Round 5 2008 Match Preview. Dogs v Tiges

[Sockeye Salmon]

Thanks for the opportunity. I tried to get a head start and do as much as I could before Richmond’s game on Sunday and then had to delete most of it and start again!

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Match: Western Bulldogs v Richmond – Telstra Dome – Sunday


Recent Form:

The Tigers are all over the shop. They managed a first up win over Carlton after falling behind early, then were disappointing for the next two weeks before putting in probably their best performance in a couple of years last Sunday. Competitive against North (without ever looking like they might actually win), insipid against Collingwood and excellent against Freo. Who knows what they'll dish up this week.

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Last time they played:

Rd 4 2007 - MCG – Friday Night - Western Bulldogs 20.12.132 def Richmond 14.16.100
A year ago to the day but it seems so much longer. Since then we’ve had both a massive slump and now a fantastic high. They’ve been consistently crap (until Sunday). Harbrow and Williams were brought in for their debuts and we thought Darcy and Murphy were back when they kicked 4 goals each only to later realize it was a false dawn. This time around we know Murphy is back and Hudson has taken over from where Darcy used to be. Westy picked up a lazy 35 touches, 6 tackles and 3 Brownlow votes in just another day at the office.

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Players missing / At the selection table:

Western Bulldogs: The news is slowly getting better. No new injuries this week and we could see the return of any or all of Williams, Ray and Everitt at Williamstown. West said on Friday night that he thinks he’ll be back for this week as well. It’s hard to find a defensive matchup for Cam Wight this week so he is could be the unlucky one to make way for Westie. Jarrod Harbrow is the other possibility.

Richmond: Pettifer is due back from suspension and Bowden had a good game for Coburg but will Wallace want to change a winning lineup? McGuane hurt a shoulder and might free up a spot for Bowden, I expect Pettifer to run around in the VFL for a week at least, he was hardly setting the world on fire before he got suspended. Raines missed this week and Coghlan made a return to the VFL.

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Style of play / team structure’s:

Western Bulldogs – I won’t repeat what others have said, only that there are two things that must happen if our gameplan is going to stand up - we must pressure the ball carrier, always, and we must hit targets. We were down in both in the middle two quarters on Friday and nearly got bitten on the bum.

Richmond – Unfortunately the Richmond–Freo game wasn’t on free-to-air this week so I haven’t seen it so I’m confused as hell. I watched Richmond play Collingwood the previous week and their gameplan seemed to be to handball round and round in circles until either they turned it over or until someone got enough space to kick it to the opposition.

They must have made some pretty big improvement over the course of a week.

Last week they had more handball than kicks, this week they’ve had one and a half times as many kicks to handballs. I also notice that this week they had a massive 48 running bounces, their average before Sunday was 19.6. They are now 1st in the comp for bounces (ave. 26.2), we’re second (ave 22.5). The instruction was obviously to run, run, run.

The most obvious change was to play Richo up the ground and Polak at full forward. Deledio spent more time up the ground as well.

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Key Match-Ups:

This is tough this week.

Brad Johnson v Bowden – Bowden’s been given the job on Johnno before and I can’t really see too many alternatives.

Adam Cooney v Jake King – I doubt Cooney will play another game without a hard tag for the next 10 years.

Will Minson v Jay Schulz – No-one else slow enough for Schulz to play on.

Robert Murphy/Scott Welsh v Kelvin Moore/Will Thursfield – I expect Thursfield will take Welsh but young Moore will have a few sleepless nights this week if he gets the job on Murphy. I can’t see him being with 10 metres of him.

Richo v ? – This is the toughie. If Richo plays up the ground again Lake won’t be able to go with him, Richo has a massive engine for such a big man. If he pushes forward he’ll destroy Morris or Wight in the air.

If Richo is going to be a winger, play him on a winger, just make sure that when he floats forward, as he will surely do, he gets manned up by someone with a bit more size. In the meantime, a real winger should be able to do some damage himself.

I’ll go with Hargrave when Richo is up the ground with instructions to kick 3 goals while Richo is complaining to the umpires. Richo will outmark him but he will do that to everyone anyway.

Nathan Brown v Dale Morris – Morris gets the most dangerous forward and Brown is the most dangerous forward. Brown’s not a patch on the player he was before he broke his leg but is still capable and will burn you if not respected.

Brian Lake v Graeme Polak
Matthew Boyd v Nathan Foley
Scott West/Daniel Cross v Kane Johnson/Shane Tuck.

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Player’s under the pump:

Western Bulldogs:

Not too many when you’re 4-0 but there’s still some who could improve. I can’t remember Brad Johnson playing two shockers in a row like he has these last two weeks. Ryan Hargrave is struggling a little and Robert Murphy had more skill errors last week than I suspect he has ever had before.

Richmond:

A week ago you would have named most of the side, what a difference a week can make. Johnson was in danger of getting dropped and had 35 touches. Without checking, I’m sure Puntroadend would have been a lot kinder to Jordan McMahon this week as well. Richard Tambling released a bit of pressure and Jay Shulz is showing he might make it as a defender after all.

Nathan Brown still hasn’t played a blinder but 19 touches and 2 goals is an improvement.

Terry Wallace will be the one breathing the biggest sigh of relief.

