2014 Game Day Round 6 - Western Bulldogs V Adelaide

[Eastdog]

Margin - Dogs by 17 points

1st Goal - Crameri

Best On Ground - Griffen

[bulldogtragic]

Dogs by 1 point
Minson BOG & first goal

[Ozza]

Dogs by 30
BOG Griffen
First Goal - Crameri

[Remi Moses]

Dogs by 12 pts
BOG griffen
1st Goal Crameri

[chef]

Crows by 4 goals
BOG Libba
First Goal Jones

[firstdogonthemoon]

Dogs by 7
1st Goal Gia
BOG - Dahlhaus

[LostDoggy]

$2.75 under 39. You could say we are friendless or is there value?

Anyone game?

[boydogs]

Dogs by 21
BOG Libba
First Goal Boyd

[Greystache]

Dogs by 18- We'll be keen to atone from last week's terrible effort.

First goal- Dahlhaus

BOG- Griffen

[Eastdog]

Dogs by 18- We'll be keen to atone from last week's terrible effort.

First goal- Dahlhaus

BOG- Griffen

I hope we come at firing this week right from the start. Last week I felt we went into the Carlton match thinking will win comfortably as they hadnt won prior to our meeting with them last week. Need to take every opponent seriously regardlessly of where they are on the ladder.

[Hotdog60]

I hope we come at firing this week right from the start. Last week I felt we went into the Carlton match thinking will win comfortably as they hadnt won prior to our meeting with them last week. Need to take every opponent seriously regardlessly of where they are on the ladder.

Sorry Eastdog, with all the media attention on them during the week the last thing our players would of been thinking was it was going to be a walk in the park. They came out all guns blazing and we let them get away with it. I give Carlton credit in that they went at it for 4 quarters. Even in the last quarter they had no one on the bench and we still couldn't play they way would have liked. Because they still wanted the ball more than us.
We still haven't grasped when to go defensive and when to go and attack. It was looking good to the end of last year but we haven't followed on yet this year. Hopefully soon it will all click.

[1eyedog]

I think we'll bring our contested game to the table tomorrow, I hope we do anyway. We still struggle to halt momentum and leak goals but if we can grind out a win I'll be happy.

Dogs by 11 points
Jones first goal
Griffen BOG

[F'scary]

Dogs by 18- We'll be keen to atone from last week's terrible effort.




I hope we come at firing this week right from the start. Last week I felt we went into the Carlton match thinking will win comfortably as they hadnt won prior to our meeting with them last week. Need to take every opponent seriously regardlessly of where they are on the ladder.

I concur with these comments. We'll be much better this week. Money is on the Chihauhaus

[The Bulldogs Bite]

Crows by 29.
BOG Libba.
First goal Dickson.

[AndrewP6]

Crows by 22
BOG Crameri
First goal Dicko

I can't go tomorrow, let's hope my non-attendance works in our favour. :D

[Go_Dogs]

Dogs by 19
First goal Tom Campbell
BOG Liberatore

Really hoping for a win, bragging rights against mates is such an important thing in footy ;)

[Go_Dogs]

I've heard a whisper of a late change, anyone else heard anything?

[The Underdog]

Crows by 27
BOG: Griff
First Goal: Crameri

Taking 2 of my kids, so will be lucky to make it past 3/4 time. Hopefully we start better than the last 2 weeks.

[MrMahatma]

I've heard a whisper of a late change, anyone else heard anything?

Hunter?

[Go_Dogs]

Hunter?

Yep, no idea if there's any substance to it.

[azabob]

I've heard a whisper of a late change, anyone else heard anything?

Did you hear who was out?

[LostDoggy]

Dogs by 9 points
BOG: Griffen
First goal: Dickson

[LostDoggy]

Dogs by 23
BOG Murphy - I get the feeling he was a little chastened by last week's performance. Sounded on 360 as if he had copped some strong words from Macca after the blues game.
First goal to big Tom.

[azabob]

Public announcement: the roof will be open for today's game.

[KT31]

Crows by 35.
BOG Griff.
1st Goal Crameri.

[bornadog]

Dogs by 10 Points
BOG Griffen
First Goal Dickson

[bornadog]

I've heard a whisper of a late change, anyone else heard anything?

Bont out Hunter in.

Hunter Sub

[Mantis]

Public announcement: the roof will be open for today's game.

