What is Ahead for the Dogs in 2013

[Bulldog Joe]

As I posted in the training thread, I have reached a point of apprehensive excitement.

The NAB Cup may give us some indication but it is only glorified practice.

The season proper has given us a better fixture with a bye after Darwin. We have 6 day breaks with travel as follows
Geelong (rd 5)after Adelaide
North Melbourne (rd 7) from Perth against the Eagles

We also play our first 3 games at Etihad.

This is a much better schedule than last year.

Could wins in the early games set us on a path where we could compete for a finals spot.

[bornadog]

Prediction for me is lucky to win 6 games.

[Eastdog]

I like your optimism Bulldog Joe. I hope we can get a good start to the season to get some confidence but with the quality of our list at the moment we won't be finals bound this year. Having said that I also think we won't finish too close to the bottom as some have suggested and we may surprise a few teams.

[Dazza]

Tipping 5 wins.

[AndrewP6]

I like the optimism, but I can't echo the sentiments unfortunately. I think we'll win around 6,maybe 7 games. If everything goes right.

[LostDoggy]

8-11 games if 2 of Cordy, Jones, Roughy, Grant step up a level significantly
7-8 if only 1 of them gets there
5 or less if none of them improve

Interesting year despite any finals action or lack thereof
Comfortable our midfield has a future. Forward and backlines both very much watch this space.

[Hotdog60]

We'll do one better than Essendon in 2000

[LostDoggy]

We'll do one better than Essendon in 2000

Nothing could EVER be better than what we did to Essendon in 2000.

[Eastdog]

Nothing could EVER be better than what we did to Essendon in 2000.

That was a memorable match as we beat the all conquering Essendon in 2000.

[SonofScray]

6 wins would be a solid year for us. A winning season, immense given where we were last year. I want premierships and everyone has a chance at this time of year but I'm expecting somewhere between 4 and 8 wins.

[LostDoggy]

Nothing could EVER be better than what we did to Essendon in 2000.

A Premiership would be a close second?

[Go_Dogs]

My view is we can win between 5 - 9 games all going well, but it's not the win loss ratio that I'm most concerned with.

For mine, if we can see improvement in our players 23 years and under, especially in the talls category, and eradicate the massive thrashing from our repertoire whilst being consistently competitive for the duration of games, that will be a great outcome.

Realistically we appear to still be a few years off, but as Superdog said above, if two or more of Jones, Roughead, Cordy and Grant really improve and a few of the other new players (Goodes, Lower, Stevens and Young) as well as a few of the kids developing quickly, we may be some sort of chance to turn it around a bit quicker and potentially push for finals. Highly unlikely all of those things will happen, but sometimes miracles occur.

[Remi Moses]

Think we'll win 5 to 6 games.
Just like more of that word Competitiveness this year.

[Remi Moses]

Nothing could EVER be better than what we did to Essendon in 2000.

Umm I think a flag might be better

[The Underdog]

I think we'll struggle to get wins but I think the key is to be competitive through 4 quarters. 7 wins is probably the best case scenario given our draw (how do we finish 4th last and only get GWS & Gold Coast once?) 3 wins is probably the bottom end but I think we'll be better than that.
Notice in the Hun today 3 hacks took the under on 4 wins for us.