Pre-Match v Brissy...Can we go 4 and 0? Comments here thanks

[JLC]

[couragous cloke]

it'll be interesting to see the money bet for the game. i'd be guessing we'd be about $2:50 but who knows, certainly they'll be favourites but i wouldnt be surprised if we took it up to them, im a lot more confident than anthonyc. i am expecting to win this game, we did it in round 8, and nearly in the GF, its not impossible at the Gabba, the weak as piss Dee's did it, North came very close. Those are two teams that i suppose aren't the best and have taken it up to brissy at the gabba. am i the only 1 that will not be happy if we dont get close or win

[Madpies_Fan]

We were able to rest players on the bench in the final qrt, Brisbane had a really tough game. I have a good feeling bout this one. We play like our last qrt, for 4 qrts against them, we'll be right. It will be a gr8t game no doubt.

[woe_is_me]

There is no question that we are capable of winning this game.

It should be a cracker of a game, and Brisbane will be super-primed for this one. It's just a question of whether we can play near our best level, because that is what it will take to get over the line up there.

I agree with you Culprit - we have beaten nobody YET this season. If we do it on Thursday we will have a six point advantage over Brissy and the rest of the league may actually have to think of us as genuine Premiership contenders. (Most pundits believe it will be Bris, Adel, Port)

GO PIES!!!! Hit 'em hard!!!

[Blanch]

Culprit, do you believe we have a right to boast about where we are? It sounds like you say we don't. You can only play with the cards you are dealt. You can only beat the teams you play. Based on our form, how can anyone assess whether we are a real chance or not. Here are the 2 sides of the coin:

1. Carlton, Richmond, Geelong - they are nobodies and we should have belted all 3 of them....we've played poorly but got away with the points. When we meet stronger opposition we won't win if we play like we have against these teams

2. (flip side of the coin). We've played 3 teams who have troubled us in the past and won 2 of them easily. Good, even great teams sometimes do just enough to win. When tested on all 3 occasions the pies lifted to another level, almost as if they were toying for 2 or 3 qtrs each game. Great teams don't falter (like essendon did on friday), they lift and power on to 47 point winning margins.

So there you are, choose your side of the argument but one thing remains. We are 3-0 so far, can't do anymore than that. We travel to brisbane after our best qtr for the season and will give it a red hot go. I don't "expect" us to win. I only ever "expect" a red hot go from the boys and judging from what I've seen so far, I'm guaranteed it already.

[Lorelei]

I think we are certainly in there with a chance.

The thing is, if you look at this time last year, who turned up to Colonial really really thinking they were going to see the game that they did?

Brisbane are a top side - no doubt. BUT THEY ARE NOT UNBEATABLE.

Somewhere along the way, they have succeeded in winning the psychological warfare stakes - they have the journos and the football supporting public thinking that they are unbeatable. NO TEAM IS.

Melbourne did it up there last year. We did it down here. North nearly succeeded on the weekend. And we nearly did it in the big one.

IMO we are in a better position than we were in Round 8 last year. Sure it is a different venue but we are running out on that ground. And whether we are 16th or 1st - we are in there with a chance. A big chance.

Jen

[PeterWH]

Lets look at it truthfully.if a team of 'hasbeens' like the Kangas can hold Bris to a draw,the PIES can beat teams trying to impress,then what will happen on Thursday night.
The only thing that worries me is the distance between the games.
PIES to win by 20 points

[Natalie]

I'm confident that we can beat Brisbane, even at the Gabba. I'm certainly tipping us to win. We did it last year, came close in the GF (we were robbed) and are a much better side than last year. But we have to stop comparing the team we have now to that of 2 years ago or more.
Ok, we haven't played our best against Tigers and Blues. We played ordinary but we still WON. IMP the key to beating Geelong was to (obviously) play better than past 2 weeks AND to win the ball from the Centre. Well we did that (finally). All those yelping for a ruckman, we got killed in the hit outs again yes, but who dominated centre clearances in the fourth???? Didn't matter that we didn't get hand to ball first.
If you don't think we can beat Brisbane, let me ask you this: Do you think the Kanga's are better than us? I don't.
Taz is on fire at the moment (BOG again for me) and with Rocca, Didak, Molloy, Leon in the forward line, who's going to contain them? We must quell Voss though.
Just remember what the boys are aiming for this year. We have a long way to go yet I know, but we must win more than 14 games this year and beat quality opposition such as Brisbane. We are on the way. But we CAN do it. Have faith and confidence, not "oh we won't be Brisbane". Why not? Hello, this is the new Collingwood, not the old Collingwood. Maybe the team has been saving energy for the Brissie game??? Stupid as it sounds, just think back to last few games before finals and how well we went in the finals.

