I was thinking about my beloved blues last night. I was cooking my spag bol and looking at my team poster on the wall. As my spag was cooking i was left pondering how far off are we from being "up there where we belong". The more i thought about this question the more shattered i got. I am a 32 yo chick who understands, gets, thrives on, dresses my dog in Carlton guernsey, has a room dedicated to blues stuff and loves this game and all associated with it. My husband says Caro Wilson has nothing on me (and for the record i look nothing like her!) Just a general gut feeling, how far off are we realistically of achieveing a top 8 position (competative top 8, not just filling in the numbers)? Tell me thinking with your head and not your heart. I know we all love the blues but this is a serious question.
Wishing you all a lovely week.
BM
PS - cannot go to the G on Saturday as i have a wedding (who gets married in the footy season) We will smash Essenscum, Juddy BOG as he will dazzle in front of 85,000. I will be there in spirit.

A couple of years... just like backyard cricket.

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"The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter" - Winston Churchill.

At least 3 years.

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I AM DISENFRANCHISED

Finals are obviously out of the question for this year however next year we might be a good chance.

I am worrried about Judd's groin and the poor form/fitness of both Stevens and Fev. If these three players can play to their potential then this will greatly lift the performance of the team and the confidence of the younger players. Walker returning in the second half of the season should be a real bonus.

In summary there is a lot of upside and finals in 2009 is a distinct possibility in my opinion.

Our defence has been widely criticised (deservedly) however I think we have potentially a strong back six with the likes of Waite, Thornton, Jamison, Bower and Setanta all improving whilst the likes of Aisake, Armfield and Browne have shown something . They just need time! Likewise our ruck division can only improve.

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There is no footy god

From making the 8 not far off at all. My view is that the second half of this year will be better than the first half.
Making the 8 and having a crack at a premiership is another matter. We are 3 years away from opening the premiership window.

3 years.

How was the spag?

Point 1

How long does it take to get match conditioning and self belief?

Point 2

Until Judd, Stevens, Hadley etc appear to be fully match conditioned we will be held back.

Point 3

Once our defence is settled with Jamo, Thronton, Ohailpin and Waite and then the smaller boys we start looking better.

Point 4

Then when our forward line is settled with Fev, Fisher, Edwards, Hartlett, Kreuzer etc and the smaller boys we start looking better.

Point 5

And finally Hampson, Aisake and Cloke holding up the ruck as options


Once these combined areas fall into line then there is upside.

This may take two weeks or two months, hoepfull it starts clicking from this weekend.

We need the ability to get four goals up and go one with it.

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Supporting the Blues No Matter What

Spag Bol was just average, whipped up dinner very rushed, went to aerobics then to the solarium. Argued with my solarium guy for 15 minutes over Collingwood (he is a one eyed feral, what a waste of my time) then went home. I was very rushed last night. Sat down at 8:30pm famished, watching "On the Couch", eating my ok spag bol, all was good. Then i saw Juddy spray Stevo and i felt good again. I would do very bad things to Juddy!
Cheers,
BM

Do we have a rookie award for first year posters just like the NAB Rising Star? I'm nominating BM!

We'll finish the year off with a few good wins - it's not about 2008 - you have to go through the process of development and that will arrive in dribs and drabs throughout the year and 2009 will see us climb given the proper processes in place. I'm quietly confident that we can make the 8 in 2009, no excuses in 2010. In the scheme of things - success isn't far away*

*provided we secure Daniel Rich with our first draft pick

I'm more worried that BM dresses her dog in Carlton gear. Actually, I'm worried that she dresses her dog.

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Mens sana in corpore sano.

Bring back the laurel wreath logo!!!

I think we're 3-4 years away from where the Hawks are....
By then, players like Wiggo, Russell, Banno, Hartlett, Ackland etc wont be around..

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James Hird and Essendon* FC - #FOREVERDRUGCHEATS

We're still a few years off.

Those who thought we'd make finals this year were obviously very optimistic but at the same time no need to panic about 0-2 at the moment.

We'll make finals in 3 years time..........and be competitive in them.....however if our players start BELIEVING in themselves and start doing the 1%ers - especially when we don't have the ball we'll improve quicker than anyone would imagine.


By the way - our first win will come this week.....and who knows what type of confidence will be gained from it.

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That's right. Gather the nector my little drones and make honey. Honey for your children.......Fools!!!

I expect to make the 8 next year.

bluemelanie, I had a wedding for the corresponding game last year, maybe this is a good sign?

Stop going to the solarium, you look fine as you are

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Between our dreams and actions lies this world

We have an amazingly good draw this year.

We play four of the current top five teams (Geel, Haw, Bulldogs, Sydney) only once each.

If we get a bit of a roll on we can make the 8. The competition is more even these days.

I'm still confident and I reckon we will make the finals, injuries are the main thing that can stuff that up. We do not have the depth yet to be able to cover much bad luck injury wise.

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|♥♥♥♥♥♥| http://www.blueseum.org |♥♥♥♥♥♥|

I think to make the final 8, we are 2 years away, ie 2010 onwards

Reasons are:
- we have the youngest list in the AFL and will do so next year as well after certain players are delisted
- the young players getting game time for us now, eg Bower, Edwards, Jamo, etc will need at least 50 games into them (unbroken) before they lock in their positions in the starting 22
- our skills need improvement and this will take training sessions and game time to get it right.

I think we could be the dawks of circa late 2005, early 2006.

By the way, I expect 6 to 8 wins this year, and 8 to 10 wins in 2009.

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For some silly reason, you people want to assassinate him, and it's just rubbish. You people. All of you, ALL of you!

This year (2008) - out of the bottom 3, 6-8 wins.

Next year (2009) - Pushing for the 8, 7th-11th - not a big finals player.

Year after that (2010) - Pushing for top 4, serious finals contender.


Just remember BM, footballs a funny game - teams that are shithouse one year can do miraculous things in the off-season. We just haven't... yet.


Love the passion by the way, keep it up!

2008 15th (Apart from the Dees, who else are we better than?)
2009 10th - 12th assuming development and inprovement
2010 With some luck, we might play finals
Despite what all the positive TCers tell you, we are a f@#$ing long way off

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If I want your opinion, I'll give it to you!

In three years (2011), I see us in the picture along with Geelong, Hawthorn and Collingwood.

Keep up the optimism mate...

While we're at it - didn't Sydney go 70 odd years without a flag?!


Wonder how many posters would be on TC in 70 years time if that was to happen?!