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There's a great feeling around the club because there is a great sense of vindication. No point being a destination club, luring all these big names if its going to hold us back from a flag. Turns out building a club culture where everyone lives and breathes Geelong can bring the ultimate success...why stop now?
North = North Perth?
North Melbourne dynasty starts from 2025
Things have changed as far s Geelong is concerned. Players in the 80s and 90s wanted to live closer to the action in Melbourne and frequent the King street clubs, hang around the Saloon bar in South Yarra, accept the celebrity free invites to entertainment functions etc, but this was all pre-internet and cameras on phones snapping a pic of you having a beer or chatting up a bird etc. Players today want their privacy and Geelong is a good place to hide away from the prying eyes of the public and have every movement noted on some social media platform within minutes of arriving somewhere. Geelong used to be a place that could only attract players at the end of their career, but now top players want to go there and they actively pursue a way of getting there....The club has just made itself more accessible and attractive for that to happen.
LOL.
The obvious counter argument is that your team is really old. This isn't like 2012 or 2018 when you were 26 and a bit, you were almost 29 on average in the GF.
AFL teams by average age in 2023
Think you will find around these forums everybody marvelled at his ability to marshal the troops into battle and find ways to win and to always be influential in big moments to drag the team across the line. It's the Ducking and shrugging which rubbed people up the wrong way. The tangible he brought to the table is irreplaceable. Up there with guys like Voss and Hodge. We haven't found a great leader since he left. Your in the same boat now. You have Danger, Hawkins, Stewart, Smith etc just like we had Roughead, Gunston, Breust and Shiels who are good leaders in their own right but Selwood had a ruthless mindset where you die for the cause so to speak. On and Off the field I think there will be a difference in how you guys go about it.
In the years from 1983 to 2012 Richmond only made the finals twice in 1995 and 2001. You then finally made the finals in 2013, but it took you another four attempts to actually win a finals game and you then won three flags in four years.
You make a number of interesting points:
). However, getting there is your biggest problem.
Country zoning i think was introduced to hinder both Collingwoods and Melbournes ability to win flags, and it sure did work a treat there!You make a number of interesting points:
1. Richmond was a rabble run by imbeciles up until around 2007 when Gary March took over as President. Uniting the Board was first priority then building the muscle power (dollars) of the business next. To this end Benny Gale was appointed CEO and the club utilised its massive supporter base to eliminate the debt which burdened the club and then invest heavily in the football department.
You have to run before you can walk these days. Future premiers have had to endure a number of finals series failures before the ultimate success. As you pointed out Richmond made finals in 2013, 2014, and 2015 (2 of those years netted a 15/7 H&A record). So 2016 was the aberration. Even the Dogs played finals in 2015 prior to their 2016 success. However, in their case 2016 was the aberration too! I don't see neither the current Carlton or Hawthorn teams anywhere near this point.
Without going into specifics, if you really want to enlighten yourself (irrespective of it being about Richmond), get your hands on Konrad Marshall's book "Yellow & Black". Therein lies the transformation of this club. And if anyone thinks this club is going to sink into the mire of mediocrity it found itself in for 3 decades is in for a rude shock!
2. One thing Carlton and Hawthorn do have (as has Richmond) is they know how to win it when they make it. (Unlike the the club the poor, delusional, misguided soul who started this irrelevant thread supports
Take Carlton. Lets not dwell on the premierships Carlton bought (I'm being kind) in 1987 & 1995. Lets go back to the '60s, '70s & '80s. A bygone era when each club had its country and metropolitan zones which were complimented by recruiting from interstate and other VFL clubs. Who were Carlton's chief competitors in this market? Only 3 or 4 other clubs. Richmond, Collingwood, Hawthorn, and when the board and committee of North Melbourne put their balls on the line, them too. Other clubs like Fitzroy, South Melbourne, Footscray, etc. were never in the hunt.
These days Carlton is competing with 17 other clubs in an equal market. No quick fixes. Free Agency helps, but its not the sole answer.
As for Hawthorn. No-one can doubt they have been the most successful club of the modern era. 13 premierships in 60 years is some doing. Their success through the '70s and '80s was built similarly to Richmond and Carlton's. Their recent three-peat came off the back of some shrewd list management decisions (eg, Jonathon Hay - they raped NM!!), and some excellent luck at the draft table (particularly the 2004 draft).
Hawthorn also managed to boost their coffers by selling 4 home games to Tasmania, which is not going to last. And someone obviously bought a very large number of memberships himself.
We all saw where Hawthorn was in 1996 - only 5 years after they won 8 flags in 20 years!! FFS, where do you think Richmond, Carlton, Collingwood or Essendon would be if they won 8 flags in 20 years!!?? Certainly not looking for a suitor!!
I'm happy to bet against the Hawks getting anywhere near a flag this decade.
I love your passion Irish, and I hope for your sake we can renew our hostilities deep in September once again, but I wouldn't be holding my breath.
Not the squad, the team. Every team has a bottom 12 or so made up of players under 23 with little or no experience.
Geelong has dealt with the age question for over a decade and they will have a stack of players under 25 making their debut for the club or getting to 10 games in 2023...IMO the age of 28-30 in the modern era is the old 25-27. Players are fitter, better handled and can last longer these days. The game is not as brutal as it once was.
You're welcome to as much optimism as you like I just don't share it for your medium term.
