Pies top 4 chances in 09'

[rotten pie]

The pies should be up for a fourth finals appearance in 09', but just wondering what people think our top 4 chances are?

 

[PieLebo87]

Our top 4 chances are really good. This year will be more unpredictable because ontop of losing Buckley, Clement and Licuria, we've lost Burns and Wakelin, and theres no stability like the stability of consistent veteran performances.

People are really exciting about our kids, with names like Sidebottom, Beams, McCarthy, Dawes, Wellingham and Dick being thrown around, but it won't be these players that will have us in the top end of the top 8, although they can contribute.

It'll be the continued development and maturity of Josh Fraser, Ben Johnson, Leon Davis, Dane Swan, Nick Maxwell, Alan Didak and co.

Having players like Rocca and Rusling fit in the forward line will be invaluable to Cloke and Medhurst, plus it wil release Anthony to become more of a swingman.

Having Fraser a year older, with possibly the captaincy, assisted by a full season of Davis in the middle, the continued dominance of Swan, and return of Didak and Shaw helping out around the ground, and Wood, which will boost us to indirectly cover the loss of Burns.

Harry O'Brien needs to keep improving, and we know he will be, with his endeavour. Nick Maxwell has to maintain his intensity and a forgotten name is Tyson Goldsack, with his great one-percenters. Hopefully Simon Prestigiacomo can manage to have an impact, which will shore up our backline.

In short if these points occur;

• Didak and Shaw back and firing
• Fraser fit, with Wood capable of 2nd fiddle
• Rocca and/or Rusling assisting Cloke and Medhurst
• O'Bree maintaining his levels for one more season whilst Beams and Stanley develop into their roles
• Presti, Rambo and Harry O have good/great seasons
• Davis, Swan and Pendlebury challenge for the Copeland

...then we'll be top 4.

 

[CARN THE BLUES!]

Bottom of the top 8

 

[Dave The Man]

Bottom of the top 8

Still be higher then your lot

 

[Sunny Days Ahead]

cloke is the key. if he presents well and kicks straight we should be sweet.

 

[Snag Breac]

Our top 4 chances are really good. This year will be more unpredictable because ontop of losing Buckley, Clement and Licuria, we've lost Burns and Wakelin, and theres no stability like the stability of consistent veteran performances.


Harry O'Brien needs to keep improving, and we know he will be, with his endeavour. Nick Maxwell has to maintain his intensity and a forgotten name is Tyson Goldsack, with his great one-percenters. Hopefully Simon Prestigiacomo can manage to have an impact, which will shore up our backline.

Agree with this PieLebo, and glad to see Tyson get due credit. I think he's a much undervalued asset.

 

[smiddaz123]

Bottom of the top 8

Correct

 

[alfiiee]

I was thinking about everything that went bad for us this season and still being able to make it to the semi's..


First we had Buckley and Clement leave us..

Then in the first round our plans of having three tall forwards crumbled as Rusling had a season ending injury.

Half - way through we had Big Anth also having a season ending injury.

Presti Did not play all season due to injury

Our third tall forward option Ben Reid had a season ending injury after playing just 3 games

We played a final series and the end of the h&a season without our best midfielder and best defender in Shaw and Dids

We played a final series without our Captain and much needed hardness in the middle with Burns' calf injury

all these along with little things like Trav's suspension and davis and a few others having niggling injuries that were preventing them to play at their best all were all significant to the teams success.

If we can have a bit more luck next season, I can only see us improving on last season, i'd say things are looking pretty good!

 

[Snag Breac]

I was thinking about everything that went bad for us this season and still being able to make it to the semi's..


First we had Buckley and Clement leave us..

Then in the first round our plans of having three tall forwards crumbled as Rusling had a season ending injury.

Half - way through we had Big Anth also having a season ending injury.

Presti Did not play all season due to injury

Our third tall forward option Ben Reid had a season ending injury after playing just 3 games

We played a final series and the end of the h&a season without our best midfielder and best defender in Shaw and Dids

We played a final series without our Captain and much needed hardness in the middle with Burns' calf injury

all these along with little things like Trav's suspension and davis and a few others having niggling injuries that were preventing them to play at their best all were all significant to the teams success.

If we can have a bit more luck next season, I can only see us improving on last season, i'd say things are looking pretty good!

When you put it that way, we did very well. Hopefully the footy gods will be on our side in 2009.

 

[Lockyer24]

2-3 extra wins will get us there. Considering how average we were in patches this year, yet brilliant in others, I think we can improve to get up there. Its gunna be an interesting year though as plenty of teams will be on the up and there should be less easy beat games.

 

[Optimax]

When you put it that way, we did very well. Hopefully the footy gods will be on our side in 2009.

The year DTM brought up 04 was similar in terms of injuries and retirements and well dredfulness that year we finished 14th this year 6th

2-3 extra wins will get us there. Considering how average we were in patches this year, yet brilliant in others, I think we can improve to get up there. Its gunna be an interesting year though as plenty of teams will be on the up and there should be less easy beat games.

