3 things I've learned

[Greystache]

Once the game against the Norf is completed post up three things you've learned as a result of watching the game.

They can be Norf players if you so desire.

[SlimPickens]

1. We have players whose work rate is suspect.

2. Minson is a good tap ruckman.

3. Turnovers kill you. May have been a different game if it wasn't for some errant work.

[Dancin' Douggy]

1. Liam Jones might get caned here. But I thought he was molested all day, never got the frees he deserved and never stopped representing.

2. Griffen bleeds for the jumper.

3. Kevin Bartlett is an idiot

[Scorlibo]

1. If we had a half decent side, Griffen would be heralded as the best player in the game.

2. The difference between a good and bad game is too great for Liam Jones (and not because of his good games being that good).

3. It's ridiculously frustrating when Majak Daw, a player we had every opportunity and incentive to draft, can come in and kick as many goals as any young Bulldogs forward has in the last decade.

[comrade]

1. We can talk about cracking in and focus on winning the contested ball but defense is a two way street. Either our defensive work rate as a group is embarrassing or our structures are inept. Which is it?

2. We need some genuine defenders coming through to help stem the bleeding. Roughy is a Lone Ranger down there.

3. Griffen is a gun and if Cooney is thinking about following the cash he'd want to play better than he did tonight. He had a severe case of the CBFs.

[Remi Moses]

1) Norf Hobart will never go anywhere playing that style
2) 17 losses in 18 games is excrutiating.
3) turnovers kill

[LostDoggy]

1. North are overrated.
2. We're incredibly gifted at making overrated teams look good.
3. Excuses sound hollow when you put the cue in the rack at 3/4 time

[Mantis]

1. North are overrated.


Who rates them?

I think it's pretty much accepted that they will finish the season somewhere between position 6 and 10.

[Doc26]

1. We can talk about cracking in and focus on winning the contested ball but defense is a two way street. Either our defensive work rate as a group is embarrassing or our structures are inept. Which is it?

Our defensive structure was inept and was particularly evident with our kick ins where far too often the kick was straight to an at best 50/50 contest. We should not find ourselves kicking to a contest inside our defensive 50 from a kick in with the frequency we do. Our defensive coaching requires coaching.

[Nuggety Back Pocket]

1. Griffen was all class and the margin would have been a lot greater but for his superb effort.
2. Austin Tutt can be added to Vesz and Howard as not up to League standard.
3. No backline structure was embarrassing.
Why do we continually allow opposition forwards to lead us to the ball?

[Eastdog]

Our defensive structure was inept and was particularly evident with our kicking out where far too often the kick was straight to an at best 50/50 contest. Our defensive coaching requires coaching.

Lucky they missed quite few cause otherwise it could have been a lot worse.

[bornadog]

1. Austin can't play forward - hold on, can't play back either.

2. Wallis can't kick

3. Griffen is our best player and we missed him the past few weeks.

[bulldogtragic]

1. 2. 3. - I hate footy ATM. Can't see a light at the end of the tunnel. :(

EDIT: they had better cut the list VERY deep this year, very deep.

[Eastdog]

1. 2. 3. - I hate footy ATM. Can't see a light at the end of the tunnel. :(

Yeah it certainly isn't enjoyable for us ATM.

[G-Mo77]

1. My knowledge of the rules gets worse every week.

2. You can take 5 minutes to shoot at goals.

3. Something doesn't seem right with Boyd.

[Greystache]

1. The end is coming quickly for a couple of our veterans.

2. We have a concerning number of players with no creative instict yet still poor skills.

3. It's getting harder working up the motivation to keep fronting up each week.

[AndrewP6]

1. If Marko plays, it has to be up forward.
2. I may have to revise my estimate of us playing finals in 2015.
3. Ryan Griffen should be our skipper.

[AndrewP6]

1. The end is coming quickly for a couple of our veterans.

2. We have a concerning number of players with no creative instict yet still poor skills.

3. It's getting harder working up the motivation to keep fronting up each week.

Ain't that the truth!

