TOY STORY
Or to put it another way……
BOTTOMS UP!
I have a confession to make.
I have a good friend who is a Hawthorn supporter.
There. I feel better now that this dirty secret is out in the open.
No, he doesn’t wear cardigans.
No, he doesn’t insist on bringing soup in a thermos to the footy.
No, he doesn’t drive an orange ’88 Volvo or a clapped out Renault with a Greenpeace bumper sticker that burns more oil than Terry Wallace on the Portsea back beach.
Yes, he is an accountant.
But most importantly of all he is a good bloke who does all my tax rorti ……. errrr ……… well, like a weekend in Adelaide, we’d better not go there.
Anyhoo, he is a very good sport and as such continues to go watch Hawthorn play.
Sadly for him, pain and suffering are not tax deductible (and neither is playing home games off shore a tax haven).
I put it to him during the first quarter of Fridee night’s game that his Hawks might actually be playing so poorly on purpose so as to keep that hideous brown and yellow jacket that Kennett minces around in kept safely tucked away in mothballs.
Exasperated, he complained that his Hawks couldn’t handle a football let alone a mothball.
Which, whilst giving way to my right before proceeding with caution, brings me to my point in a roundabout way.
Back when St. Kilda made it fashionable to be really, really bad.
(And who could forget Grant Thomas turning up to play against the Woods with an eighteen man backline?)
It was professed that this was the ‘go’. In order to be really really good you had to be really really bad for a number of years and stockpile high draft picks.
For the record I’m no nudist. I definitely don’t believe in the concept of ‘bottoming out’.
I do however firmly believe in tanking bad seasons where finals are out of the question in order to top up on ‘class’. I understand, like the AWB, this goes against the grain of professional competition blah, blah, blah ……. And it’s not the point I really want to make.
The point being: what supporter in their right mind would want to spend five or more years down the bottom of the ladder watching his or her side lose, whilst clutching desperately to the empty dream that this will somehow turn their side into premiers? As much as we despise them at least Carlton supporters know their side is genuinely rubbish!
I ask this question ‘cos two years ago my pen pushing friend was quite happily touting this ‘unofficial’ company line about his Hawks – “We’ve rebuilt from the bottom up to ensure premiership success. Short term pain for long term gain”.
Sure they’ve turned their list over.
Sure they dumped some big names in exchange for draft picks thus ensuring short term mediocrity.
Sure they’ve got some great young talent on the books.
But who hasn’t?!?!?
And where is the bloody improvement?
Where is the gain?
Their current best forward option clearly plays at the Kangaroos.
Their second best forward option and part time charade player Mark Williams, can no longer get a game.
They passed on Dicky Tambling to take another tall.
Which is all well and good. But you have to wonder just exactly how much validity the notion of a group of young talented kids all coming through together has when EVERY club now uses the draft (for the most part) wisely, and by and large has talented young kids coming through together.
Quite frankly they’ve been sold a pup.
Not the players they’ve drafted but the notion that ‘bottoming out’ will turn their fortunes around. Five years in the wilderness is far too long to wait holding on to a belief built more on hope than fact when every club is drafting quality young talent each year.
Franklin & Roughead look very good. But so does Travis Cloke.
Sammy Mitchell goes alright. But I’ll take Didak thanks.
Hodgey is a gun. Big call I know, but I reckon Heathy Shaw just might have some talent also. With Sparky, Pendles, Maxi, O’Brien, Egan, Swanny all pushing their way into senior ranks I actually think the notion of ‘bottoming out’ is a bigger myth.
No thanks. ’Bottoming out’ is not for me.
Two crap years after two Grand Finals was hard enough to take. Five barren years with no immediate improvement in sight would do my head in quicker than a blown gasket on a red motor.
Like Mel Gibson, Collingwood have refreshed and are already back in the fast lane.
The Hawks just can’t get that orange Volvo started!
Please Note: the views expressed in the above article are solely the opinion of the author and do not reflect the opinions of the Collingwood Football Club or those employees of the Club. The Collingwood Football Club would like to acknowledge the tireless work of those supporters who contribute to collingwoodfc.com.au.