1 would of got us top 4 this year, we beat freo/carlton/north/essendon we finished fourth

 

[beez]

2-3 extra wins will get us there. Considering how average we were in patches this year, yet brilliant in others, I think we can improve to get up there. Its gunna be an interesting year though as plenty of teams will be on the up and there should be less easy beat games.

Isn't that a good thing. Ya know, with all those games we're supposed to win but don't

 

[magpies42]

im not so sure, alot will depend on whether the midfield are ready to pick up the slack left due to retirements...

collingwood with burns last year was top awesome
without burns on the other hand very ordinary

 

[hellfire]

Still be higher then your lot

Disagree.

Carlton will push for top 4, I think we'll have a down year. Miss finals in 09, top 4 in 2010, flag in 2011.

 

[Optimax]

Disagree.

Carlton will push for top 4, I think we'll have a down year. Miss finals in 09, top 4 in 2010, flag in 2011.

If we finish out of the finals and carlton finish top four, the club will go into melt down mass sackings and delistings.

We wont be near anything for years to come

 

[Pie eyed]

I think everything on 09 hinges on the likes of Daisy, Pendles, Harry and dare I say Brian and how much confidence they can instill in the even younger players.

 

[heavyhitters Inc]

People are really exciting about our kids, with names like Sidebottom, Beams, McCarthy, Dawes, Wellingham and Dick being thrown around, but it won't be these players that will have us in the top end of the top 8, although they can contribute.

It'll be the continued development and maturity of Josh Fraser, Ben Johnson, Leon Davis, Dane Swan, Nick Maxwell, Alan Didak and co.

Having players like Rocca and Rusling fit in the forward line will be invaluable to Cloke and Medhurst, plus it wil release Anthony to become more of a swingman.

Having Fraser a year older, with possibly the captaincy, assisted by a full season of Davis in the middle, the continued dominance of Swan, and return of Didak and Shaw helping out around the ground, and Wood, which will boost us to indirectly cover the loss of Burns.

Harry O'Brien needs to keep improving, and we know he will be, with his endeavour. Nick Maxwell has to maintain his intensity and a forgotten name is Tyson Goldsack, with his great one-percenters. Hopefully Simon Prestigiacomo can manage to have an impact, which will shore up our backline.

I think you have made a number of valid points there PieLebo but I do have one major difference of opinion. Leon Davis, Dane Swan, Nick Maxwell Alan Didak and co are at or near the peak of their powers and their scope for improvement is nowhere near that of the younger brigade. If we are to improve to the point of top four and dare I say it, a flag, the improvement must come from the younger players.

As we all know, the midfield is our biggest area of concern and it's crucial Swan, Didak, Pendles, O'Bree, Neon and son on get some help. For this to happen I see two options, number 1: The young onballers come to the party. Wellingham, McCarthy, Cook and perhaps the ace in the pack (or maybe just the joker) Danney Stanley need to step it up and begin to stamp their influence on matches. Also if a Beams or a Sidebottom can come from nowhere, ala Joel Selwood, then this would also provide a massive release on the midfield pressure valve.

Option number 2: Reshuffle the deck and give Heath Shaw a chance in the middle along with Marty Clarke and perhaps even Nick Maxwell in the role he carried late last season as tagger. Again this will require the younger boys to step up and into their roles. Cox for Maxwell, Barham for Clarke, and maybe John McCarthy for Shaw. Other options include Dale Thomas and Medhurst spending more time in the middle with Macaffer and any number of players taking on an attacking role.

At the end of the day it will probably be a combo of both options but I think if one of the young draftees can really stand up in the middle, our problems will be halfway to solved. Big IF though.

I agree totally on Josh Fraser and personally think he's on the verge of his best season to date. Wood's improvement though is going to be vital and I've got my fingers crossed. Rocca and Rusling also agreed. A forward line with Rocca, Rusling, Dawes, Cloke and Anthony might be a bit top heavy but geez there's some talent there. Just on Anthony, he may swing back but anyone that kicks 25 deadly accurate goals in their first 12 games is going to play their next 12 games in the forward line.

The backline is going to rely on Rambo and either L Brown, Presti or hopefully Reid. Big Rambo and Reidy are the future in my eyes and if they can step up, the future is now.

 

[the mighty T]

we should be more than a chance for top 4 in 09
the one thing we lack is consistency in our form...we've shown how good we can be through this year and we'll only get better
also, fact is we beat the saints on 2 occasions this year and i have no doubt we are a better side than them
had it not been for rocca and reid going down during the game against the dogs i believe we wouldve gotten up against them as well
to be honest i believe the pies are a better side than either of those two

no doubt that next year will be a tough one for us, with a young developing midfield...but with our backline coming along slowly and a forwardline with devastating potential, i recon we are in with a fair shake at a top 4 spot

GO PIES!

 

[M-Train]

We will make the top 4 if we don't drop games against sides we are expected to beat ala Carlton, Essendon and North Melbourne.

Our top 4 chances depend on the improvement in Thomas, Didak, Pendlebury, H Shaw and T Cloke. This may sound optimistic, but all have potential to be All Australians in 2009.

