The Yo-Yo

[Jay]

Maybe I'm crazy, but I still think we'll play finals. Saints have absolutely nothing to play for, whereas the Suns I can see being very competitive up there.

Love the optimism.

Don't worry, I share it.

Still holding on to the hope that we can and will beat the Swans.

Get through tomorrow first Nigeybro ;)

[powersuperkents]

Call me crazy, Richmond for 8th. Adelaide 9th, Sorry Crows supporters! Tiges to beat Swans by under 2 goals to take away 8th.

My tipping
8th WCE
9th Can't decide between Crows & Tigers, it'll be a matter of %

I just can't see the Eagles stuffing up an opportunity this good, a comfortable win over the Suns (30pts), a Collingwood loss to Hawks & a Tigers loss against the Swans (I wouldn't rule it too fanciful for the Tiges to surprise everyone though) & they're guaranteed 8th. It's pretty much been given to them. The Crows aren't out of it, but I think the loss to the Roos foreshadows their fate, you can't give up games like that & end up in the finals, compare it to the Eagles who have taken advantage of their opportunity & Richmond who are on a hot streak (best form in the comp.) & I just can't see them out-classing them (they'll drop to 11th after Richmond defeat St Kilda). However, it's nowhere near impossible, assuming WCE beat Gold Coast by 12, Adelaide will need to beat St Kilda by nearly 100 -WCE 114.6% v. Crows 113% assuming a 60 point win by Adelaide/ WCE 114.6% v. Crows 115.2% assuming 100 point win-. I just can't see WCE only winning by 12, furthermore, I don't think the Saints will just hand them the margin, they're a rebuilding team & even a 50 point loss will seem a substantial achievement. They really shouldn't of lost against the Roos, if they had won the finals would've been theirs. Collingwood may be 8th, but I think they'll drop to 11th next week (% is horrible), & GCS don't have a chance. But if WCE beat GCS by 30 or more, pending a potential Tigers victory over the Swans, the 8th spot is theirs (Adelaide would have to win by well over 100).

Remember, this is all irrelevant if the Tigers can boost their % by enough against the Saints tomorrow, the team is very much alive (big win could see them make it through on % even if they lose next week, however unlikely as a 100 point win will raise their percentage to 109.7%, so they'll have to beat the Swans)     

[Jay]

No excuses really, it should never have come down to this. The Tigers game last week and the North game today have been there for the taking and we let them both slip.

In all honesty, we don't really deserve to make the 8. Sure, it'll be nice if we do but it still will be far from a successful season for a team that was a kick away from the GF only 2 years ago.

[powersuperkents]

No excuses really, it should never have come down to this. The Tigers game last week and the North game today have been there for the taking and we let them both slip.

In all honesty, we don't really deserve to make the 8. Sure, it'll be nice if we do but it still will be far from a successful season for a team that was a kick away from the GF only 2 years ago.

Incredibly strong team in 2012, Idk what happened, the line up is almost the same, was it the forwards injuries at the beginning of last season?

It's good to see the Crows rebuilding though, haven't seen enough of Matty to judge, but if Brad Crouch played more games last season, rising star would've easily been his, his form has continued this year as well. Add Sloane & Dangerfield & there's a bright future ahead. CC is also fantastic, didn't really rate him until I saw him against Richmond. I think in the long-run, a higher pick of the draft will be more valuable

[Jay]

No excuses really, it should never have come down to this. The Tigers game last week and the North game today have been there for the taking and we let them both slip.

In all honesty, we don't really deserve to make the 8. Sure, it'll be nice if we do but it still will be far from a successful season for a team that was a kick away from the GF only 2 years ago.

Incredibly strong team in 2012, Idk what happened, the line up is almost the same, was it the forwards injuries at the beginning of last season?

