Game Day Round 1 2017 - Collingwood V Western Bulldogs

[Eastdog]

Footy is back as we begin our premiership defence.

Dogs by 22 points
First Goal: A Toby McLean special to start us off!
Best On Ground: Picken
Crowd: 73,516

Carn the Bulldogs!!

[dukedog]

Good to be back. Love everyones input through the season. Back to back boys!

Dogs by 19 points
First Goal: cloak
Best On Ground: hunter
Crowd: 69399

Carn the dogs!!

[AndrewP6]

Well, well, well, here we are again. Last game we played in anger had a pretty good result, so this will be interesting.:cool:
Dogs by 19
First goal Jack Mac
BOG Pickers
Crowd 69231

[chef]

Dickos not playing

[AndrewP6]

Dickos not playing

Bugger. Ok I'll fix it.

[Eastdog]

So each week the predictions will be the margin, first goal, best on ground and the crowd.

[Eastdog]

Well, well, well, here we are again. Last game we played in anger had a pretty good result, so this will be interesting.:cool:
Dogs by 19
First goal Jack Mac
BOG Pickers
Crowd 69231

Me too for BOG. Picking is a champ.

[Webby]

For some reason I was just reflecting on the Father/Sons in the AFL. Obviously we've got our share, but Collingwood have certainly squandered theirs!:

Heath Shaw is an All Australian at a premiership contending club & top 50 player in the comp after Collingwood discarded him
Liam Picken just starred in a premiership side at the Bulldogs & top 50 player in the comp after Collingwood overlooked him
Cloke is about to run out in a key position with the reigning premiers after Collingwood discarded him (see above - far from the end!)

Got me thinking about us bidding pick 6 for Darcy Moore in 2014. It obviously forced Collingwood to use pick 7 for him. That prompted his dad to get on SEN shortly after and say "It was a great relief. I must admit, the thought of him having to play out at Footscray wasn't particularly appealing!"

Thought it pretty disrespectful at the time, but now I just think that perhaps Darcy would've been a tad envious on the first evening of October last year! The thought of playing for a bunch of battlers on Gosh's paddock or whatever it's called mustn't feel all that appealing in contrast!

I hope we smash them tomorrow.

[bornadog]

Dogs by 45
First Goal - Stringer
BOG The Bont
Crowd 72,500

[LostDoggy]

Dogs by 38pts
FG-Clokester
BOG-Hunter
Crowd-85,496

[The Bulldogs Bite]

Dogs by 22
First goal - Stringer
BOG - Libba
Crowd - 73,871

Slightly worried about this game, hope we come out snarling and blow Collingwood to pieces.

[kruder]

Dogs by 22
First goal - Stringer
BOG - Libba
Crowd - 73,871

Slightly worried about this game, hope we come out snarling and blow Collingwood to pieces.

Don't be we are great off a break our fitness staff do an awesome job in getting the boys ready to play. First up the last two years and after each of the byes along with the WestCoke game we have played some of our best football.

I actually think the Pies are boarding on Crisis down there, they are dysfunctional,acting as individuals and have no doubt it will filter down to the playing group. Our pressure will be too much for them I'm expecting an 8 goal plus win. Its not far off the best bulldog team we have out on the park in a long long time.

[Remi Moses]

Dogs by 23 pts
1st goal Cloke
BOG Dahlhaus

[1eyedog]

Dogs by 22
First goal - Stringer
BOG - Libba
Crowd - 73,871

Slightly worried about this game, hope we come out snarling and blow Collingwood to pieces.

Ha ha ha here we go!

[boydogs]

WB by 30
First Goal Stringer
BOG Bonts
Crowd 67,516

[The Bulldogs Bite]

Don't be we are great off a break our fitness staff do an awesome job in getting the boys ready to play. First up the last two years and after each of the byes along with the WestCoke game we have played some of our best football.

I actually think the Pies are boarding on Crisis down there, they are dysfunctional,acting as individuals and have no doubt it will filter down to the playing group. Our pressure will be too much for them I'm expecting an 8 goal plus win. Its not far off the best bulldog team we have out on the park in a long long time.

It's more that Round 1 tends to be historically unpredictable to a degree.

Bring our best or close to it and of course we win it in a canter.

[jeemak]

For some reason I was just reflecting on the Father/Sons in the AFL. Obviously we've got our share, but Collingwood have certainly squandered theirs!:

Heath Shaw is an All Australian at a premiership contending club & top 50 player in the comp after Collingwood discarded him
Liam Picken just starred in a premiership side at the Bulldogs & top 50 player in the comp after Collingwood overlooked him
Cloke is about to run out in a key position with the reigning premiers after Collingwood discarded him (see above - far from the end!)

Got me thinking about us bidding pick 6 for Darcy Moore in 2014. It obviously forced Collingwood to use pick 7 for him. That prompted his dad to get on SEN shortly after and say "It was a great relief. I must admit, the thought of him having to play out at Footscray wasn't particularly appealing!"

Thought it pretty disrespectful at the time, but now I just think that perhaps Darcy would've been a tad envious on the first evening of October last year! The thought of playing for a bunch of battlers on Gosh's paddock or whatever it's called mustn't feel all that appealing in contrast!

