Be careful for what you wish for so they say. Why? Because you might just get it! Well I got I wished for last year and wouldn’t change it but there is no doubt, the Cats winning the flag last year has changed me.

Before last year, I was hungry, I was desperate, I was hopeful but I also was awash with doubt, I was probably like so many other supporters of clubs that have been in that vast desert of success, the land where everyone thinks of the water but there is none to be had. That precious water preoccupied my mind while all the while I had that gritty, grindy “sand of failure” in my shoes, my eyes and my hair. It was a perpetual reminder that never left me. I was in a desert and while I may think of water, hope to find it after a while you start to doubt finding that beautiful oasis.

Look at the Dogs this year they have been fantastic but ask a Bulldogs supporter if he thinks his team will win the lot this year and you will probably get an answer that many, including myself would have espoused last year. “Not sure, one game at a time, its along year, lets just wait and see….” All the usual dribble that comes out of the mouth of a person that has seen very little success from the team they follow. They hope to win but they really doubt it will happen and why wouldn’t they, history has taught them to prepare for disappointment.

Now here we are cruising 10 and 1, probably our best start to year for decades and yet I feel no immediate sense of excitement. For me now it’s very much so what. For me now, winning is not something to be doubted it, its something to be expected. To me now it’s sort of like the season is only the soup before the main meal and because I expect to have big feed I’m not going to be filling up on the entrée.

It makes me think of the end of the year and it might be greedy but I want more. Sure we had success last year and after such long time without a flag it was a unique win but that was last year and now I want another and this time it will be different. Because of last year it will be experienced with different mindset, I now barrack for club who others know are winners and just as importantly I know they are winners. I want more because I know what the water tastes like but I also know that sand feels like and I know an oasis comes along very rarely and so now is the time drink. Now’s  the time to be greedy and drink like there’s no tomorrow.

With the changes that are coming, the new teams, the draft changes who can tell when our next era will be. Its now our time, time to win, time to add to our stats, time make our club the one with the imposing record and time to make our players the envy of all the others. Its our time, its time to be the club that all would want to be, a club that wins a flag when they have a list players that should win.  

Geelong v North Melbourne, Telstra Dome, Friday 6 June, 7:40pm

We expect too much. Or so says Mark Thompson of Geelong Football Club fans.

“Our supporters and our coaches and the players have to lower expectations,” Thomson said.

This kind of attitude from a team that has prided itself on mental strength and stability is both strange and disconcerting.

You will recall that a couple of weeks back the captain and coach delivered similar sentiments in the lead up to and aftermath of the Collingwood game.

To me, it suggests that they are feeling some pressure, whether real or inferred. It’s interesting that the statements they are making suggest that they are hearing some level of discontent from supporters. If that’s the case, Harley and Thompson need to make a few realisations.

Firstly, the reigning premiership captain and coach should not be concerning themselves with what the nuff-nuffs in the street (or on blogs or fora) have to say about the team’s performance. These are professionals at the peak of their sport and should be experienced and battle-hardened enough to know this.

Secondly, any criticism or discontent should be taken for what it’s worth. Supporters are not unhappy with the nine wins and one loss; any discontent is due to the way the team has performed throughout its games this season.

It’s true, after being blessed with such a sublime 2007, supporters do expect something that resembles the kind of football that brought home the flag. But in many respects, this is not unreasonable. Personnel have not changed in any significant way and a great proportion of the list is at an age where improvement can reasonably be expected. Moreover, criticism of the side this year is seeded in the effort and application to the task that the team has lacked for large portions of games. This has had nought to do with “being the hunted” or having had other teams work out ways to disassemble Geelong’s game plan.

Finally, coach and captain appear to recognise the sentiment that fans are expressing.

“The beauty of where we’re at is we realise that and we’ve got some work to do [and] there’s some improvement there in our game, which gives us something to strive for and that’s what we’re trying to do,” Thompson said.

Harley, admitted that “We have all got room to improve.”

