2000+: The Humiliation and Significance of the Wooden Spoon

[Sainternist]

Is it just me, or has the stigma of the wooden spoon been less apparent in recent years?

Nowadays, it is generally the clubs who have fallen periodically from grace and are enduring a hard spell of rebuilding who are on the wrong end of it. We were predicted to get the anti-accolade before last year's season and it happened. Granted, it was not fun seeing us as being the hapless ones for an entire year, particularly since we had avoided it for our longest period of avoiding getting a spoon since the streak that lasted longest in the club's history from 1955-77.

By the end of last year's season came the excitement of finishing bottom having its dividends (priority draft picks). It would appear that we did very well in recruiting some great raw talent from it. It seems in the last fifteen years, the clubs who have taken wooden spoons - apart from the 21st century basket case clubs (Melbourne and Carlton) - have actually been able to recover pretty well afterwards. The only worry is that all of those clubs have yet to win a premierships afterwards. The last club to take a wooden spoon and then go on to win a premiership was Collingwood.

The two basket case clubs have been the only Melbourne based clubs to take back-to-back wooden spoons in the last fifteen years. I, for one, would like to see us avoid a second consecutive wooden spoon this year.

[gringo]

I think it's more of a problem for kids who still s*** each other about it. I remember the 1980s as traumatic being on the bottom constantly.

[Bunk_Moreland]

If you measure your self worth by the failure of your football club, you should not support the Saints.

No such thing as a Wooden Spoon.

[Sainternist]

I think it's more of a problem for kids who still s*** each other about it. I remember the 1980s as traumatic being on the bottom constantly.

Most definitely. It was awful. We were the basket case club of the '80s and it was such a difficult transition for the club to go from laughing stock to becoming a contender. The newer generation of supporters were almost spoiled by our winning percentage from 2004-2011. I have a few Saints supporting friends in their twenties and rarely do they attend matches now, let alone buy memberships.

If you measure your self worth by the failure of your football club, you should not support the Saints.

That is sound advice. Supporting the Saints is for those who want a character building experience in their life of following the footy.

[howlinwolf]

If you measure your self worth by the failure of your football club, you should not support the Saints.

No such thing as a Wooden Spoon.

Couldn't agree any more Bunk.
Conversely it's also crazy to measure self worth by the success of your club. Plenty do this. Ride along with the " winners" to make them feel more worth.
I remember a rude 17 yo upstart turning to me at a Saints vs Blues match once and proudly asking" Carlton have 16 flags and how many did the saints have" ?
I told him we were a poor club and can't afford to buy our flags.

I don't know what he had achieved in his 17 years but he had been programmed to believe he was better because he supported the baggers.

I'm not as concerned about the spoon title as I am about our management and direction as a club and I'm very happy with this. That's what's important.

[gringo]

I think it's more of a problem for kids who still s*** each other about it. I remember the 1980s as traumatic being on the bottom constantly.

Most definitely. It was awful. We were the basket case club of the '80s and it was such a difficult transition for the club to go from laughing stock to becoming a contender. The newer generation of supporters were almost spoiled by our winning percentage from 2004-2011. I have a few Saints supporting friends in their twenties and rarely do they attend matches now, let alone buy memberships.

Yeah i lived in Parkville where there were Carlton or Bomber supporters but no Saints. I was at least the first to get full sets of his teams scanlens cards.

[Austinnn]

Maybe its because now with equalisation, all teams take their turns on the top and bottom, so its harder to quantify a "basketcase" club in that way, unless teams collect a few spoons in a row, or defy trends. Closest recent example I can think of is Melbourne, who tanked for top draft picks, then frittered them away.

Pies, Hawks, Power, Crows, Dockers, Blues, all of them have been down the bottom recently. People see it as a setback that you have to have now rather than a true measure of a club.

It seems to me, a 42 year old well out of reach of school playgrounds, that that stigma is more about number of members these days.

Bit sad to care about business of sport than sport itself when you actually think about it, but its inevitable in pro-sport. I suppose its better than being trapped at the bottom for decades.

[remboy]

When I was growing up (pre draft) the wooden spoon meant you finished on the bottom ie you were the worst team. There was no redeeming feature. Nowadays finishing last means you get the first pick which translates to getting the best young kid or taking a lot of weight to the trade table.

[PJ]

The concept of rebuilds is in full swing. No such thing in the 80's. Teams are either in their window, approaching the window or they are the window - if not they are in rebuild. Wooden spoon is rarely used any more tbh perhaps by the old brigade or a journo wanting to stick the knife in.

