Bring-Back-Powell

Hope we can get him a flag for 7 years of service for the club as it might be his final year Won us a game against Carlton last year and again tonight.

The big boys against the big boys: Port 2-1 Collingwood 2-2 Brisbane 2-2 Melbourne 2-2 We’re in this thing ladies and gents!

The Tab opened Brisbane up at $2.15 about 10 days ago.

How'd you pull up today mate 🥴

Agreed. A gut punching Sunday 6pm loss is about as mediocre as it gets in the weekly cycle of a footy tragic...

1) We got 37K to last years mid season Thursday night game between the two sides. Anything under 40K for a Friday night game would be disappointing. 2) Port have a number of outs this week, turning a probable win into a conceivable loss to Carlton. That might be the loss that costs them top spot given they have an inferior percentage to Collingwood.

The good news is that Kozzie could not have possibly played a worse career game than last week, so that can only be a positive in terms of our scoring avenues.

Yeah I get where you’re coming from. I think this thread went off the rails when people wanted the Bulldogs to beat Freo two weeks ago despite Bulldogs being in direct competition with Melbourne for a top 4 spot at the time. Luckily it’s all seemed to be working out as the Dogs are falling off the pace and Freo find themselves in the bottom 4!

Wow! You flew up to Sydney just to watch Freo lose a spot on the ladder. I admire your dedication👍

Reluctantly I’d have to say Essendon too. I feel as though Geelong are making a genuine charge for top 4 due to their many games at GMHBA, albeit they have Brisbane and Collingwood away. A loss here would snuff that out. Where as if Essendon somehow make the top 4 I don’t see them as any threat of doing anything nor are they probably ready to do anything. (hopefully we go 5-2 to finish the season and the result will be academic)

Yes a lot of Melbourne supporters allergies to Essendon started around September 2000.

Most of the games speak for themselves in terms of how it benefits us. I'm not sure if it's better if Geelong or Essendon win? A Geelong loss would bid farewell to their top 4 chances which is great, but an Essendon win means that they're well and truly in the hunt for a top 4 spot.

All but certain he isn't playing.

Someone on their Bigfooty forum reckons Dunkley is far more important to Brisbane than Oliver is to Melbourne. Whilst I think it’s a nonsense call, I hope it rings true tomorrow night assuming Dunkley misses.

Nothing less than a 60 point win by the Pies will be tolerated.

I would and that's probably as about as much as we can expect from these two given their inconsistent/interrupted seasons. Kozzie, Spargo and the mids needs to contribute on the scoreboard. Another 2 from Sparrow would be invaluable.

Geelong should play 1 home game year at the MCG. 10 at Geelong with their new capacity of 40K. The alternate year it's their turn to host Hawthorn on Easter Monday then that's their one home game at the MCG. If that means Collingwood have to go down the highway then so be it. The other year, I'm happy for Geelong to host a Richmond or Collingwood at the G.

Really hoping Dunkley misses this week who is currently listed as an outside chance. He's the ultimate two way player that has elevated their midfield this year. Oliver and Fritta will be clearly missed. However Oliver missed our benchmark win over Collingwood and hopefully BBB and Melksham can replace the 3 goals that Fritta kicked that day and more, while Kozzie could potentially go from 0 to 3 to get us to the 12-14 goal mark. 13 goals on Friday night footy in July should get the job done, and we managed 26 scoring shots on Kings BDAY.

100% yes.

And yet Jed Adams and Matt Jefferson are lower odds to win the Rising star award according to the TAB. Infact McVee isn’t even listed on the market. Even Corey Wagner was recently listed in the rising star market until someone had to point out to them that he was 6 years too old to win the award. Regardless, he’s having a sensational rookie AFL season.

Putting COVID aside, the last time the AFL moved a game was in 2000 and that was only because the Docklands turf was unplayable. Clubs are wasting their time in requesting venue changes.

That's true, and I thought you'd need more wins than 15 to make the top 4 with that extra game. 15 wins and 8 losses will likely see us make top 4 with our percentage. That's a lot of losses to qualify for top 4. More than any year since 2012.

Whilst I expect Pickett to remain in the side, I wouldn't be shocked if he's dropped on Thursday night as a mini wake up call and then start the game as sub. Might be the circuit breaker he needs, in terms of sitting out the first 2 or so quarters out and then come on fresh and do some damage in the last quarter against a tired Brisbane defence or midfield. But I assume he remains in the side for one more week.

Agree that if we win 5 of our last 7 then we will make top 4 (unless one of Bulldogs, Essendon or Geelong win out which they won't) Interestingly that since 2012 (when we first had an 18 team comp) no team has made the top 4 with 8 losses, and we'll have 8 losses assuming we go 5-2 and make the top 4. A good year for there to be a bunch of good-ordinary sides from 5th downwards.

Our three major threats for top 4 are Essendon, Bulldogs and Geelong. I have Essendon going 13-10 with losses to Geelong, Dogs and Collingwood. Therefore we need to go 3-4 to finish above them. Very achievable. I have Geelong going 14-8-1 and only losing to Brisbane, while beating Port at home and even beating Collingwood in a revenge game from round 1. Therefore we need to go 5-2 to finish above them. Tough proposition. (maybe I rate Geelong higher than others but they are the reigning premiers and should be respected as such) I have Bulldogs going 14-9 with losses only to Geelong in Geelong and a loss to one of Sydney away or Richmond at Marvel. They have a pretty soft draw. Therefore we need to go 4-3 to finish above them. Achievable. At the end of the day, we need to improve significantly in our front half if we end up finishing top 4 and are to beat Port or Collingwood in week 1. Therefore I don't see a massive difference at the moment in finishing 4th or 5th. Either scenario will most likely land us into a semi final IMO.