I hope we smash them tomorrow.

The point on Darcy Moore and his father is an interesting one. From what I've been able to pick up from observers both close and far from the industry is that we're still not a desirable club to head to, and that's partially backed up by our trade period where no serious talent openly nominated us as a preferred option.

When I couple this with the lack of respect AFL players gave to extremely good players on our list in the most recent rankings, I feel either we're living in a bubble where we overrate our players and achievement, or vice versa.

My belief is Darcy and those around him have fully sucked down the Collingwood Kool Aid over time to such an extent it's not worth worrying about.

[Danny the snakeman]

Dogs 37 pts
1st goal Cloke
BOC Bont
79437

[Webby]

The point on Darcy Moore and his father is an interesting one. From what I've been able to pick up from observers both close and far from the industry is that we're still not a desirable club to head to, and that's partially backed up by our trade period where no serious talent openly nominated us as a preferred option.

When I couple this with the lack of respect AFL players gave to extremely good players on our list in the most recent rankings, I feel either we're living in a bubble where we overrate our players and achievement, or vice versa.

My belief is Darcy and those around him have fully sucked down the Collingwood Kool Aid over time to such an extent it's not worth worrying about.

I think there's an element of jealousy and envy as well as a pinch of "you lucky, tinny pricks!" amongst a large number within the AFL. Some phrase it as " If the Dogs can do it, anyone can" and mean it in a nice way, whilst some say it in a patronising way.

I think the vast majority were genuinely pleased for us, but a significant number think we were kissed on the arse by fairies or something. They think we were lucky and they still don't rate us as a team or as individual players. That's evidenced by the top 50 player lists, as well as the ladder predictions.

I think the footy community underrates the hunger that remains at WBFC, whilst it also underrates the talent. If anyone else won a flag with the injuries and outs that we had during the year, they'd be saying "Geez, they'll be scary if they get just a normal run of it next year!"

Then there's the element of "hangover." On the contrary, I believe that our players are like young cubs who've just made their first kill. They'll want more, now. They know the club has been success starved and that the opportunities don't come around all that often. There's also improvement and growth in almost every player. Moyd, Picken and Morris had close to perfect seasons last year, but Dahl, Toyd, Libba, Hunter, Macrae, JJ, Biggs, Dickson, Wood, Dunkley, McLean, Roughead, Smith etc. will all be aiming for better personal years for form, fitness, or simply development as players.

Then there's Wallis, Bob, Redpath, Crameri & Jong who you'd think couldn't have as bad a run with injury.

I think that puts us in a great position to frank our position and ensure that we get the respect we deserve. That will drive us this year.

Beveridge will know this. He'll harness it and use it. I wonder how much respect his St Bedes team got after their first of three consecutive flags?!

I don't want us to ease into the year. I want us to come out and belt Collingwood tonight. I want to make the statement from the get go.

[merantau]

I think there's an element of jealousy and envy as well as a pinch of "you lucky, tinny pricks!" amongst a large number within the AFL. Some phrase it as " If the Dogs can do it, anyone can" and mean it in a nice way, whilst some say it in a patronising way.

I think the vast majority were genuinely pleased for us, but a significant number think we were kissed on the arse by fairies or something. They think we were lucky and they still don't rate us as a team or as individual players. That's evidenced by the top 50 player lists, as well as the ladder predictions.

I think the footy community underrates the hunger that remains at WBFC, whilst it also underrates the talent. If anyone else won a flag with the injuries and outs that we had during the year, they'd be saying "Geez, they'll be scary if they get just a normal run of it next year!"

Then there's the element of "hangover." On the contrary, I believe that our players are like young cubs who've just made their first kill. They'll want more, now. They know the club has been success starved and that the opportunities don't come around all that often. There's also improvement and growth in almost every player. Moyd, Picken and Morris had close to perfect seasons last year, but Dahl, Toyd, Libba, Hunter, Macrae, JJ, Biggs, Dickson, Wood, Dunkley, McLean, Roughead, Smith etc. will all be aiming for better personal years for form, fitness, or simply development as players.

Then there's Wallis, Bob, Redpath, Crameri & Jong who you'd think couldn't have as bad a run with injury.

I think that puts us in a great position to frank our position and ensure that we get the respect we deserve. That will drive us this year.

Beveridge will know this. He'll harness it and use it. I wonder how much respect his St Bedes team got after their first of three consecutive flags?!

I don't want us to ease into the year. I want us to come out and belt Collingwood tonight. I want to make the statement from the get go.

Furthermore to this post, I was in Barkers Cafe Thursday and took the opportunity to thank and congratulate Roughie. His first words were "You don't have to thank me mate." To which I replied, "Oh, yes I do. I waited 62 years and you blokes gave me the best present ever." Roughie had a big smile on his face and replied, "You won't have to wait 62 years for the next one." I really liked hearing that.

[Go_Dogs]

Dogs by 54
First goal Package
BOG JJ
Crowd 72461

Can't wait, I've got a busy day but it's going to crawl.

