Murph spoke about it in his last diary entry - the need to get some wins early on the board next year to build some confidence. We started off 2006 in quite a positive fashion, beating the Dees and then close losses to the Dockers at Subiaco and the Swans.

Just wondering on anyone's thoughts, if we had managed to get over the line against both the Dockers and Swans and been 3-0, do you think the season would have realistically turned out a lot differently? Would that confidence and ability to win close games have impacted on our inability to close out close games later in the season (Richmond, Kangaroos, Collingwood etc).

Thoughts?

I believe that in those games we showed some real good attacking football. With the losses came the return of the heavy flood plan (circa 2002 and 2005), and that was the end of real progress and commitment to play for a win.

It seems to me that after that 3rd round, we were playing to avoid heavy losses. That was not a plan for developmet.

I think, had we won, we would have seen more of the potential of our players, and expedited their development too. We certainly would have won more games IMO, but overall I think losing those 2 games put us in a losing frame of mind. That's what happens when you've just come out of a season as a wooden spooner; we saw the return of our defeatist mentality.

Would Clarkson, Eade or Wallace have shown more faith in our kids, had they been coach? Would they have placed more focus on development by letting the kids take risks and learn from them? I do. That seems to be the theme discussed by journos when considering Thomas and his effect on StKilda as coach.

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

Well it certainly would have made for one of the more creative tanking efforts of recent years to only win one more game out of the next 19

When is next year's draw likely to be released?

Next year will be a disaster, make no mistake...
Nopt due to the players etc.

The inevitable will happene...we'll be ok in a few games and then we'll get pumped by a top 4 team.
This will bring out the "Pagan should never had been re-appointed crowd", the MC will be in "we can't afford to get pumped " mode, players will be in" I don't want to lose" mode (remeber Hughton against the dogs) and then it spirals downwards.

Unfortunately I can't see this being avoided next year and that's the true consequence of the dilly-dallying recently.

Make a decison and move on. We haven't done that so the "alternative decisions" will keep popping up like melanomas all over us......

Sorry, I'm not usually negative, but this is my read on it.
The positive we will have (fingers crossed) is letting kids get experience and game time...

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“Every single element of the Club has to be the best in the league, meticulously and methodically, and only by doing this will we be elite and challenge for number 17.”
Greg Lee