Finals 2015?

[Run n Spread]

Seen all the predictions for the neutrals keen to see what pies fans think. Personally I'm cautiouslly optimistic. A great early season draw should see a potential 5-0/4-1 start and from there momentum builds and anything can happen. The Beams and loss will sting as will Ball's retirement a little but the continued development of Sidebottom with Adams and others coming on and the addition of Greenwood and Varcoe to run through the middle means the engine room is still solid.

Fowards and avenues to goal are an issue but Elliot and Cloke can camoflauge that with big years and with Reid back and the defence coming on I see positives.

Going to say 4-6 with luck but think finals are on the agenda.

 

[Maggie5]

Definitely final 8 and from there, who knows?

 

[Apex36]

We only missed finals by a game + percentage last year. Not the disaster some made it out to be.

The loss of Beams might hurt, but there's a good chance of the emergence of one of our talented kids to fill the void. My tip is Broomy.

No reason we can make the 8 this year the way our kids are improving

 

[Ketchup]

12-13th. No finals. Will obviously be pleasantly surprised and wrong if we do.

 

[ace andy]

Of course we can make it. But we could just as easily finish 13th. The comp is so even it doesn't take much to rocket up or down the ladder. At this time of the year pretty much every team is thinking they can improve their position by a few spots. Half of them will be wrong.

 

[mattys123]

It comes down to injuries again, our best team is top 8 easily, I simply can't find 8 better best 22's out there, but we all know our recent record with injuries.

The draw is the kindest it's been in years for us, maybe going as far back as 2006 when we last missed the finals the season before.

We also need our 1st to 4th year players to develop quicker then what naturally happens, because that's where the basis of our next premiership team will come from, and if they improve dramatically in 2015 we will easily make finals, even with a below average injury run.

Similar to last season, I have us anywhere from 5th to 10th (we finished 11th due to an absolute shit run with injuries).

 

[jakson68]

I hate thinking this and I would obviously love to be wrong but I don't think this will be our year. We have lost alot of experience and quality players, our kids (that have played) look promising and with quite a few first rounders yet to play a game, so does our future. Games however are not won on "what could be". Two to three years, if we keep our list together and possibly pick up a good free agent (in their prime), I can see us going deep into September.
This year unfortunatly, with the improvement of those around us (who's early draft picks have had a season under their belt) and the slim chance of fall away from those at the top of the tree, I can see us struggleing to make the finals. AGAIN I would so love to be wrong. FFS please let me be wrong!

 

[ottoman]

We should finish top 8.
If you analyse our list this year compared to last year not on players who have left and been recruited but on an availability level you see we are a much stronger team.
For example some of the main outs would be
Beams
Maxwell
Harry
Ball
Caff (half season)
Yeah they are serious outs but the ins become
Reid
Brown
Greenwood
Varcoe
Freeman
DeGooey
Moore
Crisp
and then factor in all the players who had limited season due to injury or not having proper pre seasons
seedsman
faz
PK
tooves
etc etc
Then factor in the improvement which should come from some of our younger players who have played around the 30-60 games and in my opinion what you get is a team which should out perform last years team.

I think Collingwood will surprise quite a lot of people in 2015. I think Bucks is on the right path. I think he is going to silence a lot of critics of the next year or two.

 

[pinko77]

depends on injuries with all the injuries we had last season we had no chance we need reid fit makes a big difference
I say top 8 maybe top 6 beams loss will hurt but I think greenwood will do fine and actually man up unlike beams
think crisp will do very well hes a big size solid for a midfielder wont mind getting the hard ball out
im just going to sit back and enjoy the young players coming though

 

[76woodenspooners]

Poll added

 

[Fruit]

We have a better draw than recent years due to being outside the top 6 and I think our list as it stands right now is betters than last years. Beams is the obvious huge loss. We only just missed out on the 8 by one game with a shocking run with injury and the early season draw is favourable particularly with Pearce Hanley out for the Lions. If we can be 4-1 our confidence and morale will be a huge advantage heading into the tougher rounds.

 

[mike123]

Better draw, without injuries we will have a better best 22 than last year, Beat three top 4 teams last year, if we don't play Blair and Goldsack in the same forwardline we will score more, If we don't play Maccaffer the midfield will win more of the ball, Swan having a pre season and hopefully an injury free year.


Yeah, I think we'll make finals easily.

 

[Bring_Back_Brad]

ill be surprised if we aren't top 4.
expecting to finish 1st or second.