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Who will win and why:

One swallow doesn’t make a summer – . It’s going to take more than 1 win to convince the football world that Richmond have turned the corner.

It’s one thing to outrun the pedestrian Dockers but they really shouldn’t be able to do that to us. Richo will cause havoc and take a dozen marks but if we can get him taking them on the wing the resultant damage will be minimal.

I can’t believe Richmond can possibly have fixed their kicking problems in one week. White, King, Johnson, Tuck and Hyde will turn it over if under enough pressure and we can do the business on the rebound.

Too many midfield guns for Richmond to stop and too many avenues to goal.

Dogs by 39+ going away, but as always with a proviso. If the pressure’s not on the ball carrier we will lose.

[GVGjr]

Perhaps I haven't erased the nightmares of 2007 from my memory but these are the games that worry me the most.

The Tigers have a talented forward line with Richardson, Brown, Morton, and Polak and I'm still not convinced that Lake is in great form.
The will have their confidence high after their impressive away win and of course the added spice of Wallace, Brown and now McMahon against their old side.

The game will be won if we can control the midfield so Cooney, Griffen, Cross and co must have good games.


Great report to read SS.

[Sedat]

The game will be won if we can control the midfield so Cooney, Griffen, Cross and co must have good games.
Westy has destroyed Richmond in the past and his loss will be felt by us more this week than against the Bombers. The likes of Boyd/Cross/Cooney/Griff will have to bring their a-grade game to ensure we don't allow Foley and Johnson first purchase out of the middle. Richmond have only been really poor against Collingwood this season, and even then they murdered the Pies at the clearances but butchered the ball through overuse. We will lose if we play at the same level of intensity that we did in the middle stages against Essendon.

[LostDoggy]

Well said SS.

Richo is a real concern, and lets face it, we have no one to go with him. Providing he lines up on the wing again i would like to see Griffen go to him and play totally offensive and burn him early with a few goals. That will make Richo play more accountable, something he wouldnt like. Wallace might have no other option but to move him back to the forwardline which would be a win for us because Richo was a weapon last week on the wing.

I think we will have a win, although im not as confident as id like to be after the performance the Tigers conjured up last week.

[Go_Dogs]

Good preview. Didn't get to see the Richmond game either, but was pretty annoyed to see they won - I was looking at 8/8 until Carlton and then Richmond got up...so it's going to be interesting to see how they go about it this weekend.

I think we'll have too much speed and body strength in the middle of the ground. If we work hard enough, we should win quite comfortably. We really need to atone for some pretty average patches last Friday, so hopefully we can come out, smash them and send a message that we really are serious this year.

I think Richo will spend more time close to goal this week, if he doesn't I think your right SS, perhaps any of Hargrave/Wight/Morris could take him if he played further up field, or we could put someone like Eagle or Hill on him and try to run off him hard.

[Dry Rot]

Good preview SS - understand why Sunday buggered up your previous work.

Wallace claimed he pit his runners against slow Freo giants and it worked. Ditto he pulled the Richo on a wing move out of his arse.

Wonder if he;ll repeat it with Richo this week or be tempted to pit talls like Richo and Polak against our reputed undersized backline? Richo on a wing is a match-up nightmare.

[Sockeye Salmon]

I knew I'd leave out one bit.

Wallace said after the North game that the reason they lost was their 10 day break. We might be in trouble, we have a 9 day break.

Watch for Wallace excuse no. 43972 "they had longer to recover and prepare than we did".

[The Bulldogs Bite]

Good stuff SS.

Johnson needs to lift, Brad - that is. He was a contributor against Melbourne but has played poorly against St. Kilda & Essendon. We all know that Johnno is a champion player, but I think there should be a little bit of pressure on him to perform better. He's dropped marks, made silly decisions & missed targets far too frequently. Again, he's an elite player of the competition but he needs to play better footy than he has for the last two or so weeks.

Addison/Callan are interesting ones and you could argue we can't afford to play both in the same side. On Friday Night they really did turn the ball over too many times and when either of them have the ball in their hands, it's not exactly a 'safe' feeling. I was paying close attention to Addison and in the second quarter he was already absolutely buggered - he could barely contest and lost a couple of situations or turned the ball over because of this. It's something he clearly needs to work on if he's to be a regular - we needed him to step up in Westy's absence and TBH, he didn't. In his third? year now, he should have a better fitness base. I suspect if he struggles again this week he'll be dropped.

Although not under the pump, 6-8 players need to play as they did in Rounds 1-3 as they were ordinary last week. Murphy, Cooney, Gia, Hahn, Lake & Morris to name a few. I think with the 9 day break we'll be better placed to play a better brand of football, we looked spent several times throughout the Essendon encounter. An interesting stat to note is that The Tigers are #4 in the league for contested footy, if I recall correctly. Although we're currently #1, we desperately need to keep this type of style up otherwise we'll fall to bits ala last year. Should we keep playing the way we have and our key's from last week who didn't play too well perform better - which they really should - I would expect a 36+ point win.

[dog town]

They were bloody fantastic yesterday as much as I hate to say it. Best game I have seen from a Richmond side for quite a while.

