3 things learned from Rd 1 vs Melbourne 2024

[GVGjr]

Please list 3 things learned from our R1 encounter vs Melbourne

[GVGjr]

Bump

[bulldogtragic]

1. If this is the most prepared R1 team Bevo has ever produced, its downhill from here
2. Still missing easy shots, from soon to be the highest paid forward line
3. Still picking guys who can’t play at this level

[lemmon]

1. Khamis ain't the second tall alongside Jones. They needed another key back there
2. Laith, McNeil, West and Cody isn't the right small forward mix. West was the only one of those guys to lay a forward 50 tackle.
3. Found one in Bramble, thought he was one of our best.

[GVGjr]

1. If this is the most prepared R1 team Bevo has ever produced, its downhill from here
2. Still missing easy shots, from soon to be the highest paid forward line
3. Still picking guys who can’t play at this level

I heard Brad Johnson say he's run his goal kicking sessions on 6 occasions. I know he didn't start until mid Jan but that seems to be a low number.

[GVGjr]

1. Khamis ain't the second tall alongside Jones. They needed another key back there
2. Laith, McNeil, West and Cody isn't the right small forward mix. West was the only one of those guys to lay a forward 50 tackle.
3. Found one in Bramble, thought he was one of our best.

I must admit I couldn't see how we could play both Khamis and Coffield in the same back line during the training sessions but an injuries to Gardner, JOD and Keath over summer hasn't left us with many other options.

I agree about Bramble, looks like we had him on the radar for a while and jumped in as soon as the SSP window opened.

[Mofra]

I heard Brad Johnson say he's run his goal kicking sessions on 6 occasions. I know he didn't start until mid Jan but that seems to be a low number.
It's a 7 step plan. The last step (kicking) is next week

[Happy Days]

1. There was at least 3 players (McNeil, Khamis, Harmes) that I never want to see play again playing in our first game for the year with a more or less full list to choose from. Not great!

I guess this means I learned that picking “fit” players is stupid where the fit players are also bad players. Bevo, please just pick the best side before another clear best 22 player gets concussed playing VFL for no reason.

2. That’s the worst performance from our midfield without the ball yet. When the turnover at half forward hit you could just sense that 7 straight targets were going to be hit going the other way. It’s like they were too aware of how hot it was and were trying to conserve energy.

3. The back 6 is so close to being not bad for the first time since Al Keath did his hamstring against Melbourne in front of no one late in 2021. I believe in JOD but we need a genuine key defender (threshold for this is someone who is capable of at least not being to be made to look foolish by professional pratfaller Ben Brown) to step in until he’s ready to go.

[Mofra]

1. West busted a gut all pre-season and it showed
2. Naughton got an absolute bath and the magnets moved him maybe 50M for the game? It's pointless not having him run a rotation in the backline or even higher up the field to try and isolate Marra, our only dangerous forward for the day.
3. When our mids get lazy they get very very lazy. Treloar trailed off a lot, and I hate the pot the kid but Gags just didn;t go with his opponent (Windsor) a number of times. Gags will make it I'm sure, but he's not ready yet/

Bramble & Coff started very 'safe' but both got better as the game wore on, particularly Bramble.

[bornadog]

1. If this is the most prepared R1 team Bevo has ever produced, its downhill from here


Bevo never said that, he said the fittest

[Grantysghost]

Bevo never said that, he said the fittest
And he didn't say how many quarters... We were really fit for nearly one whole quarter

[mighty_west]

I heard Brad Johnson say he's run his goal kicking sessions on 6 occasions. I know he didn't start until mid Jan but that seems to be a low number.

Goal kicking is such an important part of the game, there should be AT LEAST a couple of sessions every week imo.

[MrMahatma]

Bevo never said that, he said the fittest

He said “fittest, strongest and most ready.”

We got pumped

[bornadog]

1. Round 1 a very frustrating day with so many errors
2. Bramble better than I thought, and could work out well for us
3. Another round 1 to just forget it happened and hopefully we are better for the run.

[AshMac]

1. Nothing has changed through the off-season. Still playing Bevos favourites, long high kicks into 50, killed on the turnover, killed in the ruck. out marked constantly in defence, players ran out of legs in the last quarter
2. It took 1.25 quarters to concede the first 5 goal bleed
3. We just don?t have a system - guarding blades of grass, slow and stale ball movement (outside first quarter) and never right side of the pack for the fall of the ball

[The Bulldogs Bite]

1. This is the most mentally weak group of players to have ever put on the jumper. They fold every time it gets tough. Great at saying all the right things but their words count for nothing.

