Crystal Ball 2019: Predictions for next season

[P-man 13,224]

Here we go again lads and ladettes. Time to place your predictions for season 2019, i.e. how easily will we win the flag next year?

Just kidding. There’s a chance we’ll be runner up I guess.

Any success. Any failing. Any accolade. Any controversy. Be as optimistic or pessimistic as you like. This is a safe space for sad sacks.

Closest to the pin with their quality and quantity of predictions will win the much coveted, much desired, much craved......okay maybe not craved....Demonland Crystal Ball.

PREVIOUS BALL HANDLERS

2018: Skuit

2017: ding

2016: wretched.sylph

 

[Skuit 9,200]

I predict that @ding will pretend he doesn't care all that much but will put in a PhD-worthy mountain of pre-season research to claim back his former precious - the one ball that rules them all.

 

640 × 360

Edited November 30, 2018 by Skuit

[Dee Zephyr 17,663]

• Top 2 finish - qualifying final against the Crows. We win by 41 points.

• Prelim against Collingwood. Margin not clear.

• We will play in 5 H&A games with crowds in excess of 77,000.

• The Weid to kick 44 goals by Round 23.

• Tom Sparrow to play at least 6 games.

• Viney Top 3 Brownlow finish.

• In Round 23 we win the toss against North in Tassie and kick with the wind in the first quarter.

[faultydet 7,593]

4 hours ago, Skuit said:

I predict that @ding will pretend he doesn't care all that much but will put in a PhD-worthy mountain of pre-season research to claim back his former precious - the one ball that rules them all.

 

640 × 360

haaaaaaa, you dont know @ding

His "mountain of research" consists of late night whisky binges while playing his Facebook games, with only sporadic bouts of coherence.

Throw enough darts, win a prize.

 

 

[faultydet 7,593]

Finish 4th-5th after a slower than expected start to the season.

Not quite a Premiership side. We make the grand final if we play a Prelim in Melb, we don't if its interstate.

Weids to kick 50 including finals

List elevation for new rookie Kade Chandler, who plays a senior game in place of the slower Spargo

Marty Hore to debut very early. Lever to take until late season to return to seniors.

Sparrow to play, and immediately draw comparisons to Olli Wines (including his iffy kicking)

Steven May to be All-Australian

Kade Kolo is in and out of the side, with Hunt playing some games on the wing.

Preuss to look lost while resting in the Forward line, but to be good enough in the ruck to allow Max to have significant time resting forward, where he kicks 25+ goals for the year. Preuss doesn't play finals if Max is fit and in form.

Nathan Jones to begin his slide, and be lucky to hold his place by the end of the season.

2 or more 100+ point wins for the year

Only 1 loss over 45 points

Going backwards: N. Jones, ANB, Frost Spargo, Fritsch, Lewis

Stagnant, with people concerned we don't have the star we thought:  Petracca

Going forwards: Weideman (in a big way), Oscar, Harmes (Top 25 Brownlow)

Top 5 B&F

Viney, Oliver, Harmes, Gawn, May

Brayshaw to finish top 2 in Brownlow if he stays fit, even though only finishing top 10 in B&F

 

I think that's enough darts for now.

[ding 5,126]

2 hours ago, faultydet said:

Finish 4th-5th after a slower than expected start to the season.

Not quite a Premiership side. We make the grand final if we play a Prelim in Melb, we don't if its interstate.

Weids to kick 50 including finals

List elevation for new rookie Kade Chandler, who plays a senior game in place of the slower Spargo

Marty Hore to debut very early. Lever to take until late season to return to seniors.

Sparrow to play, and immediately draw comparisons to Olli Wines (including his iffy kicking)

Steven May to be All-Australian

Kade Kolo is in and out of the side, with Hunt playing some games on the wing.

Preuss to look lost while resting in the Forward line, but to be good enough in the ruck to allow Max to have significant time resting forward, where he kicks 25+ goals for the year. Preuss doesn't play finals if Max is fit and in form.

Nathan Jones to begin his slide, and be lucky to hold his place by the end of the season.

2 or more 100+ point wins for the year

Only 1 loss over 45 points

Going backwards: N. Jones, ANB, Frost Spargo, Fritsch, Lewis

Stagnant, with people concerned we don't have the star we thought:  Petracca

Going forwards: Weideman (in a big way), Oscar, Harmes (Top 25 Brownlow)

Top 5 B&F

Viney, Oliver, Harmes, Gawn, May

Brayshaw to finish top 2 in Brownlow if he stays fit, even though only finishing top 10 in B&F

 

I think that's enough darts for now.

