Three Things I've Learned - Round 19 Edition

[Eastdog]

Once the Round 19 match against Port Adelaide is completed, let us know the three things you learned after watching the match.

Be constructive but be honest.

[bulldogtragic]

Stuff 3, as many as you want this week.

[bulldogtragic]

1. Jack might just make it
2. Our players have sublime skills. I know this now as the same players looked to have very bad skills last year...?
3. Grant just goes and goes. I'm loving his work this year

[westdog54]

1. Our forward line will cause nightmares.
2. There's depth in our list.
3. You know we're loved in the media when Mark Maclure is waxing lyrical about us.

[westbulldog]

1. another great team performance, they are getting better and better.
2. IMO Dwayne Russell continues to be one of the worst commentators, does it really matter what Lin Jong's heritage is ? The young man can play, end of story.
3. Easton Wood is a shoe-in for All-Australia HB and Jake Stringer does things that most fowards only dream of.

[1eyedog]

1. We are a very very very good shot at top 4 and Freo in Perth is very very very winnable.
2. See thing 1
3. See thing 2 (Starting to sound like Dr. Seuss!)

What lid?

[LostDoggy]

1.Dosn't matter who is in or out each week,we have the depth to cover most if not all players.
2.Biggs,Hunter,Hamling,Darley,Talia-have performed out of sight with new found confidence.I was wrong to question their abilities.
3.We are THE THREAT!!! ;)

[Danny the snakeman]

1- Matty Boyd is far from finished,
2-Mark from bacchus marsh who rings and dribbles on SEN is a bigger fool than he sounds calling for boyds retirement this week.
3-Refer to point 2

[LostDoggy]

1. Whatever I, or anyone else, presumed our ceiling is can be thrown out the window. It's not just the results, it's the creativity, depth and intensity. Anything is possible.
2. Biggs, Talia and Redpath are good enough to be long term best 22 players.
3. Anything is possible.

[kruder]

1.Biggs is an AFL player. A few weeks ago I didn't think he was.
2. Hunter needs to be resigned. A month ago I would have been happy to trade him.
3. Cordy the mercenary will be a loss. The group seems to be peaking at the right time.

[bornadog]

1, We are the real deal
2. Wake me up I am dreaming
3. Bevo is unbelievable how he has got this team together.

[kruder]

1, We are the real deal
2. Wake me up I am dreaming
3. Bevo is unbelievable how he has got this team together.

Agree make no mistake this side is better than 08-10. We were never the best side in that era but this team has the potential to be the best.

[hujsh]

6
3.We are THE THREAT!!! ;)

1. We are the threat.
2. We are the danger.
3. We are the ones who knock

[ratsmac]

1. Biggs can play. He was setting up everything from defence. He did make mistakes but hey, he has only played a handful of games.

2. Stringer, Crameri, Redpath, Dickson and throw in T Boyd = opposition headache!

3. The Bulldogs deserve to be top 4.

[F'scary]

1. Talia can be relied on as a KPD
2. Darley is worth persisting with, he has got a bit of size about him too now.
3. Redpath started looking comfortable with being an AFL player.

[Bulldog4life]

1, We are the real deal
2. Wake me up I am dreaming
3. Bevo is unbelievable how he has got this team together.

Changed my mind Don't wake up Jeff!

[whythelongface]

1. This is the best bulldogs team of the modern era. It is choc full of talent
2. Tom Campbell will be a very good ruck for us.
3. Shane Biggs runs from half back are super.From a player who I thought was just average the last two weeks shows what a talent he is. Great pick up.

[boydogs]

1. When we take the game on, no-one can go with us
2. The game plan and the VFL side make it easy for players to come in and contribute
3. We're not tiring, we're improving

[comrade]

1. Our players are good but our system makes them better. Any one can step in - Biggs, Darley, Hunter, Daniel - and play a role that suits them.
2. Stinger loves a goal, doesn't he? That one he kicked from 60 from a holding the ball free kick, he wasn't even the tackler but thought, stuff it, this is mine. I like players who want the ball.
3. Wallis has just turned into a beast. Will be interesting to see how we manage a balance in the midfield when Libba comes back.

[Ghost Dog]

1. another great team performance, they are getting better and better.
2. IMO Dwayne Russell continues to be one of the worst commentators, does it really matter what Lin Jong's heritage is ? The young man can play, end of story.
3. Easton Wood is a shoe-in for All-Australia HB and Jake Stringer does things that most fowards only dream of.

1. Agreed Westbulldog - Simply awful. Must petition fox to get him replaced. What is it with AFL commentary? Had to suffer Bruce for years and now we have Dwayne, with useless, idiotic, highly emotive waffle.
2. Port are not a bad side, and to beat them by that margin was a bit surprising.
3. We have to have the best depth in the AFL. Can't think of a side that has as many attacking options and room to grow in the midfield.

[azabob]

Not wanting to defend Dwyane Russell, but being multi cultural round perhaps has something to do with discussing Jong's heratiage.

[comrade]

How does Tony Shaw still have a job?

In the first half alone he made comment about Stringer hitting up Grant on his 'non-preferred side', except he kicked it with his right.

And then followed up that gem with the definitive insight that Bont was well down this year due to second year blues.

WTF?

[LostDoggy]

1. I really rate The Hammer, who seems to grow taller every week. He flies under the radar a lot. Some great courage shown yesterday.
2. Every time the ball flies toward Easton I hear a slow Superman theme inside my head. Duuuuh, duh-duh-duuh-duuuuuh…
3. Liam Picken is the most underrated player in the league by a country mile. Period.

[bulldogtragic]

Add in the commentary on Biggs and the trade working of 'the dogs traded pick 37 to get Biggs'. We got pick 39 back. It was a two position drop down. But don't let the facts get in the way of creating a narrative, like Bont having second year blues...

[Jeanette54]

1. I was intrigued by the performance of Mitch Wallis. Judging by the hand signals he was calling the plays at the centre bounces, and having watched the warm ups, I noted that some of these went precisely to plan. There also appears to be some thought is already given as to what Mitch's future roles might be post Libba's return from injury. Clearance beast Mitch might be, but there are sure signs that there are other positions where he can make a very worthwhile contribution while Libba takes his turn in the engine room.

2. We now have a blend of total team effort, iced with individual brilliance from several players; exciting stuff.

3. Note to opposition players. If you are in danger of adding to the turnover stats, don't turn it over to "The Bont". He will hurt you big time.

[The Doctor]

1. We have a game plan that doesn't rely on any one player. We are able to replace one player with another without the wheels falling off. It is a superbly crafted system that the players have bought into and is proving very difficult for other teams to counter.
2. It is so great to wake up on a Sunday morning in the top 4 again.
3. We can give this bloody thing a shake.

[Stefcep]

I'm a casual Bulldogs fans these days, so take what follows for what it is.

1. This weekend was the first where I watched AFL as a neutral, watching Adelaide and Richmond and Eagles Hawks. What have they done to this once great game? Congestion for 90% of the time, packs of players following the ball, players on hands and knees and the ball moves meters in minutes. Strong tacking and negating the opposition seems to be the name of the game. The AFL needs to get its finger out or we might as well go and watch rugby.

2. Our players have leaner bodies than any of those teams.

3. Will we be able to play our fast flowing running game against strong tacking, more massive players determined to stop us from playing our way?

[azabob]

I'm a casual Bulldogs fans these days, so take what follows for what it is.

1. This weekend was the first where I watched AFL as a neutral, watching Adelaide and Richmond and Eagles Hawks. What have they done to this once great game? Congestion for 90% of the time, packs of players following the ball, players on hands and knees and the ball moves meters in minutes. Strong tacking and negating the opposition seems to be the name of the game. The AFL needs to get its finger out or we might as well go and watch rugby.

2. Our players have leaner bodies than any of those teams.

3. Will we be able to play our fast flowing running game against strong tacking, more massive players determined to stop us from playing our way?

Firstly, why only casual?

In relation to your comment about will we be able to match it with Adelaide, Richmond, Eagles and Hawks. Well we beat Adelaide and Richmond fairly comfortably, we beat W/C in round one and Hawks smashed us in round 3.

However Im sure we will do much better against Hawthorn next time we play them.

So in answer to your question, the answer is a resounding YES.

