Side that fails to deliver in 2019?

[WCE Wizard]

West Coast supporters spend the entire off-season going on about how they smashed our midfield Grand Final day yet when we add a top 10 midfielder in the competition to it it apparently is going to have no impact?

Righto.

We are not saying he wont have an impact but its doesnt mean its going to hand you the grand final. We also have Andrew Gaff coming back who is an elite midfielder as well. We never said we smashed your midfield, but we managed to quell the influence of sidebottom and grundy and kept them out of the game

 

[4tone]

I don't think it will strengthen the team enough where your biggest flaws are and not enough to counter the stronger opposition and new rule changes.

We are going to find out real soon who has made the better prediction.

Whatever dude, you pinched a GF in the last 90 seconds, the eagles haven't exactly put the fear into the pies, let alone any contending or decent club out of the 8 in 2018. As the for the Dees and Tiges, the Pies have their measure, and I suspect that playing the pies twice isn't exactly ideal for either club. You mention the harder draw, after round 7 or so, harder for whom will be the question.

 

[4tone]

I reckon Richmond or Collingwood

Both are expected to contend again and do better than they did in 2018 (Richmond to make up for the shock in 2018 and Collingwood to go from runner up to premier). I reckon both sides could be in for a shock and not perform to "expectation" in 2019.

No it will be Dees that once again come up like Turkeys. That Prelim final was pretty defining of the club. It was a performance that I knew was lurking in its underbelly, and bang there it was in a prelim. The Pies will be dominate this year, there is not one sour big footy thread or post that will stop it. I hope you enjoy season. Sorry I just misread the club you follow, it will the Dees and Hawks that will be pushing s**t up hill. Enjoy.

 

[topdon]

I can see us failing miserably. Our decent players have been injured most of the preseason, and we'll go into the game on Sunday without Hooker and Daniher.

 

[Lsta062]

Whatever dude, you pinched a GF in the last 90 seconds, the eagles haven't exactly put the fear into the pies, let alone any contending or decent club out of the 8 in 2018. As the for the Dees and Tiges, the Pies have their measure, and I suspect that playing the pies twice isn't exactly ideal for either club. You mention the harder draw, after round 7 or so, harder for whom will be the question.

I don’t get this. How do you have Richmond’s measure after your first win in 4 games against us, 2 of which was last year?

Now, I am not saying that I’m confident playing Collingwood twice at all, but you have a team’s measure if you have a significant streak, not 2 wins since 2014.

 

[willydave]

No it will be Dees that once again come up like Turkeys. That Prelim final was pretty defining of the club. It was a performance that I knew was lurking in its underbelly, and bang there it was in a prelim. The Pies will be dominate this year, there is not one sour big footy thread or post that will stop it. I hope you enjoy season. Sorry I just misread the club you follow, it will the Dees and Hawks that will be pushing s**t up hill. Enjoy.

There's a reason why you don't want to play WCE in Perth in the finals. They've never lost a prelim over there and I suspect it won't happen in 2019 either.

I think you're a bit harsh on us, the thing we do have in our favour is that (albeit from a very very low base) we have had a better years consecutively since 2013. It gets harder the close you get to the top, but we keep improving. Our midfield should be able to take it up to anyone's.

Challenge for us is all between the ears, I think the team got mentally fatigued as there was a lot of noise about us being the fairytale as had been the Tiges and Dogs previous to that. Sounds like a petty excuse but after so many years of being horrible, that losing habit still has its propensity to pop up at the worst times.

I reckon we could finish anywhere from 3rd to 7th, but not lower than that. I think we'll have a slow start to the year with tough fixtures and 12 blokes having had surgery. Should be interesting.

As far as the Pies and Tigers go, can't see either sliding, too much quality. 666 is going to take away one of Melbourne and Richmond's greatest strength being the forward press. Both will need to adapt.

 

[citizen-erased]

I don’t get this. How do you have Richmond’s measure after your first win in 4 games against us, 2 of which was last year?