And that is all really that fans are saying. People know that Geelong haven’t been delivering their best football and any disquiet is simply a desire to see the team improve and get back to playing the football everyone knows the team is capable of.

So this week’s match presents an ideal test.

North Melbourne should be seething from the humiliating defeat that Geelong dealt it in the 2007 Qualifying final. The Roos were beaten up on the Gold Coast last week by the Lions after defeating a top 3 team the week before. And the injury toll is rising to critical levels, this week expanding to include crucial forward targets in Nathan Thompson and Corey Jones.
Geelong, on the other hand, welcomes back senior premiership stars in Cameron Mooney and Paul Chapman, a week after finding form against Carlton.

Geelong has a simply awesome record at the Telstra Dome. Since the beginning of the 2007 season, the Cats have kicked an average of 19 goals a game in winning their encounters there by an average of 62 points. The Cats have been a 34 point better team at the Dome than at the MCG and a 36 point better team there than at Skilled Stadium during this period.

North appear to have their hands full in this one, especially if they encounter a switched on Geelong.

Gary Ablett is in career best form and is making a mockery of the tagging jobs he has had assigned against him and Brady Rawlings has been no match for him in recent games.
Mooney’s welcome return could pose problems for the Roos who struggled to contain the Lions tall forwards last week. The Big Hairy Cat has 13 goals to his name in his past three matches against North Melbourne.

But perhaps most telling is North’s weakened attack which does not look capable of scoring 15 goals against the miserly Geelong defence. The Roos will rely on quick delivery and crumbs at the feet of the resting ruckman – McIntosh or Hale – for Harvey, Thomas and Campbell. Teams relying on makeshift structures have rarely troubled the Cats in recent history.

Geelong has the chance to take another step forward this week in the improvement about which Thompson and Harley have spoken. Worrying less about expectations and paying more attention to the task at hand will see a big win to Geelong.

Geelong by 45 points

The logic is apparently simple:

Geelong – reigning premiers; team comprising nine members of the All-Australian team and the coach of same; winner of 27 out of 28 matches between May 6, 2007 and May 17, 2008; and defeated in humiliating circumstances in Round 9 of 2008.

“This team will wipe the floor with Carlton this week.”

Or so seems to be the consensus of the punditry this week.

But how have the Cats historically performed following a hiding?

In 2004, Geelong experienced a horrific start to the season. After making the NAB Cup against St Kilda, the ledger stood at 0-3 after the first three rounds. After a pre-season that started so promisingly, the season proper had quickly gone well off the rails. Those first three matches included two big losses to St Kilda and Carlton. But history shows that Geelong went on to win 15 of its next 19 games to finish 4th on the ladder; making a Preliminary Final in the process.

For that reason, the first couple of rounds of 2004 can be seen as an aberration and so a look at the record in the period since Round 3 of that year proves telling.

During this period, Geelong has suffered seven losses of 50 points or more.

In the weeks directly following those thrashings (only six matches because Geelong did not play the week following its belting at the hands of Hawthorn in Round 22, 2006), Geelong’s record shows four wins by an average of 52 points and two losses by an average of 11 points (including a one point loss to the Western Bulldogs in 2006).

That’s quite a record, and one that should give supporters some confidence this week.

Coincidentally, one of Geelong’s big rebound wins was a hefty win against Carlton following a big loss to Adelaide in 2006.

In fact, Carlton has not scored a win against Geelong since that fateful day at Optus Oval in 2004. Before that, it was the infamous Milburn-Silvagni game in 2001. In their last four encounters, Geelong has demolished Carlton by an average of 11 goals.

At the selection table, Geelong welcomes back number one big man Brad Ottens. On one view, Geelong has done well to be 8-1 without any input from Ottens and relying wholly on the inexperienced combinations of Blake and West or Mumford. While Ottens is unlikely to have a large instant impact, he restores some balance to the line-up and adds another option up forward while resting.

Carlton loses Waite to suspension but welcome back Thornton.

