Its in our Hands

[Windy_Hill]

With the Lions doing us a huge favour our season now comes down to wining one of the last 2 games. A win against Freo guarantees us a finals place. A loss will mean a last round showdown with Hawthorn, the winner likely to take the eight position.

I hope the guys flying to Perth understand the enormity of the game and play with a ferocity like there is no tomorrow. Then we can take it easy against the Hawks thefollowing week.

This season is set up beautifully for a show down Elimination Final with the Team that is Apparently Coming (still think that sounds a bit rude)

[paddyl90]

Just beat you Windy but nevertheless I agree.

[BenDoolan]

With the Lions doing us a huge favour ( as I right they are in a winning position against Adelaide), our season now comes down to wining one of the last 2 games. A win against Freo guarantees us a finals place. A loss will mean a last round showdown with Hawthorn, the winner likely to take the eight position.

I hope the guys flying to Perth understand the enormity of the game and play with a ferocity like there is no tomorrow. Then we can take it easy against the Hawks thefollowing week.

This season is set up beautifully for a show down Elimination Final with the Team that is Apparently Coming (still think that sounds a bit rude)

I wouldn't be counting on playing Carlton if we make it. I think Adelaide will pump Carlton next week. Which means (if all goes well tomorrow [-o< ), we'll be playing Adelaide in Adelaide

[paddyl90]

I can't handle an Essendon vs Carlton final. The thought of it makes me sick I'd rather lose to Crows first week.

[brad]

I can't handle an Essendon vs Carlton final. The thought of it makes me sick I'd rather lose to Crows first week.

Why would we have to lose?

Who would you rather win against?

[paddyl90]

I can't handle an Essendon vs Carlton final. The thought of it makes me sick I'd rather lose to Crows first week.

Why would we have to lose?

Who would you rather win against?

I'd rather lose to Adelaide then having the possibility of losing to Scum in finals. I just have a bad feeling.....

[BenDoolan]

I can't handle an Essendon vs Carlton final. The thought of it makes me sick I'd rather lose to Crows first week.

Why would we have to lose?

Who would you rather win against?

I'd rather lose to Adelaide then having the possibility of losing to Scum in finals. I just have a bad feeling.....

Our best chance would be against the scumbuckets here at the MCG - where we have played very well in front of packed crowds. Going to Adelaide with 40,000 morons yelling for Adelaide would be a nightmare. Plus Adelaide a far stronger and fitter unit than Carlton.

[dom_105]

2004 was a long time ago.

The last finals game that Essendon played was in 2004, against Geelong, at a rain-soaked MCG. Demetriou wasn't there, preferring to live it up at the Andrea Bocelli concert at the Tennis Centre. But for those of us who were, we witnessed a bit of history. While at the time it might not have seemed so, that match was the metaphorical ridge above a deep canyon, and we were Susan Sarandon in a Ford Thunderbird headed straight over the side.

That game saw the end of a number of great eras. It was the end of a great number of baby bombers, who gave us the youth to win in '93, and the experience to win in 2000. It was the end of a bell curve that started in either '96 or '98, a great run of success that delivered the 2000 flag and, with respect, should have delivered two more. It also saw the end of a 25 year run of sustained finals appearances, an end that would ultimately cost Sheeds a job. Since Sheeds took over in '81, we missed the finals on five occasions, those being in 87, 88, 92, 94, 97. Twenty out of twenty-five years saw finals appearances, in an era when clubs like Richmond saw three. The horror years of the 70's seemed a distant memory.

The cyclical nature of the AFL system expected us to drop down out of the limelight after the great heights of the early 2000's. But, instead of taking our medicine, we scratched and scraped, topped up with experience, with players like Fish, Matthew Allen, Murphy and Campo, fighting for another shot that perhaps we didn't deserve, that didn't conform to the cyclical system that makes up the base of this whole competition. That shot never came, thanks in part to the all to classic Port Adelaide chokeability, and thanks to "the system" that ended up getting us in the end.

