How far can North Melbourne go?

[Howard Littlejohn]

Why do people start these threads?

 

[Tas]

Roos have a very poor record vs Adelaide in Adelaide and the Lions at the Gabba.

They'll make the 8, probably finish 7th, and fluke an Elimination final win if their lucky.

We had a poor record against anyone on the road but have beaten Swans in Sydney and Fremantle in Perth so far which I think are bigger obstacles than Crows at AO or Brisbane at the Gabba.

 

[benbanjo]

I dont think a finals win is out of the question, dont see us being a real contender this year though, still have major FWD line issues.... sort them out and who knows...

 

[Tas]

I think we have done pretty well to date, we have beaten some good sides and are siting 7 wins and 4 losses having played the vast majority of our tough games in the first half of the season while missing a number of core players in the middle.

Swallow is still a while off his best footy, we have been without Wells for most of the year, Ziebell has missed a bit of footy and is way off his better form, MacMillan who is an important runner for us also went down early and a lot of our second tier mids have been down at the same time which has tested our depth and it has struggled a bit at times against teams who have had their best midfield available against us.

Wells and MacMillan will be back in another couple of weeks, will probably need another 3-4 weeks to get back lost match fitness but if we don't have any serious long term injuries then before finals we should have three core midfielders, 2 being our two best midfielders back in the side and in form well before finals.

Tarrant is important for us structurally, he can play CHF well (Petrie and Daw can not), he had his first VFL game this week coming from an LTI, Grima an important key defender. We have a lot of our second tier players soon to return from injury or have been spending recent weeks in the VFL.

I still think we are capable of putting a much stronger team on the park than we have to date and getting match fitness into guys who have recently returned. You have to realise that come September teams may look very different to the teams running around at the minute, some who have struggled to field a decent side might get stronger, others fielding strong sides might cop injuries. You can't predict what will happen at the end of year based on availability of players between April and June.

 

[Goggin Our Best]

Wells -will be a massive in for them

Might have beaten Geelong this year with him in the team ( kicked 4 goals in the corresponding game the previous year)

Adelaide ( who aernt much good ) but grow a leg at Adelaide Oval - this weeks game for Nth Melb is critical- if i barracked for them id take a 1 point win

 

[THRILLHO]

Hoping just to make the finals this year and for the team to acquit themselves well (as opposed to 2012) and then to push on in 2015. Petrie is the only list issue, really as Harvey is ageless (statistically having a career year) and no other key position has ageing players who need replacing.

We've played really poorly at times but, looking back at the fixture, we haven't really lost any games that you'd have expected us to. Essendon are a good side, who always fly out of the blocks, GCS are a decent side building, no shame in losing to Collingwood who are a top 4 threat, and a side needs to be seriously good to knock off Geelong in Geelong.

The Richmond game was the only time we've played really poorly, but to Richmond's credit they were phenomenal for a half of footy and dominated in the contested possession. They just flamed out after halftime.

We've had three seriously impressive wins (Freo in Perth, Sydney in Sydney, Port) and addressed some of the glaring issues of last year. But everyone seems keen to ignore those and focus on a terrible quarter against Richmond.

 

[The Swans Blog]

More likely to win 2 of those games and have no chance of top 4. Beat Adelaide in Adelaide? Nah. Hawks? Nah.
First round of finals that's all

 

[Elite Master]

More likely to win 2 of those games and have no chance of top 4. Beat Adelaide in Adelaide? Nah. Hawks? Nah.
First round of finals that's all

We beat Sydney in Sydney and we beat Fremantle in Perth which are both far better teams then Adelaide.

 

[bkozican]

Top 6 when they fell like it

 

[TBoyleSuperstar]

I think the problem with North, is the gap between their best and worst. Not sure they are consistant enough to be a threat for the flag. Unlikely to finish top 4 so would need to win 3 games to make the GF, and really, they are a week to week proposition as to how they are going to perform. Will make finals though as draw is favourable and are playing well enough to win enough games.

Wouldn't be surprised to see them win a final or two though. When they click they are very good. Forward line still an issue.

 

[pazza]

Only a game clear of a mixed bag Essendon so like us, may make it...may not...that's about it

 

[MC Extra Dollop]

They've got the best draw of any team in the league. 2 games left against top 9 sides. Melbourne x2, GWS, St Kilda, Dogs, Brisbane. They'd start favourites against Carlton and Adelaide at home. Could easily beat Adelaide this week.

They've got probably minimum 7 wins in them. Puts them on 14 and knocking on the door of top 4.

If today's result goes to script, the top five teams will all be on eight wins or more (all but Geelong are ahead of North on percentage), with Fremantle, Gold Coast and North Melbourne on seven.