[saintspremiers]

The concept of rebuilds is in full swing. No such thing in the 80's. Teams are either in their window, approaching the window or they are the window - if not they are in rebuild. Wooden spoon is rarely used any more tbh perhaps by the old brigade or a journo wanting to stick the knife in.

What about Calrton?

They have NFI what they are

[Munga]

Good point. Did we finish bottom? I completely forgot, no one has mentioned it to me!

[PJ]

The concept of rebuilds is in full swing. No such thing in the 80's. Teams are either in their window, approaching the window or they are the window - if not they are in rebuild. Wooden spoon is rarely used any more tbh perhaps by the old brigade or a journo wanting to stick the knife in.

What about Calrton?

They have NFI what they are

Carlton are still living in the 70's where paper bags under tables from Johnny Elliot was all the go.

They are still labouring under the impression that they are a super power and don't need to function in an intelligent way - just buy the most expensive coach with runs on the board and you'll be alright.

[The Fireman]

It's hard trying to win a flag the honest way.

[Sainternist]

It's hard trying to win a flag the honest way.

It's now just bloody hard to win a flag, period. The odds are really stacked up against us now with more teams in the comp. And considering we have just one solitary flag after 120 years in the VFL/AFL comp, the odds will always seem to be stacked up againsr us getting one. It has been such a difficult thing to let go of the disappointment of 2009 and 2010, but I think we are finally laying that to rest. Cannot wait for the next opportunity. The smell of the new optimism is starting to permeate. Can't be all that far away now!

[The Fireman]

It's hard trying to win a flag the honest way.

It's now just bloody hard to win a flag, period. The odds are really stacked up against us now with more teams in the comp. And considering we have just one solitary flag after 120 years in the VFL/AFL comp, the odds will always seem to be stacked up againsr us getting one. It has been such a difficult thing to let go of the disappointment of 2009 and 2010, but I think we are finally laying that to rest. Cannot wait for the next opportunity. The smell of the new optimism is starting to permeate. Can't be all that far away now!

??

in the good old days Flags were bought and paid for...we have a much fairer system now...but every now and again we come up against cheats....I still wonder about the second Granny against the Skunks.

[gringo]

It's hard trying to win a flag the honest way.

It's now just bloody hard to win a flag, period. The odds are really stacked up against us now with more teams in the comp. And considering we have just one solitary flag after 120 years in the VFL/AFL comp, the odds will always seem to be stacked up againsr us getting one. It has been such a difficult thing to let go of the disappointment of 2009 and 2010, but I think we are finally laying that to rest. Cannot wait for the next opportunity. The smell of the new optimism is starting to permeate. Can't be all that far away now!

??

in the good old days Flags were bought and paid for...we have a much fairer system now...but every now and again we come up against cheats....I still wonder about the second Granny against the Skunks.

And their whole year.

[Bluthy]

Well really its all about draft picks now. That has changed the whole landscape. Landing those picks in the top 4 or 5 are seen as extremely advantageous. That outweighs any sense of embarrassment about bottoming out. Its also the way now that the only thing that really matters for a lot of people is a premiership. Everything is focused on that and bottoming out to rebuild is seen as logical and sensible part of the process of a flag tilt.

I wonder where the "Wooden Spoon" thing comes from.

[Austinnn]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wooden_spoon_%28award%29

You're welcome.

And for anyone who thinks that we should just aim to get Pick one in the National and Rookie draft, click on the AFL link on that Wikipedia page. You all know what it will say, but read it anyway, and learn to want to win again.

[plugger66]

Well really its all about draft picks now. That has changed the whole landscape. Landing those picks in the top 4 or 5 are seen as extremely advantageous. That outweighs any sense of embarrassment about bottoming out. Its also the way now that the only thing that really matters for a lot of people is a premiership. Everything is focused on that and bottoming out to rebuild is seen as logical and sensible part of the process of a flag tilt.

I wonder where the "Wooden Spoon" thing comes from.

It sounds like you want to finish last. Our focus should be giving games to kids but more importantly winning. Do you think the kids felt better after round one or round two. Im going they were more up and about this week than last week. We will finish near the bottom anyway and when was the last number one that was clearly the best player? Many years ago.

[evertonfc]

I'm not bothered by it any more. Because the more elite talent you get, the more chance you have of a premiership.

We need to accumulate a lot more of this kind of rare, raw talent. If we finish bottom four this season and next, that gives us a great platform to compete for a premiership in four-five years.

[PJ]

Early draft picks are important as part of any rebuild but if you think that's the panacea for all ills then why aren't Melbourne premiers and why are GC doing poorly with a team chock full of early draft picks.

