I wrote in February that the first NAB cup game was critical. This was for our membership drive and furthermore confidence. With our belting against Freo and subsequent NAB games- I thought we would struggle,especially after being belted by Hawthorn to beat Richmond in Round 4. No way did I believe we could beat Brisbane- I truly thought we would get belted. I also did not think we could get 32000. Roost it declared we would. He thought we could get 33000 odd. Well- I thought he was dreaming. We may still. The huge win- going to China as well, lays down a very solid platform for our October match and possible members and sponsors.We could even be a final eight team this year. However, we are young and may falter later on. But the foundation is there. Better team than what I thought we were.Your honest thoughts??

il be very honest and i believed all day yesterday we could win. i was soo confident our fitness would run them off thier legs. and i am very very confident we could give the western bulldogs in 2 weeks a mighty fight!

GO DEES

I thought we had a slender hope of a small victory against the Lions, but if last night's form is anything to go by, we have progressed far more quickly than I expected. I thought we might win 2 or 3 games in the first half of the season, and 5 or 6 in the second half ...... but if we can maintain our present form and intensity for most of the year(which is probably unlikely given our youth and inexperience), we could press for a finals spot.

I also thought after a bad pre season to say the least, Liam going down and then getting belted by Hawthorn, how much more can this club take, what are the supporters thinking and another write off season looming....then, the spark against Collingwood! That spark is fast turning into a flame and its not so much the opposition, its just the way they are playing. Its wonderful. There were little snippets late last year, the first half against StKilda in the last round for example....and the really amazing thing that apart from 2 young drafted players and a recruit from Brisbane, its the Same Team. They are learning fast, very fast...Bring It On

I think all the players are improving together at a rapid rate, so cumulatively we look and perform a lot better.

The tests will come once other teams get the chance to assess our gameplan and attempt to counter it.

As I've said since last year, I think we'll be on he cusp of the 8 and finish with 8-10 wins.

Nothing has changed.

The team has got to learn to play the same way when it plays away from the MCG-Then & only then can we really go forward.

At this stage they have at least opened the door-I hope they fear no team this year, if that happens who can say what will happen. B)

Good point WYL.

Away games are still very much an unknown.

il be very honest and i believed all day yesterday we could win. i was soo confident our fitness would run them off thier legs. and i am very very confident we could give the western bulldogs in 2 weeks a mighty fight!

The footy we played Saturday night would have beaten any team in the league. It's as simple as that. If you can somehow get the side to remain uninjured and playing like that, then finals are a reality.

I'm sure though, that a reality check isn't too far down the line. A lot is being asked of guys who are still very, VERY young. I'm positive about the side, and think we could possibly scrape into finals. But I'm not counting on it. I predicted 6 wins. Now I'm thinking 8 or 9.

I said on Tuesday that if we win the midfield and cutoff supply to Brovola,we're a real chance and we won the midfield and our defence took the honours.

There's a lot of talk about finals already and are we good enough to be a top 8 team.Well,the way i look at it is we only have to perform better than the bottom 8 and right now all the teams below us are ordinary.At the start of the season i thought 7 wins would be a good result and those wins would come from the bottom 8 teams.So far,we've beaten 2 top 6 teams from last year and lost by a point to another top 6 team and we have a helluva lot of games against teams below us so anything is possible.

How far would we go in the finals this year even if we did make it?

The team has got to learn to play the same way when it plays away from the MCG-Then & only then can we really go forward.

At this stage they have at least opened the door-I hope they fear no team this year, if that happens who can say what will happen. B)

We were good last night, But in the last three season including this season we have had 10 wins 8 v interstate sides, and 2 win vs richmond, so until we beat a good victorian side then we have not turned the corner,so far seasons we are just doing what we have been doing for the last three season, and that is beating Richmond and interstate sides at the G. so sorry please wait until we beat say essendon, or hawks, even north melbourne, which we have next week.

