THE LOSERS

THE grand final was a mirror image of Parkside's season.

Turbulent from start to finish.

The Magpies are ruing the one that got away.

They had numerous chances to put North Footscray to the sword and failed.

"I'd say for three quarters we were the better team," coach David Orchard told the Weekly in solemn rooms after the game.

"We had it, we were 22 points up [at three-quarter-time] and shouldn't have lost it."

The defeat leaves a bitter pill to swallow for the black and white army.

They have a sad case of deja vu, having lost to Deer Park in 'the big one' last season.

They were wasteful in front of goal as they had been all finals series and they paid the ultimate price.

"We've spoken for a couple of weeks about our conversion rate," Orchard said.

"It's a couple of points here and there that if we put the goals on the board instead of the points it's a blow-out win."

Orchard wanted to set the record straight on the non-selection of last season's 100-goal forward Pat Davis and former Western Bulldog Sedat Sir.

The decision, he says, was up to the players.

Davis had missed a large chunk of the season with a serious back injury, while Sir sustained a knee injury in the first week of the finals.

The star players notified the club of their inability to overcome their injuries.

"They thought the best option was to put the team first," Orchard said.

"They have always done that, which is a great thing."