Bad Barometer Reading: Ladder Position and Win-Loss

[Sainternist]

We are currently 2 wins and 5 losses and sitting at an awkward 13th position on the ladder (beneath Carlton, no less!).

To me, this most unflattering, considering how much we have improved. Certainly not a true reflection on how we've traveled. Our worst performances were against an up and coming flag threat in the Bulldogs and a red hot GWS, and we still managed to challenge both for a good three quarters. We just came agonisingly close to upsetting the North Melbourne apple-cart and rolling the reigning premiers a few weeks before. If both those results went our way, we'd be currently 4-3 and be right in finals contention. People would be talking us up right now, saying we'll be a good show against the WCE this coming Sunday.

Suffice to say, I actually don't mind this current underdog positions we have. There's nothing to lose and the world to gain. I'm of the belief we can go about the same business this weekend over in Perth and have a bloody chance of knocking the Eagles off. WCE can look at this match as a walk in the park at their own peril. No doubt, boys are going to be hungry for a win. I've been really relishing this season. There seems to be hope for us every week. Feeling very excited on how we'll shape up on Sunday.

I suppose this leaves the question on whether or not the players have the attrition required to sustain this form for the rest of the season?

[St Loxton]

Sometimes the ladder position doesnt truly reflect how your travelling, especially not having every team once.
Saying that im happy to be on the gentle upward trend and flying under the radar.
Regarding next game, will be interesting how the boys stand up after a mentally and physically taxing performance against the roos.

[St Loxton]

Sometimes the ladder position doesnt truly reflect how your travelling, especially not having every team once.
Saying that im happy to be on the gentle upward trend and flying under the radar.
Regarding next game, will be interesting how the boys stand up after a mentally and physically taxing performance against the roos.

[Griggsy]

Agreed, The ladder really is a bad indicator. Was mentioned on a media video how us and the pies sit on the same record but in reality we are poles apart.

Same goes at the other end of the ladder though, Kangas and Cats have had about 1 tough game each.

I hope there are a couple more close games this season but where we finish on top. Really feels one of the keys to this team developing is belief. Seems to be quite a lot of raw talent in the younger guys that we have seen glimpses of but not consistently.

Eagles are ripe to be beaten but I think the game being at Subi will be a problem. Id have the game within 10points if it was at etihad but can never be too sure in WA.

[stevie]

Very winnable as the Eagles are on a slow slide down the ladder. They have been woeful v the good sides but worldbeaters against rubbish. They look slow, Prikkus seems to carrying an injury, their only competitive forward has been Kennedy - Darling and Lecras have been embarassing and very lucky to be in the team - and they have gone backwards from last year. The danger signs were up in Rd 1 when the Lions scored 15 goals against them in Perth. Will still be a very tough game but Subi is no longer the fortress it was.

On a brighter note, my kin Liam Duggan has been doing enough to stay in the Egirl side! Would love to see him enticed back to Melbourne. Playing for the Saints would be great

[st.byron]

Agreed, The ladder really is a bad indicator. Was mentioned on a media video how us and the pies sit on the same record but in reality we are poles apart.

Same goes at the other end of the ladder though, Kangas and Cats have had about 1 tough game each.

I hope there are a couple more close games this season but where we finish on top. Really feels one of the keys to this team developing is belief. Seems to be quite a lot of raw talent in the younger guys that we have seen glimpses of but not consistently.

Eagles are ripe to be beaten but I think the game being at Subi will be a problem. Id have the game within 10points if it was at etihad but can never be too sure in WA.

Prepare for an upcoming week of further umpiring injustices.

WCE at home have the most lop-sided frees for and against of any team in the last ten years.

In 2015 for example, WCE at home :
Frees For - 256. Frees Against - 165.

Been in that kind of territory for years.

Check this out :

"WEST Coast is the most protected team in the AFL.

The Eagles have won a staggering 349 more free kicks than they have conceded in the past five years — a differential three times bigger than their nearest rival.

But it’s at Subiaco, at the aptly nicknamed “House of Pain”, where West Coast gets the biggest advantage from whistleblowers."

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/t ... cedb3bd45c

[longtimesaint]

We are currently 2 wins and 5 losses and sitting at an awkward 13th position on the ladder (beneath Carlton, no less!).

To me, this most unflattering, considering how much we have improved. Certainly not a true reflection on how we've traveled. Our worst performances were against an up and coming flag threat in the Bulldogs and a red hot GWS, and we still managed to challenge both for a good three quarters. We just came agonisingly close to upsetting the North Melbourne apple-cart and rolling the reigning premiers a few weeks before. If both those results went our way, we'd be currently 4-3 and be right in finals contention. People would be talking us up right now, saying we'll be a good show against the WCE this coming Sunday.

