Other clubs -your opinion

[spert]

I'm happy about the Sainters progress, but I'm trying to work out how our opposition are looking..I've made a couple of conclusions and that is:

Crap-no improvement noticed:
Melbourne, Richmond and Carlton.

May drop away:
WCE, Collingwood, Essendon, Port Adel, Freo

Same as last year :
Sydney, Kangaroos, Adelaide

Possible improvers:
Brisbane

Very Good, but now better:
Sainters, Hawks, Dogs

Hard to beat in 2008:
Cats

Your opinions please

[bigcarl]

Collingwood, Brisbane, Hawthorn and, of course, Geelong are the teams we'll have to beat imo

[perfectionist]

Crap-no improvement noticed:
Melbourne, Richmond and Carlton.

I agree, but of these we only play Carlton twice. Of the six interstate clubs we play FIVE away. Just as well we finished nineth otherwise we would have got a hard draw, sorry FIXTURE!

[Ghost Like]

Geelong: (cut above) too confident and too strong atm...but it's a long season.

Collingwood: very well coached, well disciplined, very even list that they could just about lose any player through injury and will continue rolling. A bit like a centipede with a broken leg. Hard to knock off their game.

Adelaide: Another well coached team who should continue to surprise.

Hawthorn: Strong young side, suspect down back but improving, might be sucked into a physical game with a bit of yap. Will be top 4.

Port: rocked by their start to the season, hopefully they stay ounch drunk for another month. May have over achieved last year, the proverbial two steps forward, one step back.

WCE: sliding but a very proud club who will be dangerous at times.

Freo: an enigma, I can't believe I fall for them each year, for that matter each week when I do my tipping.

Kangas: to drop a little, can be as fragile as they can be hard which explains last years finals. Can't see anything has changed.

Essendon: to improve but not enough to match the hype, hopefully win won, lose won through entire season. Round 4 should be a lose.

Brisbane / Sydney: Home games should ensure they are tough to beat and should make the top 8 hard to get into for teams like Essendon and Freo.

Rich / Melb / Carl: We'll see who wants Natanui bad enough.

[vacuous space]

Adelaide has impressed so far. Neil Craig seems to want to play a more attacking brand of football this year. They're the third highest scoring team in the comp right now with the best conversion rate. Not bad for a team that people expected would have trouble scoring.

[perfectionist]

Essendon: to improve but not enough to match the hype, hopefully win won, lose won through entire season. Round 4 should be a lose.

I hope you mean round 5! Or perhaps they'll have two losses in a row.

Other than that, your analysis is pretty spot on!

What's your view of us?

[st_Trav_ofWA]

geelong seem to be the dominant force again and the media will continue to blow smoke up their rear ends

collingwood seem to have that knack of always being in a possition to win the game i cant think of any recent game they have been smashed in though how long it can last is to be seen

Freo are the same old same old rely on 2-3 players to carry the load bigest bunch of front runners in the comp they really need to rebuild cause that team wil NEVER win a flag not with the likes of farmer hedland tarrant solomon johnson ect ect these players treat freo as a good little money earner for their retirment fund . they lack heart and they confuse thuggery with hardness they will still win most games at subi but they will not do anything beyond that .

Westcoast finding its not so easy when there also rans need to pick up the slack Fletcher is exposed for the cherrypicking seagull he is . they will bounce back the young blood they have in the team will ensure that but again my need to cut off some of the arrogant deadwood of the former era to move on

Hawthorn - show signs of being a great team but then do stupid things with the game plan with a better coach they would be up there with Geelong as the dominant force

Port - classic over achivers fluked their way to the Granny last year like Melb in 2000 now people know how to play them they will struggle

Kangas - always punch out of their weght division i though once the heart (archer) was gone they would crumble but not yet ...

Richmond - still a long way off

Carlton - losing that loser mentality of the past 7years is going to be hard to do and pinning the hopes on judd is a big risk as hes no where near his WC standard

Melb- poor old dean bailey he will get the years of dissapoinment while the club rebuilds and then once on the verge of comming back will get the arse for an experianced coach who will be credited for the turn around

Bris - give them a year or two and they will be stronger the geelong are

[Ghost Like]

Essendon: to improve but not enough to match the hype, hopefully win won, lose won through entire season. Round 4 should be a lose.

I hope you mean round 5! Or perhaps they'll have two losses in a row.

Other than that, your analysis is pretty spot on!

What's your view of us?

Spot on perfectionist (now I know why you're called that), I did mean round 5, so hopefully Essendon do the AFL cha cha: win loss win loss loss (fingers crossed). We can't have Essendon stopping us going 5 zip now can we?

St Kilda: A bit like a kite, will be a turbulent first half of year in terms of playing style and results as we are still caught in transition between the Thomas style and the more accountable Lyon philosophy, coupled with a high turnover of players, may cause some hiccups in the first 12 rounds. A better run though in the medical room and our ruck stocks having been addressed should ensure a charge at a top 4 spot, certainly top 6.