2015 Fixture

[JimmyBeerCans]

Gill couldn't have given us a harder start if he tried.

We play 2014's 5th, 2nd, 4th, 1st in the first four weeks of the year.

If he could have had us playing 3rd then I reckon he would have!

Meanwhile his crowboys are lounging around having a party with the bottom four.

Nah a big boys draw is good for this group they'll attack it with hunger

 

[mic59]

Gill couldn't have given us a harder start if he tried.

We play 2014's 5th, 2nd, 4th, 1st in the first four weeks of the year.

If he could have had us playing 3rd then I reckon he would have!

Meanwhile his crowboys are lounging around having a party with the bottom four.

And when after 5 games they are 4-1 and we are behind them the cowvertiser will have a field day pointing out this discrepancy, but the only people who really know footy will be aware we are in a much better place having played 4 tough games while they jog around witches hats.

 

[FishingRick04]

We beat Freeo at home and away. We beat Hawthorn at home and just lost away. We pushed Sydney and injuries cruelly cost a win against North. What's the problem?

 

[JimmyBeerCans]

We beat Freeo at home and away. We beat Hawthorn at home and just lost away. We pushed Sydney and injuries cruelly cost a win against North. What's the problem?

That's it Rick & those sides will be considering us a tough first month opponent... cant wait

 

[240volt]

We beat Freeo at home and away. We beat Hawthorn at home and just lost away. We pushed Sydney and injuries cruelly cost a win against North. What's the problem?

We lost to freo away,but made up for it when it counted.
We are going to need a injury free preseason.
They have done us no favors unlike the draw North have.....remember them they also played in a preliminary final last year

 

[Chopperdave]

I'm glad we have a tough draw. If you want to be the best you have to beat the best.

 

[rogerjames]

Gill couldn't have given us a harder start if he tried.

We play 2014's 5th, 2nd, 4th, 1st in the first four weeks of the year.

If he could have had us playing 3rd then I reckon he would have!

Meanwhile his crowboys are lounging around having a party with the bottom four.

Pretty much the same BS as the last few years and they still couldn't make the 8. How much help do they need?

 

[rogerjames]

We beat Freeo at home and away. We beat Hawthorn at home and just lost away. We pushed Sydney and injuries cruelly cost a win against North. What's the problem?

Those games took a toll and then we were ordinary for weeks losing winnable games which cost us top 4 which may have cost us a GF. I'm just looking for a fair draw and we didn't get that which I think was deliberate. We just have to win the GF and stick it up the MFkers

 

[bacharach]

Those games took a toll and then we were ordinary for weeks losing winnable games which cost us top 4 which may have cost us a GF. I'm just looking for a fair draw and we didn't get that which I think was deliberate. We just have to win the GF and stick it up the MFkers

Whaaaattt. Do you honestly think that playing/beating Hawks, Geelong and Freo set us up for failure for the rest of our season and denied us a top 2 finish? Please…We had a shit mid-year run for other various reasons(see **), not because played awesome.

If we do finish top 4, we are going to have an enormously difficult run home. None of this playing Richmond shit, where we kick a goal every 2 minutes. A soft draw may get us a top 4 posi, but come finals, we’ll be smoked out of the water if we don’t have experience playing the top sides (e.g. north).

We should be happy that our tough run is early. I’d much prefer to play the best sides when we’re in peak mental and physical condition, compared to doing it in the depths of winter when we’re more likely to have injuries, illness and tired young bodies**.

Also, if we’re going to get taught a lesson, let’s find out early on, so they boys can suck up the experience and improve from it, which they do brilliantly!

I say embrace the tough run, because come round 23, we’ll be hoping like hell we have it again.

