Pathetic

[ImperialPurple]

Seriously, if "Good Freo" turns up each week, and they play like they did in that last quarter against Adelaide, then we could be looking at:

WB (home) - win (6 wins, 9 losses)
Carlton (MCG) - win (7w, 9L)
Melbourne (home) - should win (8w, 9L)
Collingwood (MCG) - should win - we'll be starting to get back guys like MCarr, Jimmy Walker, Belly by then. Back-line will be strengthened, kids can have a rest. (9w, 9L)
Richmond (home) - win (10w, 9L)
WC (home) - recent history says the team that didn't travel the week before wins, but I will say no more than a 50/50 prospect at best... being conservative, I'll say - loss (10w, 10L)
StK (home) - should win. No Riewoldt, no Hamill, possibly no Gehrig or Harvey... weakened forwrad line for them, stronger backline for us... (11w, 10L)
Port (away) - same as us, depends which Port turns up; "Good Port" at home will beat us, "Bad Port" are beatable anywhere. If they are playing for their place in the finals they will be desperate. 50/50 at best... I'll say - loss. (11w, 11L)

Same agonising position as last year.... 9th....


However - glass half full and all that... it ain't over, till... we lose 2 more games. Could be in a fortnight if "Crap Freo" turns up - or it might not be at all if "good Freo" decide to turn it on for us...

 

[Kapow!!!]

I too have that little bit of an inkling that Freo can make the 8...but I think it's just optimism. Who knows. All of our last 9 games are winnable if the "good" Freo shows up...even Port in Port considering how they've played this season although I'd pencil that in as a loss.

Who knows, stranger thigns have happened. Take the Bears in 95 when they made their first ever finals series, it wasn't until round 15 when they hit their best and they were in a similar position at 5 and 9

 

[Mr Q]

Who knows, stranger thigns have happened. Take the Bears in 95 when they made their first ever finals series, it wasn't until round 15 when they hit their best and they were in a similar position at 5 and 9

Its probably worth noting that the Bears also made it with only 10 wins that year as teams put in red hot efforts to have September off (mind you, not as much as they did in 1997 when 10.5 got the Lions the last spot).

You can make the finals, with a bit of luck, but looking at the draw, you probably need to win either round 20 (Derby) or round 22 (Port). I'm making the assumption Bad Freo are going to go into hiding.

 

[ImperialPurple]

Its probably worth noting that the Bears also made it with only 10 wins that year as teams put in red hot efforts to have September off (mind you, not as much as they did in 1997 when 10.5 got the Lions the last spot).

You can make the finals, with a bit of luck, but looking at the draw, you probably need to win either round 20 (Derby) or round 22 (Port). I'm making the assumption Bad Freo are going to go into hiding.

I so hope bad Freo go into hiding... it's a big assumption Q, but I hope you are right. If they finally get their sh it together, and win some games, then we could make it. The "luck" part may come into towards the end if we are sweating on other results to see us in.

Didn't WC get into the '02 finals on 11 wins, IIRC?

Also, I have a feeling that Port's half a win against Carlton will be a frustration to fans of a few other teams come the end of Rd 22... it might sneak them in at the expense of 2 or 3 teams (us included) who are almost-but-not-quite-there.

 

[dominguez]

I agree with Slacker about dugrene - it was a good post. Don't agree with it though. The concerning thing (and i'm not sure it's something that you can get better at) is that CC justdoesn't seem to be able to think quickly. Things happen and you need to react to it fast, not make the change 2 quarters later when the game is done and dusted. 2 blatant examples:

Brown in the middle for Brisbane. He moved into the centre early in the game and CC did nothing. After he completely wiped the floor with us, he moved Pavlich into the middle halfway through the last quarter as a counter. Bit f**king late then.

And McPharlin last week. It was as clear as day that we were struggling badly down back and McPharlin was barely seeing it as the ball was just not getting down there, and when it was it took an eternity. Midway through the 3rd the move was made. Funny how we started playing decent footy then.

Further, our gameplan is simply too soft and based around loose footy. Our list is not equipped to play this with great effect, it's too slow.

And my last bitch: CC does not seem to be a motivator. When confidence is low, we suck donkey balls. It's the coach's job to ensure confidence remains high, and he doesn't seem to be able to do that job, we rely on individual pieces of brilliance to drag us out of it (eg. Pav).

At the moment, he's a top bloke, but a sh*t coach. I hope you're right that he's getting better, but he's got a hell of a lot of improving to do.

I agree with what you have said. All the good moves CC has made this season (ie McPharlin FF) were made prior to the game at team meetings. He doesn't like to alter the structure on game day, and when he does he is too slow to make the change. Games are played on the oppositions terms and our weaknesses are exposed and steps are not taken to cover them. During the break CC commented that we aren't getting enough run out of the backline so we need to re-structure. Most coaches would notice this and make the necessary changes before half time. Connolly took 13 rounds to identify this problem!

An indication that the players aren't being motivated by the coaching staff is the fact that we perform better when our backs are to the wall. When the team is copping it from outside the club for a poor performance the players are often able to motivate themselves and a surprise victory results. If CC was motivating the players like he is supposed to we would play like we did against collingwood, Melbourne and Geelong everyweek.

Some people believe that CC should be given more time because of where we were at when he arrived at the club, but I disagree with that sentiment. The draft is structured that the team that finishes last should be able to turn things around fairly quickly. Melbourne finished 16th in 1997 and were in a grand final 3 years later. Brisbane finished last in '98 and won their first flag 3 years later. Collingwood were bottom in 1999, and played in grand finals 3 and 4 years later. After finishing bottom in 2001 we should be a lot better than where we are now, 4 years later.

Hopefully we can get it together and win 7 of our 8 remaining games and make the finals. I know we have the ability to make the 8 from here, but the way we have performed in the last 12 months indicates that we won't, and that there is something seriously wrong at our football club and blaming our recent results on injuries won't make those problems disappear.