Richo was awesome on the wing pushing down to half back to create a switch then bolting forward to become another option. I suspect he will find it a bit harder on a smaller ground where his ground level skills will be called into question more often.

They used a pretty mobile forward line anchored by Polak who was very dangerous in the air. Lake will probably go to him you would think unless Richo starts deep in the forward line. The rest of the forward line damage was caused by guys like Brown and Morton.

I dont think this weeks game will be overly complicated tactically. Big key against Richmond is to apply enormous pressure on the ball carrier and then watch them turn it over. On the wide open spaces of Subi they had time to settle and kick to space (they are actually quite a quick side now) but hopefully on a smaller ground we can put pressure on them and force them to cough the ball up. As a rule about half of the tigers side is horrendous by foot. We must squash them early or the belief will flow through them pretty quickly after last week.

[Sockeye Salmon]

Although not under the pump, 6-8 players need to play as they did in Rounds 1-3 as they were ordinary last week. Murphy, Cooney, Gia, Hahn, Lake & Morris to name a few. I think with the 9 day break we'll be better placed to play a better brand of football, we looked spent several times throughout the Essendon encounter. An interesting stat to note is that The Tigers are #4 in the league for contested footy, if I recall correctly. Although we're currently #1, we desperately need to keep this type of style up otherwise we'll fall to bits ala last year. Should we keep playing the way we have and our key's from last week who didn't play too well perform better - which they really should - I would expect a 36+ point win.

I gave Lake BOG this week and most have given Cooney votes as well. You're hard to please!

[dog town]

The Ox said on the coverage that Cooney is carrying something. Hope its nothing major. Thought he worked his way into the game well after a poor start.

[ledge]

The Ox said on the coverage that Cooney is carrying something. Hope its nothing major. Thought he worked his way into the game well after a poor start.

Yeah he is carrying the ball and has got leather poisoning.

[bornadog]

I can't believe posters are suggesting either Hargrave, Morris or even Griffen could match up with Richo:confused:

Matthew Richardson is 195cm and weights 104kg, so he is a man mountain. Hargrave is 20kg lighter and 5 cm shorter. Morris is 10kg lighter and 5cm shorter. They are not a match up at all.

If Richo plays in the forward line then Lake is our man to go with him. He is the only one with the same height, weight and strength. If Richo plays up the grlound like on Sunday, then the only option is Wight, we don't have any one else with the motor and agility.

[bornadog]

Although not under the pump, 6-8 players need to play as they did in Rounds 1-3 as they were ordinary last week. Murphy, Cooney, Gia, Hahn, Lake & Morris to name a few.

BB, sorry don't agree with you - here is why.

Murphy - Still managed to pick up 21 posessions and most times did something with the ball. He had a couple of clangers, but overall I thought he had a great battle with Ryder.

Cooney - almost BOG with 24 disposals and 14 fantastic handle balls that created many goals. Wasn't running like his usual self, but was getting the hard ball and pumping the ball out.

Gia - Agree, didn't have a great game.

Lake - I thought it was his best game so far this year and is improving each week. Took 7 marks and saved us many times.

Morris - nine marks, 15 disposals. Did get beaten a couple of times, but I still think he played well. Needs to improve his long kicking accuracy.

Those do have to lift:

Addison - strted well in the first quarter but didn't get a disposal in the second half of the game

Eagelton - I thought was an ordinary game, but coming off an injury his confidence was down.

Gia - per above, we need more out of him.

Minson - Need four quarters, not just last quarter.

[Mantis]

Good stuff SS....

As previous posters have stated we must maintain our pressure on the ball carrier for extended periods. The momentum changed at the start of the last qtr against Essendon when we started to get numbers at the contest, like we did against against St.Kilda the week before. Let's hope we learnt our lesson last week and apply more pressure to the 'receiving' types. I was simply astonished that we did not pay close attention to Stanton last week who is quite comfortably the biggest sheepdog in the game, but if you pay him no respect he carves you up. Richmond have a few like players so lets hope we are show more accountability through the midfield.

Agree with bornadog that Wight looks a good match-up for Richo if Richo plays up the field, otherwise Lake is the man if Richo plays forward.

Big test for Hargrave this week, he was ordinary last week and with Williams and Everitt getting closer to a return he is one player who will feel pressure to stay in the team. Same too for Eagleton with Ray coming back shortly.

With a few extra days break and with Richmond coming back from a hard running game in Perth we should win this one comfortably. Would be disappointed with anything less than a 6 goal win.

[The Bulldogs Bite]

I gave Lake BOG this week and most have given Cooney votes as well. You're hard to please!

Lake I was perhaps a little harsh on, but he looked lost at times. He did well in the last quarter but when the heat was on, I thought he made some silly mistakes.

Cooney, however, was quiet for mine. 24 disposals looks fine but even Eade stated that Adam didn't have much of an impact on the game. He kicked a good goal and made some good handballs in a tight congestion but he wasn't exactly damaging. He had a brilliant first three rounds and although the statistics suggests he racked up the possessions, he wasn't too influential - as pointed out by Rocket himself.


BB, sorry don't agree with you - here is why.

Murphy - Still managed to pick up 21 posessions and most times did something with the ball. He had a couple of clangers, but overall I thought he had a great battle with Ryder.

