The First Half Draw

[H_T 3,049]

Which muppet put in 11?

Probably the one big on attitude but less on realistic values.

[Forest Demon 4,681]

Whoops, just realised I only had 4 wins but selected 5.

Have us beating Brisbane, Richmond, Essendon and one of the Bulldogs and St Kilda.

Obviously it is very unpredictable at this stage could see us anywhere from 2 wins to 7 wins.

[rpfc 28,777]

Which muppet put in 11?

binman

This is not a private poll...

Posters will own their noose.

[Sir Why You Little 37,127]

What attitude?

Reality?

Your reality maybe. Not mine.

[rpfc 28,777]

Your reality maybe. Not mine.

I don't care if you have Tony Robbins come and talk to the fellas - it won't give us a better midfield than Carlton...

And that's where the game is won and lost, no preparation on behalf of the FD will mitigate that fact.

That's reality. Yours and mine.

[Sir Why You Little 37,127]

I don't care if you have Tony Robbins come and talk to the fellas - it won't give us a better midfield than Carlton...

And that's where the game is won and lost, no preparation on behalf of the FD will mitigate that fact.

That's reality. Yours and mine.

Tony Robbins is not a person i have any respect for, or Carlscum for that matter.

Their midfield is good yes, but only if it is allowed to play well.

[Jesse Christ 2,884]

I think we'll win all of them by 50+

[Jesse Christ 2,884]

You should respect him- he is a self made multi millionaire from speaking shite!

[Sir Why You Little 37,127]

You should respect him- he is a self made multi millionaire from speaking shite!

Says a lot for the American middle class doesn't it? His teeth are worse than Larry Emdnur's!!

[Samsara 65]

This really could be anything, with a few 50/50 games that could easily go either way: Richmond, Saints, Bulldogs, Essendon.

I'd be happy with 4-7, given the draw.

[Hells Gates 505]

Says a lot for the American middle class doesn't it? His teeth are worse than Larry Emdnur's!!

Funny you should mention him...

I was just about to propose Larry Emdur as our small forward solution in the other thread!!!

[rpfc 28,777]

Tony Robbins is not a person i have any respect for, or Carlscum for that matter.

Their midfield is good yes, but only if it is allowed to play well.

Funny how rarely our midfield is 'allowed to play well.'

I mean, come on, WYL, I as blithely optimistic about the future as the next bloke but they are well ahead of us.

And that's what this exercise reveals in my opinion - which teams we think we can overtake (or stay infront of) in the very near future.

It's not about 'each match on it's merits.' It's about 'all things considered - where do we sit?'

And we sit well behind Carlton...

[DemonWA 3,936]

I'll give my reasoning:

Beat the Lions at home in Neeld's first game.

Get thrashed in Perth.

Pip the Tigers, who unforunately, have an amazing midfield that is far better than ours. We have Frawley though, and that means they don't have Riewoldt...

Beat the rebuilding Bulldogs at the G.

Beat the Saints because it is at the G.

At 4 and 1 go to Geelong, Hawthorn, Sydney and Carlton and lose all respect we gained in the first 5 weeks...

Beat the Bombers as they arrogantly come off a hiding of the GWS questioning whether we will be any better...

And get told by the Pies to 'stay down!'

same logic apart from i think the saints will beat us

4 wins is my realistic take on where we will be

Bombers, Tigers and doggies will also be tough games. I dont really see us getting any easy wins this year aside from GWS

[McQueen 17,867]

I managed 5 wins.

Lions

Tigers

Dogs

Saints

Blues

The fifth win was a toss-up between the Blues and Bombers but I figured that after losses to the Cats, Hawks and Swans, Neeld will be rabid and the boys will be keen to win at all costs. After the high of beating the Blues, we will trip-up against the Bombers the following week.

Queens birthday will be a close one.

[Sir Why You Little 37,127]

Funny how rarely our midfield is 'allowed to play well.'

I mean, come on, WYL, I as blithely optimistic about the future as the next bloke but they are well ahead of us.

And that's what this exercise reveals in my opinion - which teams we think we can overtake (or stay infront of) in the very near future.

It's not about 'each match on it's merits.' It's about 'all things considered - where do we sit?'

And we sit well behind Carlton...

Considering they Carlscum were tanking around the same time that we were percieved to be doing the same thing. I don't think we should be way behind Carlscum at all. Yes they are ahead but not by that much.

I hope that is how the new coach sees it.

After 5 years of rebuilding 3-5 victories in the first 11 is not good enough.

Yes it may happen but i sure hope not.

Jimmy aint got all day to wait.

Edited February 27, 2012 by why you little

[1858 285]

Ended up with 4 wins.

[Pennant St Dee 13,304]

Funny how rarely our midfield is 'allowed to play well.'

I mean, come on, WYL, I as blithely optimistic about the future as the next bloke but they are well ahead of us.

And that's what this exercise reveals in my opinion - which teams we think we can overtake (or stay infront of) in the very near future.

It's not about 'each match on it's merits.' It's about 'all things considered - where do we sit?'

And we sit well behind Carlton...

We sat behind Essendon & Sydney last year and took 6 points from 8, in 2010 we like everyone else sat behind the Pies but drew with them and lost by 1 point. I think what WYL is saying is Carlton are not unbeatable and yes whilst they have a great midfield anything can happen. They do not have a great defence and West Coasts 3 talls also with Cox/Nic Nat resting in the forward line destroyed them last year.

If we can break even in the middle or even get our share of the clearances Clark (Kennedy), Watts, Howe (Darling) and Jamar/Martin (Cox/Natanui) we will cause them problems.

