Johnno

[Twodogs]

What an amazing work rate this guy has got. I was watching the replay last night;


4.40 left to go in the third quarter when Gilbee kicks the ball forward from behind the wing. Johnno gathers the ball on the lead about 90 metres out and flips a handball to Boyd. Keith pumps the ball towards Minson who picks up an awkward bouncing ball and handballs to Ward running towards him about 45 metres. Ward drops the ball straight onto his boot and sends a long bomb virtually onto the goalline.

Who marks it? Johnnnnno! That's who. The clock said he marked it at the 4.26. He disposed of the ball cleanly, turned and ran 80-90 metres back to the goals and then got into a postion to mark the ball inside 13 seconds.


Freakish, just freakiish.

[westdog54]

He's been getting a spray from a small minority on another forum after yesterday's game.

Apparently 20 touches, 8 marks and 3 goals constitutes being out of form.

[Mofra]

What an amazing work rate this guy has got. I was watching the replay last night;


4.40 left to go in the third quarter when Gilbee kicks the ball forward from behind the wing. Johnno gathers the ball on the lead about 90 metres out and flips a handball to Boyd. Keith pumps the ball towards Minson who picks up an awkward bouncing ball and handballs to Ward running towards him about 45 metres. Ward drops the ball straight onto his boot and sends a long bomb virtually onto the goalline.

Who marks it? Johnnnnno! That's who. The clock said he marked it at the 4.26. He disposed of the ball cleanly, turned and ran 80-90 metres back to the goals and then got into a postion to mark the ball inside 13 seconds.


Freakish, just freakiish.
I am just as impressed by his ability to drag the no 1 defender away from the contest to allow Minson to have a 1 on 1 contest with his opponent - Welsh crumbed off him for 2 of his goals yesterday. Johnno sacrificing his own game at times does not constitute selfish play at all.

[immortalmike]

The guy is an absolute legend how he's still doing these things at 31is a testament to his heart, determination and love for the club. How he can be called selfish after he has sacrificed his game for the betterment of the team is a travesty. Go Johnno you champion.

[Twodogs]

The guy is an absolute legend how he's still doing these things at 31is a testament to his heart, determination and love for the club. How he can be called selfish after he has sacrificed his game for the betterment of the team is a travesty. Go Johnno you champion.


One of the reasons we set this board up was we were basically sick of posters who wanted to shoot their mouths off without first engaging their brains. I reckon that if a postere want to have a ping at someone then they should at least have an understanding of the finer details of what's happening on the field.

[GVGjr]

I was discussing Johnno with Twodogs the other day. If he can shake off the niggling injuries that he has been carrying for a while now he could very well be the difference between a top four finish or the flag.

[The Doctor]

I was discussing Johnno with Twodogs the other day. If he can shake off the niggling injuries that he has been carrying for a while now he could very well be the difference between a top four finish or the flag.


I concur with those thoughts

[1eyedog]

He is a real bogey for opposition teams once we start playing finals, who wants a flag in the team as much as Johnno? Scotty West. These two could be the difference. Their experience will speak volumes if they're fit.

[LostDoggy]

Johnno is a gun, love how last year we had to rely on him but this year he plays consistantly every week and we dont always have to look for him..

[The Bulldogs Bite]

I was discussing Johnno with Twodogs the other day. If he can shake off the niggling injuries that he has been carrying for a while now he could very well be the difference between a top four finish or the flag.

I think Johnson is close to 100% now, the difference now is that he's not playing predominately as a forward. He's working up the ground a lot more and the last few weeks he's actually been doing well. Some supporters are basing his form on his goal kicking but you can't compare them to last year, as he's clearly playing different roles.

The interesting thing will be come Finals; if we need a spark, will we see Johnno as our main forward again - acting as our secret weapon?

[GVGjr]

The interesting thing will be come Finals; if we need a spark, will we see Johnno as our main forward again - acting as our secret weapon?

When you consider that Akermanis is our number one goal kicker at the moment and he actually hasn't kicked that much more than Stephen Milne, then we might very well need Johnson to bag some goals in the latter part of the year.

[hujsh]

Our best games are usually when Johnno helps set up goals and lets the team kick them. Like the 06 final vs Collingwood.

The other forums suggestion that Johnson is jealous of Aker is rediculous

[Twodogs]

When you consider that Akermanis is our number one goal kicker at the moment and he actually hasn't kicked that much more than Stephen Milne, then we might very well need Johnson to bag some goals in the latter part of the year.



The feeling was that despite the forward line heroics of various players to win a flag we really need a solid reliable goalkicker who can provide a constant target. Premiership teams nearly always have one of these and while the player doesnt need to be the monster forward of old he still needs to be able to provide constant leads and work hard in the forward line.


You could think about it for 12 hours and not be able to think of a better man than Johnno for the job.

[Mantis]

The feeling was that despite the forward line heroics of various players to win a flag we really need a solid reliable goalkicker who can provide a constant target. Premiership teams nearly always have one of these and while the player doesnt need to be the monster forward of old he still needs to be able to provide constant leads and work hard in the forward line.

You could think about it for 12 hours and not be able to think of a better man than Johnno for the job.

Why is this the job of just one person? I prefer our set-up where we have 6 or 8 players who can fill this role.

[Twodogs]

Why is this the job of just one person? I prefer our set-up where we have 6 or 8 players who can fill this role.


It's not a pass mark for the rest of the forward to set up a marquee on the 50 metre mark and party the rest of the season away. It's more having a reliable player to set the tone and provide results as the season wears on and it get's a bit more difficult.


Redoubling and shoring up efforts and resources.

