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The Bulldogs Bite
20-06-2012, 04:52 PM
Round 13: Western Bulldogs v Brisbane
Saturday June 23rd 2012 1:40PM

http://resources3.news.com.au/images/2011/04/03/1226032/882735-western-bulldogs.jpg

Recent History
2011 R2 Western Bulldogs 19.9 (123) dftd Brisbane 6.9 (45) Etihad Stadium
2010 R12 Western Bulldogs 17.19 (121) dftd Brisbane 8.8 (56) Etihad Stadium
2010 R4 Brisbane 13.23 (101) dftd Western Bulldogs 12.7 (79) Gabba
2009 Semi Final Western Bulldogs 16.11 (107) dftd Brisbane 8.8 (56) MCG
2009 R20 Brisbane 12.12 (84) dftd by Western Bulldogs 15.12 (102) Gabba

Recent Form
Western Bulldogs WWLLW (ladder position 13th)
Brisbane LWLWL (ladder position 15th)

Key Statistics

Western Bulldogs:
Ranked 10th in Tackles per game
Ranked 15th in Goals per game
Ranked 7th in Hitouts per game
Ranked 2nd in Clearances per game
Ranked 2nd in Contested Possessions per game
Ranked 2nd in Uncontested Possessions per game

Averages:
211.3 Kicks
169.6 Handballs
380.9 Disposals
82.1 Marks
10.7 Goals
65.4 Tackles
43.0 Hitouts

Brisbane:
Ranked 3rd in Rebound 50s per game
Ranked 1st in 1%ers per game
Ranked 13th in Hitouts per game
Ranked 12th in Goals per game
Ranked 18th in Contested Marks per game
Ranked 13th in Inside 50s per game

Averages:
202.3 Kicks
146.3 Handballs
348.5 Disposals
85.5 Marks
11.8 Goals
70.6 Tackles
37.0 Hitouts

Team Selections

Western Bulldogs:
Will Minson is an unfortunate omission due to a club imposed suspension on the back of his on-field abuse of Danyle Pearce. Minson has been in career best form in 2012 and will be very difficult to cover.

Hargrave would be an instant inclusion if he is OK to play.

Panos booted 4 goals for Williamstown last week and could perhaps put his name up for selection, although it would be somewhat of a surprise to see his name called out.

Djerrkurra was named second best for Williamstown and may be a chance to return to the side, given our severe lack of pace.

Tom Campbell has been elevated off the rookie list and is almost a certainty to replace Minson, after impressing on a regular basis in the VFL.

Brisbane:
Black, McGrath, Karnezis and Docherty are all putting their hand up to return to the side. In Docherty’s case, it’s an opportunity for a debut after impressing in recent weeks.

Lisle could be another option they will look at, but overall, the Lions have some solid options available.

Match Up's

Lake v Brown
In two sides fielding a number of young kids, these two are certainly the two old kings. I can’t see us playing Austin on Brown, and with no Markovic, Morris or Williams that means there’s only Lake left. It might depend on how deep Brown plays, as Lake doesn’t follow his opponents who search for kicks outside of the 50. Either way, this is always a great battle to watch.

Addison v Zorko
This is a key match-up and it might be one that Wood gets first crack at, but I think we will opt to shut Zorko down. Wood can play a little loose on occasion, so I think Addison may be a good candidate to go with Zorko initially. The young kid has been pretty explosive up forward for them, creating plenty of energy, defensive pressure and getting on the scoreboard. He’s one to watch out for.

Murphy v Polkinghorne
Every week, Murph cops a tag – or something pretty damn close to it. It seems that Polkinghorne is the player Brisbane will adopt in this role, given Murph can really carve sides up with his run and creativity. Moreover, we really need the likes of Wood and Howard to provide run out of the back half, ensuring they can’t stifle us completely if Murphy is finding it difficult to get into space.

Griffen v Raines
There is little doubt that Ryan Griffen is our most dangerous player, and an explosive one at that. Raines has had a good season to date, turning himself into a dour tagger and doing an admirable job on some of the game’s best. This could be an important match-up, particularly if the game is close.

Picken v Redden
There’s a chance that Picken might go to Rockliff instead, but I would send him to Redden who is a very good young midfielder. He links up with the play well and can be quite damaging, so he’s a player we will need to keep in check. Picken has been having a very good season, so I would expect him to make life very difficult for one of Brisbane’s best players.

Roughead v Hudson
It’s a huge test for Roughy, who is going to have to assume the number one ruck role this week. Hudson’s a tough competitor as we know, capable of winning his own ball around stoppages like another midfielder. Roughead will have to prepare for a bruising encounter, but he should alsos eek to expose Hudson’s lack of mobility moving forward.

Higgins/Dickson/Gia v McGrath/Drummond/Adcock
This shapes as a very important battle in the context of the final result. Higgins, Dickson and Gia are pretty dangerous offensively, but are poor defensively. Brisbane’s trio of McGrath, Drummond and Adcock can be loose defensively at times, but extremely dangerous on the rebound. If our medium forwards are lazy, then Brisbane’s trio will carve us up given they are quick, skilful and players who like to run the lines. If our medium forwards can portray a high work rate defensively, there’s no doubt that they will get opportunities on the turnover because as stated before, the 3 defenders can be caught loose at times.

The Verdict

Statistically, the Dogs look like a very good football side. We are pretty high up in a number of key areas including contested and uncontested possessions, hitouts and clearances. Our problems have been from an offensive standpoint as we know, and this is where the danger will lay again, given Brisbane’s dangerous half backs.

