This list could win an elimination final. If everything went right.
But that is the absolute upper bounds. And outside of Essendon and GC, nobody gives a fark about elimination final wins. They mean nothing.
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No finals win since 2004 is a big mental block for the team they have to try and break it eventually
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I think most agree that the older players are the problem so there is a unlikely all be it a very slim chance that moving past those players may move us up the ladder rather than down
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Hawks won a elimination final and they are the talk of the town. Went close to beating Port too.
You donât really know where this list is? lacks mental fortitude at times
I still have the Peter Wright marking contest as a defining moment against the swans, was pretty much the end of unsociable footy.
How do we get back to that.
Caldwell, Merrett, Duzza guaranteed to go in hard. Maybe the way they play is why scott gives them more opportunites, as its the brand he wants.
Draper needs to throw weight around and inspire.
Merrett Captain
Maybe Caldwell VC.
Forwardline key issue last year and defence, both will have different personell, more Caddy and kako, less Heppell and Hind and kelly in defence.
Midfield more of the same, - more Parish, maybe add stints from Hobbs, Tsatas, Shiel too.
Had Giants beat Sydney week 1, we might have had the prelim final Lions v GWS for the final, that was a cracker of a game.
Hepp, Kelly, Hind hardly losses, Stringer firepower yes, and star factor, but maybe offset by better pressure when ball leaving forwardline.
Plus we do well with low expectations - 2021 we were tipped to miss finals, and were only a Hind roast chicken and some more reasonable umpiring decisions from potentially winning it.
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Sorry the subtlety of the humour may have escaped you. Perhaps re-read it, give a tiny chuckle and move on with your day rather than calling a post a crock of sh-te.
Oh and there is always some truth in humour, I can guarantee there will be nuff nuffs in here complaining that 13 wins is still âmiddle of the roadâ and wonât give us long term success. I can pre-write their posts before theyâve even picked up the keyboard.
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I think the way the game has changed has gone against him. When he was drafted everyone wanted the big bodied mids, now the new hotness is small/quick/tricky types and Culley was slowish even before the ACL.
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Yes i agree there is a real trend away from these types of players, i still feel one per team is handy though. Smaller midfields tend to get exposed in big games. Iâm thinking here of port, freo and the likes, with highly skilled but two tiny mids each in their centre square.
Jesus it really must be the silly season when supporters are thinking this garbage list is capable of winning finals 
Weâre in the midst of a rebuild. The sooner everyone accepts that, the better.
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No disrespect to you, Nino, but i this is exactly the âfalse dawnâ thinking that keeps us mid table. I wouldnât be surprised if the club board and admin share this view.
âIf weâd just won those close gamesâŚâ
âIf we didnât have those few guys injuredâŚâ
âIf we just got 50 games experience into these guysâŚâ
âIf weâd just landed that tradeâŚâ
âWe building for two years timeâŚâ
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If you look at our top 22 experienced players all 50 games plus
300+ Goldstein
200 + Merrett, Shiel
150+ Langford, McGrath, Parish, Gresham
100+ Wright, Laverde, Redman, Guelfi
50+ McKay, Ridley, Duursma, Perkins, Caldwell, Draper, Durham, Setterfield, Martin, Cox, Jones
20+ Hobbs, Menzie, Davey
9 +Caddy, TSatas, Bryan, Reid
in 2024 there were 23 players with 50+ games
we lost by 8 goalsâŚ
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we lost momentum and dropped our heads, sounds familiar.
Cody weightman played for 3-4 free kicks and capitalised.
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I know multiple posters are saying the same things.
ie. The St.K & Adelaide games could easily have been losses.
The HawksâŚwe just got them at a great time (wonât be the case in '25).
We had no business beating Freo late in the season.
WC x 2 & Richmond gave us all sorts of trouble, thus we were fortunate to win all 3.
Weâre not a Top 6 side.
Itâs annoying even reading it as a possibility.
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We had no one injured 2nd half of the season and still fell apart.
Weâre barely a middle 6 side. We should be finishing in the bottom 4 with our terrible % every year
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As I said, absolute upper bounds and requires absolutely everything to go right.
Odds are it wonât. We are miles off a premiership and thatâs all I care about.
Iâm happy to go 25 years without a finals win as long as in year 27 we are in that premiership mix.
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and instead he fired out a midnight drunken text to the ex saying he still loves her and she invited him over for a drunken root and next thing you know theyâve shacked up again with all of their friends shaking their heads knowing itâs the worst possible thing both could do but they wonât be told
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Top 6 next year is likely these sides in no order
Lions
Pies - Houston
Swans
Blues - Haynes sures up defence.
Cats
Port
then last 2 spots from
- Fremantle, will new guys gel?
- Hawks - could have a down year as targetted more from opposition.
- Giants lost 3 experienced players may miss.
- Suns - have heaps of talent if can win away from home must click soon
- Bulldogs lost Macrae, Daniel, etc but still ahve enough young talent coming through.
Then teams likely going no where middle of the road, might get a whiff of finals at stages due to easier draw, but then back to reality as season wears on.
Dons
Eagles
North
Crows
Dees
Saints
Spooners
Tigers - if someone else wins will be a surprise.
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Teams got us at the right time in the second half of the season when we were out form 
All year you said you didnât want a full rebuild because it takes to long but youâd be happy with a short refresh.
Thatâs what weâve now done
Stringer, Goldy, 2MP, Lav, Heppel, Kelly and Hind out
To be replaced by Kako, Bryan, Caddy, Hayes and Roberts with a couple more spots up for grabs.
You donât jettison a thousand games of experience for guys with less than ten games each and think you will improve year on year.
We didnât cut into the senior core so we havenât done the hard rebuild you feared, but we are refreshing the list. Your expectations for next year need to match that.
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