AFL 2017 Discussion

bruschi

So the season is nearly up and running!

How will the Western Bulldogs follow up with their outstanding finals run last year?

Will GWS live up to the hype and the favorites tag?

Do West Coast really have a team without Nic Nat?

Is time starting to fall on Geelong/Sydney/Hawthorn, the mainstays of the last decade?

Will Essendon respond with all their players back with a huge bang?

The one thing we know for sure is that Freo are a shambles and will be near the bottom again...;)

Looking forward to it now anyway! Apart from the traditional Carlton Richmond opener, never know why they persist with that. Lots of really good balanced match ups though to kick off the year.

Tigerandahalf

bruschi wrote: »

So the season is nearly up and running!

How will the Western Bulldogs follow up with their outstanding finals run last year?

Will GWS live up to the hype and the favorites tag?

Do West Coast really have a team without Nic Nat?

Is time starting to fall on Geelong/Sydney/Hawthorn, the mainstays of the last decade?

Will Essendon respond with all their players back with a huge bang?

The one thing we know for sure is that Freo are a shambles and will be near the bottom again...;)

Looking forward to it now anyway! Apart from the traditional Carlton Richmond opener, never know why they persist with that. Lots of really good balanced match ups though to kick off the year.

Do the AFL put highlights of the games on youtube/facebook. Super Rugby do that and I always get to see a few snippets when scrolling down my page.


Edit: Just checked youtube and you can subscribe to afl and they put up highlights.
Might be the handiest way to keep upto date.

bruschi

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

Do the AFL put highlights of the games on youtube/facebook. Super Rugby do that and I always get to see a few snippets when scrolling down my page.


Edit: Just checked youtube and you can subscribe to afl and they put up highlights.
Might be the handiest way to keep upto date.

for ease of reference for anyone else:

https://www.youtube.com/user/BigPondAFL

Mackman

bruschi wrote: »

So the season is nearly up and running!

How will the Western Bulldogs follow up with their outstanding finals run last year?

They are the hunted now, I'm sure someone has figured out how to stop their run. Or maybe teams will just try and out score them. That would be fun

bruschi wrote: »

Will GWS live up to the hype and the favorites tag?

It's a pretty even season. I really don't want GWS to win, it will just feel so hollow.

bruschi wrote: »

Do West Coast really have a team without Nic Nat?

Nope.
With Lycett out now too, Petrie will be taking on a lot of ruck duties you would think, that's a worry.

bruschi wrote: »

Is time starting to fall on Geelong/Sydney/Hawthorn, the mainstays of the last decade?

Geelong maybe, Sydney and the Hawks have some pretty good youngsters. Although Hawthorn getting Vickery in? WTF? The guy is a spud with arms.

bruschi wrote: »

Will Essendon respond with all their players back with a huge bang?

I read that co-captain Zack Merritt said they are a chance. Gotta have the belief I suppose. I don't see it. Possibly 8-14 if they pull themselves together. Although the last thing I want to see (after a GWS flag) is that piece of **** Watson winning.

bruschi wrote: »

The one thing we know for sure is that Freo are a shambles and will be near the bottom again...;)

:rolleyes:
With the talent we have brought in since last year (Sandilands, Fyfe, B. Hill, McCarthy, Hamling) if that's the case something is rotten in Denmark.
Realistically, I'm hoping for 8-12 on the ladder.

bruschi wrote: »

Looking forward to it now anyway! Apart from the traditional Carlton Richmond opener, never know why they persist with that. Lots of really good balanced match ups though to kick off the year.

They keep banging on about crowd numbers and ratings. Don't the realise its been 6 months? People will watch ANYONE play football at this stage.

Mackman

I would also like to add, I HATE Thursday night footy. It sucks balls.

jackbhoy

Still a bigger crowd on Thursday for Carlton v Tiges than premiers v "biggest" club in the land on Friday, so reckon there is some logic in having 2 of the big Melbourne clubs open the season. As a Tiges supporter don't really care when we play R1, just great to be watching footy back the 'G


Really hope GWS don't win it. Once they get through the next 3-5 years where they have been set up to win premierships I can see them falling off a cliff. Don't know that they will ever build a big support base in W Sydney in any case.

Looking forward to St. Kilda v Melbourne. Lots of hype around both but could go either way for them this year. 

Tiges have to win a final this year. Having Caddy and Prestia gives us so much more in MF and allows Dusty to spend much more time forward. We will need 40ish goals from him and the young small forwards to have good years but still worried about defence. If Rance goes down we are in real trouble with covering talls. Hunt is very average. We need Houli and Grigg to man up more. They both like making these big bursts forward but leave huge caps in turnover. Carlton were able to waltz in and take uncontested marks several times on Thursday, with one of worst forward lines in the comp.

