Gazing Into My Crystal Ball.....

[Grant]

I see us finishing 5th at the end of the year.I have a brief look at the fixture for the remaining 10 games,taking into account who all the other teams around us play also,i think this is where we will finish.

My question to you all is Would you rather finish 5th and be guaranteed a home final against 8th place,or would you rather be 4th and play port,Bris,or WCE on their home ground,and have a second chance?
The only down side to the finishing 4th scenario is that if you lose that game,there is a fair chance you may cop a Collingwood or Kangaroos here at the MCG the second week.But i say go for the chance and just beat Port at Port and go directly to home Prelim final(maybe)

[robbieando]

Knowing the Swans 4th Place and the 2nd Chance. I don't see it happening, but I can see 5th or 6th.

[Ganjaman]

Looking back on the past few seasons, either scenario seems a good one at the moment, but I do like the second chance one. It would be a boost for the players to finish in the top four,which could make a difference and we gotta aim high right?

[jixygirl]

Either way, we will almost definitely be in the finals. It would be a good way to make the boys feel more competitive if Sydney come first. I believe that the players are reeking with enthusiasm at the moment which is why the whole team is playing so well. If Sydney lose in the first week but have the second chance and play at the MCG, it could possibly be good preparation for bigger things and it also means that I could go to the match! So I guess it would be better to finish fourth place but I'm not so sure Sydney will finish there.

[floppinab]

The Port game will go a long way to answering that question.

Beat 'em and top 2 should be a possibility, a competitive loss and we should still be aiming for top 4, a bad loss and we'll be back in realm of trying to consolidate a finals spot.
And of course injuries will still play a big part, as has been discussed we're doing pretty well on that front thus far.

[RogueSwan]

And of course injuries will still play a big part, as has been discussed we're doing pretty well on that front thus far.

a quick look at the "latest injuries" thread may change your opinion,

or it may not.

[jixygirl]

Injuries have not really played a big part because even though Sydeny have injuries, they have still been able to play fantastic football. I'm not sure if we'll be trying to consolidate a finals spot if Sydney lose to Port Adelaide, but it will be a reasonable setback.

[robbieando]

Whatever happens we have to do something we have haven't done leading up to the finals and that is going in with a winning run of more than 1 match. No surprises at guessing that our poor efforts in finals are off the back of poor form leading up to the final.

We must go in winning at least our last 2 matches.

[floppinab]

a quick look at the "latest injuries" thread may change your opinion,

or it may not.

No it doesn't coz it's clear we have been able to cover those injuries to date with the reasonable depth that we have.

However take one or two of a Goodes, Ball, Hall, even Davis, Bolton J. (can't believe I said that), Maxfield, a la Brisbane then you have a different story.

[floppinab]

We must go in winning at least our last 2 matches.

Wobbles at Home and Dees away (also good pre-finals run on the MCG). Very gettable you would think.

[jixygirl]

I think that they are more than very gettable. We play pretty well at Telstra Stadium and if we play like how we played against Collingwood at the Dome, its a sure victory. Melbourne is not travelling very well at the moment and if we play well at the G, then we should also win that game. Of course, the game at the G' will also give us valuable finals experience.

[Red]

An appropriate article from afl.com.au

Here's the link: Another finals anomaly

And here's an extract:

[Consider this scenario based on the current top four sides.

In the first week of the finals ? when the top four sides have the double chance and the stakes are nowhere near as high as preliminary final week ? fourth-placed Sydney would play its qualifying final at AAMI Stadium against top-placed Port Adelaide while third-placed Brisbane would journey to Subiaco to play the second-placed West Coast Eagles.

Now presuming the top two sides win that would mean that for the preliminary final weekend the top-placed Power would again have home advantage at AAMI Stadium but the second-placed Eagles would have to play their preliminary final at the MCG to satisfy the AFL/MCC finals agreement.
But who would their opponents be?

Now presuming both Brisbane and Sydney rebounded to win their semi-finals this is where the benefit of finishing fourth as opposed to third kicks in because for the preliminary final week ? where there is no second chance ? they would go onto opposite sides of the draw.

That would mean the third-placed Lions would face the cauldron of AAMI Stadium against Port Adelaide while the fourth-placed Swans would suddenly find themselves playing West Coast at a neutral venue at the MCG and given their support in Melbourne would have far more of the crowd behind them.
Which path looks easier - playing a team in front of its own fans on home state soil or playing on neutral soil at the MCG?

So as long as the top two sides remain from outside Victoria ? which almost will certainly happen given the quality of Port, Brisbane and West Coast in particular, there is little doubt that fourth place will be better than third come the start of September given the current finals system.]

As @@@@@@ and as biased as the MCC deal is (and how dare those Prictorian clubs have a go at our salary cap under the "level playing field" argument), it could play beautifully into our hands -- if all the planets align correctly.

[jixygirl]

Even though it would be disappointing for Sydney to lose their first final, the rest of it is quite pleasing. Lets just hope the planets align properly for us finally.