Game Day - Bulldogs vs Hawks

[GVGjr]

This is the discussion thread for todays game and it will be a great test for us playing the undefeated Hawks.

Franklin is obviously the danger guy and I hope we can control him.

Giansiracusa to get the first goal and the Dogs by 1 point with Harris BOG

[1eyedog]

Welsh first goal
Hope Griffen has a huge game
Dogs by 3 points

[G-Mo77]

I won't be able to see or hear any results until around 5 pm today because I'll be playing football myself. I'll try and find someone witha radio and get them to yell the scores out during the game.

It's going to be very hard to focus. :cool:

[bulldog]

dogs by 4 points
welsh first goal
cross bog
tommy williams will have a big one

[LostDoggy]

I can't believe my beloved Bulldogs are playing 2.5 hours up the road and I'm stuck at home watching on Fox. I'll be watching the game alone at home so I'll be relying on my Woof friends to help me through it!! Ha Ha

I think we are a real chance today. Their strength is their midfield and forward line. Their midfield will be weaker and they can't kick goals if the ball is up our end. Simple I know!!

Dogs by 17 points
Johnson first goal

Cheers!

[wimberga]

Dogs by 13 points
Aker BOG
Murph first to goal

[LostDoggy]

Dogs by 34 points.

Johnno for the first goal, and putting in a determined BOG performance after last week's disappointment. Franklin to have a shocker after a good first quarter.

[BulldogBelle]

Dogs by 10 points
Cooney BOG
First goal - Murphy

[bornadog]

Murphy 1st goal and BOG,

Dogs by 19 points

[hujsh]

If Lewis is a late withdrawal it will be a huge gain for us as they don't have much depth left apparently.

Dogs 12
Lake BOG

[Rach]

Aker first goal. Griffen BOG. Dogs by 16 points :)

[LostDoggy]

Dogs by 4 Gia first johnno first goal cooooooooooooooooooooooooney for BOG

[bornadog]

Good 1st quarter but we should have nailed a few more goals with the amount of times we entered the forward 50. Too many long bombs to no one.

[bornadog]

Good second quarter, hope the boys can stay injury free as we are really dishing it up to this mod. The dogs are going in hard and winning the ball. WE have really missed some easy shots as well. Lets hope we keep this up for four quarters.

[hujsh]

Good that Jonson lost the toss after winning it last week.

Acker and Hudson misses were bad.

Minson tackling Birchal was excellent (too bad Hahn missed)

Pressure is very good.

Should be up by more though

[The Coon Dog]

Fantastic 2nd term.

Gilbee looking much better than he has in recent weeks.

A couple of errant handballs gave away 2 goals. Grrrrr!

Great quarter by Welsh. Nice long goal from the 50.

4 goals up, can't become complacent tho.

Love the pressure we are putting on the ball carrier.

Farren has kept Bateman quiet.

So far so good.

[LostDoggy]

Really need to keep doing what we're doing. (understatement I know!) We really are scaring them when we go forward. They don't have the backs to cover all our scoring options. All that said though, we still have a half of footy to win.

[LostDoggy]

Fantastic 2nd term.

Gilbee looking much better than he has in recent weeks.

A couple of errant handballs gave away 2 goals. Grrrrr!

Great quarter by Welsh. Nice long goal from the 50.

4 goals up, can't become complacent tho.

Love the pressure we are putting on the ball carrier.

Farren has kept Bateman quiet.

So far so good.

Bingo TCD!

Their 2 goals were a direct result of some very silly football from the dogs. We should be going in with a bigger lead but I'll take 4 goals.

Johnson's injury looked a bit like Harvey's last week so hopefully he can also come back on and contribute.

[GVGjr]

Great quarter by Welsh. Nice long goal from the 50.

Farren has kept Bateman quiet.

So far so good.

Really agree on these two points. Welsh has put us in a good position and Ray has shown a lot with the defensive job he doing.

[LostDoggy]

Why aren't you there today Hobdog?

Had other things on in Hobart tonight that prevented me from making the trip up unfortunately Mate.

I'm sitting back watching it on the Plasma at home with a beer!

[Scorlibo]

Who's playing on Franklin can anyone tell me? All I have are the stats for this game, but looking at those it appears to have been a very even contribution? Keep it up dogs.