2. I want Richards in the mid group. We're so stale and have no physicality or dare. Get Treloar out and put him on a wing. I also want Weightman and Naughton to take their turns in the middle. Basically, CHANGE.

3. Daniel would have played in the starting 22 in every other side in the comp. Not that he needed to but he proved it anyway when he came on. That we can't find a role for him OR choose to pick others ahead of him was damning.

I was prepared to back some of our decisions in, and the group in general given what we have heard all preseason, but all I saw was the exact same coaching and playing. Guarding grass which allows them to walk the ball from D50, momentum from front of stoppage, outmarked etc.

These players roll over like no others have before them. It's embarrassing

[angelopetraglia]

1. Nothing has changed through the off-season. Still playing Bevos favourites, long high kicks into 50, killed on the turnover, killed in the ruck. out marked constantly in defence, players ran out of legs in the last quarter
2. It took 1.25 quarters to concede the first 5 goal bleed
3. We just don?t have a system - guarding blades of grass, slow and stale ball movement (outside first quarter) and never right side of the pack for the fall of the ball

Yep. This sums it up.

[azabob]

1. Our forward line is too one dimensional. Marra, Lobb, Naughton and Weightman are all too similar. When it goes wrong it goes wrong!

2. Changes off field don’t mean squat if the players onfield don’t play with passion or intent.

3. I couldn’t see any changes in our game plan or style of play. Maybe it is still a work in progress otherwise we are in for a long, long year.

[MrMahatma]

1. West was a beast
2. I think our fwds and mids are trying hard to transition to a better style of connection. I saw signs.
3. We are Melbourne’s absolute bitches. We can laugh at Oliver and his off field stuff, or say Goodwin is a crap leader…. They absolutely own us and live rent free in our heads with a tax deduction and negative gearing, while making us do their cooking and cleaning.

[mighty_west]

1. Naughton has to play the Centre Half forward position, yeah it's fine to run deeper towards goals at times but he has to get on his bike and run his opponent (May) around, if May zones back fine, but it does keep them guessing and busy working out match ups, not moving up really played into May's hands, we remember one of Naughton's early games v Richmond as a forward where he took a dozen or so grabs, a lot of those were running up on a wing, and was moving up more during the pre season games yet come round 1.........

2. Why oh why can't we use a tagger? it's getting ridiculous, time and time again we get belted in the ruck which in turn get's one of the oppo's mids cutting us up which gives them the momentum and confidence to really run through us and in return, put's us on the back foot and continually puts our defenders under huge pressure, in the past few games Newcombe, Kelly and today Oliver cut loose and looked a class above, we had Harmes not doing much, yet he could have........

3. I'm going to make an excuse here and say the team looked spent before half time, our running and efforts weren't good enough but you can excuse that for fatigue against a team who have already played a full game. let's hope that work rate improves in the next few weeks especially defensively.

[DOG GOD]

1. Dale and Williams are shadows of their former selves. They reached their peak, now on the way down.
2. Our defence will once again be our Achilles heel. I wonder if a new coach would have the balls to move Naughton to CHB ?
3. How is McNeil, Harmes, Gallagher and VDM selected in starting side over Daniel. I’m sorry but that’s taking the piss.

[Bullies]

1. No problem with Buku playing down back but teach him in the 2's over a period of time. He has no touch or awareness on where his opponent is. He is not ready to play key position as yet.
2. McNeill should have been delisted last year yet here he is again and we had players such as Daniel and Macrae missing out.
3. Harmes played in the 2's last year for Melbourne. I wonder why.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

1. Dale and Williams are shadows of their former selves. They reached their peak, now on the way down.
2. Our defence will once again be our Achilles heel. I wonder if a new coach would have the balls to move Naughton to CHB ?
3. How is McNeil, Harmes, Gallagher and VDM selected in starting side over Daniel. I’m sorry but that’s taking the piss.

I've no problem with them being selected. It's not taking the piss at all.
They don't do this for shits and giggles?.
They would have supporting arguments and data to support it.
I am glad it seems the club is effectively trying to change things.
It didn't work today, but the club has established some selection principles in preseason and I guess they felt they had to adhere to them .

[AshMac]

1.
3. We are Melbournes absolute bitches. We can laugh at Oliver and his off field stuff, or say Goodwin is a crap leader. They absolutely own us and live rent free in our heads with a tax deduction and negative gearing, while making us do their cooking and cleaning.


