AFL Game Day Round 1, 2019 - Western Bulldogs V Sydney Swans at Marvel Stadium, Docklands

[Eastdog]

Our 2019 premiership season gets underway Saturday night. Predictions for margin, first goal and best on ground.

Margin: Dogs by 2 points in a thriller
First Goal: Josh Schache
Best On Ground: Tom Liberatore

Go Bulldogs!!

[Eastdog]

https://m.westernbulldogs.com.au/news/2019-03-21/round-1-team-three-new-faces-for-swans-clash?camefrom=EMCL_2803188_132474362

The Western Bulldogs will unveil three new faces for Saturday night’s AFL season-opener against the Sydney Swans at Marvel Stadium.

Draftee Bailey Smith will make his debut, as confirmed on Tuesday, while recruits Taylor Duryea and Sam Lloyd will make their first AFL appearances in red, white and blue.

The match also marks the AFL return of premiership midfielder and 2014 Charles Sutton Medallist Tom Liberatore, who sustained an ACL injury in round one last year.

Emerging swingman Aaron Naughton has been named at full-forward, while the Bulldogs have elected to go with one ruckman, with Tim English edging out Jackson Trengove for selection.

Sharp-shooter Tory Dickson, who missed the team’s JLT Community Series matches, has been named after kicking five goals across two VFL practice matches.

Line-up

B: Taylor Duryea, Zaine Cordy, Hayden Crozier
HB: Caleb Daniel, Easton Wood, Matthew Suckling
C: Lachie Hunter, Tom Liberatore, Jack Macrae
HF: Billy Gowers, Josh Schache, Josh Dunkley
F: Toby McLean, Aaron Naughton, Sam Lloyd
Foll: Tim English, Marcus Bontempelli, Mitch Wallis
Int: Bailey Smith, Ed Richards, Tory Dickson, Bailey Williams
Emer: Lewis Young, Jackson Trengove, Fergus Greene, Will Hayes

Match details

Western Bulldogs v Sydney Swans
Marvel Stadium
Saturday 23 March
7.20pm AEDT

Last time we met…

Round 4, 2018 – It was the Swans by seven points in a see-sawing encounter at Marvel Stadium, despite the Bulldogs leading by four goals early in the second quarter. Ollie Florent was the match-winner with a late goal, with Luke Parker (21 disposals, three goals) and Jack Macrae (34 disposals) among the most influential players on the ground.

Broadcast info

TV
Channel 7, coverage live from 7pm
FOX Footy, coverage live from 7.20pm

Radio
ABC Grandstand
3AW
Triple M
SEN1116

[Rocket Science]

Margin: Swans by 23 points
First Goal: The Bont
Best On Ground: Hunter

[Vred]

Margin: Dogs by 7
First Goal: Dickson
Best of Ground: Libba

[bornadog]

Dogs by 25
first goal Lloyd
BOG Macrae

[Mantis]

I just went past the ground and noticed Buddy & Sam Reid walking into the ground.. Obviously keen to get this one started. :D

[bornadog]

Bevo Press Conference this morning: (Tweets from Club)

* LB: The boys have prepared extremely well and I believe we are going to test the Swans out on Saturday night. #WBMedia


* LB: Tim is a young man, who has a significant development left him in. He’s put on a fair bit of weight & progressing into a mature ruckman. It will be a test for him.


* LB: Everything about Aaron suggests he could be a prolific forward. We want to develop a wing/forward structure & we think him + Josh Schache will play well together. We’ve got some forward threats, but it’s about using the footy better by foot. #WBMedia


* LB: I’m really looking forward to seeing how it all looks on Saturday night - we’re playing for keeps this week. #WBMedia


* LB: Tom Boyd is up & running, getting up to speed. What we’re seeing is he’s bright in himself & he happy with his progress.

