Massive 5 weeks for the Bombers

[Mr Mosquito]

looking ahead at our fixture for this year, i find that after a positive start, the next 5 weeks are extremely important for our fortunes for the remainder of the years.

Rd 6 - V Brisbane
Rd7 - V Hawthorn
Rd 8 - V St Kilda
R5 9 V Richmond
Rd10 - V Geelong

I think this magnifies the importance of the Bombers getting a win this weekend, and also shows that richmond is a game we must win also.

I think that if we were to drop all 5 of this games then our finals chances this year will be decimated.

However, should we beat Brisbane and Richmond and happen to steal one against either Hawthorne or St Kilda then i think finals are almost certain....all other things being equal

[bOmBeR_BoY1]

I'd be more than content with 5-5 after 10 rounds, but think we'll more likely be 4-6.

[Enki]

Hmm, I was going to start a similar thread after the Brisbane game but you have beaten me too it.

I guess the Brisbane game is important too, but the other four are more important simply because three of them are far better sides than us and very probable loses. Then you have the Tigers who we have struggled against in recent times, but wedged inbetween two of the best teams in the competition who will likely beat us, we really need to beat them this year. If we can will the Brisbane game and then overcome our previous crapiness against them and beat Richmond, 5 wins and 5 loses would be a good outcome.

[lamaros]

6-4 would be nice. :thumbsu:

[OzBomber]

If we can pinch a win against Brisbane and then beat Richmond, I'd be ecstatic to be 6-4. But I'd still be content with 5-5.

[warney7]

Let's be honest, the games against Geelong and StKilda seem a bit far out of reach.

We can beat Brisbane and we MUST beat Richmond.

I think we can be content with 5-5, but the way I'll tip, the most likely outcome would be a disappointing 4-6.

[eth-dog]

Rd 6 - V Brisbane-win
Rd7 - V Hawthorn-50/50
Rd 8 - V St Kilda-loss
R5 9 V Richmond-win
Rd10 - V Geelong-loss

we should beat two of the three cats, 50/50 on the hawks, hopefully a win, and a loss vs the saints

[Boucks09]

That North Melbourne loss is going to hurt I think. 6-4 after 10 would've been great with a few guys to come back, but I will still take 5-5 (it's better than 2-8!) Ah well. I wouldn't be surprised if we could pinch a win against the Hawks ; the only reason we have lost in the last few years is due to Buddy...not like he is going to improve this year :rolleyes:

[Johnny619]

Richmond is a MUST win
Brisbane would be a handy win
The rest will be tough and I can't see us winning any of them but if we have one of those days..we may pinch one (obviously not Geelong and most likely not Saints)

But I'll take 5-5

[KaaN10]

I'll take 5-5 if it was offered.

[AndyLesPaul]

Odds of us beating the following teams
Brisbane : 80% (rebounding from a bad loss, dustins 300th and lloyd kicking his 900th, everything has to go to plan)
Hawthorn : 50% and other (the team has many injuries, but we'd need a miracle to sustain their forward line)
St Kilda : 10% and under (way to good for us at this stage. maybe we'll get better)
Richmond : 90% (must win)
Geelong : 10% (same as st kilda.)

[bombre-boy]

If someone had have told me at the start of the season, that we would be 5-5 after 10 games, i would have told them they were deluded...

Hopefully we can beat Brisb and Richmond, but more importantly at least have a decent dip against the other 3...
As we got beaten by 99 and 107 against geelong and st.kilda last year, the results of these 2 games will at least give an indication of if we have at least imporved from last year...

[efcboy]

i reckon its a good time to get games against hawthorn, geelong and st kilda out of the way whilst we have some injuries. these are games we were always likely to lose anyway so if we can get thru these games without losing too much percentage then gradually bring back in guys such as gumby, prismall, mcveigh, welsh, skipworth, hurley, laycock, reimers for the more winnable games we'll be looking alright.

i'll be quite happy to be 5-6 after R11 as the draw becomes a lot easier after this next month or so.

[RM_3]

I wanna be 8-2 after 10 rounds. :thumbsu:

[GmeUP]

I think we should easily account for Brisbane, Hawthorn to beat us by 30 odd with Buddy once again raping our defense, I think the Saints are one we could beat despite their impressive early form I feel we match up well against them and could be a surprise a close match either way, if we lose to Richmond we may as well tank for the best draft pick we can get, i'd be happy to lose to Geelong by 30 odd points and try and keep it respectable but feel they may well be out to prove a point against us ad pump us!

