AFL 360 (30/5) - Riewoldt and Murphy

[Roost It 1,434]

On current form no one would beat us. If injuries remain scarce and form holds we’ll win the flag in a canter

[Age 485]

I find it funny that when we used to stink it up, every time we lost it was never that we won, it was how the opposition had a bad day. Now that we have won a few, it is still that they were either bottom teams or lots of injuries. 

I kind of have to ask, especially the last 3 weeks, has it been that the opposition has been that bad or have we been that good? Is always an interesting question, no matter who smashes a team.

[Wells 11 5,406]

9 hours ago, SFebey said:

We’ve beaten the bottom 4, a depleted Essendon and an injury riddled Crows after a slog in the wet. I remain excited but let’s not get too carried away

I agree about not getting carried away as its a looong season and so many things can change between May and September. Remember the dees in 87. At one point that mega year we were 6 wins and 10 losses. That being said, the same " injury riddled" crows did the swans a couple of weeks ago and the same  "depleted"  Essendon didnt look too bad last week. The lions away are hard to beat for all sides this year and are one of the best bottom 4 sides I can remember and the blues have consistently given us big troubles over the years.

We ourselves were missing Tmac and Jack at the start of the season ( arguably 2 of our top 5 ) but no one is saying the tigers , cats and the hawks beat a depleted Melbourne side are they. 

I think we have to keep out feet on the ground as theres such a long way to go...but this side is playing an outstanding brand of footy and we should fully celebrate it. we're coming of age. We're Tough, fast, skilled and well coached. No obvious weaknesses anywhere. Whoever beats us again  this year is going to have an almighty fight...we're nobodies poodles anymore. 

[DeleteUser 638]

Was at a wake yesterday and the talk of everyone was how good Melbourne are.

RFC, Pies, Cats supporters all - MFC look like winning a flag on current form.

No one had a bad word to say, just that is was great to see, it's been so long and they're playing frighteningly well.

[daisycutter 29,617]

just keep winning. the commentators will adjust.

if we can keep relatively injury free this could be our opportunity

as always lady luck will play her part

[Earl Hood 6,086]

3 minutes ago, daisycutter said:

just keep winning. the commentators will adjust.

if we can keep relatively injury free this could be our opportunity

as always lady luck will play her part

If we can keep the engine room fit and in form, i.e. Gawn, Jones, Viney, Brayshaw, Oliver, Petracca, Salem we won’t lose too many. And we have the depth to cover a few injuries down back or up forward this year. 

[binman 43,105]

1 hour ago, rjay said:

No sure what you are disagreeing with 'binman'.

I'm not saying the pies are better, just that they will be a good measure.

...but let me give you a few things to disagree with now.

With Wells coming back in their midfield does stack up well.

They, like us are unpredictable up forward.

Buckley is coaching well.

...but their kicking game is still the big weakness.

We will need to be at the top of our game to beat them.

If they get a good run with injury from here on in I think they are a good chance to play finals and who knows we might even end up with a classic Melbourne Collingwood GF.

I disagree that that the pies will be a better measure than Crows. I don't rate the pies. They are ok but not close to being one of the top teams

[praha 11,240]

1 hour ago, Roost It said:

On current form no one would beat us. If injuries remain scarce and form holds we’ll win the flag in a canter

I agree. Objectively we are playing as good as anyone has over the past decade. None of the Bulldogs, Tigers or even hawks in 2015 had as good and as strong a 5 week period as we've had. It's reminiscent of Geelong in 2007. 

If we can stay relatively injury free and stay on a role, the flag is ours to lose on current form. We're at the halfway mark now. I could handle a loss to a West Coast in Perth or Adelaide in Adelaide if we cab bounce back and go on a run. Another loss will come. It won't matter imo.

[daisycutter 29,617]

4 minutes ago, praha said:

I agree. Objectively we are playing as good as anyone has over the past decade. None of the Bulldogs, Tigers or even hawks in 2015 had as good and as strong a 5 week period as we've had. It's reminiscent of Geelong in 2007. 

 

or essendrug when they were juiced and flying

[dimmy 1,307]

10 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

Who have Richmond and West Coast beaten?

West Coast and RIchmond have only beaten sides below them. That is why they are where they are !!

We do not know how North would rate through this part of the year. It was only people /media who rated them pretty low.

[MT64 1,144]

At my golf club yesterday the general consensus was our play is "scary" and the toughest they have seen. The nicest thing they have said about Melbourne for years.

[titan_uranus 25,020]

14 hours ago, SFebey said:

North weren’t going very well at the time, can’t claim the high ground now they’re playing better.

They beat St Kilda by 52 points the week before, they followed up our game by beating Carlton by 86 and then Hawthorn by 28. The only other sides to beat them this year are Port, Richmond and GC in a downpour.

Watching that game back, we clicked far more than they stunk.

And, as Nasher says below, part of the reason North looked poor against us was because we played so well. That's also part of the reason why Adelaide looked so poor last week.

Our win over North is not getting enough credit. 

9 hours ago, Nasher said:

It’s a circular argument: we’ve beaten teams by this degree because they’re poor but they’re poor because we’ve been them by this degree. Adelaide are suddenly nobody because we thrashed them; before the game all the talk was that this game was our test.

It’s still all just noise, in Riewoldt’s case it’s just well measured and articulated noise. People can say whatever, as long as we keep winning I couldn’t care less.

Agree.

Still, there's no doubt we have harder games to come than the games we've just played and there's no guarantee that the way we've looked over the past 5 weeks will carry over into a game against a stronger side than last week's Adelaide (ostensibly the strongest of our the last 5 opponents). 

[SFebes 4,884]

5 minutes ago, titan_uranus said:

They beat St Kilda by 52 points the week before, they followed up our game by beating Carlton by 86 and then Hawthorn by 28. The only other sides to beat them this year are Port, Richmond and GC in a downpour.

Watching that game back, we clicked far more than they stunk.

And, as Nasher says below, part of the reason North looked poor against us was because we played so well. That's also part of the reason why Adelaide looked so poor last week.

Our win over North is not getting enough credit. 

Agree.

Still, there's no doubt we have harder games to come than the games we've just played and there's no guarantee that the way we've looked over the past 5 weeks will carry over into a game against a stronger side than last week's Adelaide (ostensibly the strongest of our the last 5 opponents). 

Did you watch that north v saints game? Quite possibly the worst skilled game in history 

[Garbo 1,539]

13 hours ago, jumbo returns said:

I suppose we are all terrified by the 'flat spot' that may, or may not arrive

If it does, here's hoping that the best 28 can carry the team through

I think the Tiges really hit their straps from Round 16 or 17 last year - their belief was so high at that stage that they would have shirt fronted a steam roller!

Round 16 was when they lost to saints by 67 points, I expect we will have a similar game or 2 at some point his year, just have to keep in mind when it happens that this isn’t like the past anymore and we still win the lot

Edited May 31, 2018 by Garbo

[Chook 15,013]

19 hours ago, SFebey said:

We’ve smashed the bottom 4, a depleted Essendon and an injury riddled Crows after a slog in the wet. I remain excited but let’s not get too carried away

Fixed