Is it 5 or 6?

[Jazz_84]

Bleak look on things but what is going on with our facilities? WE NEED a first class training facility! whats going on with that?

[BenDoolan]

Not sure what you're hinting at Filth. Is it bad luck, bad umpires, bad trinunal, bad club administration that has caused our woes this year - oh, and a bad coach? How about some bad players, and just some goddam bad attitudes??

[Ronny Rotten]

Plus don't forget the worst fixture by far of any club , eg playing the pussies twice in 11 weeks & not even playing the lions until round 21.

[s'dreams]

Filthy

Silverlock is a Rookie - so not available to the team anyway (he wasn't promoted when fit to fill a LTI when Laycock and Pears were injured - so wasn't in consideration)
Williams - his injury says more about the Hawks conditioning staff and perhaps where his head is at - you are less likely to get injured when you fully commit rather than put in a token effort.
Laycock - There comes a time when the toll of past injuries builds to the point that further and serious injuries are inevitable - the Chook is possibly the only player you could blame Quinn for

The rest - (angry shot at Goddard deleted) Pears, Gumby and WInder (as well as Slattery and Welsh) have been injured by putting their bodies on the line ... frankly I'd rather this continues rather than players shirking contests (as we have done in the recent past).

I thought we got a really good run from the umpires on Friday (even Riewoldt didn't get his usual 10 frees and 4 x 50m penalties in the forward 50). But if you want to get a good run from the umps - perhaps we should either suck it in when we get a mega-dodgy decision rather than bring attention to it in the media ... or only question the umps very quietly through official channels and not make any noise about it - IMO getting McB dropped hurt us for at least 4 weeks in terms of an even hand from the maggots. The subsequent implied questioning of other shockers didn't help. We have to work out if is more important to be publically acknowledged as being wronged ... or we want to get on with it.

Finally - most teams don't get to play their best 22 most weeks - there are always injuries... even with Geelong and Collingwood! Where we are lacking is not the quality of our best 22 - but the depth players that can slot in when some of the so called best 22 get injured. This is under development with the form of the youngsters that are turning our fortunes around.

climbs off soapbox

sti

[s'dreams]

Don't forget the worst fixture by far of any club , eg playing the pussies twice in 11 weeks & not even playing the lions until round 21.

Conspiricy theories again ... sure we got a shocker draw ... but with 7 wins from 18 games - the only reason why we aren't pressing for the 8 is the games we should have won against Port, West Coast and North (while they were still a rabble). If we were 10 wins with four rounds to play - would we be complaining in here?

No - we would be applauding the further development of the team given the loss of 5 experienced players from last year and would also be thanking the AFL fixture for accelerating the development of our youngsters through tough games against the best competition in front of biggish crowds.

sti

[brad]

Don't forget the worst fixture by far of any club , eg playing the pussies twice in 11 weeks & not even playing the lions until round 21.

Conspiricy theories again ... sure we got a shocker draw ... but with 7 wins from 18 games - the only reason why we aren't pressing for the 8 is the games we should have won against Port, West Coast and North (while they were still a rabble). If we were 10 wins with four rounds to play - would we be complaining in here?

No - we would be applauding the further development of the team given the loss of 5 experienced players from last year and would also be thanking the AFL fixture for accelerating the development of our youngsters through tough games against the best competition in front of biggish crowds.

sti

We beat North by 3pts two weeks ago.

Losing to West Coast X2, Hawthorn (when we lead in the last quarter), Sydney by 9pts (when we lead all day but lost Hille and Monfries by half time), Port by 3pts and damn Melbourne (attitude sucked that day) has not helped our cause.

Had we won these games we'd be top 4.

Win our next 4 (highly unlikely) and the 8 is there for the taking.

We've got the core of our team fit and available (aside from Pears and Gumbleton) and have blooded and introduced some good new players into the team.

PLEASE beat Carlton and run Collingwood to the wire.

[s'dreams]

Don't forget the worst fixture by far of any club , eg playing the pussies twice in 11 weeks & not even playing the lions until round 21.

Conspiricy theories again ... sure we got a shocker draw ... but with 7 wins from 18 games - the only reason why we aren't pressing for the 8 is the games we should have won against Port, West Coast and North (while they were still a rabble). If we were 10 wins with four rounds to play - would we be complaining in here?

No - we would be applauding the further development of the team given the loss of 5 experienced players from last year and would also be thanking the AFL fixture for accelerating the development of our youngsters through tough games against the best competition in front of biggish crowds.

sti

We beat North by 3pts two weeks ago.

Losing to West Coast X2, Hawthorn (when we lead in the last quarter), Sydney by 9pts (when we lead all day but lost Hille and Monfries by half time), Port by 3pts and damn Melbourne (attitude sucked that day) has not helped our cause.

