Who will finish higher - North, Richmond or Collingwood?

[ReaperX]

I suspect many will - and September could be a very busy period for you...for all the wrong reasons.

Oh my god. Someone is clearly posting from the Christmas work breakup party after a few drinks. That is gold to read. More please.

God bless Richmond supporters, this time of year, every single year.

It's interesting that you've made predictions on Richmond and North going up and down it but status quo with Collingwood and they will stagnate based on their recent history. There's more reason for Collingwood going up the ladder than Richmond IMO but again, like you, I'm biased towards my club.

 

[ReaperX]

I've given my "dumb" response in this thread, but I'll give my actual opinion on this now. But first...

I agree with most of this post above. At the end of 2016, we had 5 stars, and we gave up the oldest and most injury prone one in Deledio for a 1st round draft pick next year. That's about the limit of what we should be giving up in terms of star power. Giving up Martin, Riewoldt, or Rance would be madness and would set us back for years to come, and Cotchin I would only part with for a very very high price, which most teams probably wouldn't want to pay.

In all seriousness, our list as a whole obviously needs some work, and we're in the pack of about 7 or 8 teams vying for 1 or 2 spots in the finals, so essentially the odds are that we won't make it in. However, this myth that we need a full rebuild is also bogus as well, we're nowhere near that stage just yet.

Now, onto the thread topic... who's gonna finish higher? It's going to be Richmond, and here's my reasoning.

2016 was a poor year for Richmond, but it's also a year which we still won 8 games despite literally everything that could go wrong, going wrong. The last 6 weeks were pretty bad, and are probably the root cause of all the negativity, but realistically we were 7-9 at one point, and still a possible chance for finals. The reason why an 8-14 season was considered so bad by so many, is because of where Richmond's list actually is at... i.e, a solid list with the ability to play very good football. The expectations are higher for lists that are better, and when they under-perform, they get slaughtered by the media.

To contrast that, many people who are saying Richmond are doomed, are also simultaneously praising the year that Carlton had, and saying that they are heading for a decent run in 2017, despite playing with a team that was, on average;

1) Older and more experienced than Richmond's teams throughout 2016, and
2) Won only 7 games for the season.

The reason for this is simple: the expectation based on the strength of Carlton's list going into 2016, was that they would be a 3-4 win team, and they overachieved on that expectation.

The expectation of Richmond's list was that we'd be a finalist in 2016 and win 12-15 games, like previous years, and because we won 8, therefore we need to rebuild, etc etc.

In reality, the list doesn't actually suck, we simply had a bad year. You don't lose your talent, the only thing you lose is your confidence, and clearly after 2015's EF loss (and the effect of the previous 2 EF losses as well), our confidence in ourselves was shot. But given the year that we've had, things have now changed, and the "expectation" is that Richmond will fail and continue to be a poor team.

That suits Richmond PERFECTLY!

I hope every single one of the other 17 clubs have the same thoughts about us, because all it's going to do is make it easier for us in 2017. Just like Carlton doubled their win tally over what was expected in 2016, I feel like we're well positioned to do exactly the same thing, if not more so, partly because of the new "lower" expectations on the club.

People expecting us to only win 7 or 8 games again? Perfect.

Now, regarding Collingwood and North... the Pies have been around the same mark for about 3 seasons now, and over the long term of the past 5 or 6 seasons since Buckley took over, have been steadily declining every single year. Not to mention that they've barely added anything over the off-season of any quality, aside from an injury prone Wells.

They have been an 8-10 win team since 2014. I think the expectation of them remaining that way is justified, especially when they're signing a guy like Mayne to a 4 year deal worth 2 million. I expect the Magpies to be around 11th again.

North Melbourne, despite strong finals performances in 2014 and 2015, realistically they have been a 12-14 win team over the past 3 H&A seasons, and if it wasn't for a couple of stirring Semi Final performances against some weakened veteran opposition in 2014 (Geelong) and 2015 (Sydney), the expectations on them for the H&A might not have been as high as it was in 2016. But unfortunately a soft draw at the start, and the fact that they had the oldest list in the league in 2016, meant that it was essentially their last crack at a flag.