5

Your alcohol ran out huh?

[Rodney (Balls) Grinter 10,586]

2 hours ago, faultydet said:

Finish 4th-5th after a slower than expected start to the season.

Not quite a Premiership side. We make the grand final if we play a Prelim in Melb, we don't if its interstate.

Weids to kick 50 including finals

List elevation for new rookie Kade Chandler, who plays a senior game in place of the slower Spargo

Marty Hore to debut very early. Lever to take until late season to return to seniors.

Sparrow to play, and immediately draw comparisons to Olli Wines (including his iffy kicking)

Steven May to be All-Australian

Kade Kolo is in and out of the side, with Hunt playing some games on the wing.

Preuss to look lost while resting in the Forward line, but to be good enough in the ruck to allow Max to have significant time resting forward, where he kicks 25+ goals for the year. Preuss doesn't play finals if Max is fit and in form.

Nathan Jones to begin his slide, and be lucky to hold his place by the end of the season.

2 or more 100+ point wins for the year

Only 1 loss over 45 points

Going backwards: N. Jones, ANB, Frost Spargo, Fritsch, Lewis

Stagnant, with people concerned we don't have the star we thought:  Petracca

Going forwards: Weideman (in a big way), Oscar, Harmes (Top 25 Brownlow)

Top 5 B&F

Viney, Oliver, Harmes, Gawn, May

Brayshaw to finish top 2 in Brownlow if he stays fit, even though only finishing top 10 in B&F

 

I think that's enough darts for now.

I'm not too sure where to pitch my own predictions right now, but these are the sort of predictions I can be comfortable with as opposed to some of the ridiculous media hype going around about how great the MFC are at the moment.  I honestly don't know how some of these media types still have a job, because their credibility is rubbish.  We make a preliminary final with a strong young list and all of a sudden we are practically premiership favorites next year (after many of them wrote us off of even making finals this year after half a dozen rounds).

Don't get me wrong I think we have a strong list, are building something and I hope like hell that there is at least one premiership there sometime in the next 5 years, but there is just soo much that has to happen between now and that becoming a reality that it's not funny.  I posted a few weeks about my late onset MFCSS and this is essentially it - so many teams over the past decade or so were anointed by the media with greatness and then subsequently bombed out miserably and my worry is that at this point that could still be us.  The prime examples of this that stick in my head are:

1. Port Adelaide 2014 - following their 3 point preliminary final loss to Hawthorn in 2014 were touted as a star studded young team on the rise and premierships in the making, with a new bread of master coach in Ken Hinkley, playing a hard, agressive and exciting attacking brand of football (sounds a lot like the MFC of 2018);

2.  Western Bulldogs post premiership - most media had them as top 4 material the following year and continuing to go from strength to strength over the next 2 - 3 years based on the strength of their young talent filled list after their suprise before their time flag in 2016;

3.  GWS - So much tallent it was a concern they were going to compltely dominate the competition;

4.  Adelaide 2018 - goes from Grand finalist to flop in an instant - the competition is just so tight.  To be fair I never really rated them that high in 2017 to start with;

5.  Collingwood post Malthouse to an extent.

 

I guess all of the above is a bit of an antithesis of a prediction, so if I am going to make a general prediction in the afirmative it is that at some point in the season we will loose one or several games which will have some posters on Demonland sighting huge list and coaching deficiencies that mean we do not actually have a potential premiership team and never will, which won't actually be the case, but it will be portrayed as such.

[Dr.D 1,771]

Brayshaw another top 5 brownlow finish

Lever to have complications with his knee all season

May to win our best and fairest.

Preuss to play all 22 games

Tom Mcdonald to be out injured for a month and May going forward to help Weideman.

Sparrow to play 12 plus games.

Fritsch to go forward more often.
 

Dees to make 5th on the ladder as essendon surge up the ladder. 


 

[dl4e 5,593]

6 minutes ago, Dr.D said:

Brayshaw another top 5 brownlow finish

Lever to have complications with his knee all season

May to win our best and fairest.

Preuss to play all 22 games

Tom Mcdonald to be out injured for a month and May going forward to help Weideman.

Sparrow to play 12 plus games.

Fritsch to go forward more often.
 

Dees to make 5th on the ladder as essendon surge up the ladder. 


 

unfortunatley I agree with your last point.

[deebug 1,754]

Lucky 13 here we come?

