St Kilda, Sydney or Essendon?

[1980GFVideo]

You get a good win in your first final and West Coast lose to Collingwood.

I think you play the lowest placed loser amongst the top four sides so you simply play West Coast at Patterson stadium second week which is a venue you seem comfortable with.

I dont see any great issue on who finnishes fourth or fifth at the end of the day. You end up in the same place come second week of finals.

Just be nice for Ratten not have to be in an elimination scenario given the pressure the board are putting on him. But None of Essendon,Sydney or StKilda can beat you. You looked very good in the second half on Friday.

 

[SA HAWK]

According to the experts on the Main Board, St Kilda are the 3rd best team in the competition. All joking aside, North have not beaten a team in the 8 this season & St Kilda are travelling very well at the moment. Hard to see North beating St Kilda, unless Sydney beat up badly on them tomorrow & a number of key St Kilda players get injured.

I think pretty much any of the teams from 3-8 can beat each other on their day.

North are a capable team only lost to St Kilda by 9 points last time they played and were very competitive aginst both our teams.

You would think Carlton would account for them in the finals if that is who you play.

 

[SA HAWK]

Saints win tomorrow, I'll back the kangas to grab 8th. Surely that will be Sunday arvo at the G. Good result I'd say

I still think that would be at Etihad.

You would think Essendon v Saints would draw more people.

Tough decision for Demetriou if that is how it pans out.

 

[Aphrodite]

You get a good win in your first final and West Coast lose to Collingwood.

I think you play the lowest placed loser amongst the top four sides so you simply play West Coast at Patterson stadium second week which is a venue you seem comfortable with.

I dont see any great issue on who finnishes fourth or fifth at the end of the day. You end up in the same place come second week of finals.

Just be nice for Ratten not have to be in an elimination scenario given the pressure the board are putting on him. But None of Essendon,Sydney or StKilda can beat you. You looked very good in the second half on Friday.

If we were to finish 4th (which is unlikely now) and we lose the 1st qualifying final, we would then play the winner of 5th v 8th which would be a home final in Melbourne as we were the higher ranking team, not Patterson Stadium.

Finishing 5th and win our 1st final, we play the loser of 1st v 4th and if that happens to be West Coast, it will be in WA.

So in effect, no we would not end up in the same place come 2nd week of the finals had we finished 4th.

 

[1980GFVideo]

If we were to finish 4th (which is unlikely now) and we lose the 1st qualifying final, we would then play the loser (should be winner) of 5th v 8th which would be a home final in Melbourne as we were the higher ranking team, not Patterson Stadium.

Finishing 5th and win our 1st final, we play the loser of 1st v 4th and if that happens to be West Coast, it will be in WA.

So in effect, no we would not end up in the same place come 2nd week of the finals had we finished 4th.

By place, I dont mean venue, rather chances. I dont see the venue as being as advantageous to the home team as people make out. In some ways I think you would be better taking the Eagles on over on Patterson Stadium which you seem to like.

You are right in that there was something on offer to being in 4th. In a way it has simply changed the venue of what will be a Carlton-West Coast clash come the second week.

But from what I have seen this year, you guys look as comfortable at Patterson stadium as anywhere. If by place, you mean venue and that West Coast will have any advantage over you by virtue of it being over there, I dont think it will.

I would rather you guys having a go at Collingwood in that first week as you would more likely to cause upset than WC. Ill fall in love with the side (for a week) that can derail Collingwood.

 

[The Grover]

I still think that would be at Etihad.

You would think Essendon v Saints would draw more people.

Tough decision for Demetriou if that is how it pans out.

This is it, we'll play kangas at Etihad & have serious trouble beating them.

Would much rather play Bombers or Sydney at the G.

If swans win today we'll play Bombers at the G.

 

[Cazbah]

I'd rather play Swans. Both Essendon and Kangas can be our bogey side. Sydney are shocking at the moment and we handed them a new one (At Etihad?) the second time we played them.

We'll take that mental note in against them and the fact that they eliminated us last year.

 

[JuddyBuddy]

I know we've had some trouble with North in the past, but I really can't see them beating us in a final, regardless of where it's played. And I'm usually pretty pessimistic.

 

[Blueboys11]

Carlton v North would draw very similar to saints v bombers.

In this case the Carlton game should b at the G as reward for 5th. Also factored in would be North play Sunday twilight the week before so the AFL would try and avoid a 6 day break for them.

All moot if swans get up today

 

[mediumsizered]

Suddenly St Kilda's spot in the 8 starts to look a bit shaky. With North next week & us the week after, a loss today may well see them miss out.

 

[Kaladin Stormblessed]

First preference would be Essendon at the 'G, we will smash them.

Second Sydney at Etihad

Third, St Kilda.

 

[Warsaw]

Looking like Essendon. Sydney should lose to Geelong and then need to beat Lions to finish ahead of St Kilda.

