Three Things I've Learned - Round 10 Edition

[Eastdog]

Once the Round 10 match against Gold Coast Suns is completed, let us know the three things you learned after watching the match.

Be constructive but be honest.

[GVGjr]

Bump

[LostDoggy]

1) Gold Coast will win a premiership in the next three years
2) We are still so far off being competive, it's going to be a few dark years before we see finals action
3) Gold Coast no longer need to rely on Gaj alone

[bulldogtragic]

1. We are behind where I thought we were, just so disappointing to realise...
2. Everyone is open to criticism or questions
3. I want a top 3 pick more and more

[always right]

1. We go into our shells quicker than any other side
2. Crameri has hands like cement
3. I couldn't even blame the umpires in the third quarter

[bornadog]

1. You can't go into a game without a forward player over 195cm who can mark a ball.
2. Goodes definitely confirms we should never have recruited him
3.Stevens confirms gives us nothing.

[The Bulldogs Bite]

1. Goodes is done.
2. Roberts has something to work with.
3. Still have an inability to stop opposition momentum.

[SonofScray]

1. Our nickname is a fallacy. We should rebrand as the Western Turtles. Just so quick to go into our shells.

2. We have a dearth of players who have an ability to find something extra when the scenario asks for it.

3. I'm not as staunch a supporter of the coach's position as I have been in the past.

[Dry Rot]

We are dead slow. Anyone else think Bonts is as quick as Daniel Cross?

We are unskilful.

We have no structure/gameplan.

[EasternWest]

We are dead slow. Anyone else think Bonts is as quick as Daniel Cross?

We are unskilful.

We have no structure/gameplan.

I think Bonts doesn't have an afl tank yet. Give him time to get his fitness up, then we'll see.

[boydogs]

1. We are still prone to lapses
2. Getting reported is no longer restricted to dirty players
3. Goodes will be lucky to get another game at AFL level

[F'scary]

1. I hadn't realised how far off the pace we are until this game. Gold Coast are an ok side but not top 4.
2. The list of our deficiencies grows to include ruck stocks. Minson is now playing like a hack.
3. We need more beefy guys who can sprint. One, in Griffen, is not enough.

[azabob]

1. I hadn't realised how far off the pace we are until this game. Gold Coast are an ok side but not top 4.
2. The list of our deficiencies grows to include ruck stocks. Minson is now playing like a hack.
3. We need more beefy guys who can sprint. One, in Griffen, is not enough.

Yet they sit third on the ladder!

[always right]

1. I hadn't realised how far off the pace we are until this game. Gold Coast are an ok side but not top 4.
2. The list of our deficiencies grows to include ruck stocks. Minson is now playing like a hack.
3. We need more beefy guys who can sprint. One, in Griffen, is not enough.

I despair over Minson's season. Not questioning his effort but I simply don't want to see the ball in his hands anymore. Of all our players Will might surprise and fall off the cliff faster than anyone. I sure hope not but it is possible that the modern game could go past him very quickly.

[G-Mo77]

I despair over Minson's season. Not questioning his effort but I simply don't want to see the ball in his hands anymore. Of all our players Will might surprise and fall off the cliff faster than anyone. I sure hope not but it is possible that the modern game could go past him very quickly.

We've got to get games into Campbell and Cordy as #1 Ruckmen not the 2nd string ruck/forward role. I'm not throwing Minson under a bus, I don't think he's been that bad this season but we've got to put more time into life after Will.

[F'scary]

Yet they sit third on the ladder!

their wins have mainly been against the teams in the bottom 6 - see the Age summary of the match.

[F'scary]

I despair over Minson's season. Not questioning his effort but I simply don't want to see the ball in his hands anymore. Of all our players Will might surprise and fall off the cliff faster than anyone. I sure hope not but it is possible that the modern game could go past him very quickly.

He has never been able to take a mark. He has zero impact up forward as a resting ruckman. This is not new. But the story of this season has been that when he does get his hands on the ball he butchers it something awful. Stark contrast to last year when his AA was based on his inside ball getting and creative feeding of it out to teamates.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

1. Improvement is not necessarily linear, especially when we've not yet built decent depth within the club to cover personnel losses in key areas. We were always going to struggle replacing half of our forward line this week in Jones, Williams and Dickson.

