WB Game Day V Collingwood R1 2021

[DOG GOD]

The kicking with no pressure is terrible

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Needed that.

[hujsh]

Had to laugh at Bailey's frustration 'I've gotta STAND don't I?'

[Stefcep]

its game one but geez some of the execution..

[bulldogsthru&thru]

Wow what a let off

[bornadog]

Great quarter to watch

[bulldogsthru&thru]

Honestly the swings into our defence are always nail biting. Why do we have to give them so much space???????

[Mantis]

Big turnaround with that play.. handy break now.

[DOG GOD]

2:42 left. Can’t allow a goal

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

English has not been outmuscled by Grundy tonight.

[DOG GOD]

English has not been outmuscled by Grundy tonight.

English holding his own. Pleasing to see.

[hujsh]

English has not been outmuscled by Grundy tonight.

It has been a huge turnaround over the last 12 months for sure. Given how Martin has played you have to think training together must have helped

[comrade]

Hunter drives me insane.

[hujsh]

Can add the man on the mark rule to the list of things we can't really exploit

[Grantysghost]

McNeil is NOT AFL standard.

Leave

[ReLoad]

Collingwood look gassed. Time to swap midfields and take it away.

[Before I Die]

McNeil is NOT AFL standard.

Seriously ?!!!!

Did you say the same after Jonathan Brown had zero touches in his first game? Give the kid a chance!!

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

It has been a huge turnaround over the last 12 months for sure. Given how Martin has played you have to think training together must have helped

I had some trepidation as to how Martin could fit in.
I'm an idiot. They've complimented each other nicely. English should've had 2 goals, and he's not been monstered on the occasions he's rucked.

[bornadog]

McNeil is NOT AFL standard.
Give the kid a break, first game

[whythelongface]

De Goey, Hoskin-Elliott and Adams have had little impact so far. Great work keeping them relatively quiet.

Bruce has done some good things. Pleasing to see.

[Mantis]

Hunter drives me insane.

x 2!

I don’t think anyone in our colours has frustrated me more... well maybe a certain bald player I’ve forgotten about.

[Grantysghost]

Dominating the game. Looks like we are cruising sing to a Rd 1 win on the big stage.
One more qtr boys.
Think we have Jamarra waiting in the wings.

[josie]

Hunter drives me insane.

Yep. His howlers are really outstandingly bad. Does so much right but at this level those mistakes argggh. Had plenty of time to improve and has not. Harsh I know. Take the good with the bad I suppose.

Geez the Martin English combo has been good so far.

[whythelongface]

Give the kid a break, first game

Exactly. Thought he has done a couple of good things. Some promising signs.

[merantau]

Bailey Dale has been good down back.

[Stefcep]

De Goey, Hoskin-Elliott and Adams have had little impact so far. Great work keeping them relatively quiet.

Bruce has done some good things. Pleasing to see.

Same with my dog , but I wouldn't play him as a KPF.

[GVGjr]

10 good minutes early in the last quarter should break their will

[jeemak]

McNeil is finding out just how much pressure there is on a footy field at the top level, though is actually getting to the right spots running onto a contest when often we don't have players capable of doing that.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Dominating the game. Looks like we are crusing to a Rd 1 win on the big stage.
One more qtr boys.
Think we have Jamarra waiting in the wings.

If you've jinxed this...with the above, then I'm setting up a petition to send you down the Yarraville nets!!!

[jeemak]

I've always said Lachie Hunter will put me into an early grave.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Bailey Dale has been good down back.

Has looked pretty good. It's surprised me

[Grantysghost]

If you've jinxed this...with the above, then I'm setting up a petition to send you down the Yarraville nets!!!

Haha. OK now I'm starting to get nervous!

[jeemak]

If you've jinxed this...with the above, then I'm setting up a petition to send you down the Yarraville nets!!!

What a time for GG to announce himself as a sociopath by ruining the game.

[whythelongface]

Bailey Dale has been good down back.

Has he been playing on Hoskin-Elliott? Agree. Dale has done some nice things.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Bont!

[Stefcep]

............

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

You idiot!

[ReLoad]

Marcus....... we need to talk....

[jeemak]

You break my heart Bont. That was nothing short of crap. Disgusting effort.

[Mantis]

How many 20m kicks can one team miss?

[jeemak]

Naughton dicking around with the footy.

[bornadog]

Some dumb football from Naughton

[Stefcep]

3 kicks in it. Plenty of time

[whythelongface]

12 point turnaround. Jeepers Bont

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Some real sloppy shit this last few minutes.
From having an opportunity to ice the game to fluffing things constantly and allowing Collingwood back in.

[DOG GOD]

How many 20m kicks can one team miss?

I’ve lost count.

Naughton needs to play to his limitations. He’s cute kicking isn’t a strong suit.

[chef]

Pies are back in it.

[jeemak]

Are we gassed?

[whythelongface]

Yay Stef.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Thanks Steph.

[DOG GOD]

Are we gassed?

The fuel light is on

[jeemak]

How is that not dropping or throwing the ball.

How can all of the umpires on the ground miss that? It's *!*!*!*!ed.

