Posted on April 24, 2008 | Category: Discussions
After the Collingwood debacle, we saw Terry Wallace make a very brave move, and drop dual best and fairest winner Joel Bowden from the senior side; and left him out for a second week after the win over Freo. And something suddenly clicked. We’ve played as a team for the past two weeks in a row: actually putting pressure on our opposition, tackling (we won the tackle count on Sunday for the first time in the past 16 games) and generally showing some pride in the jumper.
That’s the thing. In the same way as the Tigers capitulated last year to their worst loss ever after Darren Gaspar was shown the door - Terry made a very clear statement to our players, and our players responded. Players realised that they needed to earn their place, whether they be the captain or the second year rookie. It’s much too early to suggest that we’ve somehow turned the corner, and I’d be a fool to expect us not to get handed defeat by the rampaging Hawks this Sunday, but it’s so encouraging to see our players showing the kind of desperation and desire we’ve coveted for so long in other teams.
Will it last? Who knows. But if Wallace is willing to continue to make brave decisions, rather than rely on what has (or mostly hasn’t) worked in the past - we’ll be in for a much more exciting, and probably successful ride.
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