Now, I am not saying that I’m confident playing Collingwood twice at all, but you have a team’s measure if you have a significant streak, not 2 wins since 2014.

agree
I can confidently say Richmond has the measure of the Dons. Because i don't remember the last time we were truly in a game against them (last game i was never convinced we could win)
Pies and Tigers have been good contests of late. Ever since that Grundy goal a few years back. Hard to pick the winner on any given day with these two.

 

[zoomba23]

Why do Pies fans strike me as so one eyed and nationalistic? Some of them can't even comprehend that there may be better teams in the comp than them. My 2 cents worth is that the Tiges and Weagles are both better than them at this point. Tiges were clearly the dominant team last season, right up until the prelim when they got too overconfident and Rance really showed his one-on-one weaknesses in being completely unable to contain Cox. Plus they beat the Pies twice during the season. As for the Weagles: similar deal. Beat the Pies twice during the season and then again when it really mattered. More importantly, the Eagles went through September without Gaff and Nic Nat, two of their best players, and Gov (arguably their most important player behind Nic Nat) was pretty much screwed the whole week leading up to the GF until he gritted his teeth and played through some pretty horrendous pain. I appreciate the Pies got through last year with a lot of injuries, and I have no doubt that they are a top 4 side in the comp, but they aren't better than either of those teams. Not at this point anyway. Happy to change my opinion at the end of this season.

 

[Burzum]

Essendon. The club needlessly buys into the hype, then the predictable results come and then nothing really is done about it. Case in point, Adrian Dodoro not only still has a job but gets promoted(!)

 

[Lsta062]

agree
I can confidently say Richmond has the measure of the Dons. Because i don't remember the last time we were truly in a game against them (last game i was never convinced we could win)
Pies and Tigers have been good contests of late. Ever since that Grundy goal a few years back. Hard to pick the winner on any given day with these two.

Ah, the loss that derailed our season. The Grundy toepoke. It’s why I despise opening the season with Carlton and Collingwood because it doesn’t really matter all that much where we finish on the ladder. It would still be a hard fought game.

Yeah Richmond has been dominant over Essendon lately, but I see the streak ending sometime soon. If not this season then next season. The dominance hasn’t been that crazy though given that the 71 points last season was the biggest margin. Apart from that it’s just been in the 8-38 point margin range, the 38 points coming in 2016 where Essendon had bans.

 

[adammania9]

Why do Pies fans strike me as so one eyed and nationalistic? Some of them can't even comprehend that there may be better teams in the comp than them. My 2 cents worth is that the Tiges and Weagles are both better than them at this point. Tiges were clearly the dominant team last season, right up until the prelim when they got too overconfident and Rance really showed his one-on-one weaknesses in being completely unable to contain Cox. Plus they beat the Pies twice during the season. As for the Weagles: similar deal. Beat the Pies twice during the season and then again when it really mattered. More importantly, the Eagles went through September without Gaff and Nic Nat, two of their best players, and Gov (arguably their most important player behind Nic Nat) was pretty much screwed the whole week leading up to the GF until he gritted his teeth and played through some pretty horrendous pain. I appreciate the Pies got through last year with a lot of injuries, and I have no doubt that they are a top 4 side in the comp, but they aren't better than either of those teams. Not at this point anyway. Happy to change my opinion at the end of this season.

No Collingwood supporter reckons we’re comfortably the best side in the competition, we reckon and are confident though that we are on the same level as Richmond and West Coast who most regard as the best two sides. People often try to identify our weaknesses and in doing so, talk down players who are actually very capable, and were contributors to a side that almost won the premiership. The Pies aren’t as weak as people want them to be.

 

[Apex36]

So West Coast get back injured players but Collingwood doesn’t?

Darcy Moore and Jamie Elliott don’t exist. They’re a figment of our imagination.

 

[Grand Uncle Horace]

For Essendon, the hype needle is screaming into the red zone. The disparity between the hypo and improbability of delivery is significant.

 

[Ashman OG]

Yeah its all about Richmond righto!
At least you've got your excuse loaded and ready.

