2014 AFL season discussion

bruschi · 08-06-2014 12:53pm

Never in doubt....:D

jackbhoy · 09-06-2014 10:01am

bruschi wrote: »

Never in doubt....:D

True. I was with a North supporter and I bet him 20 bucks at half time they would come back to win, Tiges are a bloody shambles.

Mackman · 16-06-2014 3:15pm

What a weekend of footy that was! Icing on the cake would have been Gold Coast getting up over the Eagles, cant have everything I suppose

If you haven't seen them, do yourself a favour and watch the 4th quarter replays of the Sydney v port, Bombers v Melbourne, and Collingwood v Bulldog games. Some of the best footy I've seen in a long time.

Delighted with Freo's win at the MCG against the tiges, always a bogey game for us. Easy draw for the next 6 weeks could have us sneak into 2nd or 3rd, depending on other games of course.

Tigerandahalf · 16-06-2014 3:50pm

Never saw any of the games, just the results. Port Adelaide did well away from home. Did both teams have full sides out?
Any update on the Irish lads?

SSK · 17-06-2014 12:14am

Yeah it was an incredible weekend really. Collingwood were awful but in fairness the Doggies played some great football at times and exploited our callow defence. Ironic that Cloke finally wakes up just as the rest of the team have a shocker.

Buddy. Just immense. But having said that, Port will possibly take even more out of that game. They could have sneaked it in spite of losing Hartlett early and having Boak play with a knock. Tigerandahalf, Sydney were missing Tippett and Hanneberry got injured and will miss a few weeks.

Hanley played possibly his best game for the year but the Lions were poison after Browny went off. Bad times for Brisbane at the moment.

Tigerandahalf · 17-06-2014 9:39am

Be interesting to see how Swans do without Hanneberry. He does a lot of hard work around midfield.

SSK · 18-06-2014 12:20am

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

Be interesting to see how Swans do without Hanneberry. He does a lot of hard work around midfield.

True, although they've had O'Keeffe and Mitchell playing reserves in recent weeks so they're probably better positioned to cover it than most teams would be.

On a side note, I'm entirely fed up hearing about the Essendon stuff at this stage. The whole thing seems to have been done symbolically.

Mackman · 18-06-2014 12:51am

SSK wrote: »

On a side note, I'm entirely fed up hearing about the Essendon stuff at this stage. The whole thing seems to have been done symbolically.

And with that weasel Paul Little bringing it to the courts, its going to drag on for years. Just bend over, take the punishment and move on

SSK · 18-06-2014 1:05am

Mackman wrote: »

And with that weasel Paul Little bringing it to the courts, its going to drag on for years. Just bend over, take the punishment and move on

He's a really dislikable character isn't he. Whatever about the motivations of their actions, I find it astonishing how poorly Essendon have handled the PR side of the saga, with Little and Hird painting themselves almost as pantomime villains at this stage.

Surely they take the 6 months if it's offered, take the hit in performance next year with no pre-season etc and put it behind them forever. Dragging the whole thing through the courts could genuinely ruin the club.

Mackman · 18-06-2014 3:14am

It's the victim mentality that he has. Poor me, poor Essendon, everyone is out to get us. I found it hilarious the other day when he said that all 17 clubs gave him their support and the Geelong President said "I know he wasn't talking about Geelong". He's delusional.

It's a terrible situation for the players, if they take the 6 months the admit guilt, and have it on their records, but if they fight it it could be 2 years, career over for a lot of them.

seipeal1 · 20-06-2014 12:39pm

SSK wrote: »

True, although they've had O'Keeffe and Mitchell playing reserves in recent weeks so they're probably better positioned to cover it than most teams would be.

On a side note, I'm entirely fed up hearing about the Essendon stuff at this stage. The whole thing seems to have been done symbolically.

I increasingly think top 4 will be Port, Hawks, Freo and Sydney. At this stage, cannot see anybody outside this 4 to be much of a threat come September.

I have a feeling that Freo will squeeze the life out of everybody when it all comes down to it. They will be hungry after last year as well and they look like they are going to peak at the right time. They are so resilient and they stick to their gameplay so well.

Fascinating times ahead. I just want the Essendon saga to go away, but hope that it affects them big time this weekend to enable a win for the Crows, then bring on the showdown next weekend with a huge crowd and brilliant atmosphere.

MANUTD99 · 22-06-2014 4:00pm

seipeal1 wrote: »

I increasingly think top 4 will be Port, Hawks, Freo and Sydney. At this stage, cannot see anybody outside this 4 to be much of a threat come September.