[Smads57]

1. I never want to miss a game in which the Bont plays (thrilling is the word I am looking for....)
2. For me, Wallis is the key to what the rest of 2015 will be (midfield beast)
3. This is the best 'group' of Bulldogs players I have ever seen on our list (first went to footy in '67)

[Doc26]

1. I was intrigued by the performance of Mitch Wallis. Judging by the hand signals he was calling the plays at the centre bounces, and having watched the warm ups, I noted that some of these went precisely to plan. There also appears to be some thought is already given as to what Mitch's future roles might be post Libba's return from injury. Clearance beast Mitch might be, but there are sure signs that there are other positions where he can make a very worthwhile contribution while Libba takes his turn in the engine room.

2. We now have a blend of total team effort, iced with individual brilliance from several players; exciting stuff.

3. Note to opposition players. If you are in danger of adding to the turnover stats, don't turn it over to "The Bont". He will hurt you big time.

It's a good observation Jeanette. Mitch has been at the forefront this season in setting up and ensuring that we hold to the planned structure at the stoppages. His leadership has been enormous and belies his age.

[Stefcep]

Firstly, why only casual?



Just life getting in the way: working too many hours, family commitments, in the middle of a course whihc has been more demanding than I thought , doesn't leave much time to get out to game. Our games are rarely on FTA, which doesn't help.

[LostDoggy]

Imagine at centre bounces over the next few years when our 3 clearance players are Libba, Wallis and Bont. Wow. Good luck other 17 teams.

[F'scary]

1. I never want to miss a game in which the Bont plays (thrilling is the word I am looking for....)
2. For me, Wallis is the key to what the rest of 2015 will be (midfield beast)
3. This is the best 'group' of Bulldogs players I have ever seen on our list (first went to footy in '67)

It's the quality of the disposals. Sometimes, his disposals are too good for some of his teamates!

[LostDoggy]

1. I was intrigued by the performance of Mitch Wallis. Judging by the hand signals he was calling the plays at the centre bounces, and having watched the warm ups, I noted that some of these went precisely to plan. There also appears to be some thought is already given as to what Mitch's future roles might be post Libba's return from injury. Clearance beast Mitch might be, but there are sure signs that there are other positions where he can make a very worthwhile contribution while Libba takes his turn in the engine room.

2. We now have a blend of total team effort, iced with individual brilliance from several players; exciting stuff.

3. Note to opposition players. If you are in danger of adding to the turnover stats, don't turn it over to "The Bont". He will hurt you big time.
I see Mitch as the replacement for Matty Boyd when he hangs up the boots in 10 years' time. ;)

I'm a casual Bulldogs fans these days, so take what follows for what it is.

1. This weekend was the first where I watched AFL as a neutral, watching Adelaide and Richmond and Eagles Hawks. What have they done to this once great game? Congestion for 90% of the time, packs of players following the ball, players on hands and knees and the ball moves meters in minutes. Strong tacking and negating the opposition seems to be the name of the game. The AFL needs to get its finger out or we might as well go and watch rugby.

2. Our players have leaner bodies than any of those teams.

3. Will we be able to play our fast flowing running game against strong tacking, more massive players determined to stop us from playing our way?

Don't confuse fast running with front running. We are even better in defence than we are better in attack, if that makes sense? What's exciting about our game plan — and what has the media also increasingly engaging with us — is that we are countering that strong, contested ball, numbers around the stoppages game style and breaking through it. This is what the media blokes have been crying out for.

[LostDoggy]

1. I have lived the bulldog roller coaster for many years, yesterday afternoon, during the game I started feeling something inside, something deeply emotional in a very good way, I had a lump in my throat, this team is really good and it will get better, we have a game plan, we have a forward line that is scary, we have depth in the squad, we have composure under pressure, this team is giving me huge belief, not hope that we will see whatever it is that happens after a preliminary final. The lid can be removed, it's time to become arrogant, ultimately these dogs cannot be stopped, we have years of this to look forward to. But hell, let's start now, beware of dog. We toyed with then rag dolled a team with a good list that was hitting some form.

[merantau]

1. I really rate The Hammer, who seems to grow taller every week. He flies under the radar a lot. Some great courage shown yesterday.
2. Every time the ball flies toward Easton I hear a slow Superman theme inside my head. Duuuuh, duh-duh-duuh-duuuuuh…
3. Liam Picken is the most underrated player in the league by a country mile. Period.

