Game Day - Bulldogs vs Bombers

[GVGjr]

This is the game day thread for tonights encounter.

We haven't got a great record against them.

I'll go with Welsh to get the first goal tonight.

The teams are:

WESTERN BULLDOGS
B: Tim Callan, Brian Lake , Dale Morris
HB: Lindsay Gilbee, Cameron Wight, Ryan Hargrave
C: Josh Hill, Matthew Boyd, Daniel Cross
HF: Daniel Giansiracusa, Mitch Hahn, Robert Murphy
F: Jason Akermanis, Brad Johnson, Scott Welsh
Foll: Ben Hudson, Adam Cooney, Ryan Griffen
Int: Nathan Eagleton, Dylan Addison, Jarrod Harbow, Will Minson
Emg: Peter Street, Callan Ward, Wayde Skipper

ESSENDON
B: Adam Ramanauskas, Mal Michael, Dustin Fletcher
HB: Jay Nash, Patrick Ryder, Kyle Reimers
C: Bachar Houli, Jobe Watson, Ricky Dyson
HF: Alwyn Davey, Adam McPhee, Andrew Lovett
F: Mark McVeigh, Jason Laycock, Nathan Lovett-Murray
Foll: David Hille, Sam Lonergan, Brent Stanton
Int: Angus Monfries, Damien Peverill, Henry Slattery, Jason Winderlich
Emg: Courtney Johns, Jason Johnson, Tayte Pears

[LostDoggy]

Danger game!!!! Even without Lloyd and Lucas

[Rocket Science]

This is a pivotal game for us and will provide valuable perspective...while the meeja are jumping back on board in typical knee-jerk fashion, a win will go a long way towards cementing newfound confidence and respect.

Dogs by 16, with Griffen bagging our first major.

[ledge]

25 points and Murph to get first.

[wimberga]

Lock in Gia for first goal for Dogs by 40 odd

[Beast]

Hill and 33

[firstdogonthemoon]

welsh - dogs by 42

[LostDoggy]

Will to kick the first dogs by 17pts, boyd to get bog.

[1eyedog]

Johnno first sausage roll
Dogs by 10 goals as I stated earlier
Cooney BOG again

[alwaysadog]

Dogs by 15. Welsh first goal.

[Go_Dogs]

28 points, first goal to Hahn.

Looking forward to it, it will be a great indiciation of how much we've grown mentally over the pre-season.

[LostDoggy]

dogs by 14 - Gia first goal.

[Mantis]

Dogs by 45pts.... Gia 1st goal.

[bornadog]

Dogs by 33 points

Eagles first goal

Cooney BOG (again )

[The Underdog]

Dogs by 19 points
Griff for first goal.
Cross for BOG.

[camwoof]

Cooney to kick the first goal after two running bounces, dogs by 27

[Brett]

Dogs by 28

Essendon have only won 2 of its past 25 matches without Lloyd.
They havn't beaten Dogs in Home & Away match since 2005

[hujsh]

Dogs 57
Acker first and to share BOG with Cooney.

[LostDoggy]

It's half time, and quite close....
I'll say Dogs by a goal, and Acker BOG

[Dry Rot]

Went out for dinner, drove like buggery to the Alexandria Hotel only to find that the Foxtel feed was down.

Listened to bits and pieces on ABC Newsradio - second and third quarters were awful. we are mentally soft and who knows what would have happened if the Dons hadn't copped injuries.

Not happy but it sounds like Callan did well. And Minson, which surprised me.

[fish]

Was listening to it over here in the UK too.
Sounded like a lot of mistakes (turnovers when going forward) particularly in the third. There certainly still seems to be an element of panic when things start going a bit wrong.
Did sound like we were lucky with the dons injuries, but it also seemed like the players kept control of things in the final quarter, and you have to take advantage of these situations - and appears that they did.
Sounded like Aker showed his worth throughout the game. Didn't hear anything of Addison for most of the last half - was he on/injured/?

At this stage it's obvious that the team aren't the finished article, but I think this sort of win is still a very good one. Look forward to hearing what people who saw the game thought.

[GVGjr]

Got out of jail tonight. Lucky that they stopped.

[1eyedog]

28 points, first goal to Hahn.

Looking forward to it, it will be a great indiciation of how much we've grown mentally over the pre-season.

