Universal Love Positivity.

[Chrispiesssss]

I’ve been feeling down (I know every Magpie has) about all these injuries and basically have given up on this season.

But I decided, the Collingwood army need to bind together and fight through this. So this thread is all about positivity. Nothing else.

We need to be strong. We won’t let these injuries defeat us. We will stand Side by Side. Fight through this. We will be better. We won’t sit down. We won’t give up. We will not give up. We are still 2nd on the ladder!! We are the MIGHTY F-CKING BLACK & WHITE.

 

[Pragmatic Shill]

There's no denying these injuries are tough but our boys have shown a way to lift through the challenges this year. It's such a different attitude to years previously. As someone mentioned in another thread, I agree the Dunn injury will either make or break the side. I have faith the boys will collectively lift in the run home.

 

[Pragmatic Shill]

Now watch this thread get no traction.

 

[Darkyprotector]

The answer my friends is not blowing in the wind

In fact it's right under our noses

Think the clubs gonna do this

Mihochek back for Dunn

RUPERT wills centre half forward

Only 2 kilos less than riewoldt 1 cm shorter , thing he's big enough and could very well suprise in the bullock ing forward role

Tall enough and rekin he's tough enough

Apples. Mihochek Maynard
Crisp shaz. Howe
Phillips. Seir. Mayne
WHE. Wills. Thomas
Stepho. Cox. Sidey

Grundy pendels Adams

Greenwood Murray Langdon de goey

I'm locking down saad/ murray
I'm locking down fantasia/ apples
I'm locking down heppell / greenwood as bellchambers always hits to him
I'm instructing wills to hammer McKenna and saad with tough tackling
Mihochek Mckernan

Thoughts

 

[Pragmatic Shill]

The answer my friends is not blowing in the wind

In fact it's right under our noses

Think the clubs gonna do this

Mihochek back for Dunn

RUPERT wills centre half forward

Only 2 kilos less than riewoldt 1 cm shorter , thing he's big enough and could very well suprise in the bullock ing forward role

Tall enough and rekin he's tough enough

Apples. Mihochek Maynard
Crisp shaz. Howe
Phillips. Seir. Mayne
WHE. Wills. Thomas
Stepho. Cox. Sidey

Grundy pendels Adams

Greenwood Murray Langdon de goey

I'm locking down saad/ murray
I'm locking down fantasia/ apples
I'm locking down heppell / greenwood as bellchambers always hits to him
I'm instructing wills to hammer McKenna and saad with tough tackling
Mihochek Mckernan

Thoughts

Not sure how you intend on Murray locking down Saad considering they are both defenders.

I don't think Wills is particularly accurate at goalkicking either.

 

[Chrispiesssss]

Now watch this thread get no traction.

ITS HARD GOING AGAINST THE GRAIN!!

 

[Fothergill]

Not sure how you intend on Murray locking down Saad considering they are both defenders.

I don't think Wills is particularly accurate at goalkicking either.

Did Murray play most of his footy as a forward until his last season at the Swans? If yes, could he play the defensive forward role on Saad?

 

[Somebody]

You can sook... or can see it as a great opportunity and challenge.

 

[TradeDraft]

You can sook... or can see it as a great opportunity and challenge.

and you can be Realist

 

[Bard]

No optimism or positivity is allowed on this board. I demand the mods delete this thread it’s too absurd.

 

[hasbean9]

Positivity is highly evident via the Bookmakers who have us as favourite to win the next 2 with $1.62 V Bummers & $1.50 V Eagles only being offered. The Bookies are usually good judges evidenced by the flash vehicles they drive. Doomsayers are welcome to back the opposition with no real loss if they lose due to the Pies winning.

 

[Pragmatic Shill]

Positivity is highly evident via the Bookmakers who have us as favourite to win the next 2 with $1.62 V Bummers & $1.50 V Eagles only being offered. The Bookies are usually good judges evidenced by the flash vehicles they drive. Doomsayers are welcome to back the opposition with no real loss if they lose due to the Pies winning.

Bookies also calculate odds based on what the public is tipping the most.

 

[Ga Doey]

The way I look at it....

If you had of asked me at the start of the year where I hoped the Pies would end up, I would have suggested that making finals would be a great achievement. Somewhere between 7-12 on ladder would be a pass.

Soft draw aside, sitting 2nd on the ladder at this stage of the year is a fantastic achievement and one that should be celebrated by all the Magpie faithful. It feels that we have "turned the corner" and the years ahead of us will be fruitful.

The realist in me believes that we aren't quite there to be considered as premiership threats, but to be in that conversation to begin with feels good.

Don't let the injuries get you down brother, It's a great time to be a Magpie supporter.

 

[DuckToaster]

C'mon pies!

Finals bound with half a list is still finals bound after all.

 

[Quicky]

I think we can cover the injuries. Guys like Moore, Reid, Elliott and Greenwood are set for returns. Varcoe is back in the VFL. We just need to navigate the Dons game and bring some quality back in over a few weeks.

Elliott will allow JDG to take Treloars midfield minutes. Between Mihocek, Moore and Reid we'll find an adequate replacement for Dunn.

We're playing confident and damaging footy right now. With WHE, Stevo and De Goey we have proven match winners that break games in the blink of an eye. Our ruck is a second midfielder out there who not only hurts the opposition around the ground but crushes bodies and minds while he's doing it.

There's plenty to feel confident about with this team and I'm loving the ride bumps and all!

 

[caloschwaby]

At this point I think it's in our best interest to enter the finals as a sleeper at 6th-ish place. Then come week 1 of finals when we get Treloar+others back we completely catch the opponent off-guard

 

[Yezeha]

I mean, if you think about it, the team we field against the bombers could potentially only be 3 or 4 players different from the same team that dismantled the Demons. I know Treloar and Dunn are important cogs but so are Elliott, Moore and Reid and we've been able to stay strong without them all year. We'll be fine.

