Bankers & Anchors, Rnd 2, 2021: Western Bulldogs vs West Coast Eagles

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

This is the round 2, 2021 edition of the weekly Bankers and Anchors thread. Once the game against West Coast is concluded post your nominations for:

The Bankers = 3 guys/aspects of the game that we banked on to do the right thing during the game
The Anchors = 3 guys/aspects of the game that weighed us down by their errors or poor play

Please limit it to no more than three of each player or aspect of the game, but feel free to make honourable/dishonourable mentions. As usual try to make it constructive criticism.

Try and restrict it to individual players rather than aspects of the overall match - I will allow more freedom now as the thread seems to be going down more of the aspects of the game path so you can have 3 for each made up of aspects of the game and individual players.

The thread is named in honour of a popular WOOF Contributor, The Banker, who passed away on 22/04/2012 after a six month battle with cancer.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Bankers,

1. Bont - pretty much played the perfect game, and for the first time in a long time, hit the scoreboard in the clutch moments.
2. Our on ball brigage in the last Martin Libba, Macrae and Treloar. Nic Nat looked like he was going to take the game away from us, but Martin negated his influence and our mids wrested control at the stoppage to allow us to get back in the game.
3. Our mids connecting with our forward line in the last Qtr- finally found a way to connect with Naughts and Bont on the lead with space.

Anchors.

1. Our goal kicking for first 3 Qtrs.
2. Umpiring- Garden got pinged for HTB and was very stiff as he got the ball out but it bounced back in... McGovern actively grabbed the ball and pulled it back in and this time it's a ball up. Could've been very costly.
3. Wally tried hard, but he is a liability if he misses the 2 goals he should've eaten up.

[Bumper Bulldogs]

Bankers
Bont
Williams
Libba

Anchors
Wallis I love ya but it’s time, heart and soul of the club but he can’t do what he use to.
Gardners third Quarter
Our goal kicking

[westbulldog]

Bankers
Bont and the midfield.
Williams, poise > AA
Our speed of ball movement, this is the year of speed.

Anchors
Goalkicking (again) we should have put them away by 1/2 time.
Darling and Kennedy each took 9 marks, we do have a deficiency down back.
Wallis 1000% bulldog and leadership group but simply not performing.

[Vred]

Bankers
Bont and to a lesser extent, our midfield.
Williams to AA this year
Handball game is back on point, looks slicker than 2016

Anchors
TWO Caleb Daniels turn overs that resulted in direct goals, I can forgive this as his 'mare' game of the season
Selection panel for not going taller in defense
Goalkicking accuracy again, creeping back into our game

[bornadog]

Bankers

1. Bont with his three goals including the clutch

2. Two big forwards kicking goals

3. McNeil who used his pace then gives it Vanders who uses his pace and kicks a ripper goal.


Anchors

1. Set shot goals ours pathetic - how good was WC with set shot goals

2. Razor for double standards with pulling the ball in and two different decisions

3. Marvel for not opening up the bars around the ground

[anfo27]

Bankers

1. Bont- Did everything today. Super game & clutch when we needed him.
2. Martin- Just over the moon thus far with his recruitment. What a difference it makes to have a competitive beast in there. Huge last quarter to give us a chance of wrestling back the game. Its amazing what you notice of players when they play for you, instead of against you. Small sample size but loving it.
3. Bruce- Makes a difference when he can actually convert.

Anchors
1. Wally- When he isn't kicking goals, he is frustrating to watch. Thats 2 ordinary games now. Wouldn't want any more.
2. Scott- Decision making is not up to the standard so far.
3. Daniel- Rarely makes mistakes but 2 massive ones tonight.

[comrade]

B:

+ Macrae was immense, Bont was even better
+ Bruce & Naughton kicking goals in tandem - as much as I want Naughton in defence, he gave McGovern a very hard time especially late
+ Martin's last 10 minutes blunting NN was crucial to our win

I'll add a bonus: Treloar was great in the last quarter. Nice to have that quality rolling through the midfield rotation - cheers Collingwood.

A:

- Kickout strategy - Eagles were able to move it move defence to attack with ease, with Daniel taking ours, he doesn't have the long quick leg that Hurn does and we were too stifled. Need to find a better way out of defence
- Daniel had a mare
- Lipinski made some bad decisions and regressed from last week which was disappointing

[SonofScray]

B:
Bont was sublime, the definitive play was when he took a grab on the boundary and played on quickly, with the long kick to Bruce for a goal. Was in the last QTR.

Bruce, hit the scoreboard.

Naughty. Hot the scoreboard and was a reliable outlet pass up the line for the defence.

A:
Ticketing system.