This is 100% correct. They stand taller and we shrink every time. The fact we never watched the replay and got closure as a playing group of the 21 grand final turned them into a cultural fear for us

[azabob]

I've no problem with them being selected. It's not taking the piss at all.
They don't do this for shits and giggles?.
They would have supporting arguments and data to support it.
I am glad it seems the club is effectively trying to change things.
It didn't work today, but the club has established some selection principles in preseason and I guess they felt they had to adhere to them .

But did they? English clearly underdone and plays, same with Dale. The message out of the club all summer was no underdone players.

[angelopetraglia]

But did they? English clearly underdone and plays, same with Dale. The message out of the club all summer was no underdone players.

Reading in between the lines after listening to the Bevo presser. He thought they could hurt Melbourne with leg speed across the ground. That is what drove the thinking behind playing players with running abililty ahead of Caleb and Macrae.

What we learnt today, it don't matter how hard or far you can run if you turn over the pill or you can't get it. You ain't hurting anyone.

[Mofra]

Reading in between the lines after listening to the Bevo presser. He thought they could hurt Melbourne with leg speed across the ground. That is what drove the thinking behind playing players with running abililty ahead of Caleb and Macrae.

What we learnt today, it don't matter how hard or far you can run if you turn over the pill or you can't get it. You ain't hurting anyone.
I thought our clangers today were much quicker than last year.

[angelopetraglia]

I thought our clangers today were much quicker than last year.

Ha ...

[Grantysghost]

I thought our clangers today were much quicker than last year.
Hahaaaa

[Willofwest]

I thought our clangers today were much quicker than last year.
I could not believe the spread the Dee?s had on us. They had one or two outside of pack, we guarded space. When we had a chance to switch we didn?t, kicked down the line to a contest which by the time we kicked it Gawn was there. I?m sorry our selections for leg speed didn?t work. My outs would by VDM, Baku and Dale. JOD in, Williams to half back and give me a crumbing forward. I totally agree with stating Naughton high and roll through a couple of centre bounces. JUH, or Lobb in goal square and the other wide. And STOP kicking to packs??? I?m still mighty P1ssed about the game, had high hopes, and they all came crumbling down. End of Rant.

[DOG GOD]

I've no problem with them being selected. It's not taking the piss at all.
They don't do this for shits and giggles?.
They would have supporting arguments and data to support it.
I am glad it seems the club is effectively trying to change things.
It didn't work today, but the club has established some selection principles in preseason and I guess they felt they had to adhere to them .

McNeil has not improved since he was drafted. Let’s get real. He should’ve been delisted.
English and Dale shouldn’t have played.
What does the club look like it’s trying to change? They are still picking players not up to AFL standard.

[angelopetraglia]

McNeil has not improved since he was drafted. Let’s get real. He should’ve been delisted.
English and Dale shouldn’t have played.
What does the club look like it’s trying to change? They are still picking players not up to AFL standard.

McNeil agree. However, although English lowered his colours to Gawn, but that ain't the first time. He did have 23 touches, should have kicked two goals and also had 10 conetested possesions.

[DOG GOD]

McNeil agree. However, although English lowered his colours to Gawn, but that ain't the first time. He did have 23 touches, should have kicked two goals and also had 10 conetested possesions.

And even with all that, English just doesn’t look fit enough. He never does. By half time he’s always lumbering.

[Virgin-Dog]

1. Daniel is one of the only players who I?d consider an automatic lock regardless of position. Him, JJ and Bont are simply irreplaceable no matter what position they?re playing. Unless he?s underdone, he should never be sub - starts on field.

2. I thought I was starting to figure out some sort of cohesive gameplan from watching our practice/preseason work, but based on this game against Melbourne, I?m stumped again.

3. Darcy has to play. English and Lobb were shithouse - I?d rather watch Darcy struggle through 3 quarters then get subbed off and go short, than run with these two barely putting up a fight with little scope for improvement ahead of them.

[Bullies]

I don't get why we didn't target Ginninvan as our small crumbing forward when we knew we were going to miss on Watson. He would have been perfect for our needs. Instead we try and use McNeill as a small forward who has no goal sense. i'd like to see them fast track Clarke who is the type who would play better footy in the 1's.

[ledge]

I don't get why we didn't target Ginninvan as our small crumbing forward when we knew we were going to miss on Watson. He would have been perfect for our needs. Instead we try and use McNeill as a small forward who has no goal sense. i'd like to see them fast track Clarke who is the type who would play better footy in the 1's.

Weightman and Arty jones would have been our plan but Archie just hasn’t fit in yet.