[Stefcep]

Keith

[whythelongface]

Kudos to our defence tonight.

[bulldogsthru&thru]

Pies easily could have pinched this

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Not much Gardner could've done there.
Ive liked his game.

[bulldogsthru&thru]

This last quarter is embarrassing in so many ways. Mostly for the AFL.

[bulldogsthru&thru]

Well. Our midfield has been good. But I’m unconvinced at the other ends of the ground.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Why wasnt that 50 metres to Libba?
They kicked it downfield well after the whistle?

[Stefcep]

Wins a win.

[jeemak]

Great start to the season with a hard fought win.

Far from perfect, but way more to like about that performance than to be disappointed about.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

I'm broadly happy with that.
Yep could've finished better, but given what we've served up against Collingwood in recent times, I'll take that.
That's gotta be baseline for effort for next 21 rounds, and we've got work to do to improve some areas.

[whythelongface]

Great start to the season with a hard fought win.

Far from perfect, but way more to like about that performance than to be disappointed about.

Absolutely. Given the debacle of last season this is just what we needed. Not pretty but effective.

[Before I Die]

I thought Dale and Gardner were both very good. I was also very happy with Bruce’s game.

Vandermeer’a pace and pressure forward is very important.

[Before I Die]

Well. Our midfield has been good. But I’m unconvinced at the other ends of the ground.

Collingwood kicked 7 goals. How many less goals would it need to be to get a positive comment?

[Before I Die]

Bailey Smith gets the medal. Looks like we may have solved our 2nd winger problem.

Wasn’t it great to see our boys win the ruck contest.

[KT31]

Still a bit to work on but for a solid effort first up, backline performed a lot better than I thought it would.
Dogs of mayhem are back.

[whythelongface]

Well. Our midfield has been good. But I’m unconvinced at the other ends of the ground.

Collectively our defence was excellent. Sure Collingwood lack significant firepower up forward but still the performance was excellent

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Bailey Smith get the medal. Looks like we may have solved a 2nd winger problem.

Wasn’t it great to see our boys win the ruck contest.

Bailey Smith - if he keeps that up, he's a lock for for AA.

[Mantis]

Nice to get over a team we’ve struggled with over the past 4 seasons... lots we did well, lots to improve on which we expect.

Our midfield bats real deep and we’re going to overwhelm lots of teams.

[The Adelaide Connection]

Collingwood kicked 7 goals. How many less goals would it need to be to get a positive comment?

+68 point turnaround from round 1, 2020. I’m happy with that.

[chef]

Great start to the season. GV boys played great, happy days.

[merantau]

Stefan Martin played exactly as I thought he would. Excellent body on body work to often get first hand on the ball. English was good and will get better. Bruce played his second best game for us. The Baileys down back were very good. Keith was excellent and Caleb Daniel too. Great defensive effort really.

Bailey Smith had a cracking game. I am really happy with the way we contested all night.

[divvydan]

It's interesting as Collingwood still dominated hitouts (46-19) but I never felt that it was so dominant, perhaps because it wasn't coming about from English getting outbodied and Grundy grabbing it or putting it down the throat of a mid.

[angelopetraglia]

Pies didn’t look good. We blew them away early and then they played ultra defensive with plenty of men behind the ball. They were trying not to lose rather than trying to win. Good to just get the win, but we still lacked that killer instinct with that last kick inside 50m.

[Grantysghost]

What do we think Treloar's role is? Didn't seem to have a lot of midfield time. I wouldn't mind him in there more now I've seen him in the flesh.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

It's interesting as Collingwood still dominated hitouts (46-19) but I never felt that it was so dominant, perhaps because it wasn't coming about from English getting outbodied and Grundy grabbing it or putting it down the throat of a mid.

And I think that's part of the deal. Grundy has earned 9 Brownlow votes in the last 3 games against us. He won't get one tonight.
We just nullified what was a key weakness for us.
And that's good in this case.

[bornadog]

Bailey Smith gets the medal. Looks like we may have solved our 2nd winger problem.

Wasn’t it great to see our boys win the ruck contest.

Hitouts were Pies 46 to 19 - but it didn''t feel like that.

[jeemak]

What do we think Treloar's role is? Didn't seem to have a lot of midfield time. I wouldn't mind him in there more now I've seen him in the flesh.

I think he'll work into a more midfield oriented role as his match fitness ramps up. He's played one practice match mostly off a half back flank prior to this evening, so I expect he'll be better for the run and will get more time next week.

[bornadog]

This last quarter is embarrassing in so many ways. Mostly for the AFL.

This is what happens when rotations are reduced - another AFL Blunder

[Grantysghost]

I think he'll work into a more midfield oriented role as his match fitness ramps up. He's played one practice match mostly off a half back flank prior to this evening, so I expect he'll be better for the run and will get more time next week.

That makes sense. Seems like he could be a real weapon heading inside 50.

[Before I Die]

Hitouts were Pies 46 to 19 - but it didn''t feel like that.

Ok, I’ll change that to ... wasn’t it great to see our boys neutralise the effectiveness of the opposition hit outs and clearly win the clearances both in the centre and around the ground.

