Rohan Connolly’s piece in The Age likening Geelong’s current woes to those of Essendon in late 2001 leads me to continue the dominance theme from my previous post.
Connolly points out that the Cats’ current form bodes ill for their finals campaign. While they had moments during the game against Carlton where they looked dangerous, and a little like the Geelong of 2007–8, more often they looked inept as the instinctive responses to pressure weren’t backed up by the same cohesive, superbly drilled and experienced group they are used to playing with.
The take-out message from all of this should be to marvel at the deeds of the 2001–3 Brisbane Lions, who, although never as dominant through the season, brought the right game to the stage when it counted in three successive finals campaigns.
Leigh Matthews reputedly commented that there was a shortage of painkilling injections in Australia after the 2003 Grand Final, such were the number of soft tissue injuries his team battled. That a team could win the biggest game of the season making such extensive use of performance-enhancing drugs — and there's no other way this situation can be described — is the subject of another debate (watch this space!).
In the context of Geelong’s apparently imminent fall from dominance with a single Premiership to show for two-and-a-bit extraordinary seasons, and Essendon’s result of one Premiership from 1999–2001, the Lions’ return of three consecutive Premierships stands as a truly Herculean achievement and one we should not expect to see repeated any time soon.
And let's put this into a little more perspective. Should the Saints succeed in winning the 2009 Premiership, and should they remain undefeated for the season, they would rightly claim recognition for a, to-date, unique achievement. Yet I can't help thinking such an achievement pales against that of the Lions.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Failing dominance v. consistent achievement
Connolly points out that the Cats’ current form bodes ill for their finals campaign. While they had moments during the game against Carlton where they looked dangerous, and a little like the Geelong of 2007–8, more often they looked inept as the instinctive responses to pressure weren’t backed up by the same cohesive, superbly drilled and experienced group they are used to playing with.
The take-out message from all of this should be to marvel at the deeds of the 2001–3 Brisbane Lions, who, although never as dominant through the season, brought the right game to the stage when it counted in three successive finals campaigns.
Leigh Matthews reputedly commented that there was a shortage of painkilling injections in Australia after the 2003 Grand Final, such were the number of soft tissue injuries his team battled. That a team could win the biggest game of the season making such extensive use of performance-enhancing drugs — and there's no other way this situation can be described — is the subject of another debate (watch this space!).
In the context of Geelong’s apparently imminent fall from dominance with a single Premiership to show for two-and-a-bit extraordinary seasons, and Essendon’s result of one Premiership from 1999–2001, the Lions’ return of three consecutive Premierships stands as a truly Herculean achievement and one we should not expect to see repeated any time soon.
And let's put this into a little more perspective. Should the Saints succeed in winning the 2009 Premiership, and should they remain undefeated for the season, they would rightly claim recognition for a, to-date, unique achievement. Yet I can't help thinking such an achievement pales against that of the Lions.
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2 comments:
I'd agree. Another way of looking at it would be to pick the most dominant team of the last 10 years (back to 1999). Yes the Bombers were good in 2000, the Saints unbeaten in 2009, but the standout team is the Brisbane Lions. It's sustained success, premierships, which make a team great
Once again, definitions are important.
If consecutive Premierships are the benchmark, then the Lions have it sown up by a long, long way (in the modern era).
If mutliple Premierships over a span of years is the benchmark, it becomes a tussle between the Tigers of the late 60s and early 70s and the Hawks of the 80s.
If percentage of games won over a period is the benchmark, count the Bombers, Cats, and now the Saints.
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