We certainly wont beat Carlton and probably won't beat Essendon, but I'd say around 12th with 6-8 wins.

We certainly wont beat Carlton and probably won't beat Essendon, but I'd say around 12th with 6-8 wins.

In all honesty how can anyone predict anything just yet ?

lets see how they gel and perform together as a team , in a contest c, coached by Roos.

In many a year a lowly team has come out and surprised. Otherwise the ladder would pretty much just stay the same and we know it doesnt.

The Melbourne of 14 will only bear a passing resemblance to this years.

We could finish anywhere from last to about 10th with anywhere from 1 to 10 wins.

Care to narrow it down a bit.

I think we can win about 8 but I'm not sure where that will get us possibly 11th or 12th.

See, I reckon with the right combination on the paddock and the right response to their new environs and masters we could finish in the 8.. Likley ? probably not, possible. ? anythings possible. Even we've dont it before.

I can tell you NO ONE at the club will be intimating a ceiling. Get on the board early and who knows.

I'd be content with 6 wins and no more embarrassing performances. While I predict we'll finish somewhere from 10-14, I really think that with a good run with injuries and a bit of luck, the top 8 isn't such a ridiculous proposition.

I hope that the players don't put a limit on their expectations, and that they can draw inspiration from clubs like Port Adelaide of 2013 and Adelaide of 2012.

I think we are a chance to get to 8 or 9 given we have a very good draw and the early games are winnable

Never know if we get a few early wins and confidence grows anything is possible as per west coast and port

We could finish anywhere from last to about 10th with anywhere from 1 to 10 wins.

surely you don't honestly think that just 1 win is a possibility

how could we possibly go backwards from last year after:

-seriously improving our midfield stock

-replacing a very ordinary coach with a proven champion (and other staff changes eg. Stone)

-the assumption that Clarke and Dawes won't be injured all year again

-the obligatory mention of an extra year into all these kids

-Jesse Hogan

there is just no logical argument to suggest we could go backwards surely

If Tyson, Cross, Vince and even Michie can have the immediate impact we hope for then we really should be pushing for a top eight finish. It's a huge "if" but we have enough talent in other areas of the ground for this to happen.

7th.

1 win is about as likely as 10 wins.

If I have to zero in - 16th or 17th with 4 or 5 wins, but it's very hard to predict what might happen.

St.Kilda is really the only club in our vicinity that I see being worse than last year - all the others should be equal or better than they were.

I expect we'll be better but we were truly utterly woeful.

Even the basket case that St Kilda appears to be at the moment IMO traded and drafted pretty well. So to pencil in wins against them as a given is a bit premature. Getting Richardson as coach is also potentially a very good move (thinking Hinkley last year at Port.)

GWS I think has traded in some handy players, and now into their third season they will be looking to improve in a similar fashion to the Gold Coast.

Everything is relative.... I am excited by our recruiting, Roos, Stone and our coaching staff, and PJ is doing a good job off field. But at the same time each of the other clubs are feeling optimistic and excited about what 2014 will bring.

I have no idea how we will go next year, I beleve we will improve and be competitive with most clubs outside of the top 4-6, snagging a few suprise wins. But also I think we will get the odd 10 goal loss to go with it.

I will be happy if we can say Clark, Grimes, Dawes and Trengove are fit for the season opener with a good preseason behind them. Add Vince, Michie and Tyson to the midfield to help Jones, and improvement from Toumpas and Viney, then of course our team looks a lot stronger.

We could finish anywhere from last to about 10th with anywhere from 1 to 10 wins.

Still fishing at the trout farm.

MFCSS is alive and well it seems

1 win is about as likely as 10 wins.

If we ever have a drink together don't let me drink from your cup!

8 wins for me with a bullet. Everyone (just about) underestimates the damage Neeld did to this group. We will surprise many this year with reasonable luck.

23 rounds does not equal 23 games.

I agree. As it is exactly where we finished this year (as thread topic asks)

Pity so many got this one wrong!

2013 is such a forgettable year LOL

Now that we have a genuine midfield, a coach who will bring more than just a game plan and a one 'Jesse Hogan', there's no way we will finish the season with 5 wins or less. I understand supporters worrying and preparing for the worst, but really we've followed a similar footprint to Port.

There are three reasons Port did what the did this year (in my view obviously).

Midfield - a number of players had injury riddled seasons in 2012 with Hartlett being one. You can see Port have talent and depth in the midfield when they are fit. Reason number one.

Coach - Hinkley. What a revelation hey. Now the trick with any coach is to have the players on your side, and playing for you. They certainly did that. From the very first game, you could see they were playing with an unbelievable intensity. Reason two.

Snow Ball - The mind is an amazing thing. We know confidence is key to getting anywhere near the best out of yourself, and when a bottom dwelling team gets a sniff, nothing will stop them.