[Dazza]

1. Melbourne are just better than us.
2. We can't pick a team with pace to then use the ball so slowly
3. Daniel is a far better player than the bottom 6 of our list. Should never have been sub

[CarnTheScray]

1. This is Beveridge?s final season.
2. Plenty of list changes still need to be made, that includes selecting the right players, recruiting the right players, and deciding who to let go in order to open up cap space, get picks and open up those opportunities for us.
3. This is the least interested I have been in our team, never felt such a lack of emotion.

[EasternWest]

1. Lobb's a bust. Get rid of him.
2. Let's start talking to West Coast about English now.
3. I'm sure James Brayshaw had a sleepless night thinking about Matt Hill.

4. I wouldn't be upset with Bontempelli if he started talking to Geelong about some superannuation years.

[bornadog]

1. Lobb's a bust. Get rid of him.
2. Let's start talking to West Coast about English now.
3. I'm sure James Brayshaw had a sleepless night thinking about Matt Hill.

4. I wouldn't be upset with Bontempelli if he started talking to Geelong about some superannuation years.

EW goes BANG :D

[Grantysghost]

1. Lobb's a bust. Get rid of him.
2. Let's start talking to West Coast about English now.
3. I'm sure James Brayshaw had a sleepless night thinking about Matt Hill.

4. I wouldn't be upset with Bontempelli if he started talking to Geelong about some superannuation years.

This is the content I came here for.

[Ozza]

I'm sorry but I feel like this thread should become "Things we never learn". Because as a club, we just turn up and do the same things and think that we are going to change the outcome.

I know the list isn't perfect - but there is also some huge talent there and I think we have wasted the last two years - and probably wasted some of the post 2016 years. I am incredibly fearful of us wasting another year of high talent - and the effect that may have on keeping players like Jamarra beyond this year.

[azabob]

EW goes BANG :D

Yep, that comment about Brayshaw and Hill has set the cat among the pigeons.

[Topdog]

Weightman and Arty jones would have been our plan but Archie just hasn’t fit in yet.

Are either of them small crumbing forwards? Weightman certainly isnt.

[Unhealthy Obsession]

1. Tim English is a very, very, very ordinary ruckman. Many of his 'efforts' in the ruck were completely uncompetitive and bordering on comical. Tim's saving grace is that he can accumulate touches around the ground, but that isn't what we need from our ruckman, especially one that is coming out of contract and believes he is deserving of $1 million per season for his ongoing services.
2. You can replace every employee in the entire football club, yet keep the head coach in place and nothing will change. Poor team selection, outdated game strategy, impotent game day coach's box, same outcomes as previous years. We made a mistake in sacking the assistants when real change was required.
3. Our bottom 6 payers are genuinely terrible and it appears that nothing will change in this respect, but what genuinely concerns me is our top 6 players (outside Marcus) looked poor yesterday. Hopefully this was a one off and not a glimpse into our future

[Ozza]

1. Tim English is a very, very, very ordinary ruckman. Many of his 'efforts' in the ruck were completely uncompetitive and bordering on comical. Tim's saving grace is that he can accumulate touches around the ground, but that isn't what we need from our ruckman, especially one that is coming out of contract and believes he is deserving of $1 million per season for his ongoing services.
2. You can replace every employee in the entire football club, yet keep the head coach in place and nothing will change. Poor team selection, outdated game strategy, impotent game day coach's box, same outcomes as previous years. We made a mistake in sacking the assistants when real change was required.
3. Our bottom 6 payers are genuinely terrible and it appears that nothing will change in this respect, but what genuinely concerns me is our top 6 players (outside Marcus) looked poor yesterday. Hopefully this was a one off and not a glimpse into our future

To an extent - the bottom 6 in any team are not going to be great. The key is finding the right roles for these players to play - and having them completely dedicated to a game plan and completely understanding what they need to do.

Watching St.Kilda play - I don't think their talent is anywhere near ours - but I see a team that absolutely understands what they need to be doing - and as a result they have become hard to beat despite the lack of talent. And that goes down to the bottom 6.

What about Sydney - are their bottom 6 any better than ours? Do they have more talent than us? Just think they are a significantly more organised team.

How many quick kicks out of packs went straight to a Melbourne player yesterday? How many spoils bounced straight to them? Its not all luck. Its being organised.

[Bullies]

To an extent - the bottom 6 in any team are not going to be great. The key is finding the right roles for these players to play - and having them completely dedicated to a game plan and completely understanding what they need to do.

