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Certified Legendary Thread Race for the flag, in squiggly lines

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im_a_lazy_sod said:
I don't get all the talk that Freo "don't score enough"

As it stands we have kicked a whopping 23 points less than Sydney in the 13 rounds (that's less than 2 points a game on average) - yet they are somehow so much more attacking than us? And that's with guys like Buddy and Tippet playing for them - who are supposed to be getting big bags each week
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I think it is a reflection of your forwards not kicking many goals

At the moment your midfield does a massive amount of scoring

Not saying it is a bad thing at all, just that is where I think the perception comes from
 
I think people over play the hardness of the draw

We all play every other team once - so it only the double up games that make it easy

We have Freo, Adelaide, SUns, Saints, Dogs - so that is three in the current top 8 (inc first) and one easy beat and one emerging side but lower ranked side.

It is a middling draw, not easy not hard. Based on last year's ladder ranking - yep it would be on the easier end.
 
Yesterday I looked up all the previous fifty years or so, and in my opinion the title for 'Squiggle Champions of All Time' is a toss-up between Hawthorn 1988 (who were absolutely elite at attacking as well as defence) and Geelong (who were super-elite in attack, in the 90s, but so-so in defence).
 

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deathevocation said:
WCE's midfield was incredible and better than what Freo have on hand in 2015.
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Yeah. Fyfe is playing a season better than any of West Coast's mids did in 2006, but there is no equivalent to West Coast's second and third best mids in the Freo's lineup. At best you might say Neale is playing close to Kerr's level, but there is no one as good as Cousins. Mundy is overrated for mine - doesn't get enough of it, doesn't kick goals. Barlow, Hill, et al lack consistency.

But even comparing to West Coast is fallacious, that 2006 season didn't really have any standout competitors. All of the top four had significant flaws. Hawthorn alone are a level above all that, quality in every area of the ground. Even West Coast this year seem a better balanced team than Freo, although their midfield is yet to be tested in a high pressure match against quality opponents.
 
clogged said:
Yeah. Fyfe is playing a season better than any of West Coast's mids did in 2006, but there is no equivalent to West Coast's second and third best mids in the Freo's lineup. At best you might say Neale is playing close to Kerr's level, but there is no one as good as Cousins. Mundy is overrated for mine - doesn't get enough of it, doesn't kick goals. Barlow, Hill, et al lack consistency.

But even comparing to West Coast is fallacious, that 2006 season didn't really have any standout competitors. All of the top four had significant flaws. Hawthorn alone are a level above all that, quality in every area of the ground. Even West Coast this year seem a better balanced team than Freo, although their midfield is yet to be tested in a high pressure match against quality opponents.
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I agree that this year the overall field is stronger than 2006. Just had a quick look at the 2006 ladder - oh dear.
 
deathevocation said:
I agree that this year the overall field is stronger than 2006. Just had a quick look at the 2006 ladder - oh dear.
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2005 & 2006 were extraordinarily weak years, especially 2005. The combined collapse of Brisbane and Port after years of sitting at the top left the field open.

As Hawthorn start to decline in the next year or two, and both Freo and Sydney collapse, another opportunity will open up for a side to sneak one before the next wave comes through (GWS, possible Gold Coast if they get their act together).
 
clogged said:
2005 & 2006 were extraordinarily weak years, especially 2005. The combined collapse of Brisbane and Port after years of sitting at the top left the field open.

As Hawthorn start to decline in the next year or two, and both Freo and Sydney collapse, another opportunity will open up for a side to sneak one before the next wave comes through (GWS, possible Gold Coast if they get their act together).
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I said it in another thread, 2014 Brabury brownlow, 2015 bradbury flag:D
 
clogged said:
West Coast won't win the flag this year.
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What if everyone else falls over;)

I do realise we won't win it, but your earlier point about teams "pinching" 1 is actually what I've been thinking about for a while. In 05 & 06, it was a good time to be up the top, as we all saw throughout that year that every team was beatable, we won 17 games in 06 & finished top, we won 17 in 2011 & finished 4th. It seems like teams such as St Kilda & the Dogs came good at the wrong time, around 2008, a time when a few other sides were so dominant, same probably with you guys from 2013 onwards. This year feels a little different from the last few, plenty of upsets already, and every side once again has shown they can be beaten, but just to put the pressure on, I'll say it's Freo's to lose:D
 

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I think 4th place will most likely come down to the winner of the Pies v Eagles game. That's a huge one, basically 8 points on the line. We win that and we can probably afford to lose against all of Freo, Hawks and Sydney and possibly even Adelaide away and still make 4th. Lose that game and we need to win basically all but probably 2 other games meaning we need to snag a win again Freo, Hawks or Sydney.
 
MIKE85 said:
What if everyone else falls over;)

I do realise we won't win it, but your earlier point about teams "pinching" 1 is actually what I've been thinking about for a while. In 05 & 06, it was a good time to be up the top, as we all saw throughout that year that every team was beatable, we won 17 games in 06 & finished top, we won 17 in 2011 & finished 4th. It seems like teams such as St Kilda & the Dogs came good at the wrong time, around 2008, a time when a few other sides were so dominant, same probably with you guys from 2013 onwards. This year feels a little different from the last few, plenty of upsets already, and every side once again has shown they can be beaten, but just to put the pressure on, I'll say it's Freo's to lose:D
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Next year is the year to pinch it for WC. WC is more likely to get smashed in the finals as youth often fails on the big stage for the first time while the experienced teams take the chocolates.
 
MIKE85 said:
As opposed to the Hawks draw?? Everbody talks about our draw, but Hawks hasn't been much harder, and Collingwoods has probably been easier, yet nobody mentions them. Majority of the top 8 so far have had pretty similar draws. Also before the year started, double up games against the Crows & GC looked much harder than they may happen to be, based on 2014 form.
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Wow, being in Perth must really be like being in another country. :p

The last month has been a non-stop cavalcade of media pieces on why Collingwood are overrated because of their soft draw and why us Pies fans shouldn't get too carried away. This has been a constant source of bemusement to Pies fans, almost none of whom were carried away in the first place. Funny enough, there has been more excitement generated by the loss to Freo than in almost every win we've had so far this year.
 
manicmagpie said:
Wow, being in Perth must really be like being in another country. :p

The last month has been a non-stop cavalcade of media pieces on why Collingwood are overrated because of their soft draw and why us Pies fans shouldn't get too carried away. This has been a constant source of bemusement to Pies fans, almost none of whom were carried away in the first place. Funny enough, there has been more excitement generated by the loss to Freo than in almost every win we've had so far this year.
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Sounds very similar to our situation, although there's been a fair bit of positive media surrounding us since we beat Richmond, even though they were coming off the huge dissadvantage of a bye, and us having the added advantage of our fortninghtly travel, which we are so used to it gives us such a leg up;)

Majority of us Eagles fans have been the same as you guys, we aren't getting too carried away, but I also think talk of draws is a little flawed, because how it looks at the start of the year, can be vastly different to how it turns out. Like in my post you quoted, our draw looked harder on paper before the season started, but has so far turned out a bit better because a few of those teams have fallen away, probably the same with you guys.
 

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