[ramjet21]

MM should have the tape of the demons v brissy game from last year on constant play around the club this week. demons were 37 points down and got up and won in brisbane's heat. they were simply awesome that day and showed how to beat the lions - VERY quick and direct entry to the forward line with their talls stacked up in a row. rest mckee in the forward line at all times, not across half back. mckee, tarrant, molloy, rocca and fraser constantly rotating through the forward 50 will stretch them badly(defence of scott sisters, johnson etc is small. only leppitsch and moneybags mal michael as talls). the demons midfield(we obviously now have woey) crushed akermanis, voss and black (not sure if lappin played that day). no reason why we cant do the same. cant underestimate the obvious incentive to repay them for the GF and we have the confidence of being the side to push them more than any other in matches over the last 2 years. losing lockyer is big though - its a bloke like luke power (akin to farmer, phil matera etc who always get us) who could cause the most trouble.

[BigMac]

Some of the comments on this thread only emphasises the contempt many of you have for other sides in the competition.

Some people have continuously discounted Carlton's effort against us in Round 2, however they might want to ask a few of the players whether they played well against Carlton? They may be surprised by their answer. It certainly wasn't a bad performance by Tarrant, Rocca, Leon, Molloy, Didak. While you're at it, ask Bucks if he had a bad game?

Then there's the line about the has-been Kangaroos. If you'd care to take a look at their list you'd realise they have as many young players in their side as we do. Not only is their forward line full of up and comers, but they're also rebuilding their backline too. Give them some credit for a great performance on Saturday night - one we would've been proud of.

Both Carlton and the Kangaroos are different teams this year, and like you all yearned for the Pies to receive respect from the opposition last year, so too should you give it where its due.

This contempt is spreading, and reminds me of post-1990. We are just one of 16 teams unless we play on Grand Final day.

Even moreso if we're not standing on the daius at the end of the game.

[Blanch]

Point taken bigmac, just have to disagree on one thing...we'll NEVER (love that caps warning) be "just one of 16 teams." I may have taken that out of context but even still I'm just setting the record straight so there's no confusion.

Confused?

[BigMac]

Thanks for the reply Blanch. Actually yours wasn't one of the posts I was having a dig at.

Respect your opponent, and you'll never underestimate their ability. Show them contempt, and they'll do everything they can to stand in your way.

It's my spin on things in life, and from what I understand, MM has a similar philosophy. I think it needs to be taught to not just our players, but supporters too.

[Pies rock]

We'll give them a run for their money. Whether we actually get up depends on the night. Hopefully Lynch and/or Brown are still out.

Obviously the battle of the midfields is the biggest key. We usually just go head to head with most of them, Burns on Black, Licca on Aker, Bucks has said tonight he wants Voss, and Williams or Woey will go up against Lappin. That's as even as you can get, and I haven't even mentioned O'bree or Freeborn who will no doubt rotate through. We must at least make a contest in the ruck. Mckee and Josh can't put in another performance like last September or we'll get rolled again. Charman is underrated and will give us a few headaches.

If Brown and Lynch miss again, Leppitsch or White will have to spend a fair bit of time up forward, robbing their backline of much needed height. Michael usually takes Pebbles, Leppitsch takes Josh if he's forward, which leaves White for Taz. Chris Scott plays tall and will more than likely go with Molloy. Without Lynch and Brown they'll be in a fair bit of strife for talls, with Notting, who's far from an accomplished defender having to take one of our gun forwards. We must also watch for the run Johnson gives them out of defence. It's possible that Freeborn or Roop if he plays will play a defensive role as a forward on Johnson, who is an awesome footballer. I'd worry playing Leon on him.

There's a lot of ifs when trying to match up on their forwards. We don't know if Presti, Lynch or Brown will play so there's no point in going through it. Clement must take Voss though when he goes forward. Johnno or Freeborn must do a job on Power.

They're not that far ahead of us player for player. We just can't give them room to move, but we aren't bad at closing sides down through the middle. It's so hard to beat them up there, but we've always matched up well on them, so who knows. It's a good test.

[JLC]

Cloke can take Brown as he did a great job on him last year at Colonial.

You basically have to almost play a tagger on Johnson or at least somebody who will be close checking and not let him roam around free and rack up 30 possessions like he did against North.

Our powerful forward line will not offer Brisbane the luxury of moving players like Leppitsch up forward. If they do it will be at their detriment. The reason their backline is so good is because their midfielders drop back and fill the holes. If Michael and Rocca are left 1 out i would back Rocca every time.

jlc

[Hiya-and-Higher]

This time last year we were wishin' and hopin' and prayin', and didn't we do well by the end? Even we didn't quite believe our eyes.

This year we are 30% better already, more poise, confidence, class - and we have improved our list. There's no question about it, we are a genuine top shelf footy team!

Brisbane will get a surprise. Our focus will be pretty tough this week. We have something to prove. Brissy will be cruising. Their focus will be directed at September and number 3.

We can take them now.

And by September we will have toughened up even more.

Sorry Port and Adelaide