titan_uranus

I don't think that's ever happened... West Coast in 2006 was the last team to make the GF despite losing the qualifying final, with Adelaide concurrently the last team to lose a prelim after having the week off. Obviously, it's really rare, so even though Fremantle isn't in form, the week off and the home final are going to be tough for anyone to beat.

I would love both sides to lose, but given that's impossible, I want Richmond to lose more. I think both sides have a chance against Sydney next week, although I don't see any of those three beating West Coast in Perth in the prelim so it's a bit moot. It's the other side of the draw that is more intriguing - I can see both Hawthorn and Adelaide beating Fremantle in the prelim given Freo's form is so patchy.

I was at the game last night. It was an absolute ripper. You feel for the Dogs, but they only have themselves to blame. They missed too many easy shots on goal and they conceded too many goals from turnovers (including the last one, where they should have scored but Hunter's handpass missed Crameri). The Dogs are able to score from probably 18 of the 22 players on the field at any given point, and they know how to generate movement at any stoppage or contest. They need to tighten their defence because they let Adelaide burn them too easily on the rebound, but they're the blueprint on how to play exciting, attacking football. Adelaide is a tiny step above the Dogs IMO as they are capable of the same fast football but have a little more defence and structure to them (fair enough as they are a little older and should have more experience in finals and pressure football). Would love Adelaide to beat Hawthorn on Friday - if Richmond/North can beat Sydney next week that would also be delicious.

There's a passage of play which sums Frawley up perfectly. He drops the mark, West Coast burst out the back and as plenty of Hawthorn players gut run back into defensive 50, Frawley is left behind jogging. Absolutely classic.

I can't stand Melksham, I truly hope we go nowhere near him.

Very happy for Bernie, and the others in the top 5, and for the club. The results of Watts, Dawes and Lumumba are telling, IMO.

Bennell brings so much on the field that we crave, and is so, so good at his best, that I can't help but feel we should be going after him. With this club, that could be a fail because we don't have that strong senior leadership, but I'm willing to take the risk.

I doubt the supporters of the finals sides would say that.

Are you kidding? Absolute no-brainer for CHB. No point trying. Rioli and Naitanui just get nominated because of who they are, not necessarily because they're the best selections.

If St Kilda can be the next Dogs, why can't Melbourne? They were competitive because of their senior, GF-era players. That's not a list for the future, it's a list hanging onto the past. Expectations are definitely part of it, and there's no doubt St Kilda has performed far in excess of what was reasonable to expect of them this year. I think we exceeded expectations too. But I think it's also a respect thing.

We're going to keep getting games at Etihad. Each of Melbourne, RIchmond, Collingwood and Hawthorn, the four MCG tenants, was given a home game at Etihad (Collingwood even had two). There are a certain number of games that have to be played at Etihad every year. St Kilda, the Dogs and North Melbourne are all tenants but all sell games interstate/overseas, which then need to be made up by MCG clubs. Worse, Carlton wants to shift home games from Etihad to the G. They'll get that request, I'm sure, because they're Carlton, which will only serve to require further games to be hosted at Etihad. Unless Essendon stops hosting us at the G, or unless the Dogs or Saints stop selling home games (which isn't going to happen given current financial circumstances), we're going to keep being given a home game there.

I've been rabbiting on about this all year. They are continually led by the same group of older players - Riewoldt, Montagna, Steven, Armitage, Dempster, Schneider, Fisher, Gilbert. All from the GF era they had. Their kids just piggy back off them. They will be a much different proposition when the older players finish up. And despite having that core GF group, they finished the year on 6.5 wins. That's one fewer win than Melbourne, and the same number of wins as Essendon, a basket case. Five of their six wins were against the bottom 6 (Melbourne x 2, Gold Coast, Brisbane, Essendon), with their sixth win against the Dogs. Compare that with us for example, we had 5 wins against teams with 11+ wins (Richmond, Bulldogs, Geelong, Collingwood, GWS). Put all that together and at the very, very least we should be being spoken about in the same way as the Saints, but every single media report and commentator will gush about the Saints while suggesting we are nowhere near it. It can be blatant (Crawford) or it can be subtle (commentators on the weekend when GWS was struggling to move the ball pinned it on GWS having a bad day until Brad Johnson thought maybe it was our pressure. I guarantee if it was St Kilda and not Melbourne the first thing they all would have said would have been 'gee what wonderful pressure St Kilda are bringing'). They've exceeded expectations for this year, and they've brought positivity and intensity to most of their games. But I cannot stand the way they are discussed compared to us, not just because it's annoying, but because it's wrong. Mind you, we don't really get anywhere by focusing on what's happening at St Kilda. But it still infuriates me.

