We've come through the last 4 weeks of playing bottom sides with 4 wins, but not without a fight. The days of smashing teams is over, but the Catters achieved what it had to. I believe that if we're to stay in the top 4 we need to win at least two of the three games against Hawthorn, Freo, & NM (Given that 'on paper' we should be able to beat Carlton & Brisbane). So this game looms as probably the most pivotal for the season so far. A loss here could set us up to finish 5th (some would argue where we deserve), so the days of the Cats saying, "Our best footy is in front of us," are over. They need to produce it now.
I really think this is a 50/50 game for us because NM believe they can beat us now. The question remains which NM will turn up. I'm sure they'll be hurting after losing to Carlton, but the bye will also blunt that a bit. They have to wait an extra week to redeem themselves, and that may play into our favour compared to if the game was this weekend coming. This next five weeks is where we'll find out where our team is really at. This is the business end of the season, the time for talk is over. The time to deliver results is here.
Couldn't have put it any better