 

[rogerjames]

We also finish hawthorn, suns then Freo in the last 3 weeks. Tough end to arguably the toughest fixture assigned to a club - find me a more difficult fixture in the last 5 years. Hawthorn had a tough draw last year but they'd already won flags. We've achieved nothing so far so its a completely different scenario. This fixture was designed to realign the footy landscape in SA. Simple Simon and Gilligan are total scumbags

 

[finbarr]

Those games took a toll and then we were ordinary for weeks losing winnable games which cost us top 4 which may have cost us a GF. I'm just looking for a fair draw and we didn't get that which I think was deliberate. We just have to win the GF and stick it up the MFkers

Those games didn't take a toll. The extra training load mid-late season took its toll. But had we not undergone that extra training load we probably wouldn't have finished the season as strongly as we did. This is something our players will learn to cope better with as time goes by.

 

[philreich]

Given our tough start to the year, I reckon it gives us a chance to make a massive statement. If we're 5-0 after 5 games, just imagine the fear that would reverberate around the rest of the AFL.

 

[Waspy79]

Given our tough start to the year, I reckon it gives us a chance to make a massive statement. If we're 5-0 after 5 games, just imagine the fear that would reverberate around the rest of the AFL.

What about 0-5? We will be 3-2 or 2-3, and top 4 will look tough from the outset. Thanks Gill you campaigner.

 

[xflamedancer]

**** Gill and **** the AFL, any team, any time, any where.

After the way we finished last season, the first five teams we play are thinking, shit, we have to play Port.

If we are good enough, then we play finals and no one can say we got a soft draw like our swamp dwelling neighbours.

 

[philreich]

**** Gill and **** the AFL, any team, any time, any where.

After the way we finished last season, the first five teams we play are thinking, shit, we have to play Port.

If we are good enough, then we play finals and no one can say we got a soft draw like our swamp dwelling neighbours.

The draw is what it is: even if we're 2-3 after the first 5, it opens up a little after that, to the extent that we could be 8-4 (at worst) after 12 games.

As for the mob down the road, they can spruik as much as they want: Port is now the number one team in Adelaide, which will once again be proved by the end of the season.

 

[TheFVK]

**** Gill and **** the AFL, any team, any time, any where.

After the way we finished last season, the first five teams we play are thinking, shit, we have to play Port.

If we are good enough, then we play finals and no one can say we got a soft draw like our swamp dwelling neighbours.

Why the angst? We've got a glorious, blockbuster draw. Any perceived "difficulty" to a draw becomes a non-factor once a team is a top-4 quality. It's those scrapping for the 8 who become dependant on a good draw to get them through- and who quickly get shown up once they do, like Richmond two months back.

 

[Hellgood]

So many bloody chips on shoulders manifesting in this thread.

FFS it sounds like the club has got exactly what they asked for. We got the blockbuster home games we were after, we got ANZAC day, we got increased free to air exposure (which can be argued is disproportionate to certain other sides), we got a round 22 home game and we have a couple of standalone 'marquee' away games. The AFL is very supportive of us at the moment and have been unabashed in promoting us as an example for struggling clubs to aspire to - especially in terms of off field fan involvement.

But by all means, keep ****ing moaning. They're out to get us. It's all so unfair. Gil is a crows supporter. Those bloody Vics.

This type of crap completely undermines the mantra that Keith/Koch/Ken have instilled within the club that has been the backbone of our revival. As supporters, we all desperately wanted relevance when we were shit. Well, we've got it. And now we can and will deal with it.

 

[Waspy79]

Why the angst? We've got a glorious, blockbuster draw. Any perceived "difficulty" to a draw becomes a non-factor once a team is a top-4 quality. It's those scrapping for the 8 who become dependant on a good draw to get them through- and who quickly get shown up once they do, like Richmond two months back.

This sort of confidence worries me. We have yet to finish in the top 4 after a minor round since 2007. We have proven nothing yet. This is why the fixture is a disgrace.

 

[TheFVK]

This sort of confidence worries me. We have yet to finish in the top 4 after a minor round since 2007. We have proven nothing yet. This is why the fixture is a disgrace.