*LB: There’s a bit of novelty there with Marvel, the boys are looking forward to wearing the jumper. Hopefully some of the super powers come out in way we play. #WBMedia

[GVGjr]

Great to hear the coach is up for the game and I'd expect him to try a couple of trick coaching moves.
I'm really looking forward to this game.

[Ghost Dog]

English, 21 and with nine games to his belt, has earned the nod over Jackson Trengove to ruck, and Beveridge has asked him simply to "halve the position".

What does that mean?

When Libba squares up I will be chuffed. Been a long road.
I like playing the Swans and respect their outfit.

[AndrewP6]

Swans by 32

First goal for us Dunkley
BOG for us Libba

[Go_Dogs]

Dogs by 17
BOG Bontempelli
First goal Tory

[Bulldog4life]

Dogs by 13
First goal Gowers
BOG Bont

[Go_Dogs]

Roof expected to be open or closed tonight?

[GVGjr]

Roof expected to be open or closed tonight?

Isn't there some rain expected? I suspect it will be closed

[Bulldog4life]

Isn't there some rain expected? I suspect it will be closed

Raining at the moment in Rosebud.

[Flamethrower]

Roof expected to be open or closed tonight?

Replaced by a gate to Asgard.


What is the under/over on the number of times Horse covers his mouth as he shouts profanities at the umpires or his players tonight? Might go the under now that favourite whipping boy Garry Rohan has moved to Sleepy Hollow.

[Doggy]

Swans by 1 point
Libba first goal
Libba BOG

[Eastdog]

Got my Doggies footy jumper on keen to get going.

[Bumper Bulldogs]

Dogs by 11 points
First goal buddy but ours will be by Wallis
BOG The Bont

[GVGjr]

Dogs by 7 in a come from behind win
BOG McLean
1st goal Schache

Go Dogs

[Jeanette54]

It will be interesting how the Bulldogs go about the new 6, 6, 6 rule, both in attack and defense. We don't have much in the way of talls to defend the quick, high long bomb.

Oops almost forgot. Dogs by 7, first goal Bont, BOG: Libba

[Rocket Science]

yeah those jumpers look ace mate

[Mantis]

First one in to say why the *!*!*!*! do we persist with Wallis in the midfield? Especially in number 1 rotation.

[G-Mo77]

This is how excited I am for this season. I forgot this game was on. Oops.

[comrade]

Some good signs but if Dunkley never kicked the ball, that’d be great.

[bulldogtragic]

Don't see Dicko miss easy shots and marks. Looks a bit off pace.

[bulldogtragic]

Some good signs but if Dunkley never kicked the ball, that’d be great.

If he could kick well, he'd end up being a 3-4 time All Australian. If.

[comrade]

If he could kick well, he'd end up being a 3-4 time All Australian. If.

If he put the ego aside and played to his strengths rather than persisting with trying to pin point with foot skills, he could still be AA. Daniel Cross needs to get in his ear.

[Vred]

Sign Richards for the next 10 years please

[comrade]

How’s the kick from Bont.

[bulldogtragic]

If he put the ego aside and played to his strengths rather than persisting with trying to pin point with foot skills, he could still be AA. Daniel Cross needs to get in his ear.

Yeah. Or the club can hire a kicking coach... So there's options.

[1eyedog]

Bang bang bang let's go!

[1eyedog]

Nice pass

[Vred]

Come on Gowers you can do better than that!

[bulldogtragic]

Good quarter, but should be further in front.

[GVGjr]

Impressive so far. More method at bringing the ball into the forward line. Chaos entries are working well for us.

[Mantis]

Very shaky first 5-10min, but controlled proceedings from then on.. good signs.

[Vred]

Impressive so far. More method at bringing the ball into the forward line. Chaos entries are working well for us.

We really, really need Boyd as our big man target inside 50

[comrade]

We really, really need Boyd as our big man target inside 50

Why? Naughton is already a much better option.

[Vred]

Why? Naughton is already a much better option.
I have a dog spot for Boyd lol

[comrade]

Easton Wood needs to be better.

