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Toast Minor Premiers

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Average losing margin this year was 10.2 points. 51 points in total.

Anyone know how that compares to other minor premiers?
Collingwood 1929 was N/A
 
I think it's still mathematically possible we can get Collingwood, Brisbane, Hawthorn, GWS or Fremantle.

Fremantle and GWS are both mathematical chances, but Fremantle would require such a specific set of outcomes it's unrealistic

GWS is a little more realistic. If Bris/Haw is anything but a draw, it'll take GWS challenging AFL records to be a chance. But if Bris/Haw is a draw, a GWS win probably gives them 4th

I think best realistic chance is a close Hawthorn win. Lets them jump Brisbane, and if high scoring enough and close enough, their % might drop below Collingwood's and leave them in 4th.


But I'd say 97% chance we get Collingwood. 2.9999% chance it's Hawthorn, 0.0001% chance it's GWS.

But god dammit, I will be cheering for that 0.0001%
 
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I remember it was after the Bulldogs win at Marvel, everyone started to think hmmmm maybe we could be the real deal. "Let's go win the last 6 and finish in the Top 4, then it's potentially two wins from a GF, anything can happen!". It seemed a bit fanciful - surely we would drop a game or two before finals?

Well, we won all of them, and we are now two home wins away from a Grand Final. It's there for us to grab if we're hungry.
 
I remember it was after the Bulldogs win at Marvel, everyone started to think hmmmm maybe we could be the real deal. "Let's go win the last 6 and finish in the Top 4, then it's potentially two wins from a GF, anything can happen!". It seemed a bit fanciful - surely we would drop a game or two before finals?

Well, we won all of them, and we are now two home wins away from a Grand Final. It's there for us to grab if we're hungry.

Well its either Brisbane or Hawthorn at home that first final now. Will be a huge game. But we are good enough. Im predicting a Crows v Geelong AFL GF. Imagine that!
 
If we were told at the start of the season the Crows would finish minor premiers, we’d all be crazy happy with that result.

Heck, if we were told after Round 17 the Crows would finish a game clear as minor premiers, we’d think someone was making shit up.

So regardless of what happens from here, it’s been a bloody good performance from the team, especially given they really only had 1 bad game (vs Freo). It’s even more ridiculous when you consider the team finished 15th last season.
 

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I think it's still mathematically possible we can get Collingwood, Brisbane, Hawthorn, GWS or Fremantle.

Fremantle and GWS are both mathematical chances, but Fremantle would require such a specific set of outcomes it's unrealistic

GWS is a little more realistic. If Bris/Haw is anything but a draw, it'll take GWS challenging AFL records to be a chance. But if Bris/Haw is a draw, a GWS win probably gives them 4th

I think best realistic chance is a close Hawthorn win. Lets them jump Brisbane, and if high scoring enough and close enough, their % might drop below Collingwood's and leave them in 4th.


But I'd say 97% chance we get Collingwood. 2.9999% chance it's Hawthorn, 0.0001% chance it's GWS.

But god dammit, I will be cheering for that 0.0001%

If we lose the QF it is a good chance it is GWS in the semi though so to a prelim to play Geelong or Free Kick Hawthorn at the MCG or Brisbane at Gabba.

I'll feel good about a MCG final as heavy underdogs, kinda like 2012. They will all expect us to lose badly and we'll thrive as underdogs and give it a really good shot.

But if it is the Lions at the Gabba in the preliminary final, that will be much harder to win.
 
Ahh yep forgot to take into account either side leap frogs the pies. Unless its a goal fest and Hawks win but they lose %. Either way I couldnt care less. Its going to be one spirited clash.

And Collingwood when switched on play end to end football so well so our defenders need to be super sharp. We do have a good forward line though.
 
Collingwood first up.

If we make it to the GF and play Geelong. It will be Danger vs his old side. Imagine that!
People still care about Dangerfield?

My hate dissipated for him after the following 2 moments

 

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The consistency of the season has been pretty remarkable. We've not had a broadly poor performance leading to a loss since the Dockers game in round 7, just the two narrow losses on the road in a 14-2 run. The other main contenders have been much patchier, and the minor premiership is a reflection of that.

