The second half bolter - could it be us?

[Mofra]

Well, could it?

My reasons why it could be:

- It happened last year with Freo - they were 9th halfway through last year.
- We have had Murphy, Hahn & Darcy in the side, well below their best & coming off injury.
- We now have Lynch, Harbrow & Williams able to make positive contributions to the side & Williams can play a legitimate CHB role.
- Harris is in much better form.
- Most of our remaining games are at the TD
- We have started terribly; last year were were flying. Eade has reversed the formula?
- Despite losing Cross & Griffen, we are arguably in better shape (injury wise) than last year.
- We now have Minson & Wight at Werribee who provide ruck deph; no more Skipper & K-Mac as bit fillers
- Our efforts at stoppages are better than last year
- Aker could be last year's Monty, the recruit that lifts for the finals

The consensus is there will be one - for mine, we are probably the best placed team to do so.

[Dry Rot]

First prerequisite IMO - no more Carlton like games, the comp is too close

[bornadog]

First prerequisite IMO - no more Carlton like games, the comp is too close

A lot of tunovers like in the Carlton game cost us dearly in the first half of the season, but the last few games we have turned that around (so to speak).

[Bulldog Revolution]

Well, could it?

My reasons why it could be:

- It happened last year with Freo - they were 9th halfway through last year.
- We have had Murphy, Hahn & Darcy in the side, well below their best & coming off injury.
- We now have Lynch, Harbrow & Williams able to make positive contributions to the side & Williams can play a legitimate CHB role.
- Harris is in much better form.
- Most of our remaining games are at the TD
- We have started terribly; last year were were flying. Eade has reversed the formula?
- Despite losing Cross & Griffen, we are arguably in better shape (injury wise) than last year.
- We now have Minson & Wight at Werribee who provide ruck deph; no more Skipper & K-Mac as bit fillers
- Our efforts at stoppages are better than last year
- Aker could be last year's Monty, the recruit that lifts for the finals

The consensus is there will be one - for mine, we are probably the best placed team to do so.

I'd like to hope so AND there are certainly some reasons to think we might be the team, but as Dry Rot points out, there have been some shocking performances e.g Sydney, Adelaide, Carlton, St Kilda.

[Dry Rot]

A related but vital point: say we make it, even come fourth after the H&A games, will our style of play succeed in the finals?

[Bulldog Revolution]

A related but vital point: say we make it, even come fourth after the H&A games, will our style of play succeed in the finals?

There is nothing to suggest we cant play our style of play provided we are winning the centre clearances, and winning the ball out of the packs, if we dont win the ball in close then we cant run and share. When I say our style of play the main feature of it for me is the small forward line - I dont think there is that much difference in the way we move the ball etc than other teams.

That said our ability to play our style of play has to be questioned against Adelaide and Sydney on the basis of previous results.

I dont know if it is so much our stule of play but taking our game to its highest level. I think our game can work against these teams but we have to win more contested ball and use it better.

[Go_Dogs]

I think we are potentially THE bolter this year, everything in front of us should put us in a better position than what we have managed thus far, we just need to get it right on match day and win the games that we can win. I think we are better set than last year, even though we're one win behind where we were last year.

[Dry Rot]

We wouldn't want any more injuries - judging by the reports from the Bees, the cupboard is close to empty.

[GVGjr]

We wouldn't want any more injuries - judging by the reports from the Bees, the cupboard is close to empty.


Plenty to choose from but the form displayed isn't necessarily knocking the door down for selection. Interesting why Faulkner missed. No mention about it from the clubs media release on injured players.
I'm going to a function on Saturday for the Bees and will ask a direct question.

[Mantis]

I think the 2 key players for us in the 2nd half of the season are Robert Murphy and Adam Cooney. If they can find some consistent form we will be on the way to making a charge come finals time.

We should be able to account for North and Port over the next 2 games without Murf, but getting him back in the team fit and healthy soon after is really important for our structure and hopes.

[GVGjr]

We should be able to account for North and Port over the next 2 games without Murf, but getting him back in the team fit and healthy soon after is really important for our structure and hopes.

Wins against North and Port would go a long way to establishing us as genuine finals contenders and would really put a gap in the ladder between us and them.

The real question is are we good enough to start beating the Crows, Eagles and Swans in big games. I know we have beaten the Eagles and Crows but typically they trounce us when it counts.
Is there anything out coaching team can learn from watching the Pies?

[Go_Dogs]

The Pies have just seemed much more prepared to take it up to the top sides, attack the ball hard and run hard, plus having a good target like Rocca to kick to helps a bit. I don't think the Crows game will be easy, the WC one is more 'winnable', and the Swans game as always will be hard. We still have to play Geelong, St Kilda and the Kangaroos(twice) as well, so no easy games at all. To make top 4 we need to win all the games were we're a 50/50 chance, the Swans and Adelaide away games will be tolerable losses if we can beat St Kilda, WC, Geelong etc. in my opinion.

[alwaysadog]

Been waiting for us to jell for some time now. I thought we had unrealistic expectations early on and Eade didn't want us to bolt out of the blocks like we did last year.

It was intended to come good by mid season but while our form while trending up is still scratchy.

Our on ball capacity is going to be sorely tested over the next few weeks.

Maybe its the sort of challenge which got them going last year and might bring the best out of them.