Game Day - R3 Richmond V Western Bulldogs

[Eastdog]

This is the game day discussion thread for our big clash against the Tigers tomorrow.

Dogs by 13 points
BOG: Libba
First Goal: Murphy

[LostDoggy]

Dogs by 21
BOG Wallis
First goal Dickson
Which end is our cheersquad for this week?

[AndrewP6]

Tigers by 14 points. I think we'll give them a good run but won't quite have enough tricks.
BOG Libba
First goal Libba

[Ghost Dog]

Upset win.

Dogs by four points
BOG Libba
First goal Shaun Higgins

[Eastdog]

Dogs by 21
BOG Wallis
First goal Dickson
Which end is our cheersquad for this week?

For home games our cheersquad is at the Lockett end (Footscray End) not sure where the cheersquad is when we play away at Etihad maybe Coventry End tomorrow.

[SlimPickens]

For home games our cheersquad is at the Lockett end (Footscray End) not sure where the cheersquad is when we play away at Etihad maybe Coventry End tomorrow.

Nope Lockett end tomorrow. It's pretty much a home game.

[SlimPickens]

Dogs 11pts
BOG Libba
Goal Gia

[Eastdog]

Nope Lockett end tomorrow. It's pretty much a home game.

Ill either sit on Level 3 close to some Bulldog fans away from the Richmond ferals or stand behind the cheer squad at the Lockett end in standing room.

[Greystache]

Dogs by 17
BOG Libba
First goal Dahlhaus

[bornadog]

Dogs by 22

BOG Stevens

First Goal: Dickson

[The Bulldogs Bite]

Dogs by 2 points
BOG Murphy
First goal Gia

Should be an interesting game.

[SquirrelGrip]

Bulldogs by 33
BOG Cooney
First Goal Jones

[Go_Dogs]

Dogs by 9 points
BOG Griffen
First Goal Gia

[GVGjr]

For the club and the supporters we need a good result today especially to go with the Williamstown win.

Dogs by 11 points.
BOG - Liberatore
First goal - Jones

[MrMahatma]

Reckon we win.
Dogs:29 points
BoG: Cooney
First goal: Ayce

Boarding the flight from Bris now. Will get to Etihad just in time. Looking forward to it.

[The Pie Man]

Thought we could win this on the way out of the ground last week.

Dogs by 13 points
BOG & first goal to Bob

[1eyedog]

Bulldogs by 13 pts
Griffen our best
Higgins first major

[The Underdog]

I like the matchup but still struggle to have the belief that we'll get the points.

Tigers by 7 points
BOG: Cooney
First Goal: Griffen

[divvydan]

Final Teams in.

Batchelor out for Knights

Cordy out for Campbell.

Subs: Ellis, Smith.

We may well get a fine for bringing Campbell in from outside emergency list.

[F'scary]

The Silver Gumby says:

Richmond are like "climate change." Not as hot as some have been making out.

Dogs by 18.

[Greystache]

Getting murdered in the centre bounces, haven't even been able to give a contest in the ruck so far.

[Greystache]

Wood does good hamstring 5 minutes into the first quarter. Never should have even been considered for selection this week

[Greystache]

Murphy needs a massive lift, hasn't touched it and Newman is killing us with his rebound.

[LostDoggy]

Might get beaten by behinds...

[LostDoggy]

We have laid 2 tackles in the first quarter. With 2 minutes to play.

Mindset is horrible today.

[Sedat]

Playing like busteds so far. Incredibly lucky to only be 2 goals down

[LostDoggy]

Libba has not been cited.

But he's not alone..

[LostDoggy]

Delidio and Martin with 10 touches each in the first quarter.

We have one of the better taggers in the game playing on Jake King in the back pocket.

Time to make the move.

[Scraggers]

Libba has not been cited.

But he's not alone..

What for ?

[Greystache]

Horrible horrible quarter of footy, lucky not to be 10 goals down

Getting nothing from our senior players in Minson, Murphy, Higgins, Griffen. Our half forward line is just the starting point for Richmond's attack. It's been said numerous times but we can't afford a half forward line of Gia, Murphy, and Higgins. There's just no defensive accountability.

[LostDoggy]

What for ?

He meant sighted.

[lemmon]

Picken really needs to move onto one of their prime movers. Jones a positive

[Greystache]

Not sure we can afford to move Roughead, but we also can't afford to let Vickery single handedly bury us either.

[MrMahatma]

Smashed around the ball.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

As bad a Qtr of football as I've seen from us in 12 months. If not for the Tigers wastefulness the game should be over by now.
Poor skills, poor decisions, poor effort by many.

