The First Half Draw

[mollydee 22]

Geelong in Mordor

Beautiful!

Having said that , I hope the players' mindset is more positive about the venue . I know it's difficult after last year , but hopefully we can really do them there this year !

If we can keep up with last night's effort and do well in the first few games, gaining confidence , it's not beyond possible .

[dpositive 1,819]

May have to review the First half of the Draw poll given last nights result

I liked Neeld Quotr we weree 13th last year and perhaps were all equal on the bottom or something like that.

Is he indicating we can beat anyone ???? and be beaten by anyone????

I hope so

GO DEES

[rpfc 28,913]

May have to review the First half of the Draw poll given last nights result

I liked Neeld Quotr we weree 13th last year and perhaps were all equal on the bottom or something like that.

Is he indicating we can beat anyone ???? and be beaten by anyone????

I hope so

GO DEES

He was asked whether we would make finals, he said he would be happy to beat 13th and we all start at 18th.

[dpositive 1,819]

Thanks rpfc

It still sounds ok to me

Keepin a lid on with a recognition of potential

[Striker475 696]

Brisbane at the G - should win this one

WCE in Perth - Will lose this one

Tigers at the G - 50/50 if Jurrah is back should win otherwise not confident

Bulldogs at the G - another one I see as 50/50 I think we'll win one of either this game or the game against the Saints

Saints at the G - see above

Geelong in Mordor - loss

Hawthorn at the G - loss

Sydney in Sydney - not sure we usually play ok at SCG so think this one is winnable

Carlton at the G - loss

Essendon at the G - win

Collingwood at the G - loss

So I think at the halfway mark we will likely have about 4 wins setting us up for a decent crack at the top 8 considering the run home we have.

[Forest Demon 4,681]

He was asked whether we would make finals, he said he would be happy to beat 13th and we all start at 18th.

Not quite. Reporter asked Nathan Jones where he thinks we stand going into the season proper, and Neeld intercepted the question and said we finished 13th last year, so 13th, or we all start on the bottom. Jones looked happy that Neeld took the question because he looked a little baffled as to how best answer it.

So wasn't really saying he was happy to finish above 13th, just saying that was where we stand going into the season.

[Bring-Back-Powell 15,257]

If we're going to do something this year, we must learn to beat the middle of the road Vic clubs like St.Kilda, Bulldogs and North Melbourne.

I will hack losing to class sides like Carlton and Hawthorn but to lose to battlers like North without fail (since 06) every year shouldn't be tolerated anymore.

[Jaded No More 68,975]

I will hack losing to class sides like Carlton

Carlton is not such a classy side.

It is the same old pricks who kill us every time we play them. Judd, Murphy, Waite. Shut those 3 down and we can win. We have a far superior backline and our forward line is a lot less one dimensional.

If we can keep playing the sort of contested footy we've been playing in the middle, there is no reason why we can't beat them.

I am sick to death of losing to them. They are nowhere near as good as they believe. The proof lies in the fact that they have gone nowhere in finals, and can't beat the best sides. They crumble under defensive pressure, which is what our new game plan is about.

It's about time we put them back in their arrogant box.

[Samsara 65]

If we're going to do something this year, we must learn to beat the middle of the road Vic clubs like St.Kilda, Bulldogs and North Melbourne.

I will hack losing to class sides like Carlton and Hawthorn but to lose to battlers like North without fail (since 06) every year shouldn't be tolerated anymore.

Totally agree; really need to win a few out of Richmond, North, Bulldogs, Saints, Essendon, and Sydney.

[rpfc 28,913]

Carlton is not such a classy side.

It is the same old pricks who kill us every time we play them. Judd, Murphy, Waite. Shut those 3 down and we can win. We have a far superior backline and our forward line is a lot less one dimensional.

If we can keep playing the sort of contested footy we've been playing in the middle, there is no reason why we can't beat them.

I am sick to death of losing to them. They are nowhere near as good as they believe. The proof lies in the fact that they have gone nowhere in finals, and can't beat the best sides. They crumble under defensive pressure, which is what our new game plan is about.

It's about time we put them back in their arrogant box.

Yeah, close down Judd, Murphy, Gibbs, Kreuzer, and Waite and it's easy...

[Jaded No More 68,975]

Yeah, close down Judd, Murphy, Gibbs, Kreuzer, and Waite and it's easy...

The point is, that Carlton's top 5 players are great, the rest are damn mediocre, and it's only because we used to play such loose attacking footy that we'd get murdered, because head to head, their attacking players are well ahead of ours.

A midfield of Jones, Magner and Couch managed to break even with a midfield of Swan, Pendelbury and Thomas on the weekend, despite the very very obvious disparity in class and talent.

There is nothing to say we can't break even with Carlton's midfield if we play the same sort of defensive, contested footy we've played thus far, and I'm confident our backline can shut their forwards and our forwards can challenge their backs.

[Macca 17,113]

Totally agree; really need to win a few out of Richmond, North, Bulldogs, Saints, Essendon, and Sydney.

Sydney and to a lesser extent North often seem to beat those who they should beat . Sounds simple but I reckon it takes a lot of discipline to not "drop your guard" against teams of the same ilk . I put this down to good coaching .

Out of the 6 teams that you mentioned we should be aiming at beating most , if not all of them . They're not that good and we need to start having some decent aims .

Cheers

[Dr. Gonzo 24,448]

Carlton is not such a classy side.

They are nowhere near as good as they believe. The proof lies in the fact that they have gone nowhere in finals, and can't beat the best sides. They crumble under defensive pressure, which is what our new game plan is about.

They've done OK against the Cats a couple of times in recent years - should have beat them last year.

