadership? Whatever the answers are, we must keep winning, pretty  or ugly,  to build and maintain the faith.

The psychology of having a huge lead is challenging - as I have said before, I was always taught that if you have a big lead at 1/2 or 3/4 time, the best way to prevent a turnaround was to go as hard as you could straight after recommencement, with a view to kicking the first two goals (or more).  That serves the purpose of not only increasing the lead, but crushing the opposition spirit to the point where they no longer believe it can be done.

None of these comebacks that have nearly caught us have been barnstorming goal fests - they have been slow burns, because we have not put the foot on the throat.  Never give a sucker a second chance, as they say.  The real trick is to convince the players that these fadeouts are not inevitable, or it might become a learned habit.