the F word....

[TiAn_]

Adds up to 20 games. There's 2 other games on top of that.

Trying my hardest not to dream of the possibilities this season!!

*9 games to go

 

[Toastman]

I think Koby must have been reading this thread before giving the interview:
http://www.afl.com.au/news/2015-05-03/finals-in-dogs-sights-after-stirring-start-stevens

 

[LardDog]

My wife was going to book family a holiday away in September, she's gladly changed her mind just incase

 

[footyfan000001]

Want to see how we go this week against another young energetic team after a tough slog in the wet. We will be sore. Would be shattered if we drop this week. F word not out of the equation but I do think we will tire towards the end and fair enough with such a young side.

 

[JTCWBFC]

Want to see how we go this week against another young energetic team after a tough slog in the wet. We will be sore. Would be shattered if we drop this week. F word not out of the equation but I do think we will tire towards the end and fair enough with such a young side.

I think this expected drop off can be mitigated with some smart management and rotation.

I wouldn't be against giving Hunter, Dale, Biggs and Grant a crack this week for any blokes that are sore.

I think with the way we are playing at the moment there is full team buy in to the plans so a few changes a week shouldn't damage our form too much.

 

[amnesiac]

Thanks Dogs!

I had the same bet. Amazing how much we have been underated, even after upsetting the Crows. Don't think we will see value like that for a while!

 

[amnesiac]

Whilst I would love for us to continue this hot form, the reality is that we will have a slump at some point in the season. How long and hard that slump hits us will have a say in where we find ourselves at seasons end. A great start, but I will be waiting a few more weeks before I start using the f-word.

 

[dogwatch]

I think this expected drop off can be mitigated with some smart management and rotation.

I wouldn't be against giving Hunter, Dale, Biggs and Grant a crack this week for any blokes that are sore.

I think with the way we are playing at the moment there is full team buy in to the plans so a few changes a week shouldn't damage our form too much.

Happy to bring these blokes in but not all at once. We need to maintain the chemistry. And if any of them (thinks ... maybe Hunter?) hasn't yet proved he can do all the team things - like understand the zoning off, fierce defensive pressure, selfless football - then I definitely don't want them in the seniors until they can prove it at VFL level.

 

[fitzroybowiedog]

I know people are going to tell me to lighten up and shush, but i think we shouldn't really be getting ahead of ourselves.
I love the positivity and the energy that we are playing with, and the unbridled optimism in here too.
I think after years of not much (remember i am a fitzroy and Wb supported) i've always been very cautious about getting too ahead of myself.
It's round 5, and as much as i would love to see us around the pointy end of the season, i'd much rather see continued improvement, 4 quarter performances and whole team efforts (which we've been doing) week in week out (which is something we've struggled with in the past), if this leads to certain games where only 8 are participating then so be it.

I'll leave now before you all tell me to lighten up.

 

[gangsta deluxe]

Lighten up bro.

Flag certainties.

 

[boydsno1]

To think we still have Morris, Wallis, Minson to bring back in this season. We have Hunter and Redpath who can also come in and play a role. We have some rotations to try and combat fatigue.

 

[wian]

Wallis and Minson in this week . I would rest clay.... We cannot lose this game due to poor rucking. We have got away with it 2 games, it might be unlucky the 3rd time.

As for finals, the boys cannot fall for this media love. One game at a time. I'm sure bevvo won't let us get ahead of ourselves

 

[TimlinOfficial]

Pretty confident in our depth to tackle fatigue as the season wears on. We have very few 'potatoes' who would be classed in the same category as Young, Austin, Tutt, Jones and so on from previous years

Hamling should be able to give us good cover in defence, Biggs has shown for Sydney that he can fit in comfortably on the back flank, Daniel and Dale look like they can play a role this year, and Hunter has my vote of confidence. Wallis and Morris will only make us better, and Minson will either be great cover or slot back in and do a decent job

Injuries aside, who do we see as the guys likely to fall away/tire as the season progresses? Toyd and Webb are probably the ones that spring to mind for me, a lot of the other will cope just fine I think (hope)

 

[Substance]

Lloyd still says we won't make finals.

Does he ever get tired of being wrong?

 

[ExRoyboy]

In 11 of the past 12 AFL seasons, at least six of the teams in the top eight after Round 4 made the finals

Current Top 8
1 Fremantle - top 8 certainty
2 GWS - similar chance to us of making the 8
3 Collingwood - similar chance to us
4 Sydney - top 8 certainty
5 Adelaide - quite likely top 8 finishers
6 Dogs - similarly reasonable chance to GWS/Pies
7 Hawthorn - top 8 certainty
8 West Coast - s**t

Currently, Port, Essendon, North, Richmond and Geelong sit in the bottom 10 as teams who could make the eight. You'd expect Port to be certainties, Essendon and North similar chances to Adelaide, and Richmond and Geelong needing significant improvement from here onwards.

Also, here's a cheeky little stat, for what it's worth:


In 2009, Fremantle finished 14th. In 2010, Fremantle made the finals and Essendon finished 14th. In 2011, Essendon made the finals and Adelaide finished 14th. In 2012, Adelaide made the prelims and Port finished 14th. In 2013, Port made the semis and Gold Coast finished 14th. In 2014, Gold Coast were set for the finals until losing Ablett, and the Dogs finished 14th...

