Finding 9 more wins to make the 8

[Chuck17]

I will cry if we come ninth again

[Stripes]

I just completed that ladder generator myself and we did come in 9th The thing is though, we have no idea how well we will or won't go let alone how the other teams perform.

I won't be surprized if Collingwood and/or Hawthorn don't make the finals and I'm calling it early.....Geelong won't make the 8! 

[one-eyed]

Since 1994, when the league returned to a 22-round home-and-away season, there have been seven instances of teams being in a comparable position to Richmond, at the same time of the year, with five of them going on to make the finals.

Full article here: http://www.richmondfc.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/6301/newsid/136499/default.aspx

[Stripes]

See guys - have hope! We're not out of the race yet. Our percentage is the most important thing not just for ladder position but also to demonstrate how competitive we have been against the best opposition in the competition. 

[Hellenic Tiger]

I don't think we are out of the race. Not by a long shot.

Key is winning one of the next two. Either Hawthorn or St.Kilda. Both would be nice though and make things a little easier.

Assume we win one of the next two. Leaves us 4-6.

Freo at home. We beat them most time here at the G. 5-6
GWS away. We don't win this and forget finals 2012. 6-6
Adelaide AAMI We'll be brave but I can't see us knocking them off 6-7
Melbourne Away. Another one of these if they haven't one by then they may think they may knock us off. Danger game but it's in our hands 7-7.
Gold Coast@ Cairns. Surely we have learnt our lesson. Hopefully we don't fall into complacency given the quality of opponent we have faced in the first half of the season 8-7.
Nought Melbourne home MCG. We can't lose to these gypsies. At the G we can expose them for pace. 9-7.
Carlton away G. Given our recent record against them-loss 9-8.
Brisbane Lions Away Given our recent record against them win 10-8
Dogs Home at G. Time we put the puppies to sleep. It's been long enough. 11-8
Win one these next two and finals is a cert
Freo away or Essendon home game at the G. Leaves us 12-9.
Last game is Port at home. Should be a win but we have been burnt before. SHould win despite my reservations. Leaves us 13-9.
Percentage shoud not be that much of a problem given where we sit now.
Of course injuries psyche and complacency is something the coaching staff and the players need to look at. Can't afford to let our guard down once we start playing the weaker sides.
Ultimately it is in our hands. How much do we want it how much can our leadership group and next tier players take us as well as our bottom 6-8 and can they have a positive impact.
As I said it's in our hands still and given the way we have played I think we can. Another factor is if we get close enough to make the 8 are the team sufficiently prepared mentally to embrace that or will they drop a game or two in the run in they shouldn't and add the pressure and make their equation much harder with a must win in Perth against Freo or Essendon at the G.
Would rather we need to beat Port to make the 8 in Round 23 or better yet beat Essendon in Round 22 and seal our place. I think we can still make it.

[the claw]

See guys - have hope! We're not out of the race yet. Our percentage is the most important thing not just for ladder position but also to demonstrate how competitive we have been against the best opposition in the competition. 

i think the most important thing is depth thus i dont think we can make it. still not without a chance i suppose.

[dwaino]

Heaps of clubs fall away quick after 20-25. Any quality depth players are either swooped on by opposition clubs or they walk for greener pastures. I agree that we could use a few more back up blokes though. But by recruiting for upgrades then blokes currently starting every week get pushed back to the twos and effectively become depth.

[Stripes]

See guys - have hope! We're not out of the race yet. Our percentage is the most important thing not just for ladder position but also to demonstrate how competitive we have been against the best opposition in the competition. 

i think the most important thing is depth thus i dont think we can make it. still not without a chance i suppose.

If we don't win this week or at the very least against the Saints the week after we won't make the finals

[mightytiges]

See guys - have hope! We're not out of the race yet. Our percentage is the most important thing not just for ladder position but also to demonstrate how competitive we have been against the best opposition in the competition. 

i think the most important thing is depth thus i dont think we can make it. still not without a chance i suppose.

If we don't win this week or at the very least against the Saints the week after we won't make the finals

True Stripes. If we don't win one of the next two then we'll have no chance of being all square at the midseason break which IMO will be the bare minimum to stay in the hunt. On the positive side, today is an opportunity to set ourselves up to be 7-5 at the break with Freo at the 'G and GWS to come after the Saints.

[Chuck17]

Well we got one

[10 FLAGS]

If we win next week then itll be on for young and old. Win next week and we are right in this.

[Muscles]

Eight to go.  Have to win next Friday night.  We need the Swannies to beat up on the Aints bad today.  Need to make them sore.  Three six day breaks breaks in a row for the Aints, ain't it? 

[dwaino]

Eight to go.  Have to win next Friday night.  We need the Swannies to beat up on the Aints bad today.  Need to make them sore.  Three six day breaks breaks in a row for the Aints, ain't it?

Not playing amazingly but still giving a Sydney a bath at the moment. Ruckless and a bit of a mix-and-match sort of team. I reckon we're red hot to knock them off.

[the claw]

after today i am forced to give them a bit more credit than i have and concede we are a genuine chance for the 8. still have misgivings about depth and if injury hits we will battle.

i think our depth improved just a tad today with griffiths i reckon hes capable of holding down chb going by his performance today. if thats the case it frees grimes up to be third man up and give both griffiths and rance a chop out when needed.

[dwaino]

The great thing about Grimes is his speed and ability to play small. Griffiths (assuming he can replicate and develop on today's form) and Rance are more than capable to hold the token two tall forwards. None of them are cumbersome and it suits our attacking style. Chuck in Dea, Batchelor, and Morris and all the sudden we stack up pretty well as a solid, yet mobile, defensive unit. The less Newman and Houli have to actually 'defend' the better, as their kicks are more valuable in rebound and attack.

If we cop too many injuries we'll just have to suck it up. Most teams are like this. Today even without Grimes and Batchelor we were able to get the job done. With a squad of mostly under 25s we won't have the luxury of back up ready depth for a little while longer. As we trade, buy, and draft for upgrades the depth will just happen by itself.