Finals 2014 - Are they possible for Western Bulldogs

[Bulldog Joe]

Since the fixture was released last year, I have felt that we can challenge for the 8.

To make the eight we need to win 13 games, although a team may scrape in with 12 wins.

So where can we win 13 games.

We have 7 games involving the bottom 5 from 2013
They are GWS (x2) Melb (x2) Gold Coast (x2) and St Kilda.

While I concede not all those are certainties, if we are able to win all of them we only require 6 wins against the remainder of the competition to finish in the eight.

A win over Richmond is already in the bank and we have a great chance against Carlton and Adelaide in the next 2 weeks.

I would also expect us to beat Brisbane. If we managed those we would only need 2 additional victories for the entire season.

Obviously if we lose any of the games mentioned we would need to upset an additional contender for every one we miss from my list.

I believe it is at least possible.

 

[Super Hans]

I think we need to just worry about getting to the bye first. If we are 5-3 (which we should be) then who knows. Need to beat Carlton, Adelaide and Melbourne.

 

[VitalDread]

I think we need to just worry about getting to the bye first. If we are 5-3 (which we should be) then who knows. Need to beat Carlton, Adelaide and Melbourne.

Melb and Crows are starting to build up and have improved to the point of knocking us off.
Blues are hard to read since they might come out firing trying to stop 0-5

 

[candymanwb]

The way I see it is it's impossible to predict our results for the next 4 weeks.
Carlton have something to prove, Adelaide are gaining momentum, Essendon look very good and Melbourne...well, we all know what happened when we played them last year at the G.
It would be excellent to go into the bye with 5-3, but I wouldnt say that I would be expecting it.
4-4 going into the bye, and I'd still be happy with that output for the first 8 weeks of the season.

 

[LukasTheGreat]

One week at a time

 

[the dog's kennel]

I'd be very happy with 4-4. I think Adelaide are a good side. And I expect Carlton to put up their best showing for the season this week.

 

[footyfan000001]

Need absolutely everything to go our way and that starts with this week and NOT dropping a game we should win. Expect the Blues to come out hungry. Wont be easy.

 

[fronkalicious]

I think we can win around 11 games, but with some really poor teams this year, I wouldn't be surprised if 13 or even 14 wins was required to make the 8. I has us finishing 10th with 11 wins, which would be a decent result.

 

[Leon]

Way too early to tell at this stage but there is no reason why we can't

Ain't really a big deal if we don't make it, if we make steady improvement on last year's ladder position I'll be happy

Also for some reason this thread reminds me of the that pre-season game where we had the temerity to have a hard fought loss against Freo and certain people on here said we were dead certs for bottom 4. Got to laugh

 

[Lucky Star]

We still have long periods in games of playing like absolute sh#t.

 

[Snarls Barkley]

Yes it's possible. Still highly unlikely at this point though.

 

[Gmod23]

Can't see us beating Gold Coast.

 

[cleveland]

I think we can as long as we dont go dropping games we should win like the Dee game last year

 

[Butane]

Yea, we can make the 8...if a few drug scandals go down like last year.

 

[Dav1d]

We'll see after the bye

would have to cause at least two upsets though to do so
but I think we'll be about 10-11th

 

[fronkalicious]

7 of the 8 finalists are already set IMO. Only change to the 8 will be gws out and either Sydney or collingwood in for mine. Amazing at only round 4, but reckon that's where it's all heading.

 

[_Mike_]

We wont play finals, we do not have the list capable of making any impact even if we fluked our way in. We're a good 2 seasons away from being a finals threat IMO. The list still needs lots of tweaking

 

[Mutt]

I can't see us getting 12 or 13 wins to make the finals. Injuries will determine how close we come - a few untimely injuries to key players and we don't have the depth to cover them. A good run with injuries and who knows.

 

[Dogsman16]

I just want to take this season as a month at a time, not thinking about whether we should book a september holiday right now. In a perfect world I would be very pleased if we were 5 - 3 at the bye and give essendon a really tough game. After the bye is tricky with GCF at metricon and Freo at home. In saying that though Freo might not be unbeatable, Walters out for almost the year is a huge loss but we will need one of their gun midfielders to be out to be any kind of chance.

Just had a look and if all goes to plan I think we can win around 11 games for the season, that includes one bad performance against a dud side and an upset against a top 8 quality side.

 

[BallaratBulldog]

One thing is for sure we should get over last seasons 8 wins. If we don't that's a concern.

 

[Running Dog]

One week at a time

Agree. Careers will be on the line at Carlton if players don't show something, and things can happen quickly at a footy club, so they can't afford to wait for a premium opportunity to demonstrate their worth. I expect a fired up Carlton this week.

Yes, finals are possible, but I won't be disappointed with a realistic finish of 10th to 14th, so long as a solid re-building phase continues.

 

[HiReception]

Hold on, let me just check if the lid i--

Yeah, one week at a time, let's not get ahead of ourselves etc.

 

[BadNewsGamer]

i think it is very possible it depends on how other teams go but cant see us going any less then 12th 2015 were top 8 2016 top 4 again