Our 2nd half of the season

[Eastdog]

Following a bit from my previously thread about the next 4 weeks I thought I'll extend out to the entire 2nd half of the season.

Here are our games:

Brisbane ES (H)
St. Kilda ES A)
Carlton ES (H)
Gold Coast CS (H)
Geelong SS (H)
Collingwood ES (H)
Essendon ES (A)
Port Adelaide ES (H)
Melbourne ES (H)
West Coast DS (A)
North Melbourne ES (A)
Brisbane G (A)

How do you think it will turn out?

[1eyedog]

Would be a close one against the Cats but I think we'll drop the game against the Eagles over there. That leaves us with 15 wins and 4th position. Every other game is winnable so why not be positive? Most posters had us 2nd bottom on the where will we finish thread.

[Eastdog]

Would be a close one against the Cats but I think we'll drop the game against the Eagles over there. That leaves us with 15 wins and 4th position. Every other game is winnable so why not be positive? Most posters had us 2nd bottom on the where will we finish thread.

That's great optimism 1eyedog. Top 4 would be amazing but realistically I think we can make still the bottom part of the 8.

[1eyedog]

That's great optimism 1eyedog. Top 4 would be amazing but realistically I think we can make still the bottom part of the 8.

Yep me too. The hardest games in there outside of Geelong / West Coke are Collingwood and North. Both winnable though. If we drop Geelong, West Coke, Collingwood and North we still take home unlucky for some 13 to scrape into the 8. Simply have to give ourselves the best chance by winning the next 4.

[Eastdog]

Yep me too. The hardest games in there outside of Geelong / West Coke are Collingwood and North. Both winnable though. If we drop Geelong, West Coke, Collingwood and North we still take home unlucky for some 13 to scrape into the 8. Simply have to give ourselves the best chance by winning the next 4.

I certainly believe we are capable of winning the next 4 games. I think we could beat North but if depends what side of theirs turns up.

[Twodogs]

That's great optimism 1eyedog. Top 4 would be amazing but realistically I think we can make still the bottom part of the 8.

Top 8 or bottom 8 Easty?

[Eastdog]

Top 8 or bottom 8 Easty?

Bottom part of the top 8 :)

[bornadog]

We will die in the second half of the second half of the season. Young bodies won't make it with the way we play.

[bulldogtragic]

I don't care too much for the WL ratio. Consistency, gameplan, style and playing games into the future of the club are more important to me. We could fall anywhere between 6 and 14, honestly, as much as I'd love a final or 4 this year, a very high draft pick and easier draw next year isnt a bad 'worst case scenario' if the cost of long term gain is shorter term pain. As BAD says with a young team we should anticipate a dip which isn't a bad thing. But I'm open to not dropping a game for the remainder of the regular season and finals too.

[Ghost Dog]

We will die in the second half of the second half of the season. Young bodies won't make it with the way we play.

That would depend on how we manage our list wouldn't it? But yes I can imagine we might drop away, if we don't change things up a bit.

[F'scary]

If we have learned something from the Saints and Melbourne games about

1. starting as favourites and being able to deal with the pressure that comes with that;
2. not putting the cue in the rack mentally when we have the opposition on the ropes,

then I could see us getting the 13 wins.

[LostDoggy]

Can see us winning 4, 5 at best. We are too inconsistent to be looking at 13 wins. Our younger bodies are struggling a bit now, wait until round 20+.

[Remi Moses]

I'd love to see that happening, but reality is that it won't .

[Happy Days]

Just an aside, WOW that's a soft draw. 3 interstate games with 2 of them against definite bottom 4 sides, no definitive top 4 sides and only 2 games I can't see us having a pretty good chance of winning.

If we win the next 4 (we should), that'll have us 9-5 with 8 games to go. If we only go .500 from there that gives us 13 wins for the year and you'd think a place in the finals?