Great. :eek:

[GVGjr]

Bont out Hunter in.

Hunter Sub

It's a shame we won't see Bonts today. Hopefully Hunter has a good game

[Happy Days]

I think I'm destined to never see Bontempelli play live

[bornadog]

It's a shame we won't see Bonts today. Hopefully Hunter has a good game
I was looking forward to seeing him as I missed last week

[LostDoggy]

Out to $2.85 under 39.

Going to be tough I think without Morris and Roughy.

They are in form and we will need to fire up early. Handy sub.

Need more from Cooney, he plays well against Adelaide.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

I am expecting us to be a lot more accountable and switched on today, after last weeks unacceptable performance. I'm hoping more than expecting us to win today.
Dogs by 5 points
First Goal: Dahlhaus
BOG: Griffen

[GVGjr]

Stringer warmed up with the defenders.... New role?

[chef]

Good start.

Loving having TC up forward again.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Fantastic start. Campbell and Dickson working well up forward and our pressure has been very good.

[GVGjr]

That was a shame, would have been nice to get another one on them

[GVGjr]

Our defenders are giving away a bit of height but doing well

[1eyedog]

Midfield pressure very pleasing. Campbell provides a difficult match up and straightens us up.

[KT31]

Midfield pressure very pleasing. Campbell provides a difficult match up and straightens us up.
Just said this to my Pup, also the forward pressure has been excellent.

[LostDoggy]

Our defenders are giving away a bit of height but doing well

Just another day at the office GVG.

Whoever is on Sloane is doing a great job, Danger is looking dangerous we better close him up.

Campbell and Dickson welcome inclusions.

I can't wait for a day without Dwayne.

[KT31]

Bont out Hunter in.

Hunter Sub

Like seeing Hunter back in but thought Bont's would have stayed and Stringer would have had the spell.

[KT31]

Missy has come off, possible groin.

[chef]

Cant take a trick can he.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Higgins is back on.
Adelaide getting on top now.

[GVGjr]

Bad miss by Dickson in that quarter which should have been a reward for a great run down.

[MrMahatma]

Some disappointing missed tackles, fumbles and skill errors let them back in.

Dickson doing well. Missing that sitter in front hurts though.

[LostDoggy]

Don't mind Jake down back so far.

We got to get back on top in the middle.

Big half in our season coming up.

[1eyedog]

Thought Stringer looked better down back. Getting into the game more as some alluded too during the week. Think it was expected they would get a rev at quarter time and come out harder at the ball bit worried about their height up forward but more worried about Dangerfield - hard to know how he's going watching live but getting involved. Wallis would be a good match up...:p Would love to win this and sit just outside the 8 on percentage.

[Greystache]

Jones back to his absolute worst. No work rate, no attempt to present, just jogging on the spot.

Jong on Dangerfield isn't working.

Campbell and Dickson are big improvements to the team.

[Twodogs]

What Ilike about our games this year have been our efforts in red time. We've gone from a team that gave up heaps of score toward the end of quarters to a team that tightens up and stops the opposition.


i have no stats to back that up its merely an observation.

[Twodogs]

What Ilike about our games this year have been our efforts in red time. We've gone from a team that gave up heaps of score toward the end of quarters to a team that tightens up and stops the opposition.


i have no stats to back that up its merely an observation.

[GVGjr]

We need a few players to lift.

[1eyedog]

Higgo running freely.

[LostDoggy]

Why won't or players lead and make space? Fitness? Is very frustrating!

[LostDoggy]

Dal hasn't been sighted. We really need a lift from him.

Jong has a tough job on danger. But a couple of he's skill errors have cost us goals too.

Gia and Jones have given us next to nothing. Need goals from each this half.

Crameri needs to lift too.

[1eyedog]

We need to support our most likely game changer. Someone needs to support Griff on Kerridge. Jones also needs to get involved! We are still so uncoordinated going forward.

[bornadog]

Adelaide Mids well on top. Dahl 4 touches needs to lift

[1eyedog]

What Ilike about our games this year have been our efforts in red time. We've gone from a team that gave up heaps of score toward the end of quarters to a team that tightens up and stops the opposition.


i have no stats to back that up its merely an observation.

Good post we've got much better at tempo footy. Far out Boyd that's why you're not Judd!

[lemmon]

Stringer, no excuses for not grabbing that

[bulldogtragic]

Dumb by Young, just stupidly unnecessary.