Watching St.Kilda play - I don't think their talent is anywhere near ours - but I see a team that absolutely understands what they need to be doing - and as a result they have become hard to beat despite the lack of talent. And that goes down to the bottom 6.

What about Sydney - are their bottom 6 any better than ours? Do they have more talent than us? Just think they are a significantly more organised team.

How many quick kicks out of packs went straight to a Melbourne player yesterday? How many spoils bounced straight to them? Its not all luck. Its being organised. Good point you make on the Saints - You can see the Saints are all in on what they want to achieve. Might not have the talent/list we have but they work together as a team and have the buy in. We just don't have the same unity and the players are not willing to get hurt for each other. Treloar just look likes he doesn't want to be there - Does what he has to but nothing more. 2016 there was manic pressure in our forward line and caused turnovers. Now guys are happy to stand in a zone and let the ball out.

[Mofra]

To an extent - the bottom 6 in any team are not going to be great. The key is finding the right roles for these players to play - and having them completely dedicated to a game plan and completely understanding what they need to do.
Are they?

Going into round 1 you could argue West and Bramble were in our 'bottom 6' and they emerged with their reputations enhanced.
The senior guys on big money should be getting more heat than Fringey McRookie who has busted a gut with limited talent to just get near an AFL list.

[hujsh]

Are they?

Going into round 1 you could argue West and Bramble were in our 'bottom 6' and they emerged with their reputations enhanced.
The senior guys on big money should be getting more heat than Fringey McRookie who has busted a gut with limited talent to just get near an AFL list.

Treloar out for Macrae?

[Can Bar]

No more Rd 1 Away games against Melbourne. A home game would be nice for a change.
Never liked the concept post Melb GF win, and I think it continues to haunt us
we have not coped with it in the past and suspect it will takes us weeks to snap out of it. Rinse and repeat.

[Mofra]

Treloar out for Macrae?
Harmes is suspended - it seems a pretty simple swap for Macrae for mine.

[Mantis]

Treloar out for Macrae?

Yes.

Our 3 core midfielders (Treloar, Libba & Bont) don't defend and it ****ing kills us.

Bont is a genuine star and if others carried his load we could get away with him not busting a gut with his defensive running, but when the rest of his team-mates can't/ don't get out of 1st gear we expose our defence.


Harmes is suspended - it seems a pretty simple swap for Macrae for mine.

Did we learn nothing last year?

For me either Macrae comes in as a 1st choice midfielder or he doesn't play.... him playing as a HF who has a few CBA's and roles up is a waste.

[hujsh]

Yes.

Our 3 core midfielders (Treloar, Libba & Bont) don't defend and it ****ing kills us.

Bont is a genuine star and if others carried his load we could get away with him not busting a gut with his defensive running, but when the rest of his team-mates can't/ don't get out of 1st gear we expose our defence.



Did we learn nothing last year?

For me either Macrae comes in as a 1st choice midfielder or he doesn't play.... him playing as a HF who has a few CBA's and roles up is a waste.

If Macrae is committed to playing a more defensive focused game rather than ball chasing I'd having him in the middle ahead of Treloar who can play half forward rolling up probably better than Macrae could anyway.

[Sedat]

Are they?

Going into round 1 you could argue West and Bramble were in our 'bottom 6' and they emerged with their reputations enhanced.
The senior guys on big money should be getting more heat than Fringey McRookie who has busted a gut with limited talent to just get near an AFL list.
Agree, but I think our senior core deserve the opportunity to make amends this week. All the senior players you mentioned had above average seasons in 2023 - it's probably a better sign that we lost with poor output from our senior core as opposed to the same group having banner seasons in 2023 and we somehow still missed finals.

My generosity to the senior core is limited to this week. Attitudes have to change with our entire team defence when the opposition has the ball (including our entire midfield group) - if we cannot develop a strong turnover game and/or an elite kicking game (preferably both), we will be turning over the coach and probably a chunk of senior players in the next 18 months until we do.

[bornadog]

Agree, but I think our senior core deserve the opportunity to make amends this week. All the senior players you mentioned had above average seasons in 2023 - it's probably a better sign that we lost with poor output from our senior core as opposed to the same group having banner seasons in 2023 and we somehow still missed finals.

My generosity to the senior core is limited to this week. Attitudes have to change with our entire team defence when the opposition has the ball (including our entire midfield group) - if we cannot develop a strong turnover game and/or an elite kicking game (preferably both), we will be turning over the coach and probably a chunk of senior players in the next 18 months until we do.

surely the new backline coach has been working on changing things up.
Time will tell.