[LostDoggy]

I have liked Eagletons and Giansiracusa games so far. For players that keep get put under the spotlight by our own supporters these two have done well.

[hujsh]

Although he's kicked 3 goals, Williams has been pretty good on Franklin.

Not once has he lead and marked on Williams. His goals have come from getting handballs and running into goal.

[Dogs 24/7]

Although he's kicked 3 goals, Williams has been pretty good on Franklin.

Not once has he lead and marked on Williams. His goals have come from getting handballs and running into goal.

Yes Williams has done the job but it's only half done. We need to keep both he and Roughhead under control for the balance of the game.

[Dogs 24/7]

I have liked Eagletons and Giansiracusa games so far. For players that keep get put under the spotlight by our own supporters these two have done well.

Same here. Cross, Cooney and Welsh have been important as well. Shaggy and Gilbee are getting back into some form.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Look I really admire Cross, but in the past two weeks, and I know there have been others this year, he has made some terrible mistakes due to poor awareness that have really hurt us. Real momentum changing mistakes too. Hawks are right back in this now.
He really needs to work on this deficiency.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

This is one of the best tackle-pressure displays I've seen from us. Just relentless.
Really deserve to go on with it from here, let's just hope we keep the intensity levels up and don't allow the Hawks to get back in with a sniff

[hujsh]

tackles 9-0 and clearances 8-1 at one stage

[hujsh]

27 points. Loved Aker's tackling and Tiller's mark.

With their big bodies a worry it's great that we can pressure them with guys like Aker and Hahn

Callan's done his hammy.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

tackles 9-0 and clearances 8-1 at one stage

Yep fiercesome stuff. Best quarter of pressure footy from the Dogs I've seen in a long time.
Will need to back up again in the last to keep the Hawks out of it. We've held sway for the majority of the game, just need to run it out now.
The pleasing thing so far, is that every player has done their bit, from the stars like Murphy, Cooney, Johnno, right the way through to the lesser lights like Minson, Addison and Tiller.
Even Tommy, despite Buddy kicking 4, has done well.

[bornadog]

Farren has done a good job on Bateman, but like previous years his kicking is woeful, he just bombs it to no one, his handballs are also poor. He needs to improve his disposal.

We have out muscled this mob and we need to now go on with it. Griffen has been sensational, I think his best game this year. Hudson is so important to us, he has done so well.

[LostDoggy]

Well I don't know about you guys but I feel bloody fantastic!!

Well done Dogs you showed them how to play hard contested football.

[katemeehan]

GO THE DOGS!!
incredible game
bout time someone showed them
and very glad it was us!

[LostDoggy]

Dogs by 34 points.


I just wanted to say.. SORRY FOR BEING TOO OPTIMISTIC.

Where was the faith, WOOF?

GO YOU BLOODY DOGS!!!

[hujsh]

Well I don't know about you guys but I feel bloody fantastic!!

Well done Dogs you showed them how to play hard contested football.

I'm with you. P U M P E D

Makes up for the loss last week in a way.

The commentators started paying us respect and began saying that maybe it was bulldog pressure and not Hawthorne mistakes.And that we've beat Sydney at home, Adelaide and Hawthorn at Tassie.

Gilbee's back (traded him from by DT but when Hunt was dropped got him back,lucky)

Welsh's best game for a while

[Rach]

That was just great. Well done to the Doggies!

[hujsh]

Apologies to Hargrave who I've severely underestimated. He's beating his man and i didn't realise how well he could kick.

[LostDoggy]

Geez if Addison could kick he would be a gun.

[bornadog]

Just waiting for the, 'Hawthorn were undermanned' from the 'Who have they beaten' brigade.

What a Joke if they blame injuries, the only real player out was Hodge, Crawford, Guera. We were pumped by them last year with seven out.

We had West and Higgins out, so they can stick that up their jumper and lost Callan during the game.

[ledge]

Williams and Tiller great games, Eade set Williams up for this. Franklin still kicked 5 but 2 were given to him. Williams beat him one out in 95% of contests.
Well done to all the boys a great all round performance, Callan i hope isnt too bad, does this mean Wight or Stack are a chance next week?
Johnno welcome back, leg kicked straighter this week, is it coming good ?

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Geez if Addison could kick he would be a gun.

