On 1/20/2022 at 8:05 PM, Paulo said:

Imo Sydney and GWS are the two clubs who could worry us especially if they have no injuries. Last year both seemed to match up well against us.

I think we have Gee, Brisbane, dogs and Richmond covered and to a lesser extent port aswell 

Agree, I think we have both class and system whereas the Swans have system but questionable class and GWS have class but questionable system. At our best we account for Geelong, Lions and Tigers I think, Bulldogs still a wildcard - how will they rebound from the GF? Will they have scars from the thrashing, will they change their system up (we pulled it apart twice last year with our system)? Will JUH/Darcy have an impact?

1 hour ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

Agree, I think we have both class and system whereas the Swans have system but questionable class and GWS have class but questionable system. At our best we account for Geelong, Lions and Tigers I think, Bulldogs still a wildcard - how will they rebound from the GF? Will they have scars from the thrashing, will they change their system up (we pulled it apart twice last year with our system)? Will JUH/Darcy have an impact?

One thing I learnt about our premiership win is that any team can implement a good system over the pre season. 

Sydney and GWS especially are huge threat next year. GWS I could see being a genuine top 3 team if they get their system right, and have a good year injury wise.

11 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

One thing I learnt about our premiership win is that any team can implement a good system over the pre season. 

Sydney and GWS especially are huge threat next year. GWS I could see being a genuine top 3 team if they get their system right, and have a good year injury wise.

I don't think one preseason is enough, we had been working away at ours for a period of time before players matured into it and it clicked, plus having the fitness to play to the system for entire games.

11 hours ago, daisycutter said:

big col explained it better

we are talking about back-to-backs

6 it is

We will have to agree to disagree DC . 

I really don’t see the threat from Sydney and GWS.

Sydney too dependent on (very) ageing players such as Franklin, Kennedy, Parker and even Rampke - and now have lost a couple of good younger players in trades.

GWS should concern me more if they still had Cameron. 
 

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10 hours ago, dazzledavey36 said:

One thing I learnt about our premiership win is that any team can implement a good system over the pre season. 

Sydney and GWS especially are huge threat next year. GWS I could see being a genuine top 3 team if they get their system right, and have a good year injury wise.

No Greene for the first 6 weeks will really hurt them. 

2 hours ago, Jaded No More said:

No Greene for the first 6 weeks will really hurt them. 

I totally forgot about that.

The Swans are a key defender & perhaps an experienced mid short to fill the void of an aging Josh Kennedy imo 

15 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

Agree, I think we have both class and system whereas the Swans have system but questionable class and GWS have class but questionable system. At our best we account for Geelong, Lions and Tigers I think, Bulldogs still a wildcard - how will they rebound from the GF? Will they have scars from the thrashing, will they change their system up (we pulled it apart twice last year with our system)? Will JUH/Darcy have an impact?

The dogs need to sort their defence out (and their mids defensive structures). Not sure how the mauling will affect them, but with their flakey defence they will find it extremely difficult to win 3 or 4 finals in a row.  One team will get a run on and they just can’t stop it.  We were similar in 2018 and I suspect they need to go backwards before improving.

I’d have Brisbane as our biggest threat, followed by Port and Doggies.

Lions had some critical tall forwards out in our final against them, have quality midfielders and will be super hungry.

Dogs still terrify me, although I reckon they'll be pretty mentally scarred from the GF. Interesting to see whether their playing list  has the maturity to bounce back from that bloodbath. 

Lions and GWS spook me too - I think a Dees v Brissy GF is very possible.

Port will probably make a prelim, but can't see them getting to the big dance. They've got a lot of great players but I'm not sure they're a great team (if you catch my drift).

1 hour ago, Project13 said:

Dogs still terrify me, although I reckon they'll be pretty mentally scarred from the GF. Interesting to see whether their playing list  has the maturity to bounce back from that bloodbath. 

Lions and GWS spook me too - I think a Dees v Brissy GF is very possible.

Port will probably make a prelim, but can't see them getting to the big dance. They've got a lot of great players but I'm not sure they're a great team (if you catch my drift).

