The Next 6 Weeks

[Zondor]

Will it define where we are at as a football club?

Before the Swans game one would think that Carlton and possibly Essendon were gettable over the next few weeks. But now who can with any great confidence think that?

Come Round 10 we meet Richmond.

Worst case scenario come into the Richmond game 1 and 8 and get rolled by the Tigers. Then shit will be hitting the fan.

Conversely best case scenario we are 4 and 6 after 10 rounds and it could be argued we are heading in the right direction.

As I’m a Doom and Gloom kind of guy I think the worst case scenario is on the cards but I don’t want this to be the case.

Where will be at after Round 10? :stern look

 

[harper2bastinac]

Winning against Carlton, Essendon and then obviously Richmond looks like best case scenario, port even though it’s away should be another close game as they’re vulnerable and this club needs to get back at them after all the hidings they have provided them for the last few years. Gc and Brisbane are guaranteed losses but please dont pull off the same efforts they did against Sydney.
By this stage the club should know what their best 22 looks like as well

 

[HBFlanker]

3 and 6 heading in to round 10.

Beat Essendon and pinch one of Port and Carlton.

 

[archereleven]

It's hard to be positive after last night.
If I'm being glass half full, we pinch 1 against Bard and his shit trucks and lose the rest.

2-7 going into R10.

 

[Zondor]

It's hard to be positive after last night.
If I'm being glass half full, we pinch 1 against Bard and his shit trucks and lose the rest.

2-7 going into R10.

If we are 2 and 7 going into the Richmond game and the Tigers knock us over I reckon the heat will still be on. I can’t see it being a good look losing to a team that moved on a number of their Premiership players, most in their prime, the year previous. :stern look

 

[Arthur Cloke]

3 and 6 heading in to round 10.

Beat Essendon and pinch one of Port and Carlton.

Haha - thinking we can beat Port in Adel??? we could play St Albans in Adel and lose.

 

[Arthur Cloke]

If we can just replicate that last Q vs Melb or that 1st half vs Coll last year or that round 23 win against GC in 2023, then I dare say we could be 7 & 4 after round 11, and suddenly we 're looking half not bad.

 

[blackshadow]

If we can just replicate that last Q vs Melb or that 1st half vs Coll last year or that round 23 win against GC in 2023, then I dare say we could be 7 & 4 after round 11, and suddenly we 're looking half not bad.

C'mon make up your mind! I'm not sure if you're Arthur or Martha!

 

[Only Forwards]

If we can just replicate that last Q vs Melb or that 1st half vs Coll last year or that round 23 win against GC in 2023, then I dare say we could be 7 & 4 after round 11, and suddenly we 're looking half not bad.

The frustration comes from knowing we have that football in us.

Glimpses of it aren’t enough

 

[shintemaster]

That Sydney game knocked the stuffing out of us no doubt. I think it's not as bad as it looks personally. Think we're still improved from last year where we would have maybe fell over the line against that Melbourne team in a nail biting, floundering win.

A few on here mentioned that it might take 6-7 games to gel with some of the new ins and I think that has a nugget of truth in it. In spite of losing so poorly to Sydney (which IMO was likely a mix of fresh legs from the bye, some overoptimistic stuff at selection table and yes, our brittle core) we have been clearly competitive in every game this year (outside of the last half against Sydney).

That said I reckon 3 more wins before Richmond is about on par for us to say we have shown serious improvement. I'm not sure how realistic that is but we should absolutely see these as 50/50 or winnable based on form this year:

Carlton - Not flying, absolutely gettable.
Port - Normally say no at Adelaide Oval but just played there, put in a good show against one of the form teams and reckon we will see this as a real shot due to that and Port's flaky form this year.
Essendon - See Carlton.

Gold Coast & Brisbane are obviously tougher tasks as of today. We shouldn't be conceding before the game by any means. I'll be happy pinching either or both and the optimist in me says Gold Coast could be vulnerable after a high intensity game and another week away. Brisbane have got the job done this year but have not been the dominant force they could have been. Again, I'd give us a slim chance in this at home (but wouldn't be putting $ on it).

4 wins would be a solid result. In some ways 4 wins with one of them coming from those last 2 games would be even better. Let's be real, even 4 wins after the Richmond game realistically means we would have bettered last year in less than half the season. We all want more but it would be hard not to see that as an unequivocally successful start to the year.

 

[Horizons_00]

What if we lose all 6?

 

[Frank Thring]

Haha - thinking we can beat Port in Adel??? we could play St Albans in Adel and lose.

StAlbans do have a strong spine to be fair

 

[Uncle_Leo]

Will it define where we are at as a football club?

Before the Swans game one would think that Carlton and possibly Essendon were gettable over the next few weeks. But now who can with any great confidence think that?

Come Round 10 we meet Richmond.

Worst case scenario come into the Richmond game 1 and 8 and get rolled by the Tigers. Then shit will be hitting the fan.

