Macca

I still can't decide which team I want to lose? What happens if it's a draw? It's Friday night and my brain is frazzled ... need wine

Games to look out for this weekend Sat 6.00pm Australia vs Sweden (3rd place playoff) Sat Midnight Liverpool vs Bournemouth Sun 2 30am Tottenham vs Man Utd Sun 5.00am Man City vs Newcastle Sun 3.20pm Demons vs Hawks Sun 8.00pm Spain vs England (Final) Mon 1.30am West Ham vs Chelsea Tues 5.00am Crystal Palace vs Arsenal

Whichever team we pick, this is a must win. We need to start well The Hawks are playing well right now and now that they've got pick 3 in the draft stitched up, they will be all out to knock us off In fact, they'll take great pleasure in disrupting our premiership chances. That's the Aussie rules way ... teams enjoy playing spoiler Any sort of win will do to nail down a top 4 spot

So the final is on Sunday at 8pm England vs Spain (an even money bet according to the bookies) I favour England after their performance tonight 3rd place playoff 6pm Saturday Australia vs Sweden Sweden will be hard to beat as they are ranked #3* in the world and have featured in a number of SF's at world cup level England are ranked #4 whilst Spain are #6 (Australia #10 although we might be #7 or #8 after this tournament is finished)

Yeah, fair enough We did very well but England were far too professional. Their tackles were aimed to hurt and intimidate. All within the rules too In soccer, we really are a minnow nation that fights way above it's weight Augers well for the future though and we will probably see a lot more females take up the sport. In turn, the W League gets stronger and more of our players will end up at the big European clubs Anyway, there's the Bronze medal to play for and if you'd offered me 3rd place at the start of the tournament I'd have taken it in a nanosecond And we can't be seeing 3rd place as 2nd best ... Bronze is a real achievement for a team coming from where we are

England could have scored 5 or 6 and they are the European Champions Sometimes you just have to take your hat off to the winner

We got outplayed by a superior outfit who looked a class above There's no shame in losing to a better team To be honest, England could have been 3 up at half time

Credit to England ... they've been the superior team tonight. They played with more experience and defended very well Matilda's had a great tournament though. Exceeded expectations and to reach the S/F's is a high achievement It's been a great ride but we just ran into a better team on the night

That 3rd goal for England clinches it you'd reckon Sam's had 2 more great chances but couldn't finish Need a miracle now

Well, there it is! A scorcher by Kerr! Amazing!

Best wishes hardtack

Week 1 of the practice games completed So of our teams, the Falcons, Jags, Bears, Packers & Jets all won 49ers, Cowboys, Eagles & Rams all went down Interesting that the Jets beat the Panthers 27-0 but Rodgers didn't suit-up

Maybe but in overseas sports, it's common practice especially in soccer These days, the best are just plug in and play and whilst not playing, they'd be simulating all the footy stuff without the contact A bit like the riders in le tour where they still ride a fair bit on the rest days Our season of footy is now a marathon in terms of the amount of running involved so any rest can be beneficial. QF winners more often than not win the PF And in the Smith era as a player & coach, I believe we won 7 or 8 of the 10 flags whilst having 2 full weekends off in September ... more importantly having fresh legs against tired legs 6 or 7 years ago I would have been concerned about coming out rusty but I've bought into modern methods

It's not even close to being adequate Best described as farcical Other sports have gone ahead in leaps and bounds re decent technology

Are we ever going to solve the touched near the goal line question? I still reckon SOS got a finger on that Michael Long kick ... he pleaded his case in a very convincing manner Years ago I suggested that players might start flinging their fingers back to accentuate the blurred camera vision (which we still have - amateur hour) And given that players try and milk free kicks at the drop of a hat, why not? We are, after all, playing for the sheep station (or the equivalent)

Sure ... but the things that you're liable, to read in the bible, ain't necessarily so