Losing Tippett and Gunston has obviously hurt, and that forced us to recruit an old spud like Podsiadly. Also think trading Bernie Vince was a mistake.. Sure young Crouch looks to be a good player but Bernie could have really helped us this year. Didn't have Tex for most of last year and he started off slow this season too so that has obviously had an impact seeing as he's arguably our most important player (him or Jacobs). I also might be in the minority here but I think our list is better than what our win/loss has been over the last 2 seasons, so I have far from a lot of faith in Sando at the moment.

Whether we make the 8 or not, we need to set out to improve our defense - that has been our weakness all year.

[CrowsFan]

Don't think we can blame anything on the forwardline this season, even with Tex starting slowly, playing Pods etc. If you look at the ladder (before the round started) we had scored the third most amount of points of all the teams in the league! Only teams who have scored more are Hawks and Power (by only 3 points). So nothing can be blamed on our attacking ability. It's the fact we make silly errors and gift goals to the opposition, like what happened today on more than one occasion, which is costing us matches.

[Jay]

Don't think we can blame anything on the forwardline this season, even with Tex starting slowly, playing Pods etc. If you look at the ladder (before the round started) we had scored the third most amount of points of all the teams in the league! Only teams who have scored more are Hawks and Power (by only 3 points). So nothing can be blamed on our attacking ability. It's the fact we make silly errors and gift goals to the opposition, like what happened today on more than one occasion, which is costing us matches.

We are also a very good contested possession team. So it's clear that our weakness is in the backline, in particularly the decision making. We need to realise that we aren't good enough to play like Geelong and Hawthon, we need to just play the percentages when we're bringing it out of our defensive 50. The handballing out of defense has become ridiculous too.

That Jaensch kick across goal where Petrie intercepted, summed up our year. And I think it's also cost me a TV remote  :-[

[powersuperkents]

Forgot about Tippett, Vince was (& still is) a fantastic player, Thompson is starting to age as well. I still think their future is strong, like Richmond they were unlucky and didn't find form until later in the season (can really cost a team in retrospect). Carlton are another team to take awhile, unfortunately they took waaaay too long and gave away worse wins than any other team this season.

I think like Richmond, the Crows should easily make the 8 next season w/o any hassle if they just continue where they left off this season & keep building. Fans should be happy that they still have a good shot at the top 8 this year & that their season wasn't a disappointment (very different team compared to the side in R1-8). Richmond fans should be unhappy (overall), I tipped the Tigers for the top 4 this year. They're playing like a strong top 8 side atm, but sadly they've only done this for the last 7 weeks. It'll be interesting to watch both teams next season & see how far they can go. WCE is another team with a bright future. Now if I had to rate the other two contenders (subjectively) I'd say Collingwood's time as a top 8 team is over (don't think they'll make finals next season as well as this one) & GCS seem to reliant on Ablett to guarantee a strong future from. I bet if Ablett left/retired the team would reset to their 2012 form (still better than their 2011 side). GWS did the right thing by not getting a role-model, it may not be so good in the short-run, but I guarantee those players will be more confident in the long-term.     

[Nige]

Maybe I'm crazy, but I still think we'll play finals. Saints have absolutely nothing to play for, whereas the Suns I can see being very competitive up there.

Love the optimism.

Don't worry, I share it.

Still holding on to the hope that we can and will beat the Swans.

Get through tomorrow first Nigeybro ;)

If we don't, I'll probably do something drastic and you may not ever see me again.

[T Dog]

Saints win, Pies stay in 8, Adelaide hovering..just thinking... ::)

[Toga]

Saints win, Pies stay in 8, Adelaide hovering..just thinking... ::)

This isn't the jokes thread big fella ;)

[kilbluff1985]

TBAG Brissy supporters wanna know when Tex's contract runs out?

[tbagrocks]

TBAG Brissy supporters wanna know when Tex's contract runs out?

It won't be. Crows to still finish 8th

[Mailman the 2nd]

Very unlikely that Adelaide will finish 8th. The chance that one of West Coast or Richmond will win next week is pretty high

[Nige]

tbag avoided the question... is that a sign?  :o