Season defining five round block

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

Most of us I imagine are pleasantly surprised to find us sitting 4-2 after six rounds. Sure, all fans are hopeful going into each season but even perennial optimists like Jenny, Mego Red and myself didn't foresee the strong, exciting brand of football we are playing. We dispatched Port Powers, Fremantle and Carlton in style.

Most would have been anticipating a mid-table finish in 2023 but here we are, perched near the top four and with only a few teams really standing out so far.

However the next five games are testing encounters:
Rnd 7 vs Collingwood at Adelaide Oval
Rnd 8 vs Geelong at GMHBA
Rnd 9 vs St Kilda at Adelaide Oval
Rnd 10 vs Bulldogs at Ballarat
Rnd 11 vs Brisbane at Adelaide Oval

We've had the 'easy' bit of our season - before our youngsters hit the wall, before our oldies run out of steam, before the opposition have a proper look at us, the four home game stretch, practically no injuries. Even no-hopers like the Suns and Carlton have had good starts to seasons recently but couldn't go the distance. Can we?

Where do you see us sitting after these five rounds? Will our style of football stand up against some of the better teams? Will our older guys be able to keep having a positive impact? Will our kids last 23 rounds? Will we be able to bounce back if we cop a loss or two?

 

[Eagleboy2011]

Most of us I imagine are pleasantly surprised to find us sitting 4-2 after six rounds. Sure, all fans are hopeful going into each season but even perennial optimists like Jenny, Mego Red and myself didn't foresee the strong, exciting brand of football we are playing. We dispatched Port Powers, Fremantle and Carlton in style.

Most would have been anticipating a mid-table finish in 2023 but here we are, perched near the top four and with only a few teams really standing out so far.

However the next five games are testing encounters:
Rnd 7 vs Collingwood at Adelaide Oval
Rnd 8 vs Geelong at GMHBA
Rnd 9 vs St Kilda at Adelaide Oval
Rnd 10 vs Bulldogs at Ballarat
Rnd 11 vs Brisbane at Adelaide Oval

We've had the 'easy' bit of our season - before our youngsters hit the wall, before our oldies run out of steam, before the opposition have a proper look at us, the four home game stretch, practically no injuries. Even no-hopers like the Suns and Carlton have had good starts to seasons recently but couldn't go the distance. Can we?

Where do you see us sitting after these five rounds? Will our style of football stand up against some of the better teams? Will our older guys be able to keep having a positive impact? Will our kids last 23 rounds? Will we be able to bounce back if we cop a loss or two?

If we win
Rnd 8 vs Geelong at GMHBA
We have truly arrived.

 

[Mr MysteryGuest]

If we’re competitive in our losses, winning 2 of the 5 would be a pass mark.

 

[I Lost My Keays]

Looking at the next five games, I love that we’re playing difficult opposition as it shows where we are as a team but build belief.

I have us going 3-2. I have us beating
Saints, Dogs and Lions. Out of all the games I want us to beat the cats over there so bad.

If we can overcome the next five weeks and take some scalps that’ll be huge as the next month of games look very nice

 

[StonesThrow]

Think we can snag 1 or 2 of them. I'm not getting ahead of myself like a lot on here. Last year we played well against Saints and Collingwood at home and should have really won both.

2 would be a pass mark given the quality of opposition. Win 3 and we're probably a finals contender

 

[Scorpus]

If we can beat Geelong at Kardinia Park, we'll make the grand final

 

[Carmo]

Is it really that season defining?

Lets say we win 0 out of 5.

Lets say we win the rest of the games for the year against bottom 5 teams (which there are 5). That's 9 wins for the season.

If we can jag 1 out of the other 7 we finish the season with 10 wins for the year and show nice natural progression onwards from last years 8 wins.

Anything more is a bonus.

 

[ftmch]

Uber important for us to snag 2-3 wins to drive home the belief that's building in this group.

Reckon we've got a couple in us at least, so could be at 6 and 5 by round 12. That would be pretty respectable, and a great platform to launch into the back half if the year.

 

[jo172]

Will be the real litmus test as to whether what we saw in the last 4 weeks is real,

Suspect wins and losses might not be the best measure either? More a question of if we lose how we lose

 

[UcantCme]

Looking at the next five games, I love that we’re playing difficult opposition as it shows where we are as a team but build belief.

I have us going 3-2. I have us beating
Saints, Dogs and Lions. Out of all the games I want us to beat the cats over there so bad.

If we can overcome the next five weeks and take some scalps that’ll be huge as the next month of games look very nice

I think we are a chance against the Pies

They don’t have their best 22 atm, this is challenging their structure as they have no Ruck and lack KPP forward and behind the ball

It will be interesting to see how they come off a 5 day break as well….



