Match preview. Dogs v Dockers. Sat. April 6

[Dancin' Douggy]

Match preview Bulldogs v Dockers by Dancin’ Douggy

This is my first match preview so please be gentle with me. Hope I’ve covered everything I’m supposed to. Here goes………..

I can’t preview this coming game without reviewing last weeks superb victory.
Not just for the pleasure of it, but because last weeks win was important, and pivotal in so many ways.

Winning games out of the blue happens and it doesn’t necessarily mean anything.
We beat North last year, for example, and it didn’t mean anything at all. Just a lucky day.

This win was much much different for several solid, tangible structural & personnel reasons.

Here are 8 reasons why the 2013 bulldogs are an improvement on the 2012 model.

Starting with the backline.

1. Jordan Roughead appears to have gone from ‘experiment’ to realisation.
Did very well on Jonathon Brown and looks to have the strength, agility, and composure to hold down full back. Played a very good game on J. Brown and that’s not easy. A 200cm, 100kg fullback is a pretty formidable piece of armoury.
Improvement on last year? Tick.

2. Dale Morris is back and this no doubt helps Roughead perform his role as well.
Improvement on last year? Huge Tick.

3. Liam Picken is freed up by the arrival of Nick Lower. Picken can now play back pocket on the ‘pest’ small forwards, (think Milne, Ballantyne, Betts etc) He’s perfect for this role. Unflappable, committed, dogged and ruthless. He’ll turn the tables on them all and become the ‘pest’ back pocket! He’s good in the air against players his own size and uses the ball well. Improvement on last year? Tick.

4. Which brings us to Nick Lower. Good tagger and 4cm and 7kg bigger than Picken so we’ve upgraded there as well. Improvement on last year? Tick

5. Brett Goodes. Wow. What a debut. He may not get that many possessions every week but there’s no reason he can’t maintain the standard of the things he did well. Spoiling, marking intercepting distributing the ball etc. He’s been doing it long enough. Improvement on last year? Tick

6. Goodes frees Murphy to play as a forward (Hallelujiah!).
Improvement on last year? Tick.

7. Koby Stevens adds another big (187cm) body into the midfield. He uses the ball well to boot. (pardon the pun). The flow on effect of adding Stevens, Lower and Goodes into the team is that it pushes fringe players like Howard, Tutt, Vez, Grant etc. 3 notches further down the pecking order so they can’t expect to be gifted games. Improvement on last year? Tick

8. Cooney looks fit and fast again.
Improvement on last year? Tick. (fingers crossed it stays that way)

So maybe the year won’t be as bad as many, (myself included) predicted.
The Jury is still out on Tom Young. He looked ok out there on Saturday but not convinced enough yet to give him tick number 9 in my list.

THE DOCKERS.

Well…………the Dockers are a mystery, wrapped in an enigma, wrapped in a riddle, wrapped in Ross Lyon.

They have historically been a very flaky team but Ross Lyon is trying to mould them into a hard nosed competitive outfit that will grind down the opposition and try and smother any flow on football. Awful to watch and I personally hope Ross Lyon’s negative brand of football is never rewarded with a premiership. Which Dockers will turn up on the day? Who knows? Historically pathetic away from home but they did turn that around last year. They have a lot of very talented midfielders so ALL our mids will need to play accountable football. We won’t get it as easy as we did against the lions. Fremantle are undoubtedly a side brimming with talent so this will be a big test for our young mids Smith, Wallis and Libber.


KEY MATCH UPS.

PAVLICH / ROUGHEAD / MORRIS.
Pav is an absolute superstar and one of the most under rated players in HISTORY.
6 best & fairests and 6 x all Australian. I’m a big fan of the Pav.
I’d let Roughead have first crack at him. If Pav starts getting on top, move Dale Morris on to him (I wouldn’t wait too long either). Dale will finish him off. Pav is 192cm so he’s not super tall for a KPP. Well within Dales range. If Roughead is doing well on Pavlich.
Morris should cover Chris Mayne.
If Kepler Bradley plays forward send Roughead straight to him and Morris to Pavlich.

