Three Things I've learned - Round 2 Edition

[westdog54]

Three things after I watched (fist-hand for the first time in a long time) the Dogs vs Fremantle Game today:


Mitch Wallis is extraordinarily composed for a 3rd year player. Decision making under pressure is impeccable.
Commentators will be calling 'Minson palms down to Liberatore' for the rest of Will's career. Seems to look for him every time and finds him a hell of a lot.
Supporters who have no knowledge of how football is played should shut the f*** up and let everyone else enjoy the game. I'm getting sick of the whole 'Kick it long!', 'Don't go backwards!' 'Who was that to?!' rubbish.


As a sidenote, like Djerkurra and Eagleton before him, Shaun Higgins is officially my Dad's whipping boy. He has big shoes to fill.

Fire away.

[LostDoggy]

1. You should never stand in the path of Picken, even if you're the goal umpire. Too bad it wasn't Razor.
2. Tom Young was quite good. Couldn't see what the fuss was about last week, but looked OK today.
3. I'm going to use point number 3 to echo Westdogs sentiments about some supporters. We played the right way today and they just didn't understand that. Every time we drew a tackle: “Don't let em catch you!”

[The Bulldogs Bite]

1. Our skill level under pressure is still as bad as it gets. At one stage we were going at 20% and for most of the game it was between 40%-60%.

2. Senior group still questionable under pressure.

3. Libba might just be in the top 5-10 inside mids in the game already. If not, he will be by year's end.

[lemmon]

1. Said it last week, confirming it again, Libba could end up our best player in 2 years
2. Morris may have lost a yard, an unfit Pav had him on toast a few times
3. Cooneys back! Our most creative

[bornadog]

1. Skill levels are poor and need a lot of working on , especially handballing.

2. Cordy and Jones are still very raw and need a lot of coaching.

3. Cooney is back

[Remi Moses]

1. Agree with the other posters, the balls get backwards when we have no targets.
It's not the 80's or 90's folks.
2. Cooney's back. Must have visited the East German doctors who cost Raelene Boyle gold medals.
3. Competiveness, didn't put up the white flag against a very good opponent.

[Greystache]

1. Our good is good enough to match anyone in the competition. If not for a bad first 10 mins and a bad 5-8 mins in the 3rd quarter we would have been right in it. We made some bad errors and missed some easy shots at goal but even still if it were not for those 2 bad patches we may still have won.

2. We're 3-4 good players off being very good. Watching Fyfe pay today makes our decision to make a speculative selection in the first round of the 2009 draft hurt even more.

3. Some of our younger players look more mentally capable of handling extreme pressure than our senior players.

[soupman]

1. We can actually fight out the entire match now.
2. Young is a very good recruit. While he is unimpressive on paper, as can be seen from the complete lack of enthusiasm shown about his recruitment from this forum in pre-season, he is a good user, a solid decision maker and a good Hargrave type player down back. Very happy with his recruitment.
3. Some boundary umpires have no idea.

[Nuggety Back Pocket]

1/ Liberatore has emerged as a quality midfielder.
2/ Gia should have finished last year.
3/ We lack two quality key forwards.

[always right]

1/ Liberatore has emerged as a quality midfielder.
2/ Gia should have finished last year.
3/ We lack two quality key forwards.

is that the same Gia everyone was singing the praises of last week? Reality is we need the ball in the hands of players like Gia who are good users. He was quiet today but he had a few mates. Should Dickson have finished last year because he was putrid today?

[AndrewP6]

1. Cordy and Jones are miles off where we need them to be.
2. The players who should be leading the way go missing when needed (I've seen this before today, but anyway)
3. Tom Liberatore is a ripper.

[ratsmac]

1. We are a decent team that got beaten by a potential grand finalist today. Freo showed our boys the type of pressure around the ball and fitness to get to numbers around the ball that it takes to be a force in the AFL.

2. Minson is a great tap ruckman. He has had a lot of knockers along his journey and is starting to show them up.

3. A fit Cooney makes us a much better team. I'm looking forward for the Cooney, Griffen, Libba and Wallis midfield domination in the next few years .

