The what if thread

[Anja_Nees]

Bulldogs would have easily beaten Geelong. Same as Richmond last year - Geelong have a long winning streak against them, but Richmond were just hungrier and better drilled. The past doesn't count for much in finals.

Biased as I am I agree. We had a diabolical record against WC (and Freo) in Subiaco, a less than great record at Spotless and were on a shocking run of losses against Hawthorn. We steamrolled everyone on the way through to the grand final. Our form was simply outrageous at the time.

 

[Macpotata]

that prelim final at spotless was dramatic and intense. One of the best finals I've ever seen.

Pressure to the max.

 

[Bearded Clam]

What if.. Dangerfield decided to stay at the crows for another two years..

Would he have made all the difference to the crows in both 2016 and 2017?... you’d have to think he would be been a massive in. I will never forget the look on his face in the last few minutes of that 2017 prelim in adelaide last year.. was it a look of “what could’ve been”?.. who knows.

He may be a bit of a knob off the field at times but he’s an unbelievable player.. I loved him as a crow and still rate him as a cat... like dusty, Dangerfield is the type of player that wins you grandfinals..

Given Geelong’s current trajectory and dangers age (He’s probably got a good four years left but Geelong are on the slide down will they be back in four years??) .. I wonder if he’ll even get the opportunity to play in a grand final now...

Oh well, time will tell..

 

[Pykie]

What's Tarryn Thomas going to cost? Would've thought North would have more bargaining power next year. But no harm in asking.

I think he will more than likely get bid on in the top 6.

He doesn't have a whole heap of hype at the moment, particularly on BF. I think most will discover what a bit of a ridiculous prospect he is after the champs. He honestly looks like some sort of Wells/Franklin/Burgoyne hybrid, he's already 6"3 at the moment.

He was injured for most of last season, was very underdone as a 17 year old last year for the Allies. He won Tasmania's u/18 MVP the year before that as a 16 year old.

If he was born in SA, Vic or WA I think he'd be getting hyped right up there with Rankine and Walsh.

There's an argument to be made that he's the best midfielder in the draft.

 

[MaddAdam]

Thomas is the kind of talent that sees the AFL shut down the pathway that got him to North and gift that pathway to Sydney.

 

[Number37]

Thomas is the kind of talent that might think twice about going to North.

 

[MaddAdam]

Thomas is the kind of talent that might think twice about going to North.

Nah, he's very keen to play. No probs there.

I wonder how Flakey will feel when Sydney inevitably give his Dad the flick.

And anyway, Sydney are a poor team that are on the slide. Flakey has years of mediocrity to look forward to.

 

[Number37]

I wonder how Flakey will feel when Sydney inevitably give his Dad the flick.

He'll probably think it could have been worse, he might have chosen North and got to see what real mediocrity looks like.

 

[MaddAdam]

He'll probably think it could have been worse, he might have chosen North and got to see what real mediocrity looks like.

Yeah, we beat you two weeks ago.

Shh now.

 

[Number37]

Yeah, we beat you two weeks ago.

Shh now.

Enjoy it while you can, you won't play finals.

 

[SA HAWK]

What if University didn't fold would they have a premiership by now?

 

[reincarnated]

- What if Hird didn't fracture the ankle and Lucas didn't break his leg in 1999, and both played the whole season. Premiers 1999 too.

- What if Lloyd wasn't ridiculously suspended for the 2001 prelim final, we would have lead by 70 plus points at half time and game over. Which would have meant we could have just chilled for the second half and saved some energy for the following week.

Which leads me to the Grand final. What if Hird, Long and Mercury wasn't injured, and what if the Lions weren't allowed to inject them selves with juice. Would have been a deserved three in a row for the Bombers.

 

[Carringbush2010]

What if MM stayed on as coach for another 2 seasons at Collingwood?

 

[Carringbush2010]

What if Harmesy's out of bounds was called out of bounds in the 79 GF?

 

[Carringbush2010]

What if Jason Cloke was cleared to play in the 02 GF like Barry Hall was cleared in 05?

 

[citizen-erased]

- What if Hird didn't fracture the ankle and Lucas didn't break his leg in 1999, and both played the whole season. Premiers 1999 too.

- What if Lloyd wasn't ridiculously suspended for the 2001 prelim final, we would have lead by 70 plus points at half time and game over. Which would have meant we could have just chilled for the second half and saved some energy for the following week.

Which leads me to the Grand final. What if Hird, Long and Mercury wasn't injured, and what if the Lions weren't allowed to inject them selves with juice. Would have been a deserved three in a row for the Bombers.

that 99-01 bombers team was one of the biggest underachieving sides.
choked the prelim against carlton and went into the 01 GF poorly in terms of fitness.

