Dare to dream.  I see it a bit differently.

yesterday was the 'turning point' for a future that looks beautiful.  I remember when Geelong turned their corner, they simply changed gears.  Bomber Thompson went from pariah to a hero in a few weeks.  I think this game will be our turning point.  We might not win everything, but we might now play like a team that believes....

if we 'luck in' to the finals, OK.  But it is not what the end of this season is really about.  We have all these young guys who stil struggle to run out full games (Oliver, Wiederman, Dawes....), (Dawes was a joke, don't beat me up for it!)

we play the last games like a team that has learned the effort and strategies that can give us outcomes.  We set benchmarks of what is now unacceptable.  We keep practicing taking the game on.  The results will come.

i want this to pay off from next season.  Another preseason, then take no prisoners.  Stop being beaten by hacks like St kilda.  It's our turn.  Our time is now

we simply gave away too much in the earlier part of the year to make the finals this year

4 hours ago, AdamFphlebeb said:

Yep. And have you looked at those three teams across the final rounds?

Which three teams?

3 hours ago, Jaded said:

To be honest, I think just missing out on finals will be better motivation for us going into next season, than coming 8th and getting smashed in week one of the finals, which is the most likely result. 

I want to make finals and win, not make up numbers. 

I know finals experience is very important, but it can be really damaging getting there only to get smacked. Just ask Richmond.

I'm sorry, but I disagree wholeheartedly with this! After 10 dismal, heartbreaking years you don't want to make the finals because we might get done!?!?!?

We have absolutely nothing to fear from whichever team comes fifth. They will be fearing us! 

I wonder how you'd go about telling Nathan Jones or Jack Viney that they should just aim for ninth this year!

31 minutes ago, Ricky P said:

I'm sorry, but I disagree wholeheartedly with this! After 10 dismal, heartbreaking years you don't want to make the finals because we might get done!?!?!?

We have absolutely nothing to fear from whichever team comes fifth. They will be fearing us! 

\

This x 1000

Finals must be the aim - with 3 rounds left its still possible and not making it again will suck.

1 hour ago, Ricky P said:

Which three teams?

Melbourne, North and St Kilda.

As much as I would like this to happen, I can't see it just yet.

The players can do their bit by bringing about the impossible by winning the last three. Port is 50/50 and we should beat Carlton if today's match was an indicator of where they are at but I think Geelong is a bridge too far. 

While some get excited about the youth of our squad (and they should), a flip side comes with that. They can put in performances that can take your breath away at some junctures and leave you pulling your hair out at others. Point in case: we will give this year's wooden spooners their only win for the year while also knocking off a team who is very likely to draw level with Collingwood's record of four flags in a row this year.

When a team is in the position that we are it's very simple. We can only control what we do. We win the games we need to win and the rest will sort itself out one way or another.

That said, if we beat Port this week and North lose I reckon the club should just quietly start a #daretodream hashtag. Would be kinda cool to have a final round where there was at least the possibility of it happening. All Dwayne Russell kept saying was 9th as our best possible finish. 

If we miss out by one game I want every Melbourne player that was out there against Essendon to be burning with rage.

On 8/8/2016 at 8:39 AM, Pates said:

When a team is in the position that we are it's very simple. We can only control what we do. We win the games we need to win and the rest will sort itself out one way or another.

That said, if we beat Port this week and North lose I reckon the club should just quietly start a #daretodream hashtag. Would be kinda cool to have a final round where there was at least the possibility of it happening. All Dwayne Russell kept saying was 9th as our best possible finish. 

If we miss out by one game I want every Melbourne player that was out there against Essendon to be burning with rage.

Essendon, North and West Coast.

three games we should have won, had we won those we'd be 8th and a strong chance of holding that spot.

real lesson for the players as to just how much the lapses can cost.

It sucks that we play the bottom four clubs one time

17 hours ago, CBDees said:

We're a shoe-in if we beat Geelong. After that it gets hard though.

One week at a time   

We would need to do what we haven't done for ages: win five on the trot  

Not saying we can't, just that we need to  

16 hours ago, Ricky P said:

Why would it be at Etihad?

I was going to pose the same question.  

If the unthinkable happens which I don't think it will & we play Geelong again in the first week of the finals it will be at the MCG. The only way we will play Geelong at Etihad is if the other 3 finals are are hosted by 3 Victorian Teams. 

 

7 minutes ago, Abe said:

Essendon, North and West Coast.

three games we should have won, had we won those we'd be 8th and a strong chance of holding that spot.

real lesson for the players as to just how much the lapses can cost.

