Luck is different from superstition. It can be as simple as the timeliness of an incorrect free kick or the favourable (or unfavourable) direction of the football’s bounce. However you want to define it, it seemed to me that we didn’t have it on Saturday night.
Sometimes it can seem like nothing goes your way, be that in life, or, as I saw on this occasion, in football. Like a number of people I’ve spoken to since the loss, I thought we should have won the match and that luck played a part in the result. It wasn’t the same feeling that ran through me when the final siren sounded against North Melbourne that occurred against Brisbane, Carlton, and Richmond. I truly felt like we battled all night, and in the end were… you guessed it, unlucky.
Having said that, I do wonder whether my reaction to the result would have been different had I actually been there – yes folks, I unfortunately missed my second game of the season (and only my fifth home game ever!), because I attended a friend’s 21st birthday party. And thus, while watching the game from afar was frustrating, my absence did perhaps prove that my attendance and us losing are not inextricably linked!
I might sound like a pot calling other ‘kettles’ black when I say this, but the biggest disappointment for me about the Saturday night’s game was the attendance. A figure of 19,851 just isn’t good enough, regardless of our record at home. There is no question that big crowds assist the players, particularly during the tight games, and a strong, vocal crowd just might have helped get us the points against North Melbourne.
Being forced to watch a home game via a mate’s 51-centimetre television, rather than in my front row seats certainly gave me an appreciation for how great it is to see the boys play live. Sure for away games you are forced to barrack at the television – which to non-football fans might look rather strange – but doing it for an AAMI Stadium game just didn’t feel right! Rarely, if ever, do I watch a Power game with the general conversation not being about who is playing well, who isn’t and which umpire is paying all the free kicks against us. This, along with alcohol consumption and ‘background’ music were just a few of the things I unfortunately had to contend with.
Nevertheless, not even the television nor the fact that I thought we were unlucky not to win could hide the fact that we had our fair share of costly turnovers and silly errors. Nick Lower’s attempted switch, which he shanked straight into a Kangaroos player who ran into an open goal at the beginning of the last quarter, is just one that comes to mind. And though Tredders’ last-minute shot at goal will be the one that provides the most discussion at water-coolers and in the media during the week, it is easy to forget that Shaun missed two absolute sitters earlier in the game and there were a few others that missed valuable opportunities at goal as well. So, while I’m not denying that there were aspects of our game that were disappointing, I certainly felt like the Kangaroos seemed to have all the luck in the world going for them, while we couldn’t buy a goal in the last quarter.
As I’ve gotten older, and in the process watched more and more football, I’ve come to realise that umpires seldom have a say on the outcome of a match. Bad decisions here and there are expected. But I was almost thrown out my mate’s apartment, when David Rodan’s tackle on the outer side went unrewarded and I subsequently launched a sofa cushion at his television, hitting and momentarily displacing the antenna that sat on top of it. That seemed to be one of many holding the ball decisions that didn’t go our way in the final stanza, while the Kangaroos got lucky when Chad Cornes’ (soft) 50-metre-penalty cost us an untimely goal.
Football experts will inevitably say “that’s footy” and point to our nail-biting wins against Hawthorn, Geelong and West Coast in the finals last year as days when luck was on our side… and they’d probably be right. But for us to be sitting in 13th spot, following so many narrow losses – six of which have been decided by two goals or less – seems unlucky to me. If you looked back at all of those games you could highlight instances of ‘bad luck’ and they’d in many respects reflect our season. But, hopefully it will turn around this weekend against Adelaide because as we all know, Showdowns are such crucial games.
Something that should give the boys some confidence is that we head into this encounter on the back of one of our best tackling games in a number of weeks. Not only was it the midfielders that were laying strong tackles but also guys like Westy, Motty and, of course, Troy Chaplin. Chappy’s chase on speedster Matt Campbell will be remembered by many for years to come and certainly showed the intent of the team on Saturday night. A number of his other efforts around the ground were superb also, and this obvious team-first approach to games is a reason why he has been touted as a future captain of the club.
You just get the feeling that another ferocious tackling game will be needed against the Crows on Sunday for us to get the points. I’ll be back in attendance this week, and will certainly pay close attention to which way the ball bounces in the latter stages if it’s a close game. Hopefully it bounces our way this time