We're pretty much about to embark on the same journey. We have a midfield. The player we've brought in are the polar opposite of the personnel Neeld tried to bring in. We have two experienced performers who work extremely hard in Cross and Vince. We have Tyson and Michie, both big bodied capable players whom I rate highly. Whist they don't have the runs on the board, Tyson was a pick 3 and I think I've seen enough snippets to suggest we've got ripper. Michie the same. Obviously didn't go very high in the draft, but I've had my eye in him for a while now and I love him. He'll contribute more than Sylvia in his first year. Trengove, Jones, Viney, Toumpas, Watts, Howe. Think about how much less pressure these blokes will have.

Roos - He'll have the exact same effect as Hinkley. He's come in and started a spark and it's only going to grow. Unlike Neeld, the players now have a leader. Someone they draw inspiration from. Someone they want to play for. Having him at the club is absolutely unbelievable and from the reports we've already heard, it sounds like the players already look more focused and intense.

If we get a couple of early wins against the Saints and West Coast at the G next year, watch the snowball roll on..

Going on my tipping performance for the last two years, I obviously have no idea.

I hope for a %age of 89 or better.

OMG they changed the title of this thread which makes my previous posts now wrong!

surely you don't honestly think that just 1 win is a possibility

how could we possibly go backwards from last year after:

-seriously improving our midfield stock

-replacing a very ordinary coach with a proven champion (and other staff changes eg. Stone)

-the assumption that Clarke and Dawes won't be injured all year again

-the obligatory mention of an extra year into all these kids

-Jesse Hogan

there is just no logical argument to suggest we could go backwards surely

This is the Melbourne footy club we're talking about. A 1 win season with a better percentage than last year is not out of the question.

However given your points above, we surely will improve our win - loss.

OMG they changed the title of this thread which makes my previous posts now wrong!

Yes, but what happens to this post on Jan 1st? Like tomorrow, next year never comes.

If we ever have a drink together don't let me drink from your cup!

8 wins for me with a bullet. Everyone (just about) underestimates the damage Neeld did to this group. We will surprise many this year with reasonable luck.

Without necessarily seeking recourse to blame, for in reality it doesnt serve much of a purpose today ,other than some sort of historical marker, I tend to agree that we are coming off a low point but that in itself inst a true marker of our real 'base' . I'd put that a bit higher than we were performing at.

My view is this past season we really ought to have won 4-5 games. We actually blew it in a few instances. Im forecasting dramatic change , not some semi imperceivable incremental betterment. At worst 8-9 wins.. at best....wtfk !!

With a midfield that works. We will be a very different outfit. Im not saying stars, shines, eclipses....just one that works !! Momentum killed us in more than a handful of games this year. Games where a seeming parity was blown out of the water by oppositions 5, 6, 7, 8, goal blitzes which then blew out our candle. That wont happen in 14.

yes, yes, I acknowledge its easy to be fast and loose with expectation come this 'giddy' time of year. The element that will change all is the mindsets of the players. If they are 'switched on' and positive then all hell could break out ( in a good way for us )

If we can get at least 75-80% of our fwds on park each week that will be a huge headache for opposition coachs.. Few teams have depth to cover all the bases..

Our backs are ok and will relish an easing of the pressure that a new 'working " midfield will afford. The effectiveness of our own ability to rebound on the half back will take leaps. This will flow through the midfield where instead of running out of puff, out of direction or just out of confidence the ball will be moved quickly down the pointy end.

The stunned mullet effect , our seeming acceptance to appear like bunnies in headlights will be gone. The likes of Cross, Vince, Jones together with whomever will steady the way.

I accept the scepticism. I thin we'll play Ok next year...In fact im sure of it.

My view is this past season we really ought to have won 4-5 games. We actually blew it in a few instances. Im forecasting dramatic change , not some semi imperceivable incremental betterment. At worst 8-9 wins.. at best....wtfk !!

With a midfield that works. We will be a very different outfit. Im not saying stars, shines, eclipses....just one that works !! Momentum killed us in more than a handful of games this year. Games where a seeming parity was blown out of the water by oppositions 5, 6, 7, 8, goal blitzes which then blew out our candle. That wont happen in 14.

Yep, this is the big point for mine - as you say, if you go back over last season there were a whole heap of games were we matched our opponent for most of the day but got destroyed for a 20-30 minute period. That to me indicates that, in addition to a huge lack of experience, we had a coach who didn't have his players' heads screwed on quite tightly enough.

Our players probably haven't been running out primed and feeling clear and positive about the game plan, since Bailey, and even then they had to deal with the Schwab factor. And Roos is probably a lot better than Hinkley.

So, on what basis really do we predict their 2014 form?

The team has months of preparation before the season kicks off. A huge part of that preparation will in effect be lifting the dead weight off, and redirecting them back into an enhanced version of the positive and joyful experience of the game that they knew in all those years before they got drafted to Melbourne.

Improvement will be part Roos, part the relief of being delivered out of the tactical and psychological mess of the recent past, and part the delayed emergence of what talent they have always had. I bet Roos has a fix in the back of his mind on what these guys did to his Sydney team. Why wouldn't we (in the back of our minds at least) have faith? If not predicting the eight, at least declining to predict a mediocre-to-bad 2014....

Hopefully with a $1.7million profit.

And 6 wins