[ReLoad]

currently watching/reading the AFL App in Santiago Chile on the way to the falkland islands, Id love to be wearing my bulldogs beanie for the week with winning pride :)

Im keen for thoughts on Schake and how he is going, are they using him in the ruck chop out role? Hows English going as well?

[comrade]

currently watching/reading the AFL App in Santiago Chile on the way to the falkland islands, Id love to be wearing my bulldogs beanie for the week with winning pride :)

Im keen for thoughts on Schake and how he is going, are they using him in the ruck chop out role? Hows English going as well?

Yeah, ruck chop out. Hasn’t been prominent but is providing an option in the air. Kicked a nice set shot from a free kick.

[bulldogtragic]

Schache has done a few nice physical pressure acts. Just kicked a goal.

Great half. 8 behinds and a few clear misses is disappointing. Really should be stomping on their throats now. Back this up, and that's a hell of a season start.

[GVGjr]

Bevos plan is working, at the momen and t we are out running them. Need to maintain that work ethic

[AndrewP6]

Pleasing half. Naughton going well, it's great to have Libba back amongst it. Much better than I anticipated.

[chef]

Naughton looks a natural forward, maybe this move will stick.

Need another half like that and I'll be confident for the season.

[westdog54]

A great start.

Anyone who has the AFL app, check it the heat maps. They're interesting viewing.

[BornInDroopSt'54]

Billy has a knack for goals. Wasnt a mark.

[comrade]

Yuck-ling.

[Rocket Science]

The Swans' kick outs are predictable. Kick it to wherever Daniel is.

[GVGjr]

That was a great goal by Naughton. Just what we needed

[bulldogtragic]

For consistency, another great quarter. Except inaccuracy. They should be dead and buried like after the Picken GF goal. We've allowed them back to the Boyd goal in the GF chance to come back.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Ok. Just caught up to the game, after delays due to my son's 6th birthday party.
Very happy with most aspects of our game thus far, although we should be a few more goals in front and have put this well and truly to bed by now.
C'mon Dogs!

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Lloyd, very lucky Buddy missed that..very poor awareness

[BornInDroopSt'54]

Wood at his spoiling best

[BornInDroopSt'54]

Reid is a beautiful kick. He is yet to fulfil his career.

[BornInDroopSt'54]

This team has to have the most lefties in any AFL team ever.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Sydney have now started to move the ball a lot easier from defense to forward.
We have got to arrest this quickly. Only 2 goals now.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Have we run out of legs?

[comrade]

Have we run out of legs?

More like Sydney have found theirs.

[EasternWest]

If our running forward 50 entries are just going to be another year of just bang it in there, I'm not sure how I'll cope.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

We've gone to water. The full panic.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Bont!!!!!

[westdog54]

The bont! The bont! The bloody bont!

[westdog54]

Lloyd!

[westdog54]

I'm loving this 6 6 6 rule.

[BornInDroopSt'54]

Victory!

[chef]

Yes. What a win.

[bulldogtragic]

Feels nice. Very nice.

[whythelongface]

Well done. A great result. Nerve wracking but able to come out with a win. Pleasing signs.

[Vred]

Sons of the west!

*!*!*!*!ing game and a half, I’m now pumped for this season, quietly hopeful

[westdog54]

Thank *!*!*!*! for that!
That Bont goal was joyous.
Seeing Libba up and about again was joyous.
Watching Aaron Naughton as a forward was joyous.
*!*!*!*!, it was joyous all round.

[Rocket Science]

Awesome. Now burn those f*#n jumpers.

[GVGjr]

Mixed bag effort and just lacked some composure at times. Great win though and we have a talented group

Dogs of Thunder

[comrade]

I want to see some footage of that Bont over the head handball.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

2 and a half Qtrs brilliant. 20 minute period..was a reprise of 2017-2018.
BUT.... the crucial thing... we didn't roll out Doggies 2017-18.. We found a way to regroup and respond.
Well done Dogs.

