Ted Lasso

Shame Nathan Jones couldn't be there to do it.

I'll go on some sort of tirade on social media calling supporters of opposition teams every name in the book. and then probably head to bitters basement, as per the usual end of season arrangement.

Ruck is going to be a huge concern for them, Gawn will monster English at the contest, and Martin might be a better match up at the contest but unsure if he's going to be able to go with him around the ground. I see some really clear advantages for us in this game. if our pressure is up we should be REALLY hard to beat. But i am more nervous about the dogs than i would have been port. i'd back us to beat Port 8/10

I'd be sending James Harmes straight to Bailey Smith. he's been the match winner the last 2 games. if you can at least prevent him from kicking goals, you go a long way to blunting the dogs.

Gee wiz you wouldn't wanna be a port or Doggies player in the GF, Jack is going to be cracking in like a madman

Not getting a medal on the day doesn't mean this wouldn't be Nathan Jones's potential premiership, and i'm sure they're saying that behind the scenes as well, we wouldn't be here without him, and seeing the team he played a huge role in saving win a flag is a great way for Nathan Jones to finish his career in my opinion. But we have to win, and if Nathan Jones was best 23, he'd in in the team now, I'm just about certain Steven May will play, and there won't be any changes to the team.

Geez the nerves have kicked in this morning! How bloody good would it be to send the Geelong aged care facility packing, short of another grand final, and head into ours in form, with momentum. I do genuinely feel the winner of tonights game will be premier, port are too flakey against good teams, and the dogs are too banged up.

I'm really interested in the reported pursuit of Adam Cerra for a few reasons, 1. we wouldn't make an approach if we didn't realisitically think we could get a deal done 2. what role is he going to play? is the intention for him to play on the opposite wing to Langdon? It seems to me that our 2022 first round pick, pick 36 and a fringe player or pick swap could be a reletively okay deal, but Freo will push hard for Jackson or Rivers to be included

Pretty good short term replacement for Cerra as well for Freo so a bit of a win for them, Brisbane should get at least a top 10 pick in return, had this happened a week earlier they might have had a chat to Matt Crouch to see if he was keen to move North

Absolutely, and with no Tom Stewart down there i think we could get some significant mismatches in our forward line, Selwood and Danger won't be keen to chase Oliver and Petracca deep forward and defend, so we just have to run the cats off their legs. i think you're right we'll spread and really make them run early, because they will run out of steam, they'd be nervous if they're not 5-6 goals up at 3/4 time because we're a strong finishing time, and i expect they might struggle late in quarters, and towards the games end just due to travel, playing the extra week, their age, and us being fresh. for me it seems that their best chance to win is for us to be a bit off, and them to really really punish us for whatever window we give them. BUT if they can be 44 points up on us, at their home deck and still lose, that's got to dint their confidence a little bit

I think our big advantage on reflection is going to be the open spaces of Optus, Geelong do seem a little bit banged up, and have had to come the hard way with an older list. if we can make the ground as big as possible and guys like Langdon, ANB and co make them chase us all day they may really struggle. they'll probably need us to be a little bit off in order to win

I can't really imagine a way that our pressure won't be immense, so with that in mind, it's quite hard to see a way the Cats can really get the game on their terms. so i think they'll be wanting to keep the game as close as possible

I reckon it might do the opposite Dazzle, they were 44 points up on us, on their home deck where they hardly ever lose and still couldn't beat us. they'd have to be wondering what chance they are away from home. also they'd have to be aware they're not getting an easy path out of centre bounce goal side this game, we had one eye on finals and probably only played Dees footy for 1 quarter

I reckon the 18 prelim will fuel the boys in a big way, i reckon not only do we win, but i think in the first quarter we make a big statement and grab a decent lead

People also speak as though Port being our GF opponent is a sue thing, i don't agree that it is. the Dogs and Lions are both good enough to beat Port at Adelaide, the Cats were putrid in the QF and the Power have a disgusting record against anyone good. I think there is a very good chance the Dogs will be playing in the Grand Final

How many blokes can Mummy injury in 4 quarters? surely if Geelong win, they'll have to quite literally limp through

I've got this really strong feeling the Giants are going to cause a massive boil over here. i've had it all week. noone expects them to win so they'll just go for it, and the cats are under all the pressure in the world, the Giants pressure, combined with external pressure could easily break the cats

I tend to agree on Brisbane, i think at full strength they'd be a threat, but they're missing too much firepower. Port are playing solid footy there is no doubt, my only real concern is their smalls. i think the Dogs are a legitimate threat to us if they can get into the grand final, but they're going to have a really really hard time doing it. I think Brisbane probably narrowly beat the dogs, and then Port get through. and i think we win by 4-5 goals regardless of who we play in the prelim A port vs Melbourne grand final right now seems like the two best/most in form sides, and should make for a good game

I don't think Port are anywhere near as good as us, they beat an undermanned and out of form dogs narrowly, beat a putrid cats outfit and have had a disasterous record against anyone good. i agree they'll make it, and of the 3 teams we could play in the grand final, they're the one i'm least worried about.

Interesting given the Cats and Powers win % is about 40% against top 6 sides, meaning they win less than half of those games, we just smacked the Lions, and we're operating at around an 80% win rate against top 6 teams and have won 5/5 games against the top 4 sides. we're undoubtedly the clear stand out, the only reason everyone isn't all over that is because we're Melbourne

People talk about the Cats having a bad record in finals, but honestly it seems like the have a bad record against top 8 teams regardless of when it is, the generally seem to beat whoever at GMHBA stadium, and that gets them up the ladder, but their record against top 6 sides is really really poor for a team that consistently considered a premiership contender. any team that can turn up the heat on them outside of GMHBA is a very strong chance of winning

Yeah, it sounds like Ross was told that if Clarko said no, the job was his, and the concerns around him have forced the blues to re-think and rather than approve the Sayers plan to just sign Ross Lyon, the board has forced the process to be undetaken due to the concerns and division. and Ross is obviously frustrated because he was under the impression he was being head hunted. I still think there is a live possibility that Ross Lyon ends up being the senior coach of Carlton though.

Yes. it would be a choke because we ARE the best team in the competition, being beaten by a better team would require us to not play at our best, and likely close to it. i suspect we could be slightly off and still beat at least 3-4 of the remaining teams. the only thing that can beat us at this point is injury, or our mental strength. None of the other 5 teams are good enough to beat us at our best.

Kemp is an extremely talented footballer, and the Blues know that, and they rate him extremely highly and are fully aware that he will take time. we are next to zero chance of being able to get him, as great a signing as he would be

I meant to add to the post that it would have been a much more significant margin, just forgot to add that part.