[Scraggers]

He meant sighted.

My bad :rolleyes:

[Ghost Dog]

Goodes can go back to the VFL if he's going be so careless out of half back.

[AndrewP6]

Awful. Awful start. No accountability, senior players letting us down again...

[lemmon]

How is Deledio so loose?

[Greystache]

Did someone send a memo this week that Daniel Cross is now 210cm? We're kicking to him in a contest continually.

[GVGjr]

Hope we can turn this around

[Sedat]

Some of the match ups are puzzling to say the least. Giving Deledio free reign especially bizarre considering his woeful history against Picken

[lemmon]

How can we go from the last few weeks effort to this unaccountable crap, they have numbers everywhere

[Ghost Dog]

Now we get to see how far we are ahead of last year. How is this team going to respond? Are we going to close the curtains now?

they should have 5 goals more than they do now.
Very interested to see who stands up and who falls away.

[lemmon]

Old, slow forwards giving away free kicks because the cant compete physically...although the ball is being put on their heads

[LostDoggy]

My bad :rolleyes:

Just trying to help...

[Sedat]

Our inability to spot up targets inside forward 50 has been awful, on the rare occasions we've got the ball in there.

Gee Morris is a terrific hard arse defender for them.

[LostDoggy]

Jones close to best on ground for the dogs so far. Never thought I' be saying that but at least there's a posistive in it :)

[whythelongface]

Gee that was an ordinary half of football. We are lucky not to be 10 goals down. We lack some serious pace in our midfield. Only plusses for the game are Jones and Morris on Riewoldt.

[Greystache]

Jones one of our few positives, Morris probably another.

Surely we can't play this bad in the second half too. Need to start winning some ball in the middle, their on ball division has destroyed us so far.

[Remi Moses]

Game played on their terms.
10 goal loss plus. Unaccountable, poor ball movement, and we can't get our hands on it.
Should be 10 down already.
Poor body language, no work ethic.

[Sedat]

That was an inept half of football by any team this season other than Melbourne. Terrible at stoppages and clearances, terrible defensive midfield pressure, terrible forward 50 pressure, slow and static ball movement, killed on the spread.

We get an undeserved chance to reload at half time and come our with a better attitude and a 100% better work rate both in attack and defensively. They've spend a lot of their petrol tickets so there's no excuse

[Hotdog60]

Must have had Crossy 200th celebrations last night.

[AndrewP6]

Couldn't go today, hit by Bali belly this morning. Kind of glad really:eek:

[firstdogonthemoon]

looks pretty grim

[LostDoggy]

Wallis disappointing so far this year I think. Stepped up year two but he seems to have stopped if not gone backwards. For an inside player he doesn't win enough and he's not accountable enough. Happy to swap him and Macrae next week unless he steps up massively in the next half. Richmonds mids seem equally hard at the ball but have an extra step of pace at the moment. Hard to tell if its skill or pace causing it but the end result is the same. Still pleased for Jones boy thus far. If he can get 3 or 4 it was worth the gate entry.

[whythelongface]

I really thought we were a chance today. How wrong I was. Very disappointing.

[Greystache]

Perhaps we can introduce our sub to bring in some extra run. Playing Wood for *!*!*!*!s sake.

[DragzLS1]

Need to lift the intensity big time and Minson need to start getting Libby involved around the stoppages. Kind of hard when Maric looks like he's on fire today. Tag delidio and we can't stop cotchin by the looks of it. C'mon dogs lets lift and give them some doubt with the first 3 in the 3rd!

[bulldogsthru&thru]

This performance is right on par with last season. Horrible. Maybe we haven't improved on last season at all. We were competitive for the 1st two weeks last year then put up this sort of tripe against the saints in round 3 .... And then onwards for the whole season

[kruder]

You have to wonder about Higgins.....Gia, Dickson, Dahl also have been poor with their defensive pressure.

I much prefer Minson rucking all game, Tom Campbell is no forward and provides little as a relief ruckman.

As mentioned it all has to start with the clearances but we look out of gas. Cross deserves a better effort from all.

[Mofra]

Old, slow forwards giving away free kicks because the cant compete physically...although the ball is being put on their heads
Apart from Jones, would our Willy forward-line (Vez, Grant, Macrae, Stringer) perform better at AFL level?

Grant did a lot of little things well yesterday, Stringer is not match fit but will be fantastic when he is, Macrae is ready now and Vez can play bursts and his disposal is excellent.

