Our goal is to make the 8 RUBBISH!!! Aim for the TOP

[LostDog]

How many people here are fed up with just an appearance in the 8
I am 28 years old have followed the doggies all my life
and every year I have said this is gonna be our year, maybe next year and so on.
This by no means is certainly not a bash session just a reality check.
How many people laughed at Peter Schwab when he said we are going to win the Premiership (being Hawthorn) and we have one of the brains of the coaching world say "We are just looking at making the 8 maybe top 4"
I attended the Elimination final last year and was proud as punch thought you bewty we are finally gonna be there in that 1 day in september in 2007 so I paid up for a better membership even though I live inter-state i wanted to be a part of it.
I get a little annoyed that Rocket accepts second best and doesnt have the belief that our team is just as good as any given we have confidence. Because we definatley have the talent.
I cant accept we are 2,3,4,5 years away !!! Were Sydney thinking this at the start of season in 2005. Were North Melbourne thinking this in 2007
The reason we have no mongrel is because we accept second best and dont want the ultimate fealing.
I love the Dogs, I love donating my money to the club but I am fed up with JUST being in the AFL and JUST making the 8. I want to see a team I can be proud of again

[Topdog]

Top 8 is not good enough for me. I hate being a club that is just simply making up the numbers.

[LostDog]

Shinboners Spirit, The Bloods, House of pain, The lions den

what happend to the hard working spirit of the scragers,
The fight we showed to save our team.

I'm glad you agree TD
We cant accept this anymore

I think that our advertising should represent the fight that we have showed through out history, to make our boys be proud but angry we havent tasted more success.

Max Rooke stood up in the pre season at Geelong and said "I wanna be a premiership player"
and something snapped they all wanted it.

Sure we all set goals to be the best at what we do, but if your hungry enough you will get what you want by any means you can.

[GVGjr]

I don't mind aiming high, I really don't but it's only talk after all.
I'd much rather be given a realistic assessment from the coach about our chances in 2008 than a trumped up one just to get everyone hyped up.

I'd be very skeptical based on what I saw in 2007 if Eade came out and said we will will the big one. I'd much hear that we have a plan in place that that we land us in the top 6 if that is in anyway possible.
Perhaps we really just need to hear the facts rather than the fiction.

[Sockeye Salmon]

Ho hum.

Yada, yada, yada.

What this club needs is some good rhetoric.

[LostDog]

Agreed !!!!!

We need to get what ever we were eating at the end of '96

Perhaps winning the NAB Pre-Season Cup could be a starter

[GVGjr]

Agreed !!!!!

We need to get what ever we were eating at the end of '96

Perhaps winning the NAB Pre-Season Cup could be a starter

I have always thought that we should have a genuine crack at winning that however, it just never seems to be the priority because it's bloody hard to win both competitions.

[Dry Rot]

I don't want goals, I want a plan to build a side (getting the bits we're missing) that is a real chance at a flag against the best sides within a reasonable time frame.

I'd rather even miss the finals next season if it meant we learnt to play a style, get a structure happening etc which will enable that.

At the moment, we're not going to be a top 4 side next year. IIRC the '97 Dogs had a forward line and were hard at the ball.

[mjp]

All I wanted at the end of the year was to win a game/I mean a quarter/I mean, score a goal.

Everything is relative.

All I really want next year is to be able to go to the games each week with a reasonable expectation of victory, rather than praying we dont get barrelled.

[firstdogonthemoon]

Dear Mr LostDog,

Please dont take this the wrong way because I am not having a go at you. I am also not taking issue with the content of your post - this is because I think it is a valid point and worthy of discussion. I do however wish to draw attention, in a critically constructive manner to the tone and style of this thread.

When I saw it I thought to myself, "Hang on a minute Firsty, this thread is like one on BigFooty!". (Not that there is anything wrong with that.)

But....

One of the things we like about WOOF is that it is not like Big Footy - it is not full of, as Mr Sockey Salmon says, empty rhetoric.

It is not full of posts just like this one I am writing now, where people take each other to task for how they construct their sentences or how they spell surly as in surely (FFS). Because we dont have to, because we all conduct ourselves in a thorougly unBF manner. Which is lovely, and if people get out of line someone usually lets them know even though the rules are unspoken (except for this bit).

It is not always pointed out in such a pompous manner, but you get the idea. And not that there isnt a balance between a casual style and the seriousness and depth of discussion we get here because there is. But WOOF is all class, stripped of the gaudy and flatulent, it is a lean and throbbing football discussion machine. It is also a haven from dills who dont know that their bottoms are on fire.

Which is not to say this thread should not be counted as a valid contribution, merely that it is redolent of a particular style (BF) and that is enough to make me uncomfortable.

Dont get me wrong, I love BF, but I really dont want this to be like BF at all. We already have a BF and it is over at BF.

Am I a snob? Absolutely! This is a refined and serene board - it is the Melbourne Club not the Mona Castle. I come here to be surrounded by people who love the dogs and not a single other person. We have no trolls!

As I said, this is not a crack at you, it is more a celebration of this board and my fierce desire to keep it the way it is. On writing this I have come to realise how much I enjoy it.

[LostDoggy]

it is the Melbourne Club not the Mona Castle.
Is the Melbourne Club in Seddon as well?

[Bulldog Revolution]

I don't want goals, I want a plan to build a side (getting the bits we're missing) that is a real chance at a flag against the best sides within a reasonable time frame.

I'd rather even miss the finals next season if it meant we learnt to play a style, get a structure happening etc which will enable that.

At the moment, we're not going to be a top 4 side next year. IIRC the '97 Dogs had a forward line and were hard at the ball.