Carlton can get better and if they are able to maintain their form and get players back, they are a dangerous opponent Up until now, we haven't seen Carlton apply all over the ground defensive pressure. Modern football requires that sort of footy and Voss now looks like he's instilled that into his team ... but from outside the top 4, it's a tough road ahead for them As for us last night, we had too many down on their best and a number who were not noticed much at all To win it all, we need to play a lot better than last night. Even if we'd won the game, there are concerns. Especially up forward We really need Fritsch back for the finals and then go more medium-sized up forward and not be too reliant on tall options (which we haven't really got anyway)

May be ... we don't blow teams out of the water often enough, that's for sure (when we are capable of doing so) We certainly finish well and we are fit, so that's not an issue But allowing the first 3 goals of the last quarter last night was not something we see very often What would be worse is if that was our best last night ... but we know we can be so much better We beat the Hawks next week and then we'll know what is next required. So it's in our hands (if 2nd spot is out of reach)

What could have happened in the first quarter is that we seize the initiative and dominate out of the middle or off half-back Put them under pressure instead of being under pressure ourselves. Again, we defended admirably but why are we defending?

Yes, 4th spot is staring us straight in the face (and a home final vs the Pies without Mr Wonderful) So steel ourselves for a win against the Hawks and that should be enough. Port win today and the equation is on it's way to being completed Ultimately, we'd get to rest a few starters against the Swans and then get another week off with the pre-finals bye weekend Freshened up for an assault in September So the loss last night gives us some clarity. 2nd spot is just about out of our reach especially if Port wins today But of course, it's one week at a time

Would you be saying the same thing if it was a cut-throat final, t_u? We are a better team than Carlton but they were better on the night. So that is on us, we failed to execute We were the team that needed to seize the initiative We're a flag contender so the bar is set high. We are no longer a bottom team Unreasonably high? No, it comes with the territory. In a big game with a home QF on the line, you have to bring your best The better team won and kudos to the Blues I'm betting that Goodwin would not be happy with our output last night and he'd be quite concerned with our lack of marking strength up forward Most of the finals are played at night and if those nights aren't dry, we'll need to structure up a forward line that can compete properly

But aren't we a contender for the flag, DZ? It should have been Carlton withstanding our team playing like we know we can Or at least matching their offense and inside 50 entries We're not a bottom 4 team anymore. So we are the team that should be blowing teams out of the water early It was a low scoring game but the difference between the teams was our offence not being up to scratch and our team not being able to cope with their pressure We allowed them to skip away and then spent the next amount of time clawing our way back ... which is admirable but don't let them skip away The first 3 goals of the last quarter is a classic example of what happened and why we lost We fought it out well but the expectations are a lot bigger than that. Fighting it out well is a given for our team these days

We were short on our best whereas the Blues played extremely well Our best is 4 or 5 goals better than Carlton but we didn't play to that level ... and that's why we lost. Certainly the main reason But if anyone here reckons our output was any better than 6.5 out of 10, I'd like to see them explain that reasoning For instance, we had any number of players down on their best. Too many in fact A good example is our forward line and how it functioned (or how it didn't function) ... plain as the eye could see Now, we weren't 4.5 out of 10 like we were against the Bombers earlier in the season and we didn't play poorly like we did against Freo but nevertheless, we were not close to our best last night So we have to look ahead after a loss like that ... and we need to improve if we're going to contend. Or at least, bring our best like we did against the Pies There's still plenty of hope because despite playing below our best against a team who played very well, we very nearly won

The effort, endeavour & energy was fine. We were hard at it. And that wasn't the issue But the execution and application was below standard and that's why we were a full 2 points out of 10 short We played the boundary line way too much, lacked cohesion and the connection forward wasn't good enough ... for a top 4 team Also, our disposal skills compared to the Blues fell short Yet we very nearly won the game so there's a lot we can take out of the game However, if we had have won, do we learn the same lessons? The loss can focus the team and the team now knows that we are more likely to finish 4th than any other spot on the ladder In fact, as long as we beat Hawthorn, we should be able to work our way to a 4th spot finish There's also a chance we can still finish 2nd but that pathway is a bit tricky