Is it really that bad?

I have been doing the post-round post mortem today. I’m reading commentary from all the pundits, and comments from all our fans that paint a picture of doom and gloom.

I get it. I feel that soul-searching stress after a big loss like any footy fan. Nights like Friday really make you scratch your head about how it happened, if it will ever improve and what on earth we can do.

We start grasping for answers by pointing at recruitment flaws stretching ‘decades’. We look at our personnel critically, bemoan coaching methods and high performance failings, and the result is a very bleak view of our future hopes.

But I am not that worried. Teams don’t turn around overnight. (Insert idioms about pressure required to create diamonds, and good things taking time.)

I have distinct memories of a Hawthorn side bouncing up and down the ladder in the years before their dynasty opened up. I remember the #Richmondy hashtag when the Tigers were perennially in 9th place before their devastating best finally clicked. The same happened with Collingwood over the last few seasons - always so close, yet too far away. Until they weren’t. And 2023 Carlton showed us what a talented list can do once everyone starts to gel. Not before a few vicious media cycles and outraged fan calls (the EMBLEM).

Now I don’t know where our dynasty begins, or even if we have one in the offing, but I’m not that rattled by a thrashing or two because these are the hurtful moments that galvanise.

What is it that body builders say? You don’t go to the gym to build muscle, you go there to tear them up, destroy the fibres, and when you come home to rest, eat well, sleep… that’s when the growth begins to show.

So I’m trying to cheer myself up here. We’re going into some games and having our fibres ripped up. It hurts and looks ugly. But if the players still believe they are onto something good, and they are hopeful of gelling and creating something special for themselves, as a fan I can take comfort in that.

I don’t think our core group is bad at all. We’ve seen many special individual efforts. It will be a formidable and happy day when the whole team can have a big day out at the same time. That’s what it looks like when Collingwood, Carlton, Melbourne, Geelong are on song.

Or maybe I’m just a deluded one-eyed desperado. Equally possible!

Again, thank you for letting me vent my insecurities to you all. What great therapy haha 😅