Macca

5 months! We were worried sick, Wyl Btw, whatever happened to Biffen? And where's Cards13? Hope they're well

I don't believe the Collingwood hierarchy would be concerned With the weekend off and a home QF final in front of tens of 1000's of crazed Pie fans, they'll be up and running on the day (maybe even with the wunderkind available) They've previously earned a top 2 spot and that's where their thinking is at (in my view) Tonight's game was not about Collingwood being at their best

But it's not like they'd be couch-potatoing (is that gramatically correct?) They'd still be training and simulating match practice These days, the best are plug-in-and-play I'm more concerned with injuries than rust

Yeah, I reckon tanking is the wrong word (or description) for teams resting their starters prior to the finals Bottom teams aiming at a draft pick number do not want to win But teams 'preparing' for finals aren't necessarily effected by a win or a loss Those teams are simply resting their starters in dead rubbers and therefore, not risking injury to their best players

Right now, we can't catch Collingwood and if Brisbane beat the Saints next week, we won't catch them either The Lions will be up for a home QF final So it's 3rd or 4th for us, six of one, half a dozen of the other Beat the Hawks and rest up for September Put it this way, I wouldn't be risking Oliver if we're playing in a dead rubber. Or Gawn. Or Petracca

And if we were at our best, we'd win and win well. I'm normally reasonably confident but the Hawks are up and about and if we give them a opportunity, they can beat us I'm a great believer in blowing lesser teams out of the water but for whatever reason, we often make hard work of our wins

Richo quoting stats? What would he know? He's just a talking head to me ... blah blah blah The Pies will be thereabouts when the whips are cracking. Their best is very good We need to take care of our own backyard. We haven't been at our best since the game against the Pies and that's 2 months ago now Let's face it, are we confident about beating the Hawks? If we were in our best form, we'd obliterate them And we'd all be super confident of a victory.

I used to think the same way ... just 5 years ago. But I've changed my tune The flirting with form argument is ancient thinking. Don't take that personally, it's more an observation of a way of thinking Players not playing will still be simulating the playing of the sport without the contact or the pressure A lot like le tour riders who still ride a lot of kilometers on the rest days

As I mentioned to Jaded, the trend overseas of resting starters in games that don't matter is old news If it was allowed, I'd be happy to play Casey against Sydney if that game had no impact on our finals position But there's the whole disrepute stuff etc that would rear it's ugly head Why risk injury to the best players? Makes zero sense

Are you up with modern sporting trends? Teams aren't serious in games that don't matter once they've locked in their pathway We're just a bit behind in Oz. Which is par for the course Those here who follow the NFL or the NBA or even the MLB and soccer know what I'm talking about

Brisbane look alright but how serious are the Pies? This isn't Collingwood's best by any stretch

Now that was touched!

Hipwood set up that goal taking a risk from half back

Yep, I reckon I've tried them all ... Paringa is good as is Stonier

1st or 2nd is the same yeah? So the Pies have very little incentive to go all out (De Goey rested etc) ... and that includes against the Don's next Friday But we can't be sure of any result including tonight Port will probably win their last 2 but if we knew that for sure, we could make a lot of money We beat the Hawks and then rest our best players against Sydney (why risk injury?) ... 4th place and then launch

Pinot for me ... NZ, Bellarine, Yarra Valley or the Peninsula. Goes with anything Less of a headache next day is also the goal!

Pies can't drop below 2nd can they? Even if they lose their last 2 Port would need to gain a lot of percentage

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