Who is the "form" team going into the finals .... ?

[GongSwan]

Hawthorn.

Yep, probably the most consistent side of late, altho I have to say I think giving all those players a bye today was a mistake. Will they come back rusty next week, I know they have the double chance but really????

It's a lottery this year, form lines mean nothing and last weeks game counts for nothing, otherwise we could look forward to flogging the pies, what a dream that would be

[Cant turn right]

The first week of the finals always shows the true form of the top 8 teams. 1st will beat 4th. 2nd will beat 3rd. 5th will beat 8th and 7th will upset 6th. Then unfortunately after the 2nd week it's unlikely any team outside the top 4 h&a will be left.

[Hartijon]

The form side is Geelong! They decimated Collingwood and never let up.
West Coast is in good form,Hawthorn rested half its side which may/may not work.
Our form was fair to good but we were only playing the Lions .
The only team Geelong fears is St Kilda and my Geelong mates are counting on the Swans to get rid of them!

[Melbourne_Blood]

Geelong the form team ? They lost to a Swans outfit at their fortress that lost embarrassingly to Richmond two weeks prior. Dunno how they are the form team. Hawthorn has been in good form but they havent beaten either of the top two sides. Our form has been solid since the Richmond debacle, continue it and we can beat the saints and then who knows ? Collingwood have only lost to Geelong this year, and the most recent of those wins i think may prove to be insignificant when the finals play out.

[Triple B]

I reckon you could make a case to say WE are the form side.

The obvious Richmond debarcle aside, our form has been strong for a while now.

Easily accounted for the Bulldogs, effectively knocking them out of the finals. Followed that with the 'Game of the Season' one point loss to Essendon where we just dominated the final quarter, but poor kicking and a brain fart with a few minutes to go managed to see us get beat. We were beaten, but the form was OK.

Richmond *cough*.

Followed that by owning StKilda, but again kicking poorly. Finished with 15 more scoring shots ffs, that is a smashing in anybody's language.

Next Geelong in a game we had no chance of winning. No need to analyse it, we all have and know what a huge win it was. The pleasing thing is we followed it up with a pretty comprehensive dismantling of a Brisbane side who in the previous two weeks were more than handy against 2 top 4 sides.

I'm convinced anyway.

Can't believe we are $3.15 on Centrebet...

[GongSwan]

I do not want to play Hawthorn primarily because w e fo not have a match up for Franklin or Rioli. I think we can cove rthe rest of the teams.

[Lucky Knickers]

I do not want to play Hawthorn primarily because w e fo not have a match up for Franklin or Rioli. I think we can cove rthe rest of the teams.

The Buddy matchup is nothing new. The secret is starve them in the midfield so he isn't getting the ball. We've been pretty successful at that aside from this year when they absolutely killed us in the clearances. Rioli is a worry tho'. We can always pray the hamstrings play up.

[Hartijon]

The problem is the question.Finals form can only be judged from Finals matches. I know for a fact the teams at the very top,secure in their position have been training their butts off and just wearing the inevitable loss which comes from fielding a tired team. Neither Malthouse or Scott seemed too upset about recent losses because they knew the state of play.Geelong have already tapered off and Collingwood will do so this week,freshen up and get back to top form. The home and away series is different to the finals .Good teams strike form in the finals because they have good coaches which peak the team at this time. Teams battling for a spot in the finals rarely do well in the finals because they cannot afford to overload training leading up to the finals. They can however also taper off and if they have sufficient talent give a few teams a shake.

[Triple B]

I know for a fact the teams at the very top,secure in their position have been training their butts off and just wearing the inevitable loss which comes from fielding a tired team. Neither Malthouse or Scott seemed too upset about recent losses because they knew the state of play.Geelong have already tapered off and Collingwood will do so this week,freshen up and get back to top form.

I'm calling bull@@@@ on your 'fact'. Teams have been training for 10 months, the last thing they need a month leading into the finals is to train their butt off. This time of the year is ALL about recovery and preparing yourself to get up for the following week. All teams do little more than a light session or two.

And it's not rocket surgery that the good teams do well in finals and teams that battle their way and scrape into the finals generally don't. Can you really not tell why the top 4 sides generally do better than the bottom of the eight sides? Here's a hint, it's nothing to do with how their training has been structured the previous month...

[Mr Magoo]

What is it with the increased training load thing. I have heard that a number of times over the years (i remember adelaide supposedly doing it a few years ago and it really backfired on them). Is it meant to increase your fitness in a finals match ? your skills ?. It seems a little counterproductive to me to be on the one hand resting players from matches but on the other increasing their training load. My own experience has always been that you can train as much as you like but you can never simulate match conditions / pressure and fitness.

[Hartijon]

I'm calling bull@@@@ on your 'fact'. Teams have been training for 10 months, the last thing they need a month leading into the finals is to train their butt off. This time of the year is ALL about recovery and preparing yourself to get up for the following week. All teams do little more than a light session or two.

And it's not rocket surgery that the good teams do well in finals and teams that battle their way and scrape into the finals generally don't. Can you really not tell why the top 4 sides generally do better than the bottom of the eight sides? Here's a hint, it's nothing to do with how their training has been structured the previous month...

Nice tone! So Bartel was lying in the media when he said Geelong had been "flogged " at training and were tired?
My information says Geelong has been doing this for the last 4 years. Whether it works or not is another issue and obviously the top 4 teams are there for a reason which despite your generous hint I could already work out. However to underestimate the final month of training is a huge mistake."Tapering" is a technique originally used with swimmers but followed in numerous sports including Horse racing.

By the way what exactly is "rocket surgery" . It was the one issue in your post I found interesting.

[Triple B]

All the hard work is done pre-season and the first half of the year. From Rd 15-16 onwards, it's all about recovery and preparation for next weeks game as those niggles get more frequent and harder to overcome.

This has been a pretty long season from all accounts and it appears most sides who have had byes late in the year have been very thankful and most of what you read suggested players were given time off to go home and freshen up. Why do you think players have been rested from games so much? Did Hawthorn rest 8 players last weekend because they were tired from getting flogged on the training track? Well @@@@ me, that would make a lot of sense. Flog them to death on Tuesday and Thursday and give them a rest on Saturday.

If you think any side is going to ramp up the training ante in the weeks leading up to the finals, you're delusional.... it's not brain science.

[Hartijon]

If you think any side is going to ramp up the training ante in the weeks leading up to the finals, you're delusional.... it's not brain science.

All I can say is that not all teams follow the same training regime. The jury is still out whether the "freshening up" regime followed by Hawthorn will work. Many less delusional people than me have suggested its better to play than not to play at this stage. Others have suggested Momentum heading into the finals is a key factor. That means getting your finals team playing well leading into the Finals. Hard to do this by resting players!

Its ultimately the coaches call but to suggest they are all following one way only and all doing light training only when there is strong evidence to the contary (paricularly with Geelong)is not "brain science" either. My information sources which I trust tell me Geelong trained extremely hard the last month and really hard during the bye week.They have tapered off the last week and looking fresh, thrashed Collingwood in the last Home and away to hit the finals with momentum.

Whatever ,it will be interesting to see what happens!

[Triple B]

Whatever ,it will be interesting to see what happens!

Well, that IS something we can agree on...

[Hartijon]

QUOTE: Primmy"The boys were all training the house down, including a very confident looking and very very hard working LRT. "

Thats a report from yesterday. So much for the light training idea!