BALLANTYNE / PICKEN.

Ooh baby this will be fun. Worth going for this match up alone.

MCPHARLIN / JONES.

McPharlin is a great player and an exceptionally good contested mark.
He’ll probably take Jones.
My message to Liam would be this. “We don’t care how many marks you take or how many goals you kick. Just present and compete, present and compete, present and compete. From the First bounce to the final siren”. Make sure you stop McPharlin from marking. Punch if you have to. I thought Jones was great last week. His 2nd and 3rd efforts were outstanding and he directly contributed to at least 3 goals from tap ons at ground level.

CROWLEY / GRIFFEN.

I still believe Griffen is our most dangerous mid fielder and expect Crowley to take him.
Crowley does his best /(worst) in heavy traffic. We have enough in and under mids to win the contested ball without Griffen adding to the mob, so I would get Griffen to set up 2/3 possessions away from the clearance in open space and run Crowley off his feet. Head to head in open space Griffen will have Crowley on toast.
Inside mids must look for him though, and have a general idea where he will be. If Crowley is negating Griffen, I’d get Griffen to run with Stephen Hill and hopefully take Crowley with him.

LOWER / FYFE OR BARLOW.

You could toss a coin. Lower heads to whoever’s having the best day I guess?

MINSON / GRIFFIN.

I’ll back Big Will in to beat Griffin in the ruck, in the air and around the ground. Maybe ask Will to aim for 2/3 goals off his own boot to grind Griffin down. Do what Sandilands usually does to us. (Sandilands out is a clear bonus)

OUR FORWARDS / THEIR DEFENCE.

Our small/medium forwards, with Murphy and a fit Higgins spending time there suddenly looks very dangerous. Dixon, Gia, Murph, Higgins and Dalhaus look like a busy swarm of smart intelligent skilled operators. The constant movement and harassment was excellent last week, and that kind of play is easier to maintain week in week out than any single player kicking big bags or taking spectacular marks. It’s also much harder to defend against. The foot passing between all the forwards was great too. Think we should have their backline covered to be honest, but we can’t afford to become static.


PREDICTION.

If this game was in Freo, I wouldn’t give us much of a chance.
But in Melbourne, with our tails up after a spirited win at the same venue, I think we’re a CHANCE. This will be a really tough test for us, but I’m going to say we’ll win by 8pts.

[lemmon]

Great write up mate. Huge test for Roughy, both Pavlich and Mayne are quicker and more agile than most key forwards going around. I'd be inclined to start Morris on Pav, he is one of the few who can go with him athletically

[Hotdog60]

Great write DD,

I could be wrong but I think Ballantyne has a week off. Either Picken or Lower will need to take a look at Pearce, he's been in good form and give the Dockers a bit of spark and run and will generally hit the target.

Mundy would be the other player I would put a bit of time into.

[SlimPickens]

Thanks DD.

Ballantyne isn't playing as he got rubbed out round 1. Like Picken to Pearce, will give him nightmares no doubt.

Freo will be more then a handful but I feel we match up reasonably well. If we can't keep our intensity up I think we'll be right in it towards the end of the game.

[Dancin' Douggy]

Well my research was flawed. Sorry Woofers. Damn I was really drooling over the prospect of Picken on Ballantyne.

Pearce Fyfe Mundy Barlow and Hill all need to be tagged but I just had to stop somewhere!

[JohnGentStand]

I like the idea of Picken / Pearce, Lower / Mundy, Griff / Fyfe
How Dahl pulls up this week will be important.

[Dancin' Douggy]

Great write up mate. Huge test for Roughy, both Pavlich and Mayne are quicker and more agile than most key forwards going around. I'd be inclined to start Morris on Pav, he is one of the few who can go with him athletically

Yes I agree, but seeing as Roughead is being groomed as our long term full back I'd be inclined give him first crack at Pav, even just for his own education.