[Eastdog]

1. We have a long way to go in our development.

2. Umpires just don't know what their doing at times.

3. When we are not winning crowds are down and they have certainly been down at our home games this year.

[Mantis]

It's getting harder working up the motivation to keep fronting up each week.

Due to other sporting/ social commitments I had missed our last 4 games... Was super keen early in the week to see us in action, but the selection decisions made me less enthused and then after fronting up today I feel it's going to be a very long & tough finish to the season.

Agree about the old guys too... Need to make the changes now and get the kids game hardened.... They can rest at the end of the season.

[ReLoad]

1. We are in contention for a priority pick
2. Our kick in strategy of all going to one side doesn't work at aus kick level, doesn't work at u16 level, doesn't work at vfl reserves level and sure as hell doesn't work at AFL level.
3. We are entering the same depths as the rhode era.

[Greystache]

Agree about the old guys too... Need to make the changes now and get the kids game hardened.... They can rest at the end of the season.

Yeah I think we should play Hrovat next weekend along with Stringer and McCrae, and look at Roberts too. If Prudden backs up his game from last week he should pay in 2 weeks also.

[LostDoggy]

1. JJ has no idea what to do at kick-ins.
2. Seriously, stop with the Austin up forward garbage.
3. Roughy got a bath.

[Dry Rot]

1. The end is coming quickly for a couple of our veterans.



Been out, didn't hear the game.

Who do you have in mind?

[G-Mo77]

1. JJ has no idea what to do at kick-ins.

Poor kid has been thrown in the deep end since Goodes was rubbed out.

[LostDoggy]

Poor kid has been thrown in the deep end since Goodes was rubbed out.

Poor leadership on and off the pitch to continue with him doing it.:confused:

[Ghost Dog]

1. Really concerned about our supporter base at home games. North fans were revved up from the word go.

2. We are two or three draft periods away from building a side like North. Maybe even more. And North are hardly finals material. No disrespect to them - they have a good developing side that will monster others once they get it together a bit more.

3. I spotted a period where three or four senior players were about two meters from each other, all standing and just looking on. I felt a bit let down by our senior group tonight.
When opportunities go begging, like those chest marks of Gia, it makes me a bit annoyed. But these things happen I guess.

[Remi Moses]

1. My knowledge of the rules gets worse every week.

2. You can take 5 minutes to shoot at goals.

3. Something doesn't seem right with Boyd.

Thought his body language and work rate were right off tonight.
Looks disinterested

[LostDoggy]

I thought we gave it everything tonight. I say that because for 2 and a half quarters we played with urgency and intent. There was the intent to cover, to play on and run. We played with intensity and speed.

Because we tried to do so many things quicker we made errors. Our reactions and actions had to be faster than last week, we had to run more often and further to anticipate and negate North's strengths. I thought we did this but eventually just ran out of puff.

I think that the 6 day break after WA hurt us in the end.

Basic turnovers continue to kill us.

[SonofScray]

1. I am not as pro coach as I thought I was; selections & match ups frustrated me this week. I love the message but I'm not sure we were given value for money and a genuine attempt at the win.

2. I am not sure I understand the rules of the game anymore, my 23 years of playing experience doesn't reflect in the enforcement of the rules. I can't even complain because I just don't know what is going on. Tragic.

3. Dennis Cometti is a nice bloke, posed for a photo with me in my luchador mask. Bringing a bit of good fun and humour into an otherwise ordinary day.

[AndrewP6]

1. I am not as pro coach as I thought I was; selections & match ups frustrated me this week. I love the message but I'm not sure we were given value for money and a genuine attempt at the win.

2. I am not sure I understand the rules of the game anymore, my 23 years of playing experience doesn't reflect in the enforcement of the rules. I can't even complain because I just don't know what is going on. Tragic.

3. Dennis Cometti is a nice bloke, posed for a photo with me in my luchador mask. Bringing a bit of good fun and humour into an otherwise ordinary day.

Is that you on FB? Haha good one!

[westbulldog]

We badly need a kicking skills coach - do we have one ??
Marko should be given a few games in the forward line
Fox commentators don't miss us with the sarcasm.