I have a feeling that Freo will squeeze the life out of everybody when it all comes down to it. They will be hungry after last year as well and they look like they are going to peak at the right time. They are so resilient and they stick to their gameplay so well.

Fascinating times ahead. I just want the Essendon saga to go away, but hope that it affects them big time this weekend to enable a win for the Crows, then bring on the showdown next weekend with a huge crowd and brilliant atmosphere.

Yep, I'd go along with those 4 teams too. Good to see Port bounce back against the Bulldogs after the loss to Sydney but for some strange reason I think Port took more out of the Sydney game that Swans did. Good game next weekend against the Crows.

For a moment I though Richmond was going to get the shock of the season against Swans. The didn't have the endurance to finish the game out

jackbhoy · 23-06-2014 3:36am

MANUTD99 wrote: »

For a moment I though Richmond was going to get the shock of the season against Swans. The didn't have the endurance to finish the game out

Think it's more mental than endurance tbh. The way this season is shaping Dustin Martin is only senior player who can hold his head high. He has had a couple of sleepy quarters but he goes hard at it when Deledio, Riewoldt and sometimes even Cotchin have already checked out. Some serious kicks up asses for "leaders" at Tiges required..

The only upside for us now is a decent draft pick on cards for next season.

bruschi · 30-06-2014 2:03pm

So the Eagles just fell short. The third quarter killed them. Take that out, and they win, but you cant pick and chose your good times. Freo dominated that period and left too much in it. A good fight back in the last but when they needed to, freo responded really well and hit 3 on the bounce to seal it. McGovern is a good player for the Eagles though and needs to finish out the season starting the games. Too many midfielders go missing for them, and with Priddis and his aimless kicking, they still dont get enough quality inside 50 ball.

And the crows take the Power down a notch! Great win for them, if for nothing else other than bragging rights.

A real shame ot see Jonathon Brown have to finish his career like that. Fairytale endings are few and far between nowadays. Just hope Dustin Fletcher gets to finish his career on his terms and with a good send off. Seeing the likes of Darren Glass call time without getting a proper send off is a shame.

MANUTD99 · 03-07-2014 9:52pm

Hopefully Port can get back to winning ways this weekend. Very wasteful against the Crows last week. Have fallen down the ladder now and maybe a little nerves creeping into the camp. Next 4 games coming up against Bombers, Tigers,Demons and Magpies. If they win 3 of those they should be well set up for play offs.

Mad4simmental · 04-07-2014 5:47pm

Anthony moranito returns for freo tomorrow. I hope he has a good game.

It will have been 1394 days since Morabito last played for Fremantle - in the 2010 semi-final loss to Geelong at the MCG.

I think it is one of the longest returns to the game after injury in the games history and he is still only 23.

SSK · 05-07-2014 12:16am

Mad4simmental wrote: »

Anthony moranito returns for freo tomorrow. I hope he has a good game.

It will have been 1394 days since Morabito last played for Fremantle - in the 2010 semi-final loss to Geelong at the MCG.

I think it is one of the longest returns to the game after injury in the games history and he is still only 23.

Remarkable recovery really, I hope it goes well for him. He had a superb first year and looked like a gun in the making so if he comes back at anywhere near that level it will be a huge boost for Freo's flag chances.

North, as expected, produced a huge game last night after the pathetic showing last week. I don't think anyone truly believes in them even though they've knocked off all of the top 4 now.

Huge game for Collingwood this afternoon, lose and we're right back in that dogfight for 7th and 8th, win and we can set our sights on catching the top 4. Ablett has been averaging 51 disposals in his last 2 against the Pies so hopefully Macaffer will do a job there.

I'm hoping to get to the MCG beforehand to see Pearce Hanley play in the flesh for the first time. It's bizarre how few games the Lions play in Melbourne, one last year and just the two slated for this year.

jackbhoy · 05-07-2014 2:12am

SSK wrote: »

I'm hoping to get to the MCG beforehand to see Pearce Hanley play in the flesh for the first time. It's bizarre how few games the Lions play in Melbourne, one last year and just the two slated for this year.

Looks like a cold, wet afternoon here, almost tempted to watch it from couch, might have to sneak the hip flask in

Go Tiges!

seipeal1 · 06-07-2014 7:54am

SSK wrote: »

Remarkable recovery really, I hope it goes well for him. He had a superb first year and looked like a gun in the making so if he comes back at anywhere near that level it will be a huge boost for Freo's flag chances.

North, as expected, produced a huge game last night after the pathetic showing last week. I don't think anyone truly believes in them even though they've knocked off all of the top 4 now.