[Greystache]

Great job DD.

I'm with you on starting Roughead on Pav, give him a chance first up. From the reports Roughead did a good job on him last time in a shellacking. I'm all for tagging Hill or Pearce (perhaps even both), their run is crucial to Freo and both have been historically negated by close taggers.

[Bulldog Joe]

Yes I agree, but seeing as Roughead is being groomed as our long term full back I'd be inclined give him first crack at Pav, even just for his own education.

I believe you pick your match ups to give you the best chance of success. I would get Young to take Mayne and Morris on Pavlich as they are good size match ups. I think Roughy needs to take the resting ruck. Zac Clarke has been mentioned as a possible in for Freo.

[Go_Dogs]

Great write up DD, cheers.

Agree that it's a much tougher game this week but I think we match up OK on Freo. Also might have a bit of inside knowledge from Nick Lower.

As always, the midfield battle will dictate the outcome and if we apply the same intensity to our defensive efforts as last week we're a genuine chance.

[Ghost Dog]

Great write up DD.

It's going to be like playing the Saints MK II.
Good to look at what The Eagles did right in the first Quarter.

Kicking over the Zone. You can see here Kennedy kicks it long. Freo players standing like a bunch of primary kids, arms out stretched, as prescribed.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UJ-k3chxFsk/UVvtUN63M8I/AAAAAAAACAg/Z8a61-OGKlc/s1600/Fullscreen+capture+5112013+74029+PM-001.jpg

Long bomb and opps, it's marked by an Eagles small forward! They're making a 170cm player look like Ablett Snr! No punch from behind ? Easy. Outnumbered down back - look at the Freo player on the left. Wearing his opponent like a glove, just like Ross told him to. Missed the flight completely.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EBdv2K_WVbA/UVvtVFwmDpI/AAAAAAAACAo/3ad6zyEC9BQ/s1600/Fullscreen+capture+5112013+74337+PM-001.jpg

Long kicking and high marking will be really important for us to get over their zone. Cordy and Jones, we need you. If we can do both those things, we're in for a chance. Also, holding the ball up, making them impatient and waiting for a crack in the wall to appear. Play it on our terms.

[G-Mo77]

Great write up mate.

Lower seems pretty close with a few of the Freo boys so wonder if we have a bit of inside knowledge there. I wouldn't be surprised he takes Mundy to be honest. Picken will go to Pearce and the little girl will chuck a tantrum because of that like he always does.

Crowley will tag Grif and I'm really hoping we see the midfield work their arse off to free him up. I loved the way our mids worked together on Saturday but I don't think we had a significant tagger working against us.

[Dancin' Douggy]

I believe you pick your match ups to give you the best chance of success. I would get Young to take Mayne and Morris on Pavlich as they are good size match ups. I think Roughy needs to take the resting ruck. Zac Clarke has been mentioned as a possible in for Freo.

What I'm basically saying in my post is that Morris is earmarked for Pavlich, but we let Roughead take first crack. If Roughead is doing well then leave him on. If not...... enter Dale Morris stage left.

[mjp]

Great preview.

I would guess that Lower takes Mundy - probably not much point in tagging Barlow and Fyfe is a bit more outside as a stoppage player than Mundy. After last week I would not be shocked if Crowley went straight to Cooney.

I am guessing that Picken will talk Walters and Morris will go to Chris Mayne who I think might be a bit too slippery for Young at this point. I guess that means Young or Goodes roll back to Bradley/Clarke which might be interesting as they are both 200cm.

All of that said - who do we tag out of Danyle Pearce and Stephen Hill...and who does it?? Does JJ play on Walters and we send Picken back up the field to take Hill/Pearce (pick your poison) or do we do it another way.

Pavlich is well behind in his preparation and was a non-factor vs WCE. I know he has had an extra two weeks since then but cannot see him returning to the form of late 2012 just yet.

