Game Day - Bulldogs vs Swans

[GVGjr]

This is the discussion thread for todays game against the always hard to beat Swans.

I wonder if the cold conditions of Canberra will come into play.
I have my doubts for this game although I haven't been confident for 3 weeks now.

Harbrow to get both the first goal and Cross the BOG honors.

[LostDoggy]

Welsh for the first goal (he will play closer to the goals this week)
Minson BOG
Dogs by 9 points reversing the 4th quarter fade outs of the last couple of weeks.

[Max469]

Dogs by 7 pts

Murph - 1st goal

Cross - BOG

[Stevo]

If I didn't love the club I would bet against us this week.

Dogs by a point. Shaggy BOG for his game on O'Keefe and Cooney getting the first goal.

[The Pie Man]

I feel good about today, I reckon they're primed to turn it around - 25 point win, Cooney BOG, Johnson first goal.

[bornadog]

Murphy first goal

Cooney BOG

Dogs by 25 points.

Need the midfield to fire up this week. Cooney, Griffen, Eagles, Ray have dropped off a bit and they need to fire us up.

[Rocket Science]

Cmon Scrays, knock this flakiness on the head, stop knob-teasing and show us you're serious.

Dogs by 19 points...Johnno to snag our first sausage roll...Johnno BOG

[Dogs 24/7]

Solid win by more than 20 points with Minson exploiting their smaller defenders and kicking the first goal. Hill to be the best.

[1eyedog]

Gone with head rather than heart Swans by 23 points
Gilbee BOG for us
Mitch Hahn first goal

[bornadog]

Gone with head rather than heart Swans by 23 points
Gilbee BOG for us
Mitch Hahn first goal

Is the baby keeping you up late:D

[Mantis]

Huge test of the team's character.

Sydney will throw the kitchen sink at us today so hopefully we come out the other side with a win.

As I said in the preview thread I think we will win by 4 to 5 goals.

[BulldogBelle]

Dogs by 12 points
Cooney BOG
Johnson to get the first goal.

[westdog54]

Dogs by 13.

Aker 3rd Goal.

Gilbee BOG.

I get to listen to this game in its entirety and not have to wait by the phone at work for score updates. Yay me!

[LostDoggy]

Sitting here in canberra on my iPhone..few rows behind the goals looking fwd to the clash
Nice weather too!

Cooney bog
Johnno first goal
Dogs by 26

[LostDoggy]

Sitting here in canberra on my iPhone..few rows behind the goals looking fwd to the clash
Nice weather too!

Cooney bog
Johnno first goal
Dogs by 26


A couple of updates would be appreciated - listening on the radio for this - thought it was live but no on tonight at some ungodly hour.:(

[Scraggers]

Cooney first goal and best on ground ...

Bulldogs to come from behind in the last quarter and win by 17 points ... Carn The Dogs !!

[G-Mo77]

Not a real good start be settled and brought it a little closer. Umpires do not know what holding the ball means today!

[G-Mo77]

Now that was excellent! No real negatives about that quarter although Tiller has made some awful mistakes. I just hope they don't stop in the second half.

[LostDoggy]

How's the umpire? :rolleyes: Who is standing up? Sounds like Johno is having game.

[bornadog]

How's the umpire? :rolleyes: .

We are getting killed by the umpires but that hasn't effected the way we are playing. Great quarter and lets hope we can go on with it.

[G-Mo77]

Harbrow was one our best that quarter.

[GVGjr]

What a struggle in the 3rd quarter. Lucky to hold a 20 point lead by the end of it.

If we can kick a couple of goals early in the next quarter we can blow them away.

[G-Mo77]

These umpires are a disgrace! Our boys were playing against a side with 3 extra players.

[ledge]

Wont be happy if we win hanging on, need to put last 2 weeks final quarters to bed.
Only happy if we run away with it.

[cinder]

At least it was a win.
Not entirely convincing but I'm grateful for small favours...

[lowedog]

A win is a win, and we'll look to setting back up for the finals, as top 3 is confirmed! What a fantastic turn around from this time last year.

[hujsh]

And the world is right again.:)

[GVGjr]

At least it was a win.
Not entirely convincing but I'm grateful for small favours...


A win is a win, and we'll look to setting back up for the finals, as top 3 is confirmed! What a fantastic turn around from this time last year.

Are we simply settling for an otherwise below par performance? The win might have secured us a top 3 finish, but we have to find significant improvement if we are to be a genuine contender. I'm happy that we got over the line but I'm far from convinced we have turned the corner.

[GVGjr]

Huge test of the team's character.

Sydney will throw the kitchen sink at us today so hopefully we come out the other side with a win.

As I said in the preview thread I think we will win by 4 to 5 goals.

It was a scrappy old affair without a lot of flow to it as you would expect playing against the Swans. Terrific 2nd quarter set the game up for us.

[Rocket Science]

Indeed...won't argue with the points but today was a real mixed bag. Pretty impressive 2nd quarter aside where we bounced back hard from an abysmal first stanza, the Swans actually outscored us for the remainder of the game.

Some positives:

- Harbrow went in typically hard and did some nice things with the footy.
- Griffen had a terrific first half with plenty of customary dash, before fading in the 2nd.
- Gilbee was integral right across the ground and continues his good form.
- Nice to see modest bags from Johnson and Welsh up forward.

On the flip side:

- If Akermanis truly isn't injured he needs a right royal foot up the khyber. Another completely invisible game and arguably worst on ground.
- Cooney found a reasonable amount of the ball, but wasn't particularly damaging with it.
- Tiller...Ordinary I'm afraid, he's a warm body at best right now and should be playing for Willy.

In general it's a case of same old, same old, we're too casual through the middle when not in posession and keep giving teams too much latitude between the respective 50 metre arcs...and while we hit our straps going forward at various stages as required, we still kick indiscriminately into forward 50 too often.

That first quarter was a shocker...came out asleep, were reactive and 2nd to every contest, and coughed up four goals in as many minutes to a side that struggles to score. Good thing is, we responded in the 2nd after stern words from the coach at the first break.

Should also be noted the Swans missed numerous garden variety set shots, and dropped several easy marks within goaling distance.

Some modest steps in the right direction, but this team still needs to improve its focus and professionalism. Too many blokes are in so-so form and dropping in and out of games.

[The Bulldogs Bite]

Still a lot of worrying signs.

Lucky that they butchered several shots at goal.

Cooney was absolutely murdered by McVeigh today - again Eade allowed one of the opposition's prime movers to run around free all day. Why? Judd spanked us last week, and this time around, McVeigh booted 6 goals. That's extremely poor.

We're struggling to win in the center clearances & around the stoppages, both Cooney & Griffen are non-existent in this area and aside from the second quarter we didn't apply too much pressure. The entire midfield is down - Gia, Ