The run home and the finals format

[Mingo]

Western Bulldogs vs Richmond (Richmond) - Will be at the G Dogs will be overwhelmed by 60000 Tigers supporters desperate for a finals win

Yeah nah I don't buy that, smashed Collingwood in an Elimination Final when we finished 8th in front of 85,000. We can do it and we'll show up. Sorry

 

[gangsta deluxe]

The mis-spelling of "you're" was on purpose mate

You have some kind of issue with us. Your diatribe after we beat you - effectively claiming that we are the worst team and list in the AFL by a fair margin - followed by consistent trips to our board to tell us how lucky we have been after each win, and assuring us we will drop off demonstrate one thing.

You are a tool with a vendetta against us for no clear reason and nobody should take your shit seriously. Glad we have continually shown you to be incorrect and a complete dickhead.

With that stated, given our draw the likely outcome is us finishing 5th. Sydney should win all their remaining games and we will likely lose one or two. I really hope GWS get in to 8th or 7th and we draw them as that will justify our playing at Etihad.

 

[immortalmike]

The mis-spelling of "you're" was on purpose mate

Sure it was.

 

[Norm De Guerre]

The mis-spelling of "you're" was on purpose mate

Sure it was. And don't call me mate, ok buddy!

 

[ReaperX]

You have some kind of issue with us. Your diatribe after we beat you - effectively claiming that we are the worst team and list in the AFL by a fair margin - followed by consistent trips to our board to tell us how lucky we have been after each win, and assuring us we will drop off demonstrate one thing.

You are a tool with a vendetta against us for no clear reason and nobody should take your shit seriously. Glad we have continually shown you to be incorrect and a complete dickhead.

With that stated, given our draw the likely outcome is us finishing 5th. Sydney should win all their remaining games and we will likely lose one or two. I really hope GWS get in to 8th or 7th and we draw them as that will justify our playing at Etihad.

The truth is, I actually don't have a vendetta against the Bulldogs, I just (incorrectly) thought they were a Bottom 4 team at the start of the year, like many people on here thought. And because I thought they were a poor team at the start of the year, when you beat us in Round 2, I cracked the shits and said some dumb stuff about them (wouldn't you have done the same thing if you lost to a team who many predicted were going to be Bottom 4 quality, and your team was expected to be Top 6?).

But I did the right thing, I came onto your board like 2 or 3 weeks later, and created a thread giving a sincere apology, praised your team's performance, and tried to make peace with you guys and congratulate you on your progress.

However, you guys have been antagonizing ever since, and continually take all of my points out of context. For example, the last time I was on your board (after the Essendon win), I pointed out that as good as your recent form has been in the past 9 or 10 weeks, the highest placed team you had played during that time was like 8th (and that you lost that game), and that ladder positions don't always tell the whole truth when it comes to accessing where the club is at, even this late in the year.

I also said that you don't deserve to be as highly placed as you are, and I stand by that. Dogs are definitely Top 8 standard, but Top 4? Any team in that 6th-9th category can become "Top 4" if they only have to play teams 11th and below every week for nearly 10 bloody weeks. But again, you guys missed the point, and just called me an idiot instead.

I have a good mate who's a Doggies fan, and he's got his head on straight. He knows the club has massively over-achieved to be where it is this season, and that 2016 is going to be a much tougher proposition due to a much tougher draw that won't have you playing cellar dwellers all the time.

See West Coast 2012-14 after 2011 PF, Adelaide 2013-14 after 2012 PF, and Port Adelaide 2015 after 2013-14 SF and PF, for your recent examples of teams having breakout seasons after being lowly, only to fall back to being lowly again.

You guys are just masters at missing the point.

 

[ReaperX]

Sure it was. And don't call me mate, ok buddy!

No worries, won't call you "mate" again, champ!

 

[samFFC]

On current form I'd pick Eagles v Bulldogs to be the game of most significance. Win for WC shores up their top 4 spot and probably guarantees WB don't get in.

Clearly the matches with NM etc matter to finals makeup, but I think top 4 determines premiership potential so that's the key.

 

[Kcrack]

Do you remember what happened in Rd 8, or was it that traumatic you have wiped it from memory.

Apparently Geelong didn't get the memo that Sydney smashed them earlier in the year and they were supposed to lose again last weekend. Funny thing this game of footy, eh?

 

[Mingo]

Why can't we all be friends

 

[Bazzar]

On current form I'd pick Eagles v Bulldogs to be the game of most significance. Win for WC shores up their top 4 spot and probably guarantees WB don't get in.

Dogs are in good form, but playing ordinary teams at Etihad make it hard to guage their exact form. I'm still not sold (for this year)

 

[fargy]

The truth is, I actually don't have a vendetta against the Bulldogs, I just (incorrectly) thought they were a Bottom 4 team at the start of the year, like many people on here thought. And because I thought they were a poor team at the start of the year, when you beat us in Round 2, I cracked the shits and said some dumb stuff about them (wouldn't you have done the same thing if you lost to a team who many predicted were going to be Bottom 4 quality, and your team was expected to be Top 6?).