There clearly needs to be a plan, and the plan has to include a forward line structure that includes some potential key position goal kickers. And the plan has to reward the guys who do the scrapping, chasing, tackling and punish those who dont.

IMO we have enough players that we should be competitive and Top 8 is very achievable.

What we need above all else is HUNGER - because this group just isn't hungry enough

[bornadog]

How many people here are fed up with just an appearance in the 8

Some advice, don't believe what you read or what the coach tells the media. The coach needs to protect and help the club in the eyes of the members, sponsors, and public in general. Of course the club is striving for a premiership every year, but the coach has to be careful what he says in public, imagine if he told the truth, think about it.

[macca028]

Lost Dog is correct, Far to long have we accepted mediocrity as a club

[mjp]

Here we go again with the accepting mediocrity stuff.

[The Coon Dog]

Here we go again with the accepting mediocrity stuff.
It wears thin after a while.

[LostDoggy]

Well I have accepted mediocrity in all aspects of my life and suggest you all follow.
Everything that happens to me now is a bonus. Yippee!!!

[GVGjr]

Lost Dog is correct, Far to long have we accepted mediocrity as a club

Macca, I know what you are saying but who specifically do you mean? If it can't be linked to certain people then it's not much more than a convenient saying.
I'm pretty sure Smorgo, Rose and Eade don't accept it and I'm sure they are significantly determined to make sure the people that work and play for them don't as well.

We have been unsuccessful and no one can doubt that but I can't agree that it's linked to anyone accepting mediocrity especially the above mentioned trio.

[The Underdog]

Our family motto is "Dare to be Average" (Anyone know the latin translation? I'm after a cool tattoo)

[LostDoggy]

You have to be realistic about where we're going to be, I mean, fair enough, the Kangaroos transformed themselves from last year, but they didn't win a flag, did they? They're still a while away from winning the flag, but they're gaining experience in the process. Geelong, while not making the finals in 2006, played in prelims in 2005 and I think 2004, so many of their players already had the experience from then. Last year we had 15 players who were playing their first finals matches, no way were we going to get to the Grand Final with those sorts of numbers and from 8th place, but we gained experience and hopefully that will count in the future. Geelong, West Coast, Sydney, Port etc. have all shown that you need finals experience, and we don't have enough yet, so we have to be patient until they do and need to make consistent appearances in September before becoming serious contenders. Sure, they could make history and do something unbelieveable next year, but I'm sure I'm not alone in saying that in hindsight, 8th place would have been very nice this year..there's certainly nothing wrong with making the finals, no matter where you are, it's a lot better than coming 13th.

[MrMahatma]

I'd take a finals appearance next year. You have to be realistic. Could we make the 8? Yes, quite possibly. Could we make the 4? Doubtful. Could we win the flag, very very unlikely.

If my boss came out and told the whole company that our team was going to make double our sales next year that we did this year, I'd be pretty annoyed.

If he came to me and said, we want to do 25% more sales next year, 25% the year after, and 25% the year after that, and he was going to put a plan into place to reach that, then I'd be oK with it.

However, setting the 25% higher sales target doesn't mean he'd be happy with us missing target, or not doing his best to get his team to make 100% more sales.

[mjp]

Geelong, while not making the finals in 2006, played in prelims in 2005 and I think 2004, so many of their players already had the experience from then.

Another urban myth. Geelong lost to Sydney in Sydney in the second week of the finals - Sydney then beat St Kilda at the 'G the following week to make their way to the grand final...

The legend of the Geelong team pre- 2007 is just that - a legend. Sure, they were in winning position against Sydney, but they were a kick and a game vs the Saints, not just a kick - away from the GF. As for 2004, that year they got absolutely pantsed by Port Adelaide in the Elimination round (first week) of the finals series.

So, you might ask, why were so many people tipping them for big things in 2006? Because, I guess, they had played finals for a couple of years in a row and seemed to be the best hope amongst the Victorian sides - where, after all, most journo's/commentators are based.

Maybe I am being pedantic, but let's not let the truth get in the way of a good story...our club - between 2006 and 2007 - has played one less final than Geelong did between 2004-2005...Finals experience and all of that will not be what holds us back.

[Go_Dogs]

In 2004 they played in the Prelim against Brisbane who eventually lost to Port in the GF. In 05 they certainly didn't play a prelim though.

[LostDoggy]

Another urban myth. Geelong lost to Sydney in Sydney in the second week of the finals - Sydney then beat St Kilda at the 'G the following week to make their way to the grand final...

The legend of the Geelong team pre- 2007 is just that - a legend. Sure, they were in winning position against Sydney, but they were a kick and a game vs the Saints, not just a kick - away from the GF. As for 2004, that year they got absolutely pantsed by Port Adelaide in the Elimination round (first week) of the finals series.

So, you might ask, why were so many people tipping them for big things in 2006? Because, I guess, they had played finals for a couple of years in a row and seemed to be the best hope amongst the Victorian sides - where, after all, most journo's/commentators are based.

Maybe I am being pedantic, but let's not let the truth get in the way of a good story...our club - between 2006 and 2007 - has played one less final than Geelong did between 2004-2005...Finals experience and all of that will not be what holds us back.

Sorry, I confused Geelong with St Kilda with the 2005 pre-lim, but my point was that in those two years they made the finals, and gained experience, which we didn't get. Sorry about that.

[mjp]

In 2004 they played in the Prelim against Brisbane who eventually lost to Port in the GF. In 05 they certainly didn't play a prelim though.

Really? My memory is slipping...if so, my bad...sorry.

[Go_Dogs]

You were half right, Port did beat(thrash) them first week of the finals, but it wasn't elimination. Geelong beat the Bombers in the semi final, and then progressed to the prelim against the Lions.