Preview Changes & Pre-match Discussion vs. GCS (R20, Sun 04/08 1:10pm MCG)

[jmac70]

Alright guys, take it to the 'Misery loves company' thread.

The Pies team has gone through all the new cars on the lot and then trashed them, and now we'd had to settle on the old trusted V8 Monaro that Dad owns at the back of the shed. It's had its motor turned over, and is now sitting idling in the garage. We roar out on Sunday arvo and do some burnouts around the G and then we show the footy world that even when we let the L Platers drive we're here for keeps.

Go Pies

(I don't even know what this post means but I just couldnae stand the griping any longer)

Love it.

Win on Sunday and we are finals bound!

 

[DaVe86]

Anyone got an update as to whether Adams, Greenwood and Roughead trained today?

 

[unplugged]

Imagine having the bottom 2 sides in 2 consecutive weeks, needing probably just one more win to make finals, and being genuinely concerned that it still isn't 100%.

 

[unplugged]

Anyone got an update as to whether Adams, Greenwood and Roughead trained today?

To be honest I would've thought our main session was tomorrow with a light run on Saturday.

Generally would've meant we'd have trained yesterday, but I didn't see anything about that.

 

[DaVe86]

I thought I saw Jen earlier in the week say main session today.

 

[Finnishpie]

jmac I am fairly sure that after our last loss you pretty much declared the season over. Now you are back to pretending that hope will win us games. I find it hard to take you seriously when you switch between extremes.

Isn't switching between extremes basically the modus operandi of this board?

 

[BuildEmUp]

Given Tigers fixture we can forget top 4. But we have shown we are good enough. Only lost to Geelong by 7 where we fluffed so many chances it was rediculous. We smashed Brisbane up in Brisbane, we smashed Richmond earlier in the year and recently finally beat our bogey team in West Coast severely under manned in Perth.

This is such an even comp this year literally nearly all teams in the 8 could win it if they click at the right time. If can just have a bit of luck for once we are far from out of it if our form can finally turn around and get majority of the players back.

I refuse to give up on this team because of much I love this team and I've always been an optimist. We are capable against any of the teams in eight.

Correct! agree completely the seasons starts NOW : - when we are settled and bring our best we beat anyone.. lets hope we win at least 3 from 4 in next four weeks and then the a grade team is assembled for finals .. in Moore, Adams, goo, stevo , fit elliot, and choose from quaynor / Shaz / greenwood etc for roles ..

 

[DaicosianMarvels]

Agree with some of the comments in regards to we don't need to finish top 4. What is the most important thing for us is to stop the bleeding (injuries) and get majority of the key players out with at least 1-2 games left and build some form heading in the finals.

I would much rather that then win the next 4 in very underwhelming performances.

We need to be playing the way we want to and have a decent squad to pick from and the past means nothing anymore. It's a whole new season after that. The home and away season is just the qualifiers, that's all it is really.

We have broken that hoodoo v WCE. Doesn't matter if it was a fluke or not, it's still massive for mental reasons. There is no other team we need to fear if we are playing at our best.

Can we get these key players back in the next fortnight and stop injuries to key players are the two big questions though?

 

[Frank Gallagher]

With the latest injuries to De Goey and Quaynor, my hope is all but extinguished, even against GC. And if we not undermanned enough to lose to them, we won't win against the better teams.

The bye before the finals will help.

 

[sideswipe]

Agree with some of the comments in regards to we don't need to finish top 4. What is the most important thing for us is to stop the bleeding (injuries) and get majority of the key players out with at least 1-2 games left and build some form heading in the finals.

I would much rather that then win the next 4 in very underwhelming performances.

We need to be playing the way we want to and have a decent squad to pick from and the past means nothing anymore. It's a whole new season after that. The home and away season is just the qualifiers, that's all it is really.

We have broken that hoodoo v WCE. Doesn't matter if it was a fluke or not, it's still massive for mental reasons. There is no other team we need to fear if we are playing at our best.

Can we get these key players back in the next fortnight and stop injuries to key players are the two big questions though?

We NEED to finish 5-8 so we get the 4 finals. Need to play Moore, Stevo, Beams and Wells back into form in the earlier finals so they are cherry ripe for the GF.

 

[DaVe86]

Agree with some of the comments in regards to we don't need to finish top 4. What is the most important thing for us is to stop the bleeding (injuries) and get majority of the key players out with at least 1-2 games left and build some form heading in the finals.

I would much rather that then win the next 4 in very underwhelming performances.

We need to be playing the way we want to and have a decent squad to pick from and the past means nothing anymore. It's a whole new season after that. The home and away season is just the qualifiers, that's all it is really.

We have broken that hoodoo v WCE. Doesn't matter if it was a fluke or not, it's still massive for mental reasons. There is no other team we need to fear if we are playing at our best.