Geez, almost right on the money there

[Sockeye Salmon]

We were terrible. The number of skill errors was a disgrace.

I can't believe how many fumbles and miskicks Robert Murphy did.

Just happy to have got out of jail playing that poorly.

Brian Lake you are a star.

4-0 Go Dogs.

[hujsh]

Addison is fine.

Such an odd feeling. I've never felt so hollow over a dogs win of anykind and it's a bit sad. It's like we really didn't deserve to win and the excitement is drained because of that. Or maybe I'm expecting more than just getting the result. Or the dull commentary in the last quarter brought me down (at least act like you care McEvany)

Like Callan. Hargrave gives me no confidence.

Murph had the fumbles bad

[Bulldog Revolution]

I thought it was an excellent win. We were outplayed in patches but definitely showed improvement out of the centre square - a multitude of options. Morrs and Lake really stood firm and were unpassable in the last quarter.

Both teams looked very tired at the end, and we had a little bit more run left, and were able to beat Essendon for hard balls and then use it a bit better.

We cant expect to be at our best each week but it was a game we easily could have capitulated in but we hung tough and guts'd it out.

Callan was very good, is super courageous and definitely adds another does of desparation to the side

[Dry Rot]

Callan was very good, is super courageous and definitely adds another does of desparation to the side

From a radio perspective he sounded super brave. Not an accolade often bestowed in the last few seasons.

How did Addison go?

[westdog54]

From a radio perspective he sounded super brave. Not an accolade often bestowed in the last few seasons.


Has absolutely no regard whatsoever for his own wellbeing.

Running back with the flight, diving to win the hardball, great 2nd efforts. A good pickup just for the courage and toughness.

[bornadog]

I thought we played well tonight for three of the four quarters, Essendon had the better of us in the third quarter, but the rucks and centre clearances in the last quarter made the difference. It was inevitable that Essendon would stop running by the last quarter as you can't run like that for four quarters.

The first time we have kicked over 120 points four weeks in a row.

[MikeSheahan]

Really good character building win by the Dogs tonight. They were challenged and reacted like a good side does. Cooney and Griffen are my two favourites, sheer class.

[Bulldog Revolution]

From a radio perspective he sounded super brave. Not an accolade often bestowed in the last few seasons.

How did Addison go?

Callan makes a few mistakes and perhaps is still getting comfortable with the speed, but he floats back into dangerous areas and takes inspirational marks. At one stage Hargrave did it and I thought he did it partially because Callan had set the example. He is getting better each week and was definitely worth trading a few draft spots to give him an opportunity. What he lacks in skill he makes up for in guts, effort and committment.

Addison started very well, but didn't use the ball well tonight. He wasn't alone, as it was the type of game where guys would repeatedly run themselves ragged and then miskick. He spent some time minding Lovett in a shut down role later in the game. By and large I think he is progressing well, getting more comfortable with when he can run and take guys on.

DR what about the pub in Newtown near I think a courthouse, it might be called the courthouse, it reminded me of a Fitzroy/Melbourne like pub and I know they screen the AFL, plus they have their own beer 'Justice Ale' on tap.

[alwaysadog]

Precious 4 points, but not convincing. In spite of all that was said to the contrary I think we might have been drinking our own bathwater this week and got over confident when we did so well in the first quarter.

Amazing how a player like Murph can be so on his game one week and so off it the next.

Callan a standout with BBBrian doing well and Morris hanging in there. Quite a few down on the night but still contributed.

Maybe just the reality check we needed. We are still a major work in progress.

[Dry Rot]

DR what about the pub in Newtown near I think a courthouse, it might be called the courthouse, it reminded me of a Fitzroy/Melbourne like pub and I know they screen the AFL, plus they have their own beer 'Justice Ale' on tap.

I must check that out one night but parking is real tricky there. Apparently it was a good night at the Drummoyne Sports Club.

[1eyedog]

From a radio perspective he sounded super brave. Not an accolade often bestowed in the last few seasons.

How did Addison go?