North I honestly feel out of that game it was 50/50. They came out on top with experience (and some curious calls from the umps). West Coast I agree we shot ourselves in the foot with poor kicking on goal, but over in Perth it would be a good effort for almost any team. That we came so close and ended up being our own worst enemies is strangely heartening.

But Essendon just should not have happened. Simple as that. Credit to them, they came to the game with fire. But our players came to the game with a level of arrogance that none of them and certainly our club hadn't earned. We should have at least found a way to fall over the line. I was so disgusted with the team. But certainly out of those 3 we should have had at least one win.

I think in a bizarre that was a bit of a turning point for us. Yes we've put in some average performances after that but I'm sure they got an absolute roasting from Roos, and they probably did some internal soul searching.

We lost to a VFL team that day.  

Let's just cross this first hurdle shall we? Port have beaten us the last seven times and are in exactly the same position as us in terms of finals. A win against Port would be huge and shouldn't be banked just yet.

That all said, we're a decent chance. I'll be absolutely stoked if we go into each of the next three rounds still a mathematical chance.

look guys i love what we did on the weekend but the Port game coming up is 50/50 at best so if we can knock them over then i might start believing. They have had the wood on us for awhile. Hopefully we turned the corner on the weekend and we start becoming consistent.

Funnily enough was thinking about it before and looking at the draw if the impossible happened can you imagine getting the win down at the Cattery then turning on the tv and barracking for our old mate Tom Scully to blitz the Kangas. He may win a few of us back if he torches them haha.

 

Winning any match by 5 goals is only part of the maths. A 30 point win where the score is 60-30 is a bigger percentage booster than where the score is 120-90.

It's hard to make up 9% in the last three rounds, so I expect we'd just miss anyway.

I rate Sydney very highly but St Kilda are a chance against them at Etihad.

Also, Port are not without a chance if North lose three either although it will be a big ask to beat Adelaide.

10 hours ago, AdamFphlebeb said:

Melbourne, North and St Kilda.

Well, I think St Kilda will lose to Sydney and if we beat Port we go ahead of them.

As I said, it's unlikely that this is all going to happen but I don't think it's completely beyond the realms of possibility either. After 10 years of garbage I'm not going to pass up the opportunity to be excited about this until it's completely off the table. 

Come on AF. Dream a little would ya? You deserve it!

5 minutes ago, Ricky P said:

Well, I think St Kilda will lose to Sydney and if we beat Port we go ahead of them.

As I said, it's unlikely that this is all going to happen but I don't think it's completely beyond the realms of possibility either. After 10 years of garbage I'm not going to pass up the opportunity to be excited about this until it's completely off the table. 

Come on AF. Dream a little would ya? You deserve it!

I'd rather dream of doing a Hawthorn next year and pinching one.

17 hours ago, Rod Grinter Riot Squad said:

Could call it an 8 point turn around... We were royally screwed that game and it is North wobbling

The umpires beat us that day.

1 hour ago, Clint Bizkit said:

I rate Sydney very highly but St Kilda are a chance against them at Etihad.

Also, Port are not without a chance if North lose three either although it will be a big ask to beat Adelaide.

Port ran all over the dees last time we met, just like St Kilda.

1 hour ago, Clint Bizkit said:

I rate Sydney very highly but St Kilda are a chance against them at Etihad.

Also, Port are not without a chance if North lose three either although it will be a big ask to beat Adelaide.

Port are only a chance if they beat us this week. Who ever loses that game is out of contention for finals, if North win any of the remaining games both are out of contention. 

1 hour ago, Ricky P said:

Well, I think St Kilda will lose to Sydney and if we beat Port we go ahead of them.

As I said, it's unlikely that this is all going to happen but I don't think it's completely beyond the realms of possibility either. After 10 years of garbage I'm not going to pass up the opportunity to be excited about this until it's completely off the table. 

Come on AF. Dream a little would ya? You deserve it!

Totally agreed Ricky

in 1987 we shouldn't have made the finals. But we did and look what nearly happened. 

Beat Port by a good margin and we are still alive. 

Strangely exciting isnt it? There's a sniff there for sure. Can't wait for next week.

we haven't 3 in a row forever, and we would need to go on a 5 game winning spree to be any chance. And even that relies heavily on other results. I would love to dream but I gave up any hope after the losses to St Kilda and West Coast.

Saturday nights going to be an anti climax  if North beat Hawthorn.