One gets the feeling that the result of this match is in Geelong’s hands. Carlton has been vocal in the media this week about replicating Collingwood’s tackling performance. But if beating this Geelong outfit was as simple as upping your tackling rate you can’t help but feel someone would have worked it out before Geelong destroyed all comers on its way to the 2007 Premiership and winning the first eight games of 2008.

The truth is, it takes three key things to beat Geelong: an effective strategy to choke Geelong’s midfield; the courage and tactical nous to allow fast ball movement out of defence and into attack; and the right personnel.

Carlton are not convincing on any of these counts.

Only four teams have conceded more points than Carlton so far this season. Three of them occupy the bottom three positions on the ladder. A serious question mark exists over their ability to lock down a side.

Going the other way, they look more impressive. With midfield delivery from Judd, Murphy and Stevens, they have the midfield firepower to generate a big score if things click. Fevola is a marvellous full forward when on song. This combination has the potential to make things interesting for most sides.

But Geelong has answers. Stevens struggles against Ling and Carlton will have to play defensively against at least some of Ablett, Bartel and Corey. With Judd reportedly struggling with a groin injury, the midfield battle looks slanted the Cats way before the ball is even bounced.

With that in mind and the determination that Geelong should find following last weeks catastrophe, Geelong look well placed to put on a show in this one. Expect Carlton to stay with the Cats early before the game opens up into a Geelong dominated goal feast.

Geelong by 66 points

Because that’s the way I feel about the loss to Collingwood. Allow me to explain…

The utter despair and self destruction that engulfs me after a Geelong hiding hasn’t eventuated this time. Somehow, this experience has been different.

For one thing, it took me about half of the game to finally concede that we were getting flogged and that we were going to lose.

I attended the match with a mate who barracks for Brisbane and had come along anticipating a good match. As the margin stretched to four goals he asked whether I was worried yet. I genuinely wasn’t. Geelong had delivered slow starts in almost all of their eight straight wins so far this season.

“I will if it gets out to six goals,” I said calmly.

In less time than it would take for Doug Hawkins to say “Simon Prestigiacomo”, the margin effortlessly blew past six goals, and out to 51 points at half time.

As we stood in the MCC bar at half time clutching our overpriced plastic cups of beer, I wasn’t distraught; I was a little bit pleased. Geelong had played dreadfully for an entire half, they were the best part of nine goals down and there was almost no chance that they could win the match. Yet the dominant emotion in me was positive.

I think it was relief.

Don’t get me wrong, I would have preferred that we were 51 points up. That would have shown to me that we were switched on and had successfully overcome a team that had thrown everything at us. That would have indicated that our form was 2007-esque and we all know how that ended up.

But a win would have continued to mask some issues and, in the long run, I can see benefit in this as a wake-up call.

Being on top of the ladder after eight rounds, undefeated, after playing the way Geelong has this season is not, in my mind, a good thing. Yes, you will have those people who say that it’s a great thing because we will only get better with key players to return and fitness and form to be found. But clearly, as evidenced on Friday night, things can and did get worse before (hopefully) they will get better.

So what I see is an opportunity. I think this loss will wake everyone up. The club needed to know that they weren’t going to be able to cruise through 2008 in second gear, shifting into third to defeat teams as they pleased. The club needed to acknowledge that they had areas of the game they needed to work on. The players needed to know that if they put in half-hearted efforts, even against teams with balanced win-loss ledgers, four points could easily slip away.

To me, the comments last week by the captain and coach to the effect of “get off our backs, we’re undefeated don’t you know?” where not a good sign. Whether they indicated complacency or preciousness, it didn’t sound good.

The criticism of the team so far this year has come because the footy public know Geelong can produce better. They know that what we have seen so far isn’t the real Geelong.

This loss might be just what it takes to get the club to wake up to this. If it is, we will look back at this point of the season as a turning of the tide in the Premiership defence and my relief at losing will be well-founded.

Some of my earliest memories of attending the footy involve Geelong playing Collingwood.

