If we beat Richmond next week ...

[sylvinator 96]

... we will end up playing a round 22 match against North Melbourne for a spot in the finals.

I've been playing with the afl.com 'predictor'.

Assuming we beat Richmond, we then only need to win 1 or the following 2 matches (either beat Hawthorn or PortAdelaide).

If we win 1 of those 2 games, the round 22 North game will be a match to get into the finals. This is due to the fact that North and Sydney both have extremely difficult run homes.

I personally think this would be a GREAT thing for our team's development. Yes, we'll be making finals before we are ready, however most premiership teams need to make finals for at least 3-4 years before genuinely going for the premiership. Just look at Geelong, who were making preliminary finals and finals for years before they won their premierships.

A finals game this year would fast track development, and i'm gunning for it. It would also be incredible reward for supporters who have gone through the tough times for 3 years.

[Gorgoroth 12,947]

If we make the finals and or finish 9th the expectation on the club will skyrocket for next year.

part of me wants them to achieve as high as they can, part of me wants to stay a bit off the pace to avoid all the extra hype like Richmond and Essendon have had in the last few years.

[sylvinator 96]

If we make the finals and or finish 9th the expectation on the club will skyrocket for next year.

part of me wants them to achieve as high as they can, part of me wants to stay a bit off the pace to avoid all the extra hype like Richmond and Essendon have had in the last few years.

The hype will come, whether we like it or not. The media will do their thing. That should really be a completely irrelevant motivation imo.

Much more important in my opinion is the healthy development of our team.

IMO, having 10.5 wins for the year, after only 4 last season, would be an incredible step forward for the group. As a result, they could go away from this year having gained confidence, experience and a knowledge of how to win. A finals experience in particular would be a great experience for the youngsters and fast track our development big time. Unless you fluke a premiership like Hawthorn did, you generally need 4-5 years of finals experience to be genuine premiership chance. Why not start this year, so we're ready in 2-3 years time for the real top 4 stuff.

Importantly, the difference between us and Richmond or Essendon, is that most of our current starting 22 could very easily be the same starting 22 we have in 3 years time. We have done the recruiting. We have found out most of those who are capable to push our team forward. Now its just a matter of continuing to play games together, as the Bailey mantra goes. This same group, should they play finals together, will be hungry for more for the next 5-10 years.

The only negative i can really see from making finals seems to be motivated on the basis that some of our supporters don't want us to be overhyped for next year. What we do should be for the best development of the team, not for what makes the media or the supporter base most happy.

[Jonesy's jokers 0]

wether we finish 10th, 9th, or 8th, i think expectations next year will still be to make finals

[Red and Blue Flame 186]

Jonesy's Jokers makes a good point. I think our list has more solid foundations than Essendon and Richmond so we won't slip behind next year if we do make finals this year. The young guys will all have another pre season under their belt and touch wood no injuries until the end of the season.

[Carn dees 108]

wether we finish 10th, 9th, or 8th, i think expectations next year will still be to make finals

Exaclty, also if we scrape in to the finals with 10 and half wins i think expectations next year should be to win 12+ games next year and if thats accomplished we will make finals and i would say it would defiantly be a pass mark.

[Jack7 528]

We've now won 3 of the last 4 and growing in confidence each week and i remember the Saints a few years ago won something like 9 of the last 11 which set them up for the following season.

Most of us here predicted 7-8 wins this year and we've achieved that with 4 games to go and we probably should've won 2 more.If we do beat the Tigers next week and we play North for a spot in the finals,the whole club would believe we are on the right track which couldn't be said even 6-8 weeks ago.We are expecting to fight for a final 8 berth next year and if we did it this year,our preseason would be huge.

Wooden Spoon to Wooden Spoon to 8th,now that would be something pretty special!!!

[Grandson of a gun 276]

I just don't think we deserve to be in the finals if you look at the season overall.

We have been way too inconsistent and have shown a lack of work ethic at times. This is not what finals teams do.

I believe it would be a false reward. We should go close but the players will then learn that they need to step up again next year just to make the finals.

[Rhino Richards 1,467]

I just don't think we deserve to be in the finals if you look at the season overall.

We have been way too inconsistent and have shown a lack of work ethic at times. This is not what finals teams do.

So Carlton and Sydney deserve to be in the finals??

[sylvinator 96]

So Carlton and Sydney deserve to be in the finals??

Exactly correct.

This year there are only 4-5 decent teams.

The last 2-3 teams in the finals are probably not worthy of it.

Regardless of whether we truely deserve it, it may as well be us to give our players a finals experience under their belt to help fast track their development.

[Demon Rob 2]

Yeah, I had a play with the ladder predictor too, and gee its an interesting last few weeks!

So we win the last game against North, and then we can start dreaming!

first week of finals: Melb v Hawks. Big game. We can beat them.

second week: Collingwood have lost their first final. Third game against them for the year. We win by a point.

third week: Bulldogs. We can beat them this time!

fourth week: Grand Final. Geelong. Ok the dreaming is over. Could be worse than 2000 and 88. Go to Noosa. Take a late snow trip. Don't go to the G.

[Sir Why You Little 37,033]

I just don't think we deserve to be in the finals if you look at the season overall.

We have been way too inconsistent and have shown a lack of work ethic at times. This is not what finals teams do.

I believe it would be a false reward. We should go close but the players will then learn that they need to step up again next year just to make the finals.

What a ridiculous statement. We ran collingwood in both games and should have beaten the Westies. If we have enough points we deserve to play in september.

