23 minutes ago, A F said:

We were definitely the underdogs in 2000...

Well yeah but that's a rare exception. Rarely do we see teams like that, that are so far ahead of the pack. Even the Cats in 08 and Pies in 2011 weren't huge favourites despite similar records. 

Haha i love the roller-coaster of emotuons on this site...

It's going to get nasty if we drop a couple of games. 

I personally dont think we are a contender this year but will be very happy to be proven wrong 

Edited May 18, 20178 yr by Unleash Hell

3 hours ago, Clint Bizkit said:

We just flogged the top team on their home soil in front of over 45,000 of their fans.

We can beat anyone.

Can and will are different stories.

We will struggle for consistency until we mature, and I think even if we make finals, we will struggle first up. It will take a few tries to go all the way, as it usually does. Dogs were close for 2 years before they won one. 

We literally have 1 player on our list who has played in multiple finals series and won a flag. Both our captains have no finals experience (I think Jones played in one finals win his whole career against Saints?). 

If we win enough games to make it, and it's a big if given our inconsistent we are, I'd be very surprised if we win more than 1 final. 

Yes we get a fresh Gawn and Hogan heading towards September, but young players like Oliver, Trac, Frost and Hunt will tire as the season progresses.

16 hours ago, Jaded said:

Can and will are different stories.

We will struggle for consistency until we mature, and I think even if we make finals, we will struggle first up. It will take a few tries to go all the way, as it usually does. Dogs were close for 2 years before they won one. 

We literally have 1 player on our list who has played in multiple finals series and won a flag. Both our captains have no finals experience (I think Jones played in one finals win his whole career against Saints?). 

If we win enough games to make it, and it's a big if given our inconsistent we are, I'd be very surprised if we win more than 1 final. 

Yes we get a fresh Gawn and Hogan heading towards September, but young players like Oliver, Trac, Frost and Hunt will tire as the season progresses.

The point is that it is such an even season that any one of about ten teams could win the flag on their day and we are one of them.

Edited May 18, 20178 yr by Clint Bizkit

1 hour ago, Jaded said:

Can and will are different stories.

We will struggle for consistency until we mature, and I think even if we make finals, we will struggle first up. It will take a few tries to go all the way, as it usually does. Dogs were close for 2 years before they won one. 

We literally have 1 player on our list who has played in multiple finals series and won a flag. Both our captains have no finals experience (I think Jones played in one finals win his whole career against Saints?). 

If we win enough games to make it, and it's a big if given our inconsistent we are, I'd be very surprised if we win more than 1 final. 

Yes we get a fresh Gawn and Hogan heading towards September, but young players like Oliver, Trac, Frost and Hunt will tire as the season progresses.

The Bulldogs made the finals in 2015 for the first time since 2010 and then won the flag in 2016. They weren't close for two years. You could argue they were close for 1 (finishing 6th and being knocked out in the elimination final) and then won the whole thing the second year. They finished 14th in 2014. 

I think if you're bringing in the Bulldogs to this debate, you're only supporting the OP, mate. They are the closest to us in terms of development.

7 hours ago, McQueen said:

I think you need a Valium.

I thought complaining on the internet was the pharma-free alternative?

Until we can consistently back up the effort and ability shown last week we are not a contender. While I'm loath to look far into the future our position at the end of the year is heavily dependent on the rounds up until the bye. 

Can we beat any team this year? Absolutely. Equally we can loose to any team this year so the point is be ready to play every match  

We are a week to week proposition at this point, stay in the moment and whatever will be will be. 

 

This thread now has a poll because I needed a new homepage poll and polls don't lie.

I posted in the preview thread that IMO every game we play this year is going to be decided based on our performance.

Our best football is top 4, maybe top 2 quality. It really is. We showed that last week.

But it's been 11 years since we went on a run where we consistently produced our best, or near our best, for a month or more in a row. Unless and until that happens, we are not a contender for finals, let alone a flag.

Beating North this week is the start, but then we get Gold Coast and Collingwood either side of the bye. This thread will have a lot more impetus if we're 7-4 at the end of that period, on a 4-game winning streak and in the thick of the finals race.

Our midfield makes us a contender. There arent many better ones in the AFL.  Get Hogan and Gawn back and the skys the limit.

The AFL season is  war of attrition as much as anything, and we have the depth in our list to still be going strong come August-Septembr. We have tired badly toward the end of seasons for years. Wont be a problem in 2017.  We will get players like Vandenberg and Joel Smith back in the last third of the year too. Perhaps with some luck, Angus as well.

A player like Jake Melksham will come in handy too.  Sure you can criticize that we have pick 25 for him, but as we push to finals and players tire,  I would much rather his seasoned body over another 19 year old that isn't quite ready.

Edited May 18, 20178 yr by Petraccattack

I think we have the team to make the 8, and have the team to perhaps even make the grand final. But, we are too inconsistent. Our first half against Essendon looked as pathetic as I have seen a football performance in my lifetime - granted Essendon were equally as lousy, it was a sh*tty spectacle. Based on that game I'd find it hard to entertain we could even make finals. Then a few weeks later we smash Adelaide at home, and looking like a team that could go all the way. We can't afford to be good one week and sh*t the next. Although our lapses are getting fewer and fewer in games, I would be surprised if we could put it all together this year consistently. Our year thus far suggests we won't.