[jazzadogs]

B:

+ Macrae was immense, Bont was even better
+ Bruce & Naughton kicking goals in tandem - as much as I want Naughton in defence, he gave McGovern a very hard time especially late
+ Martin's last 10 minutes blunting NN was crucial to our win

I'll add a bonus: Treloar was great in the last quarter. Nice to have that quality rolling through the midfield rotation - cheers Collingwood.

A:

- Kickout strategy - Eagles were able to move it move defence to attack with ease, with Daniel taking ours, he doesn't have the long quick leg that Hurn does and we were too stifled. Need to find a better way out of defence
- Daniel had a mare
- Lipinski made some bad decisions and regressed from last week which was disappointing

There are few kicks in the game as good as Hurn's, but it did frustrate me that we allowed him to get so far out of the goal square unpressured. Needed Vanders on the mark to harrass him as soon as it was 'play on'.

Bankers:
- Vandermeer. I bloody love him. Had a chase-down tackle and two set shots in the space of a couple of minutes, next step for him is making sure he nails those shots. I loved his confidence to kick that final quarter goal, and his team-first attitude to put the block on rather than beelining the ball. Such an expected bonus of 2020, he has a lot of good footy ahead of him.

- Treloar midfield in the last quarter. He provided a point of difference with his pace/line-breaking, and it was great to see him more involved rather than languishing on the wing. It will be interesting to see whether this is the longer term plan, and we have been letting him build match fitness on wing/HF, or whether he will only ever be a burst mid for us.

- Bruce. He copped a deserved amount of criticism last year, but this year he is showing us the player we recruited. He is fit, he can run, he knows how and where to lead. He and Naughton worked well yesterday, with a lot less contests where they both flew for marks. Straight set-shots as well!!!

Anchors:
- having to walk up to level 3. I had my bucks day on Saturday and was regretting my decision to leave the house at that point - worth it in the end, and didn't even vomit on the people sitting in front of me! Oh and also Marvel Stadium for turning off the free water refill stations.

- midfield not going man-on-man, despite Nicnat killing us at centre bounces. He would be a tough player to read because he can hit it anywhere 360 degrees, so why we kept letting him smack it down the throat of an unopposed Eagle was doing my head in. Well done to Martin (and probably Nicnats lack of conditioning) for stifling it in the last quarter.

- Wally. Three terrible set shots, dropped mark in the goal square, not good enough for a mid-sized forward. He worked harder up the ground this week than last, but if he can't do his work closer to goal then his place in the side has to be in question.

[Ozza]

Bankers:

Bont obviously - as has been said elsewhere, nobody has owned the big moments more in bulldog history. Nobody imposes their will on a game like he does. It is a wonderful thing that we are lucky enough to have him play for us.

Treloar - had his best moments for us in the last quarter, where he really lifted. Think he will just keep building and building and take more of the load for us.

Williams/Dale - going really well at Half back. Williams is such an accomplished defender and going as well as any defender in the comp right now. Baliey Dale using the ball well and attacking it more aggressively than he ever has - the way he bodylined the footy late in the game yesterday was a big moment.

Anchors:

Wally - is out of form. Worried for him.
Scotty - game got quick on him yesterday at times.
First half goalkicking - felt like we wasted our dominance again, which was nearly costly.

[Mantis]

Bankers:

Bont obviously - as has been said elsewhere, nobody has owned the big moments more in bulldog history. Nobody imposes their will on a game like he does. It is a wonderful thing that we are lucky enough to have him play for us.

Treloar - had his best moments for us in the last quarter, where he really lifted. Think he will just keep building and building and take more of the load for us.

Williams/Dale - going really well at Half back. Williams is such an accomplished defender and going as well as any defender in the comp right now. Baliey Dale using the ball well and attacking it more aggressively than he ever has - the way he bodylined the footy late in the game yesterday was a big moment.

Anchors:

Wally - is out of form. Worried for him.
Scotty - game got quick on him yesterday at times.
First half goalkicking - felt like we wasted our dominance again, which was nearly costly.

Well summed up.

We really should've been 4-5 goals up at 1/2 time, but left the door ajar and were nearly forced to pay, but as explained the Bont didn't allow that to happen.. and was ably supported by Jacko & Treloar when we needed to lift.

FWIW Here's my go:

Bankers

Macrae - I've slapped him plenty of times for his wasteful kicking, but his spot up kick late in the piece was sublime... If Bont is Superman, then Jacko is his very capable side-kick.

Treloar - He's POD was evident late in the piece when shifted into the midfield.. he's going to be a very valuable player for us.

Williams - just building on 2020.. he's a gun!

Anchors

Our backline - Just no confidence that the bulk of our defenders can beat their man... I'm all in for Naughton to defence. I'm feeling that the only thing that stops us from being a genuine contender is the back half.. and the fix is plain for all of us to see.

All the rest have been covered off with pressure on a number of players to contribute more.

[bulldogsthru&thru]

So when Treloar moved into the midfield in the 4th, whose spot did he take?