Who gives a sh1t about what jumper we were wearing now? They stood pretty tall!

[BornInDroopSt'54]

Awesome. Now burn those f*#n jumpers.

Collectors items now especially if a one off. Bailey Smith's first game and a win.

[bornadog]

Dogs of old, smashed them in contested poss. And most stats. Got to kick those goals
16 behinds not good

[BornInDroopSt'54]

Libba's kicking into 50 to targets was good with Naughton Scache Gowers.
Caleb's spoiling was heroic and he is balanced when he hits the ground.

[merantau]

Bont strolls in to kick a vital goal - it was dejavu all over again. Go Dogs!

[FrediKanoute]

Good win. Loved the hard running and attack on the footy. We were fit and hard at the ball. Something missing from 2018. Almost ran out of puff, but found a way to win. Good spread of contributors and very few passengers.

[Remi Moses]

Loved it ! Dare I say it , we got a bit of our brand back
Would have lost that game last year
Just love a big marking forward

[Mantis]

Nice to have a win!

Lots to like, lots to work on!

And nice to see ‘the Bont’ moving freely.

[S Coast Simon]

Holy shit we looked very good in that first half. To let them back but still hold on was awesome. My ticker was tested tonight. Libba Wood and a eew other boys back tonight. And Naughton how good are his hands. He is a competitive little bugger. Great start boys WELL DONE

[merantau]

Good team performance. We had a pretty even spread over the night. Quite a few clangers and goal kicking was again an issue. Could not fault our attack on the ball especially in the last quarter when things got a bit desperate. I was very impressed with Caleb Daniel. He contested everything and got us out of trouble many times. Our undersized defence did well.
It was great having Libba back and Wally also did a power of work. Was a bit of a worry the way we got sliced up in the last but was great that we saw them off and ran over them.

[Eastdog]

Home now. Great win to start 2019. We played great in the 1st half and they came at us in the 2nd half but I was very pleased we held firm to get the victory.

Go Dogs!

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Loved it ! Dare I say it , we got a bit of our brand back
Would have lost that game last year
Just love a big marking forward

That's my main takeaway.
So much of this game is played above the shoulders; is the common refrain.
We found a way. I hope that instills belief.

[Rocket Science]

I joked somewhere back there about why we didn't go the whole hog and trot out Bevo in the Thor helmet.

He's got the hammers on the desk in post game presser so I gather the marketing department frequents this forum.

[Remi Moses]

Apparently Chris Hemsworth was there tonight ;)

[Jeanette54]

I so loved the team effort tonight, particularly the last quarter recovery of a game which could well have been lost.

Seemed like the whole team dug deep when it counted. Great sign from such a young group.

[AndrewP6]

Apparently Chris Hemsworth was there tonight ;)

With Matt Damon.

[Jeanette54]

Apparently Chris Hemsworth was there tonight ;)

I bet he wishes he was Caleb Daniel, a real hero.

[Go_Dogs]

Get around us!!!!

MJP for president!!!

Great win...I had tipped us 40+(did not reflect my confidence here given the negativity which has been going on) which is the margin we should have won by. It was good that they came at us and made it a contest though...our young blokes learn plenty from those last 15 minutes.

Great night.....WOOF WOOF!!!

[AndrewP6]

What a win! We looked so much better. Attack on the ball, pressure on the opponents, much improved. I like the look of Bazlenka (but the nickname he brought with him is a dud!)... So good to see Libba doing his thing... Bont looked the goods...

Those jumpers looked good from far away. Maybe that's where they ought to send them. Far, far away.

God that win felt awesome!

[GVGjr]

Ive sent a message to my boss saying I will be late in Monday as I'm lining up for finals tickets :)

[josie]

Go Dogs - that’s exactly what we said at end of match. The young ones looked so tired but they dug deep. Naughton is a young star- not since Grant can I recall confidence in marking I50 with a young forward. And he made some crucial spoils in last quarter when Bevo switched him to backline. Geez I wish we could clone him. And some of English’s tap work was top class-he just needs to hold on to a few more marks to be the complete mobile ruck.

