Should we be aiming for finals

[cleveland]

The question is how many wins will we need to sneak into the eight and would it be good to give the younger guys atleast 1 final's game fore experience this year?

Should we be aiming for the 8?

 

[Igloo]

We should be aiming to win every game we play. Not with an outlook of finals, just to win, and play the best football we can.

 

[mackem]

We should be aiming to win every game we play. Not with an outlook of finals, just to win, and play the best football we can.

I agree that we should concentrate on winning every game. If we do that then finals will come.

 

[boydsno1]

Agree with what's been said in that we should be aiming to win every game. If we could sneak into finals this year even if it's just 1 game it will be valuable to our young guys to experience it.

 

[BRG93]

According To Experts Win 13 Games to get into the finals play to our strength and KICK STRAIGHT and there COULD be a chance but not holding my breath.
Next 11 Games

Brisbane
Bombers
Fremantle
Hawks
Carlton
St Kilda
North Melbourne
Richmond
Sydney
Geelong
Brisbane

 

[Igloo]

Brisbane
Bombers
Fremantle
Hawks
Carlton
St Kilda
North Melbourne
Richmond
Sydney
Geelong
Brisbane

We will win the bolded, and have a good chance in the ones in italics, imo.
Bolded one Brisbane and put one in italics because im not confident we would beat them twice.

 

[King_snow]

We should be aiming to win every game we play. Not with an outlook of finals, just to win, and play the best football we can.

Spot on

 

[dogwatch]

If we beat Brisbane on Saturday and if other results go according to the betting market we will be 11th or 12th and only outside the top 8 on percentage. That surprises me but it shows that if we finish the season strongly we are a real chance at sneaking into the top 8.

The problem is we would almost certainly need 12 wins, maybe even 13. That means winning six games out of our remaining 10 and we have a hard run home. I could see us having a good chance against North and Brisbane (at the Gabba) so the other 4 wins would have to come against other top 8 contenders, the likes of Essendon, Carlton, Richmond, Freo, Hawthorn, etc. Not impossible but certainly would need us to be playing at a higher level than we did in rounds 1-12.

Should we be aiming for it? Of course we should ... as long as there's a realistic chance.
However if we get to the end of Round 18 and have got only 7 wins (or less) we would be in a dire position, needing to win every remaining game against the following 5 sides - North (E), Richmond (MCG), Sydney (E), Geelong (SS) and Brisbane (Gabba). If that's the case we should start blooding younger players like Roberts, Talia, Johannisen, Campbell, Panos and Hill and sending players needing post-season surgery off to the operating theatre so they can get as full a 2013 pre-season as possible.

 

[Werewolf]

Unless our forward line suddenly starts to function properly, we won't get close to playing finals this year.

Next year we should be in with a real chance of at least one final, hopefully a contender the year after

 

[_Mike_]

Finals shouldnt be in the equation for Macca at present. Its far more imprortant to find the right combination of players to build a future on, to which I believe that is what he is working on.

Should we win enough games to qualify for the finals, it would be far beyond anyone's expectations for this season

 

[cammo78]

We've won 5 of the first 11 (not a bad outcome for a rebuild), and would need to win 8 of the last 11.

Make no mistake - 13 wins will be the minimum this season for 8th spot.

Not a snowflake's chance in hell.

 

[stefoid]

Time for my sacrillege, but I think scraping into the finals this year would be detrimental.

1) significantly worse draft picks, particualrly when we we have two 1st rounders.
2) less time to rest up and then get stuck into the next educational phase during the preseason. We would only be making up the numbers if we made the finals, we could better use that time to prepare for next season
3) less game time into the kids. If we look like making the finals, team selection will be different than if we have no chance - less game time into the kids.

 

[FlyingDog]

I wish we make finals but the remaining games say we can't. Either way I'm not too disappointed. It's like I'm holding an ace card, if we can't make it we get better draft pick and if we make it I believe it's better for the our young pups development.

 

[nate drake]

We'll end up with 7-9 wins for the year, which is solid for our list at the moment. Finals aren't on, but I won't be disappointed with that result.

 

[Barkly St End]

It's so tight in the middle of the ladder, it's going to take a higher number of wins than usual to make 8th.

Personally, I don't think it's a matter of aiming for any position, or aiming to make finals, it's about making our younger players better, and consistently competitive.

 

[dogwatch]

We've won 5 of the first 11 (not a bad outcome for a rebuild), and would need to win 8 of the last 11.

Make no mistake - 13 wins will be the minimum this season for 8th spot.

Not a snowflake's chance in hell.

Well that's what I'd have thought but there's every chance that the side in 8th place after this weekend will have a 6-6 win-loss line. Based on that you could get in with 11-11 and a very good percentage. Or 12 wins.

 

[Sights]

I think it's fair to say that this season just about any game is in theory winnable. If Melbourne can top Essendon then I'd say just about anything can happen.

But as has been said already, the goal for this year should be winning for the sake of winning; in fact, not even that. The goal for this year should be improvement for the sake of improvement.

However many wins we get out of that is however many wins we get out of it. Making finals in 2012 was never on the to-do list, if it happens it happens (unlikely, but I wouldn't be complaining).

 

[Libba39]

I will side with the minority. We activated our priority pick for this year's draft and it would be illogical to aim for a higher finish.

Our ONLY aims for this year should be:

- blood young players and get more experience into others

- learn the new game plan

and most importantly

- get two picks in the top ten

 

[Dogs_r_barking]

I don't think we will make finals, out percentage has had a wack in games against the Saints and the Swans. Essendon coming up will be another percentage drop a well I would think.
I am happy to keep going the way we are going, the improvement is coming along nicely. Ace last week was a revelation in the forwardline and I am beginning to see the structure of a dam good team taking shape. We need the silk in the midfield next to the old warhorses, Boyd and Cross, and to mesh with Libba Jnr and Wallis.

 

[VitalDread]

100% yes
because though we play finals we would still get picks around 20mark
also its good for the team since we can bounce back from a shocking year and be in the hint for the cup, and it will also spark some interest in the free market since players that are out of contract will see us as a team that can bounce back from anything.

 

[dogsbody]

100% yes
because though we play finals we would still get picks around 20mark
also its good for the team since we can bounce back from a shocking year and be in the hint for the cup, and it will also spark some interest in the free market since players that are out of contract will see us as a team that can bounce back from anything.

That's very short term. If the club isn't thinking long term, as it did in 1999 and as it did in appointing McCartney last year, then I'll go He. It's far better for the club to get very talented boys and let them build as ateam together than to worry about attracting the odd 10 year player. I'd like to see a few more fresh faces in the team for the rest of the season.

 

[Werewolf]

Finals? We'll struggle to avoid the bottom 4!

 

[dogsbody]

Finals? We'll struggle to avoid the bottom 4!

Quite right and the lower in the bottom 4 the better - for this year only, though.

 

[Ghenghis]

Can we not use this thread anymore please?? Our current form suggests we are more in line for priority picks - even if they are no longer on offer.

 

[Barkly St End]

Being competitive against average teams would be a good aim.