Not sold on Campbell at all - not great forward, and shouldn't play in the same side as Will.

[LostDoggy]

Other positive - Roughy is a great backman. Decision of the year to redeploy him down there.

[Ghost Dog]

Well - Tigers are just very good today.
Even if we lose, keep the goals coming boys and never give in.
I watch a lot of MMA. even when they have you on the ropes, if you just hang in, you can get an opening. Door is still open.

[LostDoggy]

Apart from Jones, would our Willy forward-line (Vez, Grant, Macrae, Stringer) perform better at AFL level?

Grant did a lot of little things well yesterday, Stringer is not match fit but will be fantastic when he is, Macrae is ready now and Vez can play bursts and his disposal is excellent.

Not sold on Campbell at all - not great forward, and shouldn't play in the same side as Will.

They'd be awesome for 40 mins of footy I suspect and then you couldn't rotate the bench quickly enough to control the puff. I rekon it'll be a new look forward line in 12 months - hopefully we can build it around these + Jones.

[AndrewP6]

Well - Tigers are just very good today.
Even if we lose, keep the goals coming boys and never give in.
I watch a lot of MMA. even when they have you on the ropes, if you just hang in, you can get an opening. Door is still open.

Surely you'd have to concede its been well and truly shut?

[Go_Dogs]

This is getting very ugly.

We're just flat today and can't seem to get on top in the middle. Our ball movement has been poor and reactive.

[Ghost Dog]

Surely you'd have to concede its been well and truly shut?

Just after I typed that, about 4 goals were piled on. Yes, now I would have to agree.

[AndrewP6]

Poor all over the ground. Lots of passengers.

[Maddog37]

Small Forwards all poo.

[kruder]

Dahl choosing not to chase has been nearly as bad as Higgins and now that is scary!

Young and Morris trying their buts off kudos to them.

[LostDoggy]

We just can't get the ball past the centre of the ground!
And when we do, it rebounds straight back into te hands of the opposition.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Our midfield have not fired a shot today. And our experienced players on every line have been woeful, with the exception of Crossy & Cooney.

Higgins & Gia, have just not worked hard enough today. How much longer will we persist with Higgins? Time is running out for him to become an AFL footballer at our club.

[AndrewP6]

Dahl choosing not to chase has been nearly as bad as Higgins and now that is scary!

Young and Morris trying their buts off kudos to them.

He chased Deledio then, bigger problem is he was free in the first place.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Picken. What is he thinking. He is a turnover merchant. I do not like him playing as a defender.

[kruder]

Our midfield have not fired a shot today. And our experienced players on every line have been woeful, with the exception of Crossy & Cooney.

Higgins & Gia, have just not worked hard enough today. How much longer will we persist with Higgins? Time is running out for him to become an AFL footballer at our club.

He must be dropped. He has been more insipid than Josh hill at Geelong that day just disgraceful.

[whythelongface]

Great pass from Houli to Jones

[MrMahatma]

We're doing nothing well. One of the worst performances in a few years.

Got ahead of ourselves.

[whythelongface]

Picken. What is he thinking. He is a turnover merchant. I do not like him playing as a defender.

Agree. Better suited as small forward. He would be a better option than Higgins.

Time for change. Bring in Stringer and dare I say it, Grant. Also Macrae needs to come in.

[Sedat]

Picken. What is he thinking. He is a turnover merchant. I do not like him playing as a defender.
Took the words out of my mouth YHF. Especially when Deledio is gathering cheapies at will further up the field. Picken up forward instead of Gia or Higgins would at least stop the ball trampolining out of the forward 50 with embarrassing ease.

[bornadog]

Midfield smashed today

[Ghost Dog]

A few of the goals we have had ( stevens, Jones ) have been gimmies anyway.
A gimme 50 to stevens, a gimme to Jones from Houli. So take two goals off and that's where we really are. Don't want to even think about all those points. I can't believe I actually put a small bet on us today! Glad it was small.

[lemmon]

Good boy Jones

[LostDoggy]

A few of the goals we have had ( stevens, Jones ) have been gimmies anyway.
A gimme 50 to stevens, a gimme to Jones from Houli. So take two goals off and that's where we really are. Don't want to even think about all those points. I can't believe I actually put a small bet on us today! Glad it was small.

Richmond havent had any gimmies???

[LostDoggy]

Agree. Better suited as small forward. He would be a better option than Higgins.

Time for change. Bring in Stringer and dare I say it, Grant. Also Macrae needs to come in.