[bulldogtragic]

I didn't see Jones in the VFL the other night. I wonder where he is today?

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Jekyll and Hyde our performance today. First quarter everyone was working hard, concentrating & executing. Since early in the second however the effort, execution and decision making has been sporadic.

[lemmon]

Stringer isn't working at full back. Pods is giving him a lesson

[Bulldog4life]

Stringer is far far from a backman. Change him with Jones now!

[bulldogtragic]

Jekyll and Hyde our performance today. First quarter everyone was working hard, concentrating & executing. Since early in the second however the effort, execution and decision making has been sporadic.

And our skills too...

[1eyedog]

Any chance we can just plant an option re. Campbell at FF rather than kick to smalls along the boundary? Well there goes Campbell...

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

What the heck has happened to the team that was on top after the first Qtr?

[bulldogtragic]

Jones not subbed off... Campbell is.

[MrMahatma]

We may get smashed now. Just getting dominated around the ball. Nothing across half forward.

[GVGjr]

Gee Griffen makes a lot of poor decisions and skill executions

[GVGjr]

Hunter on for Campbell

[bulldogtragic]

Getting a really bad feeling about this.

So we stop when the ball wasn't out???

[GVGjr]

Why are our forwards falling over?

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Nowhere near acceptable to work hard for 1 Qtr, and think that is enough to atone for last week's embarrassing effort.
We've really got a lot of guys both young and old who just decide when and where they will work.

[Greystache]

Why did we sub off Campbell when he's our only viable kick to option, and when Minson has 4 disposals at 3/4 time and the marking presence of Nathan Eagleton? Or when Gia can't run, Jones refuses to work, Stevens looks injured, and Stringer is like playing with 17 on the field?

[whythelongface]

It is hard what to think about this performance. Thought our first Qtr was excellent yet we let them back in the last 5 mins of that Qtr. Started the 2nd qtr well but since then Adelaide have completely dominated. We look like we are spent. Are we not fit enough? What has happened to our forward line?

Disappointing performance.

[bornadog]

Nice hit by Gia on Dangerfield, the only highlight for the Quarter

[Greystache]

Continuing to play players who are half fit or badly out of form is killing us.

[LostDoggy]

Purrrrrfect bump Gia.

Maybe went too early liking Jake down back..

Maybe the sun was in our eyes....

Massive quarter needed..Come on Dogs.

[bulldogtragic]

Why did we sub off Campbell when he's our only viable kick to option, and when Minson has 4 disposals at 3/4 time and the marking presence of Nathan Eagleton? Or when Gia can't run, Jones refuses to work, Stevens looks injured, and Stringer is like playing with 17 on the field?

I don't think we know how to use the sub.

[whythelongface]

Dangerfield is killing us. Surely Wallis would have been a better option on him.

[bulldogtragic]

Continuing to play players who are half fit or badly out of form is killing us.

If there's not one player out there who could have made way for Bontempelli, then were overrating the selected team today.

[GVGjr]

How does Dickson not make the distance?

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Two quick goals!
Great work Dahlhaus. Still need to get parity in the middle and at stoppages.

[whythelongface]

How does Dickson not make the distance?

Probably absolutely knackered after all the chasing he has been doing today.

[GVGjr]

Big test for Stringer..........missed

[GVGjr]

Probably absolutely knackered after all the chasing he has been doing today.

Needs to get fitter But yes he has been good with that

[bulldogtragic]

Boyd, FFS. Lazy kick.

[GVGjr]

Continuing to play players who are half fit or badly out of form is killing us.

Which ones in particular Grey?

[LostDoggy]

It is hard what to think about this performance. Thought our first Qtr was excellent yet we let them back in the last 5 mins of that Qtr. Started the 2nd qtr well but since then Adelaide have completely dominated. We look like we are spent. Are we not fit enough? What has happened to our forward line?

Disappointing performance.

Hold ya horses Longface, not done yet.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Nice work Murph!!
Dickson finishes and we're back in front!

[whythelongface]

Hold ya horses Longface, not done yet.

You're right. I can't believe what I am seeing. Thought we were gone.

[Bulldog4life]

Bloody Jones...........

[bulldogtragic]

Jones, Jones, Jones...

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Jones you idiot.

[GVGjr]

Getting a really bad feeling about this.

So we stop when the ball wasn't out???