Having said all that I do have the blues pencilled in as Top 3 this year

[Hells Gates 505]

Considering they Carlscum were tanking around the same time that we were percieved to be doing the same thing. I don't think we should be way behind Carlscum at all. Yes they are ahead but not by that much.

I hope that is how the new coach sees it.

After 5 years of rebuilding 3-5 victories in the first 11 is not good enough.

Yes it may happen but i sure hope not.

Jimmy aint got all day to wait.

We really need to stop this "do it for Jimmy" caper, we need to start doing it for ourselves and not rely on emotional get me ups!

Ive never disagreed with you WYL but I honestly think we are a very long way behind Judd, Murphy, Gibbs, Scotland, Carazzo even Simpson. We are nowhere even near it to be honest. The AFL set up a system for us to build an empire of mids through our own poor performances and at this stage I think we have failed badly. Theres hope for Gysberts to overtake McLean but by now, with all the rebuilding we should be well ahead of where we are.

I dont want to disagree with you as I'm as hopefull as the next person but we are along way from the green & JV isnt going to bring us class.

Edited February 27, 2012 by Hells Gates

[Sir Why You Little 37,127]

I just think with all the changes implemented since last August we have to expect more than just the easy wins.

If the list is coached well and is hungry we should do better.

I am also aware we are one of eighteen sides who all want to win.

[rpfc 28,777]

Considering they Carlscum were tanking around the same time that we were percieved to be doing the same thing. I don't think we should be way behind Carlscum at all. Yes they are ahead but not by that much.

I hope that is how the new coach sees it.

After 5 years of rebuilding 3-5 victories in the first 11 is not good enough.

Yes it may happen but i sure hope not.

Jimmy aint got all day to wait.

Let's respect Jim enough to keep him out of first half of the season predictions...

We all hope to improve but how much can we improve?

I think enough to beat WB and St K, which is progress. And I am not throwing the game away, I am just saying that there are teams well infornt of us. The same way we will be well infront of them in a few years time.

[Bring-Back-Powell 14,939]

I have us at 2-9 with wins over Brisbane and Richmond. Many posters here were still in nappies the last time we beat Bulldogs and St Kilda while Essendon will be a bloody tough game.

The good news is that we'll come home with a leg in the air with games against GWSx 2 and Crows, Power and GC as very winnable.

I think we'll go 7-15 next year but be more of a satisfying year than last.

[Sir Why You Little 37,127]

Let's respect Jim enough to keep him out of first half of the season predictions...

We all hope to improve but how much can we improve?

I think enough to beat WB and St K, which is progress. And I am not throwing the game away, I am just saying that there are teams well infornt of us. The same way we will be well infront of them in a few years time.

But it is always "in a few years time" that is my point.

Results start in 2012 & beyond for me.

2011 was a big "wakey wakey" IMO. Our list is better than that.

We have been mediocre for so long that even the most one eyed supporter finds it hard to believe we can really improve.

That is why i was pleased to read Mclardy's comments in the Age on Saturday.

[Rhino Richards 1,467]

Considering they Carlscum were tanking around the same time that we were percieved to be doing the same thing. I don't think we should be way behind Carlscum at all. Yes they are ahead but not by that much.

I hope that is how the new coach sees it.

I hope the coach is alot sharper than that.

Carlton were tanking 2 years before us. And they snared Judd who is rolled gold class in the midfield. They also secured Warnock who should be ready to lead their rucks very well.

After 5 years of rebuilding 3-5 victories in the first 11 is not good enough.

Yes it may happen but i sure hope not.

Jimmy aint got all day to wait.

Yes "no more excuses". Actually its 4 years of rebuilding and your timeline for how long it takes really needs to be reviewed against what other Clubs have gone through to make the rise.

And its becoming rather tacky you evoking Jimmy as some sort of talisman for where you think we should be. He is a sick man with more serious issues on his plate. And his situation does not need to be used as some sort of unrealistic high jump bar for the team. At least the Club has more sophisticated and realistic measures of where they will be.

4 wins is my realistic take on where we will be

Bombers, Tigers and doggies will also be tough games. I dont really see us getting any easy wins this year aside from GWS

I am at 4 wins. The first half is a tough draw indeed. I had Brisbane, Sydney, Tigers and Doggies.

It could be between 2 and 6 wins with Essendon and St Kilda being interesting games.

[Sir Why You Little 37,127]

I hope the coach is alot sharper than that.

Carlton were tanking 2 years before us. And they snared Judd who is rolled gold class in the midfield. They also secured Warnock who should be ready to lead their rucks very well.

Yes "no more excuses". Actually its 4 years of rebuilding and your timeline for how long it takes really needs to be reviewed against what other Clubs have gone through to make the rise.

And its becoming rather tacky you evoking Jimmy as some sort of talisman for where you think we should be. He is a sick man with more serious issues on his plate. And his situation does not need to be used as some sort of unrealistic high jump bar for the team. At least the Club has more sophisticated and realistic measures of where they will be.

I am at 4 wins. The first half is a tough draw indeed. I had Brisbane, Sydney, Tigers and Doggies.

It could be between 2 and 6 wins with Essendon and St Kilda being interesting games.

How nice of you to pop by Rhino...

2012 is year 5.

[binman 43,762]

Which muppet put in 11?

Just call me Kermit. My favourite time of year is pre season. We haven't lost a game, i'm always full of hope. My experience in following the dees has been the season usually provides more than its fair share of reality checks so i'm sticking with 11 wins in a row to start the year.

P.S - how many games did Wet Coke win out of its first 11 last year?

Edited February 27, 2012 by binman