Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda….
by Darren Spence
We shoulda won missing 11 gettable goals and having 10 extra inside 50s. We coulda won if we went into 3/4 qtr time 15 points up instead of 3. We woulda won if Big Maxy didn’t go down with an injury and Hogan and Lewis were available and the game was at the MCG! I bet I wasn’t the only Dees fan uttering those words after Melbourne lost to Geelong by 29 points on Saturday. However, excuses count for nothing and as Goodwin said after the game “We just had a really bad day”.
Well that was an understatement…..I was bitterly disappointed as we really looked the better side for the majority of the game and even more frustrated as we couldn’t capitalise on the good work. Kicking for goal is such a mental thing and it became a disease that permeated even our most experience players on the weekend.
Gawn getting injured is not ideal (another understatement!) though it does open up a great opportunity for the big Spencil to get a run and his form in the JLT and at Casey has been solid and I am sure that he will do well. As important as Gawn is to our side, our midfield is elite, and sides like the Doggies have shown you don’t a dominate ruckman to win the big dance so I wouldn’t be writing off our season as I have read that some fans have.
On Saturday Watts showed enormous ticker to take on the much taller Zac Smith and, in my opinion, couldn’t have given any more. He was literally off his feet by games end…..no one ever should ever challenge his commitment again.
For the 3rd week running we dominated statistically with some big numbers. Jones led all comers with 36 touches, Hunt continues to show his promise with 30. Oliver continued his break out year form with 28 and Nibbler looks like joining him this year with another great game with 28 possessions. Stretch and Viney both impressed and of course I couldn’t leave out Killer.
Enough about that game where the Cats shouldn’t have got the cream!
This weekend we come up against the Dockers, back home at the G, on Saturday afternoon. We still won’t have Lewis or Hulk and obviously Spencil will come in for Gawn but I am backing our boys to make amends and come out victors to further entrench ourselves in the top 8. Get around the boys as they #raisehell on Saturday!
Go Dees!
Sponsoring Daisy Pearce and James Harmes