The Ultimate Test!!!

[mattys123]

I see this weekend as just that, THE ULTIMATE TEST.

StKilda, Etihad, Round 3, Friday Night audience, and against a StKilda side really only missing one player (Kosi).

This is our chance to see how good our boys really are, there will be no complacency, excuses or reasons for poor performances this week.

To beat StKilda at Etihad would truly set us up as a "real" premiership contender, in fact, I don't think we even need to win.

Why do I say that, because after Friday night, StKilda will not see us at Etihad again, we are a better MCG side (easily) and they are a better Etihad team (easily), so if we can put up a fight this week, and either win or push them to the wire, we will have gained more out of this week then either of the first 2 wins.

It's testing time, time to find out how good we are, hopefully with Presti back.

Expect a huge performance by us, we will be embarrassed about Saturday's performance, and will come out hungry.

I think we are up to it, does anyone else?

 

[Zahki]

I have to say after watching this weeks game I have serious doubts. If they play like they did against the bullies then sure, yeah we're in with a chance, if they play like they did against Melbourne we are going to get smashed. I'm predicting a loss myself, St Kilda look just way too good at the moment and we still have serious problems that need to be fixed *cough kpf cough*

 

[Optimax]

Last week i had a sick feeling we would struggle against melbourne, i even mentioned to my old man saturday morning i had a nightmare melbourne beat us with a kick at goal after the siren(i stopped breathing the last 10 seconds)

This week i think we'll put up a massive show, im not saying we wil win but we will go close, definetly a chance friday night

 

[soreplums]

think they are missing fisher too. As long as Ball has a blinder I'll be happy.

 

[TradeDraft]

StKilda, Etihad, Round 3, Friday Night audience, and against a StKilda side really only missing one player (Kosi).

They are also missing Sam Fisher

This is our chance to see how good our boys really are, there will be no complacency, excuses or reasons for poor performances this week.

To beat StKilda at Etihad would truly set us up as a "real" premiership contender, in fact, I don't think we even need to win.

Why do I say that, because after Friday night, StKilda will not see us at Etihad again, we are a better MCG side (easily) and they are a better Etihad team (easily), so if we can put up a fight this week, and either win or push them to the wire, we will have gained more out of this week then either of the first 2 wins.

It's testing time, time to find out how good we are, hopefully with Presti back.

Expect a huge performance by us, we will be embarrassed about Saturday's performance, and will come out hungry.

I think we are up to it, does anyone else?

I think we will be like the Dees this week as we would be put through the Ringer by the Media after stealing one against the Dees where people think we are at least 7 goals a better side. So I think we will be Pumped Up against the Saints and Desperate to Prove People Wrong.

Still think the Saints will beat us but I think we are a very good chance of winning

 

[dayna36]

I see this weekend as just that, THE ULTIMATE TEST.

StKilda, Etihad, Round 3, Friday Night audience, and against a StKilda side really only missing one player (Kosi).

This is our chance to see how good our boys really are, there will be no complacency, excuses or reasons for poor performances this week.

To beat StKilda at Etihad would truly set us up as a "real" premiership contender, in fact, I don't think we even need to win.

Why do I say that, because after Friday night, StKilda will not see us at Etihad again, we are a better MCG side (easily) and they are a better Etihad team (easily), so if we can put up a fight this week, and either win or push them to the wire, we will have gained more out of this week then either of the first 2 wins.

It's testing time, time to find out how good we are, hopefully with Presti back.

Expect a huge performance by us, we will be embarrassed about Saturday's performance, and will come out hungry.

I think we are up to it, does anyone else?

It depends which Collingwood turns up...and people I believe we have what it takes what we need is consistency, I know we've heard it all before, but our players are definitely getting older, hopefully better and more experienced year by year, but I think back to when the cats turned it on and would steam roll every team (except us lol) it appears a similar trend occured at the aints last year, they announced their intentions by smashing everyone (except when it counted lol) but I hate turning up every week and feeling nervous, never 100% confident, I believe it hasn't happened yet at collingwood simply because the players do not collectively truly believe - although in saying that I feel they are slowing making a move as we speak - maybe, this game against the dees might spark us...but surely, we would be gunning for round 3 since the end of first round of the nab cup , here's hoping....

but yes in answer to your qustion mattys123 I believe we are up to it, now its up to the players to believe....

 

[loki04]

Last week i had a sick feeling we would struggle against melbourne, i even mentioned to my old man saturday morning i had a nightmare melbourne beat us with a kick at goal after the siren(i stopped breathing the last 10 seconds)

This week i think we'll put up a massive show, im not saying we wil win but we will go close, definetly a chance friday night

Think we will be a LOT better vs the saints especially after the shallacking the players would of copped from the coaches.