Cooney - almost BOG with 24 disposals and 14 fantastic handle balls that created many goals. Wasn't running like his usual self, but was getting the hard ball and pumping the ball out.

Gia - Agree, didn't have a great game.

Lake - I thought it was his best game so far this year and is improving each week. Took 7 marks and saved us many times.

Morris - nine marks, 15 disposals. Did get beaten a couple of times, but I still think he played well. Needs to improve his long kicking accuracy.

Those do have to lift:

Addison - strted well in the first quarter but didn't get a disposal in the second half of the game

Eagelton - I thought was an ordinary game, but coming off an injury his confidence was down.

Gia - per above, we need more out of him.

Minson - Need four quarters, not just last quarter.

Cooney's is explained above, he wasn't poor - but I think he'd want to play better. He didn't have any pace or much run ins his legs. Around the contest was OK with a few handballs but I don't think his game was that great.

Murphy again wasn't poor but I don't think he did enough. 21 disposals is surprising, but on memory a lot of them were cheap short passes in positions that weren't effective for us. Ryder did a fine job, he won the battle. This is why I hate stats for the most part; on paper it looks as though Murph was exceptional, but he was only OK - no more & no less. Like Cooney, did a couple of nice things, but he wasn't influential at all & had some bad clangers.

Morris was OK in patches but McVeigh was tearing him a new one at one stage. Considering Morris toweled up Riewoldt the week before, I thought his game was only average too. He certainly made some good spoils, but a couple of times he was beaten too easily & he among many others made some very poor decisions and skill errors.

As for your call on Minson, I agree to some extent. Minson really got us up & going in the last quarter and along with Griffen & Aker, won us the match. He was ordinary for the first three quarters but Hudson was arguably worse. In the second & third terms Hudson was absolutely smashed in the middle and had next to no impact around the ground. He's been an awesome pick-up but it was an ordinary night for Hudson. Minson wasn't much better, but his last quarter was impressive and for a 23 year old all the better. He's showing an ability up forward which is very pleasing and his ruck work has improved too. Sometimes people tend to forget he's only 23, whereas most big men don't hit their prime until after 25.

[LostDoggy]

I believe that we should try Wight on Richo.
Wight has the size and engine to match him (and perhaps put some of his doubters to bed finally):)

Not sure about who McMahon will play on if he's in defence - perhaps memories of Lappin would suggest that Hill or Harbrow may be able to stretch him in the air!!

I find it amusing that some Tigers supporters are posing the question - Who will we play on Schultz??? - as if his name was Fevola!!
Anyhow, Hargreave should match him and be able to punish him going the other way.

I know some people are nervous about this week but we're no Fremantle - Dogs by 40 points - I'm as confident as I've been for any game this year.

[Sockeye Salmon]

I can't believe posters are suggesting either Hargrave, Morris or even Griffen could match up with Richo:confused:

Matthew Richardson is 195cm and weights 104kg, so he is a man mountain. Hargrave is 20kg lighter and 5 cm shorter. Morris is 10kg lighter and 5cm shorter. They are not a match up at all.

If Richo plays in the forward line then Lake is our man to go with him. He is the only one with the same height, weight and strength. If Richo plays up the grlound like on Sunday, then the only option is Wight, we don't have any one else with the motor and agility.

Why does it matter how tall or heavy he is if he's playing on a wing? The days of Keith Greig and Robbie Flower going head to head are long gone. Wingers need pace, endurance and skill and while Richo has plenty of all of them for his size we can come up with someone with more.

Just have to worry about him pushing forward but he's going to outmark anyone we put on him regardless, lets make him worry about our winger running forward off him as well.

[ledge]

I have a game plan, when we kick a point let McMahon go free, let them give the ball to him , then let him bounce it 5 times and kick it straight down Lakes throat and we can then start off our attack again. Kick it straight to McMahons opponent because he wont be within 40 yards of him and we will kick 20 goals. Hope his opponent is Aker!

[bornadog]

In the second & third terms Hudson was absolutely smashed in the middle and had next to no impact around the ground. He's been an awesome pick-up but it was an ordinary night for Hudson. Minson wasn't much better, but his last quarter was impressive and for a 23 year old all the better. He's showing an ability up forward which is very pleasing and his ruck work has improved too. Sometimes people tend to forget he's only 23, whereas most big men don't hit their prime until after 25.

Sorry BB don't want to sound like I am picking on you, but Hudson was the best ruckman on the ground. He had 22 hitouts, 15 disposals and was on the bottom of many a pack getting the hard balls. Hille had 10 hitouts and was the one that got smashed in the ruck along with Laycock (8 hityouts). Hille did well around the ground when he found space on his own and thats what sticks in peoples minds. In the last quarter, I don't think he even touched the ball. HUdson had to go off as he was stuffed running around as Minson was very quiet for three quarters and Hudson had to do all the work. In the last quarter we know Minson stepped up and was great.

[bornadog]

Why does it matter how tall or heavy he is if he's playing on a wing? The days of Keith Greig and Robbie Flower going head to head are long gone. Wingers need pace, endurance and skill and while Richo has plenty of all of them for his size we can come up with someone with more.