[Go_Dogs]

Ive sent a message to my boss saying I will be late in Monday as I'm lining up for finals tickets :)

If you wait till Monday, you'll miss out....there's quite a queue here!

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Get around us!!!!

MJP for president!!!

Great win...I had tipped us 40+(did not reflect my confidence here given the negativity which has been going on) which is the margin we should have won by. It was good that they came at us and made it a contest though...our young blokes learn plenty from those last 15 minutes.

Great night.....WOOF WOOF!!!

MJP has earned a lot of points tonight. Deserves credits, maybe votes?

[bornadog]

What a difference Libba makes to this team

[Bulldog Revolution]

Good stuff - like others, lots to like, lots to work on

But we showed a depth of contributors that should serve us well

Our players were a bit patchy but most showed a bit

Lipinski should be considered after 38 in the vfl

[josie]

Ive sent a message to my boss saying I will be late in Monday as I'm lining up for finals tickets :)

Love your optimism, and why not? Wins like tonight build self belief.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Ive sent a message to my boss saying I will be late in Monday as I'm lining up for finals tickets :)

WOW, Gary. In well over a decade of reading your posts, here and on the other forum, I'm not sure I've seen you post something so distinctly removed from a position of defensible rationality.... I like it. :)

[Go_Dogs]

MJP has earned a lot of points tonight. Deserves credits, maybe votes?

Agreed. I think a few shared his confidence...but, he was the one prepared to put it on the line and the one who was here to gee us up when the sky looked cloudy the past few weeks.

[BornInDroopSt'54]

Good team performance. We had a pretty even spread over the night. Quite a few clangers and goal kicking was again an issue. Could not fault our attack on the ball especially in the last quarter when things got a bit desperate. I was very impressed with Caleb Daniel. He contested everything and got us out of trouble many times. Our undersized defence did well.
It was great having Libba back and Wally also did a power of work. Was a bit of a worry the way we got sliced up in the last but was great that we saw them off and ran over them.
In his presser post game Bevo reckoned Caleb defensively "good overhead...although he has to jump".

[G-Mo77]

Wow. What can I say. Picked us bottom 3 this year and while we still could finish that low I've got a bit more confidence going forward. I actually forgot the game was on and by the time I realised it was too late to travel. Bummer to miss out on it, I love beating them.

[merantau]

In his presser post game Bevo reckoned Caleb defensively "good overhead...although he has to jump".

Bevin is as dry as a stick. But indeed Caleb was very good overhead tonight. He was good on the ground and everywhere in between as well.

[BornInDroopSt'54]

I bet he wishes he was Caleb Daniel, a real hero.

POTY so far.

[kruder]

Just looked on the AFL site and Daniel didn't get in the bests? Though he was flawless tonight, every time he chose to go he impacted the contest and was clean all night with the pill. Great to see him up and going early.

How exciting is it to have a tall of the calibre of Naughton? We have been a talls graveyard over the years but this kid is the real deal.

I love saying liiiiibbbbaaa at the footy so good to see him back, down and dirty as ever.

Sammy Lloyd welcome!

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

I was super critical of Crozier last year.
He did not have a superstar game tonight.
He had 7 disposals. So he was poor?
Nope. He was reliable, his efforts were repeatable, he was to his credit, and no doubt to his teammates enjoyment, predictable.
Every contest, he brought his best. And when he got actual possession of the ball, he used it well.
I have a lot of posts on record highlighting criticism of Crozier; this post feels required. Credit where credit is due.
If Hayden brings that sort of reliability most weeks, then our undersized defense is not an issue.........providing out midfield bring IT.

[Dry Rot]

Apparently Chris Hemsworth was there tonight ;)

Who is Chris Hemsworth?

