Are we now a genuine Premiership threat?

[Vonsteinman]

Gee, that win showed quite a bit of maturity… ????

[Matty10]

You have got to be it to win it, as the saying goes, and we are getting closer to ‘it’ each week.

Every season provides opportunities and we are doing our best to keep those opportunities alive. This is an exciting time, and I love to dream. Go Bloods!

[MattW]

Yes.

[barry]

The remaining games are: GWS Giants (2), Fremantle (3), Essendon (2), St Kilda (3), North Melbourne (4), Gold Coast (2). These add up to 16, so four more wins are predicted out of these last six games. That would give us 14 wins. Win all six, and we would be in with a good chance of a top four finish.

Thats a pretty easy run home. All teams below us on the ladder.

[Doctor]

Agreed, although we've been better against the top sides than the bottom ones in some respects this season.

[bloodspirit]

It's beginning to look like we're some kind of a chance. If we finish top 4, I'll start getting excited. I still don't think that's likely but it's certainly looking more possible. I do think that if we win all our remaining matches we'll finish top 4, but that's a big ask. Especially, are we going to face Freo off back to back 6 day breaks and with missing players and staff etc while they've had a 10 day break? That's going to be another big challenge.

[TheBloods]

No

[royboy42]

At the start of 2021, I would have been satisfied with 9th or 10th and on the rise.
Then, as the year progressed, my expectations changed for the better.
Apart from lapses against teams that don't get the best from us (poorer sides), we have improved beyond what I anticipated.
Now we have reached a level I did not expect.
There was a time where I thought if we made the 8, we would limply fold in week one, and be happy with that (Got finals experience into young guys, great effort, much better than we expected etc.etc )
The boys' form has further increased our expectations.
I am now thinking at least one win in September...at least.
Keeping my powder dry about more at this stage.

[KTigers]

I would like to expand on this, and say "probably not".

I'm revising this from "probably not" to "probably not, but maybe"....

[i'm-uninformed2]

I've firmly been in the no camp. Too young, too soon. And we're still too prone to one or two critical position/player injuries (ie: Hickey, McCartin). That's been ok for me. We're building a beautiful side to contend for the next five to seven years.

I still think those caveats apply, particularly on the injury front.

Where I'm now a but, is if we make top four. Winning four finals in a row is probably beyond us. Top four, and it both potentially gives the young guys a chance to run amok on adrenalin in the first final, get a week off, then reload. All still very unlikely - and the injury caveat is still there. But I'll no longer say it's impossible.

[Markwebbos]

I still think this season is a free hit for us.

No one, including us RWOers (Swans tragics) on here gave us a chance of making finals, much less contending.

So the fact that we look almost certain to make the eight is itself miraculous and the possibility of top-4 ...

[SwanSand]

I still think this season is a free hit for us.

No one, including us RWOers (Swans tragics) on here gave us a chance of making finals, much less contending.

So the fact that we look almost certain to make the eight is itself miraculous and the possibility of top-4 ...

The biggest factor for us making the finals this year is health of the core players. And the next one has to be the game plan.

If we had to go back to the last few weeks of last year, we were trying to be faster and through the corridor but this year the spread of our play has gone to the next level and having continuity in the players has certainly helped.

Our Achilles heal is clearance work and defending talls. If we can somehow break even in clearance and if Blakey continues to help with defending the talls then watch out we may even win it.

[Markwebbos]

The baby Swans and Buddy might be an even greater fairytale than Geriatric Geelong or Delicate Demons winning it.

[mcs]

Where I'm now a but, is if we make top four. Winning four finals in a row is probably beyond us. Top four, and it both potentially gives the young guys a chance to run amok on adrenalin in the first final, get a week off, then reload. All still very unlikely - and the injury caveat is still there. But I'll no longer say it's impossible.

That's my take too - if somehow we find a spot in the top 4, then my take will be 'why not?' - with a second chance it'll be a 'free hit' and see what happens. It could truly be the most miraculous of all seasons, and one where our own red and white fairytale wouldn't be beyond the remit of possibility if we did have the second chance.

Brissy and Port have a relatively soft run home (though Port have the fairypuppies in the final round), so we are still long odds to make the 4(and I fancy we may drop 1 or 2 unexpectedly) but just to be in the conversation at this point is fantastic. It would not surprise me one bit if we bow out of the finals quickly - even week 1 if we don't make top 4.

But even if that is the case, I would say this season has already been an A+++ - I hoped we would get 8 or 9 wins, see the gameplan continue to evolve, and increasingly our younger players show they 'have it' in terms of ability to take us far. But we've already done that and so much more - there is genuine hope that this list is already well down the path to being a serious contender for the flag for an extended period (noting as always there are gaps to fill and improve - but that is every list).

I reckon our boys will genuinely feel that on our day, we can beat anyone in the comp - we've shown that all season. We've also shown we can throw in a shocker or two (Wees and Poos and the Suns -> although the Wees and Poos may have been a lot closer if the maggots hadn't contrived to utterly stuff us all night long), but we've beaten Brisbane, we've beaten Geelong, we've been the Dogs, Richmond, Weagles, and took Port and Melbourne pretty close too.

Can we do it at least 3 (probably 4 times) in a row in finals - I doubt it. But in another season like none other, you'd be a game man to rule us out altogether. The last three weeks in particular for mine have highlighted a level of maturity in this squad well beyond the tender ages of many of our key contributors (yesterday another huge tick - despite an awful start, we found a way to stifle momentum, turn the ship then get things well and truly on our terms). We have enough experience in the line up that if we are 'on' come the finals, we will fear no one, and no one will want to play us.

Likely story - we go out quickly. Unlikely story (but definitely now a possibility), we might just give the whole damn thing a pretty decent shake.

Whatever happens, I think we have some good times to again look forward to in the future - but these boys might just have enough willpower and class to say 'the future is now'

[Nico]

Dare to dream. We are low on injuries which is a big help.