I'd tentatively say one of GWS, Pies, Dogs, Tigers and Cats will make the 8. If the latter two continue their current form, that becomes on of the first three, and we have the easiest draw

I'm not overly confident but I think we're a fair chance...

Now that stat is just freaky!!

 

[threenewpadlocks]

Lloyd still says we won't make finals.

Does he ever get tired of being wrong?

We might win jusy 12 games and miss out on percentage, but even then that's going 8-1 in all the gimme games and not winning a single other game. Sure he might not think we're the eigth best team in the league but has he actually looked at our draw?

 

[TimlinOfficial]

Now that stat is just freaky!!

haha it's an absolute humdinger isn't it? Gold Coast fkd it all up but hopefully we can redeem it

 

[Substance]

We might win jusy 12 games and miss out on percentage, but even then that's going 8-1 in all the gimme games and not winning a single other game. Sure he might not think we're the eigth best team in the league but has he actually looked at our draw?

I just have a feeling we aren't going to let games like St Kilda next week slip. I think the whole club knows we can't afford to drop this game and that every game is a danger game. Except for brisbane. I still think we have a good chance to beat teams like Geelong and Collingwood too.

 

[TimlinOfficial]

I just have a feeling we aren't going to let games like St Kilda next week slip. I think the whole club knows we can't afford to drop this game and that every game is a danger game. Except for brisbane. I still think we have a good chance to beat teams like Geelong and Collingwood too.

To be honest, if you look at the form of Essendon and North, I think we have a pretty good chance of beating those two as well. Add five seconds onto the Hawks v Dons game, and have Schneider kick a bloody goal in the last minute of last night's game, and suddenly Essendon are 1-4 with a less than convincing win against Carlton and losses to St Kilda and Collingwood

North were thumped by Adelaide and Hawthorn, just got through against Geelong, smashed the honourary NEAFL representatives in Brisbane, and were reasonable in defeat to Port. They're probably better placed than Essendon though, and can point to key injuries as reasons for their indifferent form, but they're hardly 'contenders' as so many suggested during the preseason

 

[ExRoyboy]

haha it's an absolute humdinger isn't it? Gold Coast fkd it all up but hopefully we can redeem it

Hope you don't mind but I just quoted it on the main board where that idiot from Essendon was trying to use some sort of crazy pattern to say that we would miss the finals this year.

Honestly who knows what will happen but I would have thought so long as we don't lose our heads and keep playing hard, honest and high intensity footy we should get there given the easier draw from here onwards, especially after we have played Freo and Port in a few weeks. All remaining games after that baring the second against Port are winnable but we just need the players to not get ahead of themselves.

As supporters we are entitled to get excited and think about finals but Bevo needs to keep the players very grounded, take no games for granted otherwise the other teams will do to us what we did to the Crows and Swans.

Keep it real Doggies!!

 

[TimlinOfficial]

Hope you don't mind but I just quoted it on the main board where that idiot from Essendon was trying to use some sort of crazy pattern to say that we would miss the finals this year.

Honestly who knows what will happen but I would have thought so long as we don't lose our heads and keep playing hard, honest and high intensity footy we should get there given the easier draw from here onwards, especially after we have played Freo and Port in a few weeks. All remaining games after that baring the second against Port are winnable but we just need the players to not get ahead of themselves.

As supporters we are entitled to get excited and think about finals but Bevo needs to keep the players very grounded, take no games for granted otherwise the other teams will do to us what we did to the Crows and Swans.

Keep it real Doggies!!

Yeah that clown seemed to abandon the thread after I mentioned that stat to him haha

The weekend has shown us that all games are winnable for this team. If we play like we did vs Adelaide in rd 7, we can seriously challenge Freo. Fyfe vs Bont, what a spectacle, SOMF

 

[threenewpadlocks]

Port away will be the toughest challenge. That's the only game for the rest of the year that I'll 100% pencil in as a loss. If we can beat Sydney in the wet away, we can beat any team in the league with a hard, fast surface under the roof which we're used to. Even Fremantle.

 

[Next Waiting]

Injuries aside, who do we see as the guys likely to fall away/tire as the season progresses? Toyd and Webb are probably the ones that spring to mind for me, a lot of the other will cope just fine I think (hope)

I'm a little concerned that they are mostly young bodies on a long road in comparison to those they'll be playing against later in the season. They'll be feeling it by the 4th week for sure.

 

[Tommycash]

Port away will be the toughest challenge. That's the only game for the rest of the year that I'll 100% pencil in as a loss. If we can beat Sydney in the wet away, we can beat any team in the league with a hard, fast surface under the roof which we're used to. Even Fremantle.

Fremantle and Port are on par for me. I would be surprised to beat them, but anything is possible.

 

[Beasley]

Lloyd still says we won't make finals.

Does he ever get tired of being wrong?

He appears to have changed his mind because on 3AW tonight he has predicted we will win 14 games.