We were good last night, But in the last three season including this season we have had 10 wins 8 v interstate sides, and 2 win vs richmond, so until we beat a good victorian side then we have not turned the corner,so far seasons we are just doing what we have been doing for the last three season, and that is beating Richmond and interstate sides at the G. so sorry please wait until we beat say essendon, or hawks, even north melbourne, which we have next week.

Good post. Even winning at the Dome (now Etihad) has proven too tough for us in the past, so a win next week would be another massive step in the right direction.

Good post. Even winning at the Dome (now Etihad) has proven too tough for us in the past, so a win next week would be another massive step in the right direction.

Interestingly in the first few years after the Dome opened we had a very good record there but as the years have passed so has our good record, I guess we don't travel very well.

Interestingly in the first few years after the Dome opened we had a very good record there but as the years have passed so has our good record, I guess we don't travel very well.

With our curent style- shouldn't that really suit-Etihad?

The potential in our list was obvious, but I had my doubts that Bailey could get them to work consistently and fluently together, playing with courage and brotherhood. I now have no doubt.

Going into last night's game I was hoping both Brown and Black would play injured and tire, but about 5 minutes in, with Black racking up possies and Brown taking a couple of good marks, I was feeling pretty foolish. Still the signs were good, but I doubted we could maintain our dominance for four quarters against a team with very good fitness that has been playing out games well.

Now I'm thinking of heading down to Geelong in round 10, which I haven't done in about four years.

I wrote in February that the first NAB cup game was critical. This was for our membership drive and furthermore confidence. With our belting against Freo and subsequent NAB games- I thought we would struggle,especially after being belted by Hawthorn to beat Richmond in Round 4. No way did I believe we could beat Brisbane- I truly thought we would get belted. I also did not think we could get 32000. Roost it declared we would. He thought we could get 33000 odd. Well- I thought he was dreaming. We may still. The huge win- going to China as well, lays down a very solid platform for our October match and possible members and sponsors.We could even be a final eight team this year. However, we are young and may falter later on. But the foundation is there. Better team than what I thought we were.Your honest thoughts??

I think you were right,were not that good, YET. But that was a sneek peek.

With our curent style- shouldn't that really suit-Etihad?

Easier to shut down a teams running on the narrows of Edies-Hat. But, just how defensive can the Roos be?

The footy we played Saturday night would have beaten any team in the league. It's as simple as that. If you can somehow get the side to remain uninjured and playing like that, then finals are a reality.

I'm sure though, that a reality check isn't too far down the line. A lot is being asked of guys who are still very, VERY young. I'm positive about the side, and think we could possibly scrape into finals. But I'm not counting on it. I predicted 6 wins. Now I'm thinking 8 or 9.

I too agree our style and gameplan ARE very exciting, but the reality will set in once the other teams wake up to us. They will now be examining our replays with a fine tooth comb. Make no mistake: these wins, particularly last Saturday night, it was not so much that we caused an upset, it was more the way we won. We aniliated Brisbane, and every one in the AFL will be wanting to know why. The commentators reference to the "highway" about our play i have never heard before. Clearly we have very nearly perfected what everyone else was trying to do but couldn't. Our challenge will be when others seek to counter it, and to see how we respond. Mind you, if we implement properly, i believe it will be very very difficult to counter because of the skill level of the team which will only get better as we put more games into our players and they become harder and more experienced, as well of of course we get some of our most skilled back like Morton, Jurrah, Wonna. One of the keys to Saturday nite was our tackling and that is unlikely to drop off.

Exciting times ahead...

Edited April 25, 201015 yr by Go the mighty Dees

Etihad Stadium arena surface is 19,053 square metres, where the MCG is around 25,000 square meters. How much can this really affect the MFC style of play?