[SlimPickens]

Can see us winning 4, 5 at best. We are too inconsistent to be looking at 13 wins. Our younger bodies are struggling a bit now, wait until round 20+.

Will our younger blokes struggle more than other teams kids? We will be playing some pretty young sides over the remainder of the year so Id hope this excuse doesn't just get trotted out if we lose a game.

[Eastdog]

Can see us winning 4, 5 at best. We are too inconsistent to be looking at 13 wins. Our younger bodies are struggling a bit now, wait until round 20+.

Very true Lally which is a surprise for a young group like ours. That will get better. I have a feeling tomorrow night we will come out strong from the start.

[Eastdog]

Very true Lally which is a surprise for a young group like ours. That will get better. I have a feeling tomorrow night we will come out strong from the start.

We sure did come out and play last night. After a fairly slow start we then really finished the game of well. Now the challenge is to keep replicating that.

[Hotdog60]

I'd like us to make finals just for our young blokes to get what AFL finals are like.

That can only put us in a better position next year. So I don't care if we get knocked out in the first week, I just want the experience of the next level.

[merantau]

My best case scenario is 13 wins and a 7th or 8th finish. !2 wins and we miss out on %tage.

[1eyedog]

Well Geelong are beatable at home!

[Bulldog Joe]

My best case scenario is 13 wins and a 7th or 8th finish. !2 wins and we miss out on %tage.

Well we still have 11 games and already have 6 wins. That makes best case 17 wins. That would be top 4.

Even 9 wins could get us top 4 and it is really about us because the only contenders we play are Collingwood, North, Geelong, Port and West Coast.

Of those only West Coast would start clear favourites on current form.

I understand the tired bodies etc, but we can certainly go deep if we perform close to our best and pick our best side.

[bornadog]

Well we still have 11 games and already have 6 wins. That makes best case 17 wins. That would be top 4.

Even 9 wins could get us top 4 and it is really about us because the only contenders we play are Collingwood, North, Geelong, Port and West Coast.

Of those only West Coast would start clear favourites on current form.

I understand the tired bodies etc, but we can certainly go deep if we perform close to our best and pick our best side.

We could easily lose the next three games.

Saints - no pushover and beat us last time

Carlton - coming good and gaining confidence

GC - Lots of players will be back including Gablett, and they pushed Freo.

We need to play 4 quarters of consistent football or we will struggle to win.

[Cyberdoggie]

We could easily lose the next three games.

Saints - no pushover and beat us last time

Carlton - coming good and gaining confidence

GC - Lots of players will be back including Gablett, and they pushed Freo.

We need to play 4 quarters of consistent football or we will struggle to win.

next three weeks are vital if we are going to even think about September football.

Still while I will be slightly disappointed as always, I will be more than happy with what we have showed this year. Getting games into our kids is a priority this year, this is pretty clear from the coaching staff. We are clearly trying our young players and giving them every chance. Even guys like Ayce we are giving every opportunity.
Wouldn't surprise me to see Daniel come in soon and possibly Smith if there is an injury.

[bornadog]

Wouldn't surprise me to see Daniel come in soon and possibly Smith if there is an injury.

Smith can be upgraded through the mid season rookie system.

[Bulldog Joe]

We could easily lose the next three games.

Saints - no pushover and beat us last time

Carlton - coming good and gaining confidence

GC - Lots of players will be back including Gablett, and they pushed Freo.

We need to play 4 quarters of consistent football or we will struggle to win.

...and we could also lose our next 11.

BUT, that is worst case scenario and I was stating best case scenario.

Can anyone suggest on current form(at R12) any side other than West Coast that would be strong favourites to beat us, from those we are scheduled to play over our final 11 games.

[bornadog]

...and we could also lose our next 11.

BUT, that is worst case scenario and I was stating best case scenario.

Can anyone suggest on current form(at R12) any side other than West Coast that would be strong favourites to beat us, from those we are scheduled to play over our final 11 games.

Don't get me wrong, I agree with you, we have the potential to win all 11 games.