Could imagine any sort of result from here, my guess is probably a prelim and Geelong or Brisbane win the flag, but it's been a very successful season given reasonable goals at the start. The biggest positive for me is that we are likely to be better next year given the age profile of the group.
 
If not for Rankine’s suspension and the divisive debate and media pile-on, the tapering form over the past month, and the fact that we’re all a little jaded from a lifetime supporting the Crows, I think we’d all be a little more up and about.

It’s a fair turnaround to go from bottom four to minor premiers and it’s worth a minor celebration. If we can’t win it from here though I’ll be gutted, just like all those other years where we’ve been in contention and blew it (I was at the 93 prelim, so it’s a disappointment that’s been honed over decades).

But as others have noted it doesn’t feel like this is our only shot at a flag with this playing group; if we do fall short we need to harden our resolve and get back here again in 2026. And that’s the other reality of being a Crows supporter; there’s no real redemption until we’re holding up that third premiership cup. So let’s f$&@ing give this thing a shake.
 
Minor Premiers - what a terrific effort and a wonderful season.

Just reflecting on the season, it was a good start, but that close loss to Gold Coast and then the disappointment of losing to Geelong in Gather Round, being 2-3, nothing had been proven. But given we were 0-5 the season before, at least we were in the race.

A tough win against GWS at home, followed by our worse game of the season against Freo away. Still nothing proven.

An easy win against Carlton at home, a tight Showdown win, but then a 10 point loss to Collingwood away. Yes, we're in the game, but it was still the same old Crows after Round 10.

The Eagles thrashing at home was expected. Then, in my opinion, our first real test of the season, perhaps outside that GWS game at home earlier. Sydney at the SCG. We'd normally lose these, and with the benefit of hindsight, Sydney were in trouble at this stage of the season, but we absolutely, ruthlessly, destroyed them.

A close win against Brisbane followed at home. We weren't usually on this side of the results. We held on.

And then, with Hawthorn hit hard with injuries, we lost a close one that we never should've lost. Perhaps that was football's way of evening up for the weekend prior? The Crows made sure it was a lesson learnt - and haven't dropped a game since.

After our Round 15 bye we sat 9-5 and in 4th spot. A healthy percentage matched the top side, Collingwood, who were 12-2, but also the 8th placed Bulldogs, who were 8-6. We were only a game and percentage inside the 8, in what's then, and has been proven to be, a 9 horse race.

Comfortable wins against Richmond away and Melbourne at home, before, what I consider another "test" against the Bulldogs at Marvel. It was only 11 points in the end, but we were never going to lose that game. It was convincing and we were in the race for the finals up to our necks. The thrashing of the Suns at home and a demolition of Port in atrocious conditions set the benchmark for what this team could do at their best. At this stage, top 4 looked likely and top 2 a serious possibility. But two more hurdles remained, Hawthorn and Collingwood at home.

Two more "tests". Very similar, finals type games. And the same results for both of them. Give up a lead early, come storming back and then hold on for dear life. Brilliant, season defining wins. A scare against West Coast in between, but did enough to clinch a top 2 spot.

And then of course, the Rankine saga. Thud. Back to earth for a group of supporters who still hope for the best, but expect the worse. 27 years will do that to you.

However, there was one more game to go to clinch the minor premiership. The 9th win on the trot did it.

To this point, the luck has generally been with us. Even two of our young guns in Rachele and Michalanney look like boosting either end of the ground for our finals campaign and only a slip of the tongue, by Rankine, costs us our full strength team. And of course, finishing 15th the season before, gave us a nice "fixture". Enough easy wins for the good team that we are, combined with being successful in most of our "tests", sees us finish with the minor premiership.

We all know the minor premiership only looks good alongside the real premiership. It would remove all doubt as to who the best team of the season is. It's a whole new campaign and the minor premiership quickly fades as we find out our opponent for the Qualifying Final at home.

Three more "tests" to win.
 

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Toast Minor Premiers

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