The game will be determined by who wins out of Suban/Mundy/Fyfe/Barlow/Hill/Pearce etc and Libba/Wallis/Cooney/Griffen/Crossy etc. If we can generate some run and get the ball past what is a really good press we will be OK...if not, it will look a lot like 2012 revisited. It is critical that Minson gets on top of the very under-rated Griffin - he was great against WCE and spanked Cox.

This game is massive for us - Freo are a very good and disciplined side with more individual talent than Lyon's Saints teams. They are going to take some stopping and a win here will be worth two in a lot of ways as the Dockers will be right up there at the end of the season.

[jeemak]

Outstanding effort mate.

I'm all for having Picken play the role he does best for our side, to assist Lower in curtailing the midfield depth Fremantle boasts, and like MJP I think he could do a good job on Hill or Pearce. While Picken did some excellent things last week, he did let himself down with some shoddy kicking in a couple of instances, and it's probably going to be a side like Fremantle that would make us pay for such errors. That maybe means we need to be reactive to how Fremantle manage their midfield through forward rotations and be disciplined with changes.

I prefer to let Morris take a shot at Pavlich to start off with. He needs a test of his recovery to being the elite defender he was just as much as Roughead needs to test himself against a different range of forwards. I also think he's suited to Pav (who I agree, is an absolute star that would be recognised up with the likes of C. Grant if a Melbourne based player) a little better.

One thing I won't agree with DD, is your summation of Lyon's style. He wouldn't have been able to assist Sydney in winning a flag and the Saints getting close to winning one with the list each respective side did by coaching any other way. I think this year you'll see a Fremantle team with a more even spread of talent playing a bit nicer football than each of the previously mentioned sides, and they'll get close.

[Ozza]

A really tough test this week.

Freo are a genuine chance of being a top 4 side this year. So, pushing them all the way would be great, and a win - outstanding.

I worry that they will just be too quick for us across the ground. Hopefully our mix of forwards with the likes of Murphy (in particular) Gia, Higgins, Dickson, Dahl and the 2 big boys - creates a few match up headaches for them in return.

[bornadog]

Nice one DD, love reading these on WOOF, much better than the general media.

I am really looking forward to this match as I have a sneaky suspicion we will play well. Dockers don't play well at Eithad and we have beaten them the last 4 of 5 times there.

Minson is the key to get the midfield going and I am glad Sandliands is not playing, although ny all accounts Griffin did well last week.

Lower will be full of fire and could very well be amongst the best for us.

[Ozza]

Just on Griffin/Minson. Its a pretty crucial dual. Minson may well be our most important player many times this season - seeing as he will ruck for 80-90% of matches.

And this may be a question for MJP and other WA woofers, who see more of the WA teams live and in the media - but just in regard to Griffin, is it possible he got under the guard of the West Coast last week? is he better than everyone thought? or is it a combination of both?

And how do you think he will go/how will he match up against Minson?

He's obviously a lighter body, can he match Will in the air and around the ground ruck contests?

[Mantis]

Going to be a massive test for us going up against one of the best drilled teams in the business. I can't see Freo allowing us to dictate terms like what was the case last week against Brisbane. As highlighted by all the midfield clash will be crucial, we gave Brisbane a spanking at the clearances which got the ball going our way, but one would think it won't be as easy this week against Freo.

It will be interesting to see how we structure up in defence - if we go 'ballsy' and think that Pav is still underdone we could see Roughy assigned to a tall (Bradley), Morris to Mayne and Young to Pav, but this creates risk.

Plenty of prime movers to negate (think Fyfe, Hill, Mundy, Barlow, Pearce), but going on our efforts last week they will need to put plenty of time into negating the likes of Griffen, Cooney, Higgins, Murphy, Libba, etc..

Looking forward to this one more so than a few weeks back.. Big challenge, I hope we are up for it!