[Stefcep]

Great effort in the last after looking we'd run out of gas.

The defence did well to hold them to under 10 goals. Won't lose many if they can keep doing that.

We look so much cleaner by hand and by foot-for 3 quarters anyway.

Gotta convert gettable goals like in the second qtr. Game should have been over at half time.

[Dry Rot]

How did Smith go in his first game?

[angelopetraglia]

How good is it to have footy back! Heart in the mouth stuff in the last quarter but such a great effort to rally and kick the last two of the game. Naughton ... is going to be a superstar.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

How did Smith go in his first game?

He was ordinary.......overall..
And yet... I've never been more confident that we've found a player.

[BornInDroopSt'54]

Who is Chris Hemsworth?
A Dog supporter and a manifestation of a Thor myth. He is also a gift from the gods for the marketing department and his gift to the Dogs was this visit with Matt Damon. It was obvious mateship based on love of the Dogs and the game. The hero loves our heroes. Kids tune in to that too.

[BornInDroopSt'54]

We had ten left footers in the team...so that's five times the average of ten percent. Inadvertant tactic?
At one stage when English kicked with his right foot, I was expecting his left.
Thing is they are all good kicks. We have a talented group by foot.

[Eastdog]

Watching the last few minutes on fox footy now. Go Dogs!

[ratsmac]

I was super critical of Crozier last year.
He did not have a superstar game tonight.
He had 7 disposals. So he was poor?
Nope. He was reliable, his efforts were repeatable, he was to his credit, and no doubt to his teammates enjoyment, predictable.
Every contest, he brought his best. And when he got actual possession of the ball, he used it well.
I have a lot of posts on record highlighting criticism of Crozier; this post feels required. Credit where credit is due.
If Hayden brings that sort of reliability most weeks, then our undersized defense is not an issue.........providing out midfield bring IT.
Dare I say it, he had Dale Morris like stats and played a selfless game for the team sorta like Dale Morris.


How did Smith go in his first game?He had a pretty nervous first game but I'm sure he learned plenty. Probably needs to go back to Footscray to get with the speed of the big leagues. But he'll be fine.


Well I sincerely apologise to Bevo, the coaching staff, the club, the supporters, the woofers, my wife, my kids and most of all the players for my negativity going into this season. There has been 2 years of slowly dropping off from the summit to the bottom of the mountain and it had taken it's toll until last night. I haven't had fun like that at the footy since you know when. I haven't seen that determination across all 22 players since you know when.

There is so much to get excited about when we bring that sort of game. Tackled hard, numbers at the contest, players running hard to create an option or to get back into position and putting their head over the ball.

I LOVED seeing Schache going in 110% into contests where he knew he was going to get hit. He even cleaned up Alir Alir once when it was his turn to go.

If we bring that game every week we will be difficult to beat.

GO DOGS!!!

[Go_Dogs]

Nothing better after a glorious Saturday night to watch a cheeky replay first thing.

Our midfield went to work early - who can stop them?

[merantau]

I was really pleased with the numbers we got around the ball when it was in dispute. We played with real intensity and are in for a good year. Go Dogs.

[dog town]

Pleasing to dominate around the ball again. When you look at our team that really needs to be our strength.

Thought Sydney spun the magnets well (had no choice) and got some flow. We were a bit slow to react on ground when they started pushing through the corridor more. The change in their tuck set up also knocked us off balance because they were just hunting the English taps.

The scoreboard pressure got to us in the last qtr and we made poor decisions with the ball. We should have scored 2-3 goals on turn over in the first 12 minutes of the qtr.

Overall it was a good performance with arguably our most important player in JJ to come back soon.

I think we need to cash in on the attention Naughton is getting by finding another spark up forward. He is drawing a crowd but we don’t have other marking options or crumbers (frustrating) cashing in on it.

