The 2014 AFL Thread Chasing a Place in the Eight

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The Sad Punk said:
C9NHCYE.jpg


All of this, all of this can be yours, Herald Sun.
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:cornflakes: :love:
 
Oddly I feel great.

Charlotte says I must still be drunk, and to give it a couple of hours.
 
Best team in the league won yesterday - full credit to them. The chemistry between the blokes in the midfield (Lewis, Hodge, Mitchell, Birchall) is second to none, and they've unearthed an absolute superstar in Chris Langford' son (and a midfielder to boot).

12 VFL/AFL premierships in 54 years is an extremely enviable return, and they've now equalled the Dees in premierships won.



Sent from a barge floating through the docks of Dublin
 
Vlad 2013 said:
I would hope we finish better than 10th next year, Alex.
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Fucking hell last year me.

Vlad 2013 said:
1. Fremantle - don't think they'll decline at all, GF exp. will help
2. Hawthorn - still thereabouts
3. Richmond - strong potential
4. Sydney - if Tippett doesn't screw them up completely
5. Essendon - providing too many don't walk out
6. Adelaide - hopefully new recruits + better efforts back where we really belong
7. North - about time they start doing a thing
8. Geelong - aging list but still in
9. Gold Coast - getting closer
10. Carlton - the biggest unknown for me
11. Collingwood - meh
12. Port - overachieved this year, weren't even very convincing winners much of the time, wouldn't even have made it if it weren't for that fluke bounce
13. West Coast - unsure, haven't seen enough of them I guess?
14. Bulldogs - inexperienced but very competitive
15. Brisbane - mini exodus won't help them much?
16. GWS
17. Melbourne
18. St. Kilda
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Apart from Richmond 3rd, Port 12th and Adelaide 6th my effort from last year ain't too bad.
 
Alright, time for me to be hilariously wrong this time around:

1. Port - should have finished top four this year, nearly made grand final anyway, and won't fade out next year like they did this year.
2. Hawthorn - not going anywhere in a hurry.
3. Sydney - ditto.
4. Fremantle - they know their premiership window is closing and will go hard next year.
5. Gold Coast - would have made the eight this year if Ablett hadn't got rubbed out, and definitely will next year. They're basically right where they should be.
6. Geelong - not the powerhouse they were a few years ago but have plenty of talent and will stay in the mix.
7. Essendon - the turbulent ride looks like it will continue but that seems to spur on some tenacious performances and we will cling to finals.
8. North Melbourne - like Freo, their window is closing; their performances have got more consistent but I'm not sure I see them being enough of a force to challenge for top four. This year was perhaps their peak.
9. Richmond - I swear to god this wasn't deliberate. I see them as being in contention for the eight, but in doing the rankings they just ended up falling into their natural home. That said, every team below third should be worried about the Tiges forcing one of them out of the eight.
10. Adelaide - honestly this kind of depends on how well they pick a new coach. Hard to call right now.
11. Collingwood - will stay down, though their decline will not be too rapid.
12. GWS - this is a team experiencing significant improvement and they will worry some very good opponents. Like Gold Coast this season, I think they will fall short of the eight, but they'll be in contention.
13. Bulldogs - I think the Doggies are improving but I don't yet think they can string together the performances to finish much higher. Have some great young talent.
14. West Coast - weren't impressive against good opposition this year and unless they recruit like geniuses then I doubt that'll change much.
15. Brisbane - another team with some great talent but probably not an ability to string together enough performances to really be a serious threat.
16. Carlton - will stay down, but lay a foundation to improve in 2016.
17. St Kilda - will try valiantly, but it won't be enough.
18. Melbourne - lol no.
 