[always right]

Really looking forward to this game as we will get a clearer idea as to how much we have improved playing against a far better prepared opposition.

Freo present quite a challenge for us in terms of the number of players we need to negate whilst not bing too focused on them rather than us. As good as Lower was last week, he does not have the leg speed to line up on speedsters like Hill and Pearce who have typically been picked up by Picken in the past. Lower to Mundy has been suggested and that makes sense. I'd back Wallis or Libba to go head to head with Barlow as he is similarly paced.

If last week is any guide, Picken will go to the most dangerous small forward, in this case Walters. Unfortunately I don't think we have anyone else to run with Hill or Pearce and we can't afford to let them run free. Picken to Pearce for me as he has it all over Pearce mentally. Hill remains a real threat to us and we'll need a plan to reduce his impact. JJ probably picks up Walters although it wouldn't surprise to see Goodes take him due to his football smarts.

I think Roughy will take Pavlich at the start with Morris to go to the dangerous Mayne. Young to take Bradley.

The player I don't think we match up well on is Fyffe who is a fine young player with great hands and a pretty good motor. Would we consider bringing in someone especially to take Fyffe?......Easton Wood anyone?

[LongWait]

Thanks for the preview DD.

Lots of talk on here and elsewhere about tags and match-ups dictated by the Freo player's attributes. I don't think we will approach the game with an overly negative or negating mindset. We have our structures and game style well and truly worked out now and there is not much point compromising it. We need to keep testing it and learning by applying it against quality opposition, which Freo certainly is.

I'd like to see us back ourselves in to take on Freo in exactly the same way that we approached the Brisbane game.

[F'scary]

Thanks DD. GD's contribution got me thinking. I think there is a something in this. Lyon's sides are reknowned for playing a strangulation - cough up - turnover and rebound style. They concentrate on the space closer to the ball carrier and therefore trap sides trying to use handball, running off the mark and short passing to keep the ball moving quickly. Long passing and long kicking to positions that are well contested by us could indeed be the go.

Of course, we first have to get the ball:-)

[Nuggety Back Pocket]

Great job DD.

I'm with you on starting Roughead on Pav, give him a chance first up. From the reports Roughead did a good job on him last time in a shellacking. I'm all for tagging Hill or Pearce (perhaps even both), their run is crucial to Freo and both have been historically negated by close taggers.

Another well done from me DD. I would prefer Roughead to take Pavlich with Morris to play on Mayne. Lower could well tag Hill or Barlow. You would expect Crowley to line up on Griffen.
Our record against Freo has been good in the past and I like your prediction of an 8 point victory. This game will be won or lost in the midfield where both teams are strong. Minson and Liberatore together with Lower become keys.

[bornadog]

Another well done from me DD. I would prefer Roughead to take Pavlich with Morris to play on Mayne. Lower could well tag Hill or Barlow. You would expect Crowley to line up on Griffen.
Our record against Freo has been good in the past and I like your prediction of an 8 point victory. This game will be won or lost in the midfield where both teams are strong. Minson and Liberatore together with Lower become keys.

Mundy was their best player last week, I prefer Lower take him.

[Mofra]

It certainly wont be easy in the clearances - their midfield is huge.
They also wont allow us to spread as much as the Lions did so I expect our disposal % to drop.
Cordy & Jones really need to work hard to provide targets as I'd expect a lot of rushed, high ball into our F50.

[Nuggety Back Pocket]

Mundy was their best player last week, I prefer Lower take him.

You might be under estimating Barlow's ability. Barlow and Mundy shared BOG honours against WCE to be joint winners of the Ross Glendinning Medal.

[Ghost Dog]

Freo had the second most miserly defence last season, bar Sydney.

Sydney don't have a tall backline, but they are quick, they get numbers back, hunt the ball together, and then they use handball, run and move it out of defence.

I'd almost be tempted to move Bob Murphy back for parts of this game, to help us set up attack off half back and cut through their zone.