[SlimPickens]

Dogs by 28pts
First Goal Cloke
BOG The Bont
Crowd 74248

[BornInDroopSt'54]

[QUOTE=dukedog;545943]Good to be back. Love everyones input through the season. Back to back boys!

Dogs by 19 points
First Goal: cloak
Best On Ground: hunter
Crowd: 69399

We should call Cloak, Dagger, goes well with hunter who we should call gatherer.


Dogs by 31 points
First Goal:Lin Jong
Best On Ground: Libba
Crowd: 71,267

[LostDoggy]

Dogs by 62
First Goal: Crammers
BOG: Bont
Crowd: 73,111

[always right]

I think the vast majority were genuinely pleased for us, but a significant number think we were kissed on the arse by fairies or something. They think we were lucky and they still don't rate us as a team or as individual players. That's evidenced by the top 50 player lists, as well as the ladder predictions.


Disagree with this. Not surprised at all that we didn't feature prominently in top 50 lists. Our premiership was achieved by an even spread of performances throughout our team with a handful of notable exceptions.

[Mofra]

From what I've been able to pick up from observers both close and far from the industry is that we're still not a desirable club to head to, and that's partially backed up by our trade period where no serious talent openly nominated us as a preferred option.
Travis Cloke?
There's not much else we realistically wanted / needed considering we just won the flag. We signed Suckling the year before on AFL-average salary and he was best 22 in the most dominant side of the modern era.

[bornadog]

Travis Cloke?
There's not much else we realistically wanted / needed considering we just won the flag. We signed Suckling the year before on AFL-average salary and he was best 22 in the most dominant side of the modern era.

We also took Essendon's number one goalkicker

[comrade]

From the sounds of it, Hurley was pretty close to jumping before something made him stay at the Bombers ($$$$$$$$$).

We're not exactly a glamour club like Hawthorn but the longer Bevo, Bont & co stick around, it won't take long.

[Cyberdoggie]

I'm actually quite nervous about tonight.

Collingwood do trouble us, probably were better than us in both games last year, they had rotten luck with injuries which cost them the MCG game and we held on in a close one in the other one.

We also have a very small backline, going against Cox and Moore, and the latter seems to enjoy playing against us.

Now we are the hunted and they will be saying to themselves that they can match it with us.

I think the side that played in those 4 finals was a different side to the rest of the year.
I'm not talking personnel but the way we played. We discovered something else, confidence and aggression at the contest transformed into a different beast.

Tonight's side is minus Clay Smith and Dunkley and Dickson. Smith and Dunks were physical beasts and keys to our resurgence, Dickson is our best small forward.
We've brought in Bob and Crameri who have been out for some time and Cloke who is a stranger to our game plan somewhat.
While I love Jong's game he's not great in physical pressure like those other two are.

Can we reproduce the finals form with this new look side?..... That is the big question.

I'm still tipping us to win but there is doubt in my mind. Hey i'm a bulldogs supporter, one GF win can't eradicate a lifetime of pessimism.

Dogs by 3 points (JJ to kick the winner).
first goal: Stringer (he'll kick 5 and will back to his best)
BOG: Stringer
Crowd 73098

[jeemak]

Travis Cloke?
There's not much else we realistically wanted / needed considering we just won the flag. We signed Suckling the year before on AFL-average salary and he was best 22 in the most dominant side of the modern era.


We also took Essendon's number one goalkicker

Is it mere coincidence all three mentioned here had connections to the coach of the day?

[Daughter of the West]

Hoping to wallop the pies, but I don't think we'll have it that easy

Dogs by 12 points
First goal: Daniel
BOG: Macrae
Crowd: 70,001

[Eastdog]

Yes I think will win but I reckon by about 3-4 goals. I think it will be close for a lot of the night.

[LostDoggy]

Dogs by 27
First Goal: Bont
Best On Ground: Libba
Crowd: 63500

[Mantis]

Dogs by 34points
First goal - Stringer
BOG - Libba
Crowd - 64,751

In Treloar, Pendlebury, Adams, Sidebottom & Grundy Coll have a midfield group of quality, but limit their influence and we win this one comfortably.

[bulldogtragic]

Dogs: by 104
First Goal: Cloke
BOG: Macrae
Crowd: 66,665

[Murphy'sLore]

Dogs by 12
First goal: Dahl
BOG: Bonti
Crowd: 64,500

[bornadog]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C7qc7kiVMAAcLgA.jpg

[bornadog]

Aish out Mayne in for Pies.

[Mantis]

Mayne in for Aish (virus)

[DOG GOD]

Moore worries me...pies at the G worries me....so...

Pies by 9 pts
First goal : stringer
Bog : Picken
Crowd : 65,459

[GVGjr]

Dogs by 14 points after some nervous moments.

Lets go with Hunter as the BOG, Dahlhaus as the first goal kicker and a crowd just 200 over the 70K mark.