[jeemak]

This is what happens when rotations are reduced - another AFL Blunder

Nah mate, scoring goes through the roof! It definitely doesn't turn into a stalemate of one zone versus another zone............

[bornadog]

Ok, I’ll change that to ... wasn’t it great to see our boys neutralise the effectiveness of the opposition hit outs and clearly win the clearances both in the centre and around the ground.

Spot on

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Nah mate, scoring goes through the roof!

Yeah cause people always perform better when fatigued...good grief the AFL always finds way to sit on their own balls.

[whythelongface]

This is what happens when rotations are reduced - another AFL Blunder

It’s interesting. The theory is that as players tire the game opens up. Really the opposite is true. As players tire teams will hold possession and when there is contested footy the players try to lock the ball in. It is frustrating as I can see what the administrators are trying to do but capping rotations doesn’t work.

[Jeanette54]

Spare a thought for Rhylee West. Good to see the Bont next to him in the club song, good thinking Marcus, excellent leadership.

[jeemak]

That makes sense. Seems like he could be a real weapon heading inside 50.

Yeah between the arcs breaking through the zone will be his go.

[jeemak]

It’s interesting. The theory is that as players tire the game opens up. Really the opposite is true. As players tire teams will hold possession and when there is contested footy the players try to lock the ball in. It is frustrating as I can see what the administrators are trying to do but capping rotations doesn’t work.

Defencive running stops, as does forward running. I may have said this five thousand times but I'll say it again. Coaches are defencively minded and will prioritise defence. They won't say it openly, they'll just do it.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Really happy with Bevo's presser. Clearly from his perspective lots to work on.
He's not happy about the things we all know we still need to improve on, regarding finishing and connecting with our forwards.
Would've been easy to front up and concentrate on the positives of beating a team we've struggled against, and getting the season off to a winning start.
From his demeanour he's got some clear focal points he wants the group to address.
Far better to do that on the back of a win, than a deflating 50 point loss.

[Twodogs]

It's interesting as Collingwood still dominated hitouts (46-19) but I never felt that it was so dominant, perhaps because it wasn't coming about from English getting outbodied and Grundy grabbing it or putting it down the throat of a mid.

I'm surprised to see that stat. It really didn't feel that way.

[bornadog]

Big shout out to Bruce with 11 marks. Has come back fitter and more mobile.

[kruder]

Love how good a footballer Bailey Williams has become, he is just so composed with the football in hand. I'm not sure what he and his housemate Daniel have in the water at home but there are a few tonight that should be begging to move in with them.

Stef Martin what a gentleman off field he seems to be, made the biggest difference to our side on the night for mine the combination with Timmy is exactly what we have been crying out for. Well done list management team.

Treloar didn't look fit, Hunter was awful, McNeil and Scott shouldn't have played but overall a good grinding win.

Oh and JUH kicked 5 in the VFL :)

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Really good to see that Caleb Daniel did not find himself mismatched tonight deep. A good sign that our taller defenders were switched on, and that Caleb didn't need to work back in the absence of others.
He was just a plus-plus for us.

[whythelongface]

Big shout out to Bruce with 11 marks. Has come back fitter and more mobile.

Fair effort. He seemed to work his way up the ground a fair bit as well.

[bornadog]

Hunter was awful

I must have been watching a different game. Yes he made a couple of errors but 31 disposals at 77.4% efficiency and a real link up man was pretty good to me.

[hujsh]

Big shout out to Bruce with 11 marks. Has come back fitter and more mobile.

One stain on his night was when he was busy appealing to the umpire for a free as a Collingwood player watzed around him for a kick inside 50.

Very annoying aspect of an otherwise encouraging performance

[Twodogs]

I must have been watching a different game. Yes he made a couple of errors but 31 disposals at 77.4% efficiency and a real link up man was pretty good to me.

Yeah I thought that he was pretty good too.

[bulldogsthru&thru]

Collingwood kicked 7 goals. How many less goals would it need to be to get a positive comment?

You need context to that. Collingwood fluffed many opportunities and we dominated the ball. You don’t see many teams absolutely dominate the stats like we did and only scrape through.

It’s all well and good after a win to ignore things, but some perspective is needed when this stuff costs us games against teams who put others away.

I’m happy with the win but there’s a lot to work on. I don’t consider our performance against the pies last year as the benchmark like some others on here.

[bulldogsthru&thru]

Collectively our defence was excellent. Sure Collingwood lack significant firepower up forward but still the performance was excellent

Yes I thought Keith, Williams, Gardner, Duryea and Daniel were excellent. It’s the overall setup that’s the problem.

[bulldogsthru&thru]

There were plenty of fantastic individual performances.

Martin was a huge difference. I think our midfield dominance had a lot to do with getting first use. English was certainly better too and probably a lot of that has to do with Martin.

Bailey Williams was excellent.

Macrae and Bailey Smith were superb.

Keath and Gardner excellent.

Vandermeer had great run and intensity.

Caleb Daniel was so assured.

Bont was great until the last qtr.

