the GWS heist was so important for this club. like the away Port win in 2019, it had the air of a super culture bloom event that tends to set finals bound trains in motion.
culture bloom events are wins against the odds, wins without the usual stable of stars, wins where cohesion is found after months of dormancy. most importantly. culture bloom events usually feature unearthed talent. in this case, Riley Collier-Dawkins, he of sound tackling and positioning, indefatigable four quarter effort and sturdy, penetrative footskills, found he belongs. like a virgin realizing this sex caper isn't so scary after all.
two levels up from that, we found another prize bull in the midfield in the name of Balls Baker. two ten year midfielders (if Balls is played there) where we fretted there were none. Add Bolton and Graham and our dynasty looks perplexingly persistent for the rest of the competition.
make no mistake, we've been shithouse of late and still looked poor at times on Saturday night. our spread is static and stuttery, inviting trouble at every turn. our backline is weirdly out of sync (did a head coach quality assistant leave in the off-season?). our forward line has been made to look old and slow at times.
but you can see the template being minted a little bit more every week. we are clearly playing looser in the first halves, hanging tough and hoping we're thereabouts. but we are on the strangle in the second halves, punishing turnover in waves and pressing the ball into an airtight F50.
don't be deceived by the experts waxing lyrical about GWS. they were a team besieged for the vast majority of the second half. if only our forward line presented more aerial danger (enter CCJ) we would have won more comfortably I feel. then again, dimma is loathe to lose a runner to bring the big man in and i get that.
the best part of all this is the position we're in now. 5-4 with a free hit against Brisbane. don't care what anyone says, its a free hit and you can bet the club will be seeing it that way too. a chance to go 8-4 at the bye and with golden momentum. this team likes to get away, likes to shield ourselves in a warm bubble of comradeship and brotherhood.
what are the odds on friday night? we are a damned good show now that there's nothing to lose. brisbane are flaky and we rarely lose to a team twice in a row.
after the bye, against the Eagles, our ins are likely to be an entirely new, gilt-edged midfield. plus RCD and Balls Baker.
the fact that we've dropped in premiership betting, after our now-annual culture bloom win, speaks to the usual lack of true insight into how this great club operates.
culture bloom events are wins against the odds, wins without the usual stable of stars, wins where cohesion is found after months of dormancy. most importantly. culture bloom events usually feature unearthed talent. in this case, Riley Collier-Dawkins, he of sound tackling and positioning, indefatigable four quarter effort and sturdy, penetrative footskills, found he belongs. like a virgin realizing this sex caper isn't so scary after all.
two levels up from that, we found another prize bull in the midfield in the name of Balls Baker. two ten year midfielders (if Balls is played there) where we fretted there were none. Add Bolton and Graham and our dynasty looks perplexingly persistent for the rest of the competition.
make no mistake, we've been shithouse of late and still looked poor at times on Saturday night. our spread is static and stuttery, inviting trouble at every turn. our backline is weirdly out of sync (did a head coach quality assistant leave in the off-season?). our forward line has been made to look old and slow at times.
but you can see the template being minted a little bit more every week. we are clearly playing looser in the first halves, hanging tough and hoping we're thereabouts. but we are on the strangle in the second halves, punishing turnover in waves and pressing the ball into an airtight F50.
don't be deceived by the experts waxing lyrical about GWS. they were a team besieged for the vast majority of the second half. if only our forward line presented more aerial danger (enter CCJ) we would have won more comfortably I feel. then again, dimma is loathe to lose a runner to bring the big man in and i get that.
the best part of all this is the position we're in now. 5-4 with a free hit against Brisbane. don't care what anyone says, its a free hit and you can bet the club will be seeing it that way too. a chance to go 8-4 at the bye and with golden momentum. this team likes to get away, likes to shield ourselves in a warm bubble of comradeship and brotherhood.
what are the odds on friday night? we are a damned good show now that there's nothing to lose. brisbane are flaky and we rarely lose to a team twice in a row.
after the bye, against the Eagles, our ins are likely to be an entirely new, gilt-edged midfield. plus RCD and Balls Baker.
the fact that we've dropped in premiership betting, after our now-annual culture bloom win, speaks to the usual lack of true insight into how this great club operates.