Had we won these games we'd be top 4.

Win our next 4 (highly unlikely) and the 8 is there for the taking.

We've got the core of our team fit and available (aside from Pears and Gumbleton) and have blooded and introduced some good new players into the team.

PLEASE beat Carlton and run Collingwood to the wire.

Brad - you are correct - beat North - lost to Melb and WC x2 ... thats what is so bloody frustrating ... we look so ordinary against the weak teams. I don't begrudge the loss to the HAwks though - Buddy (and others) hasd to pull something really special to beat us ... and it wasspecial.

sti

[Gimps]

f***, still on the Quinn bandwagon Filth?? Give it a rest.

Do you think Brisbane have blamed their bloke with the fact that they have had a thoooooooooooooousand players injured this year?

Even tho it would be nice to see us in the finals this year Filth, we don't deserve to be there.

[robbie67]

You make your own luck. The club has made too many poor decisions over the better part of a decade for us to blaming luck.

[paddyl90]

I thought this thread was about the consecutive wins against the Blues!

No. 7 next week hopefully!!!

[F111]

How many games have we won v teams above us?

Saints x 2
Hawks x 1
Carlton x 1
Footscray x 1
North x 1

How many games have we won v teams below us?
Richmond x 1

The loses to teams that are mid ladder with us, or below us is what has killed this season.
Injuries and suspensions mid season contribute to some of those loses. They're relatively measurable.
The state of mind of the players is less tangible, and some coaching decisions (eg Hocking v McV on LeCras) may be implicated.

I look to the absence of Fletch and Hille as MAJOR reasons for our mid season slump.

[brad]

Without getting ahead of myself a win against Carlton would set us up for a MASSIVE game against the Pies the following week (who will be coming off a gruelling game against the Cats with a days less break).

Will our fans show up this week? 37K against the Saints was disappointing. Will the Blues fans turn up this week? Surely we'll get 60K????

Like I say win next week and we'll get 80K+ against the Pies.

[paddyl90]

I find it highly amusing that should results fall our way next week and we win, we will be equal 7th haha! We don't deserve finals, I believe our best is no better than 6th but it'd be a travesty if we made it. So lets give it a shot. LOL

[brad]

How could we be equal 7th when both Carlton and Sydney are on 9 wins (36pts) and if we beat Carlton we'll be on 8 wins (32pts)???

[Windy_Hill]

Our inability to beat the bottom teams and lack of travel success are perhaps the major weaknesses in Knights crededntials as a coach. Cleary its a mental thing that the coach has to address. However, that said, it does hold us in good stead for the future.

[paddyl90]

How could we be equal 7th when both Carlton and Sydney are on 9 wins (36pts) and if we beat Carlton we'll be on 8 wins (32pts)???

Oh I totally got that wrong! If we beat Pies the week after and the other teams lose then we would be. Equal 9th is hard to fathom when we were 13th 2 weeks ago. Makes those losses hurt even more. Yes I know we don't deserve it but I don't care until the fat lady sings.

[little_ripper]

Our inability to beat the bottom teams and lack of travel success are perhaps the major weaknesses in Knights crededntials as a coach. Cleary its a mental thing that the coach has to address. However, that said, it does hold us in good stead for the future.

??? inability to beat the other bottom teams and not playing well at all on the road holds us in good stead for the future? your confusing me windy....

[BenDoolan]

Our inability to beat the bottom teams and lack of travel success are perhaps the major weaknesses in Knights crededntials as a coach. Cleary its a mental thing that the coach has to address. However, that said, it does hold us in good stead for the future.

??? inability to beat the other bottom teams and not playing well at all on the road holds us in good stead for the future? your confusing me windy....

The theory or the logic would suggest that if you get the simple things right, beating the lower teams shouldn't be so difficult as opposed to trying to defeat top sides without a talented list. The fact that we are capable of beating top sides means we do have "talent", but they haven't got the application or mental fortitude to get over the expectation of winning or playing an opponent interstate. On the other hand, if you are continually beating bottom ranked sides but getting smashed by top ranked sides all the time, it means your list does not have any talent at all - which is much harder to overcome.

That's how I see what Windy is saying.

[Doctor Fish]

It was a shame Silverlock broke his leg as he was starting to show a bit as an in and under mid for Bendigo. Would have been nice to give him a taste of senior footy this year. But alas... He could be one to watch for next year...

"Shitful coach" eh Filth? Don't honestly see what else Knighta could have done with the club in the state that Sheeds left it in... I would have thought most of the kids Knighta's drafted are starting to look the goods...

[robrulz5]

All this talk about players being out for the season seems a bit stupid when there is only 4 weeks remaining. We've haven't been good enough this year anyway.