Conversely best case scenario we are 4 and 6 after 10 rounds and it could be argued we are heading in the right direction.

As I’m a Doom and Gloom kind of guy I think the worst case scenario is on the cards but I don’t want this to be the case.

Where will be at after Round 10? :stern look

I think its quite evident we don't gel until after the bye

 

[Frank Thring]

I think its quite evident we don't gel until after the bye

Maybe we should request a bye in round 1 next year

 

[shintemaster]

What if we lose all 6?

Then we are in serious shit.

 

[Marstermind]

StAlbans do have a strong spine to be fair

They're really strong in the corridor - they may get hold of us.

As it stands, we won't start as favourites in a game until Round 10. Not that starting favourites means much - we weren't favourites against Melboure and things change. But saying "Oh, yeah we'll knock off Carlton and Essendon and Port and it'll be OK" is ambitious given the tripe that was served up on Saturday night.

I'm interested in this week. I don't think we can win, but we have to give a serious response. We've been here before. In 2022 we started OK with an honourable loss against the Hawks and win against WCE. Then Brisbane beat us by 100+ and after that we imploded losing the next 13 games by an average 56 and only had one more win for the year. In 2023, we won the first two games, should have beaten Hawthorn, could have beaten Carlton, then got smashed again by the Lions and didn't win again until the last round. And last year we hung in against GWS, played some decent footy in the first half against Freo and then got destroyed on Good Friday. Lost the next 8 by an average of 57.

OKish first few weeks, get a hiding, no response, fall to pieces, season in tatters by ANZAC Day. Can't happen this year. I'm not expecting a win, but a strong four quarter effort as a minimum. Otherwise being 1-8 is a reality.

 

[shintemaster]

They're really strong in the corridor - they may get hold of us.

As it stands, we won't start as favourites in a game until Round 10. Not that starting favourites means much - we weren't favourites against Melboure and things change. But saying "Oh, yeah we'll knock off Carlton and Essendon and Port and it'll be OK" is ambitious given the tripe that was served up on Saturday night.

I'm interested in this week. I don't think we can win, but we have to give a serious response. We've been here before. In 2022 we started OK with an honourable loss against the Hawks and win against WCE. Then Brisbane beat us by 100+ and after that we imploded losing the next 13 games by an average 56 and only had one more win for the year. In 2023, we won the first two games, should have beaten Hawthorn, could have beaten Carlton, then got smashed again by the Lions and didn't win again until the last round. And last year we hung in against GWS, played some decent footy in the first half against Freo and then got destroyed on Good Friday. Lost the next 8 by an average of 57.

OKish first few weeks, get a hiding, no response, fall to pieces, season in tatters by ANZAC Day. Can't happen this year. I'm not expecting a win, but a strong four quarter effort as a minimum. Otherwise being 1-8 is a reality.

Yep. Spot on.

 

[andana]

Carlton - Not flying, absolutely gettable.

We appear to be focusing on the off field stuff

ROUND 6 V CARLTON
Join us for the premier matchday function for the season, the SuperClash President’s Function.
Enjoy premium seating on Level 2 at centre wing, indulge in gourmet grazing stations, canapés, and premium beverages while taking in live entertainment and guest speakers.

 

[Horizons_00]

We appear to be focusing on the off field stuff

ROUND 6 V CARLTON
Join us for the premier matchday function for the season, the SuperClash President’s Function.
Enjoy premium seating on Level 2 at centre wing, indulge in gourmet grazing stations, canapés, and premium beverages while taking in live entertainment and guest speakers.

You just know we can play Carlton into form

 

[blackshadow]

Maybe we should request a bye in round 1 next year

 

[Only Forwards]

What if we lose all 6?

The anger from everywhere will be as clear as day.

 

[Gasometer]

If we can just replicate that last Q vs Melb or that 1st half vs Coll last year or that round 23 win against GC in 2023, then I dare say we could be 7 & 4 after round 11, and suddenly we 're looking half not bad.

We would be looking at double chance if we could replicate that form every week for 4 quarters

 

[Gasometer]

We appear to be focusing on the off field stuff

ROUND 6 V CARLTON
Join us for the premier matchday function for the season, the SuperClash President’s Function.
Enjoy premium seating on Level 2 at centre wing, indulge in gourmet grazing stations, canapés, and premium beverages while taking in live entertainment and guest speakers.

I can look out the window and see a grazing station, two silver water bowls and one food bowl, but what is a canapé?

 

[King Corey]

StAlbans do have a strong spine to be fair

They were also coming off the bye.

 

[Arthur Cloke]

The frustration comes from knowing we have that football in us.

Glimpses of it aren’t enough

Haha. Glimpses mean sweet FA. This is a professional competition. The only way we can play anything resembling quality football is if the opposition doesn't turn up. Once there's a bit of pressure on us we are cooked, done, gone, arrividerci, come stai, bene grazie.......