Addison started ok then drifted out of the game and was pretty much unheard of of in the second half. We were so lucky to get out of this one, maybe my expectations are too high over the past three wins but our skill level and decision making was just awful. We didn't win in the end Essendon lost it really with McVeigh going off and Lonergan also with hammies they just didn't have the run and it opened up in the last 20 mins. Minson was very good and Aker was crucial when it mattered, Griffen started well and tried hard. Harbrow was good, def the pick of the pups tonight and Callan was desperate and courageous all night. Brian Lake was very solid in defence. Murphy was mistake-ridden which was surprising, Eade threw him back and he seemed to panic. Sorry for the grammar I've been on the beer all night.

[FrediKanoute]

Got out of jail tonight. Lucky that they stopped.

I listened from work in the UK as well.....missed the 3rd quarter b/c I went for lunch!

Always thought we'd win, but they did give us a fright. We are definitely NOT the finished article and I think we will get a clearer picture of where we are at when we play sides like the Hawks, Swans, Geelong and West Coast. all of these teams will make us pay for any mistakes and lapses in concentration.

That's the negative side of things.......the positives, despite going missing for 2 quarters we won and won compfortably and were never really out of the game or seriously in deficit. We stopped their run won the footy and won the game. Yep their injuries helped, but the most important thing was that when things weren't goin well we hung in there !

[1eyedog]

Hudson also seemed out of sorts, he got beaten in the ruck and seemed to panic in crucial moments.

[1eyedog]

I listened from work in the UK as well.....missed the 3rd quarter b/c I went for lunch!

Always thought we'd win, but they did give us a fright. We are definitely NOT the finished article and I think we will get a clearer picture of where we are at when we play sides like the Hawks, Swans, Geelong and West Coast. all of these teams will make us pay for any mistakes and lapses in concentration.

That's the negative side of things.......the positives, despite going missing for 2 quarters we won and won compfortably and were never really out of the game or seriously in deficit. We stopped their run won the footy and won the game. Yep their injuries helped, but the most important thing was that when things weren't goin well we hung in there !

I agree with everything here except for West Coast, they're gone.

[LostDoggy]

That was easily our worst game fo the year so far. The number of skill errors was awful, we were just lucky Essendon stopped and we got a few free kicks go our way in the last quarter.

[Sockeye Salmon]

Hudson also seemed out of sorts, he got beaten in the ruck and seemed to panic in crucial moments.

He was awful for 3 quarters but was really important in the last.

[BulldogBelle]

Even though we had a 40 point turnaround and went on to win the game - things could've got ugly if Lloyd & Lucas were playing.

Nevertheless, a win is a win but they have some fine tuning to do. Now it will be very important for them to stay focussed and not get ahead of themselves.

[alwaysadog]

Even though we had a 40 point turnaround and went on to win the game - things could've got ugly if Lloyd & Lucas were playing.

Nevertheless, a win is a win but they have some fine tuning to do. Now it will be very important for them to stay focussed and not get ahead of themselves.

Wot she said... couldn't have said it better myself.

[hujsh]

Even though we had a 40 point turnaround and went on to win the game - things could've got ugly if Lloyd & Lucas were playing.

Nevertheless, a win is a win but they have some fine tuning to do. Now it will be very important for them to stay focussed and not get ahead of themselves.

I don't worry too much about if so ans so didn't play anymore. They play and the game has a completely different structure IMO

[LostDoggy]

Under an assault like that late last year we would have wilted and gone on to lose by 50+ points. That instead there was a 40 point turnaround and players stepping up in the last quarter to win the game despite, again, some of the bigger guns not firing, can only be a step in the right direction.

No doubt the extended pre-season already has had an effect on our fitness and ability to run out games.

Also, with Westy out tonight the other midfielders had to step up and win contested ball. Griff tried manfully to impose himself on the game tonight, and did very well.

Also, remember that this was the team (with Lucas, admittedly) that toweled us up by over seventy points in the NAB cup. We have now beaten an arch-nemesis in a tight arm wrestle, rolled over a weak team and posted a huge score, come back from behind against our hoodoo team to crush them, and withstood an all-out assault in a free-flowing shootout. All different games, different tempos, different styles, different challenges to overcome in each game, but different players have stepped up at different times to solve different problems, which speaks well of our spread and variety of talent. There is no doubt we have taken some huge steps this year that bode well for the next few seasons.

This was a great, great win.

[craigsahibee]

Always a positive to win when you haven't played well. One week at a time people.

