Essendon will make the top 10

[evs05]

take the best 8 players out of any side and they will struggle. imagine geelong with no ablett,corey,scarlett,harley,bartel,sj,milburn and chapman. at one stage 15 dons were injured at once,10 of that 15 arguably in our best 22

we weren't missing our best 8 players. not even close.

please name the 10. lucas, fletcher, mcveigh, davey, watson. no one would argue against them being in our best 22. watson only missed one game and so did fletcher and they were in different games. i'd be interested to see the other 5 / 6 you believe are in our best 22.

in any case, you've picked 8 of geelongs best 10 players. that would only be a fair comparison if we had also been missing lloyd, hille and a few others. i'm trying to think of who has been good over the last few weeks but no one is springing to mind

dempsey was in good form when he went down, but i wouldn't say he had cemented a walk up spot yet. gumby had been in and out of the team. the rest are fringe / bendigo players IMO.

 

[Kaan]

I still believe we are top 10 material.

 

[rines]

I'm with you houli.. i think we can beat freo.. richmond, melb and west coast and that should put us 9/10th...

 

[AndyLesPaul]

it isnt looking that bad
we have fremantle nxt week
which means 5 wins
hopefully

we are a chance for top 10 for sure/

 

[PK]

Should make top 10. By my reckoning we will end up with 9 wins. Could be more if things fall our way. If we had one more win by this stage finals could still be a glimmer but we'll just have to settle with our predicament. Not a bad draw for mine.

Fremantle (S) - Loss - We're never usually good over there. But the way Freo are going I guess we are always a chance.

Brisbane Lions (D) - Win - Always good against Brisbane at the Dome. Smashed them last year at the dome so I don't see why not. Just need to keep Brown out of the game and hopefully Bradshaws not back. I am actually confident and more confident than against Freo in Subiaco.

Richmond (MCG) - Win - They've been of a bogey side of late but if we are able to get the team against Carlton on the park then I think we should be every chance.

Collingwood (MCG) - Win - Blockbuster syndrome to strike the pies.

Melbourne (MCG) - Win - They are a rabble.

West Coast (S) - Win - We are pretty bad over there but they'll be well into their tank at that stage to not care.

Adelaide (D) - Loss - We got close to them but just have a feeling they'll be too good for us this time.

Western Bulldogs (D) - Loss - I'll say loss but we always play well against the Dogs no matter our situation so hopefully we can scrape a win.

St Kilda (D) - Loss - Same as above but if St. Kilda are gunning for a finals position this might be a must win game for them and might have too much will to win.

Opinions? I know my predictions might seem a bit strange in parts but instinct is telling me this could be how it pans out.

 

[rines]

i think freo next week is easier than brisbane.. freo are hopeless... they lost to melb ffs!! i think if you apply pressure they will crumble.. that would mean 3 wins in a row and the boys would be fired up.. always a chance against lions at home, then rich, melb and west coast are good chances. that means if we can win one from coll, adel, bulldogs or st kilda we have 10 wins.. which might be enough to scrape into the 8 but probably have us sitting 9-11...

 

[Daytripper]

SK have close to the worst list in the comp when you strip away their top 6 players.

If that match was being played this weekend I would have Essendon as favourites.

 

[The Donners]

SK have close to the worst list in the comp when you strip away their top 6 players.

If that match was being played this weekend I would have Essendon as favourites.

Agreed.

2 wins and our season is somewhat back on track, what an odd year thus far!

 

[tigertiger]

I cant see Essendon beating,
simmonds can match hill who to me is your most dangerouse player when on song,
our forward line is not one dimensional anymore and you have to be able to stop hughes, morton, brown, edwards, Bowden and richo are all capable of kicking bags of goals

Your biggest weakness IMO is your midfiled and ours is just warming up. Foley Deledio Tuck Johnson White and our youngest player Cotchin will be just to much for you to handle

Our backline is a bit of a concern at the moment with Thursfield and McGuane out but they should be back by the time we play you

Richmond by 6 goals

 

[Merv]

I cant see Essendon beating,
simmonds can match hill who to me is your most dangerouse player when on song,
our forward line is not one dimensional anymore and you have to be able to stop hughes, morton, brown, edwards, Bowden and richo are all capable of kicking bags of goals

Your biggest weakness IMO is your midfiled and ours is just warming up. Foley Deledio Tuck Johnson White and our youngest player Cotchin will be just to much for you to handle

Our backline is a bit of a concern at the moment with Thursfield and McGuane out but they should be back by the time we play you

Richmond by 6 goals

Let's wait until both clubs have at least played this week before we start making any predictions.