No way, lets not hide the untalented. Lets replace them with the young skilled blokes and from yesterdays Willi game, there are plenty to take their spots.

[bulldogtragic]

Getting messy...

[Rance Fan]

Our Small forward sucked today! :(

[Rance Fan]

Minson and Campbell were terrible also! :(

[Greystache]

When the team's not paying well Higgins really is a very average footballer. Genuine downhill skier

[whythelongface]

Whilst we have sucked the Tigers look pretty good. Mind you I think we made them look good with our lack of intensity and skills.

[bulldogtragic]

Minson and Campbell were terrible also! :(
What do people see in Campbell? I haven't seen much, and what I've seen hasn't been great. What am I missing?

[The Underdog]

When the team's not paying well Higgins really is a very average footballer. Genuine downhill skier

I've defended him to a degree in the past but I can't see how he can justify his spot right now

[Rance Fan]

What do people see in Campbell? I haven't seen much, and what I've seen hasn't been great. What am I missing?

Yeh he's very wooden!
Not agile enough at this level

[Rance Fan]

I've defended him to a degree in the past but I can't see how he can justify his spot right now

Whos worse Higgins or Gia?

Both out for mine

[Sedat]

Our selection will be very interesting next week. Plenty of fierce pressure for spots and the incumbents have not made much of a case for their retention. All of Campbell, Dahl, Dickson, Gia and Higgins have been dreadful up forward, as has Smith and Goodes down back.

And in the coaches box, Hardwick has comprehensively pulled BMac's pants down.

[bulldogsthru&thru]

It's been a walk in the park for Richmond from what I have heard. 3 or 4 tiger midfielders all alone in the middle of the ground on a number of occasions

[bulldogtragic]

I've defended him to a degree in the past but I can't see how he can justify his spot right now
And he's got some pressure from Vez and Stringer too.

[Rance Fan]

We been smashed all over.
Tigers finally stepping up it seems

The run off our half forwards was too easy

[Rance Fan]

Our selection will be very interesting next week. Plenty of fierce pressure for spots and the incumbents have not made much of a case for their retention. All of Campbell, Dahl, Dickson, Gia and Higgins have been dreadful up forward, as has Smith and Goodes down back.

Agree with all expect Goodes.
Minson was shocking today.

[Greystache]

Yeh he's very wooden!
Not agile enough at this level

He's 21, he's a better player than Minson was at that age. He's a number one ruck not a forward.

[The Underdog]

Whos worse Higgins or Gia?

Both out for mine

Gia has way more runs on the board and can be a strong creative force in our forward line. Exploitable by quick opponents and not defensively strong, but ahead of Higgins.

[AndrewP6]

Another embarrassing flogging, no sign of a fight from most of the list.

Once upon a time I used to look forward to Richmond games.

[Rance Fan]

Shame about the result. Disappointed for Crossy, a bulldog warrior. :(

[Sedat]

He's 21, he's a better player than Minson was at that age. He's a number one ruck not a forward.
Agreed, so then he should only play as a replacement for Minson. Williams is the best 2nd ruck on the list and I'd bring him straight in next week.

[The Pie Man]

Agreed, so then he should only play as a replacement for Minson. Williams is the best 2nd ruck on the list and I'd bring him straight in next week.

Agreed. Yesterday's run at Willy enough for me.

Was looking a good game after 15 minutes..fancy going missing like that on Cross' 200th. Bitterly disappointing

[anfo27]

Gia has way more runs on the board and can be a strong creative force in our forward line. Exploitable by quick opponents and not defensively strong, but ahead of Higgins.

When Gia hasn't got the ball in his hands he is a liability. Too slow & not strong enough to beat an opponent & our team isn't good enough to cover his weaknesses.

Higgins, well i'm lost for words on this bloke. Should be dropped, make him realise he isn't an automatic selection & then maybe we will get some sustained effort.

Having said that, after todays performance you could drop about 15 players. Was their a function or party last night? the boys looked like they were all on the sauce last night.

[The Underdog]

Agreed, so then he should only play as a replacement for Minson. Williams is the best 2nd ruck on the list and I'd bring him straight in next week.

I agree, Williams is a lesser ruck but much more agile and a better lead up player from the small sample we've seen.

[The Underdog]

Having said that, after todays performance you could drop about 15 players. Was their a function or party last night? the boys looked like they were all on the sauce last night.