I still have a bad feeling but it's now a tight contest

[bulldogtragic]

Jones, FFS. FFS. FFS. Jones!!!!!!!

[1eyedog]

Jones?

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Is there anything between Liam Jones' ears?

[Greystache]

Jones has been the difference between the teams today.

[GVGjr]

Our own errors are costing us

[Bulldog4life]

Jones should be sent back to the VFL for a month. He is too inconsistent for mine.

[bulldogtragic]

No frees anymore either.

[Bulldog4life]

Umpiring shocking.

[bulldogtragic]

Not meant to be...

[LostDoggy]

Nope. Can't blame the umps this week. We are going to sink under the weight of our own idiocy :(

[LostDoggy]

Jones. 9 disposals, 3 kicks, 0 marks. Piss off to the seconds. Now.

Edit: and an own goal!

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

And now Macrae's turn to give ourselves an uppercut.

[bulldogtragic]

Self inflicted loss.

These are the ones that hurt and frustrate...

[Twodogs]

Umpiring shocking.


We are worse.

[whythelongface]

Self inflicted loss.

These are the ones that hurt and frustrate...

Exactly. We should have won this game after the start we had. We lost our intensity two-thirds into the first qtr when we were 26-1 up. Adelaide then got some momentum and it took us into the last qtr when we really responded.

[Bulldog4life]

A solid team as Macca puts it should never lose after leading by 28 points. A terrible performance.

[G-Mo77]

Woeful. Typing on my phone so I'll save my spray until I get home.

[Scorlibo]

That last quarter Adelaide had 9 inside fifties for 5 goals 4.

[Twodogs]

That last quarter Adelaide had 9 inside fifties for 5 goals 4.


At one stage it was 1.4 from 5 entries.

[Twodogs]

From a historical perspective this is a bit how '97 felt. Except a place on the GF wasn't on the line. And we weren't nearly 4 goals up in the last quarter.

More the "how the hell did we lose that?" factor.

[bulldogtragic]

From a historical perspective this is a bit how '97 felt. Except a place on the GF wasn't on the line. And we weren't nearly 4 goals up in the last quarter.

More the "how the hell did we lose that?" factor.

I think that's for a few people. Any stragglers looking to not buy a membership keep getting reasons to legitimise their reluctance.

[Nuggety Back Pocket]

That was as bad as it gets. We played two quarters the first and the last.
Our forward line apart from Dickson and Dahl is not up to standard. The decision to play Stringer in defence was puzzling to say the least. Surely Fletcher Roberts must come in for Jones who was pathetic. A good time for Gia to retire gracefully and play Hrovat and Honeychurch. The loss of Roughead and Morris has seen our defence struggle badly.

[The Bulldogs Bite]

Just as pathetic as last week.

I blame the MC and McCartney for our troubles.

* Gia playing today was a stupid decision. He is slow and has never been able to apply defensive pressure. Adelaide are a fast moving, free wheeling side who can seriously run - especially from the back. Gia got carved on the rebound and offered nothing going forward anyway.

* Why sub Campbell? He started very well and whilst he did go missing somewhat, it was more the fault of the midfield/balls coming into the forward half. Momentum was always going to shift, and when it did, we had nobody to kick it to. Talia had Crameri well beaten, Jones was so bad he had to be moved forward. Added to this, Jong and Gia were giving us nothing offensively and getting smashed going the other way.

* The decision to actually play Jong on Dangerfield was laughable. Did we really think the contest would end any other way? Call it scapegoating, but there is absolutely no logic to Jong playing in our best 22. At one point in the last quarter we had Jong (on Danger) and Stevens (on Sloane) in the middle. How are we supposed to win the ball with regularity when setting up like this? One (or two) of Boyd/Griffen/Cooney/Picken simply have to be in there.

Boyd continues his run of really good form, Macrae keeps trying and Higgins makes us look dangerous when he's involved in the play. Young/Jones shouldn't play for quite some time - the less said about them, the better.

[AndrewP6]

Wow. I didn't get to see the game but by the looks of it, another bad loss. Replay not on till midnight either, not sure I'll bother.

[Twodogs]

Turn it off 20 minutes into the first quarter and go to bed.

[always right]

8 points.....another bad loss?

We weren't great but managed to hit the lead midway through the last quarter. Really missed Morris today.

[bornadog]

8 points.....another bad loss?