Just have to worry about him pushing forward but he's going to outmark anyone we put on him regardless, lets make him worry about our winger running forward off him as well.

SS, we can't put midgets on Richo, because thats what Hargrave and Morris will look like up against Richo and he will have a field day, just like he did on Sunday. Up the ground Wight is the man to do the job. At fullback it will be Lake.

Who are your suggestions to match up against Richo?

[Sockeye Salmon]

SS, we can't put midgets on Richo, because thats what Hargrave and Morris will look like up against Richo and he will have a field day, just like he did on Sunday. Up the ground Wight is the man to do the job. At fullback it will be Lake.

Who are your suggestions to match up against Richo?

In my OP I said Hargrave.

Richo will kill Hargrave in the air but Richo will kill anyone other than Lake in the air anyway. Wight will get rag-dolled.

Put someone on him who can run and kick, accept that he'll take heaps of marks and burn him going the other way.

[The Bulldogs Bite]

Sorry BB don't want to sound like I am picking on you, but Hudson was the best ruckman on the ground. He had 22 hitouts, 15 disposals and was on the bottom of many a pack getting the hard balls. Hille had 10 hitouts and was the one that got smashed in the ruck along with Laycock (8 hityouts). Hille did well around the ground when he found space on his own and thats what sticks in peoples minds. In the last quarter, I don't think he even touched the ball. HUdson had to go off as he was stuffed running around as Minson was very quiet for three quarters and Hudson had to do all the work. In the last quarter we know Minson stepped up and was great.

I agree Hudson was better in the first & more so last, but for mine was beaten around the ground in the second & third terms. His hitouts were way too predictable, he basically hit it to the same spot every time and thus we struggled to get any momentum from out of the middle of the ground. Essendon were sharking it well, and Hille as you said made space around the ground. So even though he won the taps, he wasn't effective - but that's my opinion, and that's one of the great things about footy - there's thousands of 'em. :)

[1eyedog]

Well said SS.

Richo is a real concern, and lets face it, we have no one to go with him. Providing he lines up on the wing again i would like to see Griffen go to him and play totally offensive and burn him early with a few goals. That will make Richo play more accountable, something he wouldnt like. Wallace might have no other option but to move him back to the forwardline which would be a win for us because Richo was a weapon last week on the wing.

I think we will have a win, although im not as confident as id like to be after the performance the Tigers conjured up last week.

Ahhhhh don't scare me! Griffen on Richo, Plough will love that match up. It's not so much that we need to find a run with match up for Richo, we need someone to go with him in the air. Williams or Wight would be the best bet. Hey, it's far from ideal but I would prefer Wight to Griffen and least Wight is mobile for a 200cm so he can get to the aerial contests..

[1eyedog]

In my OP I said Hargrave.

Richo will kill Hargrave in the air but Richo will kill anyone other than Lake in the air anyway. Wight will get rag-dolled.

Put someone on him who can run and kick, accept that he'll take heaps of marks and burn him going the other way.

I would try this If I was Rocket, Shaggy on Richo up the ground may not be as stupid as it sounds. I agree with the theory that Shaggy can hurt Richo the other way because Richo is not super defensive. If Richo is in the goal square Lake needs to be on him. I still believe Wight would be the man up the ground though. He may get tossed around a bit but he battled on against Kosi and kicked a goal on him going the other way so he has the ability and confidence to attack and make his opposition pay. If Rocket wants him to play CHB he needs to give him first crack at the danger men.

[Bulldog4life]

Lake I was perhaps a little harsh on, but he looked lost at times. He did well in the last quarter but when the heat was on, I thought he made some silly mistakes.

Cooney, however, was quiet for mine. 24 disposals looks fine but even Eade stated that Adam didn't have much of an impact on the game. He kicked a good goal and made some good handballs in a tight congestion but he wasn't exactly damaging. He had a brilliant first three rounds and although the statistics suggests he racked up the possessions, he wasn't too influential - as pointed out by Rocket himself.



Cooney's is explained above, he wasn't poor - but I think he'd want to play better. He didn't have any pace or much run ins his legs. Around the contest was OK with a few handballs but I don't think his game was that great.

Murphy again wasn't poor but I don't think he did enough. 21 disposals is surprising, but on memory a lot of them were cheap short passes in positions that weren't effective for us. Ryder did a fine job, he won the battle. This is why I hate stats for the most part; on paper it looks as though Murph was exceptional, but he was only OK - no more & no less. Like Cooney, did a couple of nice things, but he wasn't influential at all & had some bad clangers.

Morris was OK in patches but McVeigh was tearing him a new one at one stage. Considering Morris toweled up Riewoldt the week before, I thought his game was only average too. He certainly made some good spoils, but a couple of times he was beaten too easily & he among many others made some very poor decisions and skill errors.

As for your call on Minson, I agree to some extent. Minson really got us up & going in the last quarter and along with Griffen & Aker, won us the match. He was ordinary for the first three quarters but Hudson was arguably worse. In the second & third terms Hudson was absolutely smashed in the middle and had next to no impact around the ground. He's been an awesome pick-up but it was an ordinary night for Hudson. Minson wasn't much better, but his last quarter was impressive and for a 23 year old all the better. He's showing an ability up forward which is very pleasing and his ruck work has improved too. Sometimes people tend to forget he's only 23, whereas most big men don't hit their prime until after 25.