But it is still concerning that we don't play footy on our terms vs shit sides.

 

[daneswan]

watching harry o on gameday richo pointed out that a week in footy is a long time. I feel like were bashing our side a bit to much, when at the end of the day we are 2-0 and looking okay.

I mean the saints could have easily lost against the swans who we seem to beat easily, and then they come out and thrash the roos, so in contrast from round 1 to 2 what a big difference i dont see there fans bashing them and vice versa with our 2 rounds. We beat the dogs and suddenly we can win the whole thing, we play poorly and its oh no whats wrong with l.ball, jolly.

Thankfully we found a way to win, which good sides do even when they dont play well and we find ourselfs in a good position against the saints to make a big statement. It is at the end of the day only round 2 so why dont we just wait till the half way point, on being so harsh on the likes of ball, jolly and how high up on the ladder we are?

I've got a good feeling about this week, lets just see what happens..

 

[Zahki]

Collingwood didn't 'find a way to win' the umpires gifted it to us.

 

[Optimax]

Collingwood didn't 'find a way to win' the umpires gifted it to us.

Without wanting to get involved in a shit fight, Melbourne got 4 goals direct from frees (soft frees) on the first half.

They also missed collingwood frees forward of center.

So it was hardly "gifted" to us as you suggest, Melbourne also ended with more frees fwiw

 

[didaka]

Obviously it would be fantastic to have a win, it always is, but I won't come away overly concerned if we don't get up, and I doubt St. Kilda supporters would also.

At the end of the day, it's round 3, teams haven't even really moved into a canter yet. We have Freo on 8 points, and Adelaide on 0. Fortunately we're sitting on 8 after 2, but yeah, we should get a hell of a lot better than where we'll be at in round 3 and so should St. Kilda with all the season long development we get these days.

There will be a lot of player come through our side and a lot of players develop into better footballers as the season goes on, so really, while it should be a belter and you always want to see a win, at the moment, it's just another game.

Sorry for getting all MM on everyones arse here.

 

[mattys123]

Collingwood didn't 'find a way to win' the umpires gifted it to us.

If you are referring as an example to the Brad Green tackle on Heath Shaw when we were one point up with 2.30 to go, then simply, you are wrong.

The ball was clearly, and I mean clearly as all ****ing hell, knocked out of Heath Shaw's arms by Brad Green's right hand coming around the back, and in fact it was a great decision to call play on.

The umpiring was bad both ways, Leon got a high tackle (clearly visible on any replay) with under 1.00 minute left on the clock, umpire didn't pay it, and Melbourne cleared and went forward.

Like Opti though, don't want to start a shit fight, Leon won the game, not the umpires.

 

[Zahki]

Fair enough but it seemed pretty clear to me which team was getting the rub of the green and it wasn't Melbourne. In fact it's something of a minor miricle how desperate I was to see us win that I could sit back and think how much of the umpiring went our way, neutrals seem to agree though I'm sure many on here will be all too eager to put it down to anti-collingwood bias.

 

[Snag Breac]

Spot on in the OP, Matty. This may be our Line-in-the-sand game.

And agree that we can have a real go. We would have beaten themin the pre-season but for the smelly super goals.

 

[Optimax]

Fair enough but it seemed pretty clear to me which team was getting the rub of the green and it wasn't Melbourne. In fact it's something of a minor miricle how desperate I was to see us win that I could sit back and think how much of the umpiring went our way, neutrals seem to agree though I'm sure many on here will be all too eager to put it down to anti-collingwood bias.

Umpires were terrible both ways.

Last few minutes they let the play continue (davis high tackel, heath htb) as they should.

Early in the game melbourne got more goals then us from frees, in one instance they got a free for a ruck infringment that no one else saw, then got a push free 30 meters out from goal that once again no one other then Mr Jefferys saw.

Demons cant and shouldnt blame the loss on the umpires and to say it was gifted to us is just a little bit of a shit stir

 

[mattys123]

No such thing as a neutral supporter when it comes to Collingwood games.

No one watching that game yesterday did so without an emotional "tie", and the same will happen this weekend.

When Collingwood plays, 70% of the audience is going for our opposition, and the other 30% are made up of Collingwood supporters and punters with money on the pies.

We pissed off 3/4 of Melbourne (the city, not the club), and a lot more of Australians by winning by a point.

Apparently even at the golden slipper, melbourne punters/trainers/jockeys asked for the channel to be changed on Foxtel so they could watch us lose. (inside source).

 

[Zahki]

Fair enough then, I've derailed this thread enough. I think we can agree we were very lucky to steal the win last week whatever you put it down to, and I'll be happy enough to be competitive with the Saints this week, with a win being an extra bonus.

 

[TradeDraft]

Without wanting to get involved in a shit fight, Melbourne got 4 goals direct from frees (soft frees) on the first half.

They also missed collingwood frees forward of center.

So it was hardly "gifted" to us as you suggest, Melbourne also ended with more frees fwiw

I actually thought the Umps where trying to get the Dee's Over the Line

 

[TradeDraft]

No such thing as a neutral supporter when it comes to Collingwood games.

No one watching that game yesterday did so without an emotional "tie", and the same will happen this weekend.

When Collingwood plays, 70% of the audience is going for our opposition, and the other 30% are made up of Collingwood supporters and punters with money on the pies.

We pissed off 3/4 of Melbourne (the city, not the club), and a lot more of Australians by winning by a point.

Apparently even at the golden slipper, melbourne punters/trainers/jockeys asked for the channel to be changed on Foxtel so they could watch us lose. (inside source).

Just The Way we Like It

 

[magpiewarrior]

watching harry o on gameday richo pointed out that a week in footy is a long time. I feel like were bashing our side a bit to much, when at the end of the day we are 2-0 and looking okay.

I mean the saints could have easily lost against the swans who we seem to beat easily, and then they come out and thrash the roos, so in contrast from round 1 to 2 what a big difference i dont see there fans bashing them and vice versa with our 2 rounds. We beat the dogs and suddenly we can win the whole thing, we play poorly and its oh no whats wrong with l.ball, jolly.

Thankfully we found a way to win, which good sides do even when they dont play well and we find ourselfs in a good position against the saints to make a big statement. It is at the end of the day only round 2 so why dont we just wait till the half way point, on being so harsh on the likes of ball, jolly and how high up on the ladder we are?

I've got a good feeling about this week, lets just see what happens..

Good call DSwan, we had a bad day, but we all know that we are a better side than that. That's the AFL today, sides appear to be so much more talented than others but the reality is that really the main difference is between the ears. One side is down (for example) 20% and the other side lifts their effort by 20% and suddenly all form is out the window.
Everyone in the football world has been saying " What's wrong with Melbourne over the last 3 years they have had great draft picks, but, they aren't getting any better." Well they have had great draft picks and they have picked up kids with real talent and when the more senior players lift and help the kids they should be capable of performing at a reasonable level. Yesterday they did that and we were down on our game so we didn't turn all their thoughts negative with a goal surge, instead we let them build their self-belief and we almost paid a big price. Fortunately we didn't really pay the price so we got the lesson cheap. I know the boys are better than we saw yesterday, so I say keep the faith. At least we didn't lose by 88 points like a certain team did a couple of years ago to what was a very average team also.

 

[The Magnificent Seven]

Sorry for getting all MM on everyones arse here.

Where is Collingwood sitting on your ladder? ;-)

 

[rose jam]

Watching the Bulldogs match they looked very flat for a lot of the game against Richmond. Don't let the margin fool you into how it looked they might have played, they had very low energy (yep, Richmond are that bad). Just wondering if the Pies v Dogs game was a taxing effort for round 1 it took the edge off both sides. Should be OK this week though.
This week is the big test to see if we can beat the best zone in the business

 

[PieBeast]

Watching the Bulldogs match they looked very flat for a lot of the game against Richmond. Don't let the margin fool you into how it looked they might have played, they had very low energy (yep, Richmond are that bad). Just wondering if the Pies v Dogs game was a taxing effort for round 1 it took the edge off both sides. Should be OK this week though.
This week is the big test to see if we can beat the best zone in the business

Lots of horses struggle second up , if i can use this analogy
Fairly confident the boys will lift for this game.

 

[Dundalis]

We're a team that more often than not seem to play to the level of the opposition. If we are playing a top team, we tend to be up for it, and play to the requisite skill level. Against shite teams with shite skills, we let it drop for some reason. I think we will be right up for it. I don't think we will win, but I think we will be close. I'm actually more worried about Hawthorn, as that's more a game I think we should win, but have serious doubts we will. 2-2 after 4 rounds is a distinct possibility.

 

[The Royal Sampler]

Our intensity will be much more similar to that of Round 1 than Round 2. My main concern is that we were thinking too much about this game when we were playing Melbourne, and if that's the case we might have played this game through in our heads a few too many times before running out onto Etihad.

I won't be shattered if we lose, but if we lose like we did the first time around against the Saints last year, I will be. We need to prove to ourselves that we can be competitive against the Saints' gameplan.