There are many factors like senior leaders, good recruiting from all areas, good coaching, off field success, advocacy in the media, etc, etc, etc and of course winning.

[SinCitySainter]

Talk about valuing self worth by the club you follow I remember after 2009 GF being confronted by a bunch of Cats supporters on their way back to sleepy hollow.
They were giving me and my friend crap about having another premiership cup down at Cardinia Park.
The game had only finished about two hours so suffice to say I was not in the greatest of moods.
I therefore decided to respond along the lines of a cup should help keep your spirits up while you are standing in the dole queue as you watch you town slowly wither and die around you. Cardinia Park is the one shining light in the wasteland otherwise known as Geelong. The football club being the only thing giving any form of relief to the average Geelong residents pitiful and desperate existence, barely scratching hand to mouth as the rest of the state gladly leaves it behind in their wake. I will be disappointed for a couple of days but it is not the only thing my life revolves around unlike you poor pathetic slobs who have just the footy season and an occasional drunk fumbling with some toothless and tattooed crone to look forward to etc.....
Anyway this tirade continued on for quite sometime and I expected that they would get a little angry but they simple walked away silently.
They may have won the game but I won in reality.

[Dr Spaceman]

Talk about valuing self worth by the club you follow I remember after 2009 GF being confronted by a bunch of Cats supporters on their way back to sleepy hollow.
They were giving me and my friend crap about having another premiership cup down at Cardinia Park.
The game had only finished about two hours so suffice to say I was not in the greatest of moods.
I therefore decided to respond along the lines of a cup should help keep your spirits up while you are standing in the dole queue as you watch you town slowly wither and die around you. Cardinia Park is the one shining light in the wasteland otherwise known as Geelong. The football club being the only thing giving any form of relief to the average Geelong residents pitiful and desperate existence, barely scratching hand to mouth as the rest of the state gladly leaves it behind in their wake. I will be disappointed for a couple of days but it is not the only thing my life revolves around unlike you poor pathetic slobs who have just the footy season and an occasional drunk fumbling with some toothless and tattooed crone to look forward to etc.....
Anyway this tirade continued on for quite sometime and I expected that they would get a little angry but they simple walked away silently.
They may have won the game but I won in reality.

You won? Really?

Give me the cup any day. Don't give a toss if the defeated supporters decide to throw up simplistic cliches about my team, our supporters or where I may live.

[plugger66]

Talk about valuing self worth by the club you follow I remember after 2009 GF being confronted by a bunch of Cats supporters on their way back to sleepy hollow.
They were giving me and my friend crap about having another premiership cup down at Cardinia Park.
The game had only finished about two hours so suffice to say I was not in the greatest of moods.
I therefore decided to respond along the lines of a cup should help keep your spirits up while you are standing in the dole queue as you watch you town slowly wither and die around you. Cardinia Park is the one shining light in the wasteland otherwise known as Geelong. The football club being the only thing giving any form of relief to the average Geelong residents pitiful and desperate existence, barely scratching hand to mouth as the rest of the state gladly leaves it behind in their wake. I will be disappointed for a couple of days but it is not the only thing my life revolves around unlike you poor pathetic slobs who have just the footy season and an occasional drunk fumbling with some toothless and tattooed crone to look forward to etc.....
Anyway this tirade continued on for quite sometime and I expected that they would get a little angry but they simple walked away silently.
They may have won the game but I won in reality.

Doesn't seem to be any winners in that exchange.

[Bunk_Moreland]

Talk about valuing self worth by the club you follow I remember after 2009 GF being confronted by a bunch of Cats supporters on their way back to sleepy hollow.
They were giving me and my friend crap about having another premiership cup down at Cardinia Park.
The game had only finished about two hours so suffice to say I was not in the greatest of moods.
I therefore decided to respond along the lines of a cup should help keep your spirits up while you are standing in the dole queue as you watch you town slowly wither and die around you. Cardinia Park is the one shining light in the wasteland otherwise known as Geelong. The football club being the only thing giving any form of relief to the average Geelong residents pitiful and desperate existence, barely scratching hand to mouth as the rest of the state gladly leaves it behind in their wake. I will be disappointed for a couple of days but it is not the only thing my life revolves around unlike you poor pathetic slobs who have just the footy season and an occasional drunk fumbling with some toothless and tattooed crone to look forward to etc.....
Anyway this tirade continued on for quite sometime and I expected that they would get a little angry but they simple walked away silently.
They may have won the game but I won in reality.

Doesn't seem to be any winners in that exchange.

Whats the old saying, winners are grinners and the losers can please themselves?