So... should we mock those who wouldn't make plans for September?

Get parish into a final and he will ■■■■■■■ tear ■■■■ up

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I don’t think Melbourne will beat Collingwood. Book in a SCG Final. Redemption.

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This is where we need to play our best footy and go straight for the jugular.

Should also be noted that Hepp had a ripper of a final, as was his form at the time. I wouldn’t rule him out from finding another level this year.

The biggest takeaways from that final was that
A) Our midfield was way too slow, and
B) Our ability to kick goals and punish opposition when we had momentum was pathetic.

The first one might still be a problem, but the second one isn’t.

Probably the biggest advantage this year over previous finals attempts, is that this time we have a fair dinkum forward line, who kicks lots of goals.

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Ok…let’s prognosticate a little.
I have circled my likely winners for this weekend.

WB will be too good for the Hawks, and will keep their slim Finals hopes alive for a couple of days.

Collingwood are missing too many 1st choice midfielders now to cause an upset over the Dees (Pendles, DeGoey, Greenwood, Adams, Wells?).

Brisbane should avoid the Spoon by def. NM.

GWS will beat Geelong.

Port will exceed the margin that Sydney put on the Blues in order to ensure Top 4 if the Tigers happen to slip up on Sunday.

Richmond have too much to play for.
I suspect they’ll be too solid for the Saints.

Adelaide are better than WC, and will want to retain top spot and good form going in.

Week 1 of Finals…

Adelaide v Geelong (Adelaide Oval)
GWS v Richmond (Spotless)
Port v Essendon (Adelaide Oval)
Sydney v Melbourne (SCG)

If everything goes as we wish, we are looking at Week 2 Semis at the MCG…
Geelong v Essendon
Richmond v Sydney

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That looks delicious. I hope you’re right even though it means I will miss seeing us live in a final up here. Would love to see Richmond go out in straight sets.

Richmond did beat us earlier in the year and the 15 point margin flattered us, we were rubbish aftet the first 10 minutes and they had 10 more scoring shots

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So assuming we win against Freo, the only games that have any consequence for Essendon are:

  • Melbourne vs Collingwood
  • Sydney vs Gold Coast
  • Port vs Carlton

There are several scenarios to come of these games for Essendon. The ones we want are:

  • Melbourne to beat Collingwood;
  • Sydney to beat Carlton; and
  • Port to have a similar win in terms of margin vs Gold Coast.

OR

  • Collingwood to beat Melbourne; and
  • Sydney to surpass Port in percentage.

Here’s how I reckon the finals will look:

So no, don’t make plans for September.

@SteveB
If Collingwood do happen to cause an upset over Melbourne (I don’t think they will personally), then the Richmond v StK clash becomes a game of great interest to us, as a loss to the Tigers almost certainly drops them to 6th, and we’ll be in 7th edging Melbourne on %

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So should we finish 8th, beat Port like I know we can, we will still likely be interstate the following week as we play the loser of Adelaide/GWS…yikes, that better be GWS

I wrote that on the assumption that tigers beat saints.

I don’t expect Richmond to drop the game, it’s the difference between them having a double chance or not. I am also hoping that the saints will see by half time that they are no chance of making finals when the Essendon results come in. They’ll be discouraged when they realise they have nothing left to play for besides their vanilla club with a drug culture.

Our style of play also worries me in finals.

Contested football is crucial. Our contested football is lukewarm and that’s being generous.

Our run will be shut down. We will not have the opportunity to stream through the middle of the park when we play Sydney or who ever.

You watch us play a bottom 4 side who shuts down our run. Imagine that, but expect the opposition to actually capitalise on our turn overs and lack of pressure.

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Honestly. If we could make finals, and knock Richmond out of them in the first week… I cant start to tell you how happy that would make me.

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Didn’t we spu nk a 6 goal 2nd half lead against north in the '14 Elim Final?

I’ve been on this bandwagon for awhile, but it’s looking less likely for week 1 now.

Week 2 on the other hand…is now a possibility. The winner of our likely first final against Port & the loser of their likely first final against Adelaide meet.

Sportsbet ofds to make the final 8:

Melbourne 1.02
Essendon. 1.08
West Coast 6.00
Dogs 16.00
Saints 16.00

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Any chance at all that Raz is fit for a final?

How long would that be? 5 full weeks?

Adelaide - 1 week
Gold Coast - 2 weeks
Freo - 3 weeks
Bye - 4 weeks
Game day - 5 weeks

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We all have our fingers crossed on that one, I’m sure, … but the odds are likely against it for the 1st one at least.

I think you missed the WC v Crows game. Fair consequences on that one.

I reckon Richmond will win and Swans will smash the ■■■■ out of carlton, and we will play them at SCG