1 hour ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

If we finish second we’re guaranteed not to travel at all in the finals. Even if we lose week 1.

Assuming Collingwood finish first.

52 minutes ago, Sydney_Demon said:

No. If we lose a Qualifying and Collingwood lose the other Qualifying then we would still need to travel for the Prelim.

Sydney's right - finishing 2nd guarantees no travel only if we win our first final. Otherwise have to rely on Collingwood winning their first final.

51 minutes ago, Whispering_Jack said:

Can’t take the run home for granted now. 

As we saw today, even the most lowly of clubs is capable of causing an upset and they all would love to take a big scalp.

Good thing we're not a big scalp - well at least not according to 95% of football pundits all season.

33 minutes ago, A F said:

I reckon top spot is on too. Macrae looked lost for words in his presser today.

I knew sides would start to seriously tag Daicos in the back end of the year, and that Collingwood are all or nothing, without nuance to their game, or a plan B. 

Blue print continues to be clog them up at half back, choke them in the corridor and they have few answers.

I get it, but seriously, the odds here are so low.

If we drop even a single game, Collingwood have to lose all three for us to be able to pass them. Even if we win all four, Collingwood still have to go 1-2 from here, from three games in Melbourne, one of which against Essendon who likely will be out of finals contention in Round 24.

It's fair enough to note their slide and the reasons underpinning it though. It's valid. Their form is not going in the right direction.

28 minutes ago, Roost it far said:

Happy to be clueless in your mind.

Thanks for the vote of confidence.

26 minutes ago, A F said:

You're definitely an odd poster mate.

It's like you've stepped out of a cave in the last 10-15 weeks and realised we're a really good team, with a really good coach, but before that we fluked a flag and then somehow managed to finish 2nd last year.

Dude, I predicted the 21 flag at the end of 2020 when you lot were crying about losing games in Cairns. I’ve been bullish on the Dee’s since then. I also think last year was a wasted opportunity due in part to a coach with no plan B. I’ve recently seen new gears added to our game and much better player management. It’s vastly different to 12 months ago. You’re a clever poster so you know I’m correct. We may differ only on our views of Goodwin before the middle of this season.

6 minutes ago, dworship said:

Thanks for the vote of confidence.

Always here to offer my support 

27 minutes ago, titan_uranus said:

I get it, but seriously, the odds here are so low.

If we drop even a single game, Collingwood have to lose all three for us to be able to pass them. Even if we win all four, Collingwood still have to go 1-2 from here, from three games in Melbourne, one of which against Essendon who likely will be out of finals contention in Round 24.

It's fair enough to note their slide and the reasons underpinning it though. It's valid. Their form is not going in the right direction.

Geelong are playing for their finals spot, to defend their premiership. (they'll likely be 9th at the end of this round)

They've got Brisbane in Melbourne, desperately playing for top 2 to secure a home final at the Gabba.

And they've got Essendon, who themselves have North and the Giants away. On current form, the Giants win that but that's still a huge game in Round 24.

14 hours ago, Demonstone said:

I look forward to 2057 and having the avatar of veteran Melbourne captain George Gawn projected directly into my cryogenically frozen neocortex holding the premiership NFT aloft yet again with ten-foot Premiership Coach and AFL cyborg Charlie Spargo (alongside all the other participating teams, which are all based on Uluru Island).

Fixed it for you. 

6 hours ago, titan_uranus said:

I get it, but seriously, the odds here are so low.

If we drop even a single game, Collingwood have to lose all three for us to be able to pass them. Even if we win all four, Collingwood still have to go 1-2 from here, from three games in Melbourne, one of which against Essendon who likely will be out of finals contention in Round 24.

It's fair enough to note their slide and the reasons underpinning it though. It's valid. Their form is not going in the right direction.

Just keep winning Melbourne  That will fix everything!!!

7 hours ago, titan_uranus said:

Sydney's right - finishing 2nd guarantees no travel only if we win our first final. Otherwise have to rely on Collingwood winning their first final.

Yeah you guys are right.

It never occurred to me that Collingwood could actually lose their week 1 final at the G against a Port or Brisbane but the way they’re going who knows? A temporary form slump or something more?

Edited August 5, 20231 yr by Bring-Back-Powell

13 hours ago, Jaded No More said:

Every game is dangerous. Essendon nearly [censored] the bed against West Coast today. 
You have to be switched on. To not be switched on on the eve of the finals is a major worry. 

 

13 hours ago, rpfc said:

I think it’s great for the last 3 games to be against very competent sides that will try to play some footy against us. 

Yes I think it's a great test.

The inclusion of Oliver and Fritsch on top of the current best 22 that's in really good form could really set us up well for finals.

The big watch for me is the form of Petty and JVR as forwards. It's a big ask for JVR but if these two lads can really hold down the forward key posts then we're going into finals well prepared with our offensive structure.

3 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

 

Yes I think it's a great test.

The inclusion of Oliver and Fritsch on top of the current best 22 that's in really good form could really set us up well for finals.

The big watch for me is the form of Petty and JVR as forwards. It's a big ask for JVR but if these two lads can really hold down the forward key posts then we're going into finals well prepared with our offensive structure.