[Rocket Science]

Indeed...supposedly one of the hallmarks of a high calibre outfit is the ability to prevail, even when things don't go entirely your own way...it wasn't always pretty this eve, and we've clearly got some rough edges to address, but we're likewise demonstrating some very likeable traits, least of all the capacity to respond when challenged. Also worth noting that while yes they were missing key parts, so were we in West, Ray, Williams and Everitt.

All up, it's another four points well earned, particularly against that bloody mob...Now bring on that yellow and black rabble.

[G-Mo77]

I just finished watching the replay on Fox, I had to work and put up with radio all night. Not good at all. Solid win tonight!

I've read a few peoples thoughts on this one and generally the feeling is that we were disapointing. I'm feeling the opposite right now, we were down by 10 points and looked defeated they clawed back took back the lead and ran all over the top of them in the last quarter. I'm very happy with this win, it shows that we have came a long way since 2007. Last year we would have folded and been beaten by 30, 40 points. Yes injuries were there for Essendon but there are 18 guys on the field and our 18 wanted it more in the end.

Also take pleasure in getting their supporters hopes up to have them crushed. There is nothing better than stepping on the throats of arrogant supporters. :D

[LostDoggy]

Yeah, wasn't the best, but I'd take that type of win any day over an honourable loss.
I agree a win is a win, but I also think that we were lucky to come out with a win.

[LostDoggy]

We played well but we didn't do all the things that we should have. Too many players dropped off for a quarter.

[firstdogonthemoon]

Under an assault like that late last year we would have wilted and gone on to lose by 50+ points. That instead there was a 40 point turnaround and players stepping up in the last quarter to win the game despite, again, some of the bigger guns not firing, can only be a step in the right direction.

No doubt the extended pre-season already has had an effect on our fitness and ability to run out games.

Also, with Westy out tonight the other midfielders had to step up and win contested ball. Griff tried manfully to impose himself on the game tonight, and did very well.

Also, remember that this was the team (with Lucas, admittedly) that toweled us up by over seventy points in the NAB cup. We have now beaten an arch-nemesis in a tight arm wrestle, rolled over a weak team and posted a huge score, come back from behind against our hoodoo team to crush them, and withstood an all-out assault in a free-flowing shootout. All different games, different tempos, different styles, different challenges to overcome in each game, but different players have stepped up at different times to solve different problems, which speaks well of our spread and variety of talent. There is no doubt we have taken some huge steps this year that bode well for the next few seasons.

This was a great, great win.

I agree with this.

This is the kind of game we are used to losing. The way we changed our intensity and tempo in the 4th qtr - right about the time Minson kicked his banana (wtf?) and then WE took the game by the scruff of the neck.

Not like last week - which was a great win no doubt about it - but this, this was a marvel. Once we clicked, we were right on song. We need to be able to throw this switch even when we are playing like trifles. It is a really important part of the game we have lacked, the capacity to stop doing the wrong things and start doing the right things, IN THE MIDDLE OF A GAME WE ARE LOSING. We were rattled, and we unrattled ourselves.

We are finally looking like a side with some maturity. Dunno if it's got a flag at the end of it, but we are learning all the right things.

[LostDoggy]

I watched the game with a bulldogs mate last night on tv. We were both really pissed off about how they were playing in that third quarter, however after we lifted and won the game, I sat back and thought about it.

My thoughts were:

As other people have mentioned already, the Bulldogs of old would have laid down and been smashed. So many of our top line players were hardly noticed last night and we still won the game by 30 points. We still have some talent to come back into the side, which I believe is having an impact on the guys in the side by virtue of the fact that they feel like they need to play well to keep their spot. I'm seeing a much more patient, mature and calm in a crisis team this year and I like it.

The challenge now is to take each week as it comes and maintain the things we are doing, which is enabling us to enjoy some well earned success.

broken record If you can afford to, please get onboard as a member.

Go Doggies!!

[Go_Dogs]

28 points, first goal to Hahn.

Looking forward to it, it will be a great indiciation of how much we've grown mentally over the pre-season.


Pretty close, 30 points and Hahn did get the first!


