We're thereabouts...but not quite there...

[Cheer Squad]

With tonight done and dusted, it's reasonable to say we're not top 4 impostors, but appear to be a couple of kicks away from being genuine contenders.

We're good, but our structure appears to be vulnerable when key position players are missing.

I think missing Jude Bolton might have been the difference between winning and losing, not just tonight, but against Collingwood a couple of weeks ago.

We'll find out against Geelong next week.

[Jewels]

With tonight done and dusted, it's reasonable to say we're not top 4 impostors, but appear to be a couple of kicks away from being genuine contenders.

We're good, but our structure appears to be vulnerable when key position players are missing.

I think missing Jude Bolton might have been the difference between winning and losing, not just tonight, but against Collingwood a couple of weeks ago.

We'll find out against Geelong next week.

Yep, agree with all you've said here. We really missed Jude tonight.

[johnno]

2012 may or may not turn out to be our year.......but 2013 & 2014 certainly will be!!

[dawson]

Having lost to each of the Pies, Hawks and Crows at home you have every right to question our credentials but the whole of the home and away season is just the prelude to the real stuff.

Remember the year we lost to the Eagles in Perth in the finals (when we were dudded by the umpires) was the year we won the flag. The following year when we won in Perth, we didn't....

I think this team has always played best when we've had our backs to the wall and playing on the road in Week 1 of the finals may actually suit the guys.

[Wardy]

It would have a lot worse if Kennedy had not have been there. When he went off for a spell The hawks got the centre clearances so easily it was laughable - poor Josh can't do it all, but with Jude back his job will a bit easier.

[mcs]

It would have a lot worse if Kennedy had not have been there. When he went off for a spell The hawks got the centre clearances so easily it was laughable - poor Josh can't do it all, but with Jude back his job will a bit easier.

Going forward, hopefully Tommy Mitchell can prove to be the ball magnet in the big league that he is in the lower leagues, and he and Parker can take over naturally from Bolton. We are overly reliant on Kennedy - but we just need the guys when he is off the field to hold their own, not get badly beaten like they were last night. So often footy is about holding the other team up and restricting the damage on the scoreboard when they have momentum.

The Hawks deserve credit for that last night - although we belted them off the park for the first quarter and a half - we only led by 6 goals (which they soon gobbled up with a charge). That sort of footy against most other teams would of seen us 10+ goals in front by the middle of the 2nd quarter. Footy is all about momentum - making use of it when you have it, and limiting the damage when you don't. Last nights game was a perfect example of that. In the end, the Hawks did it just a little better than us, and got the biscuits, but there was not much in it. We have lost games against 3 of the best teams in the competition by about a kick - i.e. they were flip of the coin jobs. Similar games come finals time might see the coin land on our side, rather than the team we are playing. But we've won close ones this year as well - the Bombers and Geelong are two examples of that. It is just the way footy is when you have two evenly matched teams going at it.

We are in no way top 4 impostors, but no doubt we will be written off by the Melbourne media as a genuine flag chance (As Adelaide will be as well). I have always thought 2012 might be a year early for the team, and it may be proven to be true, but the team is also good enough to prove it false.

One thing I am sure of though is that our best footy is good enough to beat any other team in the league, on any ground, on any day. We have had passages of footy this year (2nd half vs Hawks in Launceston, 1st 3 quarters vs Essendon, West Coast away, parts of the Collingwood game, parts of the Geelong game, 1st quarter and a half last night) where very good football teams simply have been made to look amateurish against us. The challenge for the team from here is to learn to put in those excellent passages of football over 3 + quarters of a match.

If we can do that in September, then we are as good a chance as any other team to win the flag. But no matter what happens from here, 2012 has been a fantastic season already, and there is only upside risk with this playing group imo. It will only get better from here. So hang on boys and girls, the ride is just beginning. Let's hope its got a big high this season to come, but if not, there is a hell of a lot to look forward to in 2013 and beyond.