Edited May 18, 20178 yr by KingDingAling

10 hours ago, McQueen said:

If we lose to North this weekend it'll be back to lamenting that we're still the same old Melbourne. 

Or  

  if we lose to North this weekend it'll be back to celebrating that we're still the same old Melbourne 

Bit depressing really

Lets tell the boys to win

Consistency is of course an obvious issue. But we're performing far better against the better teams. Adelaide, St. Kilda, Geelong (and Richmond) were our best performances. Extenuating circumstances somewhat account for the latter two losses, but we were all over both teams. We just need to get this easy part of our fixture out of the way and we can coast our way home. 

8 hours ago, Petraccattack said:

Our midfield makes us a contender. There arent many better ones in the AFL.  Get Hogan and Gawn back and the skys the limit.

The AFL season is  war of attrition as much as anything, and we have the depth in our list to still be going strong come August-Septembr. We have tired badly toward the end of seasons for years. Wont be a problem in 2017.  We will get players like Vandenberg and Joel Smith back in the last third of the year too. Perhaps with some luck, Angus as well.

A player like Jake Melksham will come in handy too.  Sure you can criticize that we have pick 25 for him, but as we push to finals and players tire,  I would much rather his seasoned body over another 19 year old that isn't quite ready.

Imo one moment we "turned the corner" was the second half of 2016. While we lost the last two games in very disappointing fashion, we still had a very strong second half of the season with a number of great wins. I'm actually confident that we'll finish 2017 stronger than we started. But playing "catch up" makes a huge difference and we can either be a Bulldogs and head into the bye on a high, or we can break even or lose the next few, be a Richmond, and fond ourselves clawing back to make up the numbers. Either way I think we're set for a strong second half despite the tougher fixture.

We are very close to being contenders, I don't think we are quite there yet, but it is tantalizingly close.

16 hours ago, Jaded said:

Can and will are different stories.

We will struggle for consistency until we mature, and I think even if we make finals, we will struggle first up. It will take a few tries to go all the way, as it usually does. Dogs were close for 2 years before they won one. 

We literally have 1 player on our list who has played in multiple finals series and won a flag. Both our captains have no finals experience (I think Jones played in one finals win his whole career against Saints?). 

If we win enough games to make it, and it's a big if given our inconsistent we are, I'd be very surprised if we win more than 1 final. 

Yes we get a fresh Gawn and Hogan heading towards September, but young players like Oliver, Trac, Frost and Hunt will tire as the season progresses.

Wow you are Jaded?

We also have to see out the season, not fall in a pathetic heap 2 or 3 weeks before the end.

I gave up all hope or "contending" or even making the 8 after Freo and then most certainly after the hawks game..

But after watching is beat Adelaide live in adelaide. I have just the slightest glimmer of hope.. This win was better than the Geelong win in 2015 (Yes I was at that game too).

IF..

We are 7-4 after QB. Then we can start thinking about thinking about contending.. anything less and those losses to Freo Hawks and Rich.. They will hurt our hopes..

I cant help but feel this thread is a case of:

"premature congratulations "  

KB says only 3 Victorian teams can win the flag. The Dogs,  the Saints,  and us.  No Richmond,  no Geelong.  

https://www.sen.com.au/news/2017/05/18/kbs-take-or-the-vics-are-coming/

10 hours ago, Petraccattack said:

Our midfield makes us a contender. There arent many better ones in the AFL.  Get Hogan and Gawn back and the skys the limit.

The AFL season is  war of attrition as much as anything, and we have the depth in our list to still be going strong come August-Septembr. We have tired badly toward the end of seasons for years. Wont be a problem in 2017.  We will get players like Vandenberg and Joel Smith back in the last third of the year too. Perhaps with some luck, Angus as well.

A player like Jake Melksham will come in handy too.  Sure you can criticize that we have pick 25 for him, but as we push to finals and players tire,  I would much rather his seasoned body over another 19 year old that isn't quite ready.

 Some good points. Sides do not win flags without good midfields - and not just a handful of good mids but a raft. And we are getting close to that. We have some real bulls as well. Bulls that will do well in the furnace of finals. To that end it was interesting to see Hannan go into the middle last week for a short time. 

And i agree with with the war of attrition idea. A very long season and we have had our share of injuries but in a close season they key will be staying in touch with the top 8 and hopefully, with some luck, having a healthy list come September. That is exactly what happened for the doggies last year.  

In addition to Vandenberg and Melksham we have some other stronger, older bodies who might come handy in the heat of finals - Wagner, Hannan, Mckenna, Bull Smith and even Maynard. Yes all pretty inexperienced but strong and all early 20's. 

21 minutes ago, beelzebub said:

I cant help but feel this thread is a case of:

"premature congratulations "  

as they say............. "we ain't done nothing yet !!"

15 minutes ago, w00dy said:

KB says only 3 Victorian teams can win the flag. The Dogs,  the Saints,  and us.  No Richmond,  no Geelong.  

https://www.sen.com.au/news/2017/05/18/kbs-take-or-the-vics-are-coming/

Yes i heard that. Good ole KB....Garry didnt even back us to beat Norf!.............Then some guy rang in and said it will be a Richmond Melbourne GF.....

As others have mentioned in the thread this year could be a repeat of 1990

That year there were no stand out teams and drawn finals meant that lower teams (Dees included) had a break during the finals

FWIIW I believe GWS is potentially a rung above the rest if and when it gets its act together

If we win the next three I will get mildly excited about our prospects