 

[Scodog10]

I fall in the nay category. Our list is now pretty average because of the severe youth line. That doesn't mean they won't do good things moving forward I just struggle to find more than 5-6 teams that we a clearly better than in 2015...

In the end 10-12 with anything above that a bonus.

I just hope this thread doesn't turn into a 'if injuries go our way we'll be alright' thread!

 

[MagpieBat]

I fall in the nay category. Our list is now pretty average because of the severe youth line. That doesn't mean they won't do good things moving forward I just struggle to find more than 5-6 teams that we a clearly better than in 2015...

In the end 10-12 with anything above that a bonus.

I just hope this thread doesn't turn into a 'if injuries go our way we'll be alright' thread!

What he said.

 

[MooreTreloar]

As with 2014 I have us in the 7-13 position again. I'm trying to not get caught up in the hype but do believe our best is top 6 worthy. It's just a matter of putting it all together.

 

[Chief Ten Beers]

One thing is certain next year, Saints will have the spoon sewn up. LOL

 

[76woodenspooners]

2015 will be an exciting year, I really hope we make finals, but I just don't think we will.

Sure, we do have a bunch of exciting young talent coming through - DeGoey, Moore, Freeman, Scharenberg - But I just don't think we can count on players who are yet to play an AFL game to make our team better (yet). Remember that practically every other team will be excited about their draft recruits too.

Add to that our list of lower profile players who are even more speculative (Gault, Ramsay, Marsh, Oxley, Maynard, Goodyear, Manteit, Abbott) some of them may have great development years (I hope they all do) ... But key contributors to a final 8 team in a 18 team competition? Unlikely.

As for Varcoe and Greenwood - how many new recruits come in and make an immediate and solid impact? None. It takes time. It even took Jolly and Ball time to settle in before they found their rhythm (remember MM around round 7, 2010 saying something like "I'm not worried at all about Darren Jolly's poor form, I'm happy to keep playing him because I know he'll come good")

Crisp is a lottery ticket - think P.Karnezis, S.Buckley, A.Corrie, J.Russell. I'm hoping he ends up another Jamie "the steak knives" Elliott - but until I see him string a few good senior games together I'll be hopeful but skeptical.

Odds of Swan finding consistent good form? Low. I hope he does, really I do, but I think it's unlikely. Even at the fan forum Bucks made explicit mention of Swanny being in his twilight years and implying we shouldn't expect too much from him.

If we do make finals in 2015 it'll be because the young players who are in that 20 to 80 games range mature and find consistent solid form - players like Williams, Keeffe, Langdon, Thomas, Adams, Fasolo, Elliott, Frost, Seedsman, Witts, Grundy, Broomhead, Kennedy, Sinclair

 

[TradeDraft]

Can’t I say it’s 50/50

 

[Kappa]

Best we can achieve: 8th

Worst: 14th

Easily 5-6 teams a level above us

 

[Rusty22]

One thing is certain next year, Saints will have the spoon sewn up. LOL

carlton and bulldogs will be battling for the wooden spoon also.

 

[jjsmitty8]

carlton and bulldogs will be battling for the wooden spoon also.

Genuinely think that on paper, the Bulldogs and St.Kilda show a lot more promise and their fans have more to be excited about. My hatred for Carlton isn't saying that, that's my analytical side saying that. I haven't rated Carlton's list for at least 3 years and I still don't.

 

[Tarkyn_24]

I see us somewhere between 12th and 14th.

That said, I also think Buckley's on the right track and we should persist. We'll be serious contenders in three years.

 

[NT.Thunder]

I'm hoping for 6-8 but my head is telling me 9-12.

Once again down to injuries and key players returning to form for me. Swan and Cloke returning to solid form is integral in returning to finals along with injuries to Reid and Brown. I'm not sure many in here understand just how important a fully fit Brown is to our team.

Natural progression will be expected from our 2-3 year players and it's unknown just how much impact Varcoe and Levi will have in a new team.

Can't expect anything from our new recruits and just getting games into them will be a key to future campaigns.

Grundy needs to take another step and find another string to his bow as Witts will be our No.1 Ruck at the start of the season. We also need someone like White to stand-up.

Here's hoping for a good year.

 

[Wooljay]

On paper we could be a finals team, but then again so are 10-12 other teams. Comp is going to be very tight in the middle ladder, will be a half dozen make or break games this year against teams like Adelaide, Essendon and sadly Carlton even.

Flip a coin imo, could go either way.