Not Far Off...

[Leo.J]

I'm looking forward to see how good we can get.

We appear to be getting better at implimenting our game style every week.

And the list seems to be improving with game time each week, which is giving us extra depth.

So with the return of key personel there appears to be no limit on how far we can go.

Well thats the way I see it.

[philtee]

I admired the way the team kept the pressure on for nearly 4 quarters against GC.
Goal spread by quarter was 4-6-5-6.
GC goal spread was 1-2-3-1.
Sainters were leading by 44pts at half-time, and 54pts at 3/4 time - would have been
easy for the lads to slacken the workrate and cruise to victory.
True, Gold Coast did fall over, but it's a tribute to Watters,
coaching staff and the lads that the team kept the screws on.
No doubt they had an eye on upcoming games against Crows and Bombers where only
a four-quarter effort will get the job done. (As Sydney found to their horror on
Sat-dee night).

[The Redeemer]

That said we haven't beaten anyone half decent.

Sydney are top of the ladder and we beat them.

Correction, we crushed them. Game was not even close after half time.

Compare we games against other 'challrngers'...

- Hawks... In it until final Q despite losing our no.1 ruck before the game and our B&F key defender during it.
- West Coast... valiantly fought back to within a couple of goals down in the last... despite losing our second ruck during the game against a team whose dominance emanates from that area of the game.

People keep on saying it but this is an incredibly open season. At this stage any of the top 8 could win the flag and even Carlton and the Tigers are a sneaky chance... certainly any of the top 11 could go on a run and finish top 4.

The Eagles game cannot have excuses. We were thumped and they took the peddle off for a quarter or so and put it back on when needed again.

Cyril was given a ride from the umpires and benefitted handsomely in the Hawks match. That being said the Hawks looks the better team all night.

[Leo.J]

...The Eagles game cannot have excuses. We were thumped and they took the peddle off for a quarter or so and put it back on when needed again.

Cyril was given a ride from the umpires and benefitted handsomely in the Hawks match. That being said the Hawks looks the better team all night.

IMO we are not totally without excuses.

We lost Big Mac at training before the Hawks game, which cancelled out any advantage we had, then during the 2nd quarter we lost our best defender and one of our best players in Sam Fisher. After which Buddy ran amok.

Against the Eagles we lost Stanley in the 1st, giving the Eagles a massive edge in the ruck dept. Not to mention we we're one down for the rest of the game and coming off a 6 day break.

I know excuses excuses.

[Teflon]

Sorry off topic Leo - but has anyone noticed we currently have the highest POINTS FOR in the League?

All I can say is that it's been a while!!

Promising.

This is a real positive for me.

In recent seasons we've generally been able to lock any team down but only score freely against the weaker sides.

This year we are probably the polar opposite, we've been able to score freely against anyone but only really been able to lock down the weaker sides.

We've shown glimpses of getting the mix right but over all the good sides have kicked a score against us... Sydney omitted who we should of smashed with good kicking, that said they'll be alot stronger next time with Goodes and Mumford back. That said we did lose big Mac just before the Hawks and Fisher during, and Stanley during the Eagles.

With the return of a few key personel for us our defence will improve, hopefully giving us the right blend of offence and defence.

As I've said we're not far off.

Good post.

IF we get that balance right....like the Pies have at times....we could be scary for a lot of teams..