[bulldogsthru&thru]

Memories right now with living end playing

[Twodogs]

Us by 62
FG the Cloke
BOG the Bont

[GVGjr]

Very happy for big Trav to have kicked that. Long, long goal

[GVGjr]

Good quarter by us but the Pies look dangerous at times. Bad conversion and some woeful skill errors by them but if they get a run on it might cause us some problems

[Mofra]

Cloke goal, awesome

[GVGjr]

We can't quite shake them at the moment. They've had 10 scoring shots to our 8 but we are 3 goals up.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Filth have had our measure in most of the statistical indicators except accuracy in front of goal.
Our mids are getting smashed at stoppages.

[1eyedog]

Treloar is killing us

[bulldogtragic]

Treloar is killing us

Is it Jong meant to be on him?

[GVGjr]

Collingwood should be 2 goals in front perhaps more. Our no tag approach needs a rethink and I still don't like the idea of Boyd being our sole ruckman.
What have been the positives of Boyd being the number one ruckman?

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Really need our mids coach to get a response from that group, otherwise The Filth are going to continue to get a lot of goal scoring opportunities

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Collingwood should be 2 goals in front perhaps more. Our no tag approach needs a rethink and I still don't like the idea of Boyd being our sole ruckman.
What have been the positives of Boyd being the number one ruckman?

I thought, especially early on that Tom Boyd was looking as comfortable in the ruck as I've seen.

[Greystache]

Lucky to be in it really, been outplayed all over the ground but Collingwood are terrible with even worse skills. A good team would be pumping us.

Caleb Daniel has been Collingwood's best player, he's the only one who can consistently hit a black and white jumper lace out.

[GVGjr]

I thought, especially early on that Tom Boyd was looking as comfortable in the ruck as I've seen.

Has he been effective though?

[The Bulldogs Bite]

Collingwood should be 2 goals in front perhaps more. Our no tag approach needs a rethink and I still don't like the idea of Boyd being our sole ruckman.
What have been the positives of Boyd being the number one ruckman?

Couldn't agree more.

Massive concerns in the midfield, down by 20 in contested ball and 14 in clearances.

[bornadog]

Mids are getting thrashed, need to win at ground level

[GVGjr]

Lucky to be in it really, been outplayed all over the ground but Collingwood are terrible with even worse skills. A good team would be pumping us.

Caleb Daniel has been Collingwood's best player, he's the only one who can consistently hit a black and white jumper lace out.

I was going to have a crack at young Caleb but you beat me too it.

We need something from Stringer and Crameri up forward and Macrae in the midfield.

Cordy going along OK in the backline, JJ hasn't missed too much

[comrade]

A few blokes are having stinkers: Daniel, Suckling, Wood in particular look ultra rusty.

Bevo needs to make a GF-esque change in the midfield.

[1eyedog]

Is it Jong meant to be on him?

I dont think anyone is minding him. We need to put pressure on their mids and tighten up. Grundys winning the contest but he's not the reason they're pumping us forward of centre.

[Mofra]

Need a half time strategy similar to the way we stopped JPK in the GF

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

1 Clearance to Libba in a half of footy. That's nowhere near his usual output. Lin Jong only 1 clearance, perhaps his world record pace 11 tackles to half time are testament to him getting to the ball second.

[GVGjr]

1 Clearance to Libba in a half of footy. That's nowhere near his usual output. Lin Jong only 1 clearance, perhaps his world record pace 11 tackles to half time are testament to him getting to the ball second.

Are we missing the likes of Dunkely and even Smith to hop into the midfield giving Libba a bit more of a spell?

[whythelongface]

Great 3rd term. Murph everywhere

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Are we missing the likes of Dunkely and even Smith to hop into the midfield giving Libba a bit more of a spell?

There does appear to not be the same manic inside game tonight. Its our outside run, and unusually for us our efficiency on goal that is doing the job for us tonight. On the back of I must say a rock solid back 6 effort.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Tom Boyd's marking, aside from his herculean efforts in the GF, is a concern for me, he just drops so many that you would expect an AFL player much less a genuine key forward to take.

[bulldogtragic]

Are we missing the likes of Dunkely and even Smith to hop into the midfield giving Libba a bit more of a spell?

We have Jong playing instead. Is he not doing as much as either?

[Greystache]

Much better quarter. We still can't win a centre clearance but we limited the damage much better. Our ball use is orders of magnitude better than theirs, that's the difference.

Murphy was brilliant that quarter.

[bulldogtragic]

Much better quarter. We still can't win a centre clearance but we limited the damage much better. Our ball use is orders of magnitude better than theirs, that's the difference.

Murphy was brilliant that quarter.

Murphy with a glimpse of how brilliant a CHF he was before his first ACL. If we can afford him forward during games, what an extra dynamic up forward!

[always right]

Should hold on if we can just square the clearances. Below par performance tonight but need to escape with the win.

[Twodogs]

Murph has been great.

[GVGjr]

Just need a goal to settle things.

[whythelongface]

Played well in patches. Just good to get a win.

[bulldogtragic]

Moz... Come on injury gods, 22 seconds...

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Did Bont spend any time in the middle at all for centre bounces?