In 1988, my old man and his comrades took me to my first game of footy. We stood in the outer at Kardinia Park under the old scoreboard next to the then Hickey Stand. I sat on my dad’s shoulders so I could see the game. In hindsight, it didn’t help, as I can’t recall a single passage of play. I’m pretty sure Michael Turner was still running round in those days though. Geelong were flogged and so was my introduction to the rivalry.

The next year, fortunes reversed as Malcolm Blight took over the reigns. I was taken to my first ever match at the MCG. The match was thereafter remembered by Geelong fans for the passage of play where Ablett burst from the centre square and booted a goal from 60m plus, much to the delight of Sandy Roberts in commentary. Ablett slapped his legs after seeing the ball sail through as if to say, “Even I didn’t realise I was that good”. The old wooden seats and boards creaked and groaned under the strain as the Geelong crowd cheered on 23 goals.

We sat in the old Southern Stand and I just remember thinking how I had never seen so many people in the same place at the same time before. Nor had I ever experienced so much vocally produced noise. It’s one of the things about playing Collingwood – the atmosphere and excitement at the venue is second to none.

Fast forward to the mid-nineties. Dermott Brereton wore the black and white. He tormented us again as he did in 1989, kicking five. The Ablett legend grew as he kicked 6.1 from seven kicks at the other end. It wasn’t enough. If the best thing in the world is beating Collingwood by a point, there’s not much worse than going down by just four.

There’s just something about playing Collingwood that arouses a special interest.

I think it’s because everyone knows so many Collingwood supporters. A win guarantees a plethora of bragging rights until the next time the teams meet. A loss equals a barrage of insults. And we all know that copping it from Collingwood supporters is about as bad as it gets.

And Collingwood are media darlings because they sell papers and they make viewers and listeners switch on. Whoever is playing Collingwood can guarantee to experience saturated press coverage and hype in the lead up to the game. In modern times, it has been where Mick Malthouse has thrived. His bread and butter includes diverting attention from analysis of his team, none-too-subtle motivation of his players dressed up as criticism and building up the ego of the opposition in hope of knocking them down with a feather .

But who can blame him as he comes up against an undefeated Geelong?

All the talk about Geelong this season has focussed on their ability to do enough to win. They have produced brilliant bursts of football in which they have piled on half a game worth of goals in 10 minutes. It has been enough to get them over the line on every occasion this year.

The question is begged then, will it work this week?

The Pies will finish higher on the ladder than all but one or two of Geelong’s eight current scalps. They play a brand of football that doesn’t tend to suit Geelong’s preference for free-flowing, high scoring and risk taking.

Collingwood have played well against Geelong in recent times, falling just 16 points short in round 15 last year and by less than a kick in the Preliminary Final.

Yet there are question marks about what the Preliminary Final masked. An inside look into Geelong’s build up to that game, as provided in Scott Gullan’s The Mission, indicated that the Cats’ preparation for that game was probably the poorest they had experienced for in the entire season. The week off did more harm than good which showed in the track work the side produced in the days leading up. The consensus within the club is that Geelong played the game in their heads 100 times before they ran out onto the MCG, leaving them mentally exhausted when the time came to put thought into action.

But to put to much weight in that argument would be a disservice to Collingwood and their ingenious coach. They will need no extra motivation than the Preliminary Final loss to put in a special effort for this game.

Geelong, crucially minus Brad Ottens from its Preliminary Final side, will need to pull out more than 10 minutes of dominating footy to win this one. Thankfully, they haven’t shown any reason so far to doubt that they will.

Geelong by 21 points

Do you like the beach? Some love it. The wind in your hair, the sun on your cheek , the raw power of the rippling waves powering in from the blue horizon , what could be better than an endless summer? For me almost anything!

I hate the beach. Well hate is a bit strong, but while some feel a pleasant warm zephyr on their face, I’m only ever reminded of being sunburnt to the colour of a lobster. Going to a beach when it’s hot to me is insane, its like asking for pain, its like riding a motor bike in shorts, its just asking for it.