We weren't great but managed to hit the lead midway through the last quarter. Really missed Morris today. and Roughead

[The Underdog]

I'll preface this by saying that Jones was absolutely terrible today however after being really good for 3 weeks as a deep forward I wonder how the addition of Campbell & Dickson to the forward set-up affected him. After 3 games of playing with purpose he looked completely lost & he's a player who if he loses confidence early seems to really struggle all day.

[AndrewP6]

8 points.....another bad loss?

We weren't great but managed to hit the lead midway through the last quarter. Really missed Morris today.

Just going on the comments here, haven't seen any of it.

[always right]

I'll preface this by saying that Jones was absolutely terrible today however after being really good for 3 weeks as a deep forward I wonder how the addition of Campbell & Dickson to the forward set-up affected him. After 3 games of playing with purpose he looked completely lost & he's a player who if he loses confidence early seems to really struggle all day.

I think the most disappointing aspect was his lack of intensity. Have really liked his work ethic in recent weeks but today was a big step backwards. Will be interesting to see if the MC stick with him next week.

For those who have been pushing for him to go back.....today we learned why this hasn't happened before today.

[always right]

Just going on the comments here, haven't seen any of it.
The positive is that we found a way to hang in there and get in a winning position when they were well on top.

[jeemak]

I thought it was a bad loss, irrespective of our coming back and finding the lead.

We handed easy goals to them all game, through either a lack of concentration when executing skills and effort.

There have been too many times this year where we haven't worked hard enough for long enough and the second and third quarters today were a great example of that issue affecting the result.

[Go_Dogs]

Really disappointing result. We stuffed up too many chances and gifted some easy goals. Adelaide appeared to get the rub of the green in the last, but really, that loss is on our effort level and our execution. Some absolutely woeful decisions with ball in hand.

I'm going to add a bit more later.

[anfo27]

You're right, it was a terrible loss. Not worth watching Andrew. That 3rd quarter was some of the worst ball movement i've ever seen from any side.

[bornadog]

Adelaide were a younger side than us today in both games and player age, but far better balanced than what we are.

MC seems like they can't get the balance right.

[Mofra]

You're right, it was a terrible loss. Not worth watching Andrew. That 3rd quarter was some of the worst ball movement i've ever seen from any side.
Started about halfway through the second, some of the most timid football I've ever seen - we just didn't present or want to move the ball forward.

Despite all that, it was missing easy chances at goal that killed us. We had 3 shots on goal in the first few minutes of the 3/4 for a return of 0.2. Hitting the post twice in 2 minutes in the last as well, Dickson who is normally a gun set shot missed one he would have normally kicked - bad kicking is bad football.

[soupman]

Despite all that, it was missing easy chances at goal that killed us. We had 3 shots on goal in the first few minutes of the 3/4 for a return of 0.2. Hitting the post twice in 2 minutes in the last as well, Dickson who is normally a gun set shot missed one he would have normally kicked - bad kicking is bad football.

Absolutely and how often have we missed golden chances this season to be punished from the kickout with another goal.

We need to get much better at taking our chances, and hurting the opposition when they don't take theirs.

[lemmon]

Adelaide were a younger side than us today in both games and player age, but far better balanced than what we are.

MC seems like they can't get the balance right.
One of the biggest myths in footy is that we are a young side, it's simply not true in terms of age or games played. Some of the decision making was just ludicrous at times and we desperately miss Morris.

[anfo27]

Started about halfway through the second, some of the most timid football I've ever seen - we just didn't present or want to move the ball forward.

Despite all that, it was missing easy chances at goal that killed us. We had 3 shots on goal in the first few minutes of the 3/4 for a return of 0.2. Hitting the post twice in 2 minutes in the last as well, Dickson who is normally a gun set shot missed one he would have normally kicked - bad kicking is bad football.

It was frustrating to watch. Posters bang on about players missing or umpires or bad match ups but bottom line is it doesn't matter how good the names are that are out there or aren't out there if you're not prepared to work then you get nowhere.

There were a number of times we had the ball & we were just confused on what to do & where to go because nobody was prepared to work their backside off to give a team mate an option. Then conversely when Adelaide had the ball we just allowed them to chip it all the way forward, thinking that giving your opponent a metre is an acceptable defensive effort.

Yeah we missed Morris & Roughead but we missed confidence more.