Axver said:
Alright, time for me to be hilariously wrong this time around:

1. Port - should have finished top four this year, nearly made grand final anyway, and won't fade out next year like they did this year.
2. Hawthorn - not going anywhere in a hurry.
3. Sydney - ditto.
4. Fremantle - they know their premiership window is closing and will go hard next year.
5. Gold Coast - would have made the eight this year if Ablett hadn't got rubbed out, and definitely will next year. They're basically right where they should be.
6. Geelong - not the powerhouse they were a few years ago but have plenty of talent and will stay in the mix.
7. Essendon - the turbulent ride looks like it will continue but that seems to spur on some tenacious performances and we will cling to finals.
8. North Melbourne - like Freo, their window is closing; their performances have got more consistent but I'm not sure I see them being enough of a force to challenge for top four. This year was perhaps their peak.
9. Richmond - I swear to god this wasn't deliberate. I see them as being in contention for the eight, but in doing the rankings they just ended up falling into their natural home. That said, every team below third should be worried about the Tiges forcing one of them out of the eight.
10. Adelaide - honestly this kind of depends on how well they pick a new coach. Hard to call right now.
11. Collingwood - will stay down, though their decline will not be too rapid.
12. GWS - this is a team experiencing significant improvement and they will worry some very good opponents. Like Gold Coast this season, I think they will fall short of the eight, but they'll be in contention.
13. Bulldogs - I think the Doggies are improving but I don't yet think they can string together the performances to finish much higher. Have some great young talent.
14. West Coast - weren't impressive against good opposition this year and unless they recruit like geniuses then I doubt that'll change much.
15. Brisbane - another team with some great talent but probably not an ability to string together enough performances to really be a serious threat.
16. Carlton - will stay down, but lay a foundation to improve in 2016.
17. St Kilda - will try valiantly, but it won't be enough.
18. Melbourne - lol no.
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Here goes...

1. Port Adelaide - a blend of hope and expectation, but if they do become 2015 Premiers, Ken Hinkley and his team are the best thing to happen in the AFL this century.

2. Fremantle - Still a super-talented squad with a gun coach. Will surely contend.

3. Sydney - same as above

4. Hawthorn - Still a challenger, but I'm expecting a sort of hangover. Won't be hungry enough for a huge preseason after defying the odds this year.

5. North Melbourne - who knows what this mob is capable of.

6. Richmond - a biased prediction. The players are talented enough for top four, but are in dire need of a new approach to their football.

7. Footscray - surprise packet of the season, with the 2nd best group of young midfielders in the competition (after Port)

8. Gold Coast - should scrape in if Swallow, O'Meara continue to progress. Still lacking some talent at the other ends of the ground.

9. Carlton - will lack any sort of consistency. Need to do some bold recruiting.

10. Geelong - said this about 5 times before and been proven wrong time and time again, but the era is over (but only temporarily I feel). The top four now have their measure and they'll start dropping a few games to other mid-table sides.

11. Brisbane - this side is shaping quite nicely. Few holes to fill.

12. West Coast - a real unknown. Post-Cox era will be interesting.

13. Adelaide - not rebuilding, but reimagining. Super talented squad that I don't think will be capable of winning consistently - especially with a brand new coach whoever he/she is.

14. Essendon - club could get torn to shreds in the off-season, so it all depends on what happens.

15. Melbourne - Roos had them quite competitive in the first half of '14 and they'll keep it up for longer in '15

16. Collingwood - Concerning '14 with Beams and Lumamba on their way out. Huge question mark over Buckley as a senior coach, but they'll still probably slaughter Richmond.

17. St. Kilda - rebuilding nicely I feel. Although it was kind of tragic that they didn't win a flag between 05-10, I still feel that these lean years are well worth it given how good they were.

18. Wests - No real pattern or reasoning to their wins in '14. Won't get smashed very often but will just keep getting more games into their youngsters.



Sent from a barge floating through the docks of Dublin
 
Gotta say, I still enjoyed the game even though it was a fizzer, Hawthorn just played so fucking well. Honestly, that's about as close to perfect as you'll get.

I'm still waiting for my erection for Luke Hodge to go down. One of the best games I've ever seen.

The Sad Punk said:
C9NHCYE.jpg


All of this, all of this can be yours, Herald Sun.
Click to expand...