Yes he made a couple of howlers, however we are seeing improvement from him almost each week, and he is growing in stature.
I think we are sometimes noticing Addisons mistakes more though, because it has been an issue with Addison, I mean Cross has made a couple of real clinkers in each of the past two weeks, but they've barely been mentioned by fans.
By and large I thought we had 22 guys giving it there all today, and I can't pinpoint anyone in the performance today who was minus in the ledger overall today.
Best 4Qtr effort from the Dogs in over 2 years I reckon.

[hujsh]

Great game for Addison to play in. Did well

[LostDoggy]

Yes he made a couple of howlers, however we are seeing improvement from him almost each week, and he is growing in stature.


Exactly; wasn't a criticism, just saying that I'm SO impressed with his game that I wish he could just kick better in general, because if he could he could nearly be elite class, with his hardness and speed.

[ledge]

Just waiting for the, 'Hawthorn were undermanned' from the 'Who have they beaten' brigade.
Well facts are we have beaten 2 in the top 4 and only team to do it, 1 to go!
Respect is now on the cards from papers.
MMM now on to next week..............

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Just waiting for the, 'Hawthorn were undermanned' from the 'Who have they beaten' brigade.

They could've had a full compliment today and they still would've got thumped, we had total intent by all players today.
The "who have the beaten brigade" can go please themselves, we can be satisfied that we know our guys had a resolve today that would've been hard to have been beaten by most sides.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Exactly; wasn't a criticism, just saying that I'm SO impressed with his game that I wish he could just kick better in general, because if he could he could nearly be elite class, with his hardness and speed.

Yes, we will have a real beaut if he can lift that facet of his game to match his intensity and bravery.

[GVGjr]

Geez if Addison could kick he would be a gun.

Yes he needs a bit of work there but boy has he made some progress this season.

[bornadog]

Dogs hand Hawks first loss
31/05/2008 4:58:08 PM
Jonathan Healy
Sportal
The Western Bulldogs have inflicted Hawthorn's first loss of the season after registering a comprehensive 32-point victory over the ladder leaders at Aurora Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Despite a combined nine goals from Lance Franklin and Jarryd Roughead, the Bulldogs used the ball better than their opponents throughout the contest to run out 15.16 (106) to 12.2 (74) victors.

Franklin and Roughead may have had their kicking boots on, but the Dogs won the ball through the midfield and forced Hawthorn into plenty of errors with some ferocious tackling.

Jason Akermanis, Adam Cooney and Daniel Giansiracusa combined for 20 tackles, while winning plenty of the ball themselves, as the Dogs put Hawthorn under plenty of pressure and restricted their delivery to both Franklin and Roughead.

While the Dogs' tackling was the statistic that shone out in the victory (they won the tackle count 57-38), their ability to win the clearances in the middle of the ground was also impressive.

With Sam Mitchell well held by 100-gamer Matthew Boyd and Shane Crawford and Luke Hodge missing through injury, the Dogs dominated the stoppages and restricted Hawthorn's ability to find its key forwards.

Ryan Griffen, Daniel Cross, Lindsay Gilbee and Farren Ray all collected more than 20 disposals each as the Dogs midfield ran riot against a disappointing Hawthorn outfit.

Franklin and Roughead were among the Hawks better players, but it was hard to find any other four-quarter contributors for Alistair Clarkson's side.

Jordan Lewis, Jarryd Morton and Grant Birchall tried hard, but they received little support from their more experienced team-mates.

After the Dogs took a six-point lead into the first change, Franklin booted two consecutive goals to start the second quarter to give the Hawks the lead.

But three goals from Scott Welsh late in the term ensured the Dogs took a four-goal lead into the main break.

A goal from Simon Taylor and one each from Roughead and Franklin brought the Hawks within eight points midway through the third quarter, but the Dogs steadied once again to take a 27-point lead into three-quarter time.

When Franklin kicked his fifth of the day and 50th of the season to start the final term the Hawks were within 22 points and were back in the contest.

But an answering goal from Akermanis immediately gave the Dogs the momentum back, before a nice running goal from Boyd iced the contest as Rodney Eade's team drew to within two points of the Hawks at the top of the ladder.