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[UcantCme]

We need to make AO a fortress again, win home no matter who we are playing

Phil Walsh use to say a team becomes vulnerable soon as they jump on a plane, we have no injuries at present and we need to go hard at winning our home games


On iPhone using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[Dewy006]

I feel like when we get to the end of the year those losses to GWS and especially Richmond at home are gonna bite us in the ass.

 

[VictorianCrow85]

Win 2 out of the 5 & it would be solid providing there's no more than 1 absolute stinker & the other losses are fought out pretty well, still relatively well positioned to sneak a spot in the 8.

Win 3 would be excellent as we'd not only be set up for a finals push, but also having beat 3 sides who are likely finalists or right around the mark.

I won't dare to dream of 4 or 5 at this point.

I think 4 of the 5 are winnable, though not suggesting we win all of those just that we should be able to have a crack given home ground for 3 of them & the away one is a side we beat there last year whose been a little up & down to start the year.

Can't decide whether to vote 6-5 or 7-4.

 

[VictorianCrow85]

I feel like when we get to the end of the year those losses to GWS and especially Richmond at home are gonna bite us in the ass.

They might but to be fair most sides throw in a couple losses they feel that way about over the year, we wont be alone in that.

 

[UcantCme]

I feel like when we get to the end of the year those losses to GWS and especially Richmond at home are gonna bite us in the ass.

It’s all swings and roundabouts

We got out of jail against a hawthorn with two acts of brilliance with 3 minutes remaining in the game

Our destiny is in our hands, and our draw overall is not as challenging as other sides we are competing against for a place in the top 8


On iPhone using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[John Who]

If we’re competitive in our losses, winning 2 of the 5 would be a pass mark.

If we can pull through for 2 wins out of the 5 games, this leaves us at 6-5 at the midway mark. I think that’s a pass mark for both fans and non-fans alike.
Any more wins then we’re making a serious statement we want to play Finals.

Really keen to see how the next 5 games pan out. Would give us a good idea of which player can survive under the weight of expectation, and which will crack under that same weight.

 

[Sir Ronald Mac]

Most of us I imagine are pleasantly surprised to find us sitting 4-2 after six rounds. Sure, all fans are hopeful going into each season but even perennial optimists like Jenny, Mego Red and myself didn't foresee the strong, exciting brand of football we are playing. We dispatched Port Powers, Fremantle and Carlton in style.

Most would have been anticipating a mid-table finish in 2023 but here we are, perched near the top four and with only a few teams really standing out so far.

However the next five games are testing encounters:
Rnd 7 vs Collingwood at Adelaide Oval
Rnd 8 vs Geelong at GMHBA
Rnd 9 vs St Kilda at Adelaide Oval
Rnd 10 vs Bulldogs at Ballarat
Rnd 11 vs Brisbane at Adelaide Oval

We've had the 'easy' bit of our season - before our youngsters hit the wall, before our oldies run out of steam, before the opposition have a proper look at us, the four home game stretch, practically no injuries. Even no-hopers like the Suns and Carlton have had good starts to seasons recently but couldn't go the distance. Can we?

Where do you see us sitting after these five rounds? Will our style of football stand up against some of the better teams? Will our older guys be able to keep having a positive impact? Will our kids last 23 rounds? Will we be able to bounce back if we cop a loss or two?

Let's not get ahead of ourselves. One game at a time.....

 

[1970crow]

Let's not get ahead of ourselves. One game at a time.....

‘One game at a time’ isn’t actually a real thing.

 

[pjcrows]

I think we can take St Kilda here.

I think we're a chance against Collingwood and Brisbane but I'd pick the opponent.

I think we lose to the Cats and Bulldogs.

 

[Danger in Texas]

4 out of the 5 games are winnable, some more than others, but it’ll definitely give us a bit more clarity on where we stand amongst the league’s best

4 out of 5 is an excellent result
3 out of 5 is good
2 out of 5 whilst being competitive in our losses is par
Anything below that and we’re not looking at top 8 this year

 

[Sir Ronald Mac]

‘One game at a time’ isn’t actually a real thing.

how so ?

 

[1970crow]

how so ?

Footy departments are very much focussed on blocks of games.

 

[Sir Ronald Mac]

Footy departments are very much focussed on blocks of games.

That seems very silly.

 

[Golumless]

I think we can take St Kilda here.

I think we're a chance against Collingwood and Brisbane but I'd pick the opponent.

I think we lose to the Cats and Bulldogs.

I expect us to take the Saints here. They have a habit of bringing out their worst against us.

 

[1970crow]

That seems very silly.

No, ‘one game at a time’ is what would be silly.