Can’t really fault anyone. Treloar was quiet but that’s understandable. Hopefully it’s all behind him now and he can move on as a bulldog.

It’s our cohesion that’s an issue. That execution just isn’t there yet. We looked gassed at the end which surprised me. I thought the pies would slow first due to our mid depth. I look at our 22 and don’t see a weakness. Yeah we don’t have natural forwards but there’s enough there to work with. So we’ve just got to put it all together.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

You need context to that. Collingwood fluffed many opportunities and we dominated the ball. You don’t see many teams absolutely dominate the stats like we did and only scrape through.

It’s all well and good after a win to ignore things, but some perspective is needed when this stuff costs us games against teams who put others away.

I’m happy with the win but there’s a lot to work on. I don’t consider our performance against the pies last year as the benchmark like some others on here.

I'm glad that Bevo seems to think the same.

[kruder]

I must have been watching a different game. Yes he made a couple of errors but 31 disposals at 77.4% efficiency and a real link up man was pretty good to me.

I'm a hunter fan but he was very ordinary tonight constantly putting team mates under pressure his disposal was as bad as it gets. Not sure how he got 77.4% efficiency.

[jeemak]

I'm a hunter fan but he was very ordinary tonight constantly putting team mates under pressure his disposal was as bad as it gets. Not sure how he got 77.4% efficiency.

Because the stat in itself isn't great without context, and as you say, even though he didn't butcher the footy his decision making probably put folks under pressure more than we'd like and some more obvious options than the ones he took were ignored meaning things broke down a bit on occasion as he got the ball.

[jazzadogs]

Pies are in for a long year if that is the level of intensity and skill they bring to games. They sat back on contests, fumbled the ball, dropped uncontested marks - it was a really bizarre performance. Hoskin-Elliott was pathetic, and Noble made some terrible decisions.

I remain concerned that our over-possessive slow-forward-entry game plan will not stack up against the good sides, and our high press will be exploited against the same sides. It only takes four or five failures of the press to gift the opposition four or five easy goals.

Every member of our team had a net positive contribution to the match. Mcneill struggled with the pace of it and was always rushing to get rid of the ball, but he will improve. Scott didn't do much but I don't mind that in a defender.

Naughton moving fast and bombing the ball long inside 50 to Wallis on a couple of occasions was frustrating, and even his kick to Bont in the last was a poor choice with options open in the pockets. Darcy Moore was fantastic for them.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Reflecting. Gee Pat Lipinski was very solid tonight. That's a baseline for him. If he can peg that most weeks, he'll deserve to play every game this season.

[SonofScray]

We belted them up tonight. Typically under Bevo, it doesn’t show on the scoreboard and we remained susceptible to a swing in momentum but scoreboard aside, that was pretty dominant. The game went the way we willed it.

Even contributions across the key mids, Baz the stand out, driving force. Nice to towel Grundy up for a change.

Williams, Dale, Lipinski and Gardner are the name I anticipate won’t get a huge run in the wash up, but all showed some really promising signs and will have an impact greater than the sum of their parts.

Really pleased with most of what I saw. It affirmed for me that the talent can carry us a fair way, that the system has some merit. The concerns I have are still there, we aren’t learning much new about this squad under Bevo yet, though the first 10 mins was a nice experience compared to recent R1 efforts.

[Eastdog]

Very good win tonight. Just great to go back to the footy again. Been 19 months since I last saw the Dogs live same time for most of us. Went with my younger brother who is Pies fan - he sat at the Ponsford end and I sat in the Punt Road end.

Always room for improvement but nonetheless very solid performance from our team overall. Bailey Smith was excellent, Pat Lipinksi very good the last 2 games, Bailey Dale, Bailey Williams and Vandermeer good performances and I thought Alex Keath fought very well. Macrae very consistent as usual.

[The bulldog tragician]

Our much maligned defence really put in some great efforts in the last quarter. We sat near the cheer squad ( the Liam Picken end) and saw some really gritty efforts. Duryea was especially good.

I’m really encouraged by the win. We often lacked finesse, but that is more fixable than lack of effort. The stat about how many smothers we did was terrific...I always think it’s a sign of desperation and commitment.

In the first few minutes our forwards looked so dynamic, but soon the same problem of last year reared it’s ugly head. Again, Bruce and Naughton flew against each other constantly. Bruce’s efforts were really strong and I saw multiple repeat efforts and chases, which were great. But those misses, from our main natural forward..@#$*** And whatever has happened to Bont, the man for the clutch goal early in his career, but now I turn away in dread when he has a routine set shot.

Wasn’t it great to be there. It was a balmy still evening. The grand old ground looked a picture. We never lost the lead once. We’re second on the ladder :) could have been top if we’d made the most of our dominance. We can improve, and from what I saw tonight, I’m much more confident we will.

[Eastdog]

Reflecting. Gee Pat Lipinski was very solid tonight. That's a baseline for him. If he can peg that most weeks, he'll deserve to play every game this season.

Yep I liked his game.

