DemonWA

You had me nodding along about the mental fatigue, but you loose me thereafter. Still, your opinion has merit and you've made some good points. I'll also be sad if Gus leaves

Young ones quote?

Jeez, are people are trying to play down his footy to make his departure easier to take? Some of these posts are ridiculous. Clearly the most explosive and promising young talent in the ruck position since Nic Nat. I don't believe some of the money that's being spoken about but Dockers would be silly not to at least have a go.

This. Can't believe the amount of 'fans' who think it's their right to watch a unprecedented dynasty unfold before their eyes because we were sh1te for decades too. Throw the toys out of the pram after every loss!

That added consideration is where I'm unsure and perhaps where I think the whole loading discussion becomes a bridge too far for me, but hope you're on the money. It must be said we played out of our skins through the last finals series and it would be nice to think it wasn't all by chance. As I've said a few times before I feel as though our side had a heap of confidence last year which is a distinguishable difference between the 2 seasons; We beat contenders and hung on in the tight games. Collingwood's ability to get the 4 points in the close ones reminds me of our year last year - everything that could go our way seemed to go our way at times.

Of all the teams that you mention I would suggest our form has been the most 'off', which is probably why mo64 suggests we'd need a miraculous turn around (more than most). Brisbane have had covid, cats aren't loosing and Freos best isn't as good as ours so the magnitude of their comparable slump doesn't seem as severe. I don't think we're that far off decent form (we played a good bulldogs team yesterday without a few pretty key KPPs and only lost it in the lastfew minutes), however I'm worried about having to try to do some damage in the finals from outside the 8.

Looks at the form lines and the home ground advantage. I'd be surprised if the odds have us as evens at bounce down

No logic here. Just observation. You can see the spirit that a close come from behind victory helps to foster within a group. That was my point.

Me too. Hope to see a nice win against the odds. It's good being able to measure ourselves against some very good opposition in the run home but I can see us picking up plenty of battle scars along the way - both physical and to a lesser extent mental. Dogs win yesterday was not all that different to our final round win against the cats last year. Lots of sore bodies after that clash.

Last week we won thanks to Kozzy Last night they won due to Ugle Hagan. Dogs played a good game and one player was the difference.

There are some crazy emotional posts in this thread. Fit BBB and Lever would come in, but I do t think you need to change much. Jamara played a blinder and was the difference.

Fitsch tried to center to ANB in that last when he should have had a ping. Media wins

Tough game. God damn. Glad that wasn't a sudden death final. Onwards and upwards

I expect a similar plot line to the port game. Tough, tight game. Dees win

Hard to argue with that logic. But how does Gus fit into this theory?

Spoken like a man with an Electric Wizard Avatar. *slow heavy music playing*

Freo have prior. Handing out B and Fs to Pav to make him stay in WA etc.

Go well Sam. The fast pace of matches at Marvel might help him. Coupled with the fact he will be the primary target in F50.

I guess I must just hate watching games there because it feels like a shoot-out on the smaller ground

Yes mate, I'll be there. I wouldn't count on a big contingent of dees support tho. Was at the Eagles game earlier in the year and thought we might have a decent showing of fans but it was relatively small amount - perhaps all of the finals converts were Eagles fans?!

I must be scarred because I'd feel alot more comfortable if the game was being played at the G

Next two weeks are pivotal. Dogs at Marvel isn't the same proposition as playing them at the G, and they will want to do some damage to help step towards trying to heal the GF loss. Dockers at Optus is also huge - quality team at a hostile venue. Loading or poker tactics no longer can be used as excuses. We will get a good read on where we're at against 2 quality teams at less than ideal venues with top 4 on the line.

Watched the Goodes doco on Netflix recently and Dermie said some things back then that haven't aged well. His views on Daisy are also a decade or 2 behind the times. Goody summed it up well.

Tomlinson and Bedford to make way for Petty and Oliver imo. I get the impression Milkshake was picked to help with our forward half connection and I can't see him being dropped - look for him to get a role on Daniel etc.

This is the biggest non issue IMO. The media are trying to keep the narrative of us struggling up front going. These sorts of things happen alot in most games and the counter argument is that we've often butchered the ball in the F50 trying to be too unselfish in more recent times- I don't mind a forward backing themselves to kick a goal if they think it's kickable. When Petracca has set shots form 55 on tigh angles and doesn't make the distance or kicks points it doesn't become a media circus.