The aftermath: how do you feel about our prospects now?

[melliot]

[John Wren]

i think we are better placed than last year. save for the atrocious number of behinds we have game plans that actually stack up against the saints and bulldogs. now to tick off geelong and hawthorn.

having watched the hawks yesterday they look very beatable even allowing for the biannual pantsing they give us.

[blackandwhite4life]

After watching the replay last night, I'm feeling OK about where we're at.

We matched and even slightly exceeded the Saints at their own game for the 1st 3 quarters. 3 goals in 3 minutes at the start of the the 4th and the game was gone.

That was a definite improvement on the games we played against the Saints last year.

5 or 6 gimme goals we should've kicked (McCarthy, McCaffer, Wellingham blazing away instead of looking up x 2, Davis ditto).

[Pricey_1981]

If we beat Hawthorn and we go into Anzac Day sitting at 3-1 i will be very happy.
I wasnt expecting us to beat Bulldogs and seriously thought we could be 1-3 going into Anzac Day since we drew Bulldogs, Saints and Hawks early.

[Podpicken]

Going just fine, thanks, 2-1 and could have well and truly rolled the Saints if the goals were flowing intstead of points. No need to panic just yet and, yes Phantom, there are plenty of reactionary types around on Nicks. A long way to go and I reckon a lot of joy to come in season 2010. Get our forwards up and firing and we're well and truly away.

[woftam]

[Wokko]

I'll agree with that, if we sit at 3-1 and more importantly turn around some of the really weird attitudes on the ground then I'll shrug off the St Kilda loss as just one of those nights (goalkicking wise) and be more than happy with the start to our season.

At least we should be 3-2 after Anzac Day no matter what, which is still ok considering our draw. I'd call 3-2 break even.

[melliot]

^ I reckon, similar to what the Saints Game plan was.

Excaept, we'll go in taller against the Hawks shorter defense.

You'll see Dawes get his opportunity I think.

[BBHS]

I think we have shown we are a very even team and if our stars can find some form will be bloody dangerous

[Leggie]

Feeling pretty good.
The loss and against the Saints was disappointing but they are touted as being one of the top clubs for 2010.

If we were hoping to win every game for the year well that's just delusional.

I do agree however that our accuracy is a major concern. I don't know if this is an issue at training and those of you fortunate enough to watch the boys train may be able to comment on this. Is it the big game or are we just plain old crap at kicking for goal.

[John Wren]

unless it is mathematically impossible to make the final eight we are always a prospect.

[Lazza]

FWIW (probably not much to those with unrealistic expectations here) I repeat what I wrote back in February this year. I think we are putting together a handy team but they are not of premiership material quality as yet and wont be until at least 2012 - 13. Need to pump more games into the 50 - 80 gamers.

[DaVe86]

I'm still confident about our top 4 chances, but less confident about our premiership aspirations.

I just don't think we have the forward line setup.

I have been calling for Dawes to come in, but realistically we can't expect him to be the messiah this year. Its going to take him a year or 2 at senior level to really come on.

Just can't see CLoke, Leigh Brown and Jack Anthony kicking enough goals to take us to a flag.

Ultiamtely, we are relying too heavily on smalls and midfielders to kick our scores. And as we saw the other night, they can be innacurate and we can lose our structure very easily.


Far too much pressure on Cloke's shoulders...and though he was good against the Saints, he simply is too innaccurate in front of goals to be our focal point.


But we will beat enough teams to be there are there about this year.

[Sammy]

I dont understand why there is so much doom & gloom around at the moment. It was a high pressure game. the saints made just as many errors as we did, the difference being they put away their set shots. we kick straight, we win that game by 4-5 goals. Massive upside. we proved we could play the pressure game as good as anyone in the leauge. We would have beaten 14 other sides easily with the pressure we applied on friday.

[Joel]

It was a crap game all round, and I know we are capable of better. But, I would hope that the boys would pride themselves on never having a goaless quarter, let alone a goaless half ever again.

The second half was a piss weak effort, that lacked skill. The first half on the other hand showed they can put in a determined effort when required.