[Dancin' Douggy]

Are you all aware that Mundy was taken with pick 19 in the 2003 draft.
The same pick we traded for Steven Koops.

CLANGER!!!!

Man we stuffed that year up. Traded out picks 6, 19, 20, 36 and The no1 pre season draft pick.

For Koops, Street, Veal, Morgan and Rawlings.

Ouch.

Thank God we got Cooney

[G-Mo77]

Yeah, that year hurt.

I do remember being pretty stoked about getting Rawlings though. 7 goals on debut as well got me pretty excited.

[Mantis]

I'd almost be tempted to move Bob Murphy back for parts of this game, to help us set up attack off half back and cut through their zone.

But wasn't one of the main reasons our forwardline functioned so well last week due to Murf being down there?

His ability to not only be the lead-up player, but to also create space behind was extremely valuable last week... he needs to play this role just as effectively tomorrow for us to be a realisitic chance.

[Ozza]

But wasn't one of the main reasons our forwardline functioned so well last week due to Murf being down there?

His ability to not only be the lead-up player, but to also create space behind was extremely valuable last week... he needs to play this role just as effectively tomorrow for us to be a realisitic chance.

Couldn't agree more with this. The only way I can see us beating Freo is if we at least break even through the middle - and have our forwardline function as it did last week.

[Happy Days]

Minson to pearce

[LostDoggy]

This is going to be a really interesting game.

As people have mentioned, majority of Freo's midfielders do there best work outside the contest, Mundy, Hill, Pearce, Fyfe, Suban ect.

Having said that i believe our contested ball with Wallis, Libba, Stevens leading the way can get on top of Freo and give us first use.

It will be very intriguing who we decide to tag. Stephen Hill must be the first player tagged IMO, he's speed and kicking ability is as good as there is going around.

With Ballaytne out I would send Picken to Pearce and really get in he's head.

What are peoples thoughts on the 2 week break Fremantle are coming off? Will it have a positive of negative effect?

[Eastdog]

This is going to be a really interesting game.

As people have mentioned, majority of Freo's midfielders do there best work outside the contest, Mundy, Hill, Pearce, Fyfe, Suban ect.

Having said that i believe our contested ball with Wallis, Libba, Stevens leading the way can get on top of Freo and give us first use.

It will be very intriguing who we decide to tag. Stephen Hill must be the first player tagged IMO, he's speed and kicking ability is as good as there is going around.

With Ballaytne out I would send Picken to Pearce and really get in he's head.

What are peoples thoughts on the 2 week break Fremantle are coming off? Will it have a positive of negative effect?

For me I reckon we are a chance to win but the week off I think will play a bit into Freo's favour as they will be more fresher - having said that sometimes teams coming off a break can be complacent going into a match. This week will certainly be a bigger challenge as Freo did very well against West Coast who are also high fancied.

[always right]

This is going to be a really interesting game.

As people have mentioned, majority of Freo's midfielders do there best work outside the contest, Mundy, Hill, Pearce, Fyfe, Suban ect.

Having said that i believe our contested ball with Wallis, Libba, Stevens leading the way can get on top of Freo and give us first use.

It will be very intriguing who we decide to tag. Stephen Hill must be the first player tagged IMO, he's speed and kicking ability is as good as there is going around.

With Ballaytne out I would send Picken to Pearce and really get in he's head.

What are peoples thoughts on the 2 week break Fremantle are coming off? Will it have a positive of negative effect?

So who would you play on Hill if Picken goes to Pearce?

[stefoid]

Wouldnt we be better off playing Higgins/Dal/Cooney on Hill and Pearce, and continue with Picken in the backline?

Picken playing back frees up JJ or Goodes from having to take the most dangerous small forward.

[Go_Dogs]

Wouldnt we be better off playing Higgins/Dal/Cooney on Hill and Pearce, and continue with Picken in the backline?

Picken playing back frees up JJ or Goodes from having to take the most dangerous small forward.