This is absolutely brilliant, about to tweet it out :up:
 
cobl04 said:
This is absolutely brilliant, about to tweet it out :up:
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Haha, cheers. Not sure if I hope he sees it or not.

Premature ladder predict GO

1. Port pow pow pow pow pow - well I can't back down from this can I? Seriously though they got the goods, excellent 22 with depth increasing, young guns only going to get better, and Hammer Hartlett pretty much confirmed that their slump was due to a training load, can't see it getting as bad as it was next year. Might struggle a little at the start due to high expectations though
2. Freo - still an awesome list decimated by bad luck towards the end. that Saints loss really was massive. Do it for postman pav
3. Hoeks - another close Prelim, this one doesn't go their way. Too damn classy to have a hangover.
4. North - I really can't tell where they're at. They've clearly got great talent but I'm really not sold on seeing them push any further than another prelim.
5. Sydney - Will be awesome all year and then get the yips coming into the finals
6. Gold Coast - window is still a ways off but they can bloody well get into the finals and win their first one. Will be interesting to see what happens to Bluey
7. Adelaide - I guess this is a bit of a smoky but they were seriously close to making the 8 and if Sando really was bad for the playing group, a little change could put them right into the mix.
8. Richmond - more consistent but they still Richmond it up a bit
9. Geelong - OH NO
10. Brisbane - they've done some pretty amazing things the past couple of years despite their position, can take another step
11. Collingwood - might be pretty tough on them here since they were utterly decimated this season, just have a feeling bad luck's gonna keep coming their way
12. Bullies - lots of upside to this list, just gonna get better
13. West Coast - ugh I really don't know what to say with this, most underwhelming and confusing list in the league just about. at least BROWNLOW MEDALIST PRIDDIS is there to lead the troops. hopefully NicNat gets a good preseason. can't really see anything good coming out of this though
14. Essendon - things are going to get really ugly in a whole bunch of ways, sorry Ax, Charlotte and all the other cool Bombers folks I know, you guys don't deserve this shit group hug
15. Carlton - nah
16. GWS - some real question marks gonna be raised about these guys
17. St Kilda - riewoldt adamantly refuses to get spoon in final year, lifts entire team up for the last few rounds
18. Melbourne - god I wish this wasn't the case but I don't think even Roos can sort this mess out

coleman - Roughy by a couple in front of
brownlow - Franklin, other swans gonna be lifting a little less
norm smith - gard sard
 
I don't know, I kinda hope it happens. Want to see Melbourne out of this mire.

Also, Tom Jones is now being criticised for playing some song called Delilah (the only songs of his I know off the top of my head are Sex Bomb and It's Not Unusual) because of its lyrics, in light of what's happened in the US and so on. :yawn: just fucking get rid of pre-game entertainment altogether.
 
I think Adelaide is good enough to think short-term and stick with what works. They could compete next year, so I wouldn't say they desperately need the picks. I wouldn't take that trade if I were Adelaide.

Meanwhile, Melbourne has no foundation for a stud player to take advantage of, so Dangerfield would just go there to die. That's the kind of move that teams make when they're reaching for a finals push and need that one extra guy to put them over the top. They would probably jump to lower middle tier. And lose out on young talent. But hey, I'm sure their fans would take any improvement.
 
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Astounding to me that people are putting Port above Hawthorn, they'll be top 4 comfortably if they don't get too many injuries but an awful lot of people have been seduced by their prelim performance.
 
It's not just their prelim showing, m8. It's the brand of football they're playing and the two-thirds of the year they played great football.

Crows talking to Brendan Bolton.
 
Vlad n U 2 said:
Astounding to me that people are putting Port above Hawthorn, they'll be top 4 comfortably if they don't get too many injuries but an awful lot of people have been seduced by their prelim performance.
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12. Port - overachieved this year, weren't even very convincing winners much of the time, wouldn't even have made it if it weren't for that fluke bounce
 
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