Diamond_Jim

Since the 8 came in has the premiership team missed the 8 in the next year? Ironically the Bulldogs probably had less injuries than last year PS... Have since answered my own question: Since the AFL went to an eight-team finals system in 2000, only once has the reigning premiers missed the finals the next season. In 2017, it will occur for the second time. The first time was the Hawks in ’09, after shocking the football world the year prior by knocking off a vintage Geelong team. http://www.theroar.com.au/2017/03/22/afls-reigning-premiers-miss-top-eight/ The article makes a number of good points including this one: The AFL’s banning of third-man-up at stoppages will have an adverse affect on the Dogs’ gameplan, as Marcus Bontempelli was a great exponent of it, ranked third in the league last season at 63 (per Champion Data).

mmmmmmm could be a very hot thread by the end of the weekend. Hawks to win ... simply to lessen the Saints' draft pick

Agree Our form over the last 6 weeks has been average at best. We need a good win against the Pies and then who knows what might follow

and hey presto what arrives in my inbox.... a free entry to the Caulfield horse races for AFL and club members on 2 September

My problem with the bye is that it kills the public momentum of the season for supporters. It will only take another sport to capitalise on the absence of AFL and watch the AFL come roaring back. Horse racing or NRL perhaps if not soccer? My bet is that they will come up with a formula that adds another week (not necessarily more games) to the final series.

mockas pies at Port Douglas in the '80's weren't bad ...not so great now

So that would mean we have to draft another 1-2 ruckmen if Jake leaves....what fun for the trade board. Very important perhaps for Weideman to develop his ruck skills as well as his forward play.

good point but I have always thought that the Doggies win last year was more luck than ability. Good luck to them but I cannot see it being repeated anytime soon. On form we are above the Bombers and on a par with Port. The rest of the 8 would go in as favourites against us. On the other hand a number of our players could just decide to "click" in September. Here's hoping

One plus re the scheduling is that all the AFL emergencies will be free to play in this match

If you rank games on paper from hardest to easiest using say 1-4 last week against the Lions was a category 4 game. I rate the Pies as a category 3 game so it should be very winnable. Why am I not overly confident... could it be because we just scraped home against the 18th team who also happened to be an interstate team that had not won at the MCG for quite a while. Pies could go for a shoot out ... why not.... have little idea how we would fare if this happened but if Hogan kicks straight it could be interesting.

Interesting point and from the 4 games I attended I agree in the main with your views. Certainly at the Port game Port played a much more open game. My only reservation is that at VFL I watch from ground level as opposed to an elevated view at the MCG.

Funny thing is that I will not be too excited. The relative success of the 90's and noughties (what a horrible word) has made me want a lot more than a mere finals appearance. Hopefully the team can really turn it on over the next few weeks but their performance of late has not been promising.......... Go Dees

Of course we did play the Swans in that first elimination final in '87. A wonderful day. Even my wife who was not a football fan came along to the MCG with me. Those were the days when you also took a nice bottle of wine (French of course) and some wonderful gourmet picnic treats from the not long opened David Jones Food Hall. Ah... memories

Starting to feel like the mirror image of '87 where we needed to win and another to lose to make the finals. In the world of reverse realities a la Steven King I wonder what happens. Will Jimmy run over the mark. Perhaps Simon Eishold kicks the goal and Buckenara's kick is irrelevant. At least Waverley cannot be our Waterloo once more.

One could write a book on this subject. To look at it from a positive viewpoint... Why are we vying for the eight when we are so bad at the basics? The game plan encourages risk but like the bulldogs last year it does not seem to be an easy scoring game plan. It puts incredible pressure on the defence and can so often look ugly. Like the bulldogs it might snare us the big one but it is not the plan for long term dominance. Great first post... Hope you make many more

almost impossible... you are seeing the % to one decimal point in the ladder... when you take it out fully the chances of being level are statistically remote

after the last few weeks I am not so worried about beating the Pies but I am worried about the team finding some across the board form. I have no desire just to make finals. Want to win two at least if not the magical 4.

that's the real question We have been just average for the last 5-6 weeks. A good quarter here and there but we need some across the ground improvement by the team. Obviously with an in form Gawn we are such a better side.

Oliver well held but Jones stepped up. From the AFL website: Nathan Jones finished with a game-high 12 score involvements for the Demons, and also had team-highs for disposals (32) and tackles (seven) in another important game from the senior Demon.

well for a moment in that fourth quarter it could have been a grand boulevarde and then it started looking like a cattle grid. What joy.... your season depends on beating the Magpies.... something poetic in that but why do we MFC supporters never have it easy

North and Lions are on the bottom for a reason. When are we going to see a functioning forward line

Would like to see a significant lift in the team performance over the next two weeks. Our second half of the season has been slightly pedestrian. It just seems that we rarely click as a team. A 20% lift across the board could see us deep into September.

rookie spot and re-assess after pre-season

Other than those goals from Harmes in the first quarter our forward line was rather dysfunctional last week. If it had not been for those late goals from Hannan and Melksham our season would be almost over.

Strange that JKH did not get a role in Viney's absence. None of the VFL regulars have grabbed their oppotunity when granted. Perhaps Maynard this week but not full of confidence. The Hogan selection is a surprise... will be interesting to see if we can get our forward line functioning again. It has not really worked for several weeks. Another big game... Go Dees