Definitely cannot agree nor do the 2 coaches on the night. He was given the best player on the ground by the coaches vote.

[LostDoggy]

Looks like West isnt playing, Johnson a 50/50 and Aker didnt train but Eade assured us he will play.

Not good signs, particularly Johnno.

[GVGjr]

Looks like West isnt playing, Johnson a 50/50 and Aker didnt train but Eade assured us he will play.

Not good signs, particularly Johnno.

Johnson would cause them a heap of headaches but regardless that another win would be terrific for us, we wouldn't want to risk him.

[LostDoggy]

Apart from Richo and N Brown, we must keep a close eye on Tambling. He is in form and is ready for a break out game. They showed great pace against Freo (isnt hard i know).

[LostDoggy]

Johnson would cause them a heap of headaches but regardless that another win would be terrific for us, we wouldn't want to risk him.

We have a few 'easy' matches comming up. Why risk him? Give him the chance to get his body right. We have to start preparing for life without Johnno, and i think we have handled it quite well so far, he hasnt been himself all year.

[LostDoggy]

Round Five has rolled around, finally, and we are about to have one of our pre-season prediction threads answered (how many points will be beat Richmond by?). How is everyone feeling about their predictions at this point?

[LostDoggy]

We have a few 'easy' matches comming up. Why risk him? Give him the chance to get his body right. We have to start preparing for life without Johnno, and i think we have handled it quite well so far, he hasnt been himself all year.

Who'll come in for him? Would Callan Ward be ready to take the step? Or would it be a like for like exchange, ie. one of our younger talls/goalsneaks?

[LostDoggy]

Who'll come in for him? Would Callan Ward be ready to take the step? Or would it be a like for like exchange, ie. one of our younger talls/goalsneaks?

...havent got that far yet :o

[hujsh]

Who'll come in for him? Would Callan Ward be ready to take the step? Or would it be a like for like exchange, ie. one of our younger talls/goalsneaks?

Skipper would be the replacement. Not as mobile or clever at ground level but can help with the making side of Johnno's game.

Can't find a short player like Johnno so play a tall.

[The Bulldogs Bite]

Looks like West isnt playing, Johnson a 50/50 and Aker didnt train but Eade assured us he will play.

Not good signs, particularly Johnno.

Why didn't Aker train?

As I said on another thread, I'd give Johnson the week off. It's a test for the players to cope without him. We really need Johnno to find some form in the coming weeks as we have some big challenges coming up, the first of which begins with Sydney. He hasn't been in good touch, so perhaps a week off would serve him well.

[Mantis]

Why didn't Aker train?

As I said on another thread, I'd give Johnson the week off. It's a test for the players to cope without him. We really need Johnno to find some form in the coming weeks as we have some big challenges coming up, the first of which begins with Sydney. He hasn't been in good touch, so perhaps a week off would serve him well.

Thigh injury... (as in thread in Dog's day forum, 'Dogs keeping..)

On Johnno one thing I have noticed over the past 2 weeks has been his inability to bend to pick up the ball off the ground. Would this be due to this injury or just his poor flexibility?

[bornadog]

Thigh injury... (as in thread in Dog's day forum, 'Dogs keeping..)

On Johnno one thing I have noticed over the past 2 weeks has been his inability to bend to pick up the ball off the ground. Would this be due to this injury or just his poor flexibility?

Johnno copped a hip injury then followed by a corkie so that may help to explain.

[bornadog]

We have a few 'easy' matches comming up.

IMO, there are no easy matches at all. We saw on the weekend that any one can a game ( except maybe Demons), but I know what you mean. We have some interstate matches coming up with the Sydney trip being the toughest. Lets get over this week first.

[camwoof]

Who will our old mate Jordan Mcmahon go to?

[GVGjr]

Who will our old mate Jordan Mcmahon go to?

I think they might play him on a wing so it could be Eagleton or even someone like Giansiracusa.

[The Underdog]

Who will our old mate Jordan Mcmahon go to?

Possibly Gia or Aker, but he'll spend a fair bit of time on his old adversary, space.
To be honest I like most of our match ups on him, aside from maybe Eagleton.

[ledge]

Doesnt matter who he plays on because he doesnt, i never saw him ever beat someone, his strength is running past and bouncing, did he ever deliver a ball properly?
Whoever he plays on should be ecstatic because they wont get tagged, all they have to know is if we dont get the ball he will be on the back flank running away with it.

[bornadog]

Nathan Brown is still a dangerous player, who will pick him up?

[Mantis]

Nathan Brown is still a dangerous player, who will pick him up?

Dale Morris.

[hujsh]

Who will our old mate Jordan Mcmahon go to?

A Richmond supporter said Hill which would be hilarious.

Really we have to use McMahon's man on the turnover and Hill is good at finding a paddock of space

[Mantis]

A Richmond supporter said Hill which would be hilarious.

Really we have to use McMahon's man on the turnover and Hill is good at finding a paddock of space

Understand your point, but we need to pay McMahon some respect when they have the ball too. He can be a damaging player.

[GVGjr]

Understand your point, but we need to pay McMahon some respect when they have the ball too. He can be a damaging player.