Can we get these key players back in the next fortnight and stop injuries to key players are the two big questions though?

I don't think top 4 is even a possibility anyway considering the teams above us are a few games clear and will keep winning. Tigers are 1 game clear but play all their matches at the MCG so at worst are going to win 3 of the 4. We simply are not going to win all 4 games with this current crop of players.

I just think we need to qualify for finals, and try and get the list fit enough to put together 1 month of good football in the finals.

If we have Moore, Wells, Adams, De Goey, Elliott, Beams, Greenwood, Aish and Sier all up and running in the finals, then anything can happen.

It's our only hope now. Top 4 is out of the question, so we just need to bank one more win and put all our focus on the health of our list....even if that means dropping a few games by resting key players.

That's why I am rating this game as our most important of the year. If we win this, then our sole focus in the last 3 weeks can turn to finals and perhaps trying a few different structural moves to reinvigorate the side. Lose this game, and all of a sudden finals isn't a guarantee.

 

[Thatsmyname]

At a guess


Sen:
Maynard Roughead Madgen
Howe Scharenberg Crisp

Grundy Treloar Pendlebury
Phillips Adams Sidebottom

Mihocek WHE Elliott
Thomas Cox Varcoe

Mayne Greenwood C Brown T Brown


Emer:
Daicos Broomhead Wills Goldsack


Res:
Crocker Appleby Bosenavulagi Wilson Keane Lynch Tohill


Unavailable:
Moore De Goey Beams Aish Sier Quaynor Stephenson Noble Wells Reid Langdon Dunn Murphy Kelly Murray

 

[Jen2310]

I thought I saw Jen earlier in the week say main session today.

Nah Friday. Two days before each game. Did I accidently say Thursday?

 

[Timmy from Thomastown]

All we can do is win every game with some percentage improvement and let the cards fall as they may. We may yet scrape into fourth spot.

Richmond play Eagles and Brisbane on the home run.

GWS should win all four but Hawks and Dogs are no pushovers, and Sydney in the local derby is always a tough game.

 

[domus]

Why, because no one consulted you personally?

See, here's the thing you don't get....You Don't Get A Say

Where did I say I should have a say? The club is constantly trumpeting the fact that we are all in this together, side by side, our members are the club, without them we don't have a team..blah blah. All I am asking the club to do is to communicate honestly with its members/supporters.

 

[Pragmatic Shill]

At a guess


Sen:
Maynard Roughead Howe
Madgen Scharenberg Crisp

Grundy Treloar Pendlebury
Adams Phillips Sidebottom

Varcoe WHE Mihocek
Thomas Cox Elliott

Mayne Greenwood C Brown T Brown


Emer:
Daicos Broomhead Wills Goldsack


Res:
Crocker Appleby Bosenavulagi Wilson Keane Lynch


Unavailable:
Moore De Goey Beams Aish Sier Quaynor Stephenson Noble Wells Reid Langdon Dunn Tohill Murphy Kelly Murray

Tohill played last week, I think he is available.

 

[jmac70]

Tohill played last week, I think he is available.

I’d be very happy with that team.

 

[hellfire]

I’d be very happy with that team.

It's a surprisingly decent team given who is unavailable!

 

[domus]

All clubs do the same thing. I think the psychology of the player group is more important and that the message is pumping the tyre's of the next soldier, and not showing weakness. Feeds into the us v them mentality.

I don't doubt the FD takes this very seriously, as important as we think it is to us, it's their jobs and livelihoods on the line.

I understand not wanting to demoralize the playing group with talk of injuries affecting us but I played suburban footy for years, mostly in the ressies with a sprinkling of senior games each year. Do you think I didn't know I was in the ones due to a bad run of injuries in the seniors? I wouldn't have dropped my bundle if the coach mentioned this fact. It would in fact stir me up to prove the bloke wrong and show I was a worthy replacement. Surely AFL players can cope with reality and don't need their tyres artificially pumped. Logic dictates that if the coach really thought you were as good as the blokes missing you would have been playing senior footy already!

You may be surprised by how deeply invested some supporters are. Most of the current coaching staff are pursuing a career and have no particular passion for the Collingwood Football Club (Bucks an exception) and all of them will move onto the next job offer in time and no longer give a toss about what happens to the Pies. The fans are invested for life. Being paid a million bucks a year to coach must also soften the blow when the axe inevitably falls.

How many of the blokes on our coaching staff have stood in sleeting hail on the hill near the donut van at Vic Park cheering on the pies or climbed what seems like a thousand steps on crutches up the back of the old Ponsford stand week in and week out to support the boys in black and white? When was the last time they stood on a station platform cheek to cheek with thousands of other supporters waiting for a train that never comes after another shattering loss with another long week at work beckoning?

How about sitting in the stands with opposition fans getting in your face after your team loses another grand final after holding what appeared to be a match-winning lead on multiple occasions? This is what I and other Pie fans have been doing for 55 years.

