2 seasons ago we would of loved being in 6th-7th position

One of the commentators mentioned that Judd gave them a huge rev up at half time.

_________________
You want the flame? Give us the marbles!!

Being 7th at any time of the season is OK.

_________________
No ones listening till you make a mistake.

7th and 8th mean we are middle of the road.
Smack bang in the middle of an AFL competition housing 16 teams..
It is ludicrious that half the team plays finals every year, as I feel it really wallpapers over cracks for teams who finish in the lower reaches of the 8.
If we fall into the 8 with 11 wins, and think all is OK, then we have the completely wrong attitude. There are teams behind us coming very fast, and I hope to god we don't waste the talent at our disposal with the same tired match committee in 2011.

I agree JK

I hate complacency.
I hate accepting mediocre performance.
I hate the fact that the coach doesn't give the players a roast they deserve.

Have a look at the list. It's strong on paper. It's strong in the flesh too.

Have a look at the performance of the Demons on the weekend, and the Tigers of late.
Like us they have a very young list, perhaps younger than ours.
They're coming allright. At a faster rate of knots than we have in the last few years.

IMO, with the departure of Fev and Stevens gave others who were knocking on the door an oportunity prove their value to the team.
I expected top 4 finish because the list is sound, Plenty of top 10 draftees including 5 Top 3 players, let alone another strong preseason.
On top of that we have added Warnock, McLean and Lucas. Lets not forget, all thses players under the guidance of Justin Cordy.

8th position to play a final and lose is not a success in my book, and I'm not asking for the sacking of Ratts....not yet anyway.

_________________
Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

It sure is frustrating....but no one at the Club seems to be jumping up and down like we are.....well not publically anyway.

_________________
No ones listening till you make a mistake.

ABSOLUTELY HIT THE NAIL ON THE HEAD...ESPECIALLY THE BIT ABOUT TEAMS BEHIND US COMING VERY FAST

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

Pretty sure the club would be looking to improve year by year. THis year with Fev Steven Thornton all pushed aside we are losing a lot in experience so to equal last year and bring in some new comers and pump games into newish players is pretty good result. As nice as it is to talk tough and say we should be top four and we have set our goals too low the realistic view is we have done well so far in 2010.

I look forward to seeing Ratts and the boys advance further in 2011.

While a lot of us are not happy with Ratts (myself included) at the beginning of the year we were simply hoping for a top 8 finish weren't we? So I think we collectively have short memories or are getting greedy because the team shows promise but then stutters. We can't have it both ways.

_________________
"Get ready, Teddy - you're on": Ron Barassi half time 1970 Grand Final

Well done on admitting that Teddy

_________________
"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

Was it a "cmon guys" rev up or a "you are as weak as pi55" rev up.

Something certainly changed after falf time.

Would be great if it was because Juddy gave some of these blokes a bake.

_________________
I hope Essendon* folds.

Did you know that the sides who played on the weekend for Carlton, Richmond and Melbourne the average age for each team was 23. Carlton has one of the youngest sides in the comp but everyone has higher expectations. Why is that?

For what it is worth, Collingwood’s was 25, Geelong 27, St.Kilda 26, Hawthorn 25, Bulldogs 26, Freo 23 and Sydney 25. Carlton and Freo have the youngest list in the 8.

_________________
Delulio is a member of TISM

One team that is burning up the ladder and very fast is Melbourne. They are one decent key forward away from being extremely competitive.

_________________
Writer for SuperCoach Paige www.scpaige.com.au
Twitter - @johnfeeney24

Guys, we lost our forward line pre-season. Whether we like it or not Fevola was our forward line.
We needed to rebuild this area and unfortunately weren't able too as quickly as we wanted.
We have however maintained our ground which is no mean feat and hopefully will play finals again and maybe even go one better and reach our KPI's.
With another pre-season to find something forward and Hendo to feel more part of it, I expect in 2011 we will be moving forward with a more and more progress.
This is not excusing anything this year as I have been just as down/annoyed as anyone else but simply these are the facts.
Ratten has done well considering everything and I expect will keep building from here and not look back.

Our forward line has not been that bad, we kick winning scores often. The concern is the backline, midfield, fieldkicking, tackling & key players of the future in Gibbs and Murphy are playing worse football than a year ago.

At season start; we hit the ground running.......and then slowed to a crawl...in initiative....in team work...in skills...determination...and will to win.

We came back in the second half on Saturday..........when we had to.....not because we wanted to....big difference.

_________________
No ones listening till you make a mistake.

Great win and well done to the coach. He had the boys fired up. The team is still young and inexperienced so it takes time. Our team last night has less experience and is younger than Melbournes side. Only difference is our own supporters and opposition supporters love to sink the boots in.

One or two more wins should guarantee us a Melbourne final.

_________________
Delulio is a member of TISM

Great to see the players respond, but it's only 1 win, performances need to be backed up, especially against good teams in Geelong and Freo.

Ratts game plan is still very suspect against better teams.

A very good performance by Ratts under pressure.

He can stil get better. Saying "I s'pose" in the after match interview IMO does not reflect the passion which he undoubtedly has.

_________________
Bawditawaba

Look at the way it capitulated against Geelong and St Kilda, and our record in recent seasons against the Bulldogs is terrible.

Ratts wasn't the difference last night.

Its a blight on the players they needed to cop a spray through the media after last weeks game to 'bring it' last night. Well done to them for coping it and changing their ways, but if thats whats required to get them up to playing senior football then God help them.

_________________
"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