Who are our rivals?

[Roost it far 9,543]

Sydney

 

 

Brisbane

GWS

if we play at or near our best no one comes close besides Sydney. Their ability to just keep coming makes them very dangerous in finals

Edited April 4, 2022 by Roost it far

[rjay 25,307]

Us...ourselves...Melbourne

Keep fit and mental on song, we win it.

[FritschyBusiness 1,478]

Every team wants a rival.

Every team and fan wants an opponent that instills a respected hatred.  That's what a rivalry comes down to, hate and respect.
The media even try to force rivalries down our throats rather than letting them form naturally. 

I don't hate or respect the bulldogs. They are not our rivals. 

I do the Cats and Swans. 
I don't hate the Lions, yet. 

[Ollie fan 3,637]

If you want a reason to hate Brisbane, watch whenever we play them. At some stage you will see Gawn or  Oliver or someone doubled over, having been belted, probably behind the play.

[Queanbeyan Demon 6,940]

After three rounds, the eight is pretty much settled I recon.

With respect to the question . . . 

The only risk to us is ourselves. The other 17 clubs, and especially those in the top eight now, chit themselves under pressure very badly. Watch Daniher kick it out on the full from 35 yards out in front of 80 thousand on Preliminary final night at the MCG. See Libba chase kicks and neglect to man up when the momentum is against them. Buddy has an average record in big finals for a player of his standing in the game. And Duckwood will just revert to thuggery under pressure while Dangerfield will dive all over the shop.

We belt (i.e. go very hard at the player with the ball), they melt. 

Edited April 4, 2022 by Queanbeyan Demon
Typo

[FritschyBusiness 1,478]

1 hour ago, Ollie fan said:

If you want a reason to hate Brisbane, watch whenever we play them. At some stage you will see Gawn or  Oliver or someone doubled over, having been belted, probably behind the play.

That would make me hate a player, not a team. 

[Ollie fan 3,637]

We’ll, we are learning more and more. Collingwood: rubbish. Footscray: have gone backwards. Brisbane: poor defensively, don’t like pressure. Geelong: maybe better than I thought but I wish they weren’t.  Carlton: let’s see them against a real team. Sydney:  not that good after all.

We truly are ahead of the rest.

[Undeeterred 3,127]

It’s absolute daylight. Nobody comes near us this year 

[Mincho Mania 530]

7 minutes ago, Undeeterred said:

It’s absolute daylight. Nobody comes near us this year 

Brisbane  Hipwood back, Cockatoo and Rayner get games under their belt, good spine, good coach

[dee-tox 4,835]

No midfield can compare to ours.  And no team can beat us defensively. 

Just get Salem and Petty fit and firing and we'll start blowing teams away. 

I would love Shae Bolton in my team though!

[Neil Crompton 5,747]

1 hour ago, Undeeterred said:

It’s absolute daylight. Nobody comes near us this year 

So far this year we have beaten teams placed 11, 14, 17 and 18.

I think it is way too early to be making those sort of comments.

(although I hope you are right)

[Gawndy the Great 9,011]

47 minutes ago, Neil Crompton said:

So far this year we have beaten teams placed 11, 14, 17 and 18.

I think it is way too early to be making those sort of comments.

(although I hope you are right)

Absolutely on the money. Our form in the last 2 weeks isn’t that great. But that is the benefit of having a defensive based game plan. It’s easier to sustain, play below standard and still win.

I reckon we also have another gear reserved for finals and it’s that 2018 manic offence. Very rarely is that out in show in HA season

I don’t think the 8 has settled either. Port have probably missed finals now. Doggies are 50/50 atm and can’t see Essendon make it either. Carlton will probably get through on early form but who takes the other 1-2 spots - there are really no other teams capable outside of Richmond as most of them are in some sort of rebuild.  

[Mickey 4,756]

Just checked the ladder. If Carlton lose, we will be the only undefeated side, unlike last year where it took a while to separate from the pack.

Seems like the field is fairly even below us.

[picket fence 17,978]

On 4/4/2022 at 12:29 PM, Bring-Back-Powell said:

A few people have accused Carlton of not beating anyone of note.

Last time I checked Bulldogs were a half handy side.