 

[The Donners]

I cant see Essendon beating,
simmonds can match hill who to me is your most dangerouse player when on song,
our forward line is not one dimensional anymore and you have to be able to stop hughes, morton, brown, edwards, Bowden and richo are all capable of kicking bags of goals

Your biggest weakness IMO is your midfiled and ours is just warming up. Foley Deledio Tuck Johnson White and our youngest player Cotchin will be just to much for you to handle

Our backline is a bit of a concern at the moment with Thursfield and McGuane out but they should be back by the time we play you

Richmond by 6 goals

If Richmond go in with your attitude I believe it will be you my friend that will be at the ass end of the 6 goal margin! I don't think Richmond are at all ready for our defensive pressure! Something we were missing last time the teams met along with Lucas who is just finding his feet again and essentially we were missing Lloyd. Good luck Richmond, it should be a fantastic battle!

 

[Crumpler83]

I'm actually more confident of beating Brisbane than Freo too.

I'm never confident when we play at Subiaco. When was the last time we won a game there?

Brisbane are a good side but the way some people go on about them you would think they were in the midst of another 3-peat.

 

[danzan22]

I cant see Essendon beating,
simmonds can match hill who to me is your most dangerouse player when on song,
our forward line is not one dimensional anymore and you have to be able to stop hughes, morton, brown, edwards, Bowden and richo are all capable of kicking bags of goals

Your biggest weakness IMO is your midfiled and ours is just warming up. Foley Deledio Tuck Johnson White and our youngest player Cotchin will be just to much for you to handle

Our backline is a bit of a concern at the moment with Thursfield and McGuane out but they should be back by the time we play you

Richmond by 6 goals

You sound exactly like a Carlton Supporter before sundays game, underrate us at your perill.

 

[Schmick]

I don't think we are better than Richmond and North, but I do think we are a chance of making the top 10 with the run home we've got.

 

[evs05]

After the last two weeks 9th or 10th is mathematically possible but would still be a big effort. I certainly don't think we are going to be a top 8 side. Let's not get ahead of ourselves here - we beat the 15th placed eagles without their second best player (kerr) and the blues who were coming off two come from behind wins and could be excused for being a little flat. Not to take anything away from our boys because they thoroughly deserved both wins, but its not like we beat any top 4 sides.

Games against Freo, Brisbane, Richmond, Collingwood, Eagles - I wouldn't be surprised to see us win all of these. Just like I wouldn't be surprised to see us lose them all such is the difference between our best and worst this year.

We're still 2 games behind 9th and 10th and there are only 9 games left. If we win 5 of those 9 as most of us are hoping / predicting it means we can only afford for the saints to win 3 of their 9. They have games against the blues, eagles, power and freo, plus a few other winnable ones. Does anyone seriously expect them to only win 3 of 9 while pushing for a finals spot?

 

[The Donners]

Does anyone seriously expect them to only win 3 of 9 while pushing for a finals spot?

Not so much expect it but wouldn't be surprised. They were absolutely shithouse Friday night, extremely lucky to get over the line! Any 50/50 frees went the way of the Saints and the blatant push in the back by Goddard on I think Peake or Crowley in the square was an indictment on the game... poor umpiring! How could the umpire at 50 not see that push in the back??? Saints had two players on Friday night, Riewoldt and a 37 year old (special mention to Gram's finishing ability!!!)!!!

 

[Kaan]

Bump.

 

[loopy_cam]

Bump.

Subtle bump there. Nice work.

 

[Kaan]

Subtle bump there. Nice work.

A few more wins and I might have to change the title to top 8

 

[Call Me Cake]

Hahaha, reading through the early bullshit was very amusing. It's funny how people write teams off so early in the competition. This is exactly why pretty much anything can happen in the space of time.

 

[Kaan]

Another bump.

 

[OzBomber]

We're the 2nd best team in the league since round 11. I can't believe how we've turned it around. Even with the injuries.

 

[mick7]

that's because the Dons have SPIRIT!

suffer in ya jocks Carlton! haha. GO BOMBERS!

 

[Call Me Cake]

Hahaha. Great win against Collingwood & Melbourne in the past couple weeks!

Making the 8 would take a miracle.

But finishing 9th even, isn't a stretch at all.

WATCH OUT 2009.