Gee you love to talk abt the mighty tiges mate #obsessed

 

[Red Bull]

Essendon. The club needlessly buys into the hype, then the predictable results come and then nothing really is done about it. Case in point, Adrian Dodoro not only still has a job but gets promoted(!)

Well , we know who runs the club and they love him ...
And we love them for that ...

 

[GlocksTickin]

Whatever dude, you pinched a GF in the last 90 seconds, the eagles haven't exactly put the fear into the pies, let alone any contending or decent club out of the 8 in 2018. As the for the Dees and Tiges, the Pies have their measure, and I suspect that playing the pies twice isn't exactly ideal for either club. You mention the harder draw, after round 7 or so, harder for whom will be the question.

They didn't pinch it and if not for inaccurate kicking would have taken the game earlier. They also beat you 3 times in 2018. 100 percent record. Smashed Melbourne and Richmond as well as Hawthorn, Geelong, and GWS twice

They beat of the 7 top 8 sides, give credit where credit is due.

 

[Tiger2709]

It depends. If Richmond was to fail to make it past the prelims this year after finishing top two again their fans would probably feel disappointed but depending on the season leading up to it and the circumstances of the exit Melbourne fans might be okay with it. All about context. In any event I don't think GWS have failed to deliver in the last three years, they have simply performed to expectations. I never expected a juggernaut, ever.

You cant just throw the best picks for 3 years together and expect a flag, it could happen but generally you need to build club spirit and turn the top picks into a team first.

 

[Stan Van Gundy]

Melbourne and Essendon the prime contenders for this.

 

[Tiger2709]

They didn't pinch it and if not for inaccurate kicking would have taken the game earlier. They also beat you 3 times in 2018. 100 percent record. Smashed Melbourne and Richmond as well as Hawthorn, Geelong, and GWS twice

They beat of the 7 top 8 sides, give credit where credit is due.

WCE were always my biggest concern, Collingwood were the lucky team imo the injuries forced changes that improved the team, they had the softest of draws then they got us on our worst day in a couple of years, in the prelim.
The Eagles looked the goods all year, their style of kick and mark was hard to stop using the pressure game employed by the other top teams, as long as the Eagles were on target they were always going to be hard to beat, the only concern was them playing at the 'G.

 

[Caj]

Richmond, Essendon, Melbourne

Take your pick

 

[Tiger2709]

Richmond, Essendon, Melbourne

Take your pick

I'll have one Essendon failure please and half a slice of Melbourne dropping.

 

[GlocksTickin]

I feel that some have been hard on Melbourne here, more so a bloke a few posts up. As another dee supporter mentioned West Coast in Perth is a tough proposition, particularly in finals, and Preliminary Finals. In no way Melbourne imploded or it can be deemed as a choke. Sure they got belted, but that WCE side was good and would have touched up most sides, especially on that day. Everything went right for the Eagles and everything went wrong for the Dees. It wasn't a final but Richmond got destroyed in Perth in the top of the table clash in round 9. At least the Dees did beat them in Perth late on, the only Vic side to do so. The old Melbourne wouldn't have even made finals and would have capitulated again. The old Melbourne wouldn't have beaten Geelong, a side they '' choked '' twice to during the home and away season. The Dees making the Prelim was already a massive steeping stone for the Club and these group of players. Bare in mind they finished outside the 4 at the conclusion of the regular season yet still got within a game of going into the big one. Melbourne will be brimming full of confidence on the eve of the 2019 season. You can tip them to be a let down side of this year, but in no way in Season 2018 were they a side that choked or didn't deliver.

 

[GlocksTickin]

Big Footy's Server

 

[4tone]

They didn't pinch it and if not for inaccurate kicking would have taken the game earlier. They also beat you 3 times in 2018. 100 percent record. Smashed Melbourne and Richmond as well as Hawthorn, Geelong, and GWS twice

They beat of the 7 top 8 sides, give credit where credit is due.

Ok credit given.

 

[theyellowsash]

Now that we don't have rance definitely us