[Ghost Dog]

Playing swans brings back good memories.
For the record, had us top eight this year! Bullish.
Credit to Bevo for going all out with a tall attack in the first half. With such a young side, fatigue will be an issue late game, but we ground it out. Libba!!!!!

The presser went for 15 minutes...

[Twodogs]

Who is Chris Hemsworth?

Just some kid who went to North Footscray state school.

[bornadog]

who is chris hemsworth?

thor

[BornInDroopSt'54]

Both Naughton and Scache have great goal kicking styles. They slice the ball like Reiwoldt and others. It is a reliable way of controlling ball flight. This is the goal kicking style I would teach and in golf is the best approach shot not a draw or hook.
Macrae is the opposite, kicking across bis body which can be brilliant in centreing. He seems at times embarrassed when running towards 50 that he can only kick across his body and cant kick a goal from 50. He must be trained to kick a straight kick a la Naughton&Schache. He needs to do drills of drilling them straight down the line. Simple.
He has long levers and should be able to kick 50 especially on the run. Adding this kick will also make him less predictable and someone as prolific as him should be a goal kicker.
Macrae needs to have a picture of Tayla Harris's kick in his locker.

[Ghost Dog]

Also cringe a bit with Jack's kicking style. It's as though he is using angles to control the power of his kick rather than his leg swing follow thru. If that makes any sense. Sometimes it works in close play, but not a lot of power.

[BornInDroopSt'54]

Also cringe a bit with Jack's kicking style. It's as though he is using angles to control the power of his kick rather than his leg swing follow thru. If that makes any sense. Sometimes it works in close play, but not a lot of power.

Yeh his kicking style seems symptomatic of his psychology. Obsessive and elite collector and distributor but does not see himself as mercurial or as a finisher or penetrator yet he so easily could be.

[westdog54]

Just had a closer look at the stats and The Bont had an astronomical 640 metres gained. From 17 kicks and 12 handballs.

By way of comparison, Jake Lloyd had 630 metres gained from 24 kicks and 11 handballs.

Bont also had 9 score involvements.

Just a staggering game.

[Happy Days]

By way of comparison, Jake Lloyd had 630 metres gained from 24 kicks and 11 handballs.


Didn't realise that stat accounted for sideways movement.

[AshMac]

Was so good to be back at the footy again.

Key points from the game for my opinion:

1. Libba is our most important player
2. Bailey Smith looks overwhelmed and needs time to adjust to the top level
3. Bontempelli looks clear of his hip issue - was back to 2016 form
4. 6-6-6 rule is great for a forward line w small roaming players
5. We brought the 2016 intensity into the game. Lots of locked down fwd 50’s
6. Wood was great as a lockdown on Buddy - but his form around the ground has slumped
7. Caleb Daniel was great - would love to see him higher up the ground and have the same impact
8. Our mature trade targets both had very good games
9. We can’t run a full game out yet - we’ll build on that over the year
10. It’s round 1 so I’ll keep the lid on - just - about Naughton and richards, but 2017’s draft year could be a steal for a “shallow” draft

[Jeanette54]

Was so good to be back at the footy again.

Key points from the game for my opinion:

1. Libba is our most important player


Like father, like son. Libba Snr was always the engine room of the 'Dogs in his day.

[comrade]

Thoughts on the new kick out rule? I think it helps us quite a bit, with Suckling's huge leg able to clear the area even further now. And when it's Caleb's turn, he can use the extra space to run into and spot up a target easier than if he was constrained to the square.

[GVGjr]

Thoughts on the new kick out rule? I think it helps us quite a bit, with Suckling's huge leg able to clear the area even further now. And when it's Caleb's turn, he can use the extra space to run into and spot up a target easier than if he was constrained to the square.

It hasn't quite won me over yet and I'm not sure we didn't have that advantage anyway even with the kick to themselves option but I'll give it a bit more time.

Agreed we are well placed to take advantage of it with Suckling, Daniel, JJ and Williams all capable of exploiting this change.