It wasn't a very enjoyable game to watch compared to the others we've played this year thus far, but I don't mind that. We still got over the line against a pretty underrated (albeit undermanned) side last night and we didn't really have that many contributors or guys who played as well as they should. Everyone did something at some stage, but I couldn't find one consistent 4-quarter performer. The pleasing aspect however is that we were still able to win an ugly game where we didn't have as many winners over the field as we have the previous 3 weeks.

Couple of questions, for those who were at the game and had a better look than I got to have.
1) Who was on Stanton during his purple patch? Did someone move onto him or were we content to just let him run rampant? He tore us to pieces and I was pretty disappointed by that.
2) Was our effort across the board down a bit on previous weeks? Did we look a bit tired and stagnant?

Well, on to Richmond and the chance to go 5-0. Couldn't be happier. :D

[Bulldog Revolution]

Pretty close, 30 points and Hahn did get the first!

It wasn't a very enjoyable game to watch compared to the others we've played this year thus far, but I don't mind that. We still got over the line against a pretty underrated (albeit undermanned) side last night and we didn't really have that many contributors or guys who played as well as they should. Everyone did something at some stage, but I couldn't find one consistent 4-quarter performer. The pleasing aspect however is that we were still able to win an ugly game where we didn't have as many winners over the field as we have the previous 3 weeks.



nice one Griff, I've been waiting for someone to quote themself on the predictions - you are a visionary!

The lack of 4 quarter contributor was really the story of the night and its going to be interesting to see how the votes are allocated by Woof members

[firstdogonthemoon]

P
Couple of questions, for those who were at the game and had a better look than I got to have.
1) Who was on Stanton during his purple patch? Did someone move onto him or were we content to just let him run rampant? He tore us to pieces and I was pretty disappointed by that.
2) Was our effort across the board down a bit on previous weeks? Did we look a bit tired and stagnant?



1. It was the The Glove on him most of the night wasn't it? I seem to recall Dale getting flogged :eek: - doesnt seem right though, someone please correct me.

2. I dont think we were tired, or stagnant, we just didnt seem to be able to combat their run, we couldnt catch them :eek: and we made a lot of stupid mistakes.

[The Coon Dog]

I seem to recall Dale getting flogged

Were you wearing your high heels & suspenders during this? :D

[firstdogonthemoon]

Were you wearing your high heels & suspenders during this? :D

Yes, remind me to dry clean them before I return them to you.

[LostDoggy]

Even though we had a 40 point turnaround and went on to win the game - things could've got ugly if Lloyd & Lucas were playing.

Nevertheless, a win is a win but they have some fine tuning to do. Now it will be very important for them to stay focussed and not get ahead of themselves.

Yes it could have got Dingo ugly but you just have to beat whoever the opponents are.
We were a bit lucky against the Crows and pulled out a lazarus against the Saints and on top of that it was very fortunate that Lucas and Lloyd weren't playing last night. I'm not convinced yet that we are a top 6 side yet but 4 for 4 is as good as it gets and I don't mind us winning ugly when we have to.

[LostDoggy]

1. It was the The Glove on him most of the night wasn't it? I seem to recall Dale getting flogged :eek: - doesnt seem right though, someone please correct me.

2. I dont think we were tired, or stagnant, we just didnt seem to be able to combat their run, we couldnt catch them :eek: and we made a lot of stupid mistakes.

It wasn't his best...that's all I'll say. ;)

[bornadog]

Hudson also seemed out of sorts, he got beaten in the ruck and seemed to panic in crucial moments.

Were you at the same game, Hudson dominated the ruck with 22 hitouts to Hille's 10, Laycocks 6. Yes Hille got a few disposals around the ground and kicked a couple that made him look good, but Hudson also picked up 15 disposals, mainly hand balls and his second efforts were sensational. The rucks were the difference in the end, feeding the midfield who turned the screws up in the last quarter.

[bornadog]

we were just lucky Essendon stopped and we got a few free kicks go our way in the last quarter.

No we weren't lucky that Essendon stopped, besides you cannot run flat out for four quarters. Watch the last quarter again and see how the midfield stopped their run and went in hard forcing them to turnover the ball many times. Guys like Cross , Boyd, Cooney were really amongst it, throwing themselves on the ball.

[Bulldog Revolution]

1. It was the The Glove on him most of the night wasn't it? I seem to recall Dale getting flogged :eek: - doesnt seem right though, someone please correct me.