HAWTHORN: 2.2, 5.2, 9.2, 12.2 (74)
WESTERN BULLDOGS: 3.2, 8.8, 12.11, 15.16 (106)

GOALS: HAWTHORN: Franklin 5, Roughead 4, Campbell, Young, Taylor
WESTERN BULLDOGS: Welsh 4, Griffen 2, Cooney 2, Akermanis, Giansiracusa, Eagleton, Minson, Gilbee, Johnson, Boyd
BEST: HAWTHORN: Franklin, Roughead, Lewis, Birchall, Morton, Ladson
WESTERN BULLDOGS: Griffen, Akermanis, Giansiracusa, Gilbee, Cooney, Welsh
INJURIES: HAWTHORN: Nil
WESTERN BULLDOGS: Callan (hamstring), Johnson (concussion)
REPORTS: Robert Murphy (Western Bulldogs) reported for rough conduct on Xavier Ellis (Hawthorn) during the second quarter.
CHANGES: Nil
UMPIRES: McBurney, Kennedy, Ellis
CROWD: TBC at Aurora Stadium

Sportal AFL Player of the Year votes:
3. Ryan Griffen (Western Bulldogs)
2. Jason Akermanis (Western Bulldogs)
1. Daniel Giansiracusa (Western Bulldogs)

[hujsh]

Why didn't Williams make a choking gesture when he missed that goal, out on the full.;)

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Just wanna say, how good was Guido today?
Seriuosly for anyone doubting his importance for us, today exemplified how vital he is for us.
Hard in and under, tackling pressure, keeping his feet in contests, and fantastic vision and execution. In my opinion he has lifted his game this year and is one of our critical players going forward this season.
His ability to play in and under in the midfield gaining clearances and stifling Hawks on ballers was magnificent today, and then when moving around the ground he just displayed exquisite touch and awareness to find and execute the best option.

[bornadog]

the Tackles today were unbelievable, 57 to 38

[hujsh]

Just wanna say, how good was Guido today?
Seriuosly for anyone doubting his importance for us, today exemplified how vital he is for us.
Hard in and under, tackling pressure, keeping his feet in contests, and fantastic vision and execution. In my opinion he has lifted his game this year and is one of our critical players going forward this season.
His ability to play in and under in the midfield gaining clearances and stifling Hawks on ballers was magnificent today, and then when moving around the ground he just displayed exquisite touch and awareness to find and execute the best option.

And he didn't have a pre-season on top of that.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Why didn't Williams make a choking gesture when he missed that goal, out on the full.;)

Speaking of Mark Williams, Morris totally shut him down today, kudos' to Dale for that. Williams could've been a big danger man for us today as a 3rd option up forward, but he just didn't even get a sniff, except for the free kick which as you say he fluffed. Although he was stiffed on the 50 metres.. it would've been lucky to have been marched 25 metres.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

And he didn't have a pre-season on top of that.

I know! that makes it all the more commendable, really needs to get some SLAPS on the back from a few supporters I reckon.

[The Coon Dog]

I thought we tackled today as well as I have ever seen!

Happy with Farren's job today, got better as the game progressed.

Boyd was terrific on Mitchell. I know Mitchell got a bit of it, but how harried was he?

Cross was terrific, in & under & above his head, just a shame he turned 2 over that cost us a couple of goals.

Mitch is crucial up forward. I don't really reckon other teams supporters really know how good Mitch is.

Johnno was important at times, particularly crucial times, just seemed to lift a cog when needed.

I loved Gia's game, his disposal was sublime.

Good to see Griff using his body to advantage, he was terrific one on one today.

Cooney has stepped up another level this season. So consistent, consistently good!

Gee I was impressed with Shaggy's game today. he was used as an outlet all day & never let us down.

Very happy with Scott Welsh's game today. Had a terrific 2nd term & gave us a target all day.

Will, didn't have alot of it, competed all day & those Hawk defenders knew he was around, somewhere, they just didn't know where, but had the feeling he was about.

I thought Gilbee got back to somewhere approaching his best this afternoon. His vision is second to none.

Thought Murph was a little unlucky to be reported. I felt Ellis half fell into Murph who did nothing other than tense his body.

[LostDoggy]

What a difference when there are 22 COMMITTED players. Their aggression and tackling across the whole team was the best I've seen for many weeks - better than some of our wins by greater margins.

The final winning margin was flattered by Hawthorn's accurate kicking, and our inaccurate kicking.

It will be interesting as to who we think were our best players; were they the players with the most possessions, or, the players with less possessions, high tackles, or even the players who took their opponents right out of the game?

An interesting discussion for another thread.

