Bring-Back-Powell

Dogs into the GF?

I can’t work out the hatred for Weightman around here. A classy small forward that clearly loves his footy and plays with 100% excitement and passion. What am I missing?

Weightman subbed out and will miss the prelim.

Probably because they don’t even bother playing a ruckman.

As mentioned above he can purchase a special membership which gives him access to the grand final, and hence no need to put somebody’s membership in jeopardy.

Sounds like he wants a freebie.

And O’Connor

Totally agree with all that but if we somehow don’t win a premiership this year and fade into the wilderness for the next 15 years I’ll be just plain flabbergasted. The list is constructed and coached to win a flag today. And if it doesn’t win today its constructed to win a flag next year and/or the following 4 IMO. If we don’t win the GF, I’m bullish we’ll break the drought next year in front of the faithful, and what a day that would be for all of us starved Victorians that have barely seen a game since rd 22 2019.

Oh for goodness sake. please don’t show the players this tweet!

Corky. Don’t get excited.

Spot on. Seen more ferocious games at Casey Fields.

Guessing everyone’s a tiny bit worried playing Geelong given we’re all going for GWS?

Nice goal Mummy. Keeping it under 39.5 for the punters out there.

At this rate Geelong will have had more of a rest than us.

It would be peak Melbourne to lose to either of these mistake riddled clubs next week.

That’s an absolutely fair call about Port. Up until round 21 the Dogs and us were neck and neck for most of the season so it’s reasonable to assume that they could be more of a threat to us than Port. I just think Port have hit a groove and seem to have bought in as a group after totally blowing it last year after being top of the ladder all year. They seem just as tight knit as us. I don’t see Brisbane as a threat at all.

I think a better word instead of satisfied would be accepting of a prelim loss. The more I think about it, the more it would be hard to be satisfied with a prelim loss given how many wins we’ve had and the supreme progress we’ve made compared to 2019 and 2020. I would however be accepting of a prelim loss given the large strides we’ve made, the inexperience of finals as a collective unit and the fact that we weren’t expected to finish top 4. Satisfaction implies content. It would be hard to be content with missing out on a GF (regardless of venue) Acceptance is looking at the bigger picture. Acknowledging how far we’ve come since 2019 as well as the COVID interruptions we’ve copped and then embracing the immediate future that this current list should offer to the the members and fans.

Underestimate Port at your own peril. They’re on a 7 game winning streak which is 2 wins better than ours and finished only half a game and a bit of percentage behind us. And they beat the Dogs late in the year which we failed to do in round 18 and failed pretty dismally. Plus they have the red carpet quarantine free entry into a grand final. It’s a genuine 2 horse race and if Port beat us in a GF, we tip our hats off to them and move onto next year.

There would have to be a collapse of epic proportions in the coming years if this is our one and only chance of a flag. Yes, injuries could ruin us over the coming years, but the current state of the list does not suggest that 2021 is our one big chance.

I doubt you'd able to get into SA unless you have an exceptional reason. The cases are getting out of control in VIC.

Yes. Satisfied but not happy. We were projected to finish outside the 8 according to many scribes, and most of us had us finishing 5th - 8th with a possible finals win. We've smashed those expectations and the next 5 years look very promising for this reasonably young but highly talented list. And despite what others think, I think we've got some stiff competition in Port and Bulldogs who schooled us in round 19 so it's not our flag to lose. Those two are our major threats. Not to mention if Geelong click on prelim night.

I'm not so sure about that. Premierships are so hard to win and we've got a potential opponent who's in just as good a form as us in Port Adelaide. Alternatively, if the Dogs somehow beat Port, well then we're playing a team in arguably hotter form than Port as they would've won 3 finals in 3 different states. Most scribes predicted us to miss the 8 and most of us supporters had us finishing 5th - 8th with a finals win being a rock solid performance. We've exceeded expectations and a confirmed top 4 finish. And a fantastic launching pad for an assault on the next 3 to 5 premierships. If we don't win it this year it's not a failure IMO. Our list profile suggests we're going to be in the mix for the immediate coming years.

The Lions V Dogs game has a watch this space feel about it, with regards to it even going ahead as planned. If those kids that recently visited Melbourne test positive and exposing a Brisbane school, then SE QLD could very well be in lockdown this weekend.

And throw in some extra time to the mix.

I can’t begrudge neutrals not jumping on board given that I was barracking for GWS to beat the Dogs in the 2016 prelim.