Does this team want finals...

[Spidergirl]

Collingwood needs to stop being happy with close defeats. I don't give a flying if its 1 or a hundred points because unless Pies get over the line 4 premiership points will not be going our way! That is the difference between Collingwood and Essendon!

[Joel]

NO, Spidergirl you are wrong!!!!! You have misread this completely. We aren't happy that we lost but happy that we nearly beat the best team in the comp...REMEMBER they lost 1 game last year...ONE GAME!!! The other difference between Collingwood and Essendon is that they won the premieship, while Collingwood came 15th. Another - we have not made the finals for SEVEN YEARS!! This is the difference.

[NICK THE PIE MAN]

hear hear Joel!

"Good 'Ol Collingwood Forever"

[Spidergirl]

yeh this week but wot about the week before and then with Carlton are we actually gonna get four points on the board or oh never mind just come close and lose by 3 points maybe?

[MagpieBoy]

I Would Have 2 Agree With Joel There ... and secondly .. It took essendon 2-3 years 2 get up there wif all there young players .. and i think when coll'wood will gain more exprience they will when come in the 8!!

REMEMBER: WE ARE THE BLACK AND WHITE ARMY AND WE SAY GO PIES!!

[Hiya-and-Higher]

It's not that you lose its how you lose.

We were 5 goals off the pace last year. This year we are 2 goals off the pace. Most of these boys have only been playing SERIOUS football for 2 years or so. In cricket it takes those with rare talent, several years to become a world class test player. In football it takes at least that long to become a premiership contender. You *have* to be happy with our guys and how they are doing...most have played less than 50 games of top level pressure football...a sport that is physically one of the most demanding games *in the world* when played at elite level. You have to adapt and learn to perform under that pressure for 4 quarters. What I'm happy about is that we are doing just that. We have the home&home series to weld a team, to iron to out the mistakes, to perfect the drills. Its pure pleasure to see those brilliant patches of play that turn up because you know that its just the start....they're going to be turning up again and again. There are 15 other clubs out there and *already* I know that 10 of them will have no hope of getting NEAR a premiership in the next few years...but our guys have got something...maybe its Eddie and MM...but there's something open ended there...we are not at our best...so that means we have got to get better right? It stands to reason

[Dantheman]

Nup, we are solid team this year. Collingwood would have beaten any other side in the competition with the way they played.

This match showed that the pies WILL get the 4 points regularly this year.

[AlfAndrews]

My view is that Collingwood is playing brilliantly this year ... but I am absolutely disgusted with the fact that we are 2-3, when we could have easily been 5-0. It's a very fine line between winning and losing.

As a former Collingwood coach, the great Jack Cahill, once said, the best thing about winning is ... it beats the shit out of losing.

I will not be a very happy camper if we lose to Carlton ... no matter how well we play.

**floreat pica**

[London Dave]

It's a good point to remember SpiderG, and agree with you Alf. We really have no idea how we sit until everyone has played everyone (rd15?). We are all pee'd off at getting done.
Here's one for you Alf, ....
complete the popular Vince Lombardi qoute:
"Winning isn't everything, .............................."
(he probably pinched it off Jock McHale)
The only time I've left a game when we got beat and been less than po'd is the 1990 game v Ess at VFL park on a Sunday. Walked out thinking we'd have no probs with that lot in the finals, which came to pass. Other "old timers" may recall it. Got jumped early, 5 or 6 down at 3/4 time and lost by a kick, but the 'mental' winners that day were the pies. Anyone who was there and at last ANZAC day prepared to contrast situations?

(One for the omen brigade: every time I've been out of London this season we have won. Next weekend Berlin, hence, goodbye Carlton!!!, and have to go to wedding in Sydney in Sept!!! )



[This message has been edited by London Dave (edited 28 April 2001).]

[ytry4]

Yeah..

I'm just wondering why Malthouse said, 'we didnt play the scoreboard today, we played the game plan'..? why would we not want to win? What exactly did he mean?

Go PIES 2001

[magpie24]

Agreed SpiderG we have got to start getting over the line,but i think without a doubt they want to play finals.

Alf after a performance like the one against ess you'd have to be confident in beating Carlton comfortably.
If we don't i will be absolutely SHATTERED.I shudder to think about the devestating effect it's going to have on everyone around me.

[Joel]

Dave - In contrast to last years game. Last year we played one good half of football and were absolutely trounced in the second half (I don't know why people keep saying it was a good game last year), this year we were competitive the whole day and should of/could of beaten the form team of the last 2-3 years. The atmosphere was alot better from where I was sitting...even though Collingwood supporters were outnumbered we were alot of the time louder and more parochial than the Essendon supporters.

[the prez]

Ytry4,I think Mm was inferring that throughout the course of the game,they stuck to the plan they had worked on and didn't get sucked into deviating from it whether we were 2 goals up or 2 goals down.No matter what the scoreboard said,we kept doing the things he wanted us to do right to the death and that will hold us in good stead for the future.

GO WOODS