[LostDoggy]

Hawthorn lost because they didn't have Crawf and Hodge -- it's all over the radio waves now. Last time I checked, Crawf and Hodge aren't worth 32 points per game between the two of them.

How many points would a fit Higgins add to the Dogs?

No bloody respect. No bloody respect.

[LostDoggy]

Didn't know where to mention this, but today I noticed a couple of stupid decisions by the umpires about high tackles. At one stage, I think it was Griffen got pulled up for a high tackle on someone, which was absolutely ridiculous. Later in the game, Addison got coathangered, but it was play on, seconds later, Griffen was coathangered, and again, nothing for us? What did people think of the umpiring today?

[Sockeye Salmon]

Hawthorn lost because they didn't have Crawf and Hodge -- it's all over the radio waves now. Last time I checked, Crawf and Hodge aren't worth 32 points per game between the two of them.

How many points would a fit Higgins add to the Dogs?

No bloody respect. No bloody respect.

I hear that West bloke goes alright.

[Topdog]

Farren has done a good job on Bateman, but like previous years his kicking is woeful, he just bombs it to no one, his handballs are also poor. He needs to improve his disposal.



Farren needs to really stop trying to kick with his left bloody foot. When he kicks on his right he is fine.

[Topdog]

I am still absolutely pumped with that win.

Mitch had a poor game in regards to skills with him dropping some easy marks and poor kicking however his tackling was still good.

As others have said Gia was absolutely fantastic. I don't know any of the stats but I'm sure he had a ton of tackles and I believe he won 3 free kicks for his tackles which is an absurd amount of holding the ball decisions.

Aker proving to be a brilliant recruit and is getting it done in the middle when I thought he wouldn't be able to keep up their anymore.

Morris made Williams seem non existent....except of course for his brilliant out on the full. He missed another easy shot earlier in the game.

Lake was much better aswell which was pleasing, although that handball in the 2nd quarter after marking the ball really was a brain fade.

Thought Addison was fantastic. Really hard at it and never ever went into a contest with anything less than 100% committment. Really growing to love him and he seemed to have his own cheersquad at the Vic Inn in Williamstown.

Hudson is basically a tall tackling midfielder who can ruck which helps us out immensley. I believe he is the reason that our midfield has improved so much and the great thing is that we now have Hudson, Cross, Boyd, West and Addison who are really hard in and under types. It has probably made our other mids harder at it.

Welcome back Scott Welsh. Your kicking at goal was sorely missed! You could see his confidence lift after the first 2 and he took an excellent mark in the goal square in the 3rd from another Aker delivery.

We really gotta beat the Saints next week now.

[The Pie Man]

Didn't know where to mention this, but today I noticed a couple of stupid decisions by the umpires about high tackles. At one stage, I think it was Griffen got pulled up for a high tackle on someone, which was absolutely ridiculous. Later in the game, Addison got coathangered, but it was play on, seconds later, Griffen was coathangered, and again, nothing for us? What did people think of the umpiring today?

Sam Mitchell needs to pull his head in, that coathanger on Griffen was hideous and unnessecary. They pointed out his overly physical approach on 'On the Couch' on Monday (where he jumps into blokes with his knees to cork them) and then that tackle.

Hawthorn would have lost anyway yesterday, but I have to admit, I felt we got a free ride on holding ball decisions. Some of our frees were pretty harsh on the Hawks, and we got away with a few too. I don't feel it influenced the result at all though

[Go_Dogs]

Sam Mitchell needs to pull his head in, that coathanger on Griffen was hideous and unnessecary. They pointed out his overly physical approach on 'On the Couch' on Monday (where he jumps into blokes with his knees to cork them) and then that tackle.

Hawthorn would have lost anyway yesterday, but I have to admit, I felt we got a free ride on holding ball decisions. Some of our frees were pretty harsh on the Hawks, and we got away with a few too. I don't feel it influenced the result at all though

That's what pressure will do though. We were so feirce in regards to the tackling, the umps had no option but to pay them.

[The Pie Man]

That's what pressure will do though. We were so feirce in regards to the tackling, the umps had no option but to pay them.

We were super with the tackling, I was freakin proud of em. You're completely right, lay enough tackles and you'll get rewarded. We were relentless, shame it wasn't the 10 goal win it deserved.

