SO Glad we are well under the Radar. !

[Piesnchess]

Well now, I see the pundits and commentators on MSM, like BT, Luke Darcy, judd etc now just about have the Deeeees winning the Flag, in MAY !! They are raving about them on strength of two big wins, albeit good ones, one over a injury ravaged Crows outfit in Darwin. ! Never mind the Tigers belted them a few weeks back, give em the Premiership now, these flaky so called footy experts chortle. ! So, in May, Cats and Tigers gone, Eagles on top but cant handle the G, Swans and hawks not considered, now its all about the Deeeeees ! What a joke !

I'm so glad we are flying right under the radar, rapt. Nobody really rates us, Kane Cornes said other day, we have not beaten anyone of note yet, um , hello, Adelaide in Adelaide, when we had guys out ?? Lions at the Gabba, when they were coming into really good form, the Dons on Anzac day, before the wheels fell off the Bombers ?? Richmond has not beaten anyone that made the Finals last season, so go figure Kane !

Anyway, I'm glad no body mentions us like they now do Melbourne, its just crazy, too much pressure, just make the Finals is all I want, I'm sure most of us would be satisfied with that, and what comes after that is a bonus.

[Nick - Pie Man]

PIES 2018 PREMIERS friend

Nothing less

[uncanny]

good call pnc. gotta lock horns with dèmons to better gague where each side is at. laat year a win and line ball loss. both teams improved this year. beat the dokas then qb monday sets up season for us. win and we can think top 4 finish

[K]

Of one thing I am now confident: a mediocre team will win the 2018 Premiership (continuing the pattern established in the previous two years) --- the other possibility being that a mediocre team suddenly shoots up and becomes genuinely good (as evidenced, for example, if WCE suddenly starts routinely pulverizing teams in Melbourne).

[RudeBoy]

Before the season started I picked us as finishing 5th, but I'm convinced now that if Cox continues to improve and we don't suffer any more serious injuries to key players, we can win the flag this year.

[E]

[E]

[melliot]

I think we are 7-10 placed side. Hope we can do better, but yet to see it. We'd need to click better and have a much better run with injury.

We have failed most tests against better teams as pointed out. But in most of those games (GWS, Cats, Tigers), we'd lost 2 or more players for most of the 2nd half. Therefore were always going to struggle to win those games in those situations. Looking forward to the test against the dees with a full side for 4 Qs.

[K]

[MatthewBoydFanClub]

I think we have about half a dozen players not pulling their weight and if we're going to beat Melbourne and WCE all players down to our 22nd player has to fire. You can't expect miracles from a rookie in Appleby. Stephenson is a freak but he's not Chris Judd in his first year. And Cox has to start ignoring the umpiring whistle and the stop watch and play the ball and not the man. And one or two more injuries and our goose is cooked. So I'm more a pessimist than an an optimist and think that we'll squeeze into the final eight and then fall away when the real competition starts. Not a wasted year though. 2018 is more a development year. Bit of tweaking with the list here and there at the end of the year. Tom Lynch to Collingwood next year would be a fantastic outcome for us.

[lanstro]

Would've thought we're under the radar because we don't deserve to be on it.

[Mugwump]

[Woods]

I'm hesitant to make a call until I see how the Pies transit the bye. In recent years its been a real watershed in the Pies performance, both good and bad. Has seemed like two different teams play in the first and last half of the season. In particular I want to see if De Goey keeps himself clean with the extended time off.

As for keeping below the radar, all the wild praise being said about Melbourne being flag favorites will be said about the Pies if we win the Queen's Birthday game. Get ready for Future Shock - the unexpected arrival of the future.

The players have negotiated the negative media and supporter commentary well for many years now and are now coming out of that dark period with sustained on-field success. But will they be mentally able to handle the light of adulation and being top of the heap all of a sudden? (especially with so much further improvement needed to compete for that flag in September). Being a short-priced flag favorite will be totally new experience for most of the current Collingwood players.

[Pies2016]

I just don’t get the “ we haven’t beat this and we haven’t beat that “ philosophy.
You could virtually apply that to every team after round 10.
There are only two things that really matter if you’re going to play in September.
1) being in or around the top 8 in August
2) be playing good footy in August

We are currently in the 8 ( just ) and we at least control our own destiny.
August is a long way off for all clubs. I’m happy to keep my powder dry until then.

[Mugwump]

I really think we are building something here. The performance against the Dogs was stronger than it looked. To get four goals down and methodically choke a reasonable quality opposition after that was another real step forward for this team.

QB will tell the story, I suppose, but I think we still have a lot of improvement in our team and our list. Scharenberg is growing with every game, Elliott is an elite forward, Aish has a lot of runway, JDG could grow to be a superstar, and Mason Cox will click once he gets a bit more protection from the umpires. Moore is a bit of an unknown quantity with lots of potential, and Adams will improve with game time, and our center square extraction along with him. Stephenson also has great upside. This is the runway ahead of a team that sits in the eight, and has not suffered a discreditable defeat since round 1.

We are 22/1 for the premiership overnight, and while I don’t bet on football, I think we represent the best value in the top 8 at that price. QB will really tell the tale ; what Melbourne did to Adelaide and Carlton was brutal.