Patrick Dangerfield says clubs can achieve great things in finals if they have momentum
AFTER his team jumped into the eight on the back of mauling Fremantle, Cat Patrick Dangerfield writes success at this time of the year comes down to one thing. And he likes the way his side is tracking.
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THERE are so many new words and theories which get thrown around in football nowadays but there’s only really one that matters right now ... momentum.
It’s what every club who has eyes for September is craving and if you can find it then anything is possible.
In many ways the premiership race starts now.
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While the jostling of positions for the previous 22 rounds is obviously important — and we still have a job to do next week against Gold Coast to ensure we remain in the finals equation — the team who can find momentum with its personnel and confidence is going to be the hardest to beat.
History now tells us this is possible. The last two premiers, the Western Bulldogs and Richmond, built their momentum now and both became unstoppable forces in September.
Previously history was against that happening. No-one came from outside the top four and won it, no-one caught fire out of nowhere, it was always the tried and true top couple of sides who’d dominated all year that prevailed when it mattered.
The build starts now.
Richmond have had momentum at the MCG throughout the season but it doesn’t mean that an outsider can’t do it.
Every list in the top eight has wonderful talent, the key is to tap into that talent and get access to as much of it as you possibly can because then you can do anything, you can do wonderful things.
To do any of this, first of all you have to learn how to deal with momentum in games.
It’s become a different force to what it once was and I think it’s getting harder and harder to stop.
It used to be the case where some acts of individual brilliance could get teams back into games but now the spread of talent through teams means they are better prepared to absorb this.
Geelong’s biggest challenge this season has been turning momentum into scores.
We haven’t been able to do that enough and at the end of the day the scoreboard is the most important pressure you can put on the opposition.
Look at Friday night’s game, Essendon had their opportunities, they had momentum but they couldn’t score.
The teams that can turn momentum into scoring are the really dangerous ones and that’s what we managed to do in the second quarter against Fremantle which then set the pattern of the afternoon.
So how do you stop momentum in games?
Personally, I like the old adage that attack is your best form of defence.
Scoring yourself stops it, and if it’s even a behind, it means you’re defending in your forward half which then gives you a chance to take the steam out of the opposition.
Coaches talk about it all the time, defence comes off great offence because you’re actually playing in your own forward half.
In the end I believe the premiership race comes down to personnel.
My comments this week about possibly looking at a shorter season were based around how taxing the game is.
Less games would assist in having the best players around when it matters the most.
If you can get your timing right and your availability right now, it builds momentum internally because having your best players fit and firing now is massive.
Back in 2013 at Adelaide, we lost Tex Walker to injury early in the season and it immediately took the wind out of our sails.
You couldn’t help but think immediately life was going to be a lot tougher in terms of finals and premiership hopes because we all knew everything was going to have to go right from that point given arguably our most influential player was gone.
The bye after Round 23 gives everyone a chance to restock and get as many of their best players back on the park as possible.
We all know Richmond’s best is good enough but momentum may decide that someone else’s best is also good enough.
Collingwood is building it, Hawthorn found it over the past month while Sydney might just have rediscovered momentum.
As long as we can do the right thing next week, I’d put Geelong in that conversation as well.
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Originally published as Patrick Dangerfield says clubs can achieve great things in finals if they have momentum