[Wiseblood 24,636]

I predict we finish in the Top 4.  Not sure exactly where in the Top 4, but it will happen.

I also predict that we'll have a mini slump during the season - now that we've made a Prelim, we'll be the hunted more than the hunters, and this might take a little to adjust to.  It might be a few losses in a row or something like that, but I think it will be the making of us next season.

Jake Lever will make a successful return from injury and slot into our backline alongside May superbly.

Weideman and McDonald to combine to kick more than 80 goals between them.

Oliver, Brayshaw, Harmes and Viney to combine with Gawn to be the most effective midfield in the competition.

Nev Jetta to finally be AA, where he belongs.

[nosoupforme 3,085]

Our back line will hold up with May and Lever eventually returning successfully  which will give us a good boost up. Oscar Baker will make his debut  and become a  speed king sensation with plenty of tricks to boot. Harmes, Brayshaw,Viney, Clarry, Petracca and driven by Gawn and help from a brute force in Preuss alternating in the forward line will cause havoc.

The Weid will have a breakout year and kick 40 plus goals and TMc to kick 50 plus which will make them a formidable combination thanks to our backline launching attacks.

Petracca will finish in the top 3 in the B&F with his breakout year and a possible AA.

We will finish in the top 2 as we set ourselves up for an assault at the Premiership.

You have to believe.

[Rodney (Balls) Grinter 10,586]

Here's one - Jordan Lewis to retire at the end of the season receiving accolades from all corners of the footy globe.  Jordan announces that despite the lack of a fifth premiership medallion, that the three years he has spent with the Melbourne Footy Club have been the most satisfying of his career and upon confirming that he will remain with the club as an assistant, states that he is now "a Demon for life".

[spalding 1,118]

We are the Geelong of 2006 in 2019 - where a very young and talented list goes backwards after making finals the year before and after all pundits predict a premiership tilt. Results in serious club introspection about why things went wrong which then  results Geelong of 2007-2012. 

[Neil Crompton 4,791]

Melbourne premiers 2019

[My name is legion 158]

MFC to finish 12th

Gawn does his knee again

Lever still injured

 

[adonski 9,156]

5 All Australians 

[WERRIDEE 5,218]

12 hours ago, Dr.D said:

Lever to have complications with his knee all season

onald to be out injured for a month and May going forward to help Weideman.

 

Get stuffed on those 2 despicable stuff. Why would you want to predict injuries?

[WERRIDEE 5,218]

5 hours ago, My name is legion said:

MFC to finish 12th

Gawn does his knee again

Lever still injured

 

That's even worse than the other bloke. GO AND GET F'D

[WERRIDEE 5,218]

Melbourne to win the flag easily.

The Dees won't lose a game.

Viney to win brownlow and B&F.

Oliver to finish 2nd in both.

Hore to debut round 1.

Gawn to kick 40 goals.

Most improved Weideman.

No Melbourne player will be on the slide they will all be amazing.

[WERRIDEE 5,218]

4 hours ago, adonski said:

5 All Australians 

22 all australians

[Damo 2,997]

Poor old demonland. I guess it is the time of the year. 

[Rodney (Balls) Grinter 10,586]

11 hours ago, WERRIDEE said:

Melbourne to win the flag easily.

The Dees won't lose a game.

Viney to win brownlow and B&F.

Oliver to finish 2nd in both.

Hore to debut round 1.

Gawn to kick 40 goals.

Most improved Weideman.

No Melbourne player will be on the slide they will all be amazing.

Did Santa Claus bring you all the toys you asked for as a kid Werridee? ?

[Demonland 65,482]

12 hours ago, WERRIDEE said:

Melbourne to win the flag easily.

The Dees won't lose a game.

Viney to win brownlow and B&F.

Oliver to finish 2nd in both.

Hore to debut round 1.

Gawn to kick 40 goals.

Most improved Weideman.

No Melbourne player will be on the slide they will all be amazing.

Taking a sample of your blood should cure all of our collective MFCSS. 

[Guest]

Melbourne to finish 6th with constant questions about our forward line set up. Preuss' acquisition to be questioned and Hogan's departure overly scrutinized before the team puts in a decent mid-season patch of form as players settle into their new roles.

Gus Brayshaw to win the B&F after playing 22 games.

The 'Is Goodwin the right guy?' will be bumped several times by one of the usual suspects after a down patch in form.

May consolidates himself as a leadership group candidate in 2019 with an elite season as full back as our resident gorilla tamer.

Chopper Harmes gets the kudos he deserves as a genuine shutdown player.