View Full Version : finals - competitive?
now look, this is only a hypothetical so dont take my word as oath! If we were to make finals this year by some sort of miracle, would we be competitive? We have a number of things going for us -
- most finals are played at the MCG; we are 3 from 4 there this year, and always seem to play well at the venue
- we have beaten 1 side in the top 8 (essendon) and would have beaten another 3 had it not been for our 4th quarter fade outs
- we lost to west coast at subi, which doesnt mean much because it was only rd 4, and it was at a venue we havent ever had great success at
- we were asleep against Geelong, and plus it was at the dome, another venue that we haven't had great success at (barring the weekend)
The big test is going to come in the following weeks when we play top 8 sides such as hawthorn and sydney. both are beatable and if we stick to our attacking game plan for 4 quarters we are more than a chance.
I know what Walls has said, and maybe it could be detrimental for our young group, but I dont see the harm in just having a dip.
Come finals time, anything can happen. Game plans go out the door and whoever wants it more wins. I believe our young group have shown that they are determined to do well, especially in the last 2 weeks. finals is beginning to no longer look like some distorted pipe dream.
thoughts?
Jeremias
11 Jun 2007, 15:42
We won't be making finals, so its not even worth thinking about.
Aim to win at least 4 more games.
GottaLoveCarlton
11 Jun 2007, 15:45
All of what you've said is all well and true - but do we really want to over-achieve this year?
I am 100% happy with 2007 so far - bar two thrashings, all games have been a beauty to watch, win or lose. We are fast becoming the most attractive side to watch in the AFL, and next year, with a midfield consisting of Nick Stevens, Bryce Gibbs, Marc Murphy, Andrew Carazzo and Kade Simpsons - i think its safe to say, 2008 is the year the blues establish themselves as a force to be reckoned with.
I'm happy to sit anywhere between 9 & 12 this year. Happy with the progress at Princes Park and while i'd love to make the 8, i'm more than happy to wait it out until 2008.
The Blues are back. 2008. Be Excited.
i want to have a look at the next 2 games before predicting anything. i know we can beat anyone on any day, but want to know if we can sustain it over a number of weeks. is the mental battle against the hawks and dockers being lost or won as we speak?
All of what you've said is all well and true - but do we really want to over-achieve this year?
I am 100% happy with 2007 so far - bar two thrashings, all games have been a beauty to watch, win or lose. We are fast becoming the most attractive side to watch in the AFL, and next year, with a midfield consisting of Nick Stevens, Bryce Gibbs, Marc Murphy, Andrew Carazzo and Kade Simpsons - i think its safe to say, 2008 is the year the blues establish themselves as a force to be reckoned with.
I'm happy to sit anywhere between 9 & 12 this year. Happy with the progress at Princes Park and while i'd love to make the 8, i'm more than happy to wait it out until 2008.
The Blues are back. 2008. Be Excited.
very well said. next year mate... next year...
but dont discount this year too quickly.
PS, imagine what we could do with a half-decent back line and a ruckman who knew a thing or two about the game. Setanta is way better than Ackland, and he has only been playing the game for 5 years. Shame on you Cain!
Finals ain't our priority this year, but with ordinaries like the Dons and Pies well inside the top-8, you have to ask yourself "why not". We will make a serious impact in 2008 though. :)
KnockOut
11 Jun 2007, 16:29
Finals ain't our priority this year, but with ordinaries like the Dons and Pies well inside the top-8, you have to ask yourself "why not". We will make a serious impact in 2008 though. :)This year we have to set the mark for next year, similar to Hawthorn. Gained the respect of the whole competition, Carlton have made a huge step towards that by coming in $400.00 for the premiership to $101.00.
stokesy
11 Jun 2007, 16:30
Let's just keep winning games first. Don't worry about finals, let's beat Hawthorn first.
I believe we can still make the finals, it's sport and anything can happen.
Andyt30
11 Jun 2007, 18:36
plenty of games and they were talking about melbourne Making the Finals after they won last week
bakerboy
11 Jun 2007, 19:00
If you look at the draw we have a hard run home, so if we can win 3 more games it will be a great effort.
I reckon we're still an outside chance to make finals. I made the call preseason that if we were 6-10 with six games to go, and a young list playing decent footy, we'd have a small chance at winning the last 6 straight to get a finals berth. As it stands, we're 4-7, so if we go 2-3, or preferably 3-2 in our next 5 we'd be up there. Of course, our next 5 games are an absolutely brutal run (Hawthorn, Freo in WA, Melbourne, Sydney in Sydney, Brisbane in Brisbane) - we'd have to have at least 1 if not 2 upset wins just to get there.