I only saw the last quarter so didn't know Adam played on the wing up until that point.

[bornadog]

So when Treloar moved into the midfield in the 4th, whose spot did he take?

I only saw the last quarter so didn't know Adam played on the wing up until that point.

Start of 4th quarter, Libba, Dunks and Bont started in the forward line with Adam and Macrae in the middle.

[Ozza]

Well summed up.

We really should've been 4-5 goals up at 1/2 time, but left the door ajar and were nearly forced to pay, but as explained the Bont didn't allow that to happen.. and was ably supported by Jacko & Treloar when we needed to lift.

FWIW Here's my go:

Bankers

Macrae - I've slapped him plenty of times for his wasteful kicking, but his spot up kick late in the piece was sublime... If Bont is Superman, then Jacko is his very capable side-kick.

Treloar - He's POD was evident late in the piece when shifted into the midfield.. he's going to be a very valuable player for us.

Williams - just building on 2020.. he's a gun!

Anchors

Our backline - Just no confidence that the bulk of our defenders can beat their man... I'm all in for Naughton to defence. I'm feeling that the only thing that stops us from being a genuine contender is the back half.. and the fix is plain for all of us to see.

All the rest have been covered off with pressure on a number of players to contribute more.

That Treloar gives us the opportunity to confidently move Bont forward when the game is up for grabs is fantastic.

Regarding the comment on the defence, at this point its a 'watch' for me. Gardner hasn't played 20 games yet. If his improvement continues on the same trajectory then maybe we get away with him and Keath as the key posts. We won a premiership with Roberts and Hamling.....I too have thought 'Naughton to defence' at times, but at this point Naughts is building towards becoming a key forward monster and headache for the opposition. If we win clearances, the defence is less exposed and forward line is dangerous.
I think we are going to talk about this balance all year!!

[bornadog]

That Treloar gives us the opportunity to confidently move Bont forward when the game is up for grabs is fantastic.

Regarding the comment on the defence, at this point its a 'watch' for me. Gardner hasn't played 20 games yet. If his improvement continues on the same trajectory then maybe we get away with him and Keath as the key posts. We won a premiership with Roberts and Hamling.....I too have thought 'Naughton to defence' at times, but at this point Naughts is building towards becoming a key forward monster and headache for the opposition. If we win clearances, the defence is less exposed and forward line is dangerous.
I think we are going to talk about this balance all year!!

A key forward is like Gold and Naughton is Gold and you never give up a power forward to go to defence.

[Ozza]

With Wally often set up as the deepest forward yesterday....I couldn't help but picture Jamarra starting deepest forward.

[Mantis]

With Wally often set up as the deepest forward yesterday....I couldn't help but picture Jamarra starting deepest forward.

Or anyone else. ;)

The change in our forward set-up and the quicker game has Wallis searching for a role and with the likes of JUH, Hannan & Cav waiting in the wings he needs to put his best foot forward.. and quickly.

If selected this week he gets a free hit in a game we should win well, but more concerned how he goes against the good teams.

[Mantis]

Regarding the comment on the defence, at this point its a 'watch' for me. Gardner hasn't played 20 games yet. If his improvement continues on the same trajectory then maybe we get away with him and Keath as the key posts. We won a premiership with Roberts and Hamling.....I too have thought 'Naughton to defence' at times, but at this point Naughts is building towards becoming a key forward monster and headache for the opposition. If we win clearances, the defence is less exposed and forward line is dangerous.
I think we are going to talk about this balance all year!!

In our premiership year our defence also had the likes of Boyd, Morris and Wood who were all very good 1 on 1 players so we were able to share or cover the load. Hamling was seriously under-rated.. Even at this time he was very capable 1 on 1 and took a number of intercept marks.

Naughts is a gem up forward and makes the opposition nervous, but I'm thinking in the back half of the year one of JUH or Schache could easily play with the Bruce & English and still be effective in hitting the scoreboard and our back half will be much harder to score against when we aren't holding fort in the middle... I know it's hard to tell, but do we win yesterday with Yeo & Shuey playing?

[Ozza]

In our premiership year our defence also had the likes of Boyd, Morris and Wood who were all very good 1 on 1 players so we were able to share or cover the load. Hamling was seriously under-rated.. Even at this time he was very capable 1 on 1 and took a number of intercept marks.

Naughts is a gem up forward and makes the opposition nervous, but I'm thinking in the back half of the year one of JUH or Schache could easily play with the Bruce & English and still be effective in hitting the scoreboard and our back half will be much harder to score against when we aren't holding fort in the middle... I know it's hard to tell, but do we win yesterday with Yeo & Shuey playing?

