The battle for 4th spot

[Mofra]

Now the top 3 are close to set in stone, who is everyone tipping to finish 4th? It is perhaps the most open race for the last top 4 spot in living memory.

Brisbane surprised today, add Patfull & Merritt to the side, keeping Bradshaw in the F50, they are suddenly looking dangerous at both ends of the ground, with a very solid midfield. Could be the surprise packet of the year.

[Bulldog Revolution]

IMO it is far too early to think we have sewn up 3rd spot

[LostDoggy]

Brisbane, Collingwood and Carlton are the ones for us to watch our back on. They seem to have a relatively good run in, I have us down for 15 wins and the enxt side on 14, far from set in stone. I do like the footy we are playing though if we beat a few of the top teams we will definately secure 3rd. We have the pies twice, Geelong, Saints, Hawks and Brisbane at the Gabba we can only afford to really drop 3 of them.

On the positive side..
1 We are playing great footy
2 W are clear third
3 Our percentage is excellent, well clear of those behind us
4 The following pack are fairly even and a bit up and down and will take points from each other

[hujsh]

Who'll be this year's St.Kilda and North

[The Bulldogs Bite]

Collingwood are looming as a good bet at the moment. They are finding form at the right time of the season, unlike previous years gone by - ditto us.

Medhurst is still to come back and they've got a couple of players still finding their feet. Their biggest challenge is being consistent because too often in the past they've dropped games against bottom 8 sides to leave them 1-3 games out of the Top 4. If they overcome this problem they'll make the Top 4 IMO.

Brisbane are doing well but I'm not sure if today was more of an assessment on Hawthorn than anything else.

I don't think Carlton have the forward options outside of Fevola to really be a threat in finals and their backline is young and inexperienced.

Hawks look very ordinary but the reality is, they're a game outside of 4th. If they get their act together I still think they can claim it, but they'd really want to turn their entire game around after the break.

[Bulldog Revolution]

Collingwood are looming as a good bet at the moment. They are finding form at the right time of the season, unlike previous years gone by - ditto us.

Medhurst is still to come back and they've got a couple of players still finding their feet. Their biggest challenge is being consistent because too often in the past they've dropped games against bottom 8 sides to leave them 1-3 games out of the Top 4. If they overcome this problem they'll make the Top 4 IMO.

Brisbane are doing well but I'm not sure if today was more of an assessment on Hawthorn than anything else.

I don't think Carlton have the forward options outside of Fevola to really be a threat in finals and their backline is young and inexperienced.

Hawks look very ordinary but the reality is, they're a game outside of 4th. If they get their act together I still think they can claim it, but they'd really want to turn their entire game around after the break.

Interesting thoughts re Collingwood - their weaker players appear to be a fair bit weaker than the top teams.

Carltons losses have all been by small margins so I think the results suggest they are a genuine top 4 contender, whatever their perceived deficiencies

Brisbane are doing nicely, but I cant help but feel only a few bad games off being back below the pack - its too early to assess them. Fine win in Tassie though.

Still heaps of time for Hawthorn to hit form, but they are lacking dash all over the ground and if they cant make some in roads there its curtains.

[azabob]

Who'll be this year's St.Kilda and North

I assume St.kilda and North

In all seriousness what do you mean?

[Topdog]

Hawks are basically 2 games off 4th at the moment with their pathetic %.

I'll go with Brisbane for 4th. We usually match up very well with Collingwood so we shouldn't be concerned about playing them twice in the next 10 weeks.

[hujsh]

I assume St.kilda and North

In all seriousness what do you mean?

Remember North had 4th spot sewn up but tripped over their shoelaces before the finish line. St.Kilda then beat Essendon by 100+ points to just scrape in to 4th

[LostDoggy]

Collingwood also failed to capture 4th after losing to Fremantle in the last round..
North then lost to Port, should have won.
Saints then needed a 100+pt win over Essendon which they got.