And after being 9-0, it looked good... but after that point, the wheels fell off, they ended up only winning 12 games, got smashed in Week 1 of the finals, and then lost about 1000 games of experience.

North's decline won't be a long or drawn out one, as they do have some decent youngsters, however their 2017 is a write off in terms of staying at a 12 win season. They will be Bottom 6, but they have enough quality to avoid going "full Brisbane" for now.

So my final prediction:

Richmond - 7th, 14 wins 8 losses. Back to normality for the Tigers.
Collingwood - 11th, 10 wins 12 losses. Status quo for the Pies.
North Melbourne - 13th, 8 wins 14 losses. A drop off for the Kangas, but with renewed vision for the future.

I'll just leave this here as well...

 

[tigers_of_old_08]

Some gems in there, only had to skim through a couple of pages, Rod Stroker with the call of the year.

[emoji1360]

Lots of gems from our resident BF experts.

 

[DrMike]

If Richmond has taught the world something it's that their inability to win a final is well up there.

That sounds rather contradictory

Besides, you should be cheering us on this finals series. The only way Martin leaves is if he's already won a grand final and has nothing left to achieve so takes his payday

 

[Kangaroos4eva]

1/35, tigers were bound to be right eventually.

Win a final first, otherwise it's a bit of a backfire.

 

[ReaperX]

1/35, tigers were bound to be right eventually.

Win a final first, otherwise it's a bit of a backfire.

Not sure how you can come to that conclusion, the thread is "who will finish higher", doesn't talk about winning finals whatsoever!

Who finished higher?

 

[gavaniacono]

I'll just leave this here as well...

Well **** me!

 

[Kangaroos4eva]

Not sure how you can come to that conclusion, the thread is "who will finish higher", doesn't talk about winning finals whatsoever!

Who finished higher?

My comment had to do with the tiggers failing year after year, so it applies to winning a final.

 

[Ancient Tiger]

****. This isn't easy. One big slider and two shit teams.
Probably North I think.

One of those two shit teams will be playing off in a qualifying final. And you profess to know something about footy?

LMAO.

 

[ReaperX]

My comment had to do with the tiggers failing year after year, so it applies to winning a final.

God bless North supporters, changing the goalposts this time of year, every single year.

 

[Ancient Tiger]

My comment had to do with the tiggers failing year after year, so it applies to winning a final.

What's that got to do with the thread? Has North been successful every year? When was the last time you did taste success? The way you post, it sounds like they have been winning every premiership for the last decade. You haven't. And what really matters is the "now" and in that case we have a chance at success while you can wallow in your cellar dweller status.

 

[Kangaroos4eva]

God bless North supporters, changing the goalposts this time of year, every single year.

Never changed anything, bumping 6+ month old posts and you sooking it up now shows how sensitive you are, my work here is done.

What's that got to do with the thread? Has North been successful every year? When was the last time you did taste success? The way you post, it sounds like they have been winning every premiership for the last decade. You haven't. And what really matters is the "now" and in that case we have a chance at success while you can wallow in your cellar dweller status.

The last 35 years, any club that has won a premiership can give your lot shit.

 

[ReaperX]

Never changed anything, bumping 6+ month old posts and you sooking it up now shows how sensitive you are, my work here is done.

Hahahahahahaha, you should rename your account "Spin4eva" matey!

 

[Rod Stroker]

That sounds rather contradictory

Besides, you should be cheering us on this finals series. The only way Martin leaves is if he's already won a grand final and has nothing left to achieve so takes his payday

Keep telling yourself that. With the money we've offered him, winning a flag this year or not won't come into it.

Anyway, I'm sure he'd prefer to play for a club that knows what winning a final in the last 16 years looks like.

