The Crows’ whole strategy this year has been to not get ahead of themselves, but should they be thinking premiership? Graham Cornes

The Crows’ whole strategy this year has been to not get ahead of themselves, but has anyone at West Lakes dared to mention that, from here, the Crows could win the flag? Writes Graham Cornes.

Has anyone at West Lakes dared to mention it yet?

The Crows’ whole strategy this year has been to not get ahead of themselves. Think no further than the next match and the next contest.

They have fallen victim before of taking a game or an opponent for granted. Too often as favourites they have mentally relaxed. It hasn’t always been a conscious or deliberate thing because endeavour and results are often driven by the subconscious.

Last season they simply expected to play finals. Why would they not? They had been cheated of a finals berth in 2023 so with a continuum of improvement, surely they would make the finals in 2024.

Darcy Fogarty of the Crows in action against the Western Bulldogs. Photo by Michael Willson.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t work like that. Without the psychological strength driving talent and fitness you are doomed to fail. Five losses in the first six matches dashed any hope, and exposed the weakness. You can’t assume and you can’t get ahead of yourself.

Finishing in 16th position on the ladder after steady improvement and the optimism generated in 2023 under Matthew Nicks was bitterly disappointing. But they have learned the lesson and are applying it. Players and coaches alike are preaching from the same prayer book.

“Lowering the eyes”. It’s a term we heard several times in the pre-season. Normally it applies to forward line entries where the attacking player with the ball respects the forward’s lead and delivers accurately instead of “bombing” the ball in or missing the leading target completely.

It could have applied to the Crows because last season they often wasted the ball with inaccurate disposal going forward. But “lowering the eyes” has taken on a new meaning this season. Look no further ahead than the next opponent.

So, has anyone at West Lakes dared to mention it?

The psychology of winning is a complicated science. Champions come in all shapes and sizes, from many and varied backgrounds. Some have been driven from an early age. Others who have played the game simply for fun and personal satisfaction unexpectedly find success and fame thrust upon them.

Crows great, Tony Modra, is the classic example of that. He played footy because he loved it. He wasn’t the product of junior programs or underage representative teams, but there came that time when he was “bigger than Bradman.”

Other champions have always known their destiny. The goal and the journey are identified at an early age, either by the individuals or their parents. Think Tiger Woods or the Williams sisters whose fathers drove them and led them.

Our own Lleyton Hewitt knew from a young age what he wanted to be; his ambition nurtured by his parents.

Izak Rankine of the Crows celebrates after his 100th match. Photo by Michael Willson.

There are no rules but one thing is certain. At one stage the ultimate goal starts as a dream. In the beginning it might seem impossible or insurmountable, but it is always visible. Step by step, task by task, it gets closer

So has anyone at West Lakes dared to mention it?

The Crows season started with high expectations but there were doubts. We’d heard it all before. We’d been disappointed before. Perhaps that’s how the players felt as well. Maybe even the coach. But that’s not such a bad thing.

A degree of doubt is a great driving force. It overcomes the scourge of complacency. It keeps you on edge, ready for the next challenge.

We knew the only acceptable outcome in 2025 is for the Crows to make the eight and play finals for the first time since 2017. It was a stated goal and perhaps Nicksy’s best chance of keeping his job.

However, saying is not believing and the only person I really heard say it with any confidence was “Big Kev” Monteleone at La Vita restaurant who appeared in this column in November last year – and he’s a Port supporter! He even had the Crows making the top four.

But the season started well. No complacency in the first three wins in the first three games of the season. Of course there have been losses, albeit honourable ones: one point to the Gold Coast in Queensland; 10 points to Collingwood on the MCG and three points to Hawthorn in Tasmania.

However, there have been season-defining victories as well. Beating the Bulldogs in Melbourne last Sunday was one of the best wins of the season and announced them as a worthy finalist.

And overcoming a premiership favourite, Brisbane, in round 14 announced to the football world that this is a genuine finals contender.

So has anyone at West Lakes dared to mention it yet?

Has anyone at West Lakes dared to mention that this team could actually win the premiership? It would not be getting ahead of themselves to install it as a reasonable goal for this season.

When you are ensconced in the top four at this stage of the year, it is not a pipedream.

Do you think Brisbane and Collingwood are sitting back at this time of the season thinking that a top-four finish will be an acceptable outcome?

There is much danger and much damage to be done setting unrealistic goals – goals that you have no chance of achieving. Eventually that “What’s the point?” fatalism crushes the spirit.

But right now, this is a realistic goal. Of course, the Gold Coast, another team striving for AFL credibility will be a tough opponent this afternoon, but you want tough games at this time of the year.

I’ve written about this before but the biggest mistake I made in a coaching lifetime was to not dream high enough at Adelaide. In the third season of the Crows we made the final six. In our minds it was an acceptable outcome to that year. We’d won 10 games in the first year, 11 games in the second year and missed the finals both years. Expectations were high but not unreasonably so.

It came down to a last-round victory over Collingwood at Football Park. We beat Hawthorn in the first elimination final on the MCG, went down to Carlton by 18 points in the second semi-final at the old Waverley Park.

It’s an old, painful story now that has been well told: how we surrendered a 42-point halftime lead to Essendon in the preliminary final and how they went on to win the premiership.

We can debate about selection, positional changes, umpires and whether Scott Hodges should have been interchanged just before halftime, but the biggest mistake was not believing that the team could win a premiership in its third season.

Making the finals was the goal and it was achieved. The Lord Mayor wanted to give a civic reception for doing so, (we declined). What should have been the only acceptable goal was winning the flag - as it was for Essendon.

Bombers coach, Kevin Sheedy told me later finishing third, for them, was a failure.

So, has anyone at West Lakes dared to mention that, from here, the Crows could win the flag?

It still has to be taken step by step, contest by contest, game by game. But why not?