An Ciarraioch

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

Do the AFL put highlights of the games on youtube/facebook. Super Rugby do that and I always get to see a few snippets when scrolling down my page.


Edit: Just checked youtube and you can subscribe to afl and they put up highlights.
Might be the handiest way to keep upto date.

Especially when BT tend to move the highlights programme around the schedule every week! Will be interesting to see how long it takes Kerry's Mark O'Connor to get into Geelong's senior squad.

MANUTD99

Well done to The Power. Win away to Sydney. First in 11 years.

Make or break season for Ken Hinkley as manager

bruschi

MANUTD99 wrote: »

Well done to The Power. Win away to Sydney. First in 11 years.

Make or break season for Ken Hinkley as manager

Now that you mention it, I was actually at that game 11 years ago! Very nearly missed it too after an all night session and it was an early enough game on a Sunday. Nothing like watching footy in blazing heat to shake a hangover off!

bruschi

So, after a few upsets in week 1, the next round of games for some teams suddenly become far more important. Sydney are currently in a tough battle with the Doggies in a replay of last years grand final. Another loss here will put them on the back foot very early in the season. Hawthorn have a tough match up with Adelaide. For some of the other big hitters, they have softer match ups to get over week 1 blips.

bruschi

Another week down but plenty of doomsday discussions already. Collingwood are in strife, particularly Nathan Buckley. I'd be surprised if he lasts the season. I dont see them improving much and I reckon they'll make a change mid season.

Sydney are also feeling the pressure, but I expect them to bounce back. Hawthorn, I'm not too sure. I think they are in a rebuilding phase and I dont expect them to have a major finals impact.

The Adelaide teams look really good and their meeting this weekend should be a cracker. Seipeal1, if he is still around, will be very happy with that!

Whilst my OP was a bit in jest with Freo, it is ringing through at the moment of them being a shambles. I didnt expect them to be up to much, but their capitulations are very concerning. They need to find some sort of form quickly or they will have another waste of a season, and more importantly, could lose Nat Fyfe if they are showing so poorly.

TaosHum

Pies to their credit pushed the Bulldogs and Tigers close. Missed some really good goal opportunities in both games, which ended up costing them.

But your right, Buckley's under pressure and it's a big ask to go into Sydney (who are also in need of a win) and come away with the points.

seipeal1

bruschi wrote: »

Another week down but plenty of doomsday discussions already. Collingwood are in strife, particularly Nathan Buckley. I'd be surprised if he lasts the season. I dont see them improving much and I reckon they'll make a change mid season.

Sydney are also feeling the pressure, but I expect them to bounce back. Hawthorn, I'm not too sure. I think they are in a rebuilding phase and I dont expect them to have a major finals impact.

The Adelaide teams look really good and their meeting this weekend should be a cracker. Seipeal1, if he is still around, will be very happy with that!

Whilst my OP was a bit in jest with Freo, it is ringing through at the moment of them being a shambles. I didnt expect them to be up to much, but their capitulations are very concerning. They need to find some sort of form quickly or they will have another waste of a season, and more importantly, could lose Nat Fyfe if they are showing so poorly.

Still here Bruschi, and very happy. Heading to the match in a little while. How good is it when 2 south Australian teams are at the top of the ladder in Showdown week. Cannot wait. Go Crows! Win by 8 in a classic!!!!

bruschi

so the footy at the Showdown was quite good, unfortunately the main headlines coming from it arent so good. After the whole Eddie Betts racist incident last year, one would think that it would have been the end of that type of incident. But no, even more being reported after this game. Very sad to see, and I suppose there could be a bigger discussion in general terms about these type of things in Australia, but maybe its for another day/board/forum.

Anyway, the Hawks are in serious bother. Whatever about Sydney also being winless, the Hawks had a good chance this week against the Suns. As an Eagles supporter, I am not fancying playing the Swans this week. They will come good and need a big win to get them firing. The only saving grace is that the game is in Subiaco. It doesnt get any easier for the Hawks either, playing Geelong. But if there is one opponent that would get them fired up, it's Geelong.

The Crows are sitting pretty up top and should take care of Essendon to stay there. Freo had an excellent win against the Bulldogs, so there may be some fight left in them yet. It'll be a good match up against Melbourne this week.

Tigerandahalf

Poor start from Syndey. Is there an inevitable decline coming there or have they enough good youngsters coming through?

Tigerandahalf

Another bad defeat for Syndey against the Eagles.
Saw the highlights on youtube. Sydney were terrible on the ball in defence. There is a new black guy playing with them who wanted an age on the ball and was caught in possession several times.

That's 4 defeats in a row now I think.