Suffice to say, I actually don't mind this current underdog positions we have. There's nothing to lose and the world to gain. I'm of the belief we can go about the same business this weekend over in Perth and have a bloody chance of knocking the Eagles off. WCE can look at this match as a walk in the park at their own peril. No doubt, boys are going to be hungry for a win. I've been really relishing this season. There seems to be hope for us every week. Feeling very excited on how we'll shape up on Sunday.

I suppose this leaves the question on whether or not the players have the attrition required to sustain this form for the rest of the season?

We should improve further as we have had a very hard early draw.
No one really expected us to beat top 8 teams but we will have played 5 in the first 8 rounds including three interstste.
Even the other teams we played were 9th and 10th with only Collingwood around our level.
We could have beaten Hawthorn and North and be on 4-3 which would have been an amazing result.
We play all the bottom teams in the second half of the season and some of them twice.
If we continue to play as we have 9 or 10 wins are possible which would put as just out of the eight.

[Griggsy]

^^ real barometer for our consistency will be putting away carlton and brisbane away easy. Scrape over the line and we are probably where most expected us to be, smash them and we prove we are a leaping ahead.

[Sainternist]

Agreed, The ladder really is a bad indicator. Was mentioned on a media video how us and the pies sit on the same record but in reality we are poles apart.

Same goes at the other end of the ladder though, Kangas and Cats have had about 1 tough game each.

I hope there are a couple more close games this season but where we finish on top. Really feels one of the keys to this team developing is belief. Seems to be quite a lot of raw talent in the younger guys that we have seen glimpses of but not consistently.

Eagles are ripe to be beaten but I think the game being at Subi will be a problem. Id have the game within 10points if it was at etihad but can never be too sure in WA.

Prepare for an upcoming week of further umpiring injustices.

WCE at home have the most lop-sided frees for and against of any team in the last ten years.

In 2015 for example, WCE at home :
Frees For - 256. Frees Against - 165.

Been in that kind of territory for years.

Check this out :

"WEST Coast is the most protected team in the AFL.

The Eagles have won a staggering 349 more free kicks than they have conceded in the past five years — a differential three times bigger than their nearest rival.

But it’s at Subiaco, at the aptly nicknamed “House of Pain”, where West Coast gets the biggest advantage from whistleblowers."

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/t ... cedb3bd45c

Umpires seem to get very intimidated by WCE crowds. Gotta keep the angry mob happy, or else...

Sunday's match should be billed as: West Coast Eagles (plus umpires) vs St.Kilda

[Con Gorozidis]

I like to use % as an overall barometer. Obviously it isnt perfect either because teams have different draws but it gives a better overall picture of performance. The % ladder has us at 11th which seems about right.

[ace]

It doesn't matter where you finish on the ladder unless you are a premiership contender.
What matters is how much you have improved your game.
Low ladder position with excellent draft pick is acceptable so long as you are playing well and improving.

[samuraisaint]

As many have already posted, both here and on Bigfooty, the first 8 rounds of this season were always going to be an immense challenge. Most people thought one win was likely (against Melbourne) which we got, and I raise you the Collingwood win at the G. We still have one of these games to go, and it is amongst the most challenging; Eagles in Perth with their usual rounds of Mainwaring wing free kicks.
We have started improving, but if this weekend goes as many think it might, we'll be left with 2 wins out of our past 14 matches (plus a draw against an injury riddled Geelong). I think the club would have set goals in blocks of games, with 2 out of our first 8 rating as satisfactory considering leading Hawthorn into time-on in Tasmania, leading Port in Adelaide by 21 points just before three quarter time and drawing level with top four side North with a minute and a half of the game left to play.
The next 8 games block should see 6 wins - as we play Essendon twice at Etihad, Freo at Etihad, Melbourne at Etihad (Home game), Carlton at Etihad, and Gold Coast Suns up on the Gold Coast. If we do that we will have won more games than I thought we would win all year. The next block of games after that is a bit more difficult and allowing for fatigue and injuries, and fluctuating form of younger players, we should net 2 wins out of those 6 - Carlton at the G and Brisbane at Etihad. Should doesn't always mean we will, but going on exposed form, we could win as many as 10 games, with 7 being an almost certainty. So long as we win 7 games this year I will be satisfied, but it would be good to get at least one 100 point win - in possibly the return match against Essendon - be hard to do that returning from Perth, and two 60 point wins for the old percentage. One of them against the Blues and one against Freo would be my preference, although that is probably unlikely.