For mine, Picken tags one of Hill/Pearce and we make do down back with JJ and Goodes - I'm less concerned about Walters getting hold of us than I am about Hill and Pearce.

[LostDoggy]

So who would you play on Hill if Picken goes to Pearce?


Lower goes to Hill.

Hill might have the speed advantage but Lower is a very smart player. Done the job on Cotchin who also has the speed advantage on him.

Whilst i agree with the calls of Picken staying in defence, i just don't think he has a match-up tomorrow.

With the dangerous outside Fremantle midfielders i think having 2 negating roles in the midfield will not be a bad thing.

[Ghost Dog]

But wasn't one of the main reasons our forwardline functioned so well last week due to Murf being down there?

His ability to not only be the lead-up player, but to also create space behind was extremely valuable last week... he needs to play this role just as effectively tomorrow for us to be a realisitic chance.

Yes you are right Mantis.

[firstdogonthemoon]

Great preview thank you.

[LostDoggy]

Lower to go either of Mundy or Fyfe. I'd like Picken to play back still. This is a game where we can earn proper respect for what we put up.

Great write up liked it a lot.

Bit like Giff#16 said let our back 6 take care of it back there. If our mids work both ways like they did a majority of last week then that will look after itself. Was really happy with Tom Young last week, looking forward to him building.

Gee it's refreshing having an unchanged line up, should help immensely. Go dogs

[Ghost Dog]

The hype over Goodes overshadowed Young, who was a lot better than I thought. Looked really comfortable out there.

[lemmon]

The hype over Goodes overshadowed Young, who was a lot better than I thought. Looked really comfortable out there.

A big test for him this week though. In my eyes he has to go to Mayne, with Morris one on of their talented smalls. He's going to have his hands full with one of the more underrated marking forwards in the league. He's not as big as some but will jump at anything, is decent at ground level and on his day can kick a bag. With Bradley and Griffin floating down their at times, they could stretch us for size up there

[Go_Dogs]

Gee it's refreshing having an unchanged line up, should help immensely. Go dogs

Agreed, it's a great sign. I guess there'll be a few forced changes in the next couple of weeks as guys return from injury but boy it's going to be hard dropping a couple.

[boydogs]

Lot of talk in this thread about changing things up to match up against Freo. I think the game will be won and lost on who gets to play the style of game they want to play. We have recruited and trained to play a certain way, we should always aim to play in that fashion.

This game will be a test of whether or not we can 'control' a game against quality opposition.

[The Bulldogs Bite]

Lot of talk in this thread about changing things up to match up against Freo. I think the game will be won and lost on who gets to play the style of game they want to play. We have recruited and trained to play a certain way, we should always aim to play in that fashion.

This game will be a test of whether or not we can 'control' a game against quality opposition.

I agree with this line of thinking, although it's always handy to do a few different things. This would generally change from week to week given the opposition anyway.

Everybody knew what Geelong wanted to do from 2007-2011 but they were hardly ever 'stopped'. They were predictable to the opposition sure, but they were predictable to their own team mates and this was more important.

[G-Mo77]

Heard Pavlich could be out with a hamstring injury.

This season I want to face the best as often as possible and at full strength so I'm disappointed their best player may miss.

[jeemak]

Heard Pavlich could be out with a hamstring injury.

This season I want to face the best as often as possible and at full strength so I'm disappointed their best player may miss.

Understand the sentiment, for sure, but if Pavlich missing is an out just like Boyd is then I'll happily take the win.

That might be a bit cheeky, I suppose, but Boyd out is still a big deal for us even if his position played and game style doesn't expose us with him being out that Pavlich does for the Dockers.

[Eastdog]

Understand the sentiment, for sure, but if Pavlich missing is an out just like Boyd is then I'll happily take the win.

That might be a bit cheeky, I suppose, but Boyd out is still a big deal for us even if his position played and game style doesn't expose us with him being out that Pavlich does for the Dockers.

