Are we the best team outside the 8?

[tigerjoe]

I'm going early (not the first or last time), but I'm confident we will beat North and finish 9th.

Does that mean we are the best team outside the 8?

Are we as good or better than Freo, Melbourne , North, The Bulldogs..........

We are the most inexperienced list in the AFL and consequently still lack consistency, but does that give us more upside and scope for improvement?

Would a good ruckman and a good run with injuries (both big calls) take us into the finals in 2012?

I believe the answers to all these questions are YES!

YES, THE TIGER IS STIRRING!!!!

 

[Streak]

I think a fully fit Freo are a tough team for us.

 

[RfC77]

I think a fully fit Freo are a tough team for us.

could add the scrays too, I think 10-11th is a more realisitic finish for us in 2011. Next year we should improve but maybe just miss the finals, however if 1 or 2 current top 8 team/s has a shocker of a year in 2012 then it would certainly open the door for us!

 

[Scoop]

No, no we are not.

But that doesn't mean that our list is a worse postion then some teams in the 8.

We are what we are.

 

[LeeToRainesToRoach]

No, no we are not. 

But that doesn't mean that our list is a worse postion then some teams in the 8.

We are what we are.

Well said.

Freo are well ahead in development, but have a limited window.
Melbourne similar to us, unfair to judge them in their current state of upheaval.
North a little ahead, but less scope.
Dogs in a transitional phase and hard to assess. Could go either way under a new coach. We can pass them next year.
Crows have plenty of young talent but went sour under Craig.
We're clearly better than the other three (even though two of them beat us).

 

[23.21.159]

I can do the math as well as anyone.
If we finish ninth, we are the best team outside the eight. :

 

[SkunkDen]

rewind back to before the sydney game and this question would answer itself, NO.
3 wins in a row at the end of the season shouldnt make a big difference to the answer of that question but i guess it shows there are some good signs to take into next year. the middle third of this year should be focused on a lot harder than the other parts because we went missing when we had the chance to show our best stuff. that said i thought we would finish 10th-12th this year knowing that we would hav a flat period thru the season so its no surprise to me that happend in the middle after tough games early and a lot of gas used to win a few in a short space of time.

- Across the competion i would say freo are the best side out of the 8 and due to massive ammount of injuries have fallen short this year but on a head to head match up we generally serve it up to freo.

- I still think melbourne, nth melbourne and us are almost even accept i think we are now much more stable off-field than melbourne and I think we hav more game breakers than north which gives us a slight edge on both.

- The bulldogs are interesting because there top 6 players are extremely good but it wasnt until just recently that they hav started to blood new players so its hard to tell where exactly they are at but as west coast has showed this season that if u get ur best players playing well the others find it easier to play well too.

- The crows homeground advantage helps them with some wins generally but im preferring where we are at as a rebuilding list than them

- by the time the younger group at brisbane are playing better they are going to hav to replace simon black and johnno brown so I think its going to be the type of grind for them that it has been for the roos over the past few years with being able to win 7-10 games but not be good enuf to make finals

- gold coast will eventually be a powerhouse side but it would be silly comparring them atm and port are in the pits and will prob remain there for a while.

 

[tigs2010]

Think anyone from 6-14th on the ladder can beat any other side 6-14th on the ladder. Its pretty even.

 

[23.21.159]

Think anyone from 6-14th on the ladder can beat any other side 6-14th on the ladder. Its pretty even.

Interesting comment .... didn't we get done TWICE by teams who at the time of the match were on the bottom ?

 

[tigertigertigertiger]

Before the sydney game i would have said no we are not,,,,,,,

but we beat sydney well,not just,then sydney came out and beat cats,now cats smash collingwood.

if the teams were racehorses,and you went by formalone,you would have a case for picking the tigers horse to beat collingwood next race.

But all *smile* aside,i think the sydney win,and beating a very in form crows,makes us the best team outside the 8,now.

but six weeks ago ,no .

 

[tigertigertigertiger]

One thing for sure,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Its great we are no longer the worst team outside the 8,,,,,,

Go tigers

 

[year of the tiger]

Think anyone from 6-14th on the ladder can beat any other side 6-14th on the ladder. Its pretty even.

yep - agree

Any of these teams are capable of getting on a role and winning a few in a row. I think they all (like Richmond) had a period of being in the form slump and lost games on end and looked very ordinary during this period.

Difference with the bottom 2 is they only won the odd game in isolation.

Freo has the best list of the 6 - 14 placed, but they are getting a reputation of generating long injury lists - this year is not the first.

 

[GoodOne]

If we finish 9th yes, if not no.

 

[Phar Ace]

I think that early win against Freo flatters us a bit - the stirring wins against Essendon and the Swans were top end of our ability-type wins. The Brisbane win was also a good one, as they have troubled a lot of good sides and have rarely lost by much. Hard for me to rate the Melb/Adsl wins as i have't seen them (thanks C7 )

Not sure the math says anything about us as being better or worse - with a compromised draw it just is what it is when the music stops.

The more appropriate question will be asked after the trade and draft - will we make the eight in 2012. That's much easier to answer at the moment based on what we see - NO!

As most of us can see any Clubs' position can change markedly from year to year because:

• a couple of good new draftees (imagine Essendon minus Heppell this year?),
• a couple of decent trades (where would we have been without Houli and Grigg?),
• a favourable draw (read Collingwood and us this year),
• and a smile from the injury god (Freo what have you been doing to her? ).
  

 

[Brodders17]

I would say we are as good as any team outside the 8.
Are we better? Who knows, and really at this stage it is irrelevant. what matters is that we progress again next year, and continue to until we have a team that can seriously contend.

 

[johnson2richo2003]

Can,t wait til the day,we debate if we are the best side in the top 8? ;D

 

[tigs2010]

Interesting comment .... didn't we get done TWICE by teams who at the time of the match were on the bottom ?

Yes and Sydney beat Geelong. It happens but realistically 6th-14th are nearly close to 50/50 games if each side is playing well.

 

[tigs2010]

Before the sydney game i would have said no we are not,,,,,,,

but we beat sydney well,not just,then sydney came out and beat cats,now cats smash collingwood.

if the teams were racehorses,and you went by formalone,you would have a case for picking the tigers horse to beat collingwood next race.

But all *smile* aside,i think the sydney win,and beating a very in form crows,makes us the best team outside the 8,now.

but six weeks ago ,no .

I like that theory. Makes us sound good

I went last night and we would have beaten the Pies. They were atrocious. Theywere like us of 2009. Cats were like themselves of 2007. It was amazing.

 

[Brodders17]

Yes and Sydney beat Geelong. It happens but realistically 6th-14th are nearly close to 50/50 games if each side is playing well.

heading into tomorrows game we 6wins 1 draw and 4losses against teams 6th-14th. with a % a bit above 100
we are 0-6 against teams in the top 5 with a % somewhere around 50% and
2 and 2 against teams 15- 17 with a % about 110%.

those results are prob a fair indication of where we are at.

 

[Col.E.Kurtz]

No, no we are not.

But that doesn't mean that our list is a worse postion then some teams in the 8.

We are what we are.

Fair point, for example I'd rather have our list and at least 4 other teams outside the 8's list ahead of the Saints