The interpretation has changed a lot over the past few years, it gets annoying sometimes, they're too hot on it. I do remember Griffen dragging one in yesterday and getting away with it. Hey, we'll take it.

[dog town]

Huge win for us that should have massive benefits in terms of belief amongst the players.
I certainly dont think Hawthorn were close to top form but we were bloody fantastic and that should give us the confidence to take on sides like the hwaks.

The feature that I enjoyed most was the 22 man contribution to the defensive side of the game. We just tackled and pressured amazingly well. We almost reversed the zone they have been playing on to them. They had absolutely no flow or run and were constantly forced to kick to contests.

I liked the way we worked the ball through the zone that they employed. We fired off alot of unorthodox handballs to guys standing in space and just kept flicking the ball forward until we got into space. It was not the normal flowing transition that we have but you just need to find a way through against Hawthorn. We knew we would test them up forward if we could just get through them. I actually thought we were a little wasteful once we got the ball forward but we certainly dealt with the zone pretty well. It helps that we had an advantage in attitude on the day. We were clearly more determined from the outset.

The midfielders were very good around the stoppages again. When the hawks did get the ball at a stoppage we either swarmed all over them or the clearance was not deep enough to bring Franklin and Roughhead into the game.

A few players did some nice little roles. Tiller did a good job as a defensive forward and Ray kept Bateman fairly honest. Boyd kept Mitchell to minimal influence. He had 10 fairly ineffective clearances and no real influence IMO.

[Mantis]

Huge win for us that should have massive benefits in terms of belief amongst the players.
I certainly dont think Hawthorn were close to top form but we were bloody fantastic and that should give us the confidence to take on sides like the hwaks.

The feature that I enjoyed most was the 22 man contribution to the defensive side of the game. We just tackled and pressured amazingly well. We almost reversed the zone they have been playing on to them. They had absolutely no flow or run and were constantly forced to kick to contests.


I thought there unwillingness to kick the ball to contests especially in the 2nd qtr cost them dearly. We denied them the run there defenders thrive on, but instead of kicking long and direct they kept handballing under pressure to plays under more pressure and we were able to effect turn-overs.

[Go_Dogs]

Huge win for us that should have massive benefits in terms of belief amongst the players.
I certainly dont think Hawthorn were close to top form but we were bloody fantastic and that should give us the confidence to take on sides like the hwaks.

The feature that I enjoyed most was the 22 man contribution to the defensive side of the game. We just tackled and pressured amazingly well. We almost reversed the zone they have been playing on to them. They had absolutely no flow or run and were constantly forced to kick to contests.

I liked the way we worked the ball through the zone that they employed. We fired off alot of unorthodox handballs to guys standing in space and just kept flicking the ball forward until we got into space. It was not the normal flowing transition that we have but you just need to find a way through against Hawthorn. We knew we would test them up forward if we could just get through them. I actually thought we were a little wasteful once we got the ball forward but we certainly dealt with the zone pretty well. It helps that we had an advantage in attitude on the day. We were clearly more determined from the outset.

The midfielders were very good around the stoppages again. When the hawks did get the ball at a stoppage we either swarmed all over them or the clearance was not deep enough to bring Franklin and Roughhead into the game.

A few players did some nice little roles. Tiller did a good job as a defensive forward and Ray kept Bateman fairly honest. Boyd kept Mitchell to minimal influence. He had 10 fairly ineffective clearances and no real influence IMO.


I feel we have been the past two weeks. We beat both North and the Hawks in all the key areas, but couldn't put the scoreboard pressure on strong enough to really put either side away like we should have. The Hawks straight kicking helped work against us too in that area, but we still have a lot of improvement in this area, which should scare other sides.

[dog town]

Just a few comments on some players

Guido- Having an amazing year for a guy who had no pre season. A different player to previous seasons. Wins the contested ball every week and makes great decisions with the ball. Used the ball well all day and took his turn everytime he had to.

Cross- I was a bit dissapointed for him with those 2 errors he made. He has improved that part of his game dramatically and making those erros will make it hard for him to shake that perception. I still thought he was brilliant. Playing hurt IMO to which makes it all the more admirable.

Cooney- Didn't think he was bog like most of the papers did. He was still pretty influential but we had better players. Players like he and Griffen were pretty vital to us breaking down the rolling zone they employ. They have that ability to get the ball away from traffic quickly. Cooney had alot of touches where he recieved a handball gave a quick 3-5 metre burst and then got another handpass through to a guy in space. That was pretty important for us IMO.