[Eastdog]

A few photos I took from my seat at the G pre game:

https://i.postimg.cc/pyDpx0Y0/2-AC5-F537-19-C2-4328-82-F2-A61-C9346-B48-D.jpg (https://postimg.cc/pyDpx0Y0)

https://i.postimg.cc/Wq63n31R/39746-F09-2649-4546-8-CCF-4-D21-C1857-EBA.jpg (https://postimg.cc/Wq63n31R)

https://i.postimg.cc/HJRVWRhN/52661-B00-381-D-4328-A116-322-F3707-D88-B.jpg (https://postimg.cc/HJRVWRhN)

[comrade]

Was pretty impressed with Dale in defence. Didn't shirk a contest, was strong in the air and used it pretty well. That experiment is working so far.

[comrade]

Macrae - 35 disposals
Smith - 35
Hunter - 31
Dunkley - 30
Bont - 29
Libba - 28
Daniel - 27
Williams - 27
Lipinski - 26

Yet we only scored 69 points.

Our mid-forward connection is just so, so bad. What's the answer?

[The Bulldogs Bite]

Encouraging win, we're not a perfect side and we have a lot to work on but that was a good win.

Treloar will be better for the run, Martin was huge and the roll on effect of his inclusion can't be understated. This is why many of us were bemoaning our ruck setup for the last 2 years.

Special mentions to Duryea, Gardner and Keath. I've been vocal about our defenders not being able to defend, but these 3 were great in the second half. I'm a big Duryea fan - we simply look better with him in the side every time he plays. He's got a hard edge, reads the play, has leadership and experience and uses it well. We just need him to stay fit. Gardner had his best game/half for the club, some really positive movements and spoils and Keaths desperation and assertive defending was important.

Smith was brilliant, he's some player. Thought Bruce/Naughton actually played MUCH better together, but I want more from Aaron.

McNeil got to some OK spots but made some howlers, I wasn't pro his inclusion tonight and I still believe he needs to play VFL. We have better options but he shows signs.

Wallis concerns me. He plays like a key forward but we sometimes play with 3 (Bruce, Naughton, English/Martin) and always with 2. I think his spot could be in jeopardy if Cavarra or Hannan find form, we need their type which is probably why we're playing McNeil.

Vanders had some great defensive efforts but did fade out of the game.

The connection between mids/forwards continues to be an issue but I suspect it's part personnel (inability to lock the ball in) and part decision making/execution (we can over handball, none of our mids are exceptional by foot).

Bring on R2.

[hujsh]

Because the stat in itself isn't great without context, and as you say, even though he didn't butcher the footy his decision making probably put folks under pressure more than we'd like and some more obvious options than the ones he took were ignored meaning things broke down a bit on occasion as he got the ball.

He has a very strange preference for the 20-30 meter handball over a kick even when on his preferred side. Means the receiver doesn't have the option to take the mark if under pressure and sometimes creates more problems than there really should be (I assume because he doesn't trust his kicking to hit the target as reliably?)

[comrade]

I’ll whack the replay on today but despite our forward connection issues, my feeling at the game is this wasn’t a ‘millionaire’ performance. The mids rolled up their sleeves and provided good defensive pressure when required. Probably the most positive aspect for me.

[comrade]

Also, how nice is it to not stress over every ruck contest? I know the stats say Grundy won the hit outs easily but his influence was minimal. Stef Martin is a beast and just shows how ridiculous our approach to the ruck has been the past few years.

[Stefcep]

I must have been watching a different game. Yes he made a couple of errors but 31 disposals at 77.4% efficiency and a real link up man was pretty good to me.

So basically 1 in 4 possessions was a turnover.

He's a bit like McRae- an accumulator but less frustrating. Neither are really damaging for the possessions they accumulate. Its why you'll hear it said "he goes about their business quietly". The opposite of Bont or even Bailey Smith.

[Stefcep]

Macrae - 35 disposals
Smith - 35
Hunter - 31
Dunkley - 30
Bont - 29
Libba - 28
Daniel - 27
Williams - 27
Lipinski - 26

Yet we only scored 69 points.

Our mid-forward connection is just so, so bad. What's the answer?

I don't "have it in" for Macrae or Hunter so I'll get that out of the way from the start. What Macrae does ie accumulate possessions he does well. But he'd to be one of the least effective high possession-getters going around. Add Hunter who is just a frustrating version of MacRae, and that goes a long way explains why there is so little net result for some much possession.

[bulldogsthru&thru]

The forward line is the main issue. Both it’s functioning and our delivery/connection to it. It’s what puts our defensive system under pressure when we see the over the back goals (I’m still unsure why our defenders are SO out of position when this does occur however. I mean surely you don’t leave 2-3 guys all by themselves even if we have the pill up forward).

The inability to hit targets, kick to the right spots, go up for the right contests and be in the right position for the drop of the ball are all culprits for our poor I50 conversion and also the turnover goals we concede. Our forward pressure was much better last night but there were still times when we didn’t chase their defenders when they were on the goal line. I agree with others that Wallis’ position is under threat if one of Cavarra, Hannan or Weightman press for selection. We just can’t carry too many slow, immobile forwards. Whilst McNeil didn’t have a great game, I can at least see how his skill set benefits our forward line better than Wallis’. Wallis needs space to be effective. We’re the worst team for that.