MANUTD99

2 very close games I've watched now and the Dogs managed to hold on for the win

Port playing GWS today. That opening day win against Sydney is not looking that good now. WTF is going on there!!

Can somebody shed some light on why Pearce Hanley was traded to Gold Coast ?

TaosHum

Crows are looking unstoppable at the moment. What's more impressive is they have already beaten GWS and Port.

Cracker of a game on Good Friday between the Roos and Doggies. Haven't been too impressed with the Bulldogs this season, but they are just doing enough.

Hoping the Pies can make it back to back wins today against the Saints. Expecting it to be tight, as both teams need the win.

Tigerandahalf

http://m.afl.com.au/ladder

After 4 rounds Geelong, Crows and Richmond are top on full points.

Swans, N Melbourne and Hawthorn bottom with 0 points.

Swans and the Hawks have really fallen having been in Grand Finals in recent years.

I saw most of the games on the youtube channel. Handy to get a synopsis but you don't get to see how the Irish boys fared.

MANUTD99

So Port picked up the win against Carlton. Robbie Gray is such a great footy player. Our 2 losses have been against GWS & Crows who both look good so far.

Just finishing watching Swans/GWS game. Great start by Swans but fell apart then.

Is BT showing less games this year ? Seems only 1 game on Sat & Sun being shown

bruschi

MANUTD99 wrote: »

So Port picked up the win against Carlton. Robbie Gray is such a great footy player. Our 2 losses have been against GWS & Crows who both look good so far.

Just finishing watching Swans/GWS game. Great start by Swans but fell apart then.

Is BT showing less games this year ? Seems only 1 game on Sat & Sun being shown

As far as I can tell, BT are showing up to 4 games per weekend. There are 3 BT channels, so keep an eye on that. I watch through other means these days so not really keeping much attention on it.

As for the latest round, the Eagles are now the shambles of Perth awful pitiful performance against Hawthorn. I know Hawthorn arent as bad as their 0-4 record depicted them, but even so, it was a horrendous eagles display. Flat track bullies has never been so apt. Next weeks Derby will be a real test to see which of them will be the team from the West with bragging rights for the next while.

Collingwoods win over Sydney now seems more an aberration than true form. Although Sydney are still rooted to the bottom with the Roos.

seipeal1

Expect Sydney to be 4-6 in 6 weeks.

TaosHum

Great game last night between GWS and the Bulldogs. Real intensity in it and GWS just held on at the end. Chances were there for the Doggies though who bossed the final 10-15 minutes.

bruschi

3 poor enough finals games until today's cracker. Fantastic game between port Adelaide and west coast. I think the other side of the draw now has the strongest sides in Adelaide, Sydney and Geelong. GWS should be able for eagles and who knows what the tigers will do, but all 3 would fancy beating each other.

Tigerandahalf

bruschi wrote: »

3 poor enough finals games until today's cracker. Fantastic game between port Adelaide and west coast. I think the other side of the draw now has the strongest sides in Adelaide, Sydney and Geelong. GWS should be able for eagles and who knows what the tigers will do, but all 3 would fancy beating each other.

Has anyone been following how the Irish boys are going?

The Lions and Suns seem to be rooted to the bottom.
Is Tuohy playing well for Geelong?

bruschi

Been some good performances this year for Irish contingent. Tuohy started really well, and was one of the top rated trade pick ups. He averaged out a bit, but was an ever present and had a very good year.

Conor McKenna was a break out star for Essendon this year. Got a goal of the week nomination a couple of weeks ago too.

Pearce hanley had a tough year. The loss of his brother to cancer early on in the year along with injuries meant he wasn't on the field as often as he wished and performance was average.

Mark O Connor broke into the Geelong 22 early on in the year for a couple of games. Progressing nicely.

Conor Glass finished the year very strong for hawthorn. Broke thru and kept his place. Had a nice highlight in one of his first games taking out an opponent on the goal line as he was about to kick thru an open goal.

Wanderlust91

bruschi wrote: »

Been some good performances this year for Irish contingent. Tuohy started really well, and was one of the top rated trade pick ups. He averaged out a bit, but was an ever present and had a very good year.

Conor McKenna was a break out star for Essendon this year. Got a goal of the week nomination a couple of weeks ago too.

Pearce hanley had a tough year. The loss of his brother to cancer early on in the year along with injuries meant he wasn't on the field as often as he wished and performance was average.

Mark O Connor broke into the Geelong 22 early on in the year for a couple of games. Progressing nicely.

Conor Glass finished the year very strong for hawthorn. Broke thru and kept his place. Had a nice highlight in one of his first games taking out an opponent on the goal line as he was about to kick thru an open goal.

