Plenty of questions from massive week in AFL

With Roughead out this is a moot point, Buddy has to play FF. For all the frustrations he is still most dangerous at Full Forward because of the difficulty in finding someone as big, agile and quick as him. Our problems are ruck and our undermanned defence , not the Coleman Medalist.

They finished 2.5 games ahead of Carlton and they didn't win all the close ones, just going down against the Hawks in Launceston. They beat Carlton 2/2 so I don't think it can be called luck.

Call me insane, but I'm a Hawthorn supporter and I don't believe we play our best football with Franklin at full forward. He's too big a focus, he misses too many goals, he spills too many easy marks, gives too many free kicks away, gives too many 50 metre penalties away and is too easily shut down by double teaming. When we play him on the ball he gets the ball, he runs opponents off their feet and he still kicks goals on the run. Play him at full forward and we're a one trick pony and Geelong and Collingwood will see us coming every time.

Macca- the ingredients are there for the Blues should they bring in a big forward. I watched in awe & agony at Subi in round 21 when they burnt Freo.

Waite and Kreuzer might of made a difference in that regard Micky G, the blues also have Levi Casboult (198cm), Luke Mitchell (199cm) Andrew McInnes (191cm) Pat McCarthy (196cm) and Matthew Watson (195cm) on the list so hopefully one of those will come on over the pre season and they have stated they might look to trade so the lack of a key forwrd might be resolved very quickly.

As a Freo member it pains me to say it but West Coast have been terrific this season. I agree with the previous posts they have had an amazing run of luck with injuries. Geelong will end their finals campaign but from wooden spoon to prelim is a great story. Freo had zero luck with injuries & a horror draw playing 6 of the previous years top 8 in the last 6 games. But despite the cruel draw it was the injuries which hurt most. I see the Hawks pushing the pies all the way, should be a ripper of a game. As for loyalty....well it's never really been there IMO since the game went professional. Harv's deserved better as he did nothing wrong. In saying that Ross Lyon will be the first experienced coach to be at the helm of Freo in our short history and I wish him all the best. We are starved for success & now the decision has been made albeit ruthless & distasteful we can now look forward to a new season with hope. Carlton fans cannot be whinging about the umpires of Friday night. Yes the first half was over officiated BUT until Carlton addresses their lack of a key marking forward they just won't make a GF let alone win a GF. I felt it Carlton had a big key forward they would of won given the drive they get from the midfield.

That's very true. Injuries effect every team during the season. Whilst the Eagles have had a better run then most, almost every team that wins a flag has a decent injury run. The Eagles finished 4th because they deserved to. re the close game point. The true mark of a good team is to be able to both win the close games and win when they don't play particularly well.

Agree Nathan - The benefits of having Glass, Kerr, Cox, Embley, Butler et el from the 2005/06 sides.

One of the best things that the Eagles have managed to accomplish this year is digging deep to pull out the close games. This Carlton game, the one against Geelong, the second Doggies game, the North Melbourne game. When the chips have been down we've had the mental fortitude to come out on top.

We had a good run with injuries, but its not accurate to say we've had no injuries. Le Cras, Rosa, Waters, Brown have all been players with multi-week spells on the sideline, we've had Kerr for barely half the season, Cox has had to play with injuries many times, Naita has been carrying a shoulder issue since the NAB cup. Many teams copped much worse, but no injuries is a definite misnomer.

Does loyalty still hold any importance in football? No, it's all about the money. Players are there for a short period of time so they want to make the most of it Can anything stop a Geelong versus Collingwood Grand Final? Unlikely. They have been the two stand out sides this year. Add to that in the last 4 years, the two sides that have had the week off have faced each other in the gf Can West Coast continue its fairytale season? No, they have had a great year but they will fall short. Can Mark Neeld bring success to the Demons? Don't know Don't care. Did Carlton deserve a free kick in the dying minutes of its Semi-Final? I think the umpire made the right call. Walker's mistake was that he 'played' for the free kick instead of trying to mark it. Bit of a panic move by Glass though.

The draw makes a difference of 2 games at absolute maximum. They finished 2 1/2 games ahead of Carlton and 4 1/2 games ahead of the St Kilda and Sydney. They also beat Carlton twice this season (including the final) as well as being one of only 2 teams to beat Geelong. Adelaide had a very soft draw as well and it didnt help them. As for injuries, well that happens sometimes. I can't remember the last team to win a competition, in any sport really, which had a big injury list. It's just something that any team needs to win a competition. This is a much more important factor then the draw. There was a stat on AFL 360 a few weeks ago which showed the ladder if teams had only played each other once (from memory games involving teams who played each other twice were worth 2 points) and the ladder was the exact same except for Richmond and Melbourne (12th and 13th and seperated by only 1% on the actual ladder) who swapped with each other.