There is no one out there that we should be afraid of. There are a few we need to respect. The lions, with an intact forward line are significantly more potent than team we rolled over in the prelim. The Dogs are the other that I think are going to test us if they can get Jamar UH and/or Darcy on the field and firing. More than their forward line and their ruck, they need to fix up their defensive structure though.

The third team I’m thinking of is Port. With Rozee, Butters and Dursma all back they will be a significantly better team than the one that rolled in their backs for a tummy rub from the Doggies.

13 minutes ago, FlashInThePan said:

There is no one out there that we should be afraid of. There are a few we need to respect. The lions, with an intact forward line are significantly more potent than team we rolled over in the prelim. The Dogs are the other that I think are going to test us if they can get Jamar UH and/or Darcy on the field and firing. More than their forward line and their ruck, they need to fix up their defensive structure though.

The third team I’m thinking of is Port. With Rozee, Butters and Dursma all back they will be a significantly better team than the one that rolled in their backs for a tummy rub from the Doggies.

Flash what does intact forward line mean? Daniher having his 3 brain cells firing at the same time?

11 minutes ago, Cards13 said:

Flash what does intact forward line mean? Daniher having his 3 brain cells firing at the same time?

I don’t mind your definition 😁

I was thinking of Hipwood and McStay as well as Rayner. In that prelim they pretty much had just Daniher as a tall, who was totally ineffectual.

Edited January 23, 20223 yr by FlashInThePan

We beat the Lions in Round 12 when they had a near full team. They played very well in the first half but we ran over the top of them to run out handy winners. They are not the quickest. A Top 4 team for sure but we match up against them pretty well. We have them covered

Sydney always give us a tough game. They could give us problems in a final

I'm not too worried about the others to be honest. Injuries of course could derail us. Perhaps we have an off day in a final and our opponent plays to their optimal. We will be firm favorites and rightfully so

On 1/18/2022 at 6:30 PM, John Demonic said:

Carlton are a curious watch (Yeah yeah, I know, they are talked up every year) But this year we will find out: Voss a competent coach? Can he make a radical impact and achieve a big first year push up the ladder? How will they look with Cerra in with Walsh & Cripps. McKay & finally a fit Curnow up forward. They should be pushing into 6-8 range and further if others drop down. They could be a dangerous matchup with a big crowd behind them in a final at the G. Defence will be their weakness, so it will be interesting to see how they change in that department over the next 2/3 years.

We have them covered, easily.

4 hours ago, Deemania since 56 said:

We have them covered, easily.

The topic I replied to was who from the bottom half of the ladder could pop up and displace any of the others. I should imagine we have any of them easily covered for the next 2 years at least!

As for the "Danger game", well I thought leading into the Crows game in r10 that it was, it doesn't mean we don't have them covered on every line. It's just that the rare upset can occur from time to time. If Carlton get their [censored] together, they have the spine that could potentially have a fluke day where everything goes right for them. McKay kicks 6-8 etc. 

We know a thing or two about finals upsets against Carlton going back to the 90s.

Edited January 23, 20223 yr by John Demonic

On 1/23/2022 at 9:23 AM, Jaded No More said:

No Greene for the first 6 weeks will really hurt them. 

And having him back as co-Captain for the remaining 16 rounds might hurt them even more. Melbourne's players proudly talk about selflessness as one of their drivers in 2021. GWS seems to have misunderstood and has put one of its most selfish players (as seen by his consistency in "getting into trouble" onfield) as one of their leaders. For that reason alone, I doubt whether GWS will make the final eight. 

1 hour ago, La Dee-vina Comedia said:

And having him back as co-Captain for the remaining 16 rounds might hurt them even more. Melbourne's players proudly talk about selflessness as one of their drivers in 2021. GWS seems to have misunderstood and has put one of its most selfish players (as seen by his consistency in "getting into trouble" onfield) as one of their leaders. For that reason alone, I doubt whether GWS will make the final eight. 