Huge game for Collingwood this afternoon, lose and we're right back in that dogfight for 7th and 8th, win and we can set our sights on catching the top 4. Ablett has been averaging 51 disposals in his last 2 against the Pies so hopefully Macaffer will do a job there.

I'm hoping to get to the MCG beforehand to see Pearce Hanley play in the flesh for the first time. It's bizarre how few games the Lions play in Melbourne, one

last year and just the two slated for this year.

Well, the race for the eight is starting to get very tight. One ame between 5 teams. All very interesting. And the top 4 getting tight also. Adelaide v Hawthorne game a very important one next Friday. Should be a belter. Who will get into the 8.
Freo, Hawthorne, Port, Swans, Crows, Pies, north and Geelong for me. Nothing too controversial there! Go Crows!

massdebater · 07-07-2014 12:49am

seipeal1 wrote: »

Well, the race for the eight is starting to get very tight. One ame between 5 teams. All very interesting. And the top 4 getting tight also. Adelaide v Hawthorne game a very important one next Friday. Should be a belter. Who will get into the 8.
Freo, Hawthorne, Port, Swans, Crows, Pies, north and Geelong for me. Nothing too controversial there! Go Crows!

I think the Suns will get in at the expense of the Crows. Looking at the last 7 fixtures, the Crows have Hawthorn this week, followed by the Pies at the MCG next week and North away in a few weeks. In the last 7, Gold Coast only play 1 of the current top 8 (v Port Adelaide at Metricon Stadium). Essendon could make a late push if they can get over Collingwood this week. After that, they only play the Swans from the top 8. I still think it's the Suns to lose. A lot hinges on Ablett's injury though, hopefully he's not out for too long.

SSK · 07-07-2014 2:33am

Pathetic by Collingwood at the weekend, losing to a Suns team that only made two rotations in the final quarter. Struggling to maintain faith in Buckley as a coach to be quite honest, just don't think he has the tactical nous to get us over the line in tight games.

Adelaide are playing very well at the moment and with Essendon hitting form as well our next two games could see us out of the 8 completely. It's going to be a very tight finish both for top 4 and top 8

bruschi · 07-07-2014 10:38am

and disappointing enough from the Eagles too. They stayed competetive enough with Sydney for 3 quarters, and had chances to get scores, but they were not as adaptable as Sydney were to the horrendous weather and just kept fumbling and making a mess of possession. I suppose realistically they were never going to win it, but its hard to watch them show the capabilities and qualities to defeating teams, but never sustain it.

Adam Goodes signed off on his career record day by showing his absolute quality too. Some player.

07-07-2014 12:13pm

SSK wrote: »

Pathetic by Collingwood at the weekend, losing to a Suns team that only made two rotations in the final quarter. Struggling to maintain faith in Buckley as a coach to be quite honest, just don't think he has the tactical nous to get us over the line in tight games.

Adelaide are playing very well at the moment and with Essendon hitting form as well our next two games could see us out of the 8 completely. It's going to be a very tight finish both for top 4 and top 8

Would probably be better off not making the 8 and getting the easier run next year as there isn't a hope of rattling off 4 wins in a row this year.

Seriously light down back all season and its all been left to Cloak again at the other end bar a few inputs from White when he's played.

On the Suns game, turning point was that miss by Cloak from a straight forward kick that was punished straight away at the other end.

Didn't you just know that Young was going to drop that ball as well-for those that didn't see it: about 3 mins left, down by 4... 4 pies vs 1 Sun, Mc Affer decides to square it to Young who drops and uncontested chest mark about 25 out.

McAffer took the wrong option anyway, he should have continued towards goal and drew the defender and passed to the two free men or kicked it himself. They had a 3 on 1 in the goal square had he continued.

Mad4simmental · 07-07-2014 6:02pm

bruschi wrote: »

Adam Goodes signed off on his career record day by showing his absolute quality too. Some player.

I think goodes is the most exciting player in the comp to watch. He can stay quiet for half the game and just 5 minnets of his talent turn the game around.