He had McPhee and others, and did have McVeigh when he kicked two on him the third, but I dont think he spent time on Stanton, but I could be wrong

[GVGjr]

Were you at the same game, Hudson dominated the ruck with 22 hitouts to Hille's 10, Laycocks 6. Yes Hille got a few disposals around the ground and kicked a couple that made him look good, but Hudson also picked up 15 disposals, mainly hand balls and his second efforts were sensational. The rucks were the difference in the end, feeding the midfield who turned the screws up in the last quarter.

I know what you are saying but the Bombers big men played a slightly different role in the ruck than they otherwise would because of the necessity to push forward and provide options. Yes Hudson did well with the hit outs but the Bombers rucks were pretty good as well.

[1eyedog]

Were you at the same game, Hudson dominated the ruck with 22 hitouts to Hille's 10, Laycocks 6. Yes Hille got a few disposals around the ground and kicked a couple that made him look good, but Hudson also picked up 15 disposals, mainly hand balls and his second efforts were sensational. The rucks were the difference in the end, feeding the midfield who turned the screws up in the last quarter.

I was at the game and I saw his hit out stats in today's Herald Sun. I must admit it didn't look that way to me but stats don't lie. Two glaringly obvious mistakes are just stuck in my head where he hand balled to absolutely no-one (once into the Essendon goal square). Others on the forum have also said his second efforts were fantastic. It was just my opinion after the game but I stand corrected.

[dog town]

That game should be a bit of a wake up call for us. Good sides dont only go flat out when they need to. You cant just flick it on and off like a switch. You become a tough and hard side by doing the hardest thing every time the question gets asked of you and I thought we failed that test at times on friday night. It is a good sign that we still won when we were down but I would hope we improve on that effort.

I said to a mate late in the first quarter that I saw signs we were taking the foot off the pedal. Gilbee kicked one off the ground instead of putting his head over it and Addison didn't go back with the flight where he normally would have. These were signs that we were pretty satisfied with how we were going.

I thought we tried to be a little bit pretty with the ball before the last quarter. We were too intent on getting the ball to a free man and then trying to spot up the short pass. Towards the end of the third quarter and all through the last we started to pump the ball in a bit quicker and were able to take some marks and get some crumbing goals. A few of the marks were off scrappy kicks that our forwards just read better but thats ok because it was unpredicatble. We got far to predictable earlier and Fletcher was just loving mopping it up.

We also lifted our intensity right up in the last quarter. I dont buy the excuse that they were down 2 players. They missed 2 players for 20 minutes so I wouldn't think its that big a deal. We had Cooney and Cross spending huge parts of the game on the bench in the 2nd and 3rd quarters which really helped later on IMO.

I liked that we adapted and stopped over committing to tackles. The bombers love to release with handball after drawing a player. As the game went on we started hanging back and making them kick or go backwards which caused turnovers.

Callan- Really enjoying watching the way this guy is going about it. His courage is in the Colbert/Grant/Teague sort of category. He is leaving his man to chop off leads and basically just throwing his body into every contest he gets to. As long as the rest of his game stays up to scratch he will become a permanent fixture in our side. He is shutting out an opponent and has been pretty clean with the ball so all is well for him at the moment.

Griffen- Continues to give that new edge to the midfield. Allows us to have more damaging clearances and really helps Cooney, Cross and Boyd by hitting the contest at pace. We find the ball squirting out of packs into our hands after 2 or 3 of there guys are forced to stop Griffen flying through. Absolutely brilliant pass to Guido at one stage. Kicked it over 2 people and dropped it in Guido's lap. Not sure how he is such a good kick because he has the worst ball drop going around. He is all talent at times and has enormous potential for improvement. Does some things that are just not footy smart and it probably costs him 10 touches a game. Runs past contests and the ball drops front and square leaving him out of the contest. Little things like that can be improved for him to take another step pretty quickly.

Hudson- Struggled to keep up around the ground but was still great value in close. Came on during the last and pushed everyone outside 50 leaving him one out in the square. It almost came off because he juggled a one hander but couldn't quite hold onto it. Needs to be careful of guys standing off him at ruck contests and waiting for him to grab it. The bombers were hunting him for holding the ball at times.

