Do you think Freo is a Premiership contender ?

[JoondalupJ]

Lets just say I wouldn't go starting a 'Oh good we get to play the purple ****s' thread

They could make the big day. If they do, anyone's a chance .
I'd think that maybe they're a year early. Perhaps won't get to the GF, but they're on the way.

 

[Timmy from Thomastown]

They could make the big day. If they do, anyone's a chance .
I'd think that maybe they're a year early. Perhaps won't get to the GF, but they're on the way.

Hawthorn were a year early in 2008
Brisbane in 2001
Collingwood in 2010.

It happens.

 

[clogged]

Is it certain to be at Etihad?

The two Melbourne finals Fremantle have played (vs Geelong) have been at the MCG.

 

[Timmy from Thomastown]

Is it certain to be at Etihad?

The two Melbourne finals Fremantle have played (vs Geelong) have been at the MCG.

No but if there are four Melbourne finals (Haw and Geelong 1 and 2, Rich?Ess/Coll 5 and 6) then one of those games will be at Etihad. And that game will almost certainly involve an interstate side. Unlikely to be Sydney as they are reigning premiers and have a huge Melbourne fan base, so the Freo or Port game would be at Etihad.

 

[clogged]

No but if there are four Melbourne finals (Haw and Geelong 1 and 2, Rich?Ess/Coll 5 and 6) then one of those games will be at Etihad. And that game will almost certainly involve an interstate side. Unlikely to be Sydney as they are reigning premiers and have a huge Melbourne fan base, so the Freo or Port game would be at Etihad.

I see what you mean, though it would be unfair for Hawthorn to have a 'home' final at Etihad. Geelong might have a case for hosting it at Kardinia too.

That said, if Freo are at Etihad I will go (have always wanted to see a final there).

 

[Timmy from Thomastown]

I see what you mean, though it would be unfair for Hawthorn to have a 'home' final at Etihad. Geelong might have a case for hosting it at Kardinia too.

That said, if Freo are at Etihad I will go (have always wanted to see a final there).

Crowd considerations and the fact that the Etihad game will be on a Saturday determine who plays there. The fairness or otherwise of it being a Hawthorn "home ground" will not come into consideration. The final will not be at Geelong. Its home state advantage not neccessarily home ground advantage.

 

[clogged]

Crowd considerations and the fact that the Etihad game will be on a Saturday determine who plays there. The fairness or otherwise of it being a Hawthorn "home ground" will not come into consideration. The final will not be at Geelong. Its home state advantage not neccessarily home ground advantage.

If that happens I eagerly await the meltdown from Hawks fans.

 

[JackFlash]

In my view, to be a realistic chance, we actually need to finish top 2 to get both home finals. Having to travel between finals takes a lot out of a playing group and I'd rather it was taken out of somebody else. The travel factor was significant in our loss to Adelaide last year with that game just 6 days after a very gruelling match against Geelong.

Lets face it, you need everything to go right when you are playing finals against the best. Anything less than that makes it pretty tough

Top 2 is not out of the question either as the Swans play Collingwood, Geelong and Hawthorn, they could lose two of those giving Freo that chance of top 2, (percentage counts only between these two clubs, the Swans are way out in front there) The Dockers should finish on 70pts and the Swans might end up the same or more likely 66pts?
Of course the Swans are in pretty good form and might very well beat all 3 in tough games, they might have too to keep 2nd spot. Geelong are lucky that 3 of their last 4 games are at home, i think the Cats will still lose another 2 games and finish on 64pts leaving them vulnerable to the Pies and Tigers, percentage could be the key there. Geelong have to fly to Perth and will play the Swans at home, i reckon they will lose both of those. The Dockers would have to do something extraordinarily stupid to lose to anyone before the season ends.
I'll take a guess and say it will be
Hawks
Fremantle
Swans
Cats
But i reckon the Tigers will get through to the preliminary, it depends on who gets Geelong in week two as they are the weak link in this group. Both Richmond and Collingwood have a chance of getting through to the Preliminary. I don't think Essendon have a chance, they are feeling the pinch now.

 

[go_the_dockers]

Key Matches
Round 20
Sydney vs Collingwood
Round 21
Hawks vs Collingwood
Round 22
Geelong vs Sydney
Round 23
Sydney vs Hawks

For us to make the top 2, we need Geelong to loose one game and either Sydney or Hawks to drop 2.

If we finish Top 2 or somehow win the first week away then we are a good chance, otherwise I think the travel will wear us down.

When was the last time a team lost the first week of finals and won the grand final.

 

[bacon buster]

i would imagine Freo would need to beat a team in the top 6 to win the flag.
so far, they luckily escaped with a narrow victory over Richmond, who subsequently whipped them in the return match

 

[Timmy from Thomastown]

If that happens I eagerly await the meltdown from Hawks fans.

They will quite happily play at either the G or Etihad.

 

[clogged]

They will quite happily play at either the G or Etihad.

I dunno, they're still bitching about Sydney having an extra day over them last year.

 

[Timmy from Thomastown]

I dunno, they're still bitching about Sydney having an extra day over them last year.

No they're not.

 

[clogged]

Ha, OK Timmy.

 

[Timmy from Thomastown]

Apologies for discussing possible finals venues and assuming you werent going to start trolling Hawthorn supporters for no particular reason. I over estimated you.

 

[Proud SJW]

Melbourne and Stkilda twice -a bit diferrent to Hawthorn and Sydney twice

Melbourne -the worst side since University

StKilda -unfortunately for them -would be lucky to win a game in their next 20-are totally devoid of winning a game of AFL football

If Freo had Hawthorn and Swans to come in their next 4 -it would be a totally different scenario

But with the draw -cant miss the top 4 -huge chance of top 2 -thats why all supporters are giving them a massive chance

We also had to play WCE and Adelaide twice. No one, at the start of the season, would have had either one missing finals (well, maybe Adelaide for the more pessimistic). Eagles were rated a top-four contender. And of course we play the WCE twice... sheesh. It's the derby.