MANUTD99 · 13-07-2014 10:53am

fcuks sake Port:mad:

jackbhoy · 13-07-2014 11:06am

MANUTD99 wrote: »

fcuks sake Port:mad:

Round 17 and it's first Tiges game I actually enjoyed watching so far this season. Hard to see Port playing a home final now but it's been a season of surprises so not beyond them yet.

bruschi · 19-07-2014 9:11am

St Kilda giving Freo a fair trimming at half time break here. Up by 40 and totally dominating. Just as well Carlton ruined this weeks bet for me or else I'd be wanting Freo to win this one.

bruschi · 02-08-2014 4:10pm

The eagles would frustrate the hell out of you. The ability to compete and challenge, but coupled with absolute crap house performances with no effort. Great win away in Adelaide who have serious form at the moment. I should know better too than to bet against them too. Ruined a perfect accumulator this wknd!

seipeal1 · 03-08-2014 2:07pm

bruschi wrote: »

The eagles would frustrate the hell out of you. The ability to compete and challenge, but coupled with absolute crap house performances with no effort. Great win away in Adelaide who have serious form at the moment. I should know better too than to bet against them too. Ruined a perfect accumulator this wknd!

They were excellent yesterday. Urgent in the middle. NN was brilliant and we could not stop the flow of ball up to the forwards. Very dissapointing display from Crows. Finals football only 50/50 at the minute.
Collingwood winning today not what I wanted to hear either........

SSK · 08-08-2014 7:27am

Big weekend ahead for the teams battling for 6-8 spots on the ladder.

Unfortunately I have no faith in Collingwood to win over in Perth. If the Eagles mids can back up their display from last week the West Coast forwards could have a field day against our defence. It's a good job for us that Adelaide, Gold Coast, Richmond and Essendon all play 50-50 games.

It'll be interesting to see if Port have any fight left in them against Sydney. The first game (the Buddy show) was one of the games of the year so hoping for something similar tomorrow night.

bruschi · 08-08-2014 8:49am

SSK wrote: »

Big weekend ahead for the teams battling for 6-8 spots on the ladder.

Unfortunately I have no faith in Collingwood to win over in Perth. If the Eagles mids can back up their display from last week the West Coast forwards could have a field day against our defence. It's a good job for us that Adelaide, Gold Coast, Richmond and Essendon all play 50-50 games.

It'll be interesting to see if Port have any fight left in them against Sydney. The first game (the Buddy show) was one of the games of the year so hoping for something similar tomorrow night.

well dont worry, I'd have no faith in the Eagles to have any sort of consistency and win the game! Eagles have absolutely no form line at all, they can go from being utterly useless, to winning a great game the following week, and then back down to wooden spoon form again. They have slim hopes of keeping finals alive, but in a similar vein last year they were pathetic and lost out in a most feeble manner.

bruschi · 10-08-2014 10:38am

Great performance from the eagles. That was an absolute smashing. If they keep the form of the last 2 games going they could rob a finals spot. Pies effort in the second half was utter rubbish

seipeal1 · 10-08-2014 1:13pm

bruschi wrote: »

Great performance from the eagles. That was an absolute smashing. If they keep the form of the last 2 games going they could rob a finals spot. Pies effort in the second half was utter rubbish

Eagles showing great form in the last two weeks. Probably too late, to be honest, but think they will still have a say in who is in top 8. Richmond doing the same. Should be a cracker next Saturday night at the Oval.

Exciting finish to regular season. Hawthorn have a demanding finish. Still think Port have a chance of finishing in 4. Will come down to the last day in Perth, I think.

bruschi · 10-08-2014 1:42pm

seipeal1 wrote: »

Eagles showing great form in the last two weeks. Probably too late, to be honest, but think they will still have a say in who is in top 8. Richmond doing the same. Should be a cracker next Saturday night at the Oval.

Exciting finish to regular season. Hawthorn have a demanding finish. Still think Port have a chance of finishing in 4. Will come down to the last day in Perth, I think.

could be wrong, but I think if the Eagles win their last 3 (away to Essendon and GCS and home to Dees) then its likely they are in the top 8. They are one game behind Collingwood, who have to play Hawthorn. And they have a better percentage than Essendon, GCS and Pies.

SSK · 11-08-2014 8:23am

This Collingwood team just isn't good enough unless the intensity is at it's absolute limit or the opposition are down on form. We had both of these against Port last week and barely fell over the line but we didn't get so lucky against the Eagles, who in fairness are playing very well of late. Pendlebury, Beams, Sidebottom and Elliott produce consistent football on a weekly basis but our second tier mids are poor and both our forwardline and backline aren't functioning. Buckley isn't a good enough coach to compensate a la Clarkson when Hawthorn had a huge injury list. Just poor all round.

Hard to call who will make the 8 now. It could well come down to percentage as I can see a number of teams landing on 12 wins. Should make for an exciting last round if nothing else.

bruschi · 16-08-2014 2:38pm

God damn ****ing Eagles. **** **** ****ity ****. 34 points up and to lose by 4. And no goal in last quarter. Typical ****.