[Mantis]

1/ Our small/ mid forwards play on their own terms.

2/ We lack outside players

3/ Libba is a gem

[comrade]

2/ We lack outside players


Do you think Macrae and Hrovat will eventually fill this gap?

If you had to make the call, would you be targeting gun forwards or gun running mids in the draft?

[Ghost Dog]

I've learned that clubs who play Melbourne twice will be rubbing their hands.
Opportunity there to get 3-4 games worth of percentage in a single game.

[SlimPickens]

1. Freo will be a contender this year. There pressure on the ball carrier is first class.

2. Our blokes stuck to their guns and it paid dividends throughout the game. Consistency of effort will be key going forward but we are on the right track.

3. Our half forward line cannot go missing like they did yesterday. If you're not willing to defend and create you don't play, it's that simple for me. Looking particularly at the senior group which has previously been mentioned.

[EasternWest]

1. Freo are a pretty good team. Their constant pressure was pretty impressive. That being said, I think playing in that high intensity type of game will be good for our players.

2. Saints footy is still alive, it just comes in different wrapping. Love it or hate it, Ross Lyon is a good coach.

3. Freo are about 3 or 4 years ahead of us development wise, and I see no reason why our development trajectory can't follow similar lines to theirs.

A bonus: as much as being a Dogs man can be heartbreaking, it's infinitely better than being a Melbourne man. They just bent over and took it.

[Eastdog]

1. That our fitness has improved and we were able to run out the entire match which was a big positive for me. We kept fighting.

2. That at the moment anyone playing Melbourne like GD said will win by a comfortable margin based on their efforts so far.

3. Freo are a quality side and will really make big strides this year.

[Sedat]

2/ We lack outside players
Interested to get your thoughts on Crozier's game for Freo. Could very easily have been a Bulldog but we went a different skill set on that draft day. I thought he looked very tidy yesterday - neat skills, good turn of pace, and defensively no slouch either.

[SlimPickens]

Interested to get your thoughts on Crozier's game for Freo. Could very easily have been a Bulldog but we went a different skill set on that draft day. I thought he looked very tidy yesterday - neat skills, good turn of pace, and defensively no slouch either.

Do you think he provided freo much run? Got on the end of couple, with one fortunate free kick. Didn't see anything to suggest we should regret taking Smith over him.

Will be interested to see what type of oppurtunity Crozier gets at freo considering their "outside" depth.

[LostDoggy]

1. Unlike last year, we didn't just lie down and give up.
2. Already see improvement this early on in the season.
3. Dalhaus + Libba = Future

[LostDoggy]

I've learned that clubs who play Melbourne twice will be rubbing their hands.
Opportunity there to get 3-4 games worth of percentage in a single game.

There's also the danger of being the team that Melbourne beats. Ask Essendon last year.

[Nuggety Back Pocket]

Do you think Macrae and Hrovat will eventually fill this gap?

If you had to make the call, would you be targeting gun forwards or gun running mids in the draft?

The emphasis this year in the draft was building up our mid field stocks. We still desperately need a quality key forward and this needs to be a top priority.

[Ghost Dog]

1. Unlike last year, we didn't just lie down and give up.
2. Already see improvement this early on in the season.
3. Dalhaus + Libba = Future
Can somebody pinch me?
It's 2013 - The son of Tony Liberatore plays for us and is having a blinder, Adam Cooney is fully fit,\. Dale Morris is back in the team, The son of Steve Wallis is looking great, we have two top draft picks and half of Geelong fc has moved up the road to coach us! What a good time to be a Bulldogs member / supporter.

[Chicago1]

1. Libba needs to be cloned.
2. Crossy should be played at FF. Two goals in ONE match? :D
3. I will miss Melbourne not being on DST for the rest of the season. The 10.10PM Friday start for Saturday afternoon matches is so much more conducive to normal sleeping patterns for me.