But I did the right thing, I came onto your board like 2 or 3 weeks later, and created a thread giving a sincere apology, praised your team's performance, and tried to make peace with you guys and congratulate you on your progress.

However, you guys have been antagonizing ever since, and continually take all of my points out of context. For example, the last time I was on your board (after the Essendon win), I pointed out that as good as your recent form has been in the past 9 or 10 weeks, the highest placed team you had played during that time was like 8th (and that you lost that game), and that ladder positions don't always tell the whole truth when it comes to accessing where the club is at, even this late in the year.

I also said that you don't deserve to be as highly placed as you are, and I stand by that. Dogs are definitely Top 8 standard, but Top 4? Any team in that 6th-9th category can become "Top 4" if they only have to play teams 11th and below every week for nearly 10 bloody weeks. But again, you guys missed the point, and just called me an idiot instead.

I have a good mate who's a Doggies fan, and he's got his head on straight. He knows the club has massively over-achieved to be where it is this season, and that 2016 is going to be a much tougher proposition due to a much tougher draw that won't have you playing cellar dwellers all the time.

See West Coast 2012-14 after 2011 PF, Adelaide 2013-14 after 2012 PF, and Port Adelaide 2015 after 2013-14 SF and PF, for your recent examples of teams having breakout seasons after being lowly, only to fall back to being lowly again.

You guys are just masters at missing the point.

Actually you said our side was worse than Melbourne at their worst. Then came on our board and said that we don't deserve to be mentioned with the big top 5, which you included Richmond in. So you've gone from saying the Tigers are bottom four after losing to us, and then later in the year told us we haven't beaten anyone yet, but said that Richmond are up there with the top teams, and we beat you. You clearly try to deliberately be antagonistic, then play the victim. Tomorrow you'll probably come on our board and tell us why Brisbane have had a better season than us you chop and change your mind at every chance. I find it hilarious you think you know more about a team than its supporters, yet you've admitted to being wrong (and woah how wrong, saying we worse than the worst Melbourne side of the last few years). Maybe, just maybe, I'm just gonna throw it out there, you have no idea about the Dogs at all. And from what I've read you change your mind about your own team quite often as well.

 

[ReaperX]

I'll say this to finish my little rant; if the Bulldogs manage to finish in the Top 4 by the end of Round 23, they may actually deserve it by then, because in order to do so, they're going to have to beat the Eagles in Perth, and the Kangaroos, two genuinely good teams. But I honestly doubt the Dogs will give a yelp in either of those matches, no pun intended.

Kangaroos have had a similar easy run to the Dogs late this year, but they won 2 finals last year, and have credits in the bank as far as I'm concerned. They are probably the best team outside of the established Top 4 of Hawthorn, Fremantle, West Coast, and Sydney.

 

[ReaperX]

Actually you said our side was worse than Melbourne at their worst.

I did say this. It was a silly thing to say, and was said out of frustration. That comment was what I apologised for when I came on your board 2 weeks later. Continually bringing up a comment made in the heat of anger is stupid, just let it go already. It was a bad call made at a moment of supreme disappointment.

Then came on our board and said that we don't deserve to be mentioned with the big top 5, which you included Richmond in.

I included Richmond in that because we had just played back to back matches against Hawthorn (3rd) and Fremantle (1st), won 1 of them, and lost the other one by 4 points after basically leading all day. I made this point because, as I said in my previous response, you guys overtook us on percentage despite our win over Hawthorn because you were served up yet another easy kill in Essendon, after weeks upon weeks of easy kills.

I do not think you deserved to be above us at that very moment, especially because it only occurred due to Essendon laying down like a pack of sick vermin and just copping their belting without so much as a whimper.

So you've gone from saying the Tigers are bottom four after losing to us

I did say that, because at the time, we had just played two Bottom 6 teams from 2014 and split the results, and played poorly in both of them. My words were actually that if that form was to continue, we may be a Bottom 4 team ourselves. At the time of saying this, our form was a legitimate concern. But again, it was a very early call that was made in frustration, no teams should be labelled after Round 2, whether they're 2-0, 1-1, or 0-2.

and then later in the year told us we haven't beaten anyone yet, but said that Richmond are up there with the top teams, and we beat you.

Again, you missed the point. Yes, you beat Eagles. Yes, you beat Tigers. You did this in Round 1, and Round 2 respectively, when both teams hadn't gotten themselves into the season yet. Surely you can understand the concept that early season victories don't count for as much as victories (or defeats) in later rounds of the year.

Your victory over Sydney was fantastic, and was the catalyst for making me re-assess my opinion of you guys, because by then we're over a month into the season and teams form lines start becoming a little bit more genuine (only a little bit). But even that isn't entirely accurate, i.e Collingwood were 8-3 after 11 rounds and touted as a Top 4 contender, and then they played a bunch of Top 4 and finals contenders. Now they're 9-9 and only a very small chance of even making the finals.

I wonder, if you guys had Collingwood's draw in that period, rather than the 14th-18th draw that you actually had, would you be possibly where Collingwood is right now perhaps?