[Go_Dogs]

One of the biggest myths in footy is that we are a young side, it's simply not true in terms of age or games played. Some of the decision making was just ludicrous at times

Our inability to continually present at the ball carrier and create movement, or run from behind was woeful when we played poorly today. Some of the decision making by foot, when we had open players running (the one where Stevens busted a gut to run through the middle of the forward 50 and the ball went in the complete wrong spot was one I'll remember for a while) and kicks which seemingly had no thought at all behind them - that was as bad as it gets.

The highlights were:
- Dickson (besides missing one he should've kicked) who played well and created an option, his running was good today at times pushing up around the centre clearance to get involved and then running hard forward.
- Boydy, played a good game today
- Easton Wood, take a bow, you've had a great start to the year
- Picken, good job defensively
- Dahl, turned it around nicely

The bad:
- As above, our skill and decision making, Griff kicked a few shocking balls today
- Our inability to consistently apply defensive pressure
- Our inability to create options as we look to transition the ball, do our players not want to get involved in a chain of play?
- As others have mentioned, Liam Jones was horrid today, just about the worst game he's played for the Club and he's played a few shockers over the journey

Despite doing our best to lose the game, a final positive to mentioned is that we were still in it until the very end, we didn't give up (well, we kinda did in the middle of the game), we just simply weren't good enough to get the job done.

[G-Mo77]

What I can't understand is how stagnant we became after some free flowing footy in the first 15 - 20 minutes. We just jogged around at an attempt for a lead or stood stationary waving our arms for the ball. No one lead, no one! It was pathetic. Some will look at the score line and think "We did OK". We didn't, we were rubbish and our performance was comical. I was embarrassed by some of the atrocious play today.

[LostDoggy]

Today we saw how good we can be and how bad we can be. Unfortunately the gap in between is a canyon and not a ditch.

We have just got to lift the bad and we will be ok.

I know some posters have said it was our workrate and it doesn't matter who was out and they have a point, but we shouldn't underestimate how important Roughead and Morris are to us. Without one and you can scrape through but not having both and trying to cover with Young, Talia and at times Stringer you've got to expect some pain.

We have some issues I'm not hiding from that, but not having them alone has cost us the last two games as far as I'm concerned so even though it's frustrating to go through today. I believe we are a better side than both of them so things still look good for the future.

[Hotdog60]

I'll just throw it out there, but are we a side that is hampered by the cut in rotations.
We started fine then went to a walk and then got a second wind late in the game.

[Eastdog]

What I can't understand is how stagnant we became after some free flowing footy in the first 15 - 20 minutes. We just jogged around at an attempt for a lead or stood stationary waving our arms for the ball. No one lead, no one! It was pathetic. Some will look at the score line and think "We did OK". We didn't, we were rubbish and our performance was comical. I was embarrassed by some of the atrocious play today.

Agree with your post G-Mo77. If we played the whole match like we did in the 1st quarter we would've win. Very frustrating.

[Go_Dogs]

I'll just throw it out there, but are we a side that is hampered by the cut in rotations.
We started fine then went to a walk and then got a second wind late in the game.

I'm not convinced on that, we just haven't had our best player fit (Griffen) and have been carrying a few who simply haven't been prepared to work hard enough (today it was Jones, Stringer, Cooney and maybe Gia - perhaps not through effort but lack of speed and agility with have both dropped a lot from when he was in his prime) or choose their moments when they want to work hard (usually when it's easiest).

If we get to the point where Smith, Hrovat, JJ and Tutt are all in the side, we'll be doing well as they all add different traits which will help us offensively and defensively with our running.

[anfo27]

Today we saw how good we can be and how bad we can be. Unfortunately the gap in between is a canyon and not a ditch.

We have just got to lift the bad and we will be ok.

I know some posters have said it was our workrate and it doesn't matter who was out and they have a point, but we shouldn't underestimate how important Roughead and Morris are to us. Without one and you can scrape through but not having both and trying to cover with Young, Talia and at times Stringer you've got to expect some pain.

We have some issues I'm not hiding from that, but not having them alone has cost us the last two games as far as I'm concerned so even though it's frustrating to go through today. I believe we are a better side than both of them so things still look good for the future.

We have to be better than that though rooner. It shouldn't matter what names are on the team sheet, whoever goes out there are expected to to perform at a certain level. If we get that then we beat Carlton & Adelaide with our two best defenders out.
Work rate is a non negotiable!