[Mantis]

It's not a pass mark for the rest of the forward to set up a marquee on the 50 metre mark and party the rest of the season away. It's more having a reliable player to set the tone and provide results as the season wears on and it get's a bit more difficult.


Redoubling and shoring up efforts and resources.

But can't you have more than one player doing this job?

For me Hahn sets the tone for our hardness and competitiveness (is that a word) in the forwardline. Murf and Aker add the touch of polish. Johnson and Welsh add the workrate and one on one skills and Minson adds the muscle.

Pretty good mix.

Would prefer our set-up to Brisbane's yesterday who would only have kicked over 100 points if Brown had kicked 8, yeah they missed Bradshaw, but still they are pretty one-dimensional.

[Twodogs]

But can't you have more than one player doing this job?

For me Hahn sets the tone for our hardness and competitiveness (is that a word) in the forwardline. Murf and Aker add the touch of polish. Johnson and Welsh add the workrate and one on one skills and Minson adds the muscle.

Pretty good mix.

Would prefer our set-up to Brisbane's yesterday who would only have kicked over 100 points if Brown had kicked 8, yeah they missed Bradshaw, but still they are pretty one-dimensional.


Yep but premiership nearly always have at least one key forward. We cant win it if we just maintain what we are doing right now. Improvement has to come from what we already have on the park and one way to do that is move Johnno forward with a job in mind.

[craigsahibee]

I think Johnson is close to 100% now, the difference now is that he's not playing predominately as a forward. He's working up the ground a lot more and the last few weeks he's actually been doing well. Some supporters are basing his form on his goal kicking but you can't compare them to last year, as he's clearly playing different roles.

The interesting thing will be come Finals; if we need a spark, will we see Johnno as our main forward again - acting as our secret weapon?

Spot on with that.

How any Bulldog supporter could ever question Johnno has got me stuffed. OK he may have some down games but it's never through lack of trying or commitment. He is human (allegedly).

[The Coon Dog]

We cant win it if we just maintain what we are doing right now.

Of course we can!

What we are doing really well is rotating a variety of players with different skill sets into the various forward positions.

Poor Daniel Merrett yesterday played on Minson, Johnson, Murphy, Grifen, Cooney, Welsh & Hahn at different times. It gave him no time to settle into any type of pattern.

[Sockeye Salmon]

**** Shane Ellen's 5 goals counted for just the same as any other 5 goals in a grannie.

If we kick 22 goals in a grand final we win whether Johnno kicks all 22 or everyone kicks 1 each.

How hard must it be to plan against us? Shut down Johnno and Aker and Scotty Welsh and Murph will bite you on the arse. If not them then it might be Gia or Mitch or Puck-Puck or Griff or Will or ...

[Twodogs]

**** Shane Ellen's 5 goals counted for just the same as any other 5 goals in a grannie.

If we kick 22 goals in a grand final we win whether Johnno kicks all 22 or everyone kicks 1 each.

How hard must it be to plan against us? Shut down Johnno and Aker and Scotty Welsh and Murph will bite you on the arse. If not them then it might be Gia or Mitch or Puck-Puck or Griff or Will or ...


^^^^^^

You've pulled one of two exceptions I could think of going back over 25 years to my 'dominant forward' theory. Adelaide did it in 97-98 with Jarman as one avenue but essentially relying on bit players who werent really dedicated forwards. And Essendon in '93 didnt really have a #1 avenue to goal, more a rotation of onballers and resting ruckman. Every other premiership team has a bloke whose priorities were to kick goals and to be the bloke who kicked the goals.

[Sockeye Salmon]

^^^^^^

You've pulled one of two exceptions I could think of going back over 25 years to my 'dominant forward' theory. Adelaide did it in 97-98 with Jarman as one avenue but essentially relying on bit players who werent really dedicated forwards. And Essendon in '93 didnt really have a #1 avenue to goal, more a rotation of onballers and resting ruckman. Every other premiership team has a bloke whose priorities were to kick goals and to be the bloke who kicked the goals.

Carlton of 81-82 had Maclure at CHF (not a big goalkicker) and about 100 midfielders who kicked goals.
Collingwood in 1990 got 5 out of Ron McKeon in the grand final but Daicos and Brown kicked all their goals during the year.
West Coast in 94 had Sumich but he only got 49. Heady and Lewis kicked their goals.
Salmon kicked plenty in the first half of 93 until he did his knee.
West Coast were a point shy in 2005 with phillip Matera winning their goalkicking with 38.

[Twodogs]

Carlton of 81-82 had Maclure at CHF (not a big goalkicker) and about 100 midfielders who kicked goals.
Collingwood in 1990 got 5 out of Ron McKeon in the grand final but Daicos and Brown kicked all their goals during the year.
West Coast in 94 had Sumich but he only got 49. Heady and Lewis kicked their goals.
Salmon kicked plenty in the first half of 93 until he did his knee.
West Coast were a point shy in 2005 with phillip Matera winning their goalkicking with 38.


Carlton-Bosustow, Ralph.

Collingwood-Daicos kicked 97 goals

The other sides you mention all had 'kick it to me' types who delivered goals.


I'm not saying that we cant win the flag with the set up we have, or that changing it will ensure success. Hell I dont even know if what I'm saying will work. What I do know is the team will change significantly in all sorts of ways between now and late september. That's a given-not many teams just a roll a team onto the park the way that Geelong did last year and not have to alter it significantly from halfway through the season to GF day.

There will be changes. Luckily most of the improvement we will need can come fromthe 22
players already in the team or on the list. The coaches have to anticipate and identify what these changes need to be and plan well enough to minimise the effects these changes will have on performance.