The Finals thread | PUNT ROAD END | Richmond Tigers Forum
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The Finals thread

TOT70 said:
Not much different, at all, as far as I can see.

The Dons have been treading water with an ever-diminishing group of veterans who still do much of their heavy lifting. I was surprised yesterday at how tired Fletcher and Hille suddenly look. I know Fletcher has been battling injury all season but he is not getting any younger. Earlier this season I thoughy Hille looked like a player with a couple more good seasons in him but I'm not so sure having seen him play yesterday. I'd suggest their core senior group is on its last legs and it is this group that has lifted them into these two finals series. When Fletcher, Hille, McVeigh and Lovett-Murray move on, they will struggle.

If Hurley takes the money from GWS next year they will need the cheque book.
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Yup. Hille now only has the odd decent game. Very slow and can't get off the ground. Gus looks good against him....sort of... No different to Knights time. The video of Thompson in the box was illuminating, he looked like a study of a bloke who is biting his tongue. Wonder how long he will last before his thirst to be in charge takes over?
 
Barnzy said:
How is Hird's first season any different to Knights? Fell into finals with pretty much the same list to be the filler team. Pretty much same number of wins give or take 1 win. Both times smacked and embarrassed in the first final.
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Knights had a slightly younger and less experienced team.

The Bombers 2009 finals team that was thumped by Adelaide had the following averages.

- Age 24 years 2 months, 65.5 games.


Hird`s team yesterday - Age 24 years 3 months, 74.5 games.


And Knights "no defence" team of the 2009 season conceded 90 less points (2127) during the home and away season than Hird`s new defensive Bombers this season (2217) .
 
KnightersRevenge said:
The video of Thompson in the box was illuminating, he looked like a study of a bloke who is biting his tongue. Wonder how long he will last before his thirst to be in charge takes over?
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2012 looms as an interesting year. Golden Boy already looks tired of acting.
 
bullus_hit said:
The Bombers need to cut hard and deep into their list otherwise the will stagnate in the middle of the pack indefinitely, I still reckon their midfield is the worst in the competition and their defence looks shaky, particularly if Hurley goes forward. If I was in charge, I'd be shopping around everyone with the exception of Hurley and Heppell and would start a major rebuild. It won't happen but it needs to happen, perversely making the finals this year could be detrimental in the long run.
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They've already rebuilt under Knights; most of their important players are 24 and under. Thing is, much of what they will gain from improvement in the under-24s, they'll lose in performance decline/retirements among the older players. Reckon they'll sit mid-table for a couple of seasons until the young group led by the likes of Hurley are able to lead the team consistently. So far, Hird/Thompson probably haven't done anything Knights couldn't have done...had the club been behind him.
 
michael roach said:
And Knights "no defence" team of the 2009 season conceded 90 less points (2127) during the home and away season than Hird`s new defensive Bombers this season (2217) .
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Just another thing to add on the new super dooper defensive Bombers as opposed to the unaccountable Knights Bombers.

In 2009 the unaccountable no defence Bombers under Knights were 4th in the AFL for tackles with 66 per game.

In 2010 they rose to 2nd in the AFL with 73.8 tackles per game.

The 2011 Hird version were 5th in the AFL with 71 tackles per game.
 
Being in Asia I was able to watch 3 of the 4 finals on the weekend... I can't believe I'm saying this, but I will be passionately supporting both interstate teams this week
 
Barnzy said:
How is Hird's first season any different to Knights? Fell into finals with pretty much the same list to be the filler team. Pretty much same number of wins give or take 1 win. Both times smacked and embarrassed in the first final.
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The difference is Knights was an outsider who took over from the longest serving coach in the club's history. A scapegoat was needed and he was it.

Hird is the golden boy who can do no wrong.
 
Knights had three things that were always going to affect his longevity as a senior coach.

He was an outsider, he only participated in two finals series as a player and his coaching experience was both brief and uninspiring. It is not as if he was a compelling choice as the man to replace Sheedy, there were plenty of other options with better credentials at the time.

Hird was only appointed with the bottom line in mind. They conducted market research last year which showed that members were going to drop off in droves for 2011. They achieved their goals for 2011. They averted the potential loss of income by bringing in the favourite son who will continue to sell their club with an upbeat message, helped along by this dodgy finals appearance.

For them, the next couple of seasons are about extracting as much income as possible to fund their new facilities. Richmond need to play finals for exactly the same reasons.
 
Punxsutawney Phil said:
The difference is Knights was an outsider who took over from the longest serving coach in the club's history. A scapegoat was needed and he was it.

Hird is the golden boy who can do no wrong.
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Knights was the patsy appointed to take the hits. Whoever followed Sheedy was going to be under the pump. Sheedy had let junior development slip in an attempt to win enough games to hold his job. Whoever tapped Lloyd and Lucas on the shoulder was going to be hated by the fans.

Knights was hired to do the dirty work so that whoever followed him would smell of roses.
 
Wholst leysy agrees with most of that, it then made no sense for them to extend his contract when they did.
 
Seagulls trying to entertain the crowd.

Swans behind by 40 points late in 2nd Q........long quarter.

Go home Swans.........MCGphobia. ;D
 
mexican_radio said:
geez those seagulls are like a plague, can't they do anything about it?
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Something's happened to seagulls and pigeons. I notice these pests walking around everywhere even on roads with vehicles driving up and down.

I don't remember so many of these in past night matches at the G from about 7-8 years ago.
 
mexican_radio said:
is this the most boring final in living memory?
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Happens almost every year. A team wins in week 1 of the finals then get pumped in the 2nd week. This the price of a final 8.
 
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