I wrote in February that the first NAB cup game was critical. This was for our membership drive and furthermore confidence. With our belting against Freo and subsequent NAB games- I thought we would struggle,especially after being belted by Hawthorn to beat Richmond in Round 4. No way did I believe we could beat Brisbane- I truly thought we would get belted. I also did not think we could get 32000. Roost it declared we would. He thought we could get 33000 odd. Well- I thought he was dreaming. We may still. The huge win- going to China as well, lays down a very solid platform for our October match and possible members and sponsors.We could even be a final eight team this year. However, we are young and may falter later on. But the foundation is there. Better team than what I thought we were.Your honest thoughts??

What is your obsession with the exhibition game in China??? You sometimes sound like you feel the season is just a big warm-up for this event. Our perfromance in this hit-and-giggle is largely inconsequential.

With our curent style- shouldn't that really suit-Etihad?

Our gamestyle requires the players to be able to spread laterally to allow room between the ball carrier and the available options. We have only just figured out how to make that space on the bigger G. I think our gamestyle will be challenging to maintain effectively at Etihad.

Our gamestyle requires the players to be able to spread laterally to allow room between the ball carrier and the available options. We have only just figured out how to make that space on the bigger G. I think our gamestyle will be challenging to maintain effectively at Etihad.

Exactly.

North will be working hard to corral MFC at every opportunity.

Easier to shut a team down at Etihad than MCG.

I too agree our style and gameplan ARE very exciting, but the reality will set in once the other teams wake up to us. They will now be examining our replays with a fine tooth comb. Make no mistake: these wins, particularly last Saturday night, it was not so much that we caused an upset, it was more the way we won. We aniliated Brisbane, and every one in the AFL will be wanting to know why. The commentators reference to the "highway" about our play i have never heard before. Clearly we have very nearly perfected what everyone else was trying to do but couldn't. Our challenge will be when others seek to counter it, and to see how we respond. Mind you, if we implement properly, i believe it will be very very difficult to counter because of the skill level of the team which will only get better as we put more games into our players and they become harder and more experienced, as well of of course we get some of our most skilled back like Morton, Jurrah, Wonna. One of the keys to Saturday nite was our tackling and that is unlikely to drop off.

Exciting times ahead...

You're fooling yourself seriously if you think other teams have no idea how we play. Bailey has been working on this plan for 3 years. Each and every side gets tapes each week of other teams.

Each side we have played has tried to contend with it. What other teams will find challenging is the emergence of Sculgove, McKenzie and the improvement in Jamar, Frawley and Warnock. I was speaking to an experienced AFL assistant coach of another side who over the past 3 weeks has watch MFC closely live and on TV and he cant get over how good Trengove is at such an early stage. This guy does not give accolades out easily.

Not that it should be a deciding factor, but the Dees have only won 4 games away from the G in over 4 seasons.

4 of our last 29 wins that is, 1 of our last 15 wins.

Meaningless stats that obviously do not illustrate the state of our list in that time, but I am interested nonetheless to see if we can start taking our "A" game away from the G.

Even in our finals years, we won 28 of 40 wins at the G and only lost 8.

Edited April 26, 201015 yr by 45HG16

Not that it should be a deciding factor, but the Dees have only won 4 games away from the G in over 4 seasons.

4 of our last 29 wins that is, 1 of our last 15 wins.

Meaningless stats that obviously do not illustrate the state of our list in that time, but I am interested nonetheless - especially to see if we can start turning it around.

Our biggest problem is playing in SA where the Crows have regularly beaten us by 70+ points not only a loss but a significant reduction in percentage.

Exactly.

North will be working hard to corral MFC at every opportunity.

Easier to shut a team down at Etihad than MCG.

Question is, do we lose out if we play in a shut-down contest?

We have a very good defense, and we don't really rely on kicking huge scores given our forwardline is a bit makeshift.

In a tight contest, like the one we experienced with Adelaide, I'm not sure we won't come up winners. It's shoot-outs which scare me, because it's rare for us to be able to find enough avenues to kick big scores.

Although as usual, if we can get our fair share of ball in the middle, we'll do fine. Gotta shut down Harvey as well (hate that [censored]!).