Do Carlton, Sydney or Hawthorn deserve to be there on your theory???

[Jonesy's jokers 0]

To beat the Hawks at the G will be hard, But i rekon to beat port at AAMI will be harder. We havent won there in a while, and the out of form crows thrashed us there earlier this year.

The players and staffhave to take it a week at a time, a quatre at a time, a goal at a time,

but we (MFC supporters) get to analyse all possibilities. All i know is MFC is getting very exciting

[Jonesy's jokers 0]

What a ridiculous statement. We ran collingwood in both games and should have beaten the Westies. If we have enough points we deserve to play in september.

Do Carlton, Sydney or Hawthorn deserve to be there on your theory???

not to mention the game we were robbed of agianst the Bulldogs. Its the losses to Westcoast and the Kangaroos that really hurt us as well

[Dappa Dan 2,188]

At the start of the year I had hoped for 7-8 wins. Maybe to stay in the hunt until round 16.

After the lions win in round 5, I had changed that to ten wins and staying in the hunt until round 19/20.

This year has exceeded my expectations. How often do we get to say that about the dees?

[Geddy Lee 582]

So Carlton and Sydney deserve to be in the finals??

Exactly right Rhino.

People here who are scared of making finals have had their minds warped by the last few years.

The MFC exists to win flags; to win flags you have to win finals, to win finals you need experience in finals. Giving the Jack brigade and our young defence the experience of playing finals would be invaluable.

We should have beaten "the best team in the land" Collingwood not once, but twice. Should have beaten the Bulldogs (thanks umpires). Destroyed the Swans; nearly beat the Dockers playing one half of football.

Apart from two brain farts (vs Hawthorn and West Coast IMO) we are a more dangerous team than Carlton, Sydney and the Kangas. ]

Who cares whether we deserve to play finals. Let's bloody well play finals!!!

[btdemon 482]

... we will end up playing a round 22 match against North Melbourne for a spot in the finals.

I've been playing with the afl.com 'predictor'.

Assuming we beat Richmond, we then only need to win 1 or the following 2 matches (either beat Hawthorn or PortAdelaide).

Richmond beat Adelaide today. Nothing is a foregone conclusion.

[Chook 15,012]

Melbourne plays the 'G very well. I would rate us a better chance to beat Richmond there than Adelaide is - and the Crows led by 20 points at half-time. We're certainly a very good chance to beat the Tigers next week, and then from there, who knows? Results have certainly gone our way this week.

[DeeSpencer 25,680]

Melbourne plays the 'G very well. I would rate us a better chance to beat Richmond there than Adelaide is - and the Crows led by 20 points at half-time. We're certainly a very good chance to beat the Tigers next week, and then from there, who knows? Results have certainly gone our way this week.

I've got that funny feeling that Richmond will beat us. They have speed and are good at contested ball winning. Their goes 2 of the advantages we've had in recent weeks. Whoever brings the pressure and consistently hits the targets will win the game, and I'm thinking its about time we won't.

[Nasher 33,613]

As has been alluded to by Rhino et al, we may not "deserve" to make the finals, but neither do any of the other jokers currently occupying the 7-9 positions. I'd be pretty stoked if we pushed them out of the way.

[Dappa Dan 2,188]

Giving the Jack brigade and our young defence the experience of playing finals would be invaluable.

There's more than a few positives. It'll instill belief that these kids are working the right way, and set the tone for the remainder of their careers that if they pay attention, work for each other and listen to Dean they'll be rewarded.

What's more, you can't put a price on finals experience. Even crappy elimination finals. Add to this the fact if we made it we'd be in 8th... and more than likely play Freo who would finish 5th. We pushed Freo to the brink at Subi, and if we could get Jack to kick that clutch goal (or Dunn, who's in career-best form) then we play the second week against, probably, the Saints... And you'd think that game would be at the G.

That's a good chance at 2 finals, one of which is at the G for long suffering fans!

Oh. And don't forget the last final we played in, and the last final Freo won was against us over there. How sweet it would be to stitch them up 4 years after they did us in a semi.

And another thing. We bottomed out as badly as you could imagine, and would push Carlton as the worst side of the decade. To say our bottoming out period, in which we missed finals, only lasted 3 years would be an amazing turnaround, considering where this list was in 2007 and 2008.

[Adzman 2,154]

The more finals games we get into this list the better. We are not ready to contest for a flag, but getting a few big finals games under our belt will help when that time comes.

[Jaded No More 68,906]

LOL at supporters who don't think we should make finals because we might not deserve it.

Get the f' out. If we make the 8, we deserve to be there. We have a very young list, and while we've had some shockers, we've also been unlucky against the Pies and Dogs and have had our fair share of injuries to contend with throughout the season.

We would be more worthy of making finals than that jokes of a club Carlton, who realistically should be 2-3 years ahead of us in development, or Sydney with their experienced team and numerous star players, or bloody North Melbourne.

If we make it, it's because we earnt it!

Edited August 1, 2010 by Jaded

[Dreamin' Demon 10]

I've just played with the AFL predictor & we finished 11th place with 9.5 wins for the year.

[Al`s DEMONS 0]

I just don't think we deserve to be in the finals if you look at the season overall.

We have been way too inconsistent and have shown a lack of work ethic at times. This is not what finals teams do.

I believe it would be a false reward. We should go close but the players will then learn that they need to step up again next year just to make the finals.

young teams are inconsistent. everyone at the club has worked hard. getting there and being knocked out will give them more of a taste for it