Yeah, probably......reckon Carlton's doing well too...........

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No ones listening till you make a mistake.

Thought we'd finish 4th at the end of home and away. Was telling anyone who'd listen all summer at work. We lost by a kick to Syd in a final up there, one of the hardest giggs around. We beat the Aints and Cats by plenty during the year. Could only see us getting better, but if you'd said that Hendo and Krooz wouldn't have played, I'd have maybe revised my tip.

I also told my Filth pal that the 2011 GF would be Coll v Carl. He laughed then but not so much now.

So yeah, we are about where I thought we'd be.

Are we where I thought at the start of the season ??? No.

Could we be better placed ??? Maybe.

Are we better placed than I assumed ??? Yes by far.

Am I absolutely happy to bits ??? @#$%&! yeh by a country mile.

Will we finish top 4 ??? Time will only tell, and I hope it happens.

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Bring the season on already. The wait is killing me.

About where I expect us to be. We are better than people are giving us credit including some of our own. Like Danny, however am surprised we've done it without Bower, Hendo, McLean & Kruez so far ... but bloody rapt as we are only going to get better from here!!!!

We will improve, but its great that we've had the opportunity to blood the likes of Duigan and Laidler. Had Bower been there, maybe one of them might not have played as much. McLean gets his chance now with Ed's injury, but I'd love Lucas to return to what we know he can do. Having guys like Yarran and Kane running around makes us very dangerous.

+1

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The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help.

Ronald Reagan

Funny thing tends to happen in Football most years.

A few top teams fall heavily - Dogs & Saints.

A few teams move up quickly - Bombers.

We are on more of a slow burn like Geelong were.

We have made last 2 finals series, kids are now developing harder bodies.

New recruits in Duigan, Laider and Curnow are putting pressure on others for spots.

Injuries are under control, mostly minor or replaceable - e.g. Curnow, Collins

Possible inclusions

Bower - Keeps pressure on Thornton to hold spot - Injury report is misleading.
Houlihan - Hoops will keep pressure on Walker
Henderson - Keeps pressure on Irish
Kruezer - When fit is X factor
McLean - Keeps pressure on Carazzo, Curnow, Ellard, Joseph
Watson - Should be played instead of White
White - Keeps pressure on Taller backs
Lucas - Keeps pressure on pacey mids - Simpson, Armfield, Yarran

Collins, Kerr, Davies

Personal preference - I would like to see a lot of games put into Henderson, Watson and Lucas. It may cost us a little this year, but next year we will be ready for a real shot.

Why do I suggest this - Henderson needs to get more experience across half forward, next year both Irish and Waite will be 29.

Watson is needs up back, Bower is injury prone, Thornton is not a serious option, we only have 1 KPP in Jamo, not enough.

Lucas is all class and needs to develop, next year Scotland will be 31. Carrazo should be moved on to GWS to move us up the draft.

With limited chances to recruit, we really need to work on developing our players.

I still find it funny that people mark down wins and losses months out from games.

Im pleased with where we are. Its a concern we're not putting teams away, but I hope that means we working up to play our best football at the right end of the season.

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"The ability to speak doesn't make you intelligent." Qui-Gon Jinn 15-05-2005

"there’s more chance of me becoming the full forward for the [Western Bulldogs] than there is of any change in the Labor Party." Julia Gillard 18-05-2010

I thought we could get 14-15 wins for the season so we are on track to hit that number.
You need a good start to the season to be a top 4 chance. It will be interesting to see if we hit a flat spot during the season. What pleases me most is that I still see plenty of room for improvement.

In a way I'm happy that we're not putting teams away so we don't get ahead of ourselves like last year when we smashed both reigning grand finalists. I thought we were gone in each of our last 3 games and to the player's credit they showed some resolve.

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"We used to sit around and talk about how bad the game plan was." Anthony Koutoufides

Another thing is, we still have massive room for improvement for the rest of the year.
Personnel aside, the forwardline structure hasn't been great, out backline has been very short and out goal kicking has been atrocious.
And yet, we've only missed 6 points out of 28.

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Just because I'm offended, doesn't mean I'm wrong.

Yep, this is what makes me proud. We've simply been harder than our opposition in every match - maybe Collingwood aside - but this has been awfully lacking in recent years. We even showed a bit of mongrel last week! It's so refreshing to see and it's got a distinct smell of Premiership about it.

Still to improve as people point out, and that's a good thing. We are going to have one almighty pop at the Cats next week. Keep going Blues!

Pre 2011, thought we were a certainty for top 6, and a possible top 4, so nothing has really changed.

Why top4?

- Thought we could be better than ALL of the teams above us in 2010, except for Cats and Pies. Pretty much turning out this way;
- We beat Aints and Cats in 2010;
- Bigger bodies, more experience, emergence of Yarran in the pre-season, recruitment of Watson abd Duigan;
- Had little fear for Doggies and Swans in 2011, given our improving record against them in past few years (we were in our form slump when we played Doggies last yr);
- We only lost to Freo by 6 pts in that Rd 22 home and away last year, cruelled by losing Carrots in the first 10 mins.

We could even make the GF in 2011, the impact of Kreuzer will be the last say on this. We haven't even played our best footy yet!

Great to see the position we're in, but i feel that we're playing ok footy not sensational footy.

Have to wonder if we're in this position because other teams have fallen off the pace like, your Bulldogs, Saints and Freo's !!

And with a couple of the wins we've had, they haven't been very convincing either, ie: Adelaide and St.Kilda.

Gold Coast was a no brainer, thought we would have beaten Richmond by more and should of beaten Essendon*,
but loved the Sydney win, very guttsy.

Didn't expect to be in the top 4 at this stage, but since where there, lets stay there !!!!

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BRING BACK PERFORMANCE BASE PAYMENTS !!!

Cats should not be a surprise. They were flag favourites for most of last year. Mark my words, they had a mini implosion toward the end of last year. They were professional enough to keep it in house. They will challenge the Pies this year (thank god)
Go Cats.....oh and Blues of course

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

No we aren't where I thought we would be, and god its a nice change to previous years!!!

Its going to be a great year if we can keep this up!

Up to the bye we are half a game ahead of where I thought we needed to be, not necessarily where I thought we would be.

I had loses to the Saints, Collingwood and Essendon* marked down at the start of the season.

Very very happy to date given the players that haven't yet played, our inaccuracy this year and the fact we haven't really had a solid consistent 4 quarter performance yet (with the exception of an overawed Gold Coast which doesn't really count - even had a lapse in the second quarter there too).

Richmond - Shcking 3rd quarter
Collingwood - lost it in the second
Essendon* - Terrible first quarter
Adelaide - Bad second quarter and parts of third quarter
Sydney - Not a great start to that game
Saints - Nearly lost it from halfway through the third to Walkers straight kick in the last

The likes of Hendo, Kreuze, Hoops, Bower (if ever), Lucas, McLean (maybe) still yet to really play this year is very exciting!

I knew Jamo had talent but he has blown me away this year. Swapping Walker and Yarran was a masterstroke and the likes of Duigan, Curnow, Laidler have been brilliant! Plus the fitness, strength and pressure have been outstanding.

I tipped top 4 this year and we will romp it in. if we get over the Cats we have some very winnable games after that. And if we learn how to kick straight and play consistent 4 quarters we will be a force come September!

I wanted a Top 4 finish and we are doing everything right to achieve this at the moment.

Wont dominate all games and win every qtr, but the really pleasinga spect is that we are fighting abck to win close games which we would have lost in the past.