9th...NO WAY

[Hellenic Tiger]

TBH I would rather finish 9th again this year.
This group is improving is young is determined is hungry. A year of improvement complemented with a 9th place finish would signify improvement and a step in the right direction, unlike our 9th in 2008 or North's 9th last year. We are a young squad on the improve I rally am not perturbed nor worry what others will say about us. They will have every reason to be concerned about our upward trend and how far we have come from this time last year where we were fossicking through the 2010 fixture like starving raccoons looking to see when and where our best chance of a win would be. A 9th place finish would mean that in 2 years with a turnover of 25 odd players from our list we have gone from 5.5 wins and 15th place to something around 11 wins and a climb to 9th.

To finish 8th or 7th may be great too but lets not look too far ahead lets get our game style and our structures right and anything that happens on our journey well and good. Hawthorn have had free hits since 2008 and may not get their this year either and as each year goes by their chances soon may start to diminish. Lets do this right and lets finish where our capabilities, skill and list management and quality allow us to finish and the end result will sort itself out.

[1965]

If we end up 9th I'd be rapted as it would mean we've improved alot on last years 6 wins which is what I want to see 

I'm sorry but "rapted" how much have you had to drink?

 

Sadly nothing because today isn't a day for drinking even less so when one's been crook

So what should I have typed "oh" great one

WP

A little annoyed maybe?

Tell me why.

 

[WilliamPowell]

A little annoyed maybe?

Tell me why.

 

Which part of "when's one been crook" didn't you understand 

[Oiafi]

So ..ok, early days yes....but.....we just can't afford to finish 9th AGAIN...what would be the outcome if we did.

we'd have the p*ss taken out of us to no end!

Hmmm ... smell the fear. 

[cub]

9th is 1 spot from playing in a FINAL - I would spew

[Loui Tufga]

9th is 1 spot from playing in a FINAL - I would spew

It's also 6 spots higher than we have been in the last couple of years!
I don't get why people think it would that bad

[WilliamPowell]

9th is 1 spot from playing in a FINAL - I would spew

Yeah but 9th could mean you miss the finals by 2 or 3 games - perspective please

Question - going into the season did anyone seriously think we'd play finals  ???

Would reckon if the majority was honest you'd say No

In 2010 we finished 15th with 6 wins and I think alot of people just want us to improve on that - the ladder position to a degree was not that relevant.

So....

Let's see how the season unfolds with the view that we need to; to continue to improve and see where we finish up.

In the end it would be great to snag a final but in the end for mine it's about continuing to improve in 2011 and if we end up 9th and we get say 10 wins then we know we've improved a helluva alot

Dare I say it keep a lid on it folks let's not get to caught up in the hype of it all. Sit back & enjoy the ride we are on, remembering there will be bumps along the way but it will all be worth it and it's just great to be part of it

[10 FLAGS]

9th is 1 spot from playing in a FINAL - I would spew

Yeah but 9th could mean you miss the finals by 2 or 3 games - perspective please

Question - going into the season did anyone seriously think we'd play finals  ???

Would reckon if the majority was honest you'd say No

In 2010 we finished 15th with 6 wins and I think alot of people just want us to improve on that - the ladder position to a degree was not that relevant.

So....

Let's see how the season unfolds with the view that we need to; to continue to improve and see where we finish up.

In the end it would be great to snag a final but in the end for mine it's about continuing to improve in 2011 and if we end up 9th and we get say 10 wins then we know we've improved a helluva alot

Dare I say it keep a lid on it folks let's not get to caught up in the hype of it all. Sit back & enjoy the ride we are on, remembering there will be bumps along the way but it will all be worth it and it's just great to be part of it

There is no lid when it comes to the Richmond Army! Especially when its on the march, ready to steamroll all and sundry in its wake! 

[gerkin greg]

We're fighting Melbourne & Sydney above us and Dogs & Eagles below us for a place in the 8.

We play Melb/Syd twice and Dogs/WC once each, need to win min 50% of those 6 games to give us a chance of finals. That would give us 6.5 wins.

Must beat everyone else below us on the ladder, Bris, Port, Crows, Suns, North for the other 5 wins.

11.5 wins should see us scrape into the 8 without really claiming a big scalp, and that is not unrealistic. I see us slipping up somewhere and finishing 10th, but there is hope.

Season defining game this weekend against the Doggies.  