Welsh- Has anyone else noticed that he is probably the best player in the league at intercepting opposition passes. Just a very clever player. Was a little bit wasteful at times but still a very valuable contributor.

Aker- Was the most damaging player out there but I still think he can play better. I prefer him doing the crumbing up forward than being the target man. We really missed him at ground level when he was stuck in marking contest on the lead. Brilliant football brain on his shoulders.

Johnson- Struggled a bit but I liked a few signs from him in terms of leadership. Gave a goal off to Aker in the 2nd and tackled more than I have ever seen him.

Murphy- I thought he was well down but he just accumlates touches. Still had 10 marks and 20 touches. Contributed. Needs to abgle his leads a bit more so that players can sit the ball in front of him. It makes it alot tougher for the defender to chop your arms if you go at an angle. If he leads straight at the ball carrier then if the kick is not perfect the defender just runs past him and punches away. 3 or 4 times defenders got an arm in when they shouldnt have been able to.

Addison- His skills are certainly a concern but atleast he is getting the footy when he comes on. Probably needs to make himself a bit more dangerous by getting outside a bit more. I noticed he was rarely manned up on the night but rarely was he used.

Cross- Stood up when the game was up for grabs and won some important balls. Showed an ability as a lead up player for a brief period aswell. Must have taken 4 or 5 really clean marks on the night.

Minson- Worked his way into the game well. Not used often enough as the deep forward IMO. We dont really kick to his advantage we tend to just pump it in as a last resort. If he presents then we need to use him.

Hahn- Had a down game. He was just out of sorts. Tried to snap one over his shoulder with a guy hanging off him at one stage. Would have been forgivable if he didn't have 3 guys running past screaming for a handball. He will come back from that though.

Gilbee- They shut him down a little bit. Might need to be a bit more versatile and move into the midfield when they shut him down. We rely on his ball use way to heavily.

[LostDoggy]

Just watched most of the replay.
Hated how most the commentators barracked for the bombers during the game.

I also hate bombers fans. Every 1/10th of a full free they screamed blue murder while for the obvious ones against them they thought they were being robbed each time.

[bornadog]

Just watched most of the replay.
Hated how most the commentators barracked for the bombers during the game.

I also hate bombers fans. Every 1/10th of a full free they screamed blue murder while for the obvious ones against them they thought they were being robbed each time.

ES, they are the biggest whingers about free kicks in the AFL. They had the most frees for most of the night, yet still yelled blue murder for the whole game. As for Channel 7 and their commentators, they have a lot to answer for. Up himself, Buckley is useless and yes he never gives us praise. I know many people don't like the OX, but I actually don't mind him.

As usual, the media this week has focused on how Essendon lost not how we beat them.

[camwoof]

I noticed the bias of the channel seven commentators. Could it have anything to do with the fact channel seven sponsor essendon?

[Sockeye Salmon]

I actually don't think it's anything sinister. Commentators always go for the underdog because it makes for better viewing (and ratings).

[LostDoggy]

I liked that we adapted and stopped over committing to tackles. The bombers love to release with handball after drawing a player. As the game went on we started hanging back and making them kick or go backwards which caused turnovers.


Was immediately noticeable in the last quarter. This, I thought, was the main reason why Essendon's run was stifled (rather than injuries.. the injured Essendon players were playing up forward anyway and had little to do with the Dogs midfield being overrun.. the commentators/analysts just talk so much crap).

The little fast Bombers were just drawing then running past Dogs players who were committing at full-pace to tackles, but the moment we started hanging back and played off a stable base in a zone type system they found it much, much harder to run past a well set-up wall of players.

The Crows and others have been doing this to us for the last two/three years, and the Bombers will soon find sides doing the same to them. The difference, I suppose, is that they have legitimate tall targets in their forward 50, but a well-set up zone can really cut their ball supply off.

The change was clearly an instruction from Rocket at three-quarter time; again, great coaching to be able to adjust a losing game plan/style, and a credit to our players and our pre-season tactical training that they were able to carry this out as well as they did.

This is also why I don't think we played all that badly (apart from a few glaring exceptions already mentioned elsewhere), although we did take our foot off the gas close to the end of the first quarter. It was more a case of the Bombers exploiting our high-pressure game style, then us adapting in the last quarter to counter their run. No doubt a better pre-season and more mature bodies also helped us run out the game better.