Sandilands is another player out for Freo so that is in our favour too.

[LongWait]

Lot of talk in this thread about changing things up to match up against Freo. I think the game will be won and lost on who gets to play the style of game they want to play. We have recruited and trained to play a certain way, we should always aim to play in that fashion.

This game will be a test of whether or not we can 'control' a game against quality opposition.

I agree completely gogriff - it would be a mistake to deviate from our game plan and go too negative. Let's try ourselves against Freo on our terms as we'd like to play.

[LostDoggy]

@TonySheahan: Freo Captain Matthew Pavlich unlikely to line up against the Western Bulldogs. Hamstring strain said to be cause

[jeemak]

I agree completely gogriff - it would be a mistake to deviate from our game plan and go too negative. Let's try ourselves against Freo on our terms as we'd like to play.

While I agree our back six worked well together last week, and we need to take opportunities to allow them continue on that path I think taking Picken out from there if it will give our midfield an advantage isn't such a bad idea.

He's our best tagger, and Fremantle have at least two or three players worth tagging, so it kind of makes sense to me to tag early and get a midfield advantage early on.

If it happens that we gain an advantage off the back of that in the first half, then we can easily send Picken back. It will take the Fremantle midfield time to adjust if that was the case.

We need to be flexible with our defensive structures, and I'm not really sure Picken's going to be the answer down there long term when he's so good at what he does playing on midfielders anyway.

[LostDoggy]

Fremantle
B: Kepler Bradley, Zac Dawson, Michael Johnson
HB: Paul Duffield, Luke McPharlin, Lee Spurr
C: Tendai Mzungu, Michael Barlow, Clancee Pearce
HF: Ryan Crowley, Matthew Pavlich, Nathan Fyfe
FF: Hayden Crozier, Chris Mayne, Michael Walters
Foll: Jonathon Griffin, Stephen Hill, David Mundy
I/C: Danyle Pearce,Nick Suban,Matt De Boer,Cameron Sutcliffe
EMG: Tom Sheridan,Jack Hannath,Lachie Neale

Just looking at Freo's team, If Pavlich does miss, that makes there forward line extremely small.

You would expect Bradley to spend majority of the time forward, Roughead is a great match up for him.

Morris would go to Mayne.

Where does that leave Young? Does he have a match-up? Are any of Freo's emergencies tall forwards?

Even though Young was great last week, Would it be an option to bring in Wood for him? Or even bring in Macrae to give us more midfield depth and speed.

[GVGjr]

Fremantle
B: Kepler Bradley, Zac Dawson, Michael Johnson
HB: Paul Duffield, Luke McPharlin, Lee Spurr
C: Tendai Mzungu, Michael Barlow, Clancee Pearce
HF: Ryan Crowley, Matthew Pavlich, Nathan Fyfe
FF: Hayden Crozier, Chris Mayne, Michael Walters
Foll: Jonathon Griffin, Stephen Hill, David Mundy
I/C: Danyle Pearce,Nick Suban,Matt De Boer,Cameron Sutcliffe
EMG: Tom Sheridan,Jack Hannath,Lachie Neale

Just looking at Freo's team, If Pavlich does miss, that makes there forward line extremely small.

You would expect Bradley to spend majority of the time forward, Roughead is a great match up for him.

Morris would go to Mayne.

Where does that leave Young? Does he have a match-up? Are any of Freo's emergencies tall forwards?

Even though Young was great last week, Would it be an option to bring in Wood for him? Or even bring in Macrae to give us more midfield depth and speed.

If Pav doesn't play I'd expect them to throw Johnson forward so I suppose it would be Young to match-up on him.

[Happy Days]

If Pav doesn't play I'd expect them to throw Johnson forward so I suppose it would be Young to match-up on him.

You would think Hannath would come in for him too, which would give Griffin scope to go forward; not even close to as talented a forward, but not small either.