[Greystache]

We badly need a kicking skills coach - do we have one ??.

Rohan Smith

[Hotdog60]

Rohan Smith

Lindsay Gilbee is there too I think in a part time role.

[Doc26]

3. It's getting harder working up the motivation to keep fronting up each week.



... then after fronting up today I feel it's going to be a very long & tough finish to the season.


Would seem you're not alone.

A pic I took today just as our players had run through the banner shows the sparseness of the Bulldog reserve seating area on level 1. I didn't realise purchasing my reserve seat for the year would by round 7 entitle me to my own bay.

If there were 25k people there today they certainly weren't many of ours.

http://imageshack.us/a/img22/6766/imagewjii.jpg

[Eastdog]

1. I am not as pro coach as I thought I was; selections & match ups frustrated me this week. I love the message but I'm not sure we were given value for money and a genuine attempt at the win.

2. I am not sure I understand the rules of the game anymore, my 23 years of playing experience doesn't reflect in the enforcement of the rules. I can't even complain because I just don't know what is going on. Tragic.

3. Dennis Cometti is a nice bloke, posed for a photo with me in my luchador mask. Bringing a bit of good fun and humour into an otherwise ordinary day.

Are you also SoS I'm pretty sure the one that has the flags hanging down from Level 3.

[SonofScray]

Are you also SoS I'm pretty sure the one that has the flags hanging down from Level 3.

That is correct. I know it isn't too big a deal for most people these days, but I love flying the colours and expressing my passion for the club like that. The ads aren't up there anymore so I don't get hassled by security about the flags etc anymore. Would love to see more colour in the stands and over the fences etc. Something extra to enjoy as a fan other than the cold and sometimes unsatisfying stats and analysis.

[ratsmac]

1.Griffen doesn't get the recognition he deserves. If he played at Collingwood or Geelong he would have 3 all Australians and a brownlow by now.

2. Umpires don't know the rules. Thompson held Jones all day, no free. Norf just let the ball go in tackles, no free. Goldstein can push in the back with both hands to take a mark, no free. So frustrating.

3. Our players forget football basics. Why do we constantly have 3 players go up in marking contests spoiling each other and no one stay down. And why do we seem to always have 3 players trying to tackle the same person instead of manning up the overlap option?

[Eastdog]

That is correct. I know it isn't too big a deal for most people these days, but I love flying the colours and expressing my passion for the club like that. The ads aren't up there anymore so I don't get hassled by security about the flags etc anymore. Would love to see more colour in the stands and over the fences etc. Something extra to enjoy as a fan other than the cold and sometimes unsatisfying stats and analysis.

I think its great and something that you don't see that often in today's game.

[Remi Moses]

Lets be frank all the lower supported sides have crap turnouts when they're travelling poorly.
Even Hawthorn had sparse crowds in the 02 - 06 period.
They had 12 thou at a game against port in 04.
Drives us all bananas bet it's a common occurrence .
Turn the clock back 3 years in the Thompson Hall game and there were bugger all Norf fans there.
Swings and roundabouts folks.

[G-Mo77]

1.Griffen doesn't get the recognition he deserves. If he played at Collingwood or Geelong he would have 3 all Australians and a brownlow by now.


Somewhat disagree. He'd get more publicity at a bigger team, thats a no brainer but his erratic kicking wouldn't go under the radar either. His weaknesses would be under the microscope.

Grif's a great player for us but is still a fair way off being one of the leagues best.

[ratsmac]

Somewhat disagree. He'd get more publicity at a bigger team, thats a no brainer but his erratic kicking wouldn't go under the radar either. His weaknesses would be under the microscope.

Grif's a great player for us but is still a fair way off being one of the leagues best.

I hear what you are saying but it's hard when your a lone ranger kicking to forwards who are lead to the ball by defenders. When Barry Hall was still playing Griff would hit him lace out because Hall gave him a decent target.

[G-Mo77]

I hear what you are saying but it's hard when your a lone ranger kicking to forwards who are lead to the ball by defenders. When Barry Hall was still playing Griff would hit him lace out because Hall gave him a decent target.