I can recall when teams didn't have to wait for the goal umpire to finish waving the flag with the kick ins and Rocket maximised our advantage with that change. From memory we scored the most coast-to-coast goals that year until teams worked out ways around it.

[EasternWest]

Thoughts on the new kick out rule? I think it helps us quite a bit, with Suckling's huge leg able to clear the area even further now. And when it's Caleb's turn, he can use the extra space to run into and spot up a target easier than if he was constrained to the square.

I am a fan.

[comrade]

Is anyone else waiting for mjp to swagger in and tell us ‘I told you so’?

[Happy Days]

I think that 6-6-6 is of greater benefit to us than the kick-in rule. Suckers is a special player but the distance on his kick-ins is not radically different to what we were getting before, whereas the lack of congestion up forward makes our quick entries from centre clearances (where I think we are one of the strongest teams) of far greater quality.

[bornadog]

It hasn't quite won me over yet and I'm not sure we didn't have that advantage anyway even with the kick to themselves option but I'll give it a bit more time.

Agreed we are well placed to take advantage of it with Suckling, Daniel, JJ and Williams all capable of exploiting this change.

I can recall when teams didn't have to wait for the goal umpire to finish waving the flag with the kick ins and Rocket maximised our advantage with that change. From memory we scored the most coast-to-coast goals that year until teams worked out ways around it.

What happens if the player kicking the ball in, plays on, bounces a few times, kicks it long towards the boundary line and the ball goes out without another player touching it? Is it still a free kick to the opposition?

I also noticed several times a kick in was taken, there was a second ball on the ground? Should the play be stopped?

[jeemak]

Finally caught the game...…..much has been said and I won't repeat it.

2.5 Quarters - my view is there isn't a side that plays like us when we are playing well. Our mix of pressure, quick hands, quick thinking masks our deficiencies, and it's our deficiencies our opponents set up for so they can score against us when we mess it up. When we play well we starve our opponents, we were full of energy in the first half.

1.5 Quarters - we fed our opponents because of fatigue. It was clear to see watching the replay we sat off just a touch and our intensity dropped and Sydney jumped at us.

[Mofra]

1.5 Quarters - we fed our opponents because of fatigue. It was clear to see watching the replay we sat off just a touch and our intensity dropped and Sydney jumped at us.
Interesting to hear Mitch Wallis on SEN this morning, talking about how the lack of runners made it more difficult to get the message to the group to slow the game down.
I am concerned that the way we played against the Swans may not be sustainable and we have to find ways to slow the game down for a few minutes here and there.
We also had 68 inside 50s which is an insane number (last year we averaged 51) so we still need to find ways to be a bit more efficient in attack as most top teams average around 60.

[Nuggety Back Pocket]

Interesting to hear Mitch Wallis on SEN this morning, talking about how the lack of runners made it more difficult to get the message to the group to slow the game down.
I am concerned that the way we played against the Swans may not be sustainable and we have to find ways to slow the game down for a few minutes here and there.
We also had 68 inside 50s which is an insane number (last year we averaged 51) so we still need to find ways to be a bit more efficient in attack as most top teams average around 60.

The 68 inside 50s can be largely attributed to a dominant midfield where Bont Libba Macrae Wallis and Hunter provided plenty of ball supply. With Naughton and Lloyd proving excellent additions to our forward line all of a sudden we are looking capable of winning a lot more games. The new 6-6-6 rule highlights the importance of having a winning midfield.

[Mofra]

The 68 inside 50s can be largely attributed to a dominant midfield where Bont Libba Macrae Wallis and Hunter provided plenty of ball supply. With Naughton and Lloyd proving excellent additions to our forward line all of a sudden we are looking capable of winning a lot more games. The new 6-6-6 rule highlights the importance of having a winning midfield.
It was posted elsewhere that Libba had 8 inside 50s himself which is a pretty good day for him. I expect we improve from last year, will be interesting to see where we settle in a few weeks.