[rpfc 28,913]

The point is, that Carlton's top 5 players are great, the rest are damn mediocre, and it's only because we used to play such loose attacking footy that we'd get murdered, because head to head, their attacking players are well ahead of ours.

A midfield of Jones, Magner and Couch managed to break even with a midfield of Swan, Pendelbury and Thomas on the weekend, despite the very very obvious disparity in class and talent.

There is nothing to say we can't break even with Carlton's midfield if we play the same sort of defensive, contested footy we've played thus far, and I'm confident our backline can shut their forwards and our forwards can challenge their backs.

It's all about the top 5 players, Jaded.

We talk about depth, but that is meaningless if your top 5 players aren't good enough.

[Curry & Beer 5,444]

It's all about the top 5 players, Jaded.

We talk about depth, but that is meaningless if your top 5 players aren't good enough.

disagree

your 18th-22nd players and how they stack up to the other mob's 18-22nd is equally important IMO. This is a lesson I have learned by wathing a lot of very, very ordinary players occupy these spots for us and their opponents absolutely toweling them. The biggest example for mine is how often we have lost the match because we had nobody to contain the monster forward of the other side. If Ben Holland is named to play on Fevola you are cooked before the ball is bounced!

however there are a few exceptions like Judd and Franklin, who can really influence a match and be the difference. Hopefully we have at least one of these types in our ranks

[titan_uranus 25,176]

If we're going to do something this year, we must learn to beat the middle of the road Vic clubs like St.Kilda, Bulldogs and North Melbourne.

I will hack losing to class sides like Carlton and Hawthorn but to lose to battlers like North without fail (since 06) every year shouldn't be tolerated anymore.

I have no idea why you chose to say Carlton, when you could easily have said Collingwood or Geelong. But your point is valid and one I agree with. I think a good measure of our year will be not whether or not we can beat Collingwood etc, but whether we can beat the middle of the road sides.

[rpfc 28,913]

disagree

your 18th-22nd players and how they stack up to the other mob's 18-22nd is equally important IMO. This is a lesson I have learned by wathing a lot of very, very ordinary players occupy these spots for us and their opponents absolutely toweling them. The biggest example for mine is how often we have lost the match because we had nobody to contain the monster forward of the other side. If Ben Holland is named to play on Fevola you are cooked before the ball is bounced!

however there are a few exceptions like Judd and Franklin, who can really influence a match and be the difference. Hopefully we have at least one of these types in our ranks

When do the 18th-22nd best players beat a side.

Those 5 may matter on GF day but let's get there first.

You need to carried into the top 4 by having 5 or 6 star players who deliver every week.

[Striker475 696]

Just as a note - people talk about needing a superstar, a gamebreaker, but I don't know that you do - Brisbane 2001-03 didn't have one who absolutely stood out (Aker came close sometimes), neither did Adelaide 97-98.

[Pennant St Dee 13,403]

Just as a note - people talk about needing a superstar, a gamebreaker, but I don't know that you do - Brisbane 2001-03 didn't have one who absolutely stood out (Aker came close sometimes), neither did Adelaide 97-98.

Try Jonathon BROWN, Michael VOSS, Simon BLACK just to name a few plus quality B-A Graders LYNCH, MICHAEL, LEPPITSCH, POWER

Adelaide - McLEOD, JARMAN, RICUITTO then their B-A Graders, EDWARDS, SMART, HART

The only team I can think of who were really a team who just had 1 real A grader to win the flag was the Swans of 05 with Gooes but even they had a number of B-A Graders in HALL, KIRK,O'KEEFE, O'LÓUGHLIN, JOLLY an maybe KENNEALLY

[Striker475 696]

Try Jonathon BROWN, Michael VOSS, Simon BLACK just to name a few plus quality B-A Graders LYNCH, MICHAEL, LEPPITSCH, POWER

Adelaide - McLEOD, JARMAN, RICUITTO then their B-A Graders, EDWARDS, SMART, HART

The only team I can think of who were really a team who just had 1 real A grader to win the flag was the Swans of 05 with Gooes but even they had a number of B-A Graders in HALL, KIRK,O'KEEFE, O'LÓUGHLIN, JOLLY an maybe KENNEALLY

I'm not talking about A-Graders, I'm talking about the outright gamebreaker - that rare talent who can succeed no matter the dire circumstances, and tear a side to shreds. See Ablett, Judd, Franklin.

Not doubting those teams had a wide variety of A-Graders, but some of those players simply didn't have the outright individual damaging ability of the true top end.

Black, Power, Voss was death by 1000 cuts. Brown wasn't even at his peak at that point.

Adelaide - McLeod early career, Roo was a hard nut mid and Jarman is memorialised for standing up when it counted - when Modra went down.

[Pennant St Dee 13,403]

I'm not talking about A-Graders, I'm talking about the outright gamebreaker - that rare talent who can succeed no matter the dire circumstances, and tear a side to shreds. See Ablett, Judd, Franklin.

Not doubting those teams had a wide variety of A-Graders, but some of those players simply didn't have the outright individual damaging ability of the true top end.

Black, Power, Voss was death by 1000 cuts. Brown wasn't even at his peak at that point.

Adelaide - McLeod early career, Roo was a hard nut mid and Jarman is memorialised for standing up when it counted - when Modra went down.

Watch the 97 GF JARMAN & MCLEOD Changed the game after half time and I think back to back Norm Smith medals makes you a game breaker in the best possible way

BROWN was at the peak of his powers from 02-05 and it was Black who dominated the clearances in the 03 GF early on when the games was there to be won

[Trisul 674]

145 of you need some rose removal tech.