We should have a big advantage in the midfield, regardless of whether Black returns to the fold or not. Boyd, Griffen, Wallis and Libba are very difficult to stop and have been working together extremely well for most of the season. Minson out will hurt us, but Brisbane’s rucks stocks aren’t exactly daunting.

We’ve been OK down back but it would be nice to see Hargrave return, as Brisbane have quite a few tallish flankers that may get the better of some of our smaller defenders in Wood and Howard. All in all though, we should be confident we can hold them.

Brisbane have a really poor record at Etihad Stadium and rely heavily on young players such as Redden, Rockliff and Rich to lead the way. They have some talented youngsters up forward who we will need to do our homework on, but I feel that we have them covered for experience in some key areas.

The biggest issue will be our ability to restrict their rebounds (they are ranked third in the competition), but our midfield should be dominant enough to supply our forwards with enough ball to kicking a winning score. With a lot of ball in hand, some of our mid forwards should be smart enough to get into the right positions and hopefully the likes of Cordy and Jones can continue to build on their recent form.

Dogs by 27 points.

bornadog
20-06-2012, 07:19 PM
Great preview, the bar has been lifted a notch.

Greystache
20-06-2012, 07:21 PM
Great review TBB, one of the best this season.

Greystache
20-06-2012, 07:22 PM
Great preview, the bar has been lifted a notch.

Good luck. The idiot doing the Essendon game next week doesn't know what he's talking about ;)

The Bulldogs Bite
20-06-2012, 08:01 PM
Thanks gents, I was actually pessimistic about writing it because there would be a lot of posters who would do a better job.

I need to start paying more attention to sides other than the Dogs :o

jeemak
20-06-2012, 08:57 PM
Oh yeah, we actually have a footy team playing a game this week! Outstanding.

Great preview TBB, BAD's comments mirror my thoughts.

I'm keen to see this Zorko fella play a bit, and can't help but think that Addison will prime himself to knock a young up and comer down a peg with some very close marking.

Each week I find the stats summary pretty shattering. If only we could use it.

SlimPickens
20-06-2012, 09:34 PM
Great read TBB, thanks for the time and effort that you have clearly put in.

Agree 100% with our need to shut down their rebounding defenders. When Brisbane have played well this year, they have moved the ball quickly from half back and in quickly to their forwards. It will be key for Gia et al to work hard defensively much like they did against port.

Cyberdoggie
20-06-2012, 11:14 PM
Well done TBB,

I think your spot on with the prediction, we should be far too strong but we don't really know how to win big at the moment, and unless Cordy, Roughead and Jones can all of a sudden click and kick straight, i can't see us demolishing them, however we should be far too strong.

bornadog
20-06-2012, 11:18 PM
I haven't seen much of Brisbane this year, where has Merrit been playing? I know he played at full forward a few weeks ago.

The Bulldogs Bite
21-06-2012, 01:07 AM
I haven't seen much of Brisbane this year, where has Merrit been playing? I know he played at full forward a few weeks ago.

Most of his time has been spent forward, if not all of it.

They may try to stretch us with Brown and Merrett, so Austin will need to punch above his weight considerably. Big Sauce is a solid unit.

If our tall forwards can cause a few problems, it'll then force Brisbane to shift Merrett down back.

Mantis
21-06-2012, 09:13 AM
Nice work on the preview TBB.

Like last week it's another game against a similiarly ranked team, but playing at home we should be too strong.

Let's hope we stop chipping the ball around as these stats don't read too well. ;)



Western Bulldogs:

Averages:
2011.3 Kicks

LostDoggy
21-06-2012, 11:41 AM
Great preview! Enjoyed the read.

Personally i would like to see Picken spend 80% of the game in the forward half at the feet of the big blokes.

I don't think we really need to tag any Brisbane midfielders, Rockcliff and Redden are great young players, but i think Boyd/Cross can get well on top of them in head to head duals.

I think Picken could be better used sniffing around the forward line creating lots of pressure. Plus we all know he's more than capable around goals.

The Bulldogs Bite
21-06-2012, 12:21 PM
Nice work on the preview TBB.

Like last week it's another game against a similiarly ranked team, but playing at home we should be too strong.

Let's hope we stop chipping the ball around as these stats don't read too well. ;)

They read more like soccer stats, don't they? :D

Thanks for pointing that out Mantis - fixed that part up haha.

DragzLS1
21-06-2012, 02:28 PM
Great preview! Enjoyed the read.

Personally i would like to see Picken spend 80% of the game in the forward half at the feet of the big blokes.

I don't think we really need to tag any Brisbane midfielders, Rockcliff and Redden are great young players, but i think Boyd/Cross can get well on top of them in head to head duals.

I think Picken could be better used sniffing around the forward line creating lots of pressure. Plus we all know he's more than capable around goals.


Agree with this I would like Picken spending time in the middle but also rotate through the forward line to put some pressure on the backs ;)

G-Mo77
22-06-2012, 09:50 AM
Thanks gents, I was actually pessimistic about writing it because there would be a lot of posters who would do a better job.

I need to start paying more attention to sides other than the Dogs :o

Every time I was asked I thought the same thing and declined. Last week it was fortunate that I'd seen Port a few times so I had a crack. It wasn't easy though.

I haven't even seen the Lions plays this season at all, don't know much about any of their younger players or game plan, all I know is Huddo is playing against us and I can't wait for that. It's such a shame big Will's not there to go up against him.

Great job with the preview.