So we got everything we specifically asked for (Anzac Day home game, more standalone fixturing (4 Thu/Fri night games), no Saturday day games, more FTA (9 up from 2-4)) and it's a disgrace?

Every team plays 17 teams once, and 5 teams twice. Disparities in draws are just noise; it's all about national exposure and we got that in spades.

 

[Waspy79]

So we got everything we specifically asked for (Anzac Day home game, more standalone fixturing (4 Thu/Fri night games), no Saturday day games, more FTA (9 up from 2-4)) and it's a disgrace?

Every team plays 17 teams once, and 5 teams twice. Disparities in draws are just noise; it's all about national exposure and we got that in spades.

I care about winning games of footy. We are presumably in this comp to win premierships, and that fixture will make it bloody difficult. Hawks v Swans grand final again for mine..... yawn.

 

[rumoursofwinter]

So many bloody chips on shoulders manifesting in this thread.

FFS it sounds like the club has got exactly what they asked for. We got the blockbuster home games we were after, we got ANZAC day, we got increased free to air exposure (which can be argued is disproportionate to certain other sides), we got a round 22 home game and we have a couple of standalone 'marquee' away games. The AFL is very supportive of us at the moment and have been unabashed in promoting us as an example for struggling clubs to aspire to - especially in terms of off field fan involvement.

But by all means, keep ****ing moaning. They're out to get us. It's all so unfair. Gil is a crows supporter. Those bloody Vics.

This type of crap completely undermines the mantra that Keith/Koch/Ken have instilled within the club that has been the backbone of our revival. As supporters, we all desperately wanted relevance when we were shit. Well, we've got it. And now we can and will deal with it.

Quoted because this is one of the best posts i have read in a long time. We are relevant. The club gets stronger both on field and off field by playing big matches.

 

[TheFVK]

I care about winning games of footy. We are presumably in this comp to win premierships, and that fixture will make it bloody difficult. Hawks v Swans grand final again for mine..... yawn.

Which is funny since the powerhouses of the last few years (Hawks, Geelong) have had fiendishly tough draws 5 years running. No team relying on an easy draw to win a premiership is going to crack one anyway; we need all the big game rehearsal we can get.

 

[philreich]

I care about winning games of footy. We are presumably in this comp to win premierships, and that fixture will make it bloody difficult. Hawks v Swans grand final again for mine..... yawn.

And I think you're underestimating how good this Port team is. We won't win every game: not even the great Essendon team of 2000 could manage that. But we WILL win more than our fair share of games purely on talent and superior fitness. And I definitely believe we're good enough to be playing on that first Saturday in October!!!!

 

[Waspy79]

Which is funny since the powerhouses of the last few years (Hawks, Geelong) have had fiendishly tough draws 5 years running. No team relying on an easy draw to win a premiership is going to crack one anyway; we need all the big game rehearsal we can get.

Note to heck. We are not a powerhouse. You reckon those clubs were gifted the hardest fixture in the league before they became premiers or grand final regulars? Take a look at Hawthorn's 2008 fixture.... weak as piss... especially the first 8 games where they got the momentum and belief that they could compete. Crows of 2012 very nearly landed a grand final berth on the back of the softest fixture ever devised by HQ (they got it because SA footy was nearly dead at the time btw). I'm not here to make preemptive excuses, and I will embrace the blockbusters and appreciate the additional exposure (which should be a given anyway, not something we are happy about nor need to discuss but something that should be automatic given our rise up the ladder, membership numbers and game style), but based on where we are at, the fixture and it's challenges is a joke - an additional hurdle for us to overcome.

 

[Lockhart Road]

I care about winning games of footy. We are presumably in this comp to win premierships, and that fixture will make it bloody difficult. Hawks v Swans grand final again for mine..... yawn.

Right, but not the full story.
We are in this comp to stay in this comp in the proper shape to win premierships.
'Proper shape' includes sufficient revenue and the draw either contributes to that or detracts from it.