[Nuggety Back Pocket]

Adelaide were a younger side than us today in both games and player age, but far better balanced than what we are.

MC seems like they can't get the balance right.
We need to find better players. You could do a lot worse than bring in Bontempelli Hrovat Honeychurch and Roberts and of course Morris. Without Roughead we do not have one quality KPP. At some stage you would be tempted to try Redpath as well because we clearly are not good enough with the current group of players.

[anfo27]

Agree with your post G-Mo77. If we played the whole match like we did in the 1st quarter we would've win. Very frustrating.

We would have won in a canter. Adelaide aren't much & they didn't do much to turn the game either thats what hurts. At least Carlton played well to beat us.

[Eastdog]

We would have won in a canter. Adelaide aren't much & they didn't do much to turn the game either thats what hurts. At least Carlton played well to beat us.

Yeah absolutely. We would of easily beaten them had we played that running game longer. It was a great start to the game for us. How do we address that? Is it that we just aren't fit enough compared to the teams.

[F'scary]

I'm not convinced on that, we just haven't had our best player fit (Griffen) and have been carrying a few who simply haven't been prepared to work hard enough (today it was Jones, Stringer, Cooney and maybe Gia - perhaps not through effort but lack of speed and agility with have both dropped a lot from when he was in his prime) or choose their moments when they want to work hard (usually when it's easiest).

If we get to the point where Smith, Hrovat, JJ and Tutt are all in the side, we'll be doing well as they all add different traits which will help us offensively and defensively with our running.

Was Cooney that bad? I gave him a vote from my listening to the SEN call. Maybe I got it wrong - I gave him a vote because I thought he was one of the few who kept involved in the second and third quarters.

[Scorlibo]

Was Cooney that bad? I gave him a vote from my listening to the SEN call. Maybe I got it wrong - I gave him a vote because I thought he was one of the few who kept involved in the second and third quarters.

Macca took Cooney with him to the presser.

[SonofScray]

Was Cooney that bad? I gave him a vote from my listening to the SEN call. Maybe I got it wrong - I gave him a vote because I thought he was one of the few who kept involved in the second and third quarters.

Thats how I saw his game. He was prevalent with his dash and work in close, if not particularly effective across most of the game. We need him kicking goals from his work in the midfield though, not nearly enough value on the scoreboard from all the work our mids put in.

[Eastdog]

What did people make of the subbing today? Campbell in that first quarter was very good. I think he will become an important part of our forward structure in the future. I feel someone else should of been subbed like Jones or Stringer.

[Go_Dogs]

Was Cooney that bad? I gave him a vote from my listening to the SEN call. Maybe I got it wrong - I gave him a vote because I thought he was one of the few who kept involved in the second and third quarters.

On reflection it might be a little harsh, he wasn't our worst, but we needed more out of him and Griffen today as senior players.

[anfo27]

Yeah absolutely. We would of easily beaten them had we played that running game longer. It was a great start to the game for us. How do we address that? Is it that we just aren't fit enough compared to the teams.

I think we lack confidence Eastdog. It seemed players weren't prepared to spread quickly out of congestion or to space to provide an option. Last week watching the blues spread as hard & quickly as they could at every opportunity made them look so much more dangerous. We seem like we're afraid to take the game on & make mistakes at times.

Would love us to play with some of that confidence we had late last year.

[Eastdog]

I think we lack confidence Eastdog. It seemed players weren't prepared to spread quickly out of congestion or to space to provide an option. Last week watching the blues spread as hard & quickly as they could at every opportunity made them look so much more dangerous. We seem like we're afraid to take the game on & make mistakes at times.

Would love us to play with some of that confidence we had late last year.

Yeah I hope it comes back soon.

[The Bulldogs Bite]

On reflection it might be a little harsh, he wasn't our worst, but we needed more out of him and Griffen today as senior players.

I toyed with the idea of giving him a bake, as I thought he was pretty disappointing today.

Due to his back injury/setback I suppose we need to cut him some slack re: the standards he set for himself last year, but unfortunately for us Griff just isn't on the same level as the likes of Selwood, Mitchell, Watson etc. - when he should be.

[F'scary]

What did people make of the subbing today? Campbell in that first quarter was very good. I think he will become an important part of our forward structure in the future. I feel someone else should of been subbed like Jones or Stringer.