It was a very tired looking performance

[lemmon]

Amazing difference in the small forwards of the Pies when compared to ours, look at how quick and willing Elliot, Blair, Fasolo and Sinclair are

[Greystache]

Agreed, so then he should only play as a replacement for Minson. Williams is the best 2nd ruck on the list and I'd bring him straight in next week.

That's the strategy I'd like us to go with, I think I said that last week, but next week is too early. Williams really struggled after about half time yesterday.

[Hotdog60]

I know Stringer is not ready but would 60% of action from Stringer give us more value than 100% from Higgins.

[anfo27]

It was a very tired looking performance

It was very strange to see nobody running to chase or create an option. Please somebody tell me that there was a flu or something that went through the playing group during the week.

I thought the first 2 weeks we created a benchmark on effort required for a game of footy; we were nowhere near that today.

[anfo27]

I know Stringer is not ready but would 60% of action from Stringer give us more value than 100% from Higgins.

I would go with 15% of Stringer action hobdog.

[Nuggety Back Pocket]

I know Stringer is not ready but would 60% of action from Stringer give us more value than 100% from Higgins.

Different type of players but Stringer and Macrae are our future and should be played next week. I was surprised to see JJ omitted or was he injured because he is one of our few smaller players with genuine speed.

[whythelongface]

double post

[Dog54]

Don't blame small forwards today inside 50s non existent. No service means you struggle to get a kick. Midfielders beaten at our game clearances and smashed ion the outside unfortunately. Will be long games the days we do not win the clearances and contested footy this year.

[Mofra]

Don't blame small forwards today inside 50s non existent. No service means you struggle to get a kick
AFL is "total football" these days - what you do without the football is just as important as what you do with it.

Our small/mid forwards averaged 1 tackle each today. Not good enough.

[Ghost Dog]

The coach has some headaches ahead. if people think Macrae and Stringer at the answer to our woes, remember, these are first year kids. We can't expect too much of them too soon.
Vezpremi was puffing like a steam train yesterday. Williams also looked a few games off.

[LostDoggy]

Agreed, so then he should only play as a replacement for Minson. Williams is the best 2nd ruck on the list and I'd bring him straight in next week.

Williams is terrible as a ruckman. He looks completly out of his depth in that role.

[Rance Fan]

Williams is terrible as a ruckman. He looks completly out of his depth in that role.

He offers much more up forward or in defense though.

[bornadog]

Richmond had 100 more disposals than we did and their midfield dominated. Lower beaten badly, Libba couldn't get his hands on the ball, Griffen tried hard, Wallis couldn't get his hands on the ball, Cooney in the second half faded out, Stevens, Smith couldn't get the ball either.

Happy for posters to pot Higgins, by why not add Dickson and Dahl into that as well.

I don't know who decided we needed to recruit Campbell, but to me he is just a back up, no more no less. Yes he is young but he should never ever play unless Minson is injured. Minson dominated the rucks but the midfield just couldn't capitilise.

Really disappointing effort today to allow Richmond to run around and just do what they liked.

[Rance Fan]

Don't blame small forwards today inside 50s non existent. No service means you struggle to get a kick. Midfielders beaten at our game clearances and smashed ion the outside unfortunately. Will be long games the days we do not win the clearances and contested footy this year.

The run off our small forwards was the issue. The drive it created made the Tigers look like they had twice as many midfielders.
Houli, Grigg,Delidio etc

They even kicked a number of goals.

Too many downhill skiers.. that dont work hard enough

[LostDoggy]

He offers much more up forward or in defense though.

I agree .... but dont like him in the ruck.

[Rance Fan]

I agree .... but dont like him in the ruck.

Agree also. Cordy to swap with Minson. Williams only if desperate

[Ghost Dog]

Every time they got a point, you knew it was coming straight back in within the next few moments.
I can't stand forwards like Dickson missing those easy shots. I know the Tigers were good today, but we made them look like the best team in the comp.

[GVGjr]

Could we move Higgins to the back line and see if that sparks him up?

[bornadog]

Could we move Higgins to the back line and see if that sparks him up?

Up to half time he had four disposals and we should have done the swap then with Picken. I don't know why Macca kept him in the forward line as the ball hardly went down there. I would make this a permanent swap.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Up to half time he had four disposals and we should have done the swap then with Picken. I don't know why Macca kept him in the forward line as the ball hardly went down there. I would make this a permanent swap.

I think it was a poor performance on the ground by the 22, and I think the coaches duel appeared to be comprehensively won by Hardwick. We always seemed to be reacting to their moves. They used the bench heaps more than us, early on, as a way to get the matchups they wanted on ball. When it was clear in the first quarter we were getting murdered in the clearances, I don't really recall what our response was, but it didn't appear that we shuffled much around.
Picken for two weeks in a row contributed nohing but score assists to the opposition. We really need to get him out of defense. A swap with Higgins might be good for both.