Us......

Daylight

The rest

We havent got out of 2nd gear as yet

[Bitter but optimistic 22,289]

Agree picket!

I know it's early days, but to date , I haven't seen an oppo team that would get near us at our best. ( Or maybe even 2nd best)

[BDA 23,017]

Kane Cornes reckons we're 15% better than our nearest rivals because of our defensive structure. I agree with him

[FritschyBusiness 1,478]

7 hours ago, Neil Crompton said:

So far this year we have beaten teams placed 11, 14, 17 and 18.

I think it is way too early to be making those sort of comments.

(although I hope you are right)

Who finished 5th, 16th, 8th and 2nd in 2021.

Out defence is no where near full strength but is still making it real hard for teams to score. 

[Swooper1987 3,322]

in 2018 Richmond finished 2 games and 15% ahead of second. 3 games and 16% ahead of third.  Third ended up playing second in the GF that year because the Tigers had one off night in an amazing season.  In 2008 Geelong finished 4 games ahead of Hawthorn but still managed to have an off day on the one that mattered.  We are going ok but the gap is never as wide as it seems and on any given day we can be made to look ordinary.

[Neil Crompton 5,747]

8 minutes ago, FritschyBusiness said:

Who finished 5th, 16th, 8th and 2nd in 2021.

Out defence is no where near full strength but is still making it real hard for teams to score. 

Where they finished last year has little to do with this year FB, IMO.

when/if we beat Geelong and Brisbane then I’ll feel more comfortable boasting that we are the best side. 

[Lucifers Hero 40,522]

We just need to win enough games to be 1st or 2nd at rnd 23.

 

With the evenness of our rivals they can knock each other about trying to win enough games to make top 4 or top 8.  So it could be a year where a lowish number of games are needed to be top 2.  Perhaps as low as 15 wins possibly 16.

We could be 13-0 after round 13.  More likely 11-2 as we will likely drop a game or two. 

So wins needed for top 2 will be 3-5 from last 9 matches.  Those 9 matches are:

• Lions @ MCG
• Adelaide @ AO
• Cats @ KP
• Port @ Alice
• Bulldogs @ Marvel
• Dockers @ Optus
• Pies @ MCG
• Carlton @ MCG
• Lions @ Gabba

Lots of travel there and a few long-haul flights with 6 games vs possible top 8 teams.  

Short of our wheels falling off we are placing and pacing ourselves nicely to beat our rivals into a top 2 position regardless of where they finish. 

Bank wins before the bye!

Edited April 9, 2022 by Lucifers Hero

[Willmoy1947 4,198]

I'm thinking we will need to be close to top coming to last three games.

[Demonstone 23,342]

8 hours ago, Neil Crompton said:

So far this year we have beaten teams placed 11, 14, 17 and 18.

One of the reasons they are low on the ladder is that they lost to Melbourne.  

[Paulo 285]

Brisbane and Sydney for me, both have very similar lists for ave age and average games played, It would not surprise me to see all 3 clubs in the top 4 for next the 3 years.

Carl , hawks, freo set to rise 

GWS  ?  Saints ?  Dogs ?

Gee, rich both overrated imo 

Ess , coll   irrelevant 

 

 

 

 

 

[FritschyBusiness 1,478]

1 hour ago, Neil Crompton said:

Where they finished last year has little to do with this year FB, IMO.

when/if we beat Geelong and Brisbane then I’ll feel more comfortable boasting that we are the best side. 

What about where we finished?

We are clearly the best side in the comp

[D4Life 2,579]

On 4/3/2022 at 10:19 PM, hemingway said:

Enjoy the moment and enjoy each win. After a lifetime of playing and watching sport, I follow the old adage of not getting too far ahead of oneself. Injury and other unforeseen variables can change the picture very quickly. 

And we have had 3 rounds. 

Lets just enjoy now. 

Spot on. 
After a lot of ordinary years, enjoying every win is the way to go.

And for fun mercilessly picking on Tigers/Hawks/Bombers/Pies/Blues/Cats fans is great after putting up with their arrogance too many times over the last 50 years! Last years prelim final was gold!

Also keep fingers crossed on the injury front!

Go Demons!