[cub]

I have plenty of perspective WP, think your falling into the trap of just slagging off & that happens a bit around here lately.
Living with the mentality of sides gone by! I don't know but I have doubts we will make the 8 this year, point is if we get close enough I would much rather be going to a game in September 'For the teams development as well' than be mowing the lawns again.
Once again 9th I would spew that we dont get to play in a final! but would be a satisfactory result in the scheme of things for sure.

[Infamy]

We're fighting Melbourne & Sydney above us and Dogs & Eagles below us for a place in the 8.

We play Melb/Syd twice and Dogs/WC once each, need to win min 50% of those 6 games to give us a chance of finals. That would give us 6.5 wins.

Must beat everyone else below us on the ladder, Bris, Port, Crows, Suns, North for the other 5 wins.

11.5 wins should see us scrape into the 8 without really claiming a big scalp, and that is not unrealistic. I see us slipping up somewhere and finishing 10th, but there is hope.

Season defining game this weekend against the Doggies.  

With Gold Coast, Brisbane & Port Adelaide being so bad I expect it will take 12 wins at least to get into the finals this year

[gerkin greg]

Too many draws. One of the sides currently on 14pts will make the 8 with 11.5 wins, bookmark it. The Dogs will need 12 to make it.

[Francois Jackson]

I have plenty of perspective WP, think your falling into the trap of just slagging off & that happens a bit around here lately.
Living with the mentality of sides gone by! I don't know but I have doubts we will make the 8 this year, point is if we get close enough I would much rather be going to a game in September 'For the teams development as well' than be mowing the lawns again.
Once again 9th I would spew that we dont get to play in a final! but would be a satisfactory result in the scheme of things for sure.

correct CUB in every way.

we come here to play finals and ultimately win a cup. With 30 years of failure in my book finishing 9th means we just missed out again.

Anything could happen next year. Injuries etc etc

Going to a finals game in front of 90k fans means more money for the club, which means more $$$ to the fighting fund/club heading into next year.

Making finals will mean more members dont be foolish into thinking anything else.

[WilliamPowell]

I have plenty of perspective WP, think your falling into the trap of just slagging off & that happens a bit around here lately.

I wasn't "slagging" off CUB I was just offering an opinion different to yours and a few others..

Don't get me wrong I'd love it if we played finals but realistically I cannot see happening this year.

Just because I am not prepared to get caught up too much in the excitement of 1 win against a good side doesn't mean I dont want finals it's just that I am looking at much bigger picutre than season 2011  

History tells me that we are one loss away from people going ape wanting players dropped, traded and sent to the salt mines in Siberia  

correct CUB in every way.

we come here to play finals and ultimately win a cup. With 30 years of failure in my book finishing 9th means we just missed out again.

Anything could happen next year. Injuries etc etc

Going to a finals game in front of 90k fans means more money for the club, which means more $$$ to the fighting fund/club heading into next year.

Making finals will mean more members dont be foolish into thinking anything else.

daniel, not quite sure how you think playing finals in front of of 90k is going to mean more $$ from the gate to us seeing all gate takings from finals goes to the AFL. Certainly we would benefit on a sponsorship front going forward I reckon thats a given if we keep improving

And you are right anything could happen next year regarding injuries etc but lots of things could happen this year on the same front so I still think it is a case of just seeing how things go

And if we snag a final all well and good but if we don't that's not going to be the worse thing that could happen either

[mightytiges]

Finishing ninth would be a shocker to be honest and hurt us in the long run. We'd be lucky to get two picks in the top 50 with GWS hogging the draft and our first pick would be in the late teens. Our list is nowhere complete yet structurally (Jack is the only reliable KPP along our spine) to start pushing up the ladder (as much as watching us win is enjoyable right now). We really need another decent dip in the draft as we did last year to add more class to our list and fill holes/deficiencies we still have so in time when we do push into the top 8 we can match it with the top sides if not better them and push for top 4 if not top 2 in say 3 years time when our list matures. At the start of the year I was hoping for say a 14th finish (= about 8 wins) and another top 10 first pick; not ninth and pick 18  .

1. GWS
2. GWS
3. GWS
4. Bris
5. GWS
6. Port
7. GWS
8. North
9. GWS
10. St K
11. GWS
12. GC
13. GWS
14. Adel
15. GWS
16. WB
17. Eagles
18. Richmond
...
26. Coll
27. Bris (Compensation pick from last year)
28. Bris (Priority pick)
29. Port (Priority pick?)

* Chuck in here a whole bunch of picks created out of thin air by GWS ontrading non-AFL players other clubs want as GC did last year.

GWS
Bris
Port
North
St K
GC
Adel
WB
Eagles
Richmond ...... most likely a pick in the 40s.