[Greystache]

Could we move Higgins to the back line and see if that sparks him up?

We tried this a couple of years ago and while he managed get some loose possessions he got burnt by a couple of pretty average players (Craig Bird 4 goals I'm ooking at you) kicked goals on him, because even in defence he's a one way player.

We've been trying to create a role for him for 3 or 4 years now. I think it's time to accept he plays the game on his terms only and that isn't good enough these days.

[anfo27]

Yeah macca probably didn't have his best coaching performance today but there isn't a lot a coach can do when you don't have a winner on the ground & nobody is working for each other or working anywhere near hard enough.

[anfo27]

Could we move Higgins to the back line and see if that sparks him up?

Could we send Higgins to Williamstown & see if that sparks him?

[AndrewP6]

Yeah macca probably didn't have his best coaching performance today but there isn't a lot a coach can do when you don't have a winner on the ground & nobody is working for each other or working anywhere near hard enough.

Doing something, anything would have been good.

[anfo27]

Doing something, anything would have been good.

Like getting another 22 players that are willing to work or getting out there himself?

[LostDoggy]

Our players looked leg weary. Too many couldn't chase hard enough, we couldn't go the extra yards to help each other out, we spectated, and many ended up on the turf in contests rather than keeping their feet. Were they overloaded at training this week or haven't they recovered sufficiently from 2 games (!) to match it with what is now a very good Richmond mid field and half back line?

We were beaten at our own game today. All the signs were there that we couldn't run on top of the ground and were constantly beaten to the ball.

Dickson appeared to be playing sore or injured.

[SonofScray]

Could we move Higgins to the back line and see if that sparks him up?

Has been done hasn't it? He'll get cheap kicks, look a million bucks as an individual and add no value to the team. His value is performing as a forward and he just isn't up to it. A lack of ability.

Should be dropped, never to pull on the jumper again. I notice noone mentions him as a future captain anymore.

[Rance Fan]

Thought Picken struggled today.
Now he use to tag Delidio and shut him down in the past.

Why not go with this today????

[LostDoggy]

Sick of waiting for Higgins to be a star (supposedly) It's not going to happen. Can anyone honestly say they can remember a time when we've been beaten and Higgo has been mentioned as a player who could hold his head up despite losing? The guy just doesn't fire a shot when the heat is on. He's not alone though

[Mantis]

Missed today's game was and most of the lead up this week.. Was amazed to see so many of our posters bullish pre-game, well atleast by going by your selections.

Haven't seen anything yet, will torture myself tomorrow, but was I right in hearing that Libba & Dahlhaus started on the pine?

[Ghost Dog]

Missed today's game was and most of the lead up this week.. Was amazed to see so many of our posters bullish pre-game, well atleast by going by your selections.

Haven't seen anything yet, will torture myself tomorrow, but was I right in hearing that Libba & Dahlhaus started on the pine?

Match ups were all messed up. Don't really get how so many midfielders can run around, doing their own thing.

[Dancin' Douggy]

I liked it better when we were all talking about Jake Stringer.

[Eastdog]

Nothing went right for us today. We were dominated in all areas by the Tigers. Was anyone surprised that we made an early sub. Was someone injured maybe? My brother is a Collingwood supporter who was at the other match today against Hawthorn and said after our game finished a Richmond fan came to the G to rub it in to the Pies fans. Typical Richmond.

[AndrewP6]

Nothing went right for us today. We were dominated in all areas by the Tigers. Was anyone surprised that we made an early sub. Was someone injured maybe? My brother is a Collingwood supporter who was at the other match today against Hawthorn and said after our game finished a Richmond fan came to the G to rub it in to the Pies fans. Typical Richmond.

Seriously? Wood went off with (another) hammy.

[SlimPickens]

Nothing went right for us today. We were dominated in all areas by the Tigers. Was anyone surprised that we made an early sub. Was someone injured maybe? My brother is a Collingwood supporter who was at the other match today against Hawthorn and said after our game finished a Richmond fan came to the G to rub it in to the Pies fans. Typical Richmond.

Were you not at the game Eastdog? Easton Wood did a really bad hamstring injury early hence the sub.

[Eastdog]

Seriously? Wood went off with (another) hammy.

Ok well in that case that's fine the ground announcer didn't mention an injury.