Having watched the reply, the highlights for mine were Viney (superb game), Hogan (those marks...), Jones and Vince (no coincidence we won when they each played their best game since Collingwood), and Harmes. I'm really excited by Harmes, he has the right physique, can take a mark, but seems to have some pace too.

A GF without Hawthorn and Sydney in it would be wonderful. If that means Fremantle v West Coast, so be it. Unfortunately, I think Sydney is a strong chance of beating Fremantle this weekend, and I think Hawthorn is likewise a good shot against West Coast. Could well be Hawthorn and Sydney hosting preliminary finals, again, which would be an utter bore.

In a timeslot nobody gives a rats about (1.10pm sucks at the best of times), and on Father's Day. I'm consigned to us being given more Etihad home games given Carlton wants to move more home games from Etihad to the G (and hey, why not right, they're Carlton so they get what they want), but hopefully the AFL will stop and consider whether there's any point. I think just Jones and Dunn.

That was also our first win the final round of a season since the Kreuzer Cup in 2007.

Today we also played 5 of the 6 youngest players on our list (Petracca was the other one). Each of those 5 are also teenagers.

Today's side had Viney, Gawn, Salem, Michie, Harmes, White, OMac, Newton, Stretch, Hogan, Brayshaw, JKH and ANB. Most experienced of these players is Viney with 49 games. Tyson, Kent, Frost, VDB, Toumpas and Petracca also on the list, none with more than 50 games experience.

Got rid of the hoodoo, got another game into the kids, positive signs from a bunch of players, scored over 100 again, ended a losing streak against GWS, beat another side with at least 11 wins (that's four wins for the year against 11+ win sides), and most importantly went above St Kilda on the ladder.

One of our goals for 2016, IMO, is to develop the list to the point where Garland, Grimes and Dunn are not necessarily best 22 (ditto Howe, if he's here next year). Developing Harmes, Salem, Stretch, Brayshaw, ANB, Viney, and adding Tyson, VDB, Kent and Frost, will help us do this.

I haven't seen any of the game, but I like the look of being +43 in disposals and +15 in tackles. Leading them in every statistic except free kicks, but only up by 2 points, suggests to me it's a case of effort good, skill bad. That is, at least, an improvement on the previous three weeks. IMO there is a lot to be gained from this second half. We'll end up above St Kilda on the ladder in points, and if the margin is right, we may also exceed St Kilda's percentage too. If only to stick it up the insufferable support the Saints continue to undeservedly receive, I'd love to get this win. But add to that getting rid of this stupid Etihad stadium losing record, a win over GWS for the first time in 2.5 years, a win over a side which is 11-10 going into this game, and some confidence moving into the pre-season, and there is enough to be had in this game to have me caring for a win. Edit: no surprises that, yet again, the positivity is being generated from our youth whilst our senior players are making errors.

I'm enjoying watching Hayne ply his trade for us on special teams (we should have him in on defensive special teams too, his gunning work looks OK), and he's learning at RB (positioning and blocking are still really poor though). I feel like being a 49ers fan is now the in thing for an Australian though, which is kind of annoying for someone like me who has been supporting them for years. I think third is probably right, though there's no real shame in finishing third if it's behind Seattle and Arizona. I think your defence will keep you in good stead and your schedule is OK, with the Redskins, 49ers twice, Bears, Browns and Bucs.

My opinion is that there is an issue with this resting of players in the final round and that something should be done about it (though I'm not quite sure exactly what, yet. Structuring the season to have a week off between the final round and the first week of finals might help.). I just didn't agree with your scenario. It would be disappointing of course, but if you miss the finals by percentage then you should equally be upset about what happened in the previous 21 games than what happened in the final one.

You mean like beating Geelong at their home ground when they are celebrating one of their all-time favourite players' 300th game?

I get your point, and probably agree with you, but in the end if you miss the finals it's never because of the final round and always because of the entire 22-game season. In the above scenario, you can be dirty on the team resting its players, but truth is if you'd won one more game earlier in the year you wouldn't have been in that position. That said, there is undoubtedly an issue with the resting of players.