Greene could be one of the greatest players in the AFL if he pulled his head out of his a$$. One year of him not getting suspended would make GWS a significantly scarier proposition. Funniest thing is that Leon Cameron even got asked about his constant suspensions and he cleared it saying he plays well when he’s got white line fever. But that’s incredibly poor coaching and leadership, it basically tells the other players that he’s ok with people going out and being a thug as long as they play well at the same time. 

The leaders SHOULD be pulling him in and saying it’s unacceptable for him to be missing as many games as he does. I’m proud of our club that I can confidently say our leaders would do that. 

Brisbane and the Dogs feel like the contenders next to us, Saints (I’m not saying that they’ll do this) should be taking a lot from our rise last season and I could see them jumping up into the finals but I don’t think they have the team across the board to properly contend. Port could as well but I suspect there could be lingering scars from that insipid performance against the Cats. I keep praying for the cliff to come for the cats but they’re clinging on by their fingernails. Unless the league shifts the length of quarters again I can’t see them lasting the season. 

Edited January 24, 20223 yr by Pates

On 1/24/2022 at 7:33 AM, John Demonic said:

The topic I replied to was who from the bottom half of the ladder could pop up and displace any of the others. I should imagine we have any of them easily covered for the next 2 years at least!

As for the "Danger game", well I thought leading into the Crows game in r10 that it was, it doesn't mean we don't have them covered on every line. It's just that the rare upset can occur from time to time. If Carlton get their [censored] together, they have the spine that could potentially have a fluke day where everything goes right for them. McKay kicks 6-8 etc. 

We know a thing or two about finals upsets against Carlton going back to the 90s.

Fairy Nuff.

This time last year, I think at best the most astute neutral supporters and experts would have thought we had the potential to become a decent team - but not many (if any?)  would have thought of us as a realistic threat in 2021.

There are a large number of teams that you could classify in a similar way right now for 2022 and probably most won't ultimately be a threat.  Surely one of Syd, GWS, Ess, Carl, Freo will go up a gear and be a serious contender.  While I think the tiges are done, they will be fresh and healthy and keen for a final shot with a few of their aging stars.

We have earned the right to go in favourites with the way we dominated the competition last year - particularly in finals.  But all of the other contenders (except maybe Port?) had critical injuries to key players close to the finals.  We were largely blessed with injuries and it's unlikely to be the same this coming season.

Will we have the same hunger, will we have the same superior fitness?  I think some of our lesser performances against bottom 8 sides shows what happens when we don't have the hunger or willingness to run both ways. 

Will other teams go to work on our game plan over the summer?  Although we were on top spot for much of the year and so were the hunted, this is likely to go up another level this year.  We look like we will be fine - but I guess we won't really know for a while.  The depth should help drive continued improvement.

One area I think we will improve is our forward line.  If you think of the other areas, most of the players have played together for a number of years and know instinctively what they're going to do.  The forward line due to personnel and injuries has been a bit all over the place.  I think the greater level of continuity there will assist us on capitalising on the dominance elsewhere.

On 1/23/2022 at 11:33 AM, dazzledavey36 said:

I totally forgot about that.

Yeah me too, so he misses our game against them in round 5 which is good :)

We shouldn’t fear any team, however every team will be looking at us, trying to blunt our game plan and copying parts of our game that they think they can do better but it is the total package that they have to beat. We now have 30 odd players that know what it takes to maintain the culture and desire to be the best. We will have flat spots and lose games we should win but I think that we should be looking at 18 wins and top two finish. I also agree that we can get better, our forward line was our weakest line early last year but not anymore. Feeling pretty Bullish actually.!!!!!

On 1/23/2022 at 6:38 PM, FlashInThePan said:

There is no one out there that we should be afraid of.

True, but even with a flag under our belt I still haven't fully shaken the MFCSS... but it'll get there, I'm sure of it. 

On 1/18/2022 at 5:14 AM, 58er said:

You have ignored the fact that Richmond lost nearly all the games that Martin missed at the end if the Year say 8 out of 10.

Yes Martin was not at his best in 2021 but my point is that The Tigers  were lost without him much more than earlier in the year. 

Yeah but in most of those games he wasn’t a standout. We never won a game without Dietrich, doesn’t mean he was the best player in the team

Edited January 26, 20223 yr by Cassiew