Tiller- I thought he was good everytime the ball was in his area. He was very physical and did a good job on Birchall early on. Showed great courage going back with the flight once to.

Williams- Wouldn't get overly carried away with the performance. Did really well in some contests and was good with his tackling and physical presence at times. Franklin still had 7 scoring shots from pretty limited inside 50s. Signs are all positive for Tommy though. Looking forward to seeing him continue to develop.

Morris and Hargrave- Neither will get votes. Both smashed there direct opponents. Both having good seasons IMO.

Lake- Best game for a while. Love to see him marking opposition kicks.

Johnson- Copped a bit of flak last week but he was very good IMO. His use of the ball was a bit better.

Minson and Hudson-Both were pretty good again. Gave us alot of presence at the stoppages and a long target when forward.

Ray- Best game since returning. Kept Bateman relatively quiet and did some nice things himself. His endeavour at ground level was as good as I have seen from him also.

Gilbee- Better this week and he didn't really just pick up cheap kicks either. Alot of his touches were pretty hard fought, Beat his man and won the ball type touches. Thats the best way to get out of a form slump.

Welsh- Thats why you keep him in the side. He is always one week away from bobbing up with a game like that. His whole career has been like that.

[bornadog]

Just a few comments on some players .

Good summary on the key players.

I thought Hahn could easily have had three or four goals, missed some real gettable goals, but he is so important. I noticed Johnno played more as a hard forward flanker, allowing Welsh to be a focul point. I also was dissapointed for Cross as he generally played a great game. I thought Griffen was fantastic and had a real influence on the game, especially the first three quarters.

Overall, there were very few of our players that were beaten on the day.

[Raw Toast]

Great discussion.

I though Griffen's early tackle when they looked set to gain a centre clearance after the first goal really set the scene for the whole game. Griffen is really developing but one of the most exciting things is that there is still so much upside with him - he's started presenting and taking some good marks, but could take many more, and you'd think that he's gonna start gobbling more goals on the run as well.

I'm not sold on Tiller yet but I love his attack on the ball. Sometimes still gets caught out with the speed of the game, and can try to force the option, but when he uses it quickly he generally uses it well which is a good sign.

Murphy was very good but also tried to force it a bit too much, especially early, and got ahead of himself which is when his hands let him down. Would've been a great game if he used it better.

Cooney's become really adept at moving about on the spot while sizing up the options. Not many can do it, but at the moment he's able to balk handballs and wait for another player to run into space and then hand if off, which rattles the opposition as well as breaking open the game.

Johnno's ball use was generally simple and precise. I think he's enjoying not having to do it all, and to be creating for others. He gave off a great handpass that should've led to an Aker goal, and his pressure skills were pretty good.

Hargrave's kicking has always been under-rated, but he's stepped up with some great worm-burning passes recently. He can stab the ball on the run which is something Simon Garlick could never master. I think he's really enjoyed not having to play such a kp defensive role, and has been good coming as the third man as well.

It's too early to tell, but Hawthorn might be in some trouble for at least this season. The game made me realise why they worked so hard to get Dew onto their list. They need someone who can go long and accurately from defence and really struggled without him. I'm not sure Guerra would've helped here (though many said he would) because he coughs it up under pressure too much for mine, whereas Dew turned the game against Port a couple of weeks ago.

We sweated beautifully on their inboards pass, and their game-plan has been undone a fair bit by Port, Melbourne and now us. They also lack a bit of flexibility in their game-thinking, which might be a weakness of Clarkson. He might be able to adapt however, as Worsfold did. They clearly have an underdone defensive unit though, and if the midfield can't compensate they'll struggle.

The Hawks seemed to want to bring the ball in very precisely, perhaps following North in an attempt to isolate the key talls on the lead. Be interesting to see how we stand up to this. We were ok, but the Hawks did get a few fairly simple set shots out of the tactic, even though we prevented them from having as much time and space as North did.

[dog town]

Great discussion.

I though Griffen's early tackle when they looked set to gain a centre clearance after the first goal really set the scene for the whole game. Griffen is really developing but one of the most exciting things is that there is still so much upside with him - he's started presenting and taking some good marks, but could take many more, and you'd think that he's gonna start gobbling more goals on the run as well.