[samuraisaint]

We are currently 2 wins and 5 losses and sitting at an awkward 13th position on the ladder (beneath Carlton, no less!).

To me, this most unflattering, considering how much we have improved. Certainly not a true reflection on how we've traveled. Our worst performances were against an up and coming flag threat in the Bulldogs and a red hot GWS, and we still managed to challenge both for a good three quarters. We just came agonisingly close to upsetting the North Melbourne apple-cart and rolling the reigning premiers a few weeks before. If both those results went our way, we'd be currently 4-3 and be right in finals contention. People would be talking us up right now, saying we'll be a good show against the WCE this coming Sunday.

Suffice to say, I actually don't mind this current underdog positions we have. There's nothing to lose and the world to gain. I'm of the belief we can go about the same business this weekend over in Perth and have a bloody chance of knocking the Eagles off. WCE can look at this match as a walk in the park at their own peril. No doubt, boys are going to be hungry for a win. I've been really relishing this season. There seems to be hope for us every week. Feeling very excited on how we'll shape up on Sunday.

I suppose this leaves the question on whether or not the players have the attrition required to sustain this form for the rest of the season?

We have barely been tipped by any of the so-called expert tipsters on any forum in the media, in any domain; newspaper, television, radio, websites, as a chance in any game at all this year. It certainly won't change this week against the Eagles at Subiaco.

[terry smith rules]

Very winnable as the Eagles are on a slow slide down the ladder. They have been woeful v the good sides but worldbeaters against rubbish. They look slow, Prikkus seems to carrying an injury, their only competitive forward has been Kennedy - Darling and Lecras have been embarassing and very lucky to be in the team - and they have gone backwards from last year. The danger signs were up in Rd 1 when the Lions scored 15 goals against them in Perth. Will still be a very tough game but Subi is no longer the fortress it was.

Are you kidding

Darling is having a hugely consistent year, averaging 2.3 goals a game.

Le Cras had a huge game two weeks ago and his averages are similar to other years

If either of them is on the slide, I'd hate to see them going ok

The player who is through the roof for them is Lycett, playing similar to Robb at GWS is easily in the most improved 10 players in the AFL

[spert]

The ladder is the only indication of how a team is going, as it's all about winning, and winning enough games gets a team into the finals with a chance at a premiership. If you're not winning, then you're losing and I don't want to see the situation of us playing apparently good football and losing, with the warm fuzzy hope of light at the end of the tunnel in years to come- that's just dreaming. Every year must be an improvement over the last, in wins on the board, and that is the challenge for the club right now.

[Sainternist]

The ladder is the only indication of how a team is going, as it's all about winning, and winning enough games gets a team into the finals with a chance at a premiership. If you're not winning, then you're losing and I don't want to see the situation of us playing apparently good football and losing, with the warm fuzzy hope of light at the end of the tunnel in years to come- that's just dreaming. Every year must be an improvement over the last, in wins on the board, and that is the challenge for the club right now.

Oh, I agree. If we end up with a record on par or even worse than last year, then we haven't really improved enough. The boy need to starting winning these close ones. Near enough is simply not good enough.

[evertonfc]

Super keen to win as many games as possible but feel the side badly, badly needs another load of three top-20 picks.

Really not sure how we could acquire another pick like that, but open to ideas.

Need to find significant upgrades on Murdoch, Delaney, Curren and probably Wright at season's end.

[BigMart]

We won't have three picks in the top 20 this year

We have already traded out our SRP

[evertonfc]

We won't have three picks in the top 20 this year

We have already traded out our SRP

Ok. Need more picks though.

Add Shenton to that list. Probably Lee too. Need quality that can cut it at AFL level.

[BigMart]

Shenton and/or Lee won't give us picks inside the top 50

[uptheboys]

Shenton and/or Lee won't give us picks inside the top 50

Did they everton say trade bait or did they say we need significant upgrade on them, implying a replacement from the draft thats better. Read before you assume.

[st.byron]

Billy Longer could be trade bait by the year's end. Wouldn't get a first rounder for him though I don't reckon.

[BigMart]

Thanks for the advice

I had to read it a few times to understand it though

Read before you post

[Sainternist]

Thanks for the advice

I had to read it a few times to understand it though

Read before you post

To whom are you speaking to?

I don't mean to be pedantic, but it would help if you would use the quote function sometimes when responding to other posters.

[asiu]

he was replying to uptheboys ... obviously (i woulda thought)

i'm sure you dont need a quote to figure out the tripe i'm replying to.