[Eastdog]

Were you not at the game Eastdog? Easton Wood did a really bad hamstring injury early hence the sub.

The ground announcer didn't say anything.

[SlimPickens]

The ground announcer didn't say anything.

They don't tend to announce injuries Eastdog.

[Eastdog]

They don't tend to announce injuries Eastdog.

Ok. How long will he be out of action for. 6-8 weeks maybe.

[SlimPickens]

Ok. How long will he be out of action for. 6-8 weeks maybe.

Not sure looked pretty bad, the explosive mechanism of injury suggests it may be pretty severe(8-10wks).

[angelopetraglia]

Tough day at the office for our boys. We were smashed in just about every facet of the game. Hard to watch. Very hard to watch.

But this stat really highlights that we are a few years behind Richmond in our development.

Bulldogs

Players under 50 games - 13
Players 50-99 games - 1 .... a single player!

Richmond

Players under 50 games - 4
Players 50 - 99 games - 11

[Sedat]

Missed today's game was and most of the lead up this week.. Was amazed to see so many of our posters bullish pre-game, well atleast by going by your selections.

Haven't seen anything yet, will torture myself tomorrow, but was I right in hearing that Libba & Dahlhaus started on the pine?
To be fair to the woof crew, we pushed Richmond all the way when both teams fielded almost full strength line ups in the last week of NAB Challenge, and we got some match up victories on the day that we would have realistically expected could be replicated 4 weeks later. Also to be frank Richmond were only just going, and were relying heavily on elite performances from their best 3-4 players to sneak over the line against middle of the road opposition - with our match-ups (on paper at least) looked like they could negate Richmond's match winners.

Alas, we decided in our infinite wisdom to let Deledio, one of the great seagulls of the AFL, wander around unopposed all day, when for the best part of 5 years he has been Picken's personal gimp. We selected an injury prone running defender with no preparation and coming off a hamstring injury - 5 minutes later his dicky hammy goes twang. We select a slow lumbering one-dimensional ruckman who cannot play forward as our 2nd ruck, compromising our running power and our forward set up against a noted rebounding defensive team. We also had a midfield hellbent on bombing it long to our forwards and not spot up any leading targets.

Our players almost to a man stunk it up today. I also thought our coaching team were completely overwhelmed by a smarter, more nimble, opposition coaching group. Hopefully the lessons, both on and off the ground, are heeded in the coming weeks.

[Greystache]

Not sure looked pretty bad, the explosive mechanism of injury suggests it may be pretty severe(8-10wks).

If he misses 10 weeks he's going to need to tear it apart in the last 8-10 games to keep his spot on the list next year as far as I'm concerned.

[The Bulldogs Bite]

Missed today's game due to work.

Doubt I will watch over this one, disappointing to hear we got flogged but I guess we're still prone to games like these. The one thing I don't like reading/hearing is that senior players like Higgins/Gia were quiet yet again.

[bornadog]

Missed today's game due to work.

Doubt I will watch over this one, disappointing to hear we got flogged but I guess we're still prone to games like these. The one thing I don't like reading/hearing is that senior players like Higgins/Gia were quiet yet again.

The ball hardly went into the forward line and when it did it went straight to the opposition. Gia. Tried hard but Basher was too quick and Higgins dissapointed. The coach didn't even make one move. I have serious doubts in his ability on match day. Contested Footy was completely missing allowing Richmond to run wild

[SonofScray]

Mac mentioned the presser that he doesn't, and will not conjure up any tricks in response. This plan A or bust mentality from the coach is very foreign to me as a fan having grown up mostly under Wallace's era and then seeing us do well as an adult under Eade.

I like that the message is promoting the type of footy I love, but you still need to dig into the bag of tricks from time to time. Surely a few changes to the set up at the bounce could've put the clamp on Richmond a bit today?

[The Bulldogs Bite]

The ball hardly went into the forward line and when it did it went straight to the opposition. Gia. Tried hard but Basher was too quick and Higgins dissapointed. The coach didn't even make one move. I have serious doubts in his ability on match day. Contested Footy was completely missing allowing Richmond to run wild

So Higgins wasn't pushed up to the midfield?

I can somewhat understand making few positional changes in eyar one but surely in the early stages of year two we should be doing everything possible to be competitive/win.


Mac mentioned the presser that he doesn't, and will not conjure up any tricks in response. This plan A or bust mentality from the coach is very foreign to me as a fan having grown up mostly under Wallace's era and then seeing us do well as an adult under Eade.