 

[VicO]

If Jamison is fit and firing I'm happy to play any of the four (including North), and even more so at the MCG but none should be underestimated:

Essendon - Have played well against the better sides this year and have a lot of heart.
St Kilda - Very experienced in finals
North - their midfield can really turn it on and last night's game showed they can very quickly run away with a game
Sydney - Never say die attitude, have a mental edge over us from last years final

If the match is played at Etihad I'd rather play:
1. Sydney - slight home advantage that we wouldn't get with the other sides
2. St Kilda - think they're done for the year, had a good run over the past two months, but will want to see the back of 2011 asap
3. North - Goldstien worries me.
4. Essendon - Etihad specialists. Do not want to play. Mates will never stfu if they win.

I'm confident we can beat anyone in the finals, but I'd like us to get the bogey off our back with an easy first week win ie, Freo please!

 

[CrippsonBlue]

Will be Essendon or North, and to be honest neither will be a problem.

Wouldn't have been overly confident against the Swans despite our wins this year over them, so that is a pretty good result, and will ensure we get our game at the MCG

 

[BeligerentBlue]

home final at the G is now certain.

1 in four chance it is North
3 in four it is Ess

Reasoning; The only games affecting this are North Vs Saints and then Carl vs Saints.

North Win Carl Win Play North
North Win Carl Lose Play Ess
Saints win Carl Win Play Ess
Saints Win Saints Win Play Ess

I don't think any other factors will come into play.

 

[blue_chick]

If we want to play at the G come final's we have to make sure St.Kilda keep 6th position ( even if we have to lose the last game.)

Carlton Essondon would not be played at Ethihad to big a crowd to play their.

St.Kilda Sydney would definetly get the Ethtihad game. So we don't want Sydney overtaking St.Kilda or they will get the home final which will give us the game at Ethidad.

 

[Juddalenko]

home final at the G is now certain.

1 in four chance it is North
3 in four it is Ess

Reasoning; The only games affecting this are North Vs Saints and then Carl vs Saints.

North Win Carl Win Play North
North Win Carl Lose Play Ess
Saints win Carl Win Play Ess
Saints Win Saints Win Play Ess

I don't think any other factors will come into play.

Not entirely true. Most likely, but still a chance of playing Sydney. If Essendon obliterate Port at Etihad by say 100pts (very possible) and Geelong beat Sydney at Skilled by say 60pts (very possible) then Sydney would need to cover percentage in the game against Brisbane to overcome Essendon.

 

[BeligerentBlue]

Not entirely true. Most likely, but still a chance of playing Sydney. If Essendon obliterate Port at Etihad by say 100pts (very possible) and Geelong beat Sydney at Skilled by say 60pts (very possible) then Sydney would need to cover percentage in the game against Brisbane to overcome Essendon.

thank you. Did not look at that angle.

 

[JuddyBuddy]

My ladder predictor now has us playing Essendon and St Kilda playing Sydney. If it comes through then we'd definetly get the G, with the saints playing at Etihad. All depends on the results of StK/NM and Carl/St K tho. If St K beat North next week then u can pretty much pencil in a Carl/Ess final regardless of whether we beat St Kilda or not.

Carlton/Essendon at the G in front of a full house would just be a fantastic way to start playing finals again in Melbourne.

 

[Squida25]

Essendon at the MCG is preferable, we're at our best there/they haven't won much there this year. Only problem is that if by some minor miracle they win the next week would be hell.

 

[JuddyBuddy]

If they won that'd be lights out for the year so the next 6 months would be hell! The next 12 months even.

 

[portaz]

OK, sydney winning today has put a spin on things...

Personally, North vs st kilda match determines who we play...

I think regardless we will play at the G now which is great, and it will either be against Essendon or North...

The other match will be either swans vs bombers (in sydney) or saints v sydney which will definitely be at etihad...

I think that is a good result for us... but would love to be playing sydney in the first final...

 

[Snoozer]

St Kilda tanked against Sydney. They don't want to play Essendon as they match up terribly, and have been pumped by them even when St Kilda were dominant.

Essendon want to play Carlton at the 'G as they will fancy themselves after a draw early in the year, and being decimated by injury second time around.

North will be Carlton's ideal opponent at Etihad if it can't be Sydney.

 

[Cazbah]

St Kilda tanked against Sydney. They don't want to play Essendon as they match up terribly, and have been pumped by them even when St Kilda were dominant.

Essendon want to play Carlton at the 'G as they will fancy themselves after a draw early in the year, and being decimated by injury second time around.

North will be Carlton's ideal opponent at Etihad if it can't be Sydney.

Interesting.. Sydney definately did smash the saints, just not on the scoreboard

 

[mightymightyblues]

What we do know is that Essendon will beat Port, Geelong will beat Sydney, North will beat Richmond, Sydney will beat Brisbane, Freo will lose both remaining games and we SHOULD beat St.Kilda at the G! These are the games that will shape the finals.


Will that in mind, St.Kilda North is the only major conundrum.
North win = V North Saturday arvo elimination final at the MCG and Sydney play Essendon in Sydney
St.Kilda win = We play Essendon at the G Saturday arvo and St.Kilda gets a home final against Sydney.

GO NORFFFFFF!!!