Agree, agree, agree. The Hammer did everything right yesterday. Wood's courage backing back into 'the unknown' ( "Hmm ... I just might well get cleaned up here) is team lifting. Liam Picken has balls of steel and has added real attacking edge to his game.

[LostDoggy]

2. Bont is pure class
3. Stringer lives for the contest and will win us games off his own boot

[Remi Moses]

Just life getting in the way: working too many hours, family commitments, in the middle of a course whihc has been more demanding than I thought , doesn't leave much time to get out to game. Our games are rarely on FTA, which doesn't help.

Hope you've got a membership

[Remi Moses]

1. Great we've got 30 odd players who can step in, that's vital
2. The elation in the eyes of the supporters( I think some are still stunned)
3. Port are an example that it's not an entitlement to win a flag and finish top 4.

[GVGjr]

1 - Opposition teams don't know what to do because we don't really tag their star players. They are more adept at trying to shake the tag.
2 - Opposition star players don't know how to try and curb the influence of our prime movers because they aren't normally asked to have a defensive ethic.
3 - We confuse opposition teams and we are better off for having cleared a few players than didn't run hard both ways.

[LostDoggy]

1. Last week I was impressed with our backline and how we got a sweeper behind an incoming ball at a marking contest . This week coming into the forward line we did what Hawthorn do....lower the eyes and kick to space or kick over the head of the opposition so we could run onto it.

2. Bontempelli's arms and how he gets them free, his work rate, and some of his kicking make him such an influential player.

3. Pure football joy the way we play. It'll be interesting to see how we cope with the crowded, stifling style of Melbourne as last time we didn't.

[Raw Toast]

1. The pleasure that this team brings is immense - best style of footy I've seen us play (which I already knew from earlier this year), but now often just intoxicating.

2. The ability to be resilient, adapt and continue to develop is glorious. Really interesting to hear about Beveridge talking about re-setting the game plan 10 minutes in yesterday to a former plan given that the current one was being smashed. I had this thought during the Geelong game that while some of our handballing was awful, almost enough of it was really good, breaking open the game in a new-ish way for us. Seems to me that Beveridge tweaked the game plan and we didn't master it then, but while we've been dicing with over-using it, multiple handball chains have been a key to breaking down the Pies, Dons and now Power. I worry a little about what will happen under intense, finals-like pressure, but when I saw a replay of the 2005 GF a few years ago, the excellence of the Swans quick-hands was the thing that I thought won it for them, and of course, it was a key part of Geelong's recent dominance.

3. Apparently the Fox Footy experts at the game yesterday think that Bontempelli has been suffering second year blues (so I learned from watching the replay). Well, if he has, I'd wish these kind of blues on most of our young-ones. With opponents putting much more time into him he's still getting the ball 5 more times a game, has doubled his clearences per game and hasn't been far off doubling the number of tackles he makes as well. Of course, he's had some quietish games and periods, but his importance to the team as a 19 year old is massive.

[westbulldog]

Not wanting to defend Dwyane Russell, but being multi cultural round perhaps has something to do with discussing Jong's heratiage.


fair point Azabob, cheers

[Sedat]

1 - Opposition teams don't know what to do because we don't really tag their star players. They are more adept at trying to shake the tag.
2 - Opposition star players don't know how to try and curb the influence of our prime movers because they aren't normally asked to have a defensive ethic.
3 - We confuse opposition teams and we are better off for having cleared a few players than didn't run hard both ways.
I reckon points 2 and 3 can be used as examples of the problems facing Port at the moment. Their stars are fantastic with ball in hand but they really don't run much the other way. Almost 100 uncontested possessions less yesterday is purely a workrate issue (or lack thereof from Port). Port have some interesting list management decisions to make in the off-season.

[bornadog]

I reckon points 2 and 3 can be used as examples of the problems facing Port at the moment. Their stars are fantastic with ball in hand but they really don't run much the other way. Almost 100 uncontested possessions less yesterday is purely a workrate issue (or lack thereof from Port).

That is exactly what Hinkley said after the game

[LostDoggy]

Port were ordinary, but I think a lot of this is a reflection on us. Port were good early yesterday and worked hard. I think our relentless intensity wore them down. In the last half, hardened players like Boak and Gray were shot and just couldn't go with our sustained efforts. Same last week, although Ess resistance was even less.

I think we've gone to a new level in the past few weeks. Can't wait to take on a top team.