Is it just me

[Dave]

or does Matthews seem not to rate Sheedy or the dons? From what I've seen of him so far this week he's got the air of someone who expects to win by just turning up.

He's in for a rude shock.

 

[topdon]

That's the feeling i get. He looks not to rate Essendon at all which i find very strange. We still managed to finish top of the ladder even with our indifferent form.

The only thing i can suggest is that he has been up in Qld for so long having a nice comfortable ride with his team winning, that he thinks his team is above it all.

They've won 15 or so in a row, so they have every right to be confident. But not to be totally dismissive of their opposition. I sure hope his players are as dismissive of our team as he is!

You're right Dave...he is in for a rude shock!

 

[Dan26]

You the funny thing?

If this was a home and away game (let's just say it was Round 25) and we were playing Brisbane at, say, Colonial Stadium or the MCG, we would be unbackable favourites to win.

But because it is the Grand Final, most "neutral" pundits are over-analysing the one-on-one match-ups, and getting far too technical with their perceptions of form.

Bottom line is, that if this was a home and away match in Round 25, we would win. It is a Grand Final, instead, and I don't see why the probability of us winning would be any less than if it were Round 25.

We simply will not allow a non-Victorian team to come down here and beat us on our home turf. We will not let it happen.

Brisbane may have won 15 in a row, but only 6 of those have been on the road. Two were in Perth (big f*cking deal), one was against Collingwood (9th), one was against North (13th), one was against Geelong (12th) and the other win was against Sydney (7th). That's only one away win against a finalist.

That is still not terribly impressive. They now have to beat the TOP placed team in front of 98,000 people.

They will be sh*tting themselves. If Matthews doesn't rate Essendon, he will be in for a rude shock when his team is on the losing end of the scoreboard come Saturday afternoon.

 

[Anton Grbac]

Same here Dave,

Another thing i've noticed is that generally our supporters have been a lot quieter than Brisbane's. Judging by some of the comments i've heard/read, Lion's supporters are definitely "outarroganting" us. They seem to think it's just a matter of them turning up. In fact, a lot of them remind me of our own supporters in '99.

where's wally?

 

[TD]

Maybe Lethal has been reading the Herald Sun. If you had been reading the Herald Sun you would realise that Essendon don't have a hope in Hell!

 

[topdon]

Hope their players believe their own hype!

 

[Stegelator]

Brisbane will find themselves in a terrible mess if they don't rate Essendon!! come on Dons It is the Last game of the year! surprise 'em! Go hard! Give it ya all!

 

[LIONS2001]

Don't you guys realise this is Leigh just playing his part in the coach's game with Sheedy. Publicly, Leigh presents himself however he likes. Underneath I don't think anybody could imagine how seriously the Lions would be planning this game. This is the biggest game they have ever played against an opponent that Leigh hates. They would never take any game lightly, especially not a GF.

 

[Dave]

Some of what Matthews has said goes beyond normal coaching mind games. My observation is also based on other things that have occured during the year and some of what's been said this week. Brisbane may well be taking this game seriously but I get the feeling their players don't rate Essendon.

Certainly none of the fans on the Brisbane board rate the "red and black pricks".

 

[Shinboners]

If the Lions seriously don't rate Essendon, then they are in for a rude shock come Saturday. Read off these names - Fletcher, Wellman, Misiti, Hird, Lloyd.....that is the goal to goal line and it is the best one since the Langford, Mew, Buckenara, Brereton, Dunstall one of the late 80s Hawks. Note that we haven't even mentioned Mercuri, Jason Johnson, Hardwick, Ramanauskus, Rioli, Lucas, etc. yet.

At the moment, I still can't split the teams. It comes down to form (Lions) vs experience and reputation (Essendon). However, if Hird and Mercuri are fully fit, then I expect Essendon to win with a reasonably comfortable margin. But it says something that the only doubts people have involve Essendon having fitness problems rather than any area of the game where you can say that the Lions have a significant edge over the Bombers.