I wonder if the boys down at Catland are starting to realize the draw back to the endless summers , living life under the glare of a burning sun. Of course I’m not just talking about the heat of the sun but the heat, the mighty strong burning heat form the eyes of the media the public and from the other footy clubs that envy what they have achived.

Every week, every side wants to show how much they have improved, how they have recruited some good young kids , how they are legit chances and one of the better ways to do it is to play well against the reigning Premier. Freo the other night showed the sort of form the usually reserve for only West Coast. They frankly have been “rubbish” this year yet with that performance some in the media claimed them to be legit chances this year.

Of course attention on the sunny beach isn’t so bad when your feeling on top of your game. Its always good fun kicking sand in the nerds face ,flexing your muscles , strutting your guns and getting the attention and adulation of all the beach Barbies. Not as much fun if your feeling a bit crook or if you’re a bit of your tucker , not as much fun if every dude with a tan wants your bit of beach and wants to steal your girl. 

The boys down at KP look a little off their best at the moment. They’re getting the job done , they’re  playing with key guys out and it appears a couple guys may be just carrying an injury or two. I mean we all knew that 07 was just a very unique year, with the lack of injuries, our coming of age, our unity and strength meanwhile the major opposition to our success had plenty if not all these factors to cope with. Now in 08, the Hawks, the Dogs, the Crows all look the goods and we are winning but are doing it in spurts. In spurts, yes but we are winning and the season is still young.

Maybe, just maybe its not so bad to let the Dogs and the Hawks take some of the Sun. We are still putting games into young bloods and have plenty of time to really rev up our engine. We have a heap of unrealized upside on our list and I’m not so sure the all the others can say that. I look at how we are playing and how I think we can play and think we better just “Slip Slop Slap” and just get used to the heat it cause I don’t see the summer sun getting cooler any time soon.

Unlike me at the beach , we are in the business of trying to be in the sun .The sun of success , will always lead to the heat of attention. We must want the sun or we will never be happy with its heat. Surely this was Nathan’s issue , if ever there was a kid who had seen the negative side of the sun , he was it.He didn’t like the sun at all , he was the son that didn’t like the sun. However unlike Nathan several of our  young blokes look totally at home in the hottest heat.

Selwood looks like he’d be ice cool in an oven. Has there ever been a kid like Selwood who can play inside, play outside , play as a headsup , smart outsider or a grit your teeth , bang the drum insider? Yes of course but at his age? Without being irreverent , his performance against Freo was just perfect for an Anzac Day clash. Ablett was being physically abused, Bartel was down on form , Blake was coming up short. Our backs were against the wall and that’s when Selwood came to the party. I’m sure the diggers of days gone by would have seen in him traits that they themselves showed in far more deadly circumstances.

Hawkins too doesn’t look to be an icy pole that will melt in the summer heat. That smiling boy has a real nasty streak and I pity the fool that one day pushes him just a little bit too much. Tom needs to work on his kicking but apart from that he is looking like a big addition to our structure. The strength he showed to mark the ball in the square was just huge , but to do it when we needed it was the sign of a match winner.

So sure the sun is out and we are the center of attention but maybe its right that it should be so. We are winning without our two Grand Final Ruckmen , a key forward and our All Australian CHB. We are winning when our Brownlow medallist is down on form and we wining when both our key forwards are missing more set shots than they should. I really hope the boys like the heat of attention cause when we start playing well , watch out. Think its hot now? When we hit form with a fit full list it’s going to be like a Total Fire Ban Day in the middle of Summer and in footy terms that’s the way I want it.