We are in an era not seen since the 70's. 4 years in the wilderness may not seem like a lot for "other" clubs, but it's an eternity for us. We have an expectation for success, of our players and of our club. Perhaps it may be an unrealistic expectation, but I'd rather be disappointed at the end of the year for 10 years straight as opposed to accepting mediocrity as a way of life. f*** that for a joke.

We have rebuilt the club from the inside out, the list as well as the backroom staff. This is thanks to some great draft picks, but those draft picks are useless unless the recruiting team does their job. And, apart from a few cases, they have nailed it these last few years. It is also thanks to some unpopular, but essential decisions made by the board and the executive group, decisions which have all but been vindicated as of now.

We have an opportunity tomorrow to climb out of the wilderness, to a place where we rightfully belong. It's tantalisingly close. It's there, sitting on the table with a ribbon wrapped around it. We have earned that opportunity, both for this year and for the three other years just gone. We will probably get there winning less games than we lost, but f*** it. We have beaten the teams we needed to beat to get there. That's all that matters, and that's what we face tomorrow.

Let's get it done.

[MH_Bomber]

With the Lions doing us a huge favour ( as I right they are in a winning position against Adelaide), our season now comes down to wining one of the last 2 games. A win against Freo guarantees us a finals place. A loss will mean a last round showdown with Hawthorn, the winner likely to take the eight position.

I hope the guys flying to Perth understand the enormity of the game and play with a ferocity like there is no tomorrow. Then we can take it easy against the Hawks thefollowing week.

This season is set up beautifully for a show down Elimination Final with the Team that is Apparently Coming (still think that sounds a bit rude)

I wouldn't be counting on playing Carlton if we make it. I think Adelaide will pump Carlton next week. Which means (if all goes well tomorrow [-o< ), we'll be playing Adelaide in Adelaide

I wouldnt be surprised if Carlton connive to lose next week so they dont have to play us in week 1 and consign us to an interstate final. That was why I was hoping like hell that Geelong beat the the Dogs last night because I think we are bigger show to beat the Doggies (if they'd finished 5th) in a final here than play Brisbane or Adelaide interstate.

We need Carlton to win next week now to ensure we dont have to travel.

[BenDoolan]

With the Lions doing us a huge favour ( as I right they are in a winning position against Adelaide), our season now comes down to wining one of the last 2 games. A win against Freo guarantees us a finals place. A loss will mean a last round showdown with Hawthorn, the winner likely to take the eight position.

I hope the guys flying to Perth understand the enormity of the game and play with a ferocity like there is no tomorrow. Then we can take it easy against the Hawks thefollowing week.

This season is set up beautifully for a show down Elimination Final with the Team that is Apparently Coming (still think that sounds a bit rude)

I wouldn't be counting on playing Carlton if we make it. I think Adelaide will pump Carlton next week. Which means (if all goes well tomorrow [-o< ), we'll be playing Adelaide in Adelaide

I wouldnt be surprised if Carlton connive to lose next week so they dont have to play us in week 1 and consign us to an interstate final. That was why I was hoping like hell that Geelong beat the the Dogs last night because I think we are bigger show to beat the Doggies (if they'd finished 5th) in a final here than play Brisbane or Adelaide interstate.

We need Carlton to win next week now to ensure we dont have to travel.

Of course they will. Now lets see......they will figure out if they beat Adelaide, they will have to play us. We've beaten them twice this year. If they lose to Adelaide, they will have to play Brisbane here. They have beaten Brisbane twice this year. Yeah....it's a no brainer.

FWIW, I reckon Adelaide will naturally smash them anyway - no matter what Carlton try to do.

[merc_2]

Firstly, we need to win against the odds tomorrow. Our interstate form in recent years at Subi is appalling. I have a feeling it is all going to come down to Essendon and Hawthorn at the G next week.

[Rossoneri]

2004 was a long time ago.

The last finals game that Essendon played was in 2004, against Geelong, at a rain-soaked MCG. Demetriou wasn't there, preferring to live it up at the Andrea Bocelli concert at the Tennis Centre. But for those of us who were, we witnessed a bit of history. While at the time it might not have seemed so, that match was the metaphorical ridge above a deep canyon, and we were Susan Sarandon in a Ford Thunderbird headed straight over the side.