If we got to finals -we'd get absolutely smashed. Our young guys are struggling to run out games as it is, and with the increased tempo and pressure of a finals match would be completely exposed. But it would be the best possible thing for them, and we should be pulling every string to try and get them there!
over the top
11 Jun 2007, 19:35
with all this talk about not having a decent backline and shit thats why were not making finals - begs the question: why did we recruit gibbs.
i know gibbs is a ****ing freak and a champion but if we didnt need him...why did we get him. why not gumbleton? i dunno i just think they shud of recruited some good talls (that arent washed up from some other club)
but 44 points sometimes gets u into the 8 thats another 7 wins from 4. hard but do-able. we can do it, a bit of faith boys
ClayBlue87
11 Jun 2007, 19:35
Well if Melbourne believe that they still have a shot of making the finals...dont see why we cant, especially considering we have to play them twice. And we spanked em last year. Lets just enjoy the games we win
Bluebear
11 Jun 2007, 20:31
Still mathematically possible I think is the term.......and of course anything could happen.......but in all likelihood it won't.
Where's audas? Need 10/11 I think?
Team Mo'
11 Jun 2007, 21:01
Although we wont make finals, i hope that we are competitve through out the season and continue into next year where we will be a stronger, better and more experienced team.
EddieBettsIsAChamp
11 Jun 2007, 21:05
Were only 2 wins out of the top 8, anythings possible, Essendon won 16 premierships didnt they:P
It would take a minor miracle for us to play finals this year, however, as I have stated previously, the only 2 games that have been out of our reach have been Geelong and West Coast, who currently sit first and second on the ladder.
Michael Jezz
12 Jun 2007, 10:32
We can not cover injuries to key personnel and that is what will stop us making finals. We are bound to cop an injury or two. When Stevens went down and Kouta was not ready with injuries to other runners like wiggins, jackson and Grigg (we played 3 games w/o kouta or Stevens and then it took Kouta 3 games to get match fit) we were a bottom 3 side. Put Kouta and Wiggins in and we can compete. An injury here or there and there is no chance. In any case I still say we have had an ok season if we win 7-10 games. 7 or 8 wins is a pass. 9-10 wins is a good year. 11-12 wins is an awesome effort
Going by the ladder at the half way mark we would need to have 13 wins to make it. I believe that's too much for us. I think we could win as many as 11 games but will probably win about 7-9 games.
Still Thinking
12 Jun 2007, 11:28
just looked at the draw and in round 22 we play melbourne. we are the final game to be played that round so it could be a round that all top 8 sides and people near the finals are watching. That game could be ours and melbournes biggest game of the home and away season.
Go Blues ! Keep winning games and anything can happen. Like the roos winning 6 straight!
If you look at the draw we have a hard run home, so if we can win 3 more games it will be a great effort.
run home isn't that hard
haw- winnable (IMO will be a tough ask)
freo- loss
melb- winnable (play them twice win 1, lose 1)
syd- loss
bris- winnable (justa run of the mill side now)
st k- winnable (may only have 18 fit players by then)
coll- winnable (always come up with unexpected results)
port - loss
ess - winnable (always come up with unexpected results)
kang- winnable (their foem will drop off dramatically in the last 7 rounds)
melb- winnable (play them twice win 1, lose 1)
i'm not saying we are going to win all these games, but the draw is not as tough as it could be.
blueskies
12 Jun 2007, 12:29
I think you'd probably need 11 at the lowest. We're half way through the year and 6 gets you in, so it could easily be 12.
If we made the finals then it would mean winning the majority of our games and getting on a roll, which would make us good enough to be competitive. We'd beat St.Kilda if we played them now.
This Friday night's game is the big test. Hawthorn are 'popular' this year, if we knock them off it will mean something and the press will go beserk. I hope Pagan doesn't rob peter to pay paul and shift Waite down back. Let's see if we can outscore them in another shoot-out. Waite is a centrtal part of our attack now.
If we can knock off the Hawks, we'd need 6-7 wins from our last 10 games. Six, which is just over 50% would be possible, if we keep up the current form.
I hope Pagan doesn't rob peter to pay paul and shift Waite down back. Let's see if we can outscore them in another shoot-out. Waite is a centrtal part of our attack now.
the ultimate "win" would be Franklin moved onto Waite after half time to try and stop the flow of goals.
not bloody likely though.
bluegal1983
12 Jun 2007, 15:40
One week at a time...
The Grover
13 Jun 2007, 14:25
This Friday night's game is the big test. Hawthorn are 'popular' this year, if we knock them off it will mean something and the press will go beserk. I hope Pagan doesn't rob peter to pay paul and shift Waite down back. Let's see if we can outscore them in another shoot-out. Waite is a centrtal part of our attack now.
If we can knock off the Hawks, we'd need 6-7 wins from our last 10 games. Six, which is just over 50% would be possible, if we keep up the current form.
If we beat Hawks anything is possible, however injuries & fatigue will eventually wear us down this year.
I don't think there is any chance Clarkson will enter into a shootout, he will try & get us out of our comfort zone.
Bluebear
16 Jun 2007, 01:34
haw- smashed
freo- loss
melb- winable
syd- loss
bris- loss
st k- loss
coll- loss
port - loss
ess - loss
kang- loss
melb- loss
Looking a bit more like this now?
I'm feeling a bit bi-polar.
Where is the thread about tanking for picks?:rolleyes: