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angelopetraglia
20-09-2016, 09:17 PM
1. Momentum To win consecutive games and win the Premiership you need momentum and we have it in spades. We have dismantled both of last year's grand finalists including the reigning three time Premiership winners. Not even the great Hawks of 2015 could beat West Coast in Perth and we played them off the park. The next week in front of an intimidating 87,000+ we taught the Hawks a football lesson in toughness and intensity. If that's not momentum, I don't know what is.

2. Contested Ball Finals are about putting your head over the footy under the greatest pressure and winning it. We are the best in the AFL at it. GWS are good (ranked 4th) but we are clearly the best contested team in the comp. When the umpire swallows the whistle in finals football (we like it and don't care what you think Clarko), contested footy becomes even more important. This team was born to hunt the footy and play finals football.

3. Home Crowd (away) Home ground advantage is massive. It's huge. 70% of home teams win AFL finals. However we are going to largely neutralise their home ground advantage as we will have more passionate paid up members in the stands. Our 8,000+ are spending their hard earned coin and travelling to Sydney to cheer on their team. How much noise are our faithful going to make? Our noise and passion will drown out their plastic fans. Our boys will feel like the home team. It will lift them. It will inspire them. Our supporters will be the 19th man.

4. Our team is better than last time we played Last time we played they won. They blew us apart in two 5 minute sections of the game. However, the inside 50s were even. The scoring shots were even. They kicked some miraculous goals including two super goals from Stevie J who will be watching from the stands. Our team will look very different. We will have 8 changes with only two forced due to injuries (Jong and Wallis). Six players who played that day can't get in our best team at the moment. They are Collins, Williams, Roberts, Adcock, Stevens and Campbell. In for those eight come in M Boyd, T Boyd, Smith, JJ, Cordy, Suckling and Dunkley. We will have a stronger team than round 9 (p.s. We will not let Heath Shaw help himself to a lazy 38 touches ... no chance).

5. Bontempelli The boy from Eltham. What an absolute jet. A rare specimen. Such poise under pressure. His ability to win it in tight and then somehow find the space to break the game open could be the difference in a tight contest. His confidence will have grown from last weeks super performance on the biggest stage. Look for him to impose himself on another big game.

6. Libba, Wood and Macrae improving It was a massive gamble to play them against the Eagles potentially underdone and not match fit. But they have now survived two tough final games. They have to be better for the run. They can only improve with these games under their belt. Look for them all to put in big games this week. All crucial to our chances. Libba in beast mode around the ball. Wood intercepting like no one else can. Macrae running all night and racking them up.

7. The finals fixture How can a side that finishes 7th get such a blessed run? A week off after the home and away season. Thanks. 8 day break after our first final. Thanks. 8 day break after our second final. Thanks. So a week off and then two 8 day breaks. We have to be fresh. Who cares if they have had the week off. How much more rest do you need? We should be ready to rock 'n roll come Saturday afternoon.

8. This will be GWSs first cut throat final Yes they were amazing in the first week. They stood up to the pressure. Well done. However the stakes are different IMHO when it's do or die. There are no 2nd chances this week. This team doesn't yet know how it will respond to a do or die final. Will they handle pressure? Can they handle the weight of expectation? We don't know. We just don't know. It has to be a question mark. But we 100% know that the Dogs have stared elimination square in the eyes and told it to F*&^! off.

Any other reasons we can win?

comrade
20-09-2016, 09:30 PM
Oh yeah, like I needed to get more pumped.

Eastdog
20-09-2016, 09:36 PM
Yes we are going to fight hard and win.

Eastdog
20-09-2016, 09:37 PM
Watch out Greater Waste Of Space!

azabob
20-09-2016, 09:41 PM
We are averaging more points FOR in the finals compared to Home and Away Rounds.

We are averaging less points AGAINST in the finals compared to the Home and Away Rounds.

jeemak
20-09-2016, 09:44 PM
I'm by far and away most pleased with the fact we're actually getting healthier week by week, which is something we've more or less not been able to say since prior to round three.

That we're getting healthier in the finals after having put in a season where we won enough games in most years to qualify top four whilst on our knees really curtails the apprehension I had a couple of weeks out from finals. Our performances to date post the home and away season have suggested this is a huge factor.

Throughandthrough
20-09-2016, 09:49 PM
+ we've just knocked off both last years grand finalists at their own home grounds.

bornadog
20-09-2016, 10:09 PM
We are peaking at the right time. Bevo has built us up throughout the year and now we are executing his plans to perfection.

FrediKanoute
20-09-2016, 10:32 PM
God I hope we win!

Eastdog
20-09-2016, 10:58 PM
God I hope we win!

Me too Fredi. Whatever happens Im just so proud of what our club has achieved this year.

Ghost Dog
21-09-2016, 02:21 AM
Any other reasons we can win?

Liam Picken smells finals success. People fawn over Bont and Stringer, but he has been a massive weapon for us all over the ground.

LostDoggy
21-09-2016, 03:56 AM
Great post AP. Agree with all of it. Aside from this being GWS first cut throat final, it is also their first final as favourite. Against Sydney, they were brilliant as the hunters, but now they are a team with a lot of youngsters with 2 weeks to think about things, one game from a Grand Final, and going into the game as the hunted. That's a whole different psychology.

We are rolling, we are the hunters and we have a recent elmination finals loss to steel us. If even a few of their players freeze momentarily, we will be through them like a hot knife through butter.

LostDoggy
21-09-2016, 07:34 AM
Annother uplifting post, you mention the playing momentum but the external vibe from the fans and the general public is reaching fever pitch. The media is going haywire, i am struggling to find the time to read every article or watch every video, ill try anyway.

What a great couple of weeks to be a dog, its never been this good, we have a huge challenge but we are ready.

Go_Dogs
21-09-2016, 07:58 AM
It's amazing that 3 weeks ago most were lamenting a season crippled by injury and citing our increased expectations and inability to deliver on them causing a less enjoyable ride than we experienced in 2017.

Great post. We now hold the momentum. The ride is now filled with nervous excitement as this young group presses forward again in a way we couldn't imagine a few weeks back.

Bulldog Joe
21-09-2016, 08:22 AM
It's amazing that 3 weeks ago most were lamenting a season crippled by injury and citing our increased expectations and inability to deliver on them causing a less enjoyable ride than we experienced in 2017.

Great post. We now hold the momentum. The ride is now filled with nervous excitement as this young group presses forward again in a way we couldn't imagine a few weeks back.

So your telling me 2017 is going to be more enjoyable??

bornadog
21-09-2016, 09:05 AM
We are ready to eat some falafel:D.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Csy1ZuYUsAA5qGY.jpg

whythelongface
21-09-2016, 09:28 AM
Great post AP.

Another reason why we will win is that the footy gods are finally on our side. We have been through many many tough times but finally the tide is turning and we are creating our own luck. This is the start of an a most awesome period for our much beloved club. History will be made this weekend.

Topdog
21-09-2016, 09:30 AM
3. Home Crowd (away)[/B] Home ground advantage is massive. It's huge. 70% of home teams win AFL finals.

Just on this. Statistically yes it sounds huge but reality is home ground advantage is earned in the previous 22 weeks so the home team is generally speaking the better team. This year 1-7 are extremely even so you can throw this out the window to an extent.

Mantis
21-09-2016, 09:50 AM
Just on this. Statistically yes it sounds huge but reality is home ground advantage is earned in the previous 22 weeks so the home team is generally speaking the better team. This year 1-7 are extremely even so you can throw this out the window to an extent.

So far 3 teams have had to travel interstate for a final, only one has been successful... 67% of home teams have won.

The numbers stack up.

hujsh
21-09-2016, 10:07 AM
So far 3 teams have had to travel interstate for a final, only one has been successful... 67% of home teams have won.

The numbers stack up.

North in 8th position were a fair way off the mark and limped into the finals so if you take them out it's 50-50 among the top 7.

Mofra
21-09-2016, 10:11 AM
So far 3 teams have had to travel interstate for a final, only one has been successful... 67% of home teams have won.

The numbers stack up.
But 100% of teams with Bontempelli have won :cool:

angelopetraglia
21-09-2016, 11:18 AM
Just on this. Statistically yes it sounds huge but reality is home ground advantage is earned in the previous 22 weeks so the home team is generally speaking the better team. This year 1-7 are extremely even so you can throw this out the window to an extent.

Agree about the evenness of top seven teams. However home ground advantage is real. These guys stuff is fantastic. http://freakonomics.com/2011/12/18/football-freakonomics-how-advantageous-is-home-field-advantage-and-why/

Why is there a home ground advantage?

The social atmosphere in the stadium leads referees into favoritism although being impartial is optimal for them to maximize their re-appointment probability.

and

What does this mean? It means that officials don’t consciously decide to give the home team an advantage — but rather, being social creatures (and human beings) like the rest of us, they assimilate the emotion of the home crowd and, once in a while, make a call that makes a whole lot of close-by, noisy people very happy.

Supposedly, the closer you sit to the ground and more noise you make the greater the advantage. The moral of the story.

Those of us who are travelling to Sydney need to barrack hard. Really hard. Make plenty of noise friends.