Articles

Couttsy’s Considerations - Round 8
By Chris Coutts
2008-05-16

Chris Coutts previews Round 8.

Ah, the taste of victory is as sweet as a lovely bottle of Henschke Hill Of Grace - particularly after the rough start to the season we've had. We've battled so hard, for so little result. It's caused us all to, at times, turn on each other, to tell ourselves that the coach can't coach, that the players are all rubbish, that Craig Cameron is the worst recruitment manager in AFL history, that Adem Yze and David Neitz should stay gracefully (or not) injured, and have a farewell match at the end of the season... etc. etc.

It's been painful to sit and watch and read, and to some extent, I've tried to stay clear of it - quite simply because I have nothing to add. We've been poor. We've struggled to be competitive in most matches. Some players have looked like they just aren't interested in playing in the jumper I've worn since I was a little kid going to Vickick (now Auskick, of course). They've looked like they just don't understand the simple basics of football.

We've had TGR getting on, sprouting how good he is for having predicted our downfall in years gone past. We've had mods and posters sniping at each other, including the anonymous "Demonology" mod really cracking the you-know-whats, and irritating posters.

And now, it's all led to some clown from the Herald Sun (you, Jon Ralph) saying he's amazed by the way that people talk and rip into players, etc. etc. on these forums.

You know what, Jon?? We're all passionate supporters and all want to see the best for our football Club. We all want to see the ultimate success, the likes of which a lot of posters here have NEVER seen in our lifetime (and no, I don't count night premierships). And we're all in dis/agreement over where our Club is at, where we've gone wrong (again and again over the years) and what needs to be done to bring our Club up to speed to compete with the likes of Collingwood, Essendon and Carlton on a financial scale.

Why don't you spend your time out in the field, doing some real journalism, rather than picking on the people who really do give a fig? Sure, we might degenerate into name-calling - we're all from different age groups and react differently to some subtle prodding. But we give a damn about our Club - and picking on us because we post on an internet forum under monikers such as Yze_Magic, Deeman and RobbieF. As you'll note, I'm writing this using my own name - and you can look me up if you like - and quite frankly, you can say what you want about me - but that's not what the internet is about, is it? Under a moniker (like king_couttsy20), I can say what I like without repercussions - but lose all credibility if I have something of interest to say, because I am Mr. Anon Y. Mous. The term “keyboard hero” gets mentioned a bit, and that’s probably what we all are – but is it a bad thing that we’re taking an interest in our Club? I don’t think so.

At the end of the day, whether the other posters on here agree with me or not, it's a place where we can express our thoughts, vent our frustration about how poor we've been this year and share in the highlights - yes, even a win against a side with a neck constriction problem like the Dockers. I care - and I'm passionate. Go and write about something (or comment about something) that matters in football - not dredging up rubbish about what we think. That's not journalism - that's gutter trash without a shred of human interest.

Anyway - back to the REAL world, where good things happen to good people and struggling sides occasionally pull one out of the bag.

How good was that? As a Melbourne Storm member, as well as being an MFC and MCC member, I've had the Storm's premiership win to savour last season, which has somehow made this a bearable start to the season - particularly when I look long-term to see where we're going to be heading in the future. But, that win against the Dockers felt almost as good as the Storm's Grand Final win - and that's in no way denigrating the Storm's Grand Final win in any way, or making it seem any less important to me. It felt like we'd won a grand final - the sense of relief, that feeling of unbridled joy at the look on the players faces', the manner in which the win was achieved and the excitement of the performance and celebration of little Austin Wonaeamirri.

And with our only out being Paul Wheatley this week, we get the chance to see Shane Valenti possibly pull on the red n' blue for the first time this weekend. He's ben elevated with David Neitz's long-term injury - and will give a good account of himself.

Other ins' this week include Buckley, Bode and Paul Johnson, who is of course making his return from injury.

Adelaide in Adelaide. The only names in football that make me shudder like that are Port Adelaide in Adelaide and West Coast in Perth. We've got a horrible record over there, and whilst the excitement and tears have worn off on me, I'm hoping that the players are still feeling good about themselves - cause we're going to need it. I will be taking Adelaide in my football tipping, as they're playing good, solid football - and have managed to convert one of the AFL's prime ball winners, in Simon Goodwin, into a premium forward/flanker. He racks up 20+ touches and kicks 2 or 3 goals - now that's impressive. And for some reason, Brett Burton (who irritates me badly for some unknown reason) tends to have a birthday against us.

With Nathan Carroll having been relegated to the bench, I would not be surprised for him to have a weekend off on the grounds of "match-up" - as I don't think he suits anyone from that Adelaide side.

I'm going with Adelaide by 6 goals - and I think we'll stick within 4-5 goals of them for most of the game - as there will be a fair chunk of self-belief amongst the group now. But as we proved 2 weeks ago, anything can happen in a two horse race.

Anyway, it's 11 at night, I've got to be up for work at 5:45 a.m. and I'm tired.

For those of you who'll manage to get over to AAMI Stadium, cheer loud and proud for the Dees!