[Ozza]

1. Freo are as good a side as I suspected. Great mix of height where they need height, and pace where they need pace.

2. Koby Stevens is a very good find.

3. Libba will be the best player at the footy club in the future....possibly the near future.

[BornInDroopSt'54]

1. Libba needs to be cloned.
2. Crossy should be played at FF. Two goals in ONE match? :D
3. I will miss Melbourne not being on DST for the rest of the season. The 10.10PM Friday start for Saturday afternoon matches is so much more conducive to normal sleeping patterns for me.

Can't you control yourself? Do you really need to see the match live, can't you record it and watch it in civilised northern hemisphere time? As a valued supporter we can't let our passion compromise our lifestyle or our mental health.

[Cyberdoggie]

1/ Freo played the game their way, and did only what they had to do to win. Nothing more, nothing less. Felt they could of destroyed us if they wanted to.

2/ If Ross Lyon wins a premiership it will set back football 30 years aesthetically.
While it wasn't awful, it certainly wasn't exciting, which is s shame as Freo have some exciting footballers that are forced to play boring football.

3/ We badly need a tall who can take a grab or who even looks like hitting a contest so we can straighten ourselves up. We played like we did last year again, ie only way we could score a goal was by trying to get a stoppage in the forward 50 and scramble a goal.
(obviously freo had a lot to do with this)

3.5/ We lack run and carry, and the ability to get passed an opponent in the middle (ie get through a tackle, break the lines). We did very little to free up Griffen but when he's not at full flight, the rest of our mids are plodders who just handball sideways to someone else and put them under pressure. Someone needs to get on their bike and try and make the opposition turn and chase us rather than push forward and pre-empt who's going to end up with the ball on the end of a chain of handballs. If we keep playing that way we get no where and make it impossible for our forwards to even take a mark.

[always right]

1/ Freo played the game their way, and did only what they had to do to win. Nothing more, nothing less. Felt they could of destroyed us if they wanted to.

2/ If Ross Lyon wins a premiership it will set back football 30 years aesthetically.
While it wasn't awful, it certainly wasn't exciting, which is s shame as Freo have some exciting footballers that are forced to play boring football.

3/ We badly need a tall who can take a grab or who even looks like hitting a contest so we can straighten ourselves up. We played like we did last year again, ie only way we could score a goal was by trying to get a stoppage in the forward 50 and scramble a goal.
(obviously freo had a lot to do with this)

3.5/ We lack run and carry, and the ability to get passed an opponent in the middle (ie get through a tackle, break the lines). We did very little to free up Griffen but when he's not at full flight, the rest of our mids are plodders who just handball sideways to someone else and put them under pressure. Someone needs to get on their bike and try and make the opposition turn and chase us rather than push forward and pre-empt who's going to end up with the ball on the end of a chain of handballs. If we keep playing that way we get no where and make it impossible for our forwards to even take a mark.


Good comments although I don't agree with your statement that Freo only did what they had to. This suggets that teams turn their effort on and off like a tap. I never got the impression on Saturday that Freo waned in their effort at all....and I don't think they are that good that they can pick and choose when to switch on.

[bornadog]

Good comments although I don't agree with your statement that Freo only did what they had to. This suggets that teams turn their effort on and off like a tap. I never got the impression on Saturday that Freo waned in their effort at all....and I don't think they are that good that they can pick and choose when to switch on.

After the first 5 goals were kicked in the first 15 to 20 minutes, we matched them for the rest of the game. That should have pleased the coaching staff, although allowing a 5 goal break was not what we wanted.

[craigsahibee]

After the first 5 goals were kicked in the first 15 to 20 minutes, we matched them for the rest of the game. That should have pleased the coaching staff, although allowing a 5 goal break was not what we wanted.

Agree, towards the end of last year if we were 5 goals down, we would have finished off 12 goals down.

Hey BAD, have you moved seats this year?

[bornadog]

Agree, towards the end of last year if we were 5 goals down, we would have finished off 12 goals down.

Hey BAD, have you moved seats this year?

No, still the same spot, had an invite to Access Club, but wished I was in my own seat. I was sitting in the sun for the last two quarters and it wasn't pleasant. I thought I was going to the Medallion club but last minute it was Access and too late to say no:p

[stefoid]

Small marking forwards need good delivery. Gia and Dicko are going to struggle if the midfield cant stand up under pressure and kick well.

