round 22 hypothetical

[matt decat]

was having a debate with a mate....round 22 is carlton v hawks, our next game is the saints then the finals. if we the ladder is as follows geelong, collingwood, carlton, hawks with only 2 points separating us and the hawks, would it be wise to drop a game for tactical reasons.

if we drop to 4th, we play geelong, which IMO we are more likely to beat instead of the pies. knock them off, go to the prelim and most likely play the hawks which should be winable. geelong to beat collingwood and then we are a red hot chance of winning the final. yes there is a lot of what ifs, and any team can pop up on their day, but i just believe we play best against the cats.

IMO it would be stupid to lose a game in the lead up to the finals, should be going full steam ahead and back ourselves in regardless of the opposition, and there for play for the win against the hawks regardless of the ladder. do you think we should try and use this game to pick our opposition in the finals?

 

[happydude]

i think we should go in full steam ahead to the finals for several reasons.
Plus i would personally prefer to play collingwood week 1 of finals instead of in a prelim just so i dont have to be so nervous about us letting them into the grandfinal.


it would be good to have another 99 prelim against the filth though....

 

[Poseidon]

 

[BlueMania]

No way. Winning form is good form and that is the only game we play the hawks this season. Wouldnt want to give them any phschological advantage should we meet them through the course of the finals either.
If we were to play colonwoody and lose, then so be it. I would be happy enough for the team to play the following week to maintain continuity by playing week to week. I am confident our team will account for themselves very well come september regardless of who they play and should never baulk at a challenge.

 

[gbatman]

I wouldn't be so sure.

 

[The Old Dark Navy's]

You don't flirt with your form.

Freo got away with it in what was basically a dead rubber last season, but there was also a travel/preparation issue involved, and plenty of sore bodies.

How do you guarantee a loss vs the Hawks anyway? You don't rest key players with the bye the following week, because then they are short of match fitness. You don't put them in different positions as that is poor finals preparation. You certainly don't tell them to put in less than 100%, as aside from match fixing implications, you lose that frenetic touch and somebody leave yourself open to injury because you are not going as hard as your opponent.

Aside from working your rotations more and spelling your best players late in the quarters, there is no good way to do this IMO.

I would rather smash the Hawks, enhance our reputation, and have the Pies second guessing our capabilities if we get them in a pressure game a couple of weeks later.

Belief is an important factor in winning flags. You would rather your opponent worry about you, rather than trying to manipulate who you play because you are worried about them.

 

[Dumpstar]

Full steam ahead. We need the belief that we can beat anyone in the finals.

 

[coryne]

I don't think Sydney will be too far behind in #5 on the ladder, so flirting with form could see us miss the top 4 all together ...........


We would be geting WAY ahead of ourselves if we think we can manipulate the fixture to enhance our chances in the finals. Give 100% effort, win as many games as you can and have the staws fall as they will.

 

[juddsentant517]

It is now round 12.
that is round 22. 10 weeks in football is a looooooooong time, and heaps can change (captain obvious).

Roughead out for the year is absolutely massive for the Hawks. Their ruck division looks that much weaker now, and their backline is undermanned as well. They have some incredible top-tier players, but i feel as if the Hawks could go downhill pretty quickly, if a few injuries occur.

To predict a week in football is a long time. 10 weeks is ridiculous. One week at a time.

 

[true blue19]

i think we are better off beating the hawks and trying to win against the pies, win or lose we come up against the cat in the 1/4 then the pie again in the gf

 

[BluesMan]

Yea, lets do it and give bay 13 more ammo

We're trying to shake this 'tankers' tag, and by doing something as ridiculous as that, would make it more evident.

Terrible trade of thought.

 

[Poseidon]

Yea, lets do it and give bay 13 more ammo

We're trying to shake this 'tankers' tag, and by doing something as ridiculous as that, would make it more evident.

Terrible trade of thought.

To be fair, the Bay doesn't need much ammo when it comes to Carlton.

But I agree, this thread is a bit embarrassing. No need to throw games. If we are the real deal then we have to be confident in beating anybody and not trying to dance around avoiding teams that we are worried against.

 

[thylacine60]

We're already known for some pretty ordinary behaviour in the past but even slimy Jack Elliot wanted to win every game. Mind-boggling suggestion.

 

[Big Red is back]

Ok so let's drop the double chance; to play aside we beat by a kick a few weeks ago in a sudden death final..... Should I laugh or cry

 

[Banga19]

Entering any contest with the desire to lose is ludicrous.

If nobody minds I'm just going to go a little off topic to highlight this...

Anybody here a Survivor fan? In the most reason season, one of the tribes was looking promising when it came to the challenges, but they had some friction within the group due to a player called Evil Russell who had built a reputation in past Survivor seasons as a lying, cheating mastermind of the game.

So, the tribe decided to throw a challenge so they could go to Tribal Council and vote Russell out. They did this successfully, but in doing it ended their winning streak and lost momentum. The rival tribe then took advantage of this and went on to win several challenges in a row.

The tribe that threw the challenge never recovered and had none of the final 5 contestants in the game.

So if Survivor has taught us anything, play to win!

 

[The Old Dark Navy's]

Ok so let's drop the double chance; to play aside we beat by a kick a few weeks ago in a sudden death final..... Should I laugh or cry

To be fair to the OP, he wanted to win the game but was discussing it with someone else.

The premise is that we drop from 3rd to 6th to play the Cats in the first qualifying final, instead of the Pies, not drop out of the 4 altogether.

We disagree with the plan of course, but let's know what we are arguing against at least.

 

[thylacine60]

Yep, we're certainly fortunate to have reality shows to teach us those important life-skills.

 

[HBF]

Beating Hawthorn in round 22 would give our club an enormous confident boost. A team that we have really struggled with in the past, and I suspect a win here would do more for our confidence than anything leading into the finals. The improvement to Jamison really does set up a great contest between him and Franklin.

 

[murph4charlie]

It is now round 12.
that is round 22. 10 weeks in football is a looooooooong time, and heaps can change (captain obvious).

Roughead out for the year is absolutely massive for the Hawks. Their ruck division looks that much weaker now, and their backline is undermanned as well. They have some incredible top-tier players, but i feel as if the Hawks could go downhill pretty quickly, if a few injuries occur.

To predict a week in football is a long time. 10 weeks is ridiculous. One week at a time.

totally agree - if the ladder stays the same i'd be stunned

 

[Tuohy For One]

Quite Likely Fact -- The road to the 2011 AFL Grand Final goes through Geelong and/or Collingwood.

Therefore, I would much rather face them head on than be scared of them. If we're good enough to beat either (or hopefully both) of them (if we have to) then I'd much rather take them on when the time comes rather than to attempt to delay it. If you try to avoid it you may just play yourself right out of it.

 

[40yearBLUE]

Win our first final from a top 4 spot means prelim final. Win the next final means grand final. Pretty sure.