ANOTHER YEAR GONE
We just weren’t up to it last night but we will fight back
THERE’S no hiding — we underperformed on the biggest stage.
Despite being down by five goals at quarter-time, that’s not where the game was won and lost.
Melbourne was clearly the better team on the night but we butchered the ball at times.
We may have even had similar (16-13) inside-50s in the first quarter, but we were just awful going forward.
We kept making skill errors that were really hard to defend on the turnover, we didn’t give our forwards a chance and the few times we got it in there, we didn’t make the most of it. There was a clear difference in how clinical they were compared to us in the first quarter.
The term “finals footy” gets thrown around a bit, but it was hot early and their pressure was really good.
I say we had bad skills, but the Demons should get some credit for that — their pressure was really, really good and it felt like they were much better locking it in their forward half than we were.
In the third quarter, we started to get the game on our terms a little bit, but if we were a little bit more polished, we could have closed the margin at three-quarter time.
But even then, we still felt we were right in it at the final break.
We’re the best finishing side in the comp or close to it and we had done it against Melbourne before.
Unless the margin is a big difference, we’re always a chance to storm home. Unfortunately last night, it wasn’t to be.
It sounds like a broken record, but we just lacked polish.
Footy is a turnover and an intercept game, so if you keep butchering the ball, you lose.
It’s just one more year off your career where you didn’t win. I’ve been lucky with injuries, I’ve got a few years left, but I wouldn’t mind winning one sooner or later.
However, seeing my son in the rooms after the game puts the loss into perspective.
I walked out and I could hear him screaming as soon as he saw me. The first thing he said when I came over was, “How come you’re sad?”
Obviously he wasn’t watching the game.
I’m shattered, supporters are shattered, rightly so, but it is only a game.
We’ll get over it and come back stronger in 2019.
This group can do it. Just bear with us.
We’ll be right there when the whips are cracking next year, I guarantee it.