Grif can hit a target he also has the ability to shank the ball horribly, it's been going on longer than just the last couple of years. If he wants to be one of the leagues best his kicking has to improve.

[Ghost Dog]

A lot of people had him in Bankers. He had one very very good pass to Gia. The rest were a bit ordinary.

[Go_Dogs]

A lot of people had him in Bankers. He had one very very good pass to Gia. The rest were a bit ordinary.

I know the efficiency stats can at times be misleading, but yesterday of his 33 touches, 16 were contested, he had 9 clearances and his DE was at 79%. Pretty sound numbers for someone whose work was mainly done in the thick of the action.

We've got much bigger issues than Griff's kicking at the moment, that's for sure.

[Scorlibo]

I think his shanks are mostly to do with poor composure. He very rarely misses targets, when he does it's by a long way because he doesn't take the time to steady himself or gets caught on his left when he clearly doesn't want to be using it. It's a completely different scenario to someone like Boyd who can have lots of space and just fail to execute the kick.

I'm in the camp of people who think that Griffen at his best is in the top 5 midfielders in the competition.

[Maddog37]

I think his shanks are mostly to do with poor composure. He very rarely misses targets, when he does it's by a long way because he doesn't take the time to steady himself or gets caught on his left when he clearly doesn't want to be using it. It's a completely different scenario to someone like Boyd who can have lots of space and just fail to execute the kick.

I'm in the camp of people who think that Griffen at his best is in the top 5 midfielders in the competition.

Jobe Watson. J Selwood. G Ablett. Pendlebery. D Swan. Dangerfield. Cotchin.


Which of these is he better than out of interest?

[LostDoggy]

Jobe Watson. J Selwood. G Ablett. Pendlebery. D Swan. Dangerfield. Cotchin.


Which of these is he better than out of interest?

Currently he's better than Cotchin, who's been complete crap this year, better than swan who is the boyd of collingwood, and better than selwood, who is a soft ducking expert. So he's pretty close if not quite there.

[Scorlibo]

Jobe Watson. J Selwood. G Ablett. Pendlebery. D Swan. Dangerfield. Cotchin.


Which of these is he better than out of interest?

http://www.afl.com.au/stats/player-ratings/overall-standings

Click on Griffen, scroll down to the timeline. You'll see that in round 1, 2012 he was the 7th best in the game and stayed top ten for a lot of 2012.

Right now I'd take his output over Watson, Swan and Cotchin, while Dangerfield's start to the year besides his display against Hawthorn was pretty average.

[Topdog]

Dangerfield is hugely over-rated. He usually plays 2 quarters at most.

[ratsmac]

The sad thing for Griffen is that he is probably going to peak as a player while the bulldogs are crap.

[bornadog]

Scott said last night that Griffen is in the top 10 AFL players and doesn't get the publicity of a Dangerfield etc etc.

[Nuggety Back Pocket]

Dangerfield is hugely over-rated. He usually plays 2 quarters at most.

I wouldn't mind having Dangerfield at the Western Bulldogs.

[Topdog]

I wouldn't mind having Dangerfield at the Western Bulldogs.

Neither would I but he isnt close to the top 5-10 players in the game.

[Ghost Dog]

Scott rates Griffen above Dangerfield.

[kruder]

I know the efficiency stats can at times be misleading, but yesterday of his 33 touches, 16 were contested, he had 9 clearances and his DE was at 79%. Pretty sound numbers for someone whose work was mainly done in the thick of the action.

We've got much bigger issues than Griff's kicking at the moment, that's for sure.

Be interesting to see how many were on his left? I'd say a minimum of 10 and the majority ineffective. I can't remember the last time he bounced the footy, would love to see the couching staff find a role outside the initial contest for him to provide a point a difference within the team.

[kruder]

Neither would I but he isnt close to the top 5-10 players in the game.

Go and watch the prelim final against Hawthorn it might change your mind. One of the greatest finals performances you will see. Elite enough said.