Port Adelaide v Geelong
AAMI Stadium
8:45pm, Friday 20 March

Teams

GEELONG
B: Tom Harley, Matthew Scarlett, Josh Hunt
HB: Darren Milburn, Andrew Mackie, Corey Enright
C: Cameron Ling, Joel Selwood, Jimmy Bartel
HF: Steve Johnson, Cameron Mooney, Paul Chapman
F: Ryan Gamble, Tom Hawkins, Mathew Stokes
Foll: Mark Blake, Gary Ablett, Joel Corey
I/C: Trent West, Shannon Byrnes, James Kelly, Kane Tenace
EMG: Harry Taylor, David Johnson, Brent Prismall

New: Trent West (Gippsland Under-18)

PORT ADELAIDE
B: Michael Pettigrew, Alipate Carlile, Jacob Surjan
HB: Peter Burgoyne, Toby Thurstans, Domenic Cassisi
C: Travis Boak, Chad Cornes, Kane Cornes
HF: David Rodan, Justin Westhoff, Danyle Pearce
F: Daniel Motlop, Warren Tredrea, Brett Ebert
Foll: Brendon Lade, Steven Salopek, Shaun Burgoyne
I/C: Dean Brogan, Tom Logan, Matthew Thomas, Paul Stewart
EMG: Greg Bentley, Nick Lower, Fabian DeLuca

New: Paul Stewart (Woodville-West Torrens)

Umpires

Donlon, Rosebury, Avon

Past five

GF 2007 Geelong 24.19 (163) d Port Adelaide 6.8 (44) MCG
R21 2007 Port Adelaide 16.10 (106) d Geelong 15.11 (101) Skilled Stadium
R9 2007 Geelong 16.20 (116) d Port Adelaide 8.12 (60) AAMI Stadium
R15 2006 Geelong 9.14 (68) d Port Adelaide 8.10 (58) Skilled Stadium
R16 2005 Geelong 18.18 (126) d Port Adelaide 7.5 (47) Skilled Stadium

Betting

Geelong $1.60, Port Adelaide $2.30
_________________________________
This game is worth so much more than four points.

A Grand Final humiliation means that Port will be jumping out of their skin to regain some respect. Geelong, meanwhile, will waste no time digging at the mental scars of their creation; another win against Port would build a serious psychological barrier between them and a potential Premiership threat.

At the selection table, Geelong has almost a quarter of its Grand Final team absent. Premiership heroes King (St Kilda), Nathan Ablett (pondering the meaning of life) Ottens (ankle), Rooke (calf) and Wojcinski (finger) will all be missing and so the match presents the real first test for quite some time of Geelong’s famed depth.

Mark Blake gets his chance to prove that his Grand Final omission was a mistake. Trent West debuts after solid pre-season ruck form. Tom Hawkins will slip into the void left by Nathan Ablett. Ryan Gamble has been rewarded for his lively work up forward over summer and Kane Tenace has yet another opportunity to carve out his niche.

On Port’s side of things, the medical room looks much more sparse with Michael Wilson being the only forced absentee.

The absence of Brad Ottens draws immediate concern about the ability of Blake and West to combat Lade and Brogan. After all, the ill-famed decision to omit Blake and include Steven King was based on the premise that the bigger bodies of Port’s ruckmen would pose problems for Blake.

But the desire by Blake to silence his doubters will be strong. He is still on the steep curve of improvement that young ruckmen experience at his age, 22. Criticisms of his game in the past have centred around his competitive ability at around the ground contests and, at times, his foot skills. There is little doubt he would have spent a large chunk of his summer rectifying this.

The other thing driving Blake now is what he sees in his rear-view mirror – Trent West. In some ways West poses a more significant threat to Blake than King did in 2007. West, at 198cm and 90kg, moves well across the ground and has excellent skills below his knees for a player of his size. West excelled at VFL level last season, averaging 23 hitouts and 13 possessions a game. Blake will need to be at his best, and on the improve, to hold out the pressure that West will exert in 2008.

Lade and Brogan will provide a serious headache for Geelong, particularly around the stoppages in Port’s forward line. The Burgoynes, Motlop and Rodan are a handful at the best of times. But on the receiving end of first-class service from their ruck division, they will be even more potent.

Perhaps one other question mark over the Cats will be their ability to cover the loss of Nathan Ablett. At times in 2007, the younger Ablett looked lost and lacking in motivation – such signs would prove to be telling. Tom Hawkins – all 197cm and 105kg of him – will step into the role. One gets the feeling that the Cats would have wanted to ease him in through another half season in the VFL. Without that luxury though, we’ll get to see a sink or swim experiment play out with a precocious young talent.