 

[Art Vandelay_]

One of those two shit teams will be playing off in a qualifying final. And you profess to know something about footy?

LMAO.

No one rated you hero.

 

[Ancient Tiger]

The last 35 years, any club that has won a premiership can give your lot shit.

How about the 5 I've seen? How many has your team won in the history of the club?

 

[Ancient Tiger]

No one rated you hero.

BS

Over 31% rated us.

 

[DrMike]

Keep telling yourself that. With the money we've offered him, winning a flag this year or not won't come into it.

Anyway, I'm sure he'd prefer to play for a club that knows what winning a final in the last 16 years looks like.

So what you're saying is that North are offering so much money there's just no way Martin will not be at North next year? Big call to make and suggests that if Martin doesn't go to North there must be something fundamentally wrong with your club.

Talk to you later.

 

[NUFC Tiger]

Haha hindsight is a wonderful thing.

To be fair, I think for a lot of Richmond supporters this is kind of vindication for a lot of the criticism the club weathered last year (some warranted, some perhaps not IMO). Many wrote the club off, there was endless jokes poked at us, there was a comical coup, there was skeptical eyebrows about the internal review of the footy department, there was some scoffing at our recruitment. Media predictions generally said we needed a rebuild.

To the credit of everyone involved at the club, the club has gone a long way to to proving the doubters wrong. Bouncing back from a disappointing 2016 and winning back some respect and credibility is a nice reward for all the hard work done and for the leadership of Peggy and Gale when they were challenged in trying times.

Not to disrespect North or Collingwood but we were told our youth was generally sub par in comparison and our list was behind both of those clubs. Of course if we go out in straight sets, expect the same questions and jokes to be made at our expense but I still think the future outlook looks more encouraging for us than the other clubs (even if Dusty were to leave).

I always said at the start of the year a good season for us would be to make finals, win a final and re-sign Dusty and that's still the case IMO. Anything more is a bonus.

 

[Art Vandelay_]

BS

Over 31% rated us.

So in a 3 poll option you were rated less than the average suggests you should be.
What a wringing endorsement that is

 

[Ancient Tiger]

So in a 3 poll option you were rated less than the average suggests you should be.
What a wringing endorsement that is

Came second in a poll of three. Look at North with only 18%. You can say they weren't rated.

 

[Heisenberg_]

'us, daylight, Richmond'

Pfft, I was obviously talking about the race for Dusty.

And you're wrong on that as well

 

[Heisenberg_]

Here's another for you.:

Richmond to go out in straight sets.

Considering you're always wrong about everything you ever post I look forward to winning the flag.

 

[kangaspurs]

Let's be real though, that this Richmond team is in the top 4, these Essendon and WC teams are in the top 8 and those Melbourne and St Kilda teams were in the hunt until the final round is a genuine embarrassment to the AFL and a nailed on indicator that the number of genuinely quality teams in the league is at it's lowest point in more than a decade.

This Richmond team would be struggling to get into the 8 if it was playing any time between about 2007 and 2015 and these Essendon, Melbourne and Saints teams would be nowhere near it.

Fans of all those teams should be thankful that they've hit their relatively low peak in a down year.

 

[Draft Pick]

Let's be real though, that this Richmond team is in the top 4, these Essendon and WC teams are in the top 8 and those Melbourne and St Kilda teams were in the hunt until the final round is a genuine embarrassment to the AFL and a nailed on indicator that the number of genuinely quality teams in the league is at it's lowest point in more than a decade.

This Richmond team would be struggling to get into the 8 if it was playing any time between about 2007 and 2015 and these Essendon, Melbourne and Saints teams would be nowhere near it.

Fans of all those teams should be thankful that they've hit their relatively low peak in a down year.

Would you be prepared to say those north teams which were thrashed in prelims under Scott were an embarrassment to the AFL because they were. This Tigers team would wipe the floor with those North teams.