We will learn from our loss. I think we will be in the finals mix for years to come. Like other sides who have gone on to win the comp they began making the 8 and then gradually building towards a GF appearance we will do the same. We may even make the top 4 and bow out or the GF and lose but we will be in the mix and should be a chance of winning the comp.
The good thing is we are building and will get better and stronger. Sometimes you have to lose to win and you learn and that is the motivation to not make the same mistakes.
Realistically I don't think we were ready. Though we outplayed Manly they had experience we didn't have even if that was just Evans on the day. He has the big game experience to pull a swifty and turn a game.
But now we are getting experience and we will get better. We will learn to cut out the crap and brain explosions. We are close and we are dominating games for long periods. We just have to learn to do it for 80 minutes and control and put teams away like the Panthers have become so good at.
The good thing is I think we will be playing finals footy for years and now and we can look forward to finals footy again. The off season is now exciting and I can imagine another preseason will make us even stronger. Our young players will be more experienced and we will find more talent. We are literally watching the Dogs become a champion team.