 

[Tarkyn_24]

At this point I think it's in our best interest to enter the finals as a sleeper at 6th-ish place. Then come week 1 of finals when we get Treloar+others back we completely catch the opponent off-guard

I think it’s in our best interest to enter in first but whatever...

 

[Somebody]

and you can be Realist

If you had a crystal ball that could look into the future and showed we fail to make top 4 then yes. Not aware they make those.

 

[Vicky Park]

I came to this thread determined to not be positive, especially after Dunn’s injury.

But stuff it, why not? While our worst footy this year has been very ordinary, our best footy has been great. We are a good team, maybe a very good team, and we are on a roll. The psychological benefit of a winning streak is not to be discounted. Let’s deal with Essendon (who are a bit flaky), gradually bring our ‘returnees’ back, and maintain our streak.

 

[caloschwaby]

I think it’s in our best interest to enter in first but whatever...

Well obviously I'd love to finish first

 

[caloschwaby]

I think we all need to take a step back and realise that compared to recent years prior, its finally great to be a Collingwood supporter.
-Beat Carlton (twice)
-Beat Essendon on ANZAC Day
-Beat Adelaide @ Adelaide as heavy underdogs (as it turns out they weren't as good as the seemed but oh well)
-Beat an in-form Melbourne side we were expect by the media to drop
-Media is no longer on our and Buckley's back 24/7
-Buckley is starting to look younger
-Jaidyn. Stephenson.
-Plenty of HUGE step ups in performance such as Tom Phillips (despite last 2 weeks) who last year I would be pressing to count him in our best 22.

Clear, blue skies are ahead for what this team can achieve this year. If we've had to consider the possibility we might win the flag, you know it's been a good year (not that I expect to). These next few weeks are crucial in the direction the team will take. As the OP said, when the going gets tough, the tough gets going. That's the attitude we must grind these next few weeks out in, injuries or no injuries.

Floreat Pica.

 

[Boris the Contradiction]

I don't think it's as bad as people think. This next four week period was always going to be tough, but we're beating the sides we should beat, while the teams around us are losing to those same teams. We've given ourselves some insurance by getting ourselves to second and we'll be favourites on the weekend, despite the injuries.

A full week ago, our injury list was as follows:

Varcoe, test. Will be selected this week.

Elliott, Moore, Reid, 1-2 weeks. That puts them in the frame for next week.

Aish, 2-3 weeks. Fasolo, 3-4 weeks. Considering their injuries, they'll need to come back via the VFL, but they should be in the frame come rounds 18 to 20.

We just need to put ourselves in the frame, because come round 20 our team could look something like this.

Langdon, Moore, Maynard
Howe, Schaz, Crisp
Aish, Steele, Phillips
Thomas, Cox, De Goey
WHE, Reid, Elliott

R: Grundy, Adams, Pendlebury
I: Mayne, Stephenson, Varcoe, Murray

That's a bloody good team.

It's only missing Treloar, Dunn and Wells from our best side IMO and Wells has offered us nothing this year anyway. I also think Moore is a pretty good stand in for Dunn and his extra height may be better for balance.

Treloar's projected return date is prior to finals, so with a good rehab, he could slip into that side (for say, Murray or Mayne) to give us our strongest lineup for the year for week 1 of finals.

Bobby Mcferrin and all that!

 

[DaVe86]

I'm feeling pretty down because I actually think we are a genuine shot at it this year. A Richmond v Collingwood Grand Final would be epic.

I feel like the only thing stopping us is injuries.

I've been fine with Moore, Reid, Varcoe, Wells and Elliott because these guys only play 50% of games anyway. So we know how to play without them.

But Treloar and Dunn are irreplaceable.

I think if we get some of the guys listed above back and in good form, then we can still have a crack at it. I reckon Elliott and Varcoe can really add something to forward line which unleashes De Goey into the midfield. I reckon Moore and Reid can slot in down back to make up for Dunn.

Treloar is an extremely durable player who barely misses. So if he is fit by round 22 or 23, he'd have the bye heading into the finals to get himself right. He could even slot in at full forward and add something come finals.

We need a bit of luck from here. I don't think we can make top 4 with our current side, but I think we can if we get Elliott, Varcoe, Moore and Reid back into some decent form. Then there is still Aish as well who can fill a void in the middle. I reckon Sam Murray could be a smokey as well. Strikes me as the sort of player that can have a big month in finals.

 

[jackcass]

I think we can cover the injuries. Guys like Moore, Reid, Elliott and Greenwood are set for returns. Varcoe is back in the VFL. We just need to navigate the Dons game and bring some quality back in over a few weeks.

Elliott will allow JDG to take Treloars midfield minutes. Between Mihocek, Moore and Reid we'll find an adequate replacement for Dunn.

We're playing confident and damaging footy right now. With WHE, Stevo and De Goey we have proven match winners that break games in the blink of an eye. Our ruck is a second midfielder out there who not only hurts the opposition around the ground but crushes bodies and minds while he's doing it.

There's plenty to feel confident about with this team and I'm loving the ride bumps and all!

Yep this. Survive what could potentially end up being a rough couple of weeks and we should start to get some quality back. Hopefully we can then build toward finals.

The Essendon, Richmond, Sydney and Port games are the real worry for mine. If we can grab a victory or 2 from those 4 games we'll be in pretty good shape ladder wise.

I think we match up pretty well against the Weagles and the Roos so I remain optimistic that even with our injury issues, we can hold our own with them.