Toxic fandom: when unrealistic expectations crashes head on with reality

Well the Fins put us to the sword last night. They came out hard, we responded (and led 10-6), they lifted, we went with them (we got back to 22-14), then they kicked a 3rd time, and we were left in the dust. 

Disappointing, but I thought we put up a good show. And the Fins were clear favourites. They were 

• $1.55 favourites with the bookies
• backed by nearly all the celeb tipsters
• running a  full strength squad
• on a 4-0 run
• coming off the bye

So it was a bit of a shock to me to see the post game bile on socials. Payten, Clifford, Sutton, Purdue, Laybutt, Murray, Drinkwater, McIntyre, Luke...they all copped a spray. But it felt like a real pile on. It was ugly.

Personally, I'm still elated that we've got 8 wins and are 9th on the ladder. If you'd have offered that to me before the season commenced, I'd have snapped your hand off. I was seriously thinking we were bottom 3 material, but instead we've seen a massive lift from guys like Clifford, Chester & Mikaele, while BigJase is playing his best footy for the last 5 years, and Reed, Lodge & Luke have proved strong additions. And Payten seems to be doing a better job as coach. For me we've had a season well above expectations. 

So I'm more than a little mystified where such an outpouring of angst comes from. I'm sure every Cowboys fan would have prefered we'd have won, but the Fins are now a quality outfit playing top 4 football. We're not there yet 

But I can only feel as some point this season hope has morphed into expectation, and those expectations have become a little delusional.  

It struck me as really toxic. I'm sure we'd like to claim we're all great fans and the club has a strong supporter base, but I look at the reaction to the Fins game and I wonder. 

And I'm not for a minute suggesting that by being a fan of the club that you're obliged to cheer for & celebrate everything the club does. There is though a line...... 

Being switched on

Fair to say we got lit up by the Raiders. 26-12 doesn't sound that bad, but the Raiders scored 6 tries to 2, and it was shite kicking from Sanders that kept things relatively close.

Though Payten his the nail on the head in the post game presser. The Raders ran harder & tackled harder for the 80 minutes. And that's all about the mental side of the game: effort, intensity, etc.

As a result we now sit mid-table, in something of a sea of clubs who I think are good but not great. The Panthers and Warriors (who sit in first & second) are next level, while the Roosters, Knights, Sea Eagles, Souths, the Fins, Sharks, Cowboys, Tigers, Broncos, Raiders & maybe the Storm are in that good but not great pool: very capable on their day, but not great when they are off the bit.

It's actually interesting to look at the worst defeat each of those clubs has suffered this season:

• Roosters 4-40
• Knights 12-44
• Sea Eagles 16-36
• Souths 10-32
• Fins 10-52
• Sharks 10-38
• Cowboys 6-38
• Tigers 10-52
• Broncos 12-42
• Raiders 6-48
• Storm 16-48

So pretty much all of these clubs have taken a solid beating at some point this year, and we're not yet at the halfway mark of the season.

I think though it does underline how hard it is for clubs to be up for the fight and switched on for the whole season. There's some pretty decent coaches running this lot (I'm thinking of Bennett, Bellamy, Robinson, Maguire) and they still haven't found the secret sauce. 

Getting players up for the big games - finals, local derbys, magic round, SOO - I'm thinking that's relatively easy. The challenge lies in those run of those bog standard round games, when the finals still feel a long way off, the crowds are fair rather than great, perhaps you're away and there aren't many of your fans there,  I can understand that it happens. 

But we cetainly got lit up by the Raiders. Hopfully the team bounces back strong vs the Fins.