Yes, we turned it over too much last night. Yes, we should have won when we were, what, 20 points up with 10 minutes to go. Yes, we have blown two close games interstate by very close margins. Not great.
But West Coast played well last night. They took every chance we gave them and slotted goals, barely missing.
We played West Coast at their home ground where home ground advantage is huge. They slotted a ridiculous number of difficult shots on goal, barely missed even from 40 out near the boundary. They played well, and we only just lost.
The game has changed and not to our benefit, quite the opposite. We are adjusting but that takes time and there were periods of the game last night where it did look more like a Richmond game and we were on top. Fix up some silly turnovers and we win that one by a decent margin.
Will be very difficult with genuinely good teams rising. Melbourne are the real deal, they fixed up their defence after 2018 which was their main weakness and they are a real shot. Geelong? Time to get real here - Geelong made a PF in 2019 and were ahead at half time, they then made a GF in 2020 and were ahead at half time. Add in some quality players, now with 2 potent forwards, and what do you reckon? Of course they're contenders and so they should be, they went damned close last year, weren't far off the year before and have strengthened. Geelong's game plan worked before the rule changes, it still works and they have made a few tweaks to move the ball faster, will be hard to beat.
We have shown our football stands up in finals, we clearly should make finals, maybe not top 4, but we'll be there. It will be difficult this year, but not impossible. But we do have young players coming through and a good draft hand. Maybe we don't get 3 in a row, but the premiership window is still open and the opportunity to keep it open for a sustained period is there.
DS