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

I actually think that's a very good win considering we're still not at our physical peak, coming off a shorter pre-season. There is a lot to improve upon, and the fact we can look to do that whilst at the same time getting 4 points is a much better result than if we had lost.

[bulldogtragic]

The positives are good. The negatives can be worked upon. We got the four points, and we will be much better for the run and have players fighting to get in, in Dunks, Smith, Campbell etc.

[Twodogs]

Fantastic win they threw the kitchen sink at us and we stayed on our feet but only just. That is much better than us winning in a canter which how it looked like turning out until 2.41 before 3/4 time.

I'm going to enjoy all the sweet magpie whinging about Moore's non mark late in the last..

[merantau]

The Pies came to play so it was a good win for us. There is a LOT to be gained from a win like this. It was a red hot contest and we did not have it all our own way. Murph was really good as was Travis Cloke. We got badly beaten in the clearances but our defence and counter attacking were crucial to our win.

[GVGjr]

Decent win but not too much to get excited about. We will need to be a lot better next week in the GF replay

We are a lot more direct and it's a bit of a change.

Hopefully Morris is OK, Crameri is still a bit off the mark but he should be better for the run. No apparent rust for Murphy.


How did everyone rate Clokes game?

[Sedat]

Interesting stats to say the least. Almost a bipolar opposite of how we played in 2016 - more Hawthorn-like with our efficiency inside 50, clean and precise ball movement, high tackle numbers and getting obliterated in clearances and CP's. I wonder if that is by design or accident.

Tonight was a potential banana skin game - Pies have an elite midfield and do play the MCG well. Very happy to bank the 4 points, move on to Round 2 and work on our deficiencies.

[hujsh]

Dogs by 14 points after some nervous moments.

Lets go with Hunter as the BOG, Dahlhaus as the first goal kicker and a crowd just 200 over the 70K mark.

Well played sir

[jeemak]

I was pretty satisfied with that. That's what a good team doing just enough does.

Collingwood have clearly trained to peak earlier in the season rather than later, their midfield was good but they just aren't clean enough with their ball use and that left us off the hook early in the piece. They found another gear and really challenged through effort we couldn't match in the midfield for the second quarter, but I wasn't too phased.

We'll be much better for the run, it seems like we were playing a preseason game against a fully primed opponent that couldn't use the ball well.

[Go_Dogs]

Heard Morris may be in trouble with a leg break, fingers crossed that isn't the case.

I'd forgotten how ordinary some opposition supporters can be, had a pleasure of being surrounded by a bunch of Pies flogs tonight which proved annoying/entertaining.

A lot to like and a lot to improve on.

We're off and running - but next week will be a significantly tougher game.

[I'm Not Bitter Anymore!]

Moz... Come on injury gods, 22 seconds...

Nooooooooooooo

[Eastdog]

Just got home. Yes happy with that win considering the worries from the pre season JLT series. Hunter, Morris, M Boyd and JJ very good.

Stringer kicked some important goals still always room for improvement. Great goal from Cloke in the first half. All in all its great to start the season with a win.

Now to be better best week and beat the runners up in 2016.

[Eastdog]

Nooooooooooooo

That is all we need. No!!!

[kruder]

How good was JJ? He has gone to another level indeed it was an absolute pleasure to watch him live.

One things for sure, our half backline will be causing headaches all year and will improve our ability to score significantly if JJ,Murph,Sucking,Biggs and Boyd stay fit. Bevo gave all of them a crack forward and rotated players through different positions heavily(more than usual) across the night.

We allowed Collingwood to get too much separation at the stopage it was very similar to when dangerwood got hold of us at etihad last year. We then made significant adjustment the next time we played them by having a player hang off the defensive side of the contest,will also help having a recognised ruckman in the side.

I thought Cloke played exactly the role we targeted him for and in the most part made good decisions with the ball in hand and presented when required. We just looked a ruckman short all night would have loved to have seen Boyd, Cloke and Crameri playing forward with Dickson and Picken applying the screws.. Jake Stringer um yeah not sure what to make of him really, I didn't notice him until to the last 15 minutes of the game.

I remember saying earlier that it felt like the first time Fletcher Roberts hadn't had shoulder surgery during the off season fro years. Even thought Collingwood butchered the ball all night he was a solid citizen indeed, exactly the kind of performance we are looking for from him.

[Dry Rot]

Pies fans going nuts over umpiring favouring us on BF.

WTF?

[comrade]

Is it worth chucking a sneaky tenner on JJ for the Brownlow? Seems like he's going to be very prominent in Bevo's retooled game plan.

[bulldogtragic]

Is it worth chucking a sneaky tenner on JJ for the Brownlow? Seems like he's going to be very prominent in Bevo's retooled game plan.

BAD, at a minimum of woofers, did last year and was sitting pretty until JJ popped his hammy. I dare say a few might be on him again.

[lemmon]

Inclusions were the highlight for me, how good was it seeing Murph at centre half forward ala 06-08?

I thought we were lucky the Pies were soft with their pressure though. We did enough and that's all

[Hotdog60]

On Stringer, I thought he looked better in this game than he did for most of last year. The main difference was his attack on the ball and not the hang off the back to get the easy one over the back. If the trend continues he will look a lot better.