Very hard to say....but the Eagles are a seasoned outfit who have played a lot of footy together. We are still building our cohesion I think, and I'm pretty confident we will be a better team by the time we play them on their deck in Round 15 (which will obviously be a tough one in Perth). They have an amazing team on paper....so many stars....I feel like they should be better.

[Mofra]

There are few kicks in the game as good as Hurn's, but it did frustrate me that we allowed him to get so far out of the goal square unpressured. Needed Vanders on the mark to harrass him as soon as it was 'play on'.

Bankers:
- Vandermeer. I bloody love him. Had a chase-down tackle and two set shots in the space of a couple of minutes, next step for him is making sure he nails those shots. I loved his confidence to kick that final quarter goal, and his team-first attitude to put the block on rather than beelining the ball. Such an expected bonus of 2020, he has a lot of good footy ahead of him.
Ditto. He is a brilliant find for us and we are abetter side when he's on the paddock.

[mjp]

In our premiership year our defence also had the likes of Boyd, Morris and Wood who were all very good 1 on 1 players...

...and very willing help defenders.

[Mantis]

...and very willing help defenders.

Yep... I heard Lyon & Watson on radio this morning singing the praises of Dylan Grimes of his ability to not only stop his opponent, but to play a massive support role for his team-mates. Dale was every bit that player.

[comrade]

The most pleasing part has been the effort of the playing group over the past 2 weeks. There have been periods where the other side has had the ascendency but I haven't felt it had anything to do with a lack of effort or work rate on our behalf.

A big change from the last few years.

[bulldogsthru&thru]

The most pleasing part has been the effort of the playing group over the past 2 weeks. There have been periods where the other side has had the ascendency but I haven't felt it had anything to do with a lack of effort or work rate on our behalf.

A big change from the last few years.

Another big change is that we've beaten 2 teams from the top 8 and perhaps one, the top 4. I know it's early and also we don't know how good Collingwood are, but this is another change from the last few years. To be 2-0 after having had the 2nd toughest draw so far (Carlton's tougher) is a great sign. Again, I know it's really early but it's a much better position than last year.

[FrediKanoute]

Bankers

1. The Bont - Captains game. Stepped up when needed;
2. The midfield generally - aside from a patch in the 3rd, we swarmed and controlled most of the play;
3. The Baileys - first time from memory that we've had a triple Bailey's without the spillage. All played very good games and stepped up when asked.

Anchors

1. Kicking for goal. Wasteful and almost let the Weagles back into the game. Need to nail the door shut early
2. Umpiring inconsistency - here is looking at you Razor Ray....
3. Slow to counter NicNat in the 3rd

[boydogs]

To be 2-0 after having had the 2nd toughest draw so far (Carlton's tougher) is a great sign

We haven't played anyone from last year's top 4 or played interstate yet

[merantau]

Bankers.

Macrae - a constant generator of opportunities.
Bont - massive presence. Kicked the big goals
Naughton and Bruce worked well
Stef Martin - big lift in the last
Bailey Dale - going well
Bailey Williams - CUP - cool under ...

Anchors
Goal kicking
Caleb Daniel's clangers
Taylor Duryea's poor positioning allowed Jones an easy goal square goal in the last.
Gardner pinged. McGovern ball up. Umpires often treat new players more harshly.

[whythelongface]

Bankers
1. The ability to overcome a 3 qtr time deficit against a genuine contender. We have pegged deficits back before but rarely against quality opposition.

2. Stef Martin - although well beaten overall in terms of hit outs his last quarter was huge in nullifying Nic Naitanui's influence on the game. This allowed our midfield to get on top and control the game. His influence on the team can't be underestimated.

3. Bailey Williams - this guy is in red hot form and his aerial work and run will be an important part of our success.

Anchors
1. The free not given to us when McGovern appeared to drag the ball in (and Gardner was pinged not long before)
2. Our dominance in possession didn't reflect the score. We need to take our chances against the top teams. We could have won this by a few more goals but credit to West Coast they hung in and were clearly dominated in the all important 3rd quarter.
3. The media jumping on board means we are now in the spotlight to be a force this year (not sure if this is an anchor or a banker tbh).

[AshMac]

Bankers

- Bont, same points as already made
- beating the eagles in an arm wrestle where their KPP’s all play an outstanding game
- Bailey Williams kicking around the ground and his footwork in traffic. That final moment was superb

Anchors

- goal kicking
- umpiring - for the most part was invisible, the chopping of English’s arms and play on call and the holding the ball for Gardiner in the last were dreadful
- the language I heard in the crowd. Mate had his 10 year old kid, so much swearing for a 3pm game. Doesn’t phase me, but not w kids around

[EasternWest]

- the language I heard in the crowd. Mate had his 10 year old kid, so much swearing for a 3pm game. Doesn’t phase me, but not w kids around

Same as it ever was. Doesn't matter where you sit at the footy, you're never too far away from malfunctioning mutants.