They also seemed to have a number of games where they just got over the line late in the season to get that top 4 chance, Freo & Brisbane spring to mind but I think there was another couple. On their favourable draw, maybe that is the advantage of finishing last, the AFL didn't think they would get a decent crowd so they didn't have them play the big teams.

i think this has been the luckiest season i've ever seen, for the eagles. first, they have NO injuries (whereas on the other side of Perth, fremantle have had at least 6 of their best players missing a massive chunk of the season. secondly, they played ONE team inside the top 8 twice, and that team is the bombers (who can't play at subiaco). i don't know what they've done to deserve this luck, but i definitely want to know the recipe! most other teams with this amount of luck would've been top

I don't think the Eagles can go head to head with Geelong this time; its just been too long since we've had a rest, going against a fresh side. Has been months since a rest, I think the tank is running on empty.

They might of rushed Hurn a little but he still had plenty of time from being called play on to being tackled, although it seemed the crowd was deafening. The eagles loss did hurt a bit but they were missing Robinson, Laidler, Duigan and Jamison got injured, the only loss that was really out of the blue was the Bulldogs, especially after getting to 27 points up. I could also point to the Essendon draw and the Geelong loss (where they had outplayed them everywhere but the scoreboard) but when it all comes down to it from 6 games against top 4 side the blues didn't win 1 so 5th is probably where they deserve to be but Essendon were the only side younger and no side was less experienced in the top 8 and it is the next 4 years that will be the blues premiership window. Also going out in a narrow loss this weekend might be better for the psyche than getting belted by Geelong on Saturday, which after a tough game in Perth would be more than possible,

That Robinson one was a shocker. I was a neutral observer but I almost threw something at the TV when that was paid. That said, I thought the early play on call for Hurn that lead to Murphy's goal in the fourth was also a bit mystifying. Why did the umpires give him so little time? When the Blues look back on this season, I suspect it will be the mid-season loss to the Eagles that they rue, as much as Saturday night.

If Gibson can play like he did against us on Friday night then the hawks can push the Pies. Gibson plays sort of a sweeper role. He usually, not always but usually, comes in as the extra man in a 1 on 1 or 2 on 2 contest and spoils from behind, and he does it very well. It might be a good idea to play a defensive forward on him to negate his impact, much like how tagging Scarlett has become a fairly usual tactic (though for different reasons.) I can't see WC winning, simply because it's in Melbourne but I hope I'm wrong. If the PF and GF were in Perth I'd back them to win the flag. Their turn around this season has been incredible. Mark Neeld certainly sounds like he knows what he's talking about, then again so did Dean Bailey. That's the thing with first-time coaches, we have absolutely no idea how they'll coach or how good they are. The Demons list clearly has talent but seems to be quite soft mentally, and there are a fair few players who believe that a premiership window is inevitable rather then something they need to work hard towards, so toughening them up will be his real test. I still think they sacked to many experienced leaders. re the Walker free kick, both players were holding each other. Any good umpire will say play on in that situation. Good call. Credit to the Blues however (jesus that's hard to type), they pushed the Eagles closer then I thought they would. Ratten deserves a new contract.

Completely agree about this weeks games Tom, West Coast have had 2 massive weeks and Geelong are travelling nicely. Collingwood on the other hand are only just going, they beat a Kerrless West Coast in Melb by 20 points after Cox also got injured and then the Blues without Gibbs, Kreuzer and Waite run West Coast to 3 points in Perth with Kerr and COx in the best players, hardly appears that Collingwood is flying. Remember that last time the Hawks playted the pies they were missing 6 or 7 of their best 22. On the Carlton game and umpiring, as a Carlton supporter I don't think there was anything in the Walker/Glass free kick (I am more upset about the Shuey holding the ball not paid and the Robinson (I think) holding the ball paid in the second quarter) but the first half was massively over umpired, the blues got some tiggy touchwood frees in the first and then west coast got a good run in the second. Ray Chamberlain need to learn he is not the star of the show.

I really can't see the Eagles beating the Cats on Saturday, but I don't think a Hawks win is out of the question on Friday. The Pies look at their best when Travis Cloke is firing, and Josh Gibson's excellent performance against the Swans suggests he may be able to put the stoppers on the Collingwood forward. Both sides are very capable through the middle of the ground. I just hope the Hawks show more bravery than they did when these two sides last met, and Hawthorn insisted on chipping the ball around, trying to deny the Pies posession. All they did was deny themselves any movement.