 

[thatday]

We were a single win off it this year.......We lost to Carlton twice, Essendon once, Fremantle once and North Melbourne twice. All games that we should have won. Not to mention the loss to the Bulldogs which was largly due to injuries to our side or the loss to the Lions which had a large amount to do with umpires. We win any one of those and we were top 4. We will go pretty close again in '09 I hope if all things go right for us. Which they never do so I am expecting the bottom half of the 8, sadly.

 

[Nesian]

I thinks its really about building consistency, 08 we were kinda all over the place, mainly because the side was always unsettled (injuries, suspensions, form slumps) it was only towards the end when we our team was a bit more settled than it had been for most of the year was when we started producing some consistent performances.

We all know that on our day we can beat anyone anywhere, its just we need to make those days a more common occurrence. It would be nice to beat the sides that we should as well as upsetting the sides that we shouldn't beat.

Looking at the list we have a number of players reaching maturity/peak level, a number of players who now have a good 2 or 3 seasons in them who are just fantastic and have a lot more growing to do which is slightly scary, and we have continued injection of youth, which means that continued enthusiasm. Now provided the players that need to stand up do (midfield/ruck), and provided our consistent performers continue to perform (we know who they are) and we have a few gems in the youth (2008 draftees) then we can really build some consistency. The great thing about Collingwood is that no one ever rates us, yet we continue to surprise, even ourselves at times i think. I think top 4 is definitely possible if we get ourselves on a roll instead of stop start. I especially think that since our pre-season has been more organised, its definitely going to give the players that ability to achieve the consistency.

 

[daics cousin]

If we have relatively injury free year to kp players will easily make top 4.

I strongly believe we may have covered our weaknesess,with the add on players we have aquired.

It makes me laugh that carlton think they are top four.Great midfield, one key forward,with some add on hacks,and a leaky backline that you can blow holes through it.Ha Ha ! yeah they are a great chance of making top 4 .Ha Ha Ha ! They made a big mistake in not picking up Trengrove when they had the chance,instead they went for eddie betts brother chris yarran,who may be good but certainly not the answer to help fev.

 

[GameOver]

Continued improvement from Pendlebury, Davis, O'Brien, Brown, Anthony are all keys.

As are, fit Fraser, Rocca, Presti.

Chances are good for a top 4 spot but until we get closer to the season I'm not going to get too over excited.

 

[Spagger83]

Our top 4 chances are really good. This year will be more unpredictable because ontop of losing Buckley, Clement and Licuria, we've lost Burns and Wakelin, and theres no stability like the stability of consistent veteran performances.

People are really exciting about our kids, with names like Sidebottom, Beams, McCarthy, Dawes, Wellingham and Dick being thrown around, but it won't be these players that will have us in the top end of the top 8, although they can contribute.

It'll be the continued development and maturity of Josh Fraser, Ben Johnson, Leon Davis, Dane Swan, Nick Maxwell, Alan Didak and co.

Having players like Rocca and Rusling fit in the forward line will be invaluable to Cloke and Medhurst, plus it wil release Anthony to become more of a swingman.

Having Fraser a year older, with possibly the captaincy, assisted by a full season of Davis in the middle, the continued dominance of Swan, and return of Didak and Shaw helping out around the ground, and Wood, which will boost us to indirectly cover the loss of Burns.

Harry O'Brien needs to keep improving, and we know he will be, with his endeavour. Nick Maxwell has to maintain his intensity and a forgotten name is Tyson Goldsack, with his great one-percenters. Hopefully Simon Prestigiacomo can manage to have an impact, which will shore up our backline.


In short if these points occur;

• Didak and Shaw back and firing
• Fraser fit, with Wood capable of 2nd fiddle
• Rocca and/or Rusling assisting Cloke and Medhurst
• O'Bree maintaining his levels for one more season whilst Beams and Stanley develop into their roles
• Presti, Rambo and Harry O have good/great seasons
• Davis, Swan and Pendlebury challenge for the Copeland

...then we'll be top 4.

carlton supporters settle down it's brad dick, not actual penis that's getting thrown around!

 

[shawthing09]

I think we are a realistic chance to finish top four but not much seperates a large amounts of teams.

What will decide our season in terms of top 4 is

Stanley, Sidebottom, Cook - In that order of importance one of those have to manage to fill the gurnt and bull work around stoppages. Burns depature will really hurt us. Cook isn't good enough IMO. Sidebottom isn't physically ready so a lot rests on Stanley. I also expect natural improvement from Swan who is likely to lift in this role and Pendles.

Wood - We need some consistancy in the ruck. We need some more quality in the ruck. We need Wood to be fit and physical.

Rocca and Presti - Our Kp stocks lack experince and IMO aren't AFL standard / ready this year. This means there will be a lot relying on these two being fit. I know we managed this year but in big games we really need a big strong get out of jail foward and a decent lead up option and Cloke as good as he is can't manage to be both of these players ( Riewoldt for the Saints has the same problem.) Dawes is not AFL ready, Reid is not AFL ready as a defender. Both Anthony and Rusling play more of a third tall role then true KP.

Cloke Pendles and O'Brien- These three have been the most AFL ready and important of the young brigade. The are the new leaders in their affective area of the park. They have been steadily building and hopefully all can step up and continue to produce good things.