[bulldogsthru&thru]

I don't "have it in" for Macrae or Hunter so I'll get that out of the way from the start. What Macrae does ie accumulate possessions he does well. But he'd to be one of the least effective high possession-getters going around. Add Hunter who is just a frustrating version of MacRae, and that goes a long way explains why there is so little net result for some much possession.

Most high possession getters are not typically damaging with their disposal. The question is how many can you have in a team? Can we carry all of Macrae, Hunter and Dunkley? I thought Macrae and Dunkley were outstanding last night. Hunter picked it up later on. It’s so hard to think about dropping any of them but you’re right, the poor disposal is a problem for our forward 50 conversion.

19 extra inside 50s for 1 extra scoring shot is not great no matter how you look at it.

[bulldogsthru&thru]

On another note, the early rounds are typically high scoring right? Well not so far. I’d hate to see what scores we’ll see later on this year if 122 total points is what we get in perfect conditions in round 1. This interchange cap is ridiculously short sighted. Even if the AFL were right (and they’re not) and it opened up the game, all we’re gonna see are players slowly running to get the ball and then try shut the play down. Not the fast, open play we all want to see. That only happens when players aren’t buggered. How much better was the first half of each quarter last night compared to the second?

[Hotdog60]

With our forward setup did we get the positions wrong as I think Naughts was CHF and Bruce at FF.
Maybe the players would better suited with Aaron deep and Josh playing higher to reduce the chance of them getting to the same contest.

[Stefcep]

With our forward setup did we get the positions wrong as I think Naughts was CHF and Bruce at FF.
Maybe the players would better suited with Aaron deep and Josh playing higher to reduce the chance of them getting to the same contest.

I can think of three kicks well inside 50 that should've be certain goals but weren't, and there are possibly more I can't remember. The opportunities for all the haphazard fwd 50 entry were IMO there, but they have be taken, and if they were, this could have been a comfortable 6 or 7 goal win. Is that a forward set up issue or an issue with the individuals themselves not finishing off with a straight kick?

[DOG GOD]

The slowness of our fwd line is a concern for mine. Bruce/Naughton/Wallis are pretty much immobile when the ball hits the ground. Too many times the Collingwood defenders were able to generate run from the goal line. It’s just not good enough. What we would do for a Cameron/Ryan type.

I still feel a lot of work still needs to be done in our fwd set up. What that is exactly I’m not that sure.

[kruder]

For the people that were there, our ball movement slowed dramatically after the first 15 minutes what would you put that down to?

Was it the pies putting the clamps on(their defence is very good), slight tweak in our gameplan now we have talls ahead of the ball to potentially protect our defence by slowing down ball movement a little? fatigue looked to be a big factor at times.

Interested in peoples thoughts?

[bulldogsthru&thru]

For the people that were there, our ball movement slowed dramatically after the first 15 minutes what would you put that down to?

Was it the pies putting the clamps on(their defence is very good), slight tweak in our gameplan now we have talls ahead of the ball to potentially protect our defence by slowing down ball movement a little? fatigue looked to be a big factor at times.

Interested in peoples thoughts?

To me it was certainly fatigue. We fatigued more than the pies which surprised me given our depth. But given our ball dominance we probably fatigued faster than their mids and forwards. I think their defenders were pretty stuffed though. They certainly put the clamps on but I don't think it's a coincidence that we fatigued in the 2nd half of each quarter and then pretty much the entire last quarter. In all honesty this was pretty much down to our work rate being far above theirs. Sounds silly after a closeish win but if we converted our opportunities we would have won by at least 6-8 goals.

[comrade]

To me it was certainly fatigue. We fatigued more than the pies which surprised me given our depth. But given our ball dominance we probably fatigued faster than their mids and forwards. I think their defenders were pretty stuffed though. They certainly put the clamps on but I don't think it's a coincidence that we fatigued in the 2nd half of each quarter and then pretty much the entire last quarter. In all honesty this was pretty much down to our work rate being far above theirs. Sounds silly after a closeish win but if we converted our opportunities we would have won by at least 6-8 goals.

Bevo mentioned that the Pies looked to 'retreat' and created 'density' in our forward half. We just weren't able to combat it - repeatedly kicking it to Moore's advantage didn't help things (Scott was particularly bad at this).

Bucks parked the bus after 5 mins and played in damage control mode. It helped them stop the bleeding but made it easier on us defensively.

[Sedat]

For the people that were there, our ball movement slowed dramatically after the first 15 minutes what would you put that down to?

Was it the pies putting the clamps on(their defence is very good), slight tweak in our gameplan now we have talls ahead of the ball to potentially protect our defence by slowing down ball movement a little? fatigue looked to be a big factor at times.

Interested in peoples thoughts?
Looked like we played a fair bit of tempo footy in the last qtr to try and preserve energy. My concern about last night was that our utter dominance of general play and field position used up a lot of petrol tickets and will make us susceptible to last qtr fade-outs - we've seen this movie before many times in the last 4 seasons.