Agreed, When he is on song he can be terrific. He played very well last week and will be primed to show everyone how good he can be.

[hujsh]

Understand your point, but we need to pay McMahon some respect when they have the ball too. He can be a damaging player.

Yeah that's a good point. I guess i was just expecting him to turn the ball over quite often as well which he might not do.

[bornadog]

IN Skipper, Callen and Street. No outs at this stage.

[The Bulldogs Bite]

Understand your point, but we need to pay McMahon some respect when they have the ball too. He can be a damaging player.

Agreed.

Need to put somebody accountable on McMahon, but a player who is capable of hurting him on the rebound. Jordy plays loose and lacks strength, so we should find a match-up that advantages us in those ways.

Dragging McMahon straight to FB wouldn't be such a bad idea either, and pushing the rest up. Carlton did this last year & Lappin booted 5.

However, I reckon The Tigers may put McMahon on Harbrow if he plays.

[The Underdog]

Agreed.

Need to put somebody accountable on McMahon, but a player who is capable of hurting him on the rebound. Jordy plays loose and lacks strength, so we should find a match-up that advantages us in those ways.

Dragging McMahon straight to FB wouldn't be such a bad idea either, and pushing the rest up. Carlton did this last year & Lappin booted 5.

However, I reckon The Tigers may put McMahon on Harbrow if he plays.

The thing I like about most of the forwards he will need to match up on is that they will have it all over him in the air. Gia, Aker and Hill will all beat him. Harbrow is probably the only one who isn't much stronger, so as you say TBB probably the most logical match up from the tiges p.o.v. Our pressure in the forward line has been mostly pretty good so if we don't allow him the space to run then we can egate much of is influence. I love that Bowden is out. He matches up well on Johnno and has been one of their leading possession getters. King is the other one that i think is hugely dangerous. To be honest, I really love the way he goes about it, although if there is one thing that can let him down, it's his kicking. I wouldn't be surprised if he goes to Aker.

[Dry Rot]

Anyone concerned about Polak? He'd be dangerous if he could kick straight.

[hujsh]

Anyone concerned about Polak? He'd be dangerous if he could kick straight.

He was dangerous against us last year i remember. This was before Terry decided he'd be a good loose defender. Definitely a great mark so we can't rely on his kicking for goal to save us.

[G-Mo77]

Richmond are kind of a wild card side. They have not been great at all, wins over Carlton and Fremantle just don't get me scared. They are a team still learning and still building so they are dangerous. We have to choke the life out of them early. Get a solid lead by half time and it should be an easy day. Give these guys a sniff of victory and it is going to be a tough contest.

I hope they do stack their tall forwards up front which I believe Wallace will do, it has always been a myth that opposition talls forwards are the key in defeating us, it has been in the middle were we lose games IMO. Let them stack tall slow guys up front and run it out with ease with no pressure when they turn it over, and they will do that.

Any news on Johno today?

[Bulldog Revolution]

Anyone concerned about Polak? He'd be dangerous if he could kick straight.

Yes and No - if we cant stop him then we just dont deserve to beat them, it will annoy me, but we will just have to accept our performance.

Can Wight do a job on him or will Harris get Polak?

If Morris takes Brown then who gets Richo - Hargrave or Wight?

Or should Gilbee get Brown?

Who will match up on Foley, will be head to head with Cross?

[Mantis]

Can Wight do a job on him or will Harris get Polak?

If Morris takes Brown then who gets Richo - Hargrave or Wight?

Or should Gilbee get Brown?

Who will match up on Foley, will be head to head with Cross?

Not sure about the rest, but I think Boyd will pick or should pick up Foley.

Big test for Hargrave this week, he simply must do a good job on whoever he picks up be it Polak, Riewoldt or Hughes. Yes he will be giving away height and weight, but if he wants to stay in the team he must nulify his opponent.

[ledge]

Why are we doing all the picking up here? We are the ones on top, they should be more worried about us. How much do you think Rodney discusses picking up players and you would imagine it would only be 3 or 4, sounds like we are picking up the whole team at the moment.
Easy solved , if we attack all day we dont have to pick them up, as there forward line could be the most potent in the world , but if the ball is down the other end they dont mean jack!
Getting too much of a defensive post for my liking.
Lets just smack them in the middle and we dont have to worry about it.

[Mantis]

Why are we doing all the picking up here? We are the ones on top, they should be more worried about us. How much do you think Rodney discusses picking up players and you would imagine it would only be 3 or 4, sounds like we are picking up the whole team at the moment.
Easy solved , if we attack all day we dont have to pick them up, as there forward line could be the most potent in the world , but if the ball is down the other end they dont mean jack!
Getting too much of a defensive post for my liking.
Lets just smack them in the middle and we dont have to worry about it.

The thread has had some intelligent discussion to who Richmond's danger players, players who if we don't keep in check they may help Richmond win. Sure we have players of equal talents if not better players who Richmond have to worry about, but if we go into the game all guns blazing we might get a big bite on the ass.

Our defensive types have to do jobs each and every week, players like Boyd, Callan, Morris, Hargrave, etc. If they don't play these defensive roles well they probably shouldn't be in the team.