The only one as you say that would be really tough is West Coast in Perth.

[F'scary]

I am with BAD on this. Our losses to StK and the Dees have left a nagging doubt on our form with me.

[LostDoggy]

Following a bit from my previously thread about the next 4 weeks I thought I'll extend out to the entire 2nd half of the season.

Here are our games:

St. Kilda ES A)
— Win. We have a point to prove with this game, the guys are going to want to atone for what happened last month. We're coming off a convincing win over Brisbane at home rather than the slog of beating Sydney in a thriller at the SCG, so can't see the same fade out occurring again.
Carlton ES (H)
— Win, perhaps with scare. Carlton have had their “gotta chalk one up to justify sacking Mick” win, can't see them having the answer to our manic pressure and attacking options. I thought Port were off their best against them too.
Gold Coast CS (H)
— Tough to call this one. We should smash them but could go either way. Not convinced that Ablett back would save them. If we win this game as well as the previous two suddenly we're back on track and flying again. Win.
Geelong SS (H)
— Loss. Geelong may not be what they were but they're still very smart footballers and just the team to pick out our flaws and exploit them.
Collingwood ES (H)
— Narrow loss in a thriller. Collingwood are reaping the rewards of some very smart recruiting, just like us. Looking forward to this one.
Essendon ES (A)
— Convincing win in the Jake Carlisle Cup.
Port Adelaide ES (H)
— Narrow win.
Melbourne ES (H)
— Win. They don't play Etihad well at all.
West Coast DS (A)
— Loss. This is a bridge too far for the most seasoned teams at this time of year.
North Melbourne ES (A)
— Coming back from Perth, Roos will beat us and convince themselves they're flag fancies again.
Brisbane G (A)
— if my tips are right so far, this could be a game where we're fighting for a spot. Win.

How do you think it will turn out?

My comments above.

[Bulldog Joe]

My comments above.

Don't see any reason we can't beat Geelong. They have struggled at the cattery this year and are a poor contested footy team.

While Collingwood have racked up a few wins they are yet to beat anyone of note. The 4 weeks leading up to our game they play Fremantle in Perth, Hawthorn, Port in Adelaide and West Coast. They may well be struggling.

I agree that West Coast in Perth is a real challenge and coming back to play North also works against us. It is also a 6 day break.
Strange how Collingwood go to Perth and get 8 days but we always seem to cop the 6.

If we are travelling well heading to the West Coast game I would be looking to rest a few players, however we could in fact be fighting with them for a top 4 spot, which could mean a few players would need to be rested from the North game.

[jeemak]

Don't see any reason we can't beat Geelong. They have struggled at the cattery this year and are a poor contested footy team.

While Collingwood have racked up a few wins they are yet to beat anyone of note. The 4 weeks leading up to our game they play Fremantle in Perth, Hawthorn, Port in Adelaide and West Coast. They may well be struggling.

I agree that West Coast in Perth is a real challenge and coming back to play North also works against us. It is also a 6 day break.
Strange how Collingwood go to Perth and get 8 days but we always seem to cop the 6.

If we are travelling well heading to the West Coast game I would be looking to rest a few players, however we could in fact be fighting with them for a top 4 spot, which could mean a few players would need to be rested from the North game.

It's just because everyone wants to play them at their home ground at a timeslot suitable to Collingwood.

[Bulldog Joe]

It's just because everyone wants to play them at their home ground at a timeslot suitable to Collingwood.

In a fair fixture that would be irrelevant.

It is about time Collingwood started to pay an exposure premium.
They just get a free run to build on their brand.

[jeemak]

In a fair fixture that would be irrelevant.

It is about time Collingwood started to pay an exposure premium.
They just get a free run to build on their brand.

Sorry, I was being a twerp.

That's the BS line they trott out to justify their soft fixturing year in and year out. They know that they get it good and deflect with tripe they think we'll all swallow without the slightest hint of a gag reflex.