First, let me say that I was disappointed with the loss on Friday night, yet I am not gutted, angry, furious, etc., as some are. The only thing I am disappointed in is the reaction some fans are spouting on social media, when the fact is that we have lost two games against top sides. But let’s step backwards for a moment.
This blog focuses not on players, coaches, etc., but on the game as a whole. It is how I see it. If some want to have a view about players or coaches, there are plenty of other blogs, views etc., that deal with that.
We have lost two games (I’m not including the Adelaide game), where the opponents were both Premiership teams from 2022 and 2023. We didn’t get thrashed, we lost, and at times, it was a loss that was our doing. However, we are in Round 8, and based on what transpired last season, what matters is not how well you do now but how well you do after the Bye Round.
Make no mistake, solidifying a team in the top 8, anywhere before the Bye Round, is enormous and can make the difference to the run towards the Finals. Yet, with each brick wall the team comes up against, there will be a chance to knock that down slowly. And I think that this season, that is precisely what we are doing. Coming out full gung-ho from the start for a team that for the past has been languishing at the bottom does not enable that team to slowly grow, become better and stronger, where in the long-term of a season, this will enable players and teams to be stronger, more resilient and develop a stamina that will take them into the Finals. This is what the club must focus on.
Right now, as the ladder stands, we are sitting at the bottom of the Top 8. For some, that is catastrophic. For me, this is not. Given the season’s length and where the club sits right now in terms of what it wants to achieve, our season is not looking that bad. Sure, there is room for improvement, especially in our backline, but again, growth, maturity and learning from errors will make the team stronger and better.
We are not the team we were years ago when pressurised games resulted in thrashings. Sure, we need to focus on some aspects of the game, but we are getting there, and with each and every game, win or lose, the club will make strides toward eventual success. It might not happen at a speed that we want, but it will happen.
This season’s competition is closer than it has been for a while, making for a better game. After the Bye Round, it will separate the ones that are capable and the ones that are not. Carlton has shown, as displayed in season 2023, that you should not count them out now or do so at your peril. Because in the lyrics of the song St. Elmo’s Fire, ‘But maybe sometime if you feel the pain, You’ll find you’re all alone, everything has changed, Play the game, you know you can’t quit until it’s won, Soldier on, only you can do what must be done.’ I do not think that the club is going to quit until the success that it seeks is achieved. We have hit a roadblock, a snag, a detour, call it what you may, but in the end, we will be back on the right track. This I believe!
#GOBLUES!
SPORTZ 