Well said, Conor Nash picked up an injury this year I think, hopefully we see him in the Hawks squad this year. Ciaran Byrne had a good comeback lately, I think Ciaran Sheehan was back form injury this year, dont think he got alot of game time and played VFL instead.

seipeal1

One game to go. What a grand final week to look forward to. Delighted we are playing Richmond. They are my 'second' team and deserve to be there also. Have 2 tickets for next week and sporting ambition since young to attend a grand final will be met, hopefully!
What an amazing atmosphere at Adelaide Oval last night. Bring on next weekend. Go Crows!!!

jackbhoy

Dang, missed out in the (Richmond) members ballot this morning. Gutted. Demand for tickets here is off the charts this year. Hoping by some miracle one turns up. 
Hard to see Crows losing but this season has exceeded all expectations by some way so will keep dreaming for another few days. :)

Tigerandahalf

What is the reasoning behind GWS steady improvement and the Suns seemingly rooted to the table every year?

bruschi

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

What is the reasoning behind GWS steady improvement and the Suns seemingly rooted to the table every year?

probably a couple of things. Gold Coast got some concessions with trades and drafts, but then GWS came along a couple of years later and started hoovering up the picks that GCS could have got. They also got far more concessions from the AFL than the Suns did.

Secondly, their actual formation and club set up. I wont claim to know a lot about things, but the Suns have always seemed to have had issues about their club structures, much more so than GWS. Coaches, players, off field issues.

Thirdly, location. GWS is in Sydney and despite it being rugby area, they get their fair share of support. Plus, Sydney is an attractive offer to players. Gold Coast is for retirees and gap year students. A nice area, but not one for footballers in their 20's. And being that further north is very much rugby heartland. You only have to see the same issues Brisbane have too.

But simple things, GWS recruited players from other clubs who were prospects, GCS recruited star players who were past their best for the here and now rather than the future. They also got picks back for trading out their original draftees, whilst the suns got damn all. Its arguable too, but the draft class of 2012 would be seen as better than the suns draft class of 2011.

bruschi

seipeal1 wrote: »

One game to go. What a grand final week to look forward to. Delighted we are playing Richmond. They are my 'second' team and deserve to be there also. Have 2 tickets for next week and sporting ambition since young to attend a grand final will be met, hopefully!
What an amazing atmosphere at Adelaide Oval last night. Bring on next weekend. Go Crows!!!

If you do get to go, make sure you upload some pictures on here! Fantastic opportunity, would love to go to a GF one day too.

I'm not sure who I want to see win. I like the Crows and they play good brand of footy. But if Richmond won, the reaction would be huge! Although in saying that, it would also be unbearable, more so if living over there, but still!

Mackman

Interesting that not one player from wither team will have played in a Grand Final this year. Great for football. I'll be shouting for the Crows, they are such a balanced team. Great players everywhere.

Myself and a mate are flying over for the weekend to soak up the atmosphere and go on the beer. We will be watching it in a pub somewhere in Melbournne, anyone got any suggestions?

jackbhoy

If you want to get atmosphere lots of good options around Richmond. They will be packed from early though and saw this today for some of them charging cover charge: 
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/afl-grand-final-2017-plan-to-watch-the-footy-at-a-pub-in-richmond-on-saturday-best-buy-a-ticket--20170925-gyo5mc.html
I like the Corner hotel myself.
If staying in CBD I watched it a couple of years ago in Turf Sports Bar on Queen Street. Not an out and out AFL bar but good spot if you get in early and get decent spot.
The Imperial or Young & Jackson are good AFL bars too.

Mackman

Thanks Jackbhoy, we should be able to find somewhere with that bunch. the Turf bar looks good.

We will be shouting for the Crows so I don't think we will be venturing into Richmond, might not be good for our health :pac:

Good luck on Saturday! Been a long time coming for you Tigers fans

jackbhoy

Tigerandahalf

Great win for Richmond as they have struggled in recent years. Are they capable of going on now and winning a few more?

Any Irish interest there?

jackbhoy

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

Great win for Richmond as they have struggled in recent years. Are they capable of going on now and winning a few more?

Any Irish interest there?

With Richmond anything could happen next year. Being honest we have a very limited list but seems they all bought into a game plan and played out of their skins this year. I would have been happy with one finals win at start of season and still cant believe we won 3 finals by 6 goals plus. Just amazing. 
The key will be how our game plan evolves, will players have hunger now to back it up with another season of that intense effort every week and who we recruit in off-season. At the moment I am just enjoying this and can't even consider what next season will bring yet
In terms of Irish, no one at moment. We had John Heslin from Westmeath a few years ago but Richmond haven't been one of clubs to go for Irish guys very much.