The question will be whether Geelong can plug the holes and get enough ball through the midfield to counter a hungry and determined Port team. Geelong’s midfield looks imposing and on paper, the selected side minus five premierships stars barely looks weaker.

Ordinarily, the ruck advantage alone wouldn’t be enough to tip the balance in favour of a side that, on one view, starts 119 points behind. But Port are a quality side and a proud club. They have quality all over the ground – a strong forward six, a speedy and skilful midfield and a dependable, if lacking in stars, defence.

On this occasion, the revenge factor and Ottens absence just tip the scales in favour of the Power.

Port by 13 points.

He we are, on the cusp of a new year. Played a couple games. Showed enough to scare some clubs and to show we have some pretty handy young talent. So the real question for 2008 is what’s this year going to be like for us. Will we continue to be a kick A side or will we float like a drug addled yoyo. Will we still be a hungry club and be willing to do what must be done or will we pontificate, basking in the glory of our flag and the knowledge of what we have achieved.

I remember pre-season last year, thinking that for us to improve we needed to invoke a new mental approach, to create a tougher mind set. I thought we needed to set our sights high, in fact, extremely high, my target was on Zero Error. The reasoning was simply to make it clear that mediocre efforts were not acceptable, “just” getting the job done was to be unacceptable. We needed to instil a culture of harsh self judgement and for me aiming for zero error was the way to do it. The Cats approached it slightly differently but their honest public assessments by their piers did the trick. All players raised the bar and our excellent performance thru the season and our amazing performance in the GF was due in some part to these expectations.

So what do we do this year to keep our standard up?

This year our task is a mental problem of a different flavour. The issue is how we cope with being the Premier and all it encompasses. How do we cope with the pressure of being at the top of the mountain and being “the hunted”? Conversely how we handle the easing of pressure due to our success now that we have finally achieved what we have all dreamed about.

When we won the flag last year, we didn’t only break the drought for GFC, we changed the paradigm for every club in the league. The two previous flags were won in great contests but dour struggles. When I think on Swans V WC , it’s the negative flooding , the close checking and the non scoring that I first think of., Sure they produced tight , enthralling contests and close finishes but for me it was not much more than 36 highly tuned fit athletes playing jungle ball. To me our game was made great with contests, not just close scores. The best games, the most entertaining games where created when the players were willing to take risks and where they were willing to trust their fellow players to win the ball in a one on one contest. They would focus on trying to maintain your skills while playing with pace, rather than reducing the speed of play, to ensure certainty of possession. The method that Roos and Worsfold always seemed to favour was to keep the ball under control. Control is their mantra and tempo is their creed. “They can not score if we have it” and so came forth the game of keepings off. The critics might have said its rubbish football but when this methodology actually gained a premiership, others noticed and followed. Of course when nearly every team is attempting play this style, the general level of interesting football played dissipated. The comp suffered.

To be fair a few teams preferred to stride a different road. They road they chose was to break the flood by moving the football as quick as they could. Geelong though did this the best, playing at a pace that ensured negating tactics were hard to employ but also playing a dynamic, breath taking football. Their list was primed and ready to roar and roar they did. Their style was tagged by some as Tsunami football, rather ironic really to think a Tsunami was used to break a flood. And by winning a flag by play this high paced game, they have swung the pendulum. No longer is the attacking football style looked upon as the losing model and I’m sure this year will see quite a few teams try to duplicate us. The thing is its easy to run and gun , Its another to have the footy smarts to be able to use the footy at a rushed pace and be efficient. It will be interesting to see how the athletes cope with less time to make the football decisions.

For us we still must keep doing what we are the best at while blending in 3 to 4 new guys. We must continue to be what Geelong has be know for. The club that put skill on display and make the footy worth watching. Do this and continue to match the skills with hard nosed play hard football and we will have other club wondering how to beat us , and that sounds good to me.

Words still don’t do it justice.