I wonder which coach will be brave enough to start having players play positional footy to take advantage of the increased space around the ground as a result of the rotation reductions and man on the mark rule.

[bulldogsthru&thru]

Bevo mentioned that the Pies looked to 'retreat' and created 'density' in our forward half. We just weren't able to combat it - repeatedly kicking it to Moore's advantage didn't help things (Scott was particularly bad at this).

Bucks parked the bus after 5 mins and played in damage control mode. It helped them stop the bleeding but made it easier on us defensively.

How to play the bulldogs 101.

Honestly if we fix up our forward issues we'll be a pretty damaging team if we keep last nights effort up. That's a big if though.

[comrade]

How to play the bulldogs 101.

Honestly if we fix up our forward issues we'll be a pretty damaging team if we keep last nights effort up. That's a big if though.

Yep, see Geelong for the last 10 years.

[Stefcep]

How to play the bulldogs 101.

Honestly if we fix up our forward issues we'll be a pretty damaging team if we keep last nights effort up. That's a big if though.

It is a Big IF, but OTOH Beveridge could say if we kicked some very gettable goals we would would have won by 6 or 8. So the game style provides the opportunities to win well (not to say I like the game style but he's a premiership coach and I'm not.)

[comrade]

It is a Big IF, but OTOH Beveridge could say if we kicked some very gettable goals we would would have won by 6 or 8. So the game style provides the opportunities to win well (not to say I like the game style but he's a premiership coach and I'm not.)

Elliot kicked one from the boundary, Mihocek kicked one from 55 yet English and Bont missed sodas. The difference between a 2-3 goal win and a 6-7 goal win.

[soupman]

That was great.

Like the praccy game we dominated possession and if it wasn't for an elite intercept marking key defender would've won by much more. Again it reminded me of watching soccer where one team basically controls the ball for the entire game while the other sits back and tries to catch them on the counter.

Some very pleasing things from a variety of players.

Laitham Vandermeer is such a find. I was expecting another JJ, a light and pacy but very outside halfback flanker, but instead we got a really direct and attacking half forward with tenacity. When he is involved in the play he is awesome to watch nd such a point of difference.

Anthony Scott (who looks a lot like Vandermeer out there) keeps impressing me. His second half was very quiet but his first I thought he got himself involved a lot and is quite tidy with the ball. I've been very pleased with him.

Bailey Dale to defence has also worked thus far. His marking was fantastic. Like the rest of our defence I'm worried what happens when we aren't on top in the middle and they are really challenged one on one, but I can't really fault him for what he produced last night.

Alex Keath was great, physical and dominant in the air. Gardner was generally effective and looks much more physically mature, Williams played like a man and was so assured, Duryea probably staked his claim as our best fringe player, he is so unexciting on the team sheet but so effective when he plays. Defence was much better than I anticipated, lets hope they can replicate that.

That's Josh Bruce's best game for us (aside from the North anomaly). Generally speaking he didn't get in others way, actually looked a threat to mark it and got involved in general play. He looks so much more mobile.

The Martin and English combo was great. I can't believe the hit out disparity because I thought our guys basically broke even, and were both good around the ground. I struggle to think of any meaningful centre clearances they got. Also Martins interview at the end was great, speaks very well.

Such a great mixture of excitement and relief for us not to basically declare season over by halftime like we did last year. I still have big queries how we are gonna go against the better sides, especially when our midfield isn't on top, but that was a fun performance.

[Testekill]

I can't believe that English didn't get a 50 when Adams cleaned him up after the mark, that should always be a 50 when it was so late.

[ratsmac]

Good to win last night and good to be at the footy again. It was frustrating that we never put them away but a win is a win. Especially against a side we haven't beat since 2017, our first game after the flag.

We played a different style I thought with a high possession retaining the football and controlling the tempo of the game. We keep Collingwood at arms length all game. Collingwood never ever looked like winning. I don't think they kicked back to back goals once. If we can
continue that form and sort out our forward entries we will win a lot more games than we lose.

[bornadog]

For the people that were there, our ball movement slowed dramatically after the first 15 minutes what would you put that down to?

Was it the pies putting the clamps on(their defence is very good), slight tweak in our gameplan now we have talls ahead of the ball to potentially protect our defence by slowing down ball movement a little? fatigue looked to be a big factor at times.

Interested in peoples thoughts?

It was the Pies just flooding our half of the ground which made it difficult to penetrate and resulted in a lot of long bombs into the FF.

With most players in the FF, we resorted to tempo play and looked for the short kicks to safe hands.

Our big men (along with the mids) really dominated this game taking lots of marks - something we haven't seen for a long time.

[bulldogsthru&thru]

Good to win last night and good to be at the footy again. It was frustrating that we never put them away but a win is a win. Especially against a side we haven't beat since 2017, our first game after the flag.

We played a different style I thought with a high possession retaining the football and controlling the tempo of the game. We keep Collingwood at arms length all game. Collingwood never ever looked like winning. I don't think they kicked back to back goals once. If we can
continue that form and sort out our forward entries we will win a lot more games than we lose.