If we play a shoot-out style I will be pissed off. We have to put a strangle (literally) on Richmond around the contest and through sheer hard work hurt them on the scoreboard. If we let players like Foley, Deledio, McMahon & Tambling run free they may hurt us much like Stanton, Houli and a few other's did last week.

[ledge]

The thread has had some intelligent discussion to who Richmond's danger players, players who if we don't keep in check they may help Richmond win. Sure we have players of equal talents if not better players who Richmond have to worry about, but if we go into the game all guns blazing we might get a big bite on the ass.

Our defensive types have to do jobs each and every week, players like Boyd, Callan, Morris, Hargrave, etc. If they don't play these defensive roles well they probably shouldn't be in the team.

If we play a shoot-out style I will be pissed off. We have to put a strangle (literally) on Richmond around the contest and through sheer hard work hurt them on the scoreboard. If we let players like Foley, Deledio, McMahon & Tambling run free they may hurt us much like Stanton, Houli and a few other's did last week.

Hey i agree it is intelligent, never said it wasnt, just i thought we need to look at our attacking strength too , as you might have noticed our first four games have produced over 120 points in each. I think Wallace has a bit to worry about.
Wallace loves the free run game too, as Essendon do, and if he worries about our forward line as much as we seem to be on his we will go in defending too much and lose.
My point is let them worry about us, as the top sides do.

[bornadog]

Hey i agree it is intelligent, never said it wasnt, just i thought we need to look at our attacking strength too , as you might have noticed our first four games have produced over 120 points in each. I think Wallace has a bit to worry about.
Wallace loves the free run game too, as Essendon do, and if he worries about our forward line as much as we seem to be on his we will go in defending too much and lose.
My point is let them worry about us, as the top sides do.

If I was Richmond I would be worrying about our midfield and forward line. Richmonds backline is conceeding over 100 points per week and the forwards aren't kicking much more than that.

As for match ups, I wonder if Callan will pickup Brown.

[Mantis]

Hey i agree it is intelligent, never said it wasnt, just i thought we need to look at our attacking strength too , as you might have noticed our first four games have produced over 120 points in each. I think Wallace has a bit to worry about.
Wallace loves the free run game too, as Essendon do, and if he worries about our forward line as much as we seem to be on his we will go in defending too much and lose.
My point is let them worry about us, as the top sides do.


Yes, they have to worry about our good players, Cooney and Griffen are in really good form so they need to be held in check, but I thought the whole idea of this thread is to discuss the upcoming game and highlight which players from the opposition we need to keep in check so that we can win that particular game.

[bornadog]

Hey i agree it is intelligent, never said it wasnt, just i thought we need to look at our attacking strength too , as you might have noticed our first four games have produced over 120 points in each. I think Wallace has a bit to worry about.
Wallace loves the free run game too, as Essendon do, and if he worries about our forward line as much as we seem to be on his we will go in defending too much and lose.
My point is let them worry about us, as the top sides do.

Wallace will have his game plan down pat with a full analysis of every player, however, if the game plan falls apart there is no plan B and we will over run them.

[Dry Rot]

I have read that Mr Welsh has given the Tigers even more trouble than us in the past.

And he likes the Dome.

[1eyedog]

Speaking of the Dome, my wife (who hates football but is a paid up member:D) is coming to the game with me on Sunday and as she is pregnant would like to take her own food. I have never taken food in as I have always just bought some chips or something. Is it possible to take your own food and non-alcoholic drinks? Thanks.

[alwaysadog]

Speaking of the Dome, my wife (who hates football but is a paid up member:D) is coming to the game with me on Sunday and as she is pregnant would like to take her own food. I have never taken food in as I have always just bought some chips or something. Is it possible to take your own food and non-alcoholic drinks? Thanks.


They won't let you take anything in cans, as they usually claim they could become missiles, but I usually take a thermos of coffee (laced with Brandy - for the nerves) and sandwiches if I'm running late. The main thing seems to be to be nice to the security guys.

[alwaysadog]

I have read that Mr Welsh has given the Tigers even more trouble than us in the past.

And he likes the Dome.

Long may it continue. Speaking of our # 28, a friend tells me he passed some critical comments on SEN about his former coach at Crowdome. Any one know what he said?

[GVGjr]

Long may it continue. Speaking of our # 28, a friend tells me he passed some critical comments on SEN about his former coach at Crowdome. Any one know what he said?

He made mention of the intensity of the Adelaide coach with regards to training and I don't think it went over well with the Crows leadership team.

[bulldogsman]

Who plays on Deledio if Boyd is on Foley?

[Rocket Science]

Griffen perhaps? Has a fairly mature defensive conscience and will keep Deledio accountable with his run and carry going the other way.

Otherwise, perhaps Hargrave provided he isn't required on one of the Tiger talls.

[1eyedog]

Thank you all, sorry for the hijack;)

[Sockeye Salmon]

Long may it continue. Speaking of our # 28, a friend tells me he passed some critical comments on SEN about his former coach at Crowdome. Any one know what he said?

He actually handled some loaded questions very well. At one point he said "I'm not answering that question" (it was a "have you stopped beating your wife?" kind of thing).

He was very guarded with his responses and his non-answers said more than most interviews ever say.