2. Gold Coast are no longer just a collection of inexperienced kids. Their cream is rising to the top, as it should now they've had 4 years to get miles and games into the legs of the multitude of young talent at their disposal. The talent differential between them and us was clear to see today.

3. Our club still has a lot of work to do at the end of this season to try and find a way to address the talent & I fear in some cases attitudinal deficiencies at our club.

[always right]

1. Improvement is not necessarily linear, especially when we've not yet built decent depth within the club to cover personnel losses in key areas. We were always going to struggle replacing half of our forward line this week in Jones, Williams and Dickson.

2. Gold Coast are no longer just a collection of inexperienced kids. Their cream is rising to the top, as it should now they've had 4 years to get miles and games into the legs of the multitude of young talent at their disposal. The talent differential between them and us was clear to see today.

3. Our club still has a lot of work to do at the end of this season to try and find a way to address the talent & I fear in some cases attitudinal deficiencies at our club.

Agree.....a capitulation like we saw in the third quarter is more about mental fragility than any talent differential. We retreat faster than an Italian army when the opposition get on top.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Agree.....a capitulation like we saw in the third quarter is more about mental fragility than any talent differential. We retreat faster than an Italian army when the opposition get on top.
Agree, hence point 3. I think it's clear what Macca expects from our guys, and he said as much post game, that guys with 4 or 5 years of experience under their belt should be able to fight it out when things get tough. Its all down down to mental attitude and taking the game on when the opposition lift instead of retreating into their shells.

[Bumper Bulldogs]

We miss a real running defender (Gilbee/Harbrow)

We miss Ward a lot more than people realise

Our bottom 6 platers today wouldn't get a game at too many other clubs.

[LostDoggy]

It's going to suck seeing the Plastic Ronald McDonalds win a flag soon.
Ablett is a whiny little pussy-cat. Loved the ump's reply, “nothing in the rules against double teaming mate.”
Patience is the toughest virtue to attain or keep.

[Twodogs]

their wins have mainly been against the teams in the bottom 6 - see the Age summary of the match.


The AFL will be doing everything possible to get them a top 4 position at the end of the home and away season. Especially given the poor form of GWS. They will want to be able to point to at least one of their shiny new toys being successful.

[Twodogs]

1. Improvement is not necessarily linear, especially when we've not yet built decent depth within the club to cover personnel losses in key areas. We were always going to struggle replacing half of our forward line this week in Jones, Williams and Dickson.

2. Gold Coast are no longer just a collection of inexperienced kids. Their cream is rising to the top, as it should now they've had 4 years to get miles and games into the legs of the multitude of young talent at their disposal. The talent differential between them and us was clear to see today.

3. Our club still has a lot of work to do at the end of this season to try and find a way to address the talent & I fear in some cases attitudinal deficiencies at our club.

A well thought out post. Agree on each point, especially #1.

[Remi Moses]

1. We've got to many plodders on our list
2. We hide like the French in two world wars to often
3. Gold Coast are more than an "Okay" side, and they're going to get even better. It's been assured they've been given a winning lotto ticket.

[soupman]

3. Gold Coast are more than an "Okay" side, and they're going to get even better. It's been assured they've been given a winning lotto ticket.

You realise when you look through their lineup at the likes of Lynch, Bennell, Prestia, Dixon, Smith, Swallow etc. that any of them would be in our best 2 young prospects and players we would look to be building a side around. Instead they have 4 of them in each position.

Yesterday was the first time it has really clicked for me just how much elite talent they have been handed.

[SlimPickens]

1- Yesterday was bad, but it wasn't nearly as bad as people are making out. Guess I'm just a glass half full kind of person.

2- It was great seeing Clay Smith back out there, his performance wasn't great but to be playing senior footy 9.5 months post knee reconstruction is a credit to his work ethic and the fitness staff at the club.

3- Our inability to get the game back on our terms at any level in the third quarter was concerning. We responded in the last but the damage was done. Do not know what the centre clearance stats for the qtr would of been but the ease in which the gold coasts moved the ball through the middle well and truly threw our defenders under the bus.