Pretty much all of Collingwoods goals were out the back or tough shots on goal. It was total domination from us, yet they could have pinched it. I'm still trying to work out how to interpret our game last night.

[bornadog]

Pretty much all of Collingwoods goals were out the back or tough shots on goal. It was total domination from us, yet they could have pinched it. I'm still trying to work out how to interpret our game last night.

As Ratsmac said, Collingwood never looked like winning, even the difference in the scoreline was only 3 goals. We absolutely dominated this game with almost 150 more disposals. The flooded forward 50 was difficult to get through and score as there was nowhere to lead.

What to make of it? Enjoy the win, we can always find negatives in every game, but I am happy to start 2021 with a win on a Friday night.

[Twodogs]

Given they spoil one another so often in attack we should send one of Bruce or Naughton into defence so they can get in the way of and spoil the other side's key forwards.

So who goes into the backline? Bruce or Naughton? I'd go with Bruce. He looked good down there in the last 10-15 minutes last night.

[Danjul]

Soupaman
The Martin and English combo was great. I can't believe the hit out disparity because I thought our guys basically broke even, and were both good around the ground. I struggle to think of any meaningful centre clearances they got.


In recent games Grundy was able to stake claim to the strategic ground at ruck contests and then use English’s height to tip him away from the ball drop. That allowed him to direct the ball to Collingwood advantage. English always had his focus on the ball.

It was very clear last night that Martin’s main goal was to put his body firmly on that contest zone. Even when Grundy got his hand on the ball he had little control of it on most occasions because Martin’s bulk was where he needed his legs to be.. I thought Martin’s ruck work was excellent , totally changed the dynamics of the play.

[HOSE B ROMERO]

The slowness of our fwd line is a concern for mine. Bruce/Naughton/Wallis are pretty much immobile when the ball hits the ground. Too many times the Collingwood defenders were able to generate run from the goal line. It’s just not good enough. What we would do for a Cameron/Ryan type.

I still feel a lot of work still needs to be done in our fwd set up. What that is exactly I’m not that sure.

Naughton is an absolute predator when the ball hits the ground. I think van der meer down there is a good move.

[SonofScray]

Forgot to give Bruce some plaudits. Some awful shots for goal, but for mine we saw a guy who is ready to respond to the really poor showing last season. His work rate was very high, got to plenty of contests up the line and presented well I50.

He'll win me over, though I have been scathing of him so far.

[HOSE B ROMERO]

Was surprised just how often the defence change opponents. Sitting behind the goals, 4 or 5 of them changed within the first 10 minutes of the second quarter. And not afraid to try mismatches such as williams to cox and daniels to mihocek.

Kudos to Ryan Gardner also. Watching at close range, he just played to his limitations. Never expecting him to be Brian Lake but his he seems a good decision maker such as when he leaves his opponent to effect a spoil etc.

[HOSE B ROMERO]

Where is the 3rd quarter replay on the afl site?? The first, second and fourth quarters have been up for hours.

[Hotdog60]

I think Tim got rid of a few Grundy demons last night. It was good to see him out mark him on a couple of occasions and at the centre bounces he did look as intimidated.

[Happy Days]

I think that in addition to Bucks’ bus parking, a ton of credit needs to go to Darcy Moore. If he doesn’t play thats at least a 10 goal win to us.

[EasternWest]

I think that in addition to Bucks’ bus parking, a ton of credit needs to go to Darcy Moore. If he doesn’t play thats at least a 10 goal win to us.

I love watching him play. I wish he played for us.

[bulldogsthru&thru]

I think Tim got rid of a few Grundy demons last night. It was good to see him out mark him on a couple of occasions and at the centre bounces he did look as intimidated.

Having Stef by his side is critical in that. He knows it doesn't all fall on his shoulders. Big weight off his shoulders i'm sure.

[Grantysghost]

AFLCA votes :

10 Bailey Smith (WB)
8 Darcy Moore (COLL)
4 Bailey Williams (WB)
4 Jack Macrae (WB)
3 Laitham Vandermeer (WB)
1 Alex Keath (WB)

[Bulldog Joe]

AFLCA votes :

10 Bailey Smith (WB)
8 Darcy Moore (COLL)
4 Bailey Williams (WB)
4 Jack Macrae (WB)
3 Laitham Vandermeer (WB)
1 Alex Keath (WB)

That means Vandermeer has received 3 from 1 coach, while Williams and Macrae have had either 3 and 1 or 2 and 2.

Suspect Bevo has rated Vander.

[comrade]

That means Vandermeer has received 3 from 1 coach, while Williams and Macrae have had either 3 and 1 or 2 and 2.

Suspect Bevo has rated Vander.

I put Vanders in my votes after watching the replay. His bullocking work was very important.

[Bulldog Joe]

I put Vanders in my votes after watching the replay. His bullocking work was very important.

I don't disagree, just thought Bevo more likely to have appreciated his efforts.

[comrade]

I don't disagree, just thought Bevo more likely to have appreciated his efforts.

Yep, I can see Vanders being a real favourite of Bevo's.