We have Williams and Stringer up our sleeves latter in the year.

[Mofra]

I was sitting in the sun for the last two quarters and it wasn't pleasant.
Lvl 2, front of bay 42? Thought I saw you on Saturday

[whythelongface]

1/ There has been some definite improvement in our team - particularly with the addition of the 4 mature aged recruits. I am really liking Lower's role in the team. We saw how dangerous Mundy was during a 5 min burst in the 3rd qtr where he had 5 possessions. Thankfully Lower was able to negate his influence for the majority of the game;

2/ Freo are a definite top 4 team. They have some really gun players and with the likes of Sandilands and Ballytyne to return they will continue to get better.

3/ Our forward structure is a definite work in progress and whilst the influence of both Jones and Cordy was minimal this week, I still believe we should persist with these two over the course of the next few games to see if there is improvement.

[bornadog]

Lvl 2, front of bay 42? Thought I saw you on Saturday

Yes that was me. My normal seat is Lvl 2 aisle 31, row C. You should have come down and said hello.

[Remi Moses]

1/ Freo played the game their way, and did only what they had to do to win. Nothing more, nothing less. Felt they could of destroyed us if they wanted to.

2/ If Ross Lyon wins a premiership it will set back football 30 years aesthetically.
While it wasn't awful, it certainly wasn't exciting, which is s shame as Freo have some exciting footballers that are forced to play boring football.

3/ We badly need a tall who can take a grab or who even looks like hitting a contest so we can straighten ourselves up. We played like we did last year again, ie only way we could score a goal was by trying to get a stoppage in the forward 50 and scramble a goal.
(obviously freo had a lot to do with this)

3.5/ We lack run and carry, and the ability to get passed an opponent in the middle (ie get through a tackle, break the lines). We did very little to free up Griffen but when he's not at full flight, the rest of our mids are plodders who just handball sideways to someone else and put them under pressure. Someone needs to get on their bike and try and make the opposition turn and chase us rather than push forward and pre-empt who's going to end up with the ball on the end of a chain of handballs. If we keep playing that way we get no where and make it impossible for our forwards to even take a mark.
Good points except pt 2. I think Freo are a hell of a lot better aesthetically than Stkilda were.
That brand of footy stands up in September no matter what people think.

[GVGjr]

1) Despite a good preseason there is still a big gap between Shaun Higgins best and worst games.

2) Liberatore is far better than I gave him credit for.

3) I'm more optimistic about what value Cooney should be able to bring us this season.

[Bulldog4life]

1.Our ability to play the game out against a very good side has improved markedly.

2. Will Minson's improvement over the past two years is huge...so glad GC never got him.

3. Convinces me that we have a very good chance of beating Richmond this week...can't believe our current odds are $3.65.:eek:;)

[Ghost Dog]

1.Our ability to play the game out against a very good side has improved markedly.

2. Will Minson's improvement over the past two years is huge...so glad GC never got him.

3. Convinces me that we have a very good chance of beating Richmond this week...can't believe our current odds are $3.65.:eek:;)

They have three very good engines. We have the middle, a fair back-line that misfires a bit, and our front wheels lack a bit of speed and accuracy. All three will have to be firing in synch to beat the Tigers.

[Bulldog4life]

They have three very good engines. We have the middle, a fair back-line that misfires a bit, and our front wheels lack a bit of speed and accuracy. All three will have to be firing in synch to beat the Tigers.

Point taken GD but I would have thought in our odds would had been somewhere between $2.50 and $2.70.

[Ghost Dog]

Point taken GD but I would have thought in our odds would had been somewhere between $2.50 and $2.70.

Good point Bulldog4life! I may just get a bit of that action. I think we were about the same V Dockers IIRC?

[Topdog]

$2.50 would indicate a margin of 17-20 points. Richmond should be favourites for a 5 goal victory. I think the team the Saints had out there on Friday is better than ours by a little bit.