Bizarre finish to the last round. Anything could happen this year. Richmond for 4th? :D

[Dogs 24/7]

Now the top 3 are close to set in stone, who is everyone tipping to finish 4th? It is perhaps the most open race for the last top 4 spot in living memory.

Brisbane surprised today, add Patfull & Merritt to the side, keeping Bradshaw in the F50, they are suddenly looking dangerous at both ends of the ground, with a very solid midfield. Could be the surprise packet of the year.

I'm finding the Lions are the hardest team to get a true reading on but I would have to conceed that on form they are a genuine chance to shape the top 4.

[KT31]

IMO it is far too early to think we have sewn up 3rd spot

Must agree , we must make sure we don't find the same hole we fell into last year.
While the first half of the season has been good we still have a long way to go and some pretty stiff competition in the next half.

[GVGjr]

Could Hawthorn really rally and get back into the top 4 given their current predicament?

[LostDoggy]

I also think it's a little early to say 3rd spot is sewn up.

I put this questions to everyone, would you prefer us being 4-5 games clear in third with 5 games to go, or would you rather us only 2 games clear of the pack?

Of course it seems being 4-5 games clear would be fantastic and guarentee a top 3 finish, however do you think what happened last year could end of happening again, with our opponent already known (preparing for finals 5 weeks early) which turned out to be a diaster last year.. Or would we have learnt from this mistake last year?

Being 2-3 games clear would still give us the extra drive knowing the pack is only a couple of wins away and we must keep winning to retain our top 4 spot. As we all learnt last year, winning form is good form.

[Rocco Jones]

Could Hawthorn really rally and get back into the top 4 given their current predicament?

They are only a game (a fair chuck of percentage) out of the top four but that seems largely irrelevant compared to their constant injury problems. I think there only chance of claiming 4th is if no side really clears from the massive pack from 4th-11th and they pinch a spot a bit like the Saints did last year. Brisbane would be my pick for 4th atm.

[Scorlibo]

Could Hawthorn really rally and get back into the top 4 given their current predicament?

Yea, while I don't think that they will have the premiership form resurgence that many others think/have thought, at some point they will get a run on and could well challenge for fourth.

[Mofra]

IMO it is far too early to think we have sewn up 3rd spot
I am very confident we will finish in 3rd spot.

I'll put on a public friendly wager on it - a pint? Any takers?

[Go_Dogs]

Remember North had 4th spot sewn up but tripped over their shoelaces before the finish line. St.Kilda then beat Essendon by 100+ points to just scrape in to 4th

I believe it was Adelaide that got knocked out of 4th spot by the Saints big win.

[hujsh]

I believe it was Adelaide that got knocked out of 4th spot by the Saints big win.

North was 6 points clear.

They lost the last two games.

Adelaide won on the Saturday to take 4th spot.

Then St.Kilda stole it again on Sunday.


Adelaide was knocked off but North had it in their grasp and just had to beat a tanking Port to seal it.

[LostDoggy]

I believe Brisbane may surprise a few and land in 4th. But I'm only basing this on the "every year since '94 a team outside the 8 becomes top 4" theory. Still its nearly anyones to get. Even our 3rd isn't guaranteed if we fade again this year.

[Remi Moses]

I reckon Collingwood will snatch 4th . Brisbane might be a show,with hawthorn finishing strongly. Too early to stake claims on third position folks,just got a sneaking suspicion Hawthorn will finish strongly.

[NoName]

At this stage of the season, I would have to say Brisbane. They are having a pretty decent year so far, however whether or not their good form can continue in the second half of the season is another story.

[boydogs]

I was suprised by the Brisbane v Hawthorn result, before that I would have said Hawthorn are starting to make a move. It will be interesting to see how they go in Perth against West Coast this week, they need to come out firing after the break. It will be very tough for them to get top 4 from being 6-7 after round 13 playing against us, Geelong, St Kilda, Collingwood, Essendon and Port in Adelaide in their run home

I hope they continue to stumble as we play them Saturday week and from a September perspective we did not go well against them in the finals last year. I'll go with Collingwood to finish 4th and test Geelong in week 1 of the finals