Dreamtime Could Be Nightmare

Posted on May 23, 2008 | Category: Discussions

This week’s match against Essendon stands as the most important game of the year, so far. Whereas in previous weeks losing by small margins was understandable whilst disappointing, a loss this week would represent a disaster for the club. We stand at a fork in the road: we can either play like we’ve been playing and win this match easily, or we can play like we’ve been playing and fail to close out games that we really should win.

Essendon are down, but they seem to be pretty darn angry about it. Demotions of stalwarts like Ramanauskus (could that posssibly be the right spelling?) and indications that Peverill and Johnson will have “limited” opportunities are likely to leave the Dons either in a place of desperation, or a place of hopelessness. The optimist in me sees similarities with Richmond “retiring” Gaspar after Round 5 last year (which preceded the 157 point thrashing by Geelong), but the pessimist sees the similarities with Bowden getting dropped and the Tiges rebounding against Freo.

And it’s the Dreamtime at the ‘G - which has seemed to bring out some real contests. Last time Richo had his jaw being held on by band-aids, still managed to kick 4 and was robbed of the winning goal by Mal Michael and the hands in the back rule. Not that we’re still bitter about that one. But the marquee “indigenous game” is likely to bring a big crowd, a decent atmosphere, and probably bring that “big-game” feel that Essendon are likely to be better accustomed to.

The Tiges need this win. A big win this week (or any kind of win), sets us off in the right direction for these next four games that each look winnable. A loss this week and we’re probably hoping that we can get all the ducks in a row to make a decent run at ninth.

» Filed Under Discussions

Tags:

• Darren Gaspar
• Dreamtime at the 'G
• Essendon

2 Responses to “Dreamtime Could Be Nightmare”

1. Matt Says:
   May 26th, 2008 at 1:38 am

   >We stand at a fork in the road: we can either play like we’ve been playing and win this match easily, or we can play like we’ve been playing and fail to close out games that we really should win.

   …and the answer is….both! I think we need to play not quite so well in the first half so the boys don’t go in for their oranges feeling pleased with themselves. Two weeks running we’ve not really shown up the first half of the 3rd quarter.

   Jake King’s in a bit of a hole at the mo - not running with it much, but taking the angry pills; so that’s OK - still love him.
   How good is Matty White?

2. The Wounded Tiger Says:
   May 26th, 2008 at 9:41 am

   Yeah, I actually thought that Jake played a good game. There were about 3 or 4 separate instances where his actions directly prevented a goal. He makes mistakes, but he’s worth the frustration. But I’ll leave the rest of my thoughts for the match report

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