[LostDoggy]

What a pleasure it is to watch football this year. Great first up by Murph.

Round 1 is always a raffle, we have a win in the bank and at times made them look silly.

I thought bevo tried a few different things out last night.

Next!

[Go_Dogs]

Is it worth chucking a sneaky tenner on JJ for the Brownlow? Seems like he's going to be very prominent in Bevo's retooled game plan.

Did that the day after he collected Normie.

[Scorlibo]

I thought the midfield struggle was a genuine concern. We comprehensively lost the clearances (43-25), inside fifties (62-44), contested possessions (161-135) and hitouts (50-25), while rotating a group of maybe 12 players through there. In contrast, Collingwood basically kept the same five or so players in their midfield the whole game, and they dominated. Sidebottom, Pendlebury, Treloar, Adams all had a day out. I'm all for the rotating midfield so long as it works to bring more players into the game, but it obviously worked in the opposite way last night, keeping guys like Libba and Bont out of the game for large periods of play.

[Mofra]

On Stringer, I thought he looked better in this game than he did for most of last year. The main difference was his attack on the ball and not the hang off the back to get the easy one over the back. If the trend continues he will look a lot better.
Put in some very good chases just to pressure the opposition, and had a heap of the ball at the end of the game.
His tank looks like it has finally improved

[Twodogs]

Inclusions were the highlight for me, how good was it seeing Murph at centre half forward ala 06-08?

I thought we were lucky the Pies were soft with their pressure though. We did enough and that's all

Pies were really soft and timed their run at us just a bit too late. My son said to me "they are coming at us but have left it a goal too late" The kid's a genius.


On Stringer, I thought he looked better in this game than he did for most of last year. The main difference was his attack on the ball and not the hang off the back to get the easy one over the back. If the trend continues he will look a lot better.

I thought he worked really hard even though he was having a shit night. He ran and chased and had some really important touches in the last quarter. Everytime I saw Motlop hang out the back waiting for the cheapie I thought how much more value Stringer was providing to us.

[Twodogs]

Is it worth chucking a sneaky tenner on JJ for the Brownlow? Seems like he's going to be very prominent in Bevo's retooled game plan.


Sure is. Especially with the Rondell Beckham.

[Hotdog60]

Thinking back on the game last night and the second quarter had me thinking about our strategy.
Would it be feasible for a coach to instruct its players to conserve energy for a quarter to make sure they have enough to come home with.
Last year we always seemed to find extra in the second half when other sides seemed to be unable to go with us.
Last night the wobbles go close in the second and we took it away in the third and maintain in the last.
Maybe pie in the sky thinking but with managing the rotations and players spending more time on the ground could there be a conserving period in the game.

[always right]

Include the Pies' injured mid fielders and they win. Having said that, we are clearly yet to hit our peak so it balances out I guess....and of course we will eventually get Roughy back.

Was very happy to get the win last night. We will never be smashed in clearances again like we were last night. Thought Boyd was really competitive but we needed our midfielders to step up.

The four inclusions were really good. Liked Cloke's game, Suckling and Murphy were influential and Crameri improved the further the game went.

Rapt in our defensive group who basically won us the game along with our clean ball use going forward. Loved Fletcher's game......unobtrusive but so effective.

[lemmon]

Fletcher has gone and turned himself into a really nice kick of the footy too. He's shown glimpses for a while of cementing his place, might be there

[Flamethrower]

I thought the midfield struggle was a genuine concern. We comprehensively lost the clearances (43-25), inside fifties (62-44), contested possessions (161-135) and hitouts (50-25), while rotating a group of maybe 12 players through there. In contrast, Collingwood basically kept the same five or so players in their midfield the whole game, and they dominated. Sidebottom, Pendlebury, Treloar, Adams all had a day out. I'm all for the rotating midfield so long as it works to bring more players into the game, but it obviously worked in the opposite way last night, keeping guys like Libba and Bont out of the game for large periods of play.

The season is a marathon, not a sprint. If the Pies keep relying on the same quartet they will eventually fall off a cliff.

Our midfield depth is a strength which will see us build through the season culminating in another all out assault on the premiership in September.

Banking early wins without having to play at your peek is going to be vital in such an even competition.

[ratsmac]

Fantastic win they threw the kitchen sink at us and we stayed on our feet but only just. That is much better than us winning in a canter which how it looked like turning out until 2.41 before 3/4 time.

I'm going to enjoy all the sweet magpie whinging about Moore's non mark late in the last..

It's laughable isn't it. Roberts (or Cordy, not sure) punched it and it went a metre in the air and then Moore tries to claim the mark. Did Moore spike it like a volleyball and then mark it. Morons.


Pies fans going nuts over umpiring favouring us on BF.

WTF?

I went to the game with some scum supporters and they actually believe that the umpires cost them the game because they didn't get frees in the forward line and we did. The frees we got if I remember correctly were blatant holding the ball from dumb Collingwood defenders trying to break tackles right in front of goal.

It's quite amusing actually.

