SA Footy

What I'm curious about is what our Centrals friends (and anyone else I suppose) really think of the teams shaping up to make the finals. Centrals look odds on to make it an 8th consecutive Grand Final, so who would they prefer to avoid most in the big one?

The final five looks like being Centrals as minor premiers with North Adelaide and Sturt getting the double chance. I dare say it'd be the Eagles and then Glenelg in the Elimination Final.

For me as a Sturt supporter, I'd like to see the Eagles go out as they could be dangerous come September with their finals experience, so do the Doggies supporters feel the same?

... or are you guys more concerned about a Chambers led Sturt?

Banter aside, who do you REALLY think is the real threat to Centrals winning yet another premiership?

csbowes wrote: Centrals look odds on to make it an 8th consecutive Grand Final, so who would they prefer to avoid most in the big one?

Surely that's a record ?

I actually relish the thought of taking on the (next) best team around. The team to "avoid" is the team that wins their way into the GF so it's always the better team that pops up. To win we'd need to beat the second best team so I don't really think about avoiding teams anymore. I used to, but no longer.

As for who I think the contenders are (which I think is a separate issue, given my response above), Sturt put their hand up emphatically earlier on. They played a great brand of finals type footy and came away with a win over the dogs. Personally, I think we let ourselves down a bit that day, but Sturt still had to do the job. Many teams wouldn't have been able to do that, however much they tried. North I'm unconvinced about in tough conditions. At the moment, I'd say they will yet again fail to even make the GF. And if they do, I'd expect a confortable victory to whoever they play. I just feel they have to show something in hard conditions. The Eagles aren't the team they were last season, and don't seem to have the drive either. I also think the dogs have improved so much with plenty of players developing and a few recruits added to share the load around. I'd back the current dogs team against the October 2006 Eagles. The rest are so far behind I won't bother mentioning them. Norwood, Glenelg, Port and South have been shown up as also rans to this point, while West were delusional if they thought they were playing for the last day of the season.

Good question CSBowes. Centrals have a huge record this year, and sometimes just seem to shrug sides off. This is a good thread to succeed the "Who (if anyone) will be the first side to beat the Dogs this year?".
Surely the Dogs would fear the Roosters ahead of any other though. I take the view that North is now experienced in finals situations, and has been priming for a grand final berth ever since Jarman took over. What happens during the season is just funny buggers to whoever has the bigger prize in view IMO. Centrals, this year, are so dominant that they can afford to sweep the entire field to one side during the year and pummel their Grand Final foes by 10 goals on the last day of the season. I really think the only side with anything up their sleeve to challenge that scenario is North, with an outside chance that the Eagles will click together once all their injured players return. Sturt threw everything they had at Centrals one day at Unley, and through desperation came out with the points. I can't see us catching them out like that again, we have played our hand already, and got found out by the Bays just a couple of weeks ago. All we have achieved of late is hammer a dispirited Panthers outfit. Looks good but not anything to start booking finals over.
I guess only the Centrals fans can answer this question, but I there is a good chance they'll give a big "Nobody!" as their answer.

anything can happen but before we get too far ahead i want to beat north. then i just want the double chance and have a crack from there.

at this stage im still looking at a dogs/north gf as i think if north miss the gf this year with a GOLDEN oppurtunity then there are major problems down at prossie. the eags are likely not to get there and north are very confident vs sturt so i dont think they worries them or their fans. north have the talent to match the dogs but the game plan is ?????

still i think north SHOULD be the club to challenge the dogs this year but if sturt get a crack them ill be about $3000 in the hole after my flight there

once again theri a great post

Looks as though we were typing virtually the same thing, at the same time there Jimmy. What's that they say about great minds?

Grahaml wrote:The rest are so far behind I won't bother mentioning them. Norwood, Glenelg, Port and South have been shown up as also rans to this point, while West were delusional if they thought they were playing for the last day of the season.

"also rans"....like that, it will come back to bite you on the bum me feels..WADH!!!!

Eagles.

Revenge for 2006..?

The two best teams this millenium.

A True Grandfinal......

Forget the rest......

The narcotics division of SAPOL

i would think central fear no one but i'd think that quick & quick moving teams are the sides that could trouble central, sturt & glenelg i'm not sure north are quick enough i think they've been missing campbell more than some realise

First of all lets not get ahead of ourselves. So far we have been in excellent form and are guaranteed to play finals again. In fact with 13 wins we will probably make the top 3 and be in a good position to make the GF.

As Sturt showed in 02 any team on their day can beat any other team in a final. The thing that most concerns me is we are in good shape to finish top. That means a bye in the last round then the first week of the finals off. If we win our first final we will be in the GF having played only once in the previous month - hardly match hardened condition!

Jimmy wrote:at this stage im still looking at a dogs/north gf as i think if north miss the gf this year with a GOLDEN oppurtunity then there are major problems down at prossie.

What happens if Sturt don't make it with their GOLDEN opportunity? They are the only team to beat Central this season. Just because Sturt have exceeded expectations this year shouldn't mean there are any more problems at Unley if they don't make the GF than there would be Prospect? Are you saying it's OK for Sturt to finish 3rd but not North?

You never know when the window will shut and Sturt have a number of older players that won't last forever, this is as much their opportunity as North's.

What I am really saying is that not making a GF doesn't mean their are MAJOR problems at any club. It could mean a range of things such as injuries, luck, form at the right time.

hondo71 wrote:

Jimmy wrote:at this stage im still looking at a dogs/north gf as i think if north miss the gf this year with a GOLDEN oppurtunity then there are major problems down at prossie.

What happens if Sturt don't make it with their GOLDEN opportunity? They are the only team to beat Central this season. Just because Sturt have exceeded expectations this year shouldn't mean there are any more problems at Unley if they don't make the GF than there would be Prospect? Are you saying it's OK for Sturt to finish 3rd but not North?

You never know when the window will shut and Sturt have a number of older players that won't last forever, this is as much their opportunity as North's.

What I am really saying is that not making a GF doesn't mean their are MAJOR problems at any club. It could mean a range of things such as injuries, luck, form at the right time.

hondo if you are realistic you will accept that if North don't at the very least make a GF this year then it will be a major failure and an unacceptable one at that.

The dogs dont fear any team but will play either sturt or north in gf imho. Im glad i put my bet on central after round 2 when i got $5 odds them. After party money. GO U DOGS!!!

Although I believe that any side can beat Central on their day (and the Grand Final is just a day after all) I fear injuries more than I fear other teams.
Cheers!

If you look at our record this year you will see that we usually do well at home and have more trouble with away teams, particularly those with small grounds. The team that has pushed us at home this year is Port but its hard to see them figuring in the finals at the moment.

rod_rooster wrote:hondo if you are realistic you will accept that if North don't at the very least make a GF this year then it will be a major failure and an unacceptable one at that.

I'll wait and see what happens and then look at the reasons why before I decide if it's a major failure or not.

Don't want the Sturt supporters thinking finishing 3rd is good enough for them with all the great form they have shown, do we?

I fear Port Power not releasing our home grown AFL stars in Symes & Westhoff to play in the final series, citing some form of injury concerns. I would like to see a CD v NA GF though.

Dutchy, sounds like the blinkers are on a bit there, buddy. All 4 of the teams mentioned have been shown up badly too often this season. Glenelg may be playing better now than at the start of the year, but that wasn't too hard! We can only go on what we've seen teams do and none are showing anything to even make Sturt or North worry to much either!