Mad4simmental · 17-08-2014 2:28pm

FREO, FREO fcuk ya, a few casualties along the way might turn out to be an interesting year!

bruschi · 17-08-2014 9:53pm

Mad4simmental wrote: »

FREO, FREO fcuk ya, a few casualties along the way might turn out to be an interesting year!

Super win. With their performance from last week too, it's a great time to be finding form.

Carlton nearly did it too. Maybe showing the potential they can have to make finals. Sheehan did well too. Shaky start and a few rookie type errors, but he improved and kicked a lovely assist to Gibbs late on.

SSK · 18-08-2014 2:26am

Collingwood. Brutal again. I hope the fitness and conditioning gurus have some quality excuses because the number of soft tissue injuries this season is unacceptable in professional sporting environment. Fair play to Tony Armstrong, 8 quarters of footy in the one day is a fine effort, but again it's an entirely unprofessional set up that would allow all our emergencies bar one to play the full VFL game. Surely pull at least one more at half time?

I enjoyed the Freo game immensely yesterday, the pace and intensity was far above most games this season. With Walters back and Pav finding form Freo will be a formidable outfit in September. The top 4 clashes are shaping up as epics if all goes to plan in the finals.

jj1 · 18-08-2014 5:34pm

A serious weekend of footy. Saw the second half of Eagles Bombers game. Really exciting finish. Really harsh call on an eagles player after he took a mark with 5 to go. Eagles just ran out of gas, a single goal in the 4th quarter would have had them looking good for top 8.

Freo Hawks game yesterday was excellent. The pressure the 2 teams put in each other without the ball was unreal. Some intensity. Hawks probably should have had a bigger lead after the first quarter but Freo gifted them a few scores at the same time.

2nd & 3rd quarters were unreal, it was like 2 heavyweights swapping punches. That St. Kilda loss has cost Freo a shot at the top 2. Looking like a playoff against Port now for 4th place on the last day.

On a side note, how many times this season have Geelong scraped over the line? I think that bodes well for them in the finals. Generally the sign of a good team.

jj1 · 18-08-2014 5:39pm

SSK wrote: »

Collingwood. Brutal again. I hope the fitness and conditioning gurus have some quality excuses because the number of soft tissue injuries this season is unacceptable in professional sporting environment. Fair play to Tony Armstrong, 8 quarters of footy in the one day is a fine effort, but again it's an entirely unprofessional set up that would allow all our emergencies bar one to play the full VFL game. Surely pull at least one more at half time?

I enjoyed the Freo game immensely yesterday, the pace and intensity was far above most games this season. With Walters back and Pav finding form Freo will be a formidable outfit in September. The top 4 clashes are shaping up as epics if all goes to plan in the finals.

Collingwood seem to have completely fallen away. Apart from all those soft tissue injuries, have they lost players to injury like the suns lost Ablett or is it just a complete loss of form?

bruschi · 21-08-2014 3:19pm

SSK, whats the story with Clarke now? Havent checked up on him for a while, but dont see him mentioned at all these days for the first team, and with so many out injured etc now, the fact he still isnt getting a look in is a really bad sign, not only for his future there, but also for any prospective clubs. He is coming home in October to get married, will it be for good do you think?

SSK · 22-08-2014 12:40am

jj1 wrote: »

Collingwood seem to have completely fallen away. Apart from all those soft tissue injuries, have they lost players to injury like the suns lost Ablett or is it just a complete loss of form?

Before last week we just had a constant flow of knocks, niggles and what appeared to be short term injuries take longer than expected to clear up. We lost Brown and Maxwell mid season and Reid has barely played but it's not a valid excuse for the under-performances and inconsistency in my opinion. I don't rate Buckley as a coach to be quite honest although I'd love to be proved wrong.

bruschi wrote: »

SSK, whats the story with Clarke now? Havent checked up on him for a while, but dont see him mentioned at all these days for the first team, and with so many out injured etc now, the fact he still isnt getting a look in is a really bad sign, not only for his future there, but also for any prospective clubs. He is coming home in October to get married, will it be for good do you think?

He played round 1 in the flogging by Freo and has been in the VFL ever since. He's also had a couple of injuries throughout the year, including at the moment but by my estimation he'd be basically the last one on the list picked even if he was fit. His form in the VFL has been mediocre at best and he looks every inch a man who has his mind already back at home. I really doubt he'll get picked up by anyone else at this stage. It's a pity as he looked like a potential star when he first played back in 07 but his pace, intensity at the contest and skill levels all seem to have diminished since then.

2014 AFL season discussion

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