Will need to watch the presser, that's a very strange thing to say.

It's fine to have "Plan A" but you need to be able to adjust and adapt, particularly when/if your players aren't at their best. Good sides conjure up ways to win, not always pretty, not always by implementing "Plan A".

[jeemak]

The ball hardly went into the forward line and when it did it went straight to the opposition. Gia. Tried hard but Basher was too quick and Higgins dissapointed. The coach didn't even make one move. I have serious doubts in his ability on match day. Contested Footy was completely missing allowing Richmond to run wild


Mac mentioned the presser that he doesn't, and will not conjure up any tricks in response. This plan A or bust mentality from the coach is very foreign to me as a fan having grown up mostly under Wallace's era and then seeing us do well as an adult under Eade.

I like that the message is promoting the type of footy I love, but you still need to dig into the bag of tricks from time to time. Surely a few changes to the set up at the bounce could've put the clamp on Richmond a bit today?

It looks like the coach doesn't make any moves when you're being absolutely belted from the get go, like we were today.

To be honest, that was a bloody terrible game to watch for mine. Our inner midfielders got completely broken on the spread, and our forwards were completely starved of opportunity on the back of an inept defensive six not being organised enough to channel the ball through the midfield when it was our time to control the ball. The result was a dysfunctional forward line with one or three players showing a lack of intestinal fortitude, and putting their hands up for being dropped.

The thing for me is effort. We *!*!*!*!ing lacked it today. Badly. I'll stick with the coach working the players over through games where we win, and those where we get our pants pulled down like today, but if he can't inspire effort I'll start to get pissed off.

[Ghost Dog]

So Higgins wasn't pushed up to the midfield?



It's fine to have "Plan A" but you need to be able to adjust and adapt, particularly when/if your players aren't at their best. Good sides conjure up ways to win, not always pretty, not always by implementing "Plan A".

I think the coach wants us to commit to a standard, even when things are going well. It's not worth trying new tricks until we keep hacking away, even when things are not going our way - IMO what he meant.

The trouble is, we can't restrict other sides in order to stop them running over us because our forward line is too slow. Every time it came out of half back for them today, you knew it was going to end up in their f50. it gives the opposition such momentum going back the other way. For our forwards, it's either chase or you're out. Or, we persist with Gia, Dickson, Higgins and we can do it all again V Adelaide.

[Hotdog60]

So Higgins wasn't pushed up to the midfield?

I can somewhat understand making few positional changes in eyar one but surely in the early stages of year two we should be doing everything possible to be competitive/win.



Will need to watch the presser, that's a very strange thing to say.

It's fine to have "Plan A" but you need to be able to adjust and adapt, particularly when/if your players aren't at their best. Good sides conjure up ways to win, not always pretty, not always by implementing "Plan A".

The presser may be referring to the game against the crows, meaning he wasn't going to conjure up any tricks for the coming game but to reboot what should have happen today.

That was my take but I could be wrong.

[Eastdog]

What were the Inside 50 counts for both sides?

[bornadog]

What were the Inside 50 counts for both sides?

62 to 39

[Hotdog60]

What were the Inside 50 counts for both sides?

do you really want to know it was on record pace early in the game.

62 to 39

[bornadog]

do you really want to know it was on record pace early in the game.

62 to 39

They also had 100 more disposals than us. We just couldn't get our hands on the ball.

[Ghost Dog]

They also had 100 more disposals than us. We just couldn't get our hands on the ball.

Some things you can't control. But when we did have it, it wasn't used well. That's what irks. But then again, they put the heat on. It was their pressure, and full credit.

[jeemak]

Adam Cooney, is a bloody good footballer.

His work to be in a position to finish the two goals he scored was about as good as it gets in the AFL. His finishes were first class as well.

There's not a player on our list that makes me get out of my seat and claim a goal before it happens, but Cooney did it twice today.

He'd have been one of the best players to play for our club given the chance.

[Grantysghost]

We are slow and if not winning clearances against a team who enjoys forward running as much as the tiges we invariably get smashed.

[Dry Rot]

Missed today's game due to work.



You were lucky.

I only saw the last bit of Q2 and most of Q3. It was one of the insipid, incompetent displays I've seen in 15 years.

Too angry to post much more now.

[jeemak]

You were lucky.

I only saw the last bit of Q2 and most of Q3. It was one of the insipid, incompetent displays I've seen in 15 years.

Too angry to post much more now.

I'm pretty pissed off as well, and I agree that it was terrible.

Our midfield effort was so below par it wasn't joke worthy.