That game saw the end of a number of great eras. It was the end of a great number of baby bombers, who gave us the youth to win in '93, and the experience to win in 2000. It was the end of a bell curve that started in either '96 or '98, a great run of success that delivered the 2000 flag and, with respect, should have delivered two more. It also saw the end of a 25 year run of sustained finals appearances, an end that would ultimately cost Sheeds a job. Since Sheeds took over in '81, we missed the finals on five occasions, those being in 87, 88, 92, 94, 97. Twenty out of twenty-five years saw finals appearances, in an era when clubs like Richmond saw three. The horror years of the 70's seemed a distant memory.

The cyclical nature of the AFL system expected us to drop down out of the limelight after the great heights of the early 2000's. But, instead of taking our medicine, we scratched and scraped, topped up with experience, with players like Fish, Matthew Allen, Murphy and Campo, fighting for another shot that perhaps we didn't deserve, that didn't conform to the cyclical system that makes up the base of this whole competition. That shot never came, thanks in part to the all to classic Port Adelaide chokeability, and thanks to "the system" that ended up getting us in the end.

We are in an era not seen since the 70's. 4 years in the wilderness may not seem like a lot for "other" clubs, but it's an eternity for us. We have an expectation for success, of our players and of our club. Perhaps it may be an unrealistic expectation, but I'd rather be disappointed at the end of the year for 10 years straight as opposed to accepting mediocrity as a way of life. f*** that for a joke.

We have rebuilt the club from the inside out, the list as well as the backroom staff. This is thanks to some great draft picks, but those draft picks are useless unless the recruiting team does their job. And, apart from a few cases, they have nailed it these last few years. It is also thanks to some unpopular, but essential decisions made by the board and the executive group, decisions which have all but been vindicated as of now.

We have an opportunity tomorrow to climb out of the wilderness, to a place where we rightfully belong. It's tantalisingly close. It's there, sitting on the table with a ribbon wrapped around it. We have earned that opportunity, both for this year and for the three other years just gone. We will probably get there winning less games than we lost, but f*** it. We have beaten the teams we needed to beat to get there. That's all that matters, and that's what we face tomorrow.

Let's get it done.

Dont remind me of the 2005-2007, such a waste picming up idiots who were nevre going to win us a flag. Not sure what Sheeds was thinking. In fact, it fyurther proved he was out of touch with the modern game.

[robrulz5]

I really wish we had a home game this week. Could you imagine the atmosphere? Tomorrow is basically a final for us.

[Rossoneri]

Firstly, we need to win against the odds tomorrow. Our interstate form in recent years at Subi is appalling. I have a feeling it is all going to come down to Essendon and Hawthorn at the G next week.

Me too, cant see us winning tomorrow.

[billyduckworth]

The last finals game that Essendon played was in 2004, against Geelong, at a rain-soaked MCG. Demetriou wasn't there, preferring to live it up at the Andrea Bocelli concert at the Tennis Centre. But for those of us who were, we witnessed a bit of history. While at the time it might not have seemed so, that match was the metaphorical ridge above a deep canyon, and we were Susan Sarandon in a Ford Thunderbird headed straight over the side.

Beautifully written, dom. Great imagery. Indeed, it has been a very long time since we have played finals and we really need to get back into the groove. Even if it's just one final against Adelaide at moron park and we get smashed, we need to be there. So let's win today against the shockers and let's win well. Go Bombers!

[MH_Bomber]

Of course they will. Now lets see......they will figure out if they beat Adelaide, they will have to play us. We've beaten them twice this year. If they lose to Adelaide, they will have to play Brisbane here. They have beaten Brisbane twice this year. Yeah....it's a no brainer.

FWIW, I reckon Adelaide will naturally smash them anyway - no matter what Carlton try to do.

Dont you love a good conspiracy theory BD !

[tom9779]

i will not be more disappointed in the team if they do not give it to the dockers today.

its a shot at finals FFS. c'mon bombers.

[Rossoneri]

This is the game that we really need to build ourselves up for and win. We then can allow for the emotional let down next week and come out flat. Must be fired up and ready to play this week, not next.

[Rossoneri]

...and like a pass to McPhee, it has slipped through our fingers...