You can't sit back at the end of the year and talk about a "planned soft draw", ya twonk. If you'd said that at the start of the season, I might have had some more respect for the comment.
But now, at the end of the season, with your 20-20 hindsight vision that the AFL just didn't seem to have for some reason, you're just being ridiculous.

The reason we haven't got Hawthorn and the Swans to come is because we we already played them - in Tassie and in Sydney respectively. If we had to play them twice, we'd be playing them in Perth (for a change) which would amount to a slightly different ball game. We drew with the Swans in Sydney, btw.
Any team from WA or SA is automatically disadvantaged due to the travel every season. It makes the West Coast period of dominance even more admirable, really. Adelaide, to a slightly lesser extent.

And it doesn't seem to occur to you that with Hawthorn, Geelong and Sydney not playing Freo twice in a year, it means they don't have the added trip to Perth.
Some might say that that particular aspect of the draw is not designed to protect Freo at all... but rather the more lucrative sides playing closer to home.Fremantle drew two of the arguably best teams in the competition about as far away from Perth as you can get with getting wet or starting to pronuonce sex as "six", and we drew with one of them.
Perhaps the AFL just don't want to expose them to potential losses in Perth? See how that game can be played?

It's all about the perspective, really.

 

[Timmy from Thomastown]

When was the last time a team lost the first week of finals and won the grand final.

Not sure it was the last time but Collingwood beat Brisbane in the QF of 2003

 

[Two Eyes]

When was the last time a team lost the first week of finals and won the grand final.

Sydney 2005
West Coast 2006

 

[clogged]

Apologies for discussing possible finals venues and assuming you werent going to start trolling Hawthorn supporters for no particular reason. I over estimated you.

I wasn't trolling them. Generally the case that football fans whinge about anything. Leigh Matthews is still whinging about the 2004 preliminary final, for instance. West Coast fans still complain about the the MCG deal in the 90s. Reasonably self evident, you were just denying the truth.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Big chance of losing a GF.

 

[Brown Bottle]

Yep. Getting better each week with key players still to come back. Not a bad place to be at this time of the season

 

[Purple Suit]

Realistically, no. They are a very well drilled team (Ro$$ Lying tends to do that), but I think the lack of experience playing in big finals will tell, as it did with St Kilda in 2008 when we were in a strikingly similar position.
This year is not their year. Maybe, in fact probably, next year if they can maintain the rage. I just think talk of a flag is a tad too premature at this stage.

We have played in 4 finals including beat both the Hawks and Geelong in the past three seasons so we have some experience.

People were saying the same thing about Sydney last year before they won the flag. Here's an interesting stat, in 2011 they beat the grand finalist from the previous year in an away win in a QF. Freo did that in 2012 as well.

 

[Riccardo11]

We have played in 4 finals including beat both the Hawks and Geelong in the past three seasons so we have some experience.

People were saying the same thing about Sydney last year before they won the flag. Here's an interesting stat, in 2011 they beat the grand finalist from the previous year in an away win in a QF. Freo did that in 2012 as well.

Upsetting Geelong in an Elim is vastly different to playing a home Qual or Prelim with the weight of expectation on your shoulders. The stat about Sydney is interesting, but they still have a core of players who have played in Grand Finals. Does Freo?

I rate Fremantle, but I stand by my assertion that experience in big finals you are actually expected to win is entirely different than scraping into 8th and causing a few shocks.

 

[Purple Suit]

Upsetting Geelong in an Elim is vastly different to playing a home Qual or Prelim with the weight of expectation on your shoulders. The stat about Sydney is interesting, but they still have a core of players who have played in Grand Finals. Does Freo?

I rate Fremantle, but I stand by my assertion that experience in big finals you are actually expected to win is entirely different than scraping into 8th and causing a few shocks.

We have the same "core" of players who played in an away prelim in 2006 as Sydney's GF's. Sure, we only have two players with GF experience but it is similar to the hawks in 2008 or the pies in 2010. While experience is important, I think we have enough in our squad for it to not be an issue. Doesn't mean we will win it, I just think it isn't the main factor in determining our tilt this year.

 

[Goggin Our Best]

Top 2 is not out of the question either as the Swans play Collingwood, Geelong and Hawthorn, they could lose two of those giving Freo that chance of top 2, (percentage counts only between these two clubs, the Swans are way out in front there) The Dockers should finish on 70pts and the Swans might end up the same or more likely 66pts?
Of course the Swans are in pretty good form and might very well beat all 3 in tough games, they might have too to keep 2nd spot. Geelong are lucky that 3 of their last 4 games are at home, i think the Cats will still lose another 2 games and finish on 64pts leaving them vulnerable to the Pies and Tigers, percentage could be the key there. Geelong have to fly to Perth and will play the Swans at home, i reckon they will lose both of those. The Dockers would have to do something extraordinarily stupid to lose to anyone before the season ends.
I'll take a guess and say it will be
Hawks
Fremantle
Swans
Cats
But i reckon the Tigers will get through to the preliminary, it depends on who gets Geelong in week two as they are the weak link in this group. Both Richmond and Collingwood have a chance of getting through to the Preliminary. I don't think Essendon have a chance, they are feeling the pinch now.

Hey Jack -id love to be in the armed forces with you -off to war -in the trenches -1st sign of trouble you would bolt !

Your the biggest panic merchant going around -hey LUCKY we havent got the Demons in the last 4 weeks-because youd label it a danger game