JVR rucking is really key for me. It helps him stay involved in the contest and he’s been really competitive in the ruck against the second stringers. 
It’s why I think we can’t play him and Grundy in the same side. If he keeps kicking a couple a week and competing well in the ruck, I can’t see the need for Grundy.

Today will be a test as North have two good ruckman which JVR will have to compete against. He can absolutely dominate Goldy in the follow up at ground level, but can he be competitive in the air?

12 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

 

Yes I think it's a great test.

The inclusion of Oliver and Fritsch on top of the current best 22 that's in really good form could really set us up well for finals.

The big watch for me is the form of Petty and JVR as forwards. It's a big ask for JVR but if these two lads can really hold down the forward key posts then we're going into finals well prepared with our offensive structure.

On JVR - Grundy should really be backing himself to provide more than a 20 year old forward/back up ruck… whether he gets the opportunity I don’t know.

 

The other point around playing teams that will be playing to win is that we get to avoid teams that just park the bus. Carlton and Sydney will be playing to win and that is a great primer. The Hawks will want to show us up like they did the Pies, they are getting ND3 regardless so Mitchell can go for it.

1 hour ago, Jaded No More said:

JVR rucking is really key for me. It helps him stay involved in the contest and he’s been really competitive in the ruck against the second stringers. 
It’s why I think we can’t play him and Grundy in the same side. If he keeps kicking a couple a week and competing well in the ruck, I can’t see the need for Grundy.

Today will be a test as North have two good ruckman which JVR will have to compete against. He can absolutely dominate Goldy in the follow up at ground level, but can he be competitive in the air?

JVR has been great competing in the ruck, his leap puts him in every contest

10 hours ago, Roost it far said:

Dude, I predicted the 21 flag at the end of 2020 when you lot were crying about losing games in Cairns. I’ve been bullish on the Dee’s since then. I also think last year was a wasted opportunity due in part to a coach with no plan B. I’ve recently seen new gears added to our game and much better player management. It’s vastly different to 12 months ago. You’re a clever poster so you know I’m correct. We may differ only on our views of Goodwin before the middle of this season.

Well done on your prediction for the 2021 Premiership! I'm still [censored] off about the Cairns fiasco in 2020 when Sydney in particular were severely advantaged (on top of the fact that our draw would have been much better if 22, rather than 17, games were played that season as we finished 2nd bottom in 2019). No AFL team should ever have to play in Cairns again. It was a total joke as it totally compromised the fixture.

Regarding last year, I think its very easy to rewrite history based on final outcomes. We did finish 2nd in the H&A and thrashed Brisbane away in Round 23. We lost close games to the Swans & Brisbane because we had injuries, couldn't run games out, and failed to put our opponents away in the first half (especially Brisbane. 99 games out of 100 we win that game). Geelong meanwhile had the softest draw of all time (gifted 4 games & percentage as they played North & West Coast twice). If Melbourne had beaten Sydney or Brisbane or Collingwood had beaten Geelong in a very close Qualifier who kjnows what would have happened? IMV Melbourne lost for a whole lot of extraneous factors largely outside our control, not due to bad coaching. You need luck to win Premierships. We had none when it counted last year.

"second place is there for the taking"

16 hours ago, Roost it far said:

I think he’s learning on the job. Got some good operators around him and he may still chat with Roos from time to time. I wasn’t a huge fan until the last 6-8 weeks. Thought he was too one dimensional but this year has really changed my thinking. 

We'll never reach a consensus on how to rate Goodwin and he's never more than one loss away from angry Demonlanders picking up their metaphorical pitch forks (not causing you of this @Roost it far). However, I think most can agree that in the past month the following were bold decisions that have paid handsome dividends:

* Selecting Melksham despite modest VFL form

* Moving Petracca forward despite Oliver's absence

* Omitting Grundy and playing Gawn solo

* Revisiting the Petty forward experiment 

Nick Daicos out for 6 weeks.

17 minutes ago, Bombay Airconditioning said:

Nick Daicos out for 6 weeks.

A fair bit of luck comes into winning flags.  Talent, good management and depth go along way but sometimes a few things conspire against you. Pies getting a few injuries and having a down patch at the wrong time.

14 hours ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

If we finish second we’re guaranteed not to travel at all in the finals. Even if we lose week 1.

Assuming Collingwood finish first.

If Collingwood finish first and lose, and we lose our QF, the Prelims would both be interstate. Not travelling can't be avoided if you lose. 

An interesting take on this.

 

Kingy Monday means test seedings on SEN

Melbourne at 1

Brisbane at 2

Carlton at 3

Collingwood at 4

Edited August 7, 20231 yr by david_neitz_is_my_dad

 

 

 

 

2 hours ago, david_neitz_is_my_dad said:

Kingy Monday means test seedings on SEN

Melbourne at 1

Brisbane at 2

Carlton at 3

Collingwood at 4

 

The man is an [censored]. Only one of those seedings is correct... 

2 hours ago, david_neitz_is_my_dad said:

Kingy Monday means test seedings on SEN

Melbourne at 1

Brisbane at 2

Carlton at 3

Collingwood at 4

FWIW, Lloyd and Barrett both have us as the number one seed now. Lol.

Edited August 7, 20231 yr by A F