He has a massive amount of improvement in him. Gets by purely on talent and instinct alot of the time. He is such an amazing talent. Those marks he is taking occasionally are almost purely through power. Going to be amazingly strong by the time he is 26/27.




Johnno's ball use was generally simple and precise. I suppose that was the key improvement. The bit of play where he took the marks just outside 50 turned instantly and popped the ball out in front of Cooney illustrated this. I dont want to be overly critical of him but you could imagine other seasons where he might have edged his way to 50 and had a ping in that situation.


Hargrave's kicking has always been under-rated, but he's stepped up with some great worm-burning passes recently. He can stab the ball on the run which is something Simon Garlick could never master. I think he's really enjoyed not having to play such a kp defensive role, and has been good coming as the third man as well.

. Hargrave is a very good kick and one of our best rebounders. Filled the void left by Gilbee's lack of form and the absence of Mcmahon. Beating his man on most occasions now to. If you look at his last month its pretty impressive. Did good lock down roles on Micky O'Loughlin and Farmer and good rebounding roles in the other games.






We sweated beautifully on their inboards pass, and their game-plan has been undone a fair bit by Port, Melbourne and now us. They also lack a bit of flexibility in their game-thinking, which might be a weakness of Clarkson. He might be able to adapt however, as Worsfold did. They clearly have an underdone defensive unit though, and if the midfield can't compensate they'll struggle.

The Hawks seemed to want to bring the ball in very precisely, perhaps following North in an attempt to isolate the key talls on the lead. Be interesting to see how we stand up to this. We were ok, but the Hawks did get a few fairly simple set shots out of the tactic, even though we prevented them from having as much time and space as North did. They are definetly vulnerable if you can break through that zone and compete with them at the stoppages. We certainly shouldn't fear them. We can improve on this weeks game as well. Eade obviously did his homework on them. We have enough smart ball users to work through them and our stoppage work was excellent.

[Mantis]

Hargrave is a very good kick and one of our best rebounders. Filled the void left by Gilbee's lack of form and the absence of Mcmahon. Beating his man on most occasions now to. If you look at his last month its pretty impressive. Did good lock down roles on Micky O'Loughlin and Farmer and good rebounding roles in the other games.


I thought Hargrave was in trouble 2 or 3 weeks ago, but his last few games have been excellent. The fact he is for the most past of it playing on more evenly matched opponents has really helped him.

I'm still worried when he is forced to play on the resting ruckman as he quite often gives away free kicks when he doesn't need to.ie the free to Campbell in the goal square in the last qtr.

[1eyedog]

I thought Hargrave was in trouble 2 or 3 weeks ago, but his last few games have been excellent. The fact he is for the most past of it playing on more evenly matched opponents has really helped him.

I'm still worried when he is forced to play on the resting ruckman as he quite often gives away free kicks when he doesn't need to.ie the free to Campbell in the goal square in the last qtr.

You try getting to the ball against a guy 12cm taller than you, I assume that's what you are saying i.e play someone else on the resting ruckman

[Mantis]

You try getting to the ball against a guy 12cm taller than you

He didn't need to give that particular free away as Campbell was never to contest for the ball. His awareness in these types of situations isn't quite as good as it should be.

With the current structure of the team Hargrave and Morris may have to pick up taller opponents on occassions, let's hope we can get away with it.

[dog town]

I thought Hargrave was in trouble 2 or 3 weeks ago, but his last few games have been excellent. The fact he is for the most past of it playing on more evenly matched opponents has really helped him.

He is an easy target for supporters. He looks awkward and plays in an area that we are deficient in at times. That makes him an obvious target. He has far more going for him than some are willing to recognise. He more than often beats his opponent when he is given a big job. He also has a fair bit of attacking flair which is often underrated. He uses it well and is up with our best at reading the play. I think he is often missed when our best players are named.

[The Coon Dog]

He is an easy target for supporters. He looks awkward and plays in an area that we are deficient in at times. That makes him an obvious target. He has far more going for him than some are willing to recognise. He more than often beats his opponent when he is given a big job. He also has a fair bit of attacking flair which is often underrated. He uses it well and is up with our best at reading the play. I think he is often missed when our best players are named.

Yup agree with that. I really like Shaggy & also concur with Mantis about his giving away unnecessary free kicks, particularly near goal.