[Webby]

It's laughable isn't it. Roberts (or Cordy, not sure) punched it and it went a metre in the air and then Moore tries to claim the mark. Did Moore spike it like a volleyball and then mark it. Morons.

.......It's quite amusing actually.

Got home last night and watched the replay. Cameron Ling said on commentary that he thought it was a mark!!! Incredulous.. I'm tiring of Ling. He must be carrying a hip flask around with him!

[jeemak]

I thought the midfield struggle was a genuine concern. We comprehensively lost the clearances (43-25), inside fifties (62-44), contested possessions (161-135) and hitouts (50-25), while rotating a group of maybe 12 players through there. In contrast, Collingwood basically kept the same five or so players in their midfield the whole game, and they dominated. Sidebottom, Pendlebury, Treloar, Adams all had a day out. I'm all for the rotating midfield so long as it works to bring more players into the game, but it obviously worked in the opposite way last night, keeping guys like Libba and Bont out of the game for large periods of play.

I'd like to see us balance the midfield contest a little more but to me it seemed like we set a strategy to capitalise on the ordinariness of the broader Collingwood group, given being short in ruck capacity, sacrificing some midfield control in the process.

One of the benefits of rotating a large number of players through the middle is having midfield quality run, carry and ball use in other areas of the ground. I'm not sure how tangible or measurable the benefits of this might be through traditional indicators.

When we start nearing our peak, and playing against sides with an even spread of talent through the ground we'll have to react to it because they'll be able to capitalise on midfield dominance more effectively.

[bulldogtragic]

Got home last night and watched the replay. Cameron Ling said on commentary that he thought it was a mark!!! Incredulous.. I'm tiring of Ling. He must be carrying a hip flask around with him!

Ling said 'he had enough of it' (the ball for a mark). I thought the rule of marking was that the player needs to have all of it and/or control the ball without any opponent touching it. Being that Cordy got his fist to it, hence why it went straight up. I'm not sure what the fuss is and why a 'special comments' numpty seems to not understand a basic rule.

[Stefcep]

On Stringer, I thought he looked better in this game than he did for most of last year. The main difference was his attack on the ball and not the hang off the back to get the easy one over the back. If the trend continues he will look a lot better.

He needs to solve his set shot kicking problem. And it is a problem.

[Stefcep]

Inclusions were the highlight for me, how good was it seeing Murph at centre half forward ala 06-08?

I thought we were lucky the Pies were soft with their pressure though. We did enough and that's all

Soft in their pressure? I though the opposite. They were very good in the pressure side of their game.

[always right]

Soft in their pressure? I though the opposite. They were very good in the pressure side of their game.

Agree.....it was their defensive structure and positioning that let them down.

[merantau]

Ling said 'he had enough of it' (the ball for a mark). I thought the rule of marking was that the player needs to have all of it and/or control the ball without any opponent touching it. Being that Cordy got his fist to it, hence why it went straight up. I'm not sure what the fuss is and why a 'special comments' numpty seems to not understand a basic rule.

Ling is a perfect fit for those Specsavers ads.

[Twodogs]

Fletcher has gone and turned himself into a really nice kick of the footy too. He's shown glimpses for a while of cementing his place, might be there


Fletch has always shown he is a nice kick. He just needed a bit of confidence in his ability. It was him who kicked that bomb from outside 50 after the siren to get Footscray a home final in 2014. No pressure there at all Fletch but he drilled it.

[chef]

Thought it was a very good win first up.

Collingwood threw everything at us and we absorbed the pressure well yet again. What a quality side we have become.

Pies seemed to destroy us in the middle so we've got a bit to work on. Its going to take us a little while to hit our straps. Exciting season comibg up.

[1eyedog]

Fletch has always shown he is a nice kick. He just needed a bit of confidence in his ability. It was him who kicked that bomb from outside 50 after the siren to get Footscray a home final in 2014. No pressure there at all Fletch but he drilled it.

Yeah he's always been a fantastic field kick for a big man.

[Twodogs]

Yeah he's always been a fantastic field kick for a big man.

Didn't play in the finals because he played in the ones the next week

[Eastdog]

He needs to solve his set shot kicking problem. And it is a problem.

Jake is very good in open play.

[Eastdog]

Loved hearing the huge cheers when Bob got the footy last night. It is just great to have him back.

[hujsh]

Got home last night and watched the replay. Cameron Ling said on commentary that he thought it was a mark!!! Incredulous.. I'm tiring of Ling. He must be carrying a hip flask around with him!

Makes some odd calls. He also thought McDonald-Tipungwuti kicking the ball straight over the boundary line from about 5-10 meters away was him trying to keep it in play.

[SonofScray]

Makes some odd calls. He also thought McDonald-Tipungwuti kicking the ball straight over the boundary line from about 5-10 meters away was him trying to keep it in play.

Similar call to JJ deliberate last night. Reckon that is a harsh decision when the guy is trying to keep possession and use foot speed to gather.

[jeemak]

Similar call to JJ deliberate last night. Reckon that is a harsh decision when the guy is trying to keep possession and use foot speed to gather.

Deep down the AFL wants players to hand it to the opposition. It's actually a really weird philosophy.

