The run home

[Ludwig]

We have a few cereal offenders are who are flaky at set shots.

If they can't get it in the bowl, they should be dropped. They're just messing up out game plan.

[Nico]

I know there is an intensified pressure in finals games, but it is good that we will be under pressure in all our lead up games, to sort out who can stand up and who can't. One small concern for me is our goal kicking of late. I know we kicked 20 goals on Saturday, which is pretty good, but 18 points under not a lot of pressure! The game before was 11.16 and we lost by a point. You wouldn't want McLean to be missing a shot from 25m out in front in a final!

We have a few cereal offenders are who are flaky at set shots.

[rojo]

I know there is an intensified pressure in finals games, but it is good that we will be under pressure in all our lead up games, to sort out who can stand up and who can't. One small concern for me is our goal kicking of late. I know we kicked 20 goals on Saturday, which is pretty good, but 18 points under not a lot of pressure! The game before was 11.16 and we lost by a point. You wouldn't want McLean to be missing a shot from 25m out in front in a final!

[Thunder Shaker]

Assuming Carlton and Geelong win their remaining 6 games, we just have to win 3 of them to guarantee top spot. This obviously changes should they both drop matches.

Carlton's run: North Melbourne (H), Port Adelaide (H), Collingwood (A), Hawthorn (H), West Coast (A), St Kilda (H). They only leave Victoria once, to play the Eagles in Perth.

Geelong's run: Bulldogs (H), North Melbourne (A), Adelaide (H), Fremantle (A), St Kilda (A), West Coast (H). Like Carlton, they leave Victoria once, to play in Perth, this time against Fremantle.

Both teams should win five games without a problem and are a chance to win all six. The trickiest games are Carlton-Hawthorn and Fremantle-Geelong. The Collingwood-Carlton and Geelong-Bulldogs have potential to cause upsets as well.

[dawson]

In a perverse way the losses to Freo and Sts are a good thing. Otherwise given our %, we'd only need 1 win across the last 6 weeks to guarantee top spot.
So I would worry about motivation during the last month of the season. I would then fear being jumped in the qualifying final, which given our first quarters this year could be a real possibility. Assuming Carlton and Geelong win their remaining 6 games, we just have to win 3 of them to guarantee top spot. This obviously changes should they both drop matches.

What I'd like is that we win 3 of the next 4 and then the presssure is off for the last two. If we want, we could even rest players - give some guys in the 2s a run.
This is mitigated due to the bye before the finals but we have options up our sleeve should we want to use them.

[707]

Every round from now has a number of games where finals aspirants are playing each other, so every one of these games dents someone's cause.

Us being three games and big % clear is an envious position to be in. Whilst we have a tough last six games, every one we win puts further pressure on potential rivals.

A fresh Mills, Parker and a freshened Heeney is a nice place to be.

[Nugget Returns]

The only thing stopping us at the moment is ourselves. Something felt off the last couple of weeks, almost like we had got ahead of ourselves. The mix of the side will be interesting over the coming weeks and with the ladder position we get the chance to potentially freshen a few ready for finals.

[Go Swannies]

Brisbane were far from convincing yesterday against the Eagles. And it was a solid contest so the trip back from WA and one less day to recover may work in our favor. Purely on form we should win - and we'll have Heeney, Mills and Parker together for the first time this year.

[Thunder Shaker]

The only teams with longer losing streaks against Port Adelaide are Essendon (8) and Gold Coast (14).

And Gold Coast gets their first win against Port Adelaide in 13 years.

[Thunder Shaker]

Five games in a row against teams contending for finals. It's like the finals start early. This should give the team a decent amount of practice for the finals even if we end up dropping a game or two.

Out of these six games, there's one game I want to win more than any other. Port Adelaide. Our losing streak against them is seven games, and this is a streak I really want to break. The only teams with longer losing streaks against Port Adelaide are Essendon (8) and Gold Coast (14). North Melbourne's losing streak against Port Adelaide is only at five. Last time we played them, we lost by 2 points to a kick after the final siren. We should prepare for the Port Adelaide game like they are the top team.

Brisbane will be the most difficult game out of these six. Brisbane's recent form has been very good and they will be hard to beat at home. However, Brisbane are beatable at home. Their early-season losses at the Gabba this year have been to Carlton (1), Collingwood (20) and Geelong (26). Since then, their games at the Gabba have all been wins: Gold Coast (34), Richmond (119), St Kilda (20), Melbourne (5) and Adelaide (11). Brisbane's losses have been against the better sides (Collingwood's win against Brisbane happened before they started losing players to injury). Next weekend's match will be a good game.

[mcs]

With the exception of Brisbane at home, every other match we've got left you honestly could feel that it is hard to just know which 'version' of our opponent might turn up. But how wonderful to know even just halving the six games and winning three would be enough to secure top 2 (and likely the minor premiership).

Some good tests during the run in for us, and next week will be a fascinating one given the form the Lions have been in.

[i'm-uninformed2]

As someone who is lucky to get to a game a year live with where I live these days, I’m so stoked that I am getting to the next two.

Driving up to Brisbane next Sunday, then the week after gotta go into Sydney for work on the Monday, so going to fly down a day early to watch us pump the Dogs.

There’s a little misty tear in the eye at being unlikely to see my true love Justin McInerney play, but hopefully the boys put on a show regardless.

Fire up!

[Blood Fever]

If the Dees go on to beat Essendon, we'll be 3 wins AND a decent whack of percentage ahead of second spot with those 6 games to go! Hang on Dees!!

Looking good

[Sandridge]

If the Dees go on to beat Essendon, we'll be 3 wins AND a decent whack of percentage ahead of second spot with those 6 games to go! Hang on Dees!!

[Thunder Shaker]

The remaining games are a tricky bunch.

First up is Brisbane at the Gabba. This is the most difficult game remaining. We've only won one of our last five against Brisbane. The only win was in round 1, 2021 at the Gabba which was considered an upset at the time. Brisbane are in good form at the moment and they will be hard to beat at home.

The next game is a home game against the Western Bulldogs. We've already played them this year, when we defeated them away by 14 points. We've won four out of the last five against the Dogs, with the loss being in round 3, 2022.

The following game is against Port Adelaide. Out of all teams, our recent record against Port Adelaide is the worst of all teams because they are the only team we haven't defeated in our last five games against. Our losing run against Port stretches to seven games. Port Adelaide is the team we need to defeat. Do that, and the lid blows off. Our last premiership included the breaking of similar losing streaks in finals (Adelaide and Collingwood) and ending our bad run against Port Adelaide could be another example of this.

Next up is a home game against Collingwood. Their form has fallen away recently as the injuries mount. They are the reigning premiers, but are a shadow of the team that claimed last year's premiership. We've won four of the last five against Collingwood. They should be beatable at home.

Our next game is an away game against Essendon. We've won four of the last five against Essendon including a 30-point win at home earlier in the season. Essendon's form against the top teams is dubious with very few wins against top eight teams. They should be beatable.

The final game of the home and away season is a home game against Adelaide. We defeated them away by 42 points earlier, and we've won all five of our most recent games against them. We should be able to defeat them, especially if they have nothing to play for in the last round.

Six games to go. We should be able to win four or five of these and finish the season on top of the ladder.