Northern Summer

The other '[censored]' thing to bear in mind is if Port Adelaide make the Grand Final in Perth (and say play us), all of their supporters will be able to fly over to Perth and watch the game, so it'll turn into a partial home crowd for them. This is because there are no restrictions on entering WA from SA. We would have to rely on all of the lovely 'impartial' Western Australians to barrack for us to even it out - can't see everyone doing that, so Port will have the weight of the crowd. We are used to 'booooooo' in Perth I guess!

Without getting ahead of ourselves, a question that should probably be considered is who will present the Premiership Cup if we were able to win the flag in Perth? That is, presuming Emperor McGowan maintains his current position of allowing nobody other than players and direct support staff into the state. Some possibilities include Shane Woewodin, Earl Spalding? Not sure of any other notable ex-Demons players currently living in WA at present... maybe Nathan Jones, presuming he won't be playing, but flies over as part of the extended squad? (that would be weird but not necessarily a bad idea)...

Luke Shuey Nathan Buckley Jacob Weitering Taylor Adams

Interesting that old mate Chris Scott just said on AFL360 that Geelong expects to go to Perth a few days after its Port Adelaide clash, regardless of whether it wins or loses. Does this suggest the same will happen with us? Meaning, if we got beaten by the Lions, we would play the winner of Bulldogs/Essendon in Perth, but more importantly, Port Adelaide in Perth if they beat Geelong (so they don't get a home preliminary final)? Hinkley then says he thinks Port would get a 2nd Adelaide home final...

What about over 60's?

Firstly, for that to happen, it would have to be Melbourne v Essendon. Important as they would have to wear the clash strip! :-) It would also require us to win against Bears, and Essendon to beat Footscray, Bears and then Port/Cats. That would be a massive ask for a side that's barely beaten a top 8 side all season and just scraped into the 8.

He's clearly joking! Anyone can see that.

Week 1 Dees Port Bulldogs Giants Week 2 Bears beat Bulldogs Giants beat Geelong Week 3 Dees beat Giants Port beat Bears GF Dees beat Port

Just announced only would be 50% crowds in Adelaide next weekend. If we play Port in Adelaide the crowd won't be a factor at all!

Brisbane won't just pass Footscray's %, they will exceed it by quite a bit. WCE have given up on the season, rested their good players. They don't intend to get close.

Six of one, half a dozen of the other

Doesn't matter what happens tomorrow with next week. So we play Port in Adelaide if we lose and most likely Brisbane in Adelaide if we win. I'm not sure one scenario is more scary than the other. Port have been involved in something like 6 games with results being within two goals and won every single one of them. If luck went against them and they lost a few, they'd have been vying to just make the 8. We have beaten both teams this season, both away from home. We have lost 4.5 games this season. In every single one of them, we were still in the game with less than 10 minutes to go. We have been the best team this season and by quite some distance, we have a very healthy list such that we've been able to drop Hibbo and Milkshake. Just stick to our game plan, be discipline and keep the intensity up, and we will be fine.

I was thinking all week that Bulldogs winning would be the best outcome for us, because we would finish top 2 regardless of tomorrow's result. Having given it further thought, there might be a bit more too it. I see Geelong as our main competition. If tomorrow's game becomes a 'live' game, and the game is played with both sides trying to win, I think we are in a much better position than Geelong to go for broke and win due to Geelong's injuries. Given the age profile of Geelong's team, I think that will also hamper Geelong next week, regardless of whether they beat us or not, which means they may end up fatiguing near the end of the finals. I think we can cop it, they can't, so maybe it might be better for Port to win? Also, I can't stand the Dogs! Mind you, they are already 3 goals up!

Duck, weave, just don't touch the ball! Marshmallow is as crazy as Emperor McGowan. Look at the double quarantine rules for the Olympians as an example. It surely can't be in Adelaide.

That won't be happening. This is Emperor McGowan who wants covid-zero WA even after the 80% vaccine rate is achieved. The way I see it, there's only one genuine way of getting to the GF this year. That is on the hope we get out of lockdown on time, another state or territory opens its borders to Victoria immediately (as as NT and Tasmania did last time), you get there as quickly as possible and stay for 14 days, and then enter WA as you wouldn't have been in Victoria for the 14 days. In reality, i'd be surprised if, firstly, Victoria was out of lockdown in time to make this work; and secondly, that other states/territories open up to Victoria as soon as lockdown finishes here given this has been a more extended outbreak. If the above worked out somehow, you'd also need to hope that there is no lockdown in the place that opens the borders (as WA will ban travel from there). You can see i've put a bit of thought into this which mean, yes, I'll do it if I can!

Aside from Sydney, who else out of the top 6 contenders have been more disadvantaged by fixture changes than us? Just wondering. We had to play two home games in Sydney. We did play the GC home game at Docklands, but only after spending 8 hours flying to and from Brisbane the day before for nothing. From memory, Port, Cats and Dogs have basically played all their home games at home. Lions played a game or two on the Gold Coast and the rest at the Gabba. Moving the Geelong game to the MCG therefore isn't as unjust as it might seem...

i'm not sure why they played Salem today to be fair if that is the case

In: McDonald, May Out: Sparrow, Jordan Medical sub: either Viney or Smith (one in the side)

No, because the pre-finals bye isn't happening - let's face it, they wouldn't have won in 2016 if not for that. Mind you, their golden run with the umpires will no doubt continue and will help them...

I'm not so sure about Port losing to the Dogs. The Dogs forward line is dysfunctional now without Bruce. Their midfield has fallen off a cliff since they beat us. I actually reckon they'll slip to 5th.

Impossible to play Geelong in the 1st week of the finals if we win tomorrow... see my post above.

Unless we lose to Adelaide tomorrow, today's results have basically meant there won't be repeat games from Round 23 into the 1st week of the finals. Presuming we win against Adelaide tomorrow: If we beat Geelong: (a) we finish 1st and play either the Bulldogs or Lions if Port beat the Bulldogs; or (b) we finish 1st and play Port if the Bulldogs beat Port. If we lose to Geelong: (a) we finish 2nd if the Bulldogs beat Port, and we play the Bulldogs; or (b) we finish 3rd if Port beat the Bulldogs, and we play Port in Adelaide.

I think you'll find they'll leave the GF decision to the last minute. They'll just have options available interstate, such as Perth. If the GF is not in Melbourne, you'll find it impossible to travel to the GF elsewhere, as it's almost certain Victorians will be locked out of any other state, like they are at the moment. After the last lockdown ended and before this one began (a matter of a week or so), the NT and Tasmania opened its borders to Victoria. If that happens again, i'm tempted to take the punt and stay in the NT for a fortnight, which means i'll be able to go anywhere after 14 days there. I'm lucky though that I can work remotely and don't have anything keeping me here.

Every single bloody week it happens! I'm used to it.

Rubbish. If people over 60 have some sort of issue causing them concern getting the AZ, they should be entitled to the Pfizer. Otherwise, there should be no judging them on waiting for the Pfizer. My parents are in that camp.