@jirskyr said in [Is this our worst loss in the past decade?](/post/1465112) said:
Has the Taylorball match against Cowboys fallen so far into memory that it's no longer the worst result? Or the two home matches against Sharks and Raiders to qualify for the finals, where we got belted both times?
Today's match stank and it sucks hard to lose at this time, to a team as bad as the Bulldogs, but there was nothing riding on the match and evidently some of the boys had clocked off for the season already.
This is as close to accurate as you will get. There are so many scales you can measure it on, just like when you ask who our worst ever signing is. There are lots of variables. Yesterday was bad, but it won’t go down in the annals the same way last round games against the Raiders and Sharks did. Is it even our worst loss of the year? The Cowboys loss was pretty ordinary, as was the loss against the Storm.
IMO the worst loss 2021 was the Cowboys - everything to play for, not just results but respect and club heart and legendary players; started badly... then almost won it anyway, as if to show that if they clocked on at the start they would have been the dominant side.
Most crucial loss was the Warriors 18-16. A win there would have made it 4 wins from 5 after the bye, 1 loss to Manly, and shaping up for finals with a run-home of Sharks, Panthers, Dogs.
I think some of these final-round matches are "give up" matches. We have won our share of no-consequence final round matches as well.
Most painful losses for me were actually Souths first time, Storm and Sharks. Souths because we deserved to win. Storm because they toyed with us, it wasn't just embarrassing lack of effort, it was the shameful lack of ability to compete, and we weren't so injury-hit then. Sharks match because that was the final tipping point of the year and we didn't even come close to competing after a first 10 or 15 minute salvo.