TOPIC:

chaddy22 wrote:

mikeh wrote:

Yes anything is possible. I just remember a certain Perth derby a fair while back now (1978) where 22000 crammed into Leederville and East Perth snuck into the finals at the last minute but had to depend on Perth beating Claremont which they did  so there could be some twists and turns next week. As you said if West Perth happened to sneak into finals noone would want to play them.

Actually 1978  was better then that.A few other upsets happened in that round so we went from fifth to second.
We had won seven in a row and by coming second we could afford to lose the second semi and then win the prelim and grand final.Even now it is sometimes hard to believe a team could come from so far back and win a premiership.

Chaddy a similar one was back in '64 when CL beat WP in the last round at Leederville in front of 20k++ to sneak in, then went all the way to beat EF by 4pts in the GF. Beat my Spud Slater coached lions in the 1st semi
 

As others have mentioned, West Perth need to win by a huge margin in the last qualifying round to jump into Finals contention. To make up at least an eleven percent gap is a big task. They've not accomplished that all season because their  percentage gained per winning round this season has been between 2 and 5. Also Perth (playing away) look highly un-likely to upset Claremont. Claremont's current efficiency rating at Home is 1.21 which is quite high, whereas Perth's efficiency on the road is currently 0.81 which is well below the average. What Swans do this weekend is not really meaningful. However, really hoping they finish the season with a win to give them belief for season 24. Am led to believe if Swans attract a crowd of approx 2 and a half thousand, it will go close to a total of 20,000 spectators for Home games this season which is a damn good effort.

Congratulations to all teams in all grades who made the finals in 2023. Great to see Perth finish top in the colts, hopefully they can go all the way. Would be fitting to see a Perth v Claremont colts GF seeing they shared top spot all season.

Well done EF finishing minor premiers and EP on a magnificent season albeit had a stumble towards the end but can turn things around if you regain a couple of key players from injury. Best of luck to all concerned..

EF- keep on improving under Buffalo
Subi - surprised even their own fans
Peel - as expected when Freo are fit
EP - recruited well and bloomed
Cl - do what they do every year

WP - came home with a wet sail
SD - close but no cigar  
SF - chasing their tail from the off
Perth - same old same old sadly
WCER - living that WCE injury dream

Nice summation Freeze, Subi and EP the big improvers, EP on the back of aggressive recruiting in their mids, Subi being able to get some good service from their youngsters coming through plus Zac Clarke and Taj Schofield returning to the club. Souths as you say crippled by their own admins hands before the season started, disappointments would be WP who cant seem to back up a flag the following year but their late season rush indicates they'll be well in the mix next year. Swans paid the price for those early close losses, on their day can beat anyone but inconsistent. The rest pretty much as expected with EF the stand outs and at the moment look to be a 4 to 5 goal better team than the rest of the finalists, it's their flag to lose, probably the hottest flag favourites since Subi in 2018.

This will be a competitive finals series IMO. Pity that one of East Perth and Claremont are out this week, I am slightly favouring the Tigers because of their previous finals experience but I wouldnt be at all surprised if the result went the other way. Subiaco can beat Peel but they have to be at their very best to do so. East Fremantle can sit back and watch the action and that weeks break is crucial at this time of year