[G-Mo77]

1- Yesterday was bad, but it wasn't nearly as bad as people are making out. Guess I'm just a glass half full kind of person.

Over a full game you're right. That 3rd quarter was one of the worst I have seen in a very long time. It was embarrassing to watch.

[firstdogonthemoon]

1. If you give a team 257 first round picks, they will turn out to be pretty good.
2. Ablett is a monstrous sook! For such a gifted player he is a real whinger. All the suns are. Always at the umps.
3. When we switch off we aren't even on standby, just gone, pull out the plug put us in the shed. Disappointing.

[LostDoggy]

1. We desperately need a target to straighten us up
2. Our plan A is most team's plan B i.e we are the least attacking team around
3. We cannot cope with teams who have descent tall forwards

[always right]

Any chance we can stop a team kicking a goal within the first 30 seconds of a match? Three of them off the top of my head this year....Darling, Cotchin and Dixon. Puts us innediately on the back foot.

[LostDoggy]

Any chance we can stop a team kicking a goal within the first 30 seconds of a match? Three of them off the top of my head this year....Darling, Cotchin and Dixon. Puts us innediately on the back foot.

Massive trend of not being awake at the start of a game and after half time this season.

[Mofra]

1. Bonti has no sidestep but super hands and must play an inside role

2. We are not a good enough team to fluff chances at goal

3. We have very little KPP depth at either end of the ground and for all the vitriol Jones & Williams cop - we're a worse side when they can't be selected.

[LostDoggy]

1. We have too many slow reflex players (or players who try to be quick but can't execute). Minson and Cooney take too long to make a decision. Port Adelaide, in their game against the Hawks, had players who were not just quick, but were quick thinking about what to do. They work so hard for each other to be where they should be so that the right decision can be made and effected easily. Port Adelaide are quick in everything they do. Quick to play on, quick to handball over their heads, quick to make up ground and tackle.....and they execute with skill........the things we do not do often enough

2. We again carried players who barely contributed. It only takes 1 or 2 for the system to break down. I think the forward line is the least of our worries...it's how we move the ball down the ground as well as our defensive set ups around the ball that is killing us. We can't sustain our ability to handle pressure being applied to the ball carrier.

3. When the mid field gets walloped we seem unable to do any thing for parts of a game; oppositions shouldn't be able to waltz out of the middle like they do. Minson's taps should always go our way or be neutral, but either through lack of skill or lack of communication, we look confused as to where it is going and cannot get our hands on it. Better body work and more effective positioning is needed by our midfielders, when the going gets tough.

4. We appear to fumble the ball and make unforced errors more than most. That continues to be very costly.

[Ozza]

1. Gold Coast have too much talent (including 3 x good 200cm forwards) to not win a flag in the next 3 years...and they'll probably win more than one.
2. Our lack of pace sees us get killed on the bigger grounds. (JJ should have stayed in the team rather than Goodes as a start).
3. We are going to have to live with Crameri being 2 weeks 'on' - 1 week 'off'.

[LostDoggy]

1. Roughhead and Smith back after serious injuries.

[Greystache]

1. We're an easy team to beat. We can be on top for 3 quarters of a game and the opposition still be within a few points, yet our opponents can blow us away with one quarter of control. We simply can't score even when we're on top.

2. I'm finding it almost impossible to generate enough interest to watch us play, and if a die hard like me is losing interest I can only imagine the malaise a casual supporter must feel towards us.

3. Our skill level and volume of players with creative instinct and flair would be the worst in the AFL... By quite some distance.

[LostDoggy]

1. We're an easy team to beat. We can be on top for 3 quarters of a game and the opposition still be within a few points, yet our opponents can blow us away with one quarter of control. We simply can't score even when we're on top.

This is without doubt our biggest issue and has been all year. I'm absolutely over watching us completely dominate a quarter of football only to realise we won/lost the quarter by a couple of points.