[1eyedog]

1. I'm done with the Dogs

2. In 2028 I will be a fully fledge Tassie Devils member and will enjoy watching footy again.

3. I wish the Bulldogs nothing but happiness and success, but it's time to move on.

[azabob]

1. I'm done with the Dogs

2. In 2028 I will be a fully fledge Tassie Devils member and will enjoy watching footy again.

3. I wish the Bulldogs nothing but happiness and success, but it's time to move on.

User name does not check out!

Stay a little bit longer to see if we drag ourselves out of this mess?

[bornadog]

1. I'm done with the Dogs

2. In 2028 I will be a fully fledge Tassie Devils member and will enjoy watching footy again.

3. I wish the Bulldogs nothing but happiness and success, but it's time to move on.

Not true

[Danny the snakeman]

1. I'm done with the Dogs

2. In 2028 I will be a fully fledge Tassie Devils member and will enjoy watching footy again.

3. I wish the Bulldogs nothing but happiness and success, but it's time to move on.

See ya , hopefully mods will delete your account.

[FrediKanoute]

Good point you make on the Saints - You can see the Saints are all in on what they want to achieve. Might not have the talent/list we have but they work together as a team and have the buy in. We just don't have the same unity and the players are not willing to get hurt for each other. Treloar just look likes he doesn't want to be there - Does what he has to but nothing more. 2016 there was manic pressure in our forward line and caused turnovers. Now guys are happy to stand in a zone and let the ball out.

This is a coaching issue. Sure player's attitudes play a part, but it's coaching ultimately.

[muzzyahoy]

1. Sick of watching the entire team flood forward offensively, with a keenness to be involved in scoring (limelight), but then not as eager to push back defensively. Makes us look like an U16 team!
2. McNeil & VDM need to stay in the 2's until further notice. McNeil's taking off before he had the footy in the 4th was indicative to the fact he just isn't a Senior footballer, and VDM is NEVER in the right place at the right time.
3. Defensive confidence is a huge driver of offensive effectiveness. This is the main reason why Naughton should go back. Darcy could then play out of the square and Marra could then play Hi Forward with Weightman playing his true role of leading to the spaces. Still don't understand the stubbornness of playing a CHB at CHB.

[bulldogsthru&thru]

Good point you make on the Saints - You can see the Saints are all in on what they want to achieve. Might not have the talent/list we have but they work together as a team and have the buy in. We just don't have the same unity and the players are not willing to get hurt for each other. Treloar just look likes he doesn't want to be there - Does what he has to but nothing more. 2016 there was manic pressure in our forward line and caused turnovers. Now guys are happy to stand in a zone and let the ball out.

The zone standing is hilarious. You can see exactly where the opposition will move the ball to next. Right over our guys head. The guy standing in no man's land. We guard space in the hope we've got good coverage inside defensive 50 but we've already lost half the battle at that point because we've allowed the most easy inside 50 a side can wish for. Who the hell came up with this shit and why do we persist with it when it clearly is a trash strategy?

[1eyedog]

Not true

It's not. I feel better today.

[macca]

1. Its only round 1, but how long do we persist with fringe players like VDM, McNeil and Buku? I cannot believe Daniels was the sub. Something is not right there.

2. Defensive effort was poor. Lack of 2 way running and Melb players just had sooo much space on the rebound. Is it a gameplan problem ? Is it just poor effort? Or we just genuinely slow.

3. I hate to say this, but I am worried about fundamentals of our game plan. 1. lack of effort 2. goal kicking 3. tackling in fwd line 4. Players playing out of position. Williams should be on the HB and told to become the best that he can, as an example.
Do we have too many players who are ordinary footballers, that we try to play them out of position ?

[bulldogsthru&thru]

1. Its only round 1, but how long do we persist with fringe players like VDM, McNeil and Buku? I cannot believe Daniels was the sub. Something is not right there.

2. Defensive effort was poor. Lack of 2 way running and Melb players just had sooo much space on the rebound. Is it a gameplan problem ? Is it just poor effort? Or we just genuinely slow.

3. I hate to say this, but I am worried about fundamentals of our game plan. 1. lack of effort 2. goal kicking 3. tackling in fwd line 4. Players playing out of position. Williams should be on the HB and told to become the best that he can, as an example.
Do we have too many players who are ordinary footballers, that we try to play them out of position ?

Your point 3 is interesting. You're right that all these problems we're discussing are fundamentals. How can we be so poor in fundamentals??