Our biggest has to be the 2011 elimination final and it's aftermath

2011 we make finals after a poor 2010.
Much like 09, we are belted by the best Carlton side since their 99 GF, and the rush to fix a young side sees some poor decisions made.

That Essendon side had the makings of our best backline since 2000
Hurley, Hooker, Carlisle, Hibberd and rising star winner Heppell would soon be joined by Baguley.

Our midfield wasn't star studded, but had a number of workhorses approaching their peak years.
Watson, Stanton, Myers, Hocking and Howlett (11 tackles that day) were flanked by up and comers Zaharakis and Colyer.

We were missing our leading goal kicker in Crameri in that game.

Then it all goes wrong
-We let a potential FF solution in Jenkins go to Adelaide that upgrades us from pick 41 to 31. Which turns out to be Jackson Merrett.
-We have tapped up a potential gun recruit in Gunston, but our indecision sees him change his mind and go to Hawthorn. The first rd pick he would have cost is used on Elliot Kavanagh, ignoring family links again (Rioli) and passing on Seb Ross. Pity we didn't do that in 09 with Long instead of Gawn.
-Bomber has a bright idea that we need to bulk the boys up quickly, and turns to old acquaintance Dean Robinson, who turns to his current acquaintance Stephen Dank.
-The Essendon hierarchy fails to keep a program in check that was aiming to push boundaries.
-All hell breaks loose in 2013.

We lose 2x draft picks in the 2013 draft. The revisionist in me would have us taking a young mid in Patrick Cripps to replace the struggling ElKav, and Nankervis to replace Hille. Crameri still leaves due to his McCartney relationship and the whole Bendigo Bombers thing, so Merrett still arrives.

We lose 2x draft picks in the 2014 draft, but get an end of rd1 one back, which one would assume we'd still take Langford.
Had we been able to deal for a better pick for Ryder, i imagine we still take Langford and Laverde in the first rd with whatever picks we had
We don't waste on Cooney, and take any of McGovern, Neal-Bullen or Daniel.

We don't lose a year of continuity for Watson, Hurley, Hooker, Heppell and co.
Hibberd likely stays.

our 2018 lineup, assuming all other trades in 2017 proceed, would look something like;

Saad Hooker Carlisle
Hibberd Hurley McKenna
Smith Cripps Merrett
Gunston Daniher Stringer
Fantasia Jenkins Tippa
Nankervis Heppell Goddard
Zaharakis Colyer Howlett Daniel
-I'd assume Jobe and Stanton would still have retired.

That's an elite, or at minimum A grade, player on each line plus one on the bench.

***This is all rather revisionist, but im guessing thats what this thread was for.
All from a single elimination final loss where we couldn't just take the loss and build from there naturally.

 

[Percel]

Enjoy it while you can, you won't play finals.

you're probably right, when does the Buddy investment pay off in terms of on-field success?

 

[ep2018]

What if Geelong held on against Sydney in 2005? They'd have played an injury ravaged Saints team in a prelim, then an Eagles team who were average in Melbourne in a Grand final. They could have well won the lot.

 

[Number37]

you're probably right, when does the Buddy investment pay off in terms of on-field success?

It already has.

 

[winty]

What if Geelong held on against Sydney in 2005? They'd have played an injury ravaged Saints team in a prelim, then an Eagles team who were average in Melbourne in a Grand final. They could have well won the lot.

We were injury ravaged ourselves.

Leads to another what if though - what if Nathan Ablett didn't get stage fright and played in that '05 semi?

 

[Isaac Cumming No 1]

What if Josh Kelly says "Ah actually, I should have done what I wanted to do last year and not been talked out of it by my managerr, I want to go to North now" at the end of this season?

Is the North big money offer still available? I am very confident it would be.

Do GWS hold him to his contract or decide they don't want a disaffected player on their list.

Does his trade value decrease?

I think this situation is not that wild a speculative exercise myself.

It's not a speculative exercise, it's a dream.

 

[MaddAdam]

It's not a speculative exercise, it's a dream.

For sure North would ask.

 

[Isaac Cumming No 1]

For sure North would ask.

It matters little.
Having made the decision to retain him at all costs there's no reversing direction now.

 

[BarryMorgan]

Nah, he's very keen to play. No probs there.

I wonder how Flakey will feel when Sydney inevitably give his Dad the flick.

And anyway, Sydney are a poor team that are on the slide. Flakey has years of mediocrity to look forward to.

Sydney hasn’t been a poor team for about 20 years.

 

[MaddAdam]

Sydney hasn’t been a poor team for about 20 years.

The slide is on.