Hell, even Essendon managed to beat Hawthorn in Round 2, ffs.

You clearly try to deliberately be antagonistic, then play the victim. Tomorrow you'll probably tell us why Brisbane have had a better season than us you chop and change your mind at every chance.

Why would I say that? If I said Brisbane had a better season than anybody, I'd be crazy.

I do change opinions on things from time to time. My opinion of the Dogs prior to the start of the year, and up until about Round 4 or 5, was that they wouldn't make the Top 8, and were getting some lucky wins early in the year.

After seeing them beat Sydney, it became clear that there was a bit more to it, so my opinion changed with the evidence, and I started believing they were a finals contender.

They've beaten all the lowly teams they needed to beat in order to be a finalist in 2015, over the past 9-10 weeks, but nothing about that run of form suggests to me that they deserve to start being considered a Top 4 or 5 team yet. After this weekend's match against the Demons, your run of games in the past 10 weeks will literally have been every team 11th or below, and also Geelong.

If the Dogs come out and beat Eagles in Perth, or even if that is a competitive loss, and then they beat the Kangaroos, I'll have to re-consider. But until then, I do not rate the Dogs as a better team than 6th or 7th in the league, despite what the ladder says.

I don't understand why what I am saying doesn't make sense to you. Oh wait, it's because tl;dr and I'm an idiot, right?

 

[Giant Pete]

Sorry to interrupt...... If (and it's a big if) we were to beat port this week, it will make things even more interesting.

 

[ReaperX]

Dogs are in good form, but playing ordinary teams at Etihad make it hard to guage their exact form. I'm still not sold (for this year)

This.

 

[Substance]

Can we all just take a moment and reflect on the fact that Roby might be right about the dogs finishing top 4.

 

[Purple Man]

Apparently Geelong didn't get the memo that Sydney smashed them earlier in the year and they were supposed to lose again last weekend. Funny thing this game of footy, eh?

I've heard a lot of opposition supporters talk up their chances of beating us this season, and how we are the worst top of the ladder/16-2 team ever, and what a soft run we've had. But we are 16-2, and we are top of the ladder,and any opposition team underestimates us at their peril.

 

[gangsta deluxe]

This.

You demonstrably have a vendetta, you complete and utter tossbag.

If you think that using anecdotal throwaways about how the start of the season is meaningless(I.e. Essendon and Hawthorn), identifying that we've only beaten the majority of the lower placed teams we happened to play in the last ten rounds (yep this clearly counts against us), and saying how things could have been different if they were actually different right now (I.e. If we'd had Collingwoods draw) support any meaningful point about our team then ok, you're a godamn moron.

You think that people that should take your viewpoint seriously... Here's a viewpoint that is based on the evidence - you've got no ****ing clue moron.

 

[Wild Bill]

I've heard a lot of opposition supporters talk up their chances of beating us this season, and how we are the worst top of the ladder/16-2 team ever, and what a soft run we've had. But we are 16-2, and we are top of the ladder,and any opposition team underestimates us at their peril.

I think our chances increase if you win this week. If you go 3 games clear on top I not sure you will bring your strongest side over to melb. Lyon has history of resting his players when they can't move ladder positions leading into finals. The betting is close.

 

[I Lost My Keays]

1. Dockers
2. Eagles
3. Hawks
4. Swans
5. Dogs
6. Tigers
7. Crows
8. Cats

 

[Kangaroos4eva]

Do you remember what happened in Rd 8, or was it that traumatic you have wiped it from memory.

1998 didn't happen either.

 

[Purple Man]

I think our chances increase if you win this week. If you go 3 games clear on top I not sure you will bring your strongest side over to melb. Lyon has history of resting his players when they can't move ladder positions leading into finals. The betting is close.

I get what your saying and could agree if we were playing you Rd23 instead of Port Adelaide, but I don't see them resting players against another top 8 team, when we just seem to be playing into some better form heading into finals.

 

[Wild Bill]

I get what your saying and could agree if we were playing you Rd23 instead of Port Adelaide, but I don't see them resting players against another top 8 team, when we just seem to be playing into some better form heading into finals.

Selection will be interesting. Last game in Melb so I hope you rest some players. We also have a lot to play for next week. It's why the bookies are being conservative with the betting.

 

[Dogs_r_barking]

This.[/QUOTE

I love your comment that playing top 8 sides at the beginning of the season is easy, as they haven't hit their straps yet.

What makes you so sure that the Bulldogs had hit their straps at the beginning of the season? Aask any Bulldog supporter and they will tell you we are well and truly hitting our straps now!

Just to refresh your memory, the Bulldogs have beaten Adelaide, West Coast, Sydney, Richmond, GWS, Port Adelaide and Collingwood, teams who were all in the 8 or expected to make the 8 in Ports case. We lost to Freo by 4 points, and Geelong by 8. Hawthorn smashed us, early in the season the result probably worse due to losing two players to injuries in the first quarter.

 

[AFDogs]

I'll just be happy if we make the finals.