Round 1 - Faced the Bombers who were without their full forward and ruckman. Won by 46.
Round 2 - Faced the Doggies after they came off a 5 day break in the heat. Won by 26.
Round 3 - Faced the Cats who had a 6 day break after playing in Perth. Won by 48.
Round 4 - Face the Saints who have a day less to recover and will be without Riewoldt, Kosi and Harvey. We've beaten them on the last 7 occasions and we are in far better form. Should win, but Telstra Dome will be helpful to them.
Round 5 - Face Sydney in Sydney. Slight travelling disadvantage to us. However, we beat them up there last season so we are a chance to do it again. Tough match.
Round 6 - Face Fremantle in Melbourne. Fair travelling disadvantage against Fremantle. Given that, we should expect a victory.
Round 7 - Face Adelaide in Melbourne. Another interstate team at the MCG, will be disappointed if we don't get the 4 points with our home ground advantage.
Round 8 - Face Hawthorn in a match that we should win, with all due respect. They are a bottom 4 side, no excuses for a loss. They have a day less than us and will travel the short flight back from Hobart.
Round 9 - Face Carlton in the last ever match at Optus Oval. They beat us last time there, but if the match was next week we would go into the match as clear favourites.
Round 10 - Face Richmond at Telstra Dome, after they travel back from the Gabba. Like Hawthorn, we should expect nothing less than a win.
Round 11 - Face the Kangaroos in Canberra but they will be returning from the Gabba too. Plus, we will have the extra day break. Usually do well against them and we would be favourites if it was next week.
Round 12 - Face Collingwood on the Queens Birthday. They have an extra 2 days to recover, plus we will be returning from the hot Canberra conditions. Still, I expect a victory against the old rival.
Round 13 - Face West Coast in Melbourne. We've got the home ground advantage, but they've got an extra 3 days recovery. Almost balances out in the end. We have got to take advantage of MCG matches against interstate teams, so this match should be no different.
Then the tough run begins, with Brisbane at the Gabba, Port Adelaide at AAMI, Sydney at the Dome, Fremantle in Perth, St. Kilda who should have a fitter team by then, Adelaide at AAMI, Geelong at Skilled, then we finish off with the Bulldogs and Bombers at the MCG.
We are 3-0 and I don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves, but we've got a fair run in the next 10 weeks. Unless something shocking happens, where we suddenly lose our form or get a heap of injuries, then we can expect at least 8 of the next 10. That would put us on 11 wins after 13 weeks and already in the finals, before the tough patch begins.
However, it is easy to look at the fixture and say we should win this, we should win that, but the hard work has to actually be done and as soon as the players become complacent, it will bite them in the arse. So let's hope the players don't stumble across this thread!
Round 2 - Faced the Doggies after they came off a 5 day break in the heat. Won by 26.
Round 3 - Faced the Cats who had a 6 day break after playing in Perth. Won by 48.
Round 4 - Face the Saints who have a day less to recover and will be without Riewoldt, Kosi and Harvey. We've beaten them on the last 7 occasions and we are in far better form. Should win, but Telstra Dome will be helpful to them.
Round 5 - Face Sydney in Sydney. Slight travelling disadvantage to us. However, we beat them up there last season so we are a chance to do it again. Tough match.
Round 6 - Face Fremantle in Melbourne. Fair travelling disadvantage against Fremantle. Given that, we should expect a victory.
Round 7 - Face Adelaide in Melbourne. Another interstate team at the MCG, will be disappointed if we don't get the 4 points with our home ground advantage.
Round 8 - Face Hawthorn in a match that we should win, with all due respect. They are a bottom 4 side, no excuses for a loss. They have a day less than us and will travel the short flight back from Hobart.
Round 9 - Face Carlton in the last ever match at Optus Oval. They beat us last time there, but if the match was next week we would go into the match as clear favourites.
Round 10 - Face Richmond at Telstra Dome, after they travel back from the Gabba. Like Hawthorn, we should expect nothing less than a win.
Round 11 - Face the Kangaroos in Canberra but they will be returning from the Gabba too. Plus, we will have the extra day break. Usually do well against them and we would be favourites if it was next week.
Round 12 - Face Collingwood on the Queens Birthday. They have an extra 2 days to recover, plus we will be returning from the hot Canberra conditions. Still, I expect a victory against the old rival.
Round 13 - Face West Coast in Melbourne. We've got the home ground advantage, but they've got an extra 3 days recovery. Almost balances out in the end. We have got to take advantage of MCG matches against interstate teams, so this match should be no different.
Then the tough run begins, with Brisbane at the Gabba, Port Adelaide at AAMI, Sydney at the Dome, Fremantle in Perth, St. Kilda who should have a fitter team by then, Adelaide at AAMI, Geelong at Skilled, then we finish off with the Bulldogs and Bombers at the MCG.
We are 3-0 and I don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves, but we've got a fair run in the next 10 weeks. Unless something shocking happens, where we suddenly lose our form or get a heap of injuries, then we can expect at least 8 of the next 10. That would put us on 11 wins after 13 weeks and already in the finals, before the tough patch begins.
However, it is easy to look at the fixture and say we should win this, we should win that, but the hard work has to actually be done and as soon as the players become complacent, it will bite them in the arse. So let's hope the players don't stumble across this thread!