I was surprised too but it seemed that the callers on SEN had gotten off his bandwagon and didn't particularly question the move.

[LostDoggy]

I didn't watch the game, Jones sounded awful, any chance he was ill?

[Go_Dogs]

I toyed with the idea of giving him a bake, as I thought he was pretty disappointing today.

Due to his back injury/setback I suppose we need to cut him some slack re: the standards he set for himself last year, but unfortunately for us Griff just isn't on the same level as the likes of Selwood, Mitchell, Watson etc. - when he should be.

Agree with that, he just hasn't managed to get out of second gear yet. Without knowing exactly how his fitness is tracking I don't want to bake him either, but he was poor today. Some of his ball use was very ordinary.

From memory, Kerridge stitched him up last year too, so it may be a combination of a good tag and not quite being at 100%.

We're a significantly better side when he's up as his work rate and ability to will us over the line is immense, every bit what the others you have mentioned offer their sides for mine.

[LostDoggy]

Was Cooney that bad? I gave him a vote from my listening to the SEN call. Maybe I got it wrong - I gave him a vote because I thought he was one of the few who kept involved in the second and third quarters.

Cooney had 13 and 10 and laid 5 tackles with 5 inside 50 Got his ave 86 dream points. Was very good in the first half and spent time on Danger. Spent his usual time starting on the wing. Needs to start in the middle more.

[Scorlibo]

I toyed with the idea of giving him a bake, as I thought he was pretty disappointing today.

Due to his back injury/setback I suppose we need to cut him some slack re: the standards he set for himself last year, but unfortunately for us Griff just isn't on the same level as the likes of Selwood, Mitchell, Watson etc. - when he should be.

I wouldn't be taking him out of this company. Saw Watson struggle to impact the Anzac Day game and now Selwood stink it up against Port - even the elite players have poor games.

[LostDoggy]

We have to be better than that though rooner. It shouldn't matter what names are on the team sheet, whoever goes out there are expected to to perform at a certain level. If we get that then we beat Carlton & Adelaide with our two best defenders out.
Work rate is a non negotiable!

Absolutely workrate should be a non negotiable, good teams work harder to cover the loss and that is the disappointing thing.
We should've known from the Carlton game but the extra lift never came. When we were on top in the middle early the back six held tight, but when they opened us up they got away with far to much.

I'm sure Pods had a giggle when Jake was walking over to him, no offence to Jake but Pods won a flag not long ago and he has a couple of extra tricks for him at this stage. I was just saying maybe we don't have the Cattle to cover them at this stage. We maybe are not as young on Ave. but at the critical positions we might'n be as experienced and work rate will only cover so much.

[josie]

I'm not as upset as many of the posters today. Great analysis by Griffen#16 and Rooner's analysis - both insightful.

Time to give some of Fletcher, Honeychurch, Smith,Tutt an Hrovat a go. We need legspeed & run and carry and players to present leads.

Had Hunter been bought on earlier to replace the totally infuriating Jones I think we could have won. I thought Stringer to backline was not a total waste either, despite Pods getting a few.

Dahl & Wood were inspirational today. Took the game on like others should have. Oh well - let's hope the coaching team can inspire some confidence into the players for the Bombers on Sat night.

[Twodogs]

Stinger did well on Pods I thought. Pods won a few contests then Stringer managed to kill a couple of contests an then won a couplle before halftime

[Bulldog4life]

I'm not as upset as many of the posters today. Great analysis by Griffen#16 and Rooner's analysis - both insightful.

Time to give some of Fletcher, Honeychurch, Smith,Tutt an Hrovat a go. We need legspeed & run and carry and players to present leads.

Had Hunter been bought on earlier to replace the totally infuriating Jones I think we could have won. I thought Stringer to backline was not a total waste either, despite Pods getting a few.

Dahl & Wood were inspirational today. Took the game on like others should have. Oh well - let's hope the coaching team can inspire some confidence into the players for the Bombers on Sat night.

Agree with all the bolded.

[Go_Dogs]

I thought Stringer to backline was not a total waste either, despite Pods getting a few.

He was perhaps a little better than I had given him credit for at the game today. I also noticed Macca gave him a bit of praise in his press conference.

I'm a little unsure about what to do with Stringer, part of me thinks we should keep him in the senior side, but I also wonder if getting him into the midfield at VFL level for a few weeks would be good for his development.