titan_uranus

North's slide means that we have something real to aim for in the last 7 games. We have to aim for that finals spot which means we have to win tomorrow. Doubly important given St Kilda is in the same boat as us and has the easier draw than us. Also, I hate St Kilda and I hate losing to St Kilda. So there's that, too.

If North does end up losing, it really opens the door not just for Port, but for us, Collingwood and St Kilda too. Collingwood's draw is tough but if they can beat GWS on the road they can beat a lot of teams. St Kilda's draw, though I do not rate them at all, is easy (they still have us, North, Carlton, Richmond and Brisbane, which can get them to 12 wins). I still think North will hold onto 8th but it would be nice to re-enliven the back-end of the home and away fixture by having a few clubs' finals chances back in contention.

Has a team ever gone 9-0 and missed the finals?

As the year goes on Geelong increasingly strike me as over-dependent on Dangerfield and Selwood. Ho-hum forward line and a lot of average-to-poor midfielders masked by Dangerfield and Selwood's brilliance.

I'm a big fan. He seems to be (slowly) eradicating the periods of laziness from his game and the result, with his hard-running and hard-working ethic, is that he is getting far more involved, utilising his speed more, and becoming a really important player for us.

Certainly the aim is to have a squad which runs to 30, or even more, but every club, if given 44 fit players, would have a best 22 in mind. Right now, Grimes is not part of that best 22. I love him though and I want him to play every game for the rest of the year to improve his standing within the squad and to try to get himself to a point where, if he's not best 22, he's good enough to hold a spot on our list. Whether it's rational or not, I just do not want to see him running around for some other club next year.

That's four wins for them under 10 points. For Sydney, it's four losses by 10 points or less. They have a clear issue with winning the close ones, the last three (Richmond, WB, Hawthorn) they've had 2+ goal leads late and blown all of them.

I reckon that's the minor premiership for Hawthorn too. 6 games left, they're already 2 clear on top and they have Richmond, Carlton, us and Collingwood to come. Not sure they'll lose any of them, which would mean they'd have to lose the last two (North and West Coast) and someone has to win out over the last 6. How disgusting.

Hawthorn 2 games clear on top of the ladder is sickening. I'm just hoping that, with all the close wins, it's a false dawn and they get found out in September. I doubt it, though.

I can't stand either club and I can't stand the fact that yet another season is boiling down to a Sydney v Hawthorn GF. Nonetheless, this is a good game of football.

If anyone out of the 8 is going to sneak in, it is going to be at North's expense. West Coast's draw is too easy and the other 6 are too good to slip out. I am confident it won't happen though. North should win two of its next three (Port, Collingwood and St Kilda) which makes the magic number 12. Port hasn't beaten anyone in the top 8, we are a strong chance to drop the St Kilda game and even if we win it we would have to win two of Port, Hawthorn, Geelong and West Coast. St Kilda isn't good enough whilst Collingwood is very up and down and has a tough draw (they'd need to win three out of Adelaide, NM, West Coast, WB and Hawthorn and also beat Richmond and Gold Coast). I would love us to get to 11 wins, even without being enough for top 8, as that would involve at least one win over Port (away), Hawthorn, Geelong and West Coast (away).

We've actually done well in those match-ups this year. Collingwood was coming off a bad loss (St Kilda first, Port second) both times we beat them. Richmond was coming off a big loss to West Coast. Fremantle was coming off a disaster. Brisbane and Gold Coast have largely been coming off losses all year. Indeed, we haven't beaten anyone coming off a win this year (North, Dogs, Hawthorn, Adelaide).

They'll be 7-8, same as Port, us and Collingwood, and therefore equal 9th on points. Not sure what your point is...?

I'm noticing an improvement in his running, which is helping him get to more contests, get more of the ball, and provide better defensive pressure from half-forward. He's also strong overhead. His development is critical IMO.

Presumably McCartin won't play which will mean they have Membrey, Bruce and Riewoldt (further up the ground). A lot of people have Wagner replacing OMac but do we need another tall (say Dunn or Garland) to cover their tall forwards? Otherwise it'd be TMac and Frost for Membrey and Bruce, leaving no one to Riewoldt? Love the positivity but Harmes is nowhere near the level of Mills or Daniel. I like that we have pushed him up off half-forward where we have better options (all of Kent, Garlett, Petracca Kennedy do a better job as forwards IMO) but his disposal is erratic and he goes missing too often.

Including all sold home games interstate, but not including games in Geelong: Carlton - 6 Collingwood - 5 Essendon - 6 Geelong - 5 Hawthorn - 9 (4 in Tasmania, 5 elsewhere) Melbourne* - 7 (2 in NT, 5 elsewhere) NM - 8 (3 in Tasmania, 5 elsewhere) Richmond - 6 St Kilda - 5 WB* - 5 (1 in Cairns, 4 elsewhere) *WB and Melbourne are the only two to play down in Geelong, though.

Another positive to come out of the win is that it will be the end of those stupid "we haven't improved because we've only beaten teams we beat last year" posts. I know what you're trying to say here but not sure Hogan is supposed to be in a list of players people thought would not reach A-grade status.

Feels like we could be further up?

Nothing from SEN on Vince. Instead, we're getting the goal-kickers in the WB v Richmond game. Useless.

Hard to tell from the radio but not a bad quarter it seems. +66 in disposals, +5 clearances, +9 inside 50s, +12 contested possessions, +7 tackles. Maybe with those numbers we should be a bit further up but from about 5 minutes into the quarter onwards, felt like we had all of the play.

Yes I've noticed that. Leaves me with SEN. Not ideal.

Are we playing TMac or Frost forward?

You'd have to think GWS went into this a little over-confident. They'd had the bye, Collingwood hadn't, they were undefeated at home (the only club until today to remain undefeated at home) and Collingwood are, well, not that good. With Geelong losing a chance to solidify their top 4 chances was there to be won. Major stuff up.

So already having beaten a bottom 4 side on the road isn't enough for you?

I wouldn't be writing him off like that, but currently I'm not sold on him going forward. Needs to clean up his disposal, a lot, and add a bit more to the side than just some aggro and tackling.