[bombers_4_ever]

We should really be 4-1 not 3-2. As Boucks09 said "The nth game will hurt us" Lets hope we beat Brisbane and we should beat ninthmond but as history shows. We usually run teams into form.

[cawshezy]

Brisbane, Richmond should win. Maybe Hawthorn. If Carlton win this week i can see Hawthorn just destroying us

[Smyth94]

5-5 at R10 would be a really good result IMO.

Let's be realistic, there's still quite a few of our top line players missing from our squad, and now we've got our best (and most important) player out for the rest of the season.

[daffo]

Agreed, I would take 5-5 after round ten.

[Phat Toni]

I wanna be 8-2 after 10 rounds. :thumbsu:
and i would like Hannah Hilton riding my lightning rod every night but unfortunately that isn't going to happen either.

[Ari]

If we can pinch a win against Brisbane and then beat Richmond, I'd be ecstatic to be 6-4. But I'd still be content with 5-5.

My thoughts too. We need to win against Brissy and Richmond. The Saints, Geelong and Hawks are likely losses. If we can be 5-5 this would be fantastic being that we'd have played the 3 biggies already. Would definitely have taken that at the start of the year.

[WindyHillWatcher]

I see no reason why we can't bear Brisbane, Hawthorn and Richmond during the coming weeks. I also agree that we can match up pretty well against the saints but need a solid game plan by then. 6 - 4 for me.

[GuzzLG]

5-5 is all we need. Wins over Brisbane and Richmond would be great.

After the Geelong game, we could possibly have McVeigh, Welsh, Prismall, Skipworth, Hurley, Danier and Reimers all fit and available for selection and could then storm into the finals in the last half of the year with something close to our best 22.

I think we're set for another big 2nd half of the year. Imagine going into it at 6-5 rather than 2-9 like last year. :)

[cawshezy]

5-5 is all we need. Wins over Brisbane and Richmond would be great.

After the Geelong game, we could possibly have McVeigh, Welsh, Prismall, Skipworth, Hurley, Danier and Reimers all fit and available for selection and could then storm into the finals in the last half of the year with something close to our best 22.

I think we're set for another big 2nd half of the year. Imagine going into it at 6-5 rather than 2-9 like last year. :)

Yeh good point, however i have been pretty happy with young midfield bridgade, i like the game of Hocking and Zaharakis. Be interesting to see who will fit in our best 22 atm. With a full side i wouldn't see Jetta, Dyson and possibly Hocking making it though.

[HFF_07]

To be honest, i am not really worried about playing finals, I am more concerned about the development in our young up and coming players that we need to make an impact soon for us to move forward. Was really looking forward to Gumby this year, but injuries again have curtailed him again :(, Tom Bellchambers is another one that I would be hoping comes good sooner rather than later. He is a big lump of a lad who could seriously help Hille in our push for a serious finals chance next year. Obviously the continuing development of our key backs is only going to help them in the near future, am particulalry impressed with Daniher thus far, and imagine having Hurley and Pears next to him in the same line up at their peak in 2 - 3 years, mouth watering stuff, need to hope that Neagle can start to produce something that resembles a key forward sometime soon, as Lucas is fast coming to an end one would imagine. And the continuing development of our young midfield brigaide with the likes of Zaka, Winders, Stanton, Houli, Riemers, Lonergan all becoming better than average footy players and some to take the game by storm. All these things to look forward to in the next 12 - 18 months of football, I get excited just writing about it. lets see it happen now Bomber Boys/

Oh by the way, back on topic, I would not be surprised to see us 'upset' one of St.Kilda or Hawthorn, we should knock both Brisbane and Richmond off, although the tigers have had the wood over us for the last couple of games, and Geelong will just show how far we are really coming along.

So going in at 6 - 4, or 5 - 5, i would be happy with that. Us playing finals would be great, but in all reality, we would just be filling the numbers, although I think we are in better shape than some of the other predicted finalists in Adelaide, Brisbane and Port.

[Can Opener]

I dont like the idea of people assuming we will win against brisbane. We have to contain brown and bradshaw who historically have smashed us. With ryder playing in the ruck we are going to be a backman down. Haven't watched much of brisbane this year, but with some stars in black, power, adcock and brennan they wont be easy beats in brisbane.

[Hirdman]

Agree with above post, any team with Bradshaw, Brown, Black and Power in their line up makes me very concerened.