Can Collingwood make the 8?

[E]

Big logjam forming. If North and Adelaide can win this week, there will 12 teams at 10-8.

I actually think that Sydney is in jeopardy big time. They look pretty ordinary tonight. i wonder if the old brigade are now too old for them. Maybe, finally, they slide.....

[eddiesmith]

Sydney will get confidence and their top 4 spot back next week on the back of Buddy kicking 12 goals

Don’t think Collingwood is in any danger of missing, still 2 games clear of 9th and 2 easy games in last 3 rounds

[K]

It's not about age. They had 7 injuries in 8 days, after which they collapsed.
It's all about the injuries.

[David]

Thought this was another pre-season bump.

I think from here, even if the wheels fall off a bit, it’s more likely that we make it than we don’t. One more win out of our last five would probably be enough for us to scrape in, and if we can’t manage that... having said that, I’m still not sure about top 4. Sydney writing themselves out of contention doesn’t hurt, though.

Sydney are likely to miss finals altogether now, I reckon, particularly with their remaining draw. Hard to believe given they seemed top 4 certainties just a few weeks ago – and hard to believe that the Giants, who looked out of finals contention in the middle of the season, are now a pretty good top 4 chance (particularly if Port keep up their average recent form). It’s certainly a hard season to predict, and it’s helped our cause that most teams around us have gone to pieces at one point or other. We’ve actually been remarkably consistent, and seem to have handled our injury list better than most.

[David]

Here’s how the afl.com.au Ladder Predictor (using the autofill feature) sees the ladder after round 23, incidentally:

1. Richmond 18/4
2. West Coast 18/4
3. Collingwood 16/6
4. GWS 15/1/6
5. Hawthorn 15/7
6. Port 14/8
7. Melbourne 13/9
8. Geelong 13/9

9. North 13/9
10. Sydney 11/11
11. Essendon 11/11
12. Adelaide 10/12

Looks pretty believable, but I reckon Hawthorn aren’t going to win anywhere near that many games, and that one of Essendon or Adelaide might yet sneak in.

[The Boy Who Cried Wolf]

If we can't finish 2nd, it might be in our best interests to actually come 4th and play Richmond on the MCG (not being any where near full strength, today's result will be mostly irrelevant come finals time).

Conceivably we could end up playing them 4 times this year.

[Piethagoras' Theorem]

Unquestionably. Holding on to top 4 is the burning question

[BazBoy]

They have round 19 to get thru and face a desparate for a win Sydney round 20

This really will test them with in form Brisbane then Port

Well if they are good enough we will see

[E]

[The Boy Who Cried Wolf]

I dont look at it that way (and how would that put us in Perth if we were 4th and Richmond is 1st?). The way I see it is, whoever wins the GF this year is most likely going to beat Richmond on the G - if we're 4th, we can play them straight off.. and if we lose, learn from that and play them again in the GF (assuming we can beat all comers on the G, and personally I don't take too much from our recent loss to WC on the G - we'll be good vs them come finals).

[Skids]

[BazBoy]

Making the finals after 4 years in the wilderness will be an achievement
especially when from the start we lost Broomy and Goldie

Been a constant battle with players going down during season and others only now playing VFL

Yes a flag would be marvellous but building a side to be finalist,s for a decade be great

[tbaker]

[E]

[E]