The next four games go like this for the 8+ win clubs:

Port (40 points): Syd (a), WB (h), Ade (a), Ess (h)
Haw (32 points): Car (MCG), Col (MCG), GC (AS), NM (ES)
Syd (32 points): PA (h), Ric (a), GWS (h), WC (a)
Col (32 points): WB (ES), Haw (MCG), Car (MCG), GC (MS)
Gee (32 points): StK (SS), GC (a), Ess (ES), WB (ES)

And for the seven win clubs:

Fre: Ric (a), BL (h), WC (h), Mel (TIO)
NM: Ade (a), Mel (MCG), BL (a), Haw (ES)
GC: WC (a), Gee (h), Haw (a), Col (h)

On current form, I can only see them pulling away from Gold Coast in the next month and I don't think they'll overtake any of the six teams ahead of them. They could quite easily lose to Adelaide next week. I think second week of the finals is about the best that they'll do this year.

 

[Mayes2Gray]

Yeah, certainly can't see them beating Port, Sydney or Freo.....you know, again........this year.

Again being the key word here.

 

[Bigeasy]

Correct last night was more umpires than North.

Lol, sure it was.

 

[Adam H]

Lol, sure it was.

Worst I've seen in a long time.

 

[The Swans Blog]

We beat Sydney in Sydney and we beat Fremantle in Perth which are both far better teams then Adelaide.

Both at the start of the season when both teams had no form and had a lot of players out or returning from injury. Play either team now and they'll make North look like mugs.

...
The next four games go like this for the 8+ win clubs:

Port (40 points): Syd (a), WB (h), Ade (a), Ess (h)
....

You're kidding yourself if you think Port will beat the Swans away, you really are. I'd like to see Port beat any of the top 4 away from home.

 

[CharlieMortdecai]

If today's result goes to script, the top five teams will all be on eight wins or more (all but Geelong are ahead of North on percentage), with Fremantle, Gold Coast and North Melbourne on seven.

The next four games go like this for the 8+ win clubs:

Port (40 points): Syd (a), WB (h), Ade (a), Ess (h)
Haw (32 points): Car (MCG), Col (MCG), GC (AS), NM (ES)
Syd (32 points): PA (h), Ric (a), GWS (h), WC (a)
Col (32 points): WB (ES), Haw (MCG), Car (MCG), GC (MS)
Gee (32 points): StK (SS), GC (a), Ess (ES), WB (ES)

And for the seven win clubs:

Fre: Ric (a), BL (h), WC (h), Mel (TIO)
NM: Ade (a), Mel (MCG), BL (a), Haw (ES)
GC: WC (a), Gee (h), Haw (a), Col (h)

On current form, I can only see them pulling away from Gold Coast in the next month and I don't think they'll overtake any of the six teams ahead of them. They could quite easily lose to Adelaide next week. I think second week of the finals is about the best that they'll do this year.

By the same token I don't think North will lose too much ground on any of the other top 8 teams, so it becomes a question of the next 7 games after that.

 

[Elite Master]

Both at the start of the season when both teams had no form and had a lot of players out or returning from injury. Play either team now and they'll make North look like mugs.


You're kidding yourself if you think Port will beat the Swans away, you really are. I'd like to see Port beat any of the top 4 away from home.

We had arguably more important players out when we beat both the Sydney COLA and Freo Dockers away from home. Sure both sides were far from their best but a win is a win, and we have proven that we can beat sides interstate, so why can't we do the same to the less then impressive Crows? You and a few others on here make it look like the Crows are world beaters and we aren't a hope in hell.

 

[CharlieMortdecai]

You're kidding yourself if you think Port will beat the Swans away, you really are. I'd like to see Port beat any of the top 4 away from home.

I think he was just listing the games, not making any assertions about wins.

 

[Janus]

You're kidding yourself if you think Port will beat the Swans away, you really are. I'd like to see Port beat any of the top 4 away from home.

Prepare to be ****ing amazed then.

As for North...try winning games you are expected to win first and lose the chip on your collective shoulder. It's not up to North supporters to make main board threads like this...leave that to opposition teams who rate you. They don't yet? Then win more games you should. Simple.

 

[Kimbo]

 

[MC Extra Dollop]

By the same token I don't think North will lose too much ground on any of the other top 8 teams, so it becomes a question of the next 7 games after that.

I disagree. They would be expected to lose one game and quite possibly two of the next four. I'm certainly not pencilling the Roos in against Adelaide.

 

[The Swans Blog]

North should be more worried about finishing in the top 8 than aspiring for top 4.

 

[Bigeasy]

Worst I've seen in a long time.

I hear this every week .

 

[G0ther00s]

Just because North have some lower sides from here doesn't mean they have an easy draw. We've already had 3 interstate trips and a trip to skilled stadium. North have faced the hard part of the schedule when other teams have had the soft part of theirs.