Well , we have done it. I have often dreamed of it but I was unsure that I would ever live to see it. As I’m unlikely to get a chance to personally say this , I’d like to say “Thank You” here to all involved in giving me this gift of a lifetime.

Thank You , Frank Costa , for coming on board when we were down and out. For lending your financial backing and you giving our club level headed mature leadership

Thank You , Brian Cook. For changing us from a provincial debt ridden basket case to a club with legitimate claims to being one of Victoria’s best.

Thank You , Stephen Welles. For you and you teams brilliant insights. Sure there have been misses but what we have running around on the grass is testimony to your hits.

Thank You Tom Harley , for stepping into the leadership spot. For of so long it was considered the deadman’s spot , and with your own injuries it would have been easy to pass up the task and concentrate on your own form. But, no , you did what was best for the team and the club. Then the speech , ‘WE ARE GEELONG” , you have encapsulated “us” in three words ,thank you, thank you!!

Thank You Paul Chapman , for having the balls to call a spade , a spade. To be willing to risk the negative attention , to risk the upset , because we were so close to going down the same old path for yet another year.

Thank You Steve Johnson , for having a look in the mirror and saying I could be better and then having the determination to do something about it.

Thank You GA and NA. To be willing to risk the public exposure of the footy media. To come to the club that they knew would multiply attention because it was the club of their father.

Thank You , Brad Ottens. for choosing Geelong. When others choose to avoid us ,you choose to embrace us. You might have once played at Richmond but now you a Geelong Premiership player , for ever.

Thank You , the whole team for raising your own level of performance and concentrating on the now rather that what has happened in the past or what might happen in the future.

and Thank You Mark Thompson. You sir , I apologise to. I thought you had run your race , I thought you had been given enough time , I thought your dedication had waned and I thought your leadership model was suspect. I was wrong.

**

All these guys and others have brought us here. You , me , us , we are now are followers of a Premiership team. I know its not our first Premiership but it feels like it. I feel like now I’m Premiership supporter. For too long we have all had this burden of crap that could always be thrown at us and now its not there. For the moment we are the “King of the Castle” and for once in my life , I really feel like I belong to a winning clan.

Of course as quick as the Sun goes up , it goes down. Not to short circuit the celebrations but the question is “What is this feeling going to do to our side?” There is talk about Dynasties and it is understandable but really its very premature. As most have noted , one of the most amazing things about our success this year is that we are basically the same side , in name , as the previous year. Now if you think about it , this means that the difference between #1 and #10 is conditioning and mindset. The willingness to sacrifice , the willingness to gain pain , the willingness to hurt to win , the willingness to do what ever you need to do to be the best you can be. That’s what we did this year, we went the extra mile , we did the extra weight, we did the extra session and here we are.After so many years of drought we have finally drunk from the “Well of Success” , and the most important question that remains “is our thirst quenched?”

We have the list , to not just win a years worth of success but to get our club to more Preliminaries , more GF’s and more Premierships. We have the chance to not only be the team that everyone was happy to see win but to be the team that everyone (bar us) will be happy to see the back of. We are on the cusp on perhaps a once in a life time cycle if all the people I’ve thanked above can remain dedicated, if they can maintain the same thirst for success. It might be selfish guys but I want more. I’ve tasted it , I’ve been to the well and tasted the pure clean liquid it holds. Rather than quench my thirst , its left me dry in the mouth , smiling from its purity , craving its sweetness , demanding more of its euphoric splendour.

So , guys enjoy your Mad Monday , drink the drink that you so hardly deserve but remember there is 15 teams that are right now planing your demise. Enjoy the “now” that you have earned but tomorrow will come very quickly and when it does you will have to re-focus what you want to achieve in your football career. You will have to decide if you will be happy 10 years time looking back at being a one time only Premiership player or perhaps wondering what could have happened if you didn’t want those extra $$. The old saying is “its harder to stay at the top than it is to get to the top”, I suppose for the first time in a long, long time the players , the club , everyone is about to find out if that’s true.