downward spiral or rise again?

[little_ripper]

what do you guys reckon about the season in light of whats happened in the past fortnight?

with two bad losses to flakey sides are we sunk for the year?

or do you think its an aberration, simply corrected by an injection of the captain and some serious talent in the next fortnight.(hocking/hurls)?

i'm starting to think watto must have the broadest shoulders in the league....shouldering a bunch of downhill skiers...perhaps even worse than judds predicament at the scum.

can we get back to 5th?(or even sneak into the top 4) can we even stay in the 8?

[Jazz_84]

i think we can rise again, but given we have to play all current top 4 sides before the year is out i think 5th is the best we can hope for, we are fighting Carlton and Sydney for 4th and unless they drop off a bit i can't see us forcing our way up there....

1-4 i think are set and 5-8 i think is set with positional changes to come

doggies or saints might make a charge but not so sure, can't see Melb or Rich getting into the 8

wouldn't mind Sydney taking Carlton's 4th but the scum have a half decent run to the end

[danstar84]

There is no doubt we have been flat in the last couple of weeks. Main issue is converting inside 50's into goals.

Hopefully the return of some players from injury and suspension will help out. We have had some decent talent on the sidelines:

Watson, Hurley, Hocking in the last few weeks have really hurt. Gumby, although we don't know whether he will get over the injuries could be very handy at CHF currently. Both he and Hurley know how to play forward, unlike the ruckman we have been sitting in there.

Licha, Dempsey and Pears have been/are long term injuries, but in a developing team like ours, losing them really hurt. Really looking forward to Pears returning in the next few weeks (pending VFL form).

Getting Stanton and Ryder into some type of form would also be great. Need to get Ryder into the ruck. Stanton showed better signs in the first half against the Dees.

The first six/seven weeks weren't a fluke, we played some brilliant footy during that period. I'm positive, and think we can turn it around.

[Jazz_84]

The first six/seven weeks weren't a fluke, we played some brilliant footy during that period. I'm positive, and think we can turn it around.

we had the structure, gameplan and the players to execute it and at the moment we havn't had the players therefor the structures are out the window with players all given different roles

remember last year it took St Kilda a good 5 weeks to learn how to play without Nick and they still made the GF, hell even when Nick came back they struggled for a week or 2 to get used to him again, and it's happened again this year with Hayes

[boris]

rise, rise rise!!!!!!!!

c'mon boys fire up.

[Mrs Mercuri]

There was no way we would have been able to hold the momentum and form that we started the year with, this fall from grace was always going to come, just a pity it happened against the Tigers and Dees, both teams we should have beaten,

Season certainly not over though, although our top 4 hopes probably are. If we finish in the top 8 i will still be over the moon!

[Rossoneri]

Season is well over. Look at our draw

Freo - away
North - home (6 day break)
Hawthorn - 6 day break
Geelong -

At best we will win one game. To get our season back on track, we need to win 3 of them.

[s'dreams]

Season is well over. Look at our draw

Freo - away
North - home (6 day break)
Hawthorn - 6 day break
Geelong -

At best we will win one game. To get our season back on track, we need to win 3 of them.

Expect us to make a stand against Freo ... especially with so many Freo injuries and without Sandilands.
North is very win-able
Hawthorn is very very over-rated but we are underdogs for this
Geelong ... will test the team's mettle - hopefully few injurys from this game

So 2 from four not unreasonable.

[Jazz_84]

we're giant killers remember

[swoodley]

We have five and half wins from ten games.

To make the eight, we should expect to need to win six more games.

Our remaining draw is:

Fremantle (away) - 50/50 at best given our travel record
North (etihad) - should win
Hawthorn (mcg) - probable loss
Geelong (etihad) - probable loss
Richmond (mcg) - 50/50 given our performance against them recently
Adelaide (aami) - 50/50 at best given our travel record
Carlton (mcg) - 50/50 as we do generally play well against them
Collingwood (mcg) - loss
Sydney (etihad) - should win
Bulldogs (etihad) - should win (if the bullies are still struggling, they will be playing kids by then)
West Coast (away) - probable loss
Port Adelaide (etihad) - should win (but we haven't beaten them for a million years)

So, we need to win ALL the games that I ahve marked as "should win" and then at least two of the 50/50's.

We can make the eight but I don't see us causing any damage this season if we do get in.

A slightly pessimistic view but better than I expected at the start of the year.

[bomberdonnie]

We have five and half wins from ten games.

To make the eight, we should expect to need to win six more games.

Our remaining draw is:

Fremantle (away) - 50/50 at best given our travel record
North (etihad) - should win
Hawthorn (mcg) - probable loss
Geelong (etihad) - probable loss
Richmond (mcg) - 50/50 given our performance against them recently
Adelaide (aami) - 50/50 at best given our travel record
Carlton (mcg) - 50/50 as we do generally play well against them
Collingwood (mcg) - loss
Sydney (etihad) - should win
Bulldogs (etihad) - should win (if the bullies are still struggling, they will be playing kids by then)
West Coast (away) - probable loss
Port Adelaide (etihad) - should win (but we haven't beaten them for a million years)

So, we need to win ALL the games that I ahve marked as "should win" and then at least two of the 50/50's.

We can make the eight but I don't see us causing any damage this season if we do get in.

A slightly pessimistic view but better than I expected at the start of the year.

Very good summary

[paddyl90]

Seriously all we need is to win a few we aren't expected to..e.g. "upset" Freo and Hawks and win against the Roos and we are back in it... This is officially half way mark. Lets just see if the slump still continues with the inclusion of Hocking, Watson & Hurley over the next few weeks...then we have no excuses and I'd be worried! I'm still optimistic...but they need to cut this crap asap haha.

[robrulz5]

I've been quite pessimistic this week so I don't think we will play finals, not sure if I want us to after the last two games.

[Jazz_84]

i just want us to play in a final to give the boys the desire to go further next year, finishing 9th wont do anything for us

who will come up and take our spot though, i can't see any teams below us that are good enough

[Bomber_Fan]

It remains to be seen if the game plan we have adopted is tenable and practical - I for one am still not convinced. Not much point of continuing with this game plan if players are going to lose intensity less than half way through the season like they have so far.