Forgive me if my heart doesn't bleed for the coaching staff.

 

[jmac70]

It's a surprisingly decent team given who is unavailable!

It sure is. No reason why we can’t win well.

 

[partypie]

We NEED to finish 5-8 so we get the 4 finals. Need to play Moore, Stevo, Beams and Wells back into form in the earlier finals so they are cherry ripe for the GF.

We'll still get 4 finals from 3rd or 4th as I don't think we're much of a threat to knock off Geelong or whoever is in 2nd in a qualifying final, but having that "win or you're out" pressure taken out of the equation will certainly make that first final a bit easier on blokes coming back.

 

[sirlothie]

We NEED to finish 5-8 so we get the 4 finals. Need to play Moore, Stevo, Beams and Wells back into form in the earlier finals so they are cherry ripe for the GF.

Beams is still listed as indefinite. He just came back to the club. He's not coming back this year.

 

[partypie]

It sure is. No reason why we can’t win well.

The the problem we've had most of the year - team looks like it should be good on paper, but it's not getting the job done out on the ground.

 

[sideswipe]

I understand not wanting to demoralize the playing group with talk of injuries affecting us but I played suburban footy for years, mostly in the ressies with a sprinkling of senior games each year. Do you think I didn't know I was in the ones due to a bad run of injuries in the seniors? I wouldn't have dropped my bundle if the coach mentioned this fact. It would in fact stir me up to prove the bloke wrong and show I was a worthy replacement. Surely AFL players can cope with reality and don't need their tyres artificially pumped. Logic dictates that if the coach really thought you were as good as the blokes missing you would have been playing senior footy already!

You may be surprised by how deeply invested some supporters are. Most of the current coaching staff are pursuing a career and have no particular passion for the Collingwood Football Club (Bucks an exception) and all of them will move onto the next job offer in time and no longer give a toss about what happens to the Pies. The fans are invested for life. Being paid a million bucks a year to coach must also soften the blow when the axe inevitably falls.

How many of the blokes on our coaching staff have stood in sleeting hail on the hill near the donut van at Vic Park cheering on the pies or climbed what seems like a thousand steps on crutches up the back of the old Ponsford stand week in and week out to support the boys in black and white? When was the last time they stood on a station platform cheek to cheek with thousands of other supporters waiting for a train that never comes after another shattering loss with another long week at work beckoning?

How about sitting in the stands with opposition fans getting in your face after your team loses another grand final after holding what appeared to be a match-winning lead on multiple occasions? This is what I and other Pie fans have been doing for 55 years.

Forgive me if my heart doesn't bleed for the coaching staff.

Not proud to say there was more than one occasion when I silently cheered someone else copping a Thursday night injury.

Beams is still listed as indefinite. He just came back to the club. He's not coming back this year.

Apologies that you detected a hint of seriousness in that post.

 

[jackcass]

I understand not wanting to demoralize the playing group with talk of injuries affecting us but I played suburban footy for years, mostly in the ressies with a sprinkling of senior games each year. Do you think I didn't know I was in the ones due to a bad run of injuries in the seniors? I wouldn't have dropped my bundle if the coach mentioned this fact. It would in fact stir me up to prove the bloke wrong and show I was a worthy replacement. Surely AFL players can cope with reality and don't need their tyres artificially pumped. Logic dictates that if the coach really thought you were as good as the blokes missing you would have been playing senior footy already!

And the players at Collingwood would know exactly the same thing. Knowing and the messaging are different things.

You may be surprised by how deeply invested some supporters are. Most of the current coaching staff are pursuing a career and have no particular passion for the Collingwood Football Club (Bucks an exception) and all of them will move onto the next job offer in time and no longer give a toss about what happens to the Pies. The fans are invested for life. Being paid a million bucks a year to coach must also soften the blow when the axe inevitably falls.

I'm 1 of those supporters so it doesn't surprise me at all. As with players, the fact that the FD are paid employees doesn't necessarily diminish their commitment to the club. They're either invested or they're not. I don't know the players or coaching staff to say 1 way or the other so I won't denigrate them by guessing. And who said they'd be guaranteed "the next job".

How many of the blokes on our coaching staff have stood in sleeting hail on the hill near the donut van at Vic Park cheering on the pies or climbed what seems like a thousand steps on crutches up the back of the old Ponsford stand week in and week out to support the boys in black and white? When was the last time they stood on a station platform cheek to cheek with thousands of other supporters waiting for a train that never comes after another shattering loss with another long week at work beckoning?

How about sitting in the stands with opposition fans getting in your face after your team loses another grand final after holding what appeared to be a match-winning lead on multiple occasions? This is what I and other Pie fans have been doing for 55 years.

Forgive me if my heart doesn't bleed for the coaching staff.

I don't know, how many?