[Bulldog4life]

1. Picken has proved a lot of people wrong this year who thought he wasn't in our best 22.

2. We lost another game in a 30 min lapse. It is becoming the norm unfortunately,

3. Ablett is a much bigger whinger than I thought he was.

[Sedat]

1. We're an easy team to beat. We can be on top for 3 quarters of a game and the opposition still be within a few points, yet our opponents can blow us away with one quarter of control. We simply can't score even when we're on top.

2. I'm finding it almost impossible to generate enough interest to watch us play, and if a die hard like me is losing interest I can only imagine the malaise a casual supporter must feel towards us.

3. Our skill level and volume of players with creative instinct and flair would be the worst in the AFL... By quite some distance.
Hard to argue with any of these 3 points, and they all exacerbate each other. Because we have no skill or creative instinct, we can never get a big enough lead over other teams even when we are completely dominating all key statistical measurements, so inevitably when the opposition start to claw back in the key statistical areas, they are able to blow us away in very quick time. And because we are forced to work so hard just to keep our noses in front, we are borderline unwatchable because we clog up the play, we play for touch and play for another stoppage and we have little or not fast ball movement and flow in our game. We are probably the least relevant team in the entire competition at the moment.

[Remi Moses]

You realise when you look through their lineup at the likes of Lynch, Bennell, Prestia, Dixon, Smith, Swallow etc. that any of them would be in our best 2 young prospects and players we would look to be building a side around. Instead they have 4 of them in each position.

Yesterday was the first time it has really clicked for me just how much elite talent they have been handed.

Plus they haven't been able to pay any price for their recruiting mistakes.
Nathan Krakouer, Brennan, Bock ( injured) Hunt .The media laud Clayton's recruiting, but if you get access to top 17 year olds as well as many early picks. Jack Martin to come!

[Remi Moses]

This is without doubt our biggest issue and has been all year. I'm absolutely over watching us completely dominate a quarter of football only to realise we won/lost the quarter by a couple of points.

I'll second that. It comes to the fore when we miss chances as well.
We've over compensated in one area, and we need better outside speed and movement.
After watching some of the u/18's last year I thought Kennedy-Harris would have been ideal for us, but alas we went with a 23 year old who can't get a kick in the VFL.

[Mantis]

2. I'm finding it almost impossible to generate enough interest to watch us play, and if a die hard like me is losing interest I can only imagine the malaise a casual supporter must feel towards us.



I hear yah, and I sent a text to a few WOOF posters yesterday saying the same thing... Whilst the TV was on yesterday my attention was often drawn elsewhere and ended up cooking up a pot of soup in the last qtr.

We aren't very fun to watch at present.

[bulldogtragic]

1. If Macca wasn't given a contract extension based on 4 wins, I think the media would be questioning him.
2. Our depth is too hit and miss
3. GCS will win numerous premierships

[craigsahibee]

The Mantra is to be positive so this is what I learnt yesterday:

1. When playing against a team that has 3 x 200cm forwards collectively weighing the same as a School Bus you need to play big bodied defenders. (Talia must play)

2. When playing against a team that has harvested 327 of the nations best young midfielders you need to have some leg speed through the middle of the park (Macrae and Bont's are one paced. So is Libba but his position in the team is not negotiable)

3. When playing against a team that has 327 quick midfielders and a forward line the size of a school bus you need at least 1 Pack Marking Forward so that when you bomb it in quickly under pressure, you are at least half a chance of creating a contest.

If we can fix these issues by next Sunday, I think we'll be alright.

[G-Mo77]

I hear yah, and I sent a text to a few WOOF posters yesterday saying the same thing... Whilst the TV was on yesterday my attention was often drawn elsewhere and ended up cooking up a pot of soup in the last qtr.

We aren't very fun to watch at present.

How was the soup?

[Dancin' Douggy]

Yeah, that soup sounds interesting. Did you start from scratch or did you have a stock ready to go? By the way, star anise is a fabulous addition to any stock. The flavour can go either way too. Asian or European.

[chef]

Yeah, that soup sounds interesting. Did you start from scratch or did you have a stock ready to go? By the way, star anise is a fabulous addition to any stock. The flavour can go either way too. Asian or European.

Great with Duck too.