[1eyedog]

Inclusions were the highlight for me, how good was it seeing Murph at centre half forward ala 06-08?

I thought we were lucky the Pies were soft with their pressure though. We did enough and that's all

I thought the Pies were excellent and their pressure was very good except for two lapses. One in the first early and one in the third. They smashed us and should have won. They weren't good enough.

[Twodogs]

I thought the Pies were excellent and their pressure was very good except for two lapses. One in the first early and one in the third. They smashed us and should have won. They weren't good enough.

Exactly. If we'd played badly they would have kicked our arse. But we didn't play badly and we weren't going to lose to anyone on Friday night.

[Topdog]

Include the Pies' injured mid fielders and they win. .

Do we get to include our injured players in this scenario?

[Twodogs]

As a matter of interest when was the last time a player kicked the first two goals of the season like Hunter did?

Maybe John Georgiades in 1989? The only one I think I can remember for sure is Beasley in 1984.

[hujsh]

Similar call to JJ deliberate last night. Reckon that is a harsh decision when the guy is trying to keep possession and use foot speed to gather.

JJ was further back from the boundary and IIRC it just went over the line as he went to pick it up.

McDonald-Tipungwuti was closer and kicked it way over the line so I thought it was absolutely deliberate.

[Eastdog]

Exactly. If we'd played badly they would have kicked our arse. But we didn't play badly and we weren't going to lose to anyone on Friday night.

That's right. We played well too and if we hadn't it could have been a different story but we didn't and that went a long way to us getting up.

[Stefcep]

That's right. We played well too and if we hadn't it could have been a different story but we didn't and that went a long way to us getting up.

Collingwood never looked like winning.

[craigsahibee]

It's laughable isn't it. Roberts (or Cordy, not sure) punched it and it went a metre in the air and then Moore tries to claim the mark. Did Moore spike it like a volleyball and then mark it. Morons.



I went to the game with some scum supporters and they actually believe that the umpires cost them the game because they didn't get frees in the forward line and we did. The frees we got if I remember correctly were blatant holding the ball from dumb Collingwood defenders trying to break tackles right in front of goal.

It's quite amusing actually.

Just on that topic, Lachie's 3rd goal at the city end during the 3rd qtr was as a result of an incorrect disposal free kick. Watching the replay it was Bont and Crameri that laid the tackle, Hunter was about 5 metres away. Not sure how the Umpire figured it was his free kick.

[1eyedog]

Collingwood never looked like winning.

Agreed I was comfortable 98% of the time.

[soupman]

Agreed I was comfortable 98% of the time.

Generally if a game is close we deliver and get over the line. I'm quietly confident in most close matches now, which is a nice feeling.

[aker39]

Just on that topic, Lachie's 3rd goal at the city end during the 3rd qtr was as a result of an incorrect disposal free kick. Watching the replay it was Bont and Crameri that laid the tackle, Hunter was about 5 metres away. Not sure how the Umpire figured it was his free kick.

Crameri & Hunter both have fair hair.
It's the only thing I can come up with.
Clearly a mistake.

[bornadog]

QUADCALL Travis Cloke first goal as a Bulldog


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1HQ0JY-4uw&feature=em-subs_digest-vrecs

[Mofra]

Just on that topic, Lachie's 3rd goal at the city end during the 3rd qtr was as a result of an incorrect disposal free kick. Watching the replay it was Bont and Crameri that laid the tackle, Hunter was about 5 metres away. Not sure how the Umpire figured it was his free kick.
Hunter loves the footy, I'm pretty sure he claimed one against Gold Coast. At Metricon. When the Bulldogs were training in Melbourne. During our bye.

[Twodogs]

Hunter loves the footy, I'm pretty sure he claimed one against Gold Coast. At Metricon. When the Bulldogs were training in Melbourne. During our bye.

He's one of those rare ones who's ability fits his desire to do things in the field. The boy loves a goal and doesn't mind accepting the responsibility for taking a shot. Or having a ping.

[jeemak]

Wasn't it throughout 2015-2016 (early) that we lamented his unwillingness to hit the scoreboard?

It's a big turnaround. A goal or so a game makes him elite.

[hujsh]

Agreed I was comfortable 98% of the time.
We could have not scored from half way though the 3rd quarter and we'd have still won.

[Twodogs]

We could have not scored from half way though the 3rd quarter and we'd have still won.



My son said that they will keep coming but were about a goal and a half too far in front. At 3/4 time.

[ratsmac]

Hunter loves the footy, I'm pretty sure he claimed one against Gold Coast. At Metricon. When the Bulldogs were training in Melbourne. During our bye.

I used to play footy with a bloke who would sprint 50 metres to try claim a out of bounds on the full free. Lachie didn't run 50 metres but he pinched one off Crammers. Definitely rascalish.

[boydogs]

How did everyone rate Clokes game?

He was good, always an aerial threat and the long goal early got us going

[Topdog]

Love the footage of Joffa sitting down

[LostDoggy]

Love the footage of Joffa sitting down

Sit on it Potsy!!!! ;)