Would ideally love to have a top 2 spot locked away before we play Cats in rd 23. 

I’m not sure I’m happy that the lions dropped points. I’d rather see them in the top 4 come finals than the Swans. Think lions would be a much easier game at the G than swans I think. 
I know that to go all the way to a flag you have to beat the best teams but I think if we get the double chance and win our first game we will win the flag as it means we will be better rested and fitter than any other team. 
If we lose first week of finals and have to play second week we might lose a bit of of fitness edge against a team that had the extra weeks rest. 

1 minute ago, Colm said:

I’m not sure I’m happy that the lions dropped points. I’d rather see them in the top 4 come finals than the Swans. Think lions would be a much easier game at the G than swans I think. 
I know that to go all the way to a flag you have to beat the best teams but I think if we get the double chance and win our first game we will win the flag as it means we will be better rested and fitter than any other team. 
If we lose first week of finals and have to play second week we might lose a bit of of fitness edge against a team that had the extra weeks rest. 

Lions have a dream run home and should most likely win their last 5.

6 minutes ago, Bombay Airconditioning said:

Lions have a dream run home and should most likely win their last 5.

Yeah I saw that with 3 at the Gabba and only one at the G so hopefully they are right. Swans have tough games over the next 4 weeks but capable of winning them. 

My concern is how Iong or how many games can we string together playing pressure hard at it football. 
2018 we ran into this hurdle and again this year when we played the pies after a couple of games against the better sides. Against the top 8 we can be up for the contest but take others too lightly.

and then seem to hit a wall and not score goals.    Don’t want a repeat of 88 or 2000. 
be nervous on the day whatever!!!!!

On the assumption that finals won’t be held at GHMBA, we can actually afford to finish 3rd or 4th with a pretty solid 4-2 run home. Brisbane losing was a great result for us in terms of avoiding potential travel in week 1.

The only risk of finishing 3rd or 4th is if we play Dogs at Marvel. But we’ve won 9 of our last 12 games at Marvel so that ground shouldn’t hold fears for us.

As mentioned, we should be targeting a 4-2 finish and achieving our wins record of 17 in a season.

Edited July 16, 20213 yr by Bring-Back-Powell

14 minutes ago, 640MD said:

My concern is how Iong or how many games can we string together playing pressure hard at it football. 
2018 we ran into this hurdle and again this year when we played the pies after a couple of games against the better sides. Against the top 8 we can be up for the contest but take others too lightly.

and then seem to hit a wall and not score goals.    Don’t want a repeat of 88 or 2000. 
be nervous on the day whatever!!!!!

Richmond managed it for 4 years straight 

Hoping saints can do a number on Port. Would effectively end Port's top 4 hopes.

I can't see us finishing lower than 3rd and most likely reckon we'll finish on top.

Really hoping we don’t get shunted down to GMHBA during finals - Cats keep on trying to make that dump relevant. 

2 minutes ago, Kiss of Death said:

Really hoping we don’t get shunted down to GMHBA during finals - Cats keep on trying to make that dump relevant. 

cannot see that happening....even if we are no crowds

10 minutes ago, Diamond_Jim said:

cannot see that happening....even if we are no crowds

Agree.  Only chance of a Kardinia Park final is if Geelong play a non-Vic team as the top ranked side.  They won't send another Victorian team down there.  Even crowd capacity is only 50-75%.

Cats have a tough draw also. Not wanting to temp fate but if top spot or even top two was sewn up after rd 22 would the club entertain resting players before the finals?

1 hour ago, Colm said:

I’m not sure I’m happy that the lions dropped points. I’d rather see them in the top 4 come finals than the Swans. Think lions would be a much easier game at the G than swans I think. 
I know that to go all the way to a flag you have to beat the best teams but I think if we get the double chance and win our first game we will win the flag as it means we will be better rested and fitter than any other team. 
If we lose first week of finals and have to play second week we might lose a bit of of fitness edge against a team that had the extra weeks rest. 

We might also be more likely to have to call upon our depth advantage to 'substitute' second-choice players for first-choice preferences due to the heightened workload that such outcomes may involve.

 

33 minutes ago, Better days ahead said:

Hoping saints can do a number on Port. Would effectively end Port's top 4 hopes.

I can't see us finishing lower than 3rd and most likely reckon we'll finish on top.

Carna Saints !!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

28 minutes ago, Bombay Airconditioning said:

Cats have a tough draw also. Not wanting to temp fate but if top spot or even top two was sewn up after rd 22 would the club entertain resting players before the finals?

No chance resting players last round IMO, especially with the pre finals bye.

Don’t see any team resting players if you flirt with form at that point of the year you’re taking a big risk.

Another consideration is if you were to do that and you won your first qualifying final, come Preliminary final time those players would only have played 1 game in 5 weeks 

9 minutes ago, Pennant St Dee said:

No chance resting players last round IMO, especially with the pre finals bye.

Don’t see any team resting players if you flirt with form at that point of the year you’re taking a big risk.

Another consideration is if you were to do that and you won your first qualifying final, come Preliminary final time those players would only have played 1 game in 5 weeks 

Forgot all about the bye….??‍♂️??‍♂️

Handbaggers play a dreadful style of football with their crab-like movements. Surely the gods of September will not reward such malfeasance!

Need the saints to win today and top 4 is locked in. 

3 hours ago, Bombay Airconditioning said:

Lions have a dream run home and should most likely win their last 5.

I said they should win their last 7 two games ago ...

all this talk again is way too premature. Do people realise that if we win 3 of the last 6. we will most likely be tied with 2 teams on points. And the lowest % misses out on top 4 altogether. Surely the losses against Collingwood, gws and Adelaide put people back in their box for a bit. We need to win the next 2 games, no questions.

6 hours ago, adonski said:

Richmond managed it for 4 years straight 

Yes the tigers did   and Footescray   but we have not shown that strength of character    Though we are a different side this year i do think,                     but we lose games we just should not.

Surely we gotta be aiming for the minor premiership - how many chances have we actually had to get it since 1964 this late in the season?

Obviously a disappointing game today, but the 2 points was enough for us to lock in a finals spot.

Given our percentage is similar to Brisbane and Port, today's result could be the difference between us finishing 4th and 5th if we drop 3 more games. If we drop 2 games, we should still finish top 4. If we only drop one game, we're likely to finish top 2. And obviously we stay where we are if we don't lose from here on in.

31 minutes ago, Dee man said:

Obviously a disappointing game today, but the 2 points was enough for us to lock in a finals spot.

Given our percentage is similar to Brisbane and Port, today's result could be the difference between us finishing 4th and 5th if we drop 3 more games. If we drop 2 games, we should still finish top 4. If we only drop one game, we're likely to finish top 2. And obviously we stay where we are if we don't lose from here on in.

I think the prospect of us missing finals at 13-9 before tonight was very close to 0, given how flat the middle of the fixture is. 

The draw is better than a loss, clearly, and particularly given we're behind our two closest rivals on percentage. But it does little for us otherwise, bringing Port and (likely) Sydney a game closer to us in the run home.

34 minutes ago, Dee man said:

Obviously a disappointing game today, but the 2 points was enough for us to lock in a finals spot.

Given our percentage is similar to Brisbane and Port, today's result could be the difference between us finishing 4th and 5th if we drop 3 more games. If we drop 2 games, we should still finish top 4. If we only drop one game, we're likely to finish top 2. And obviously we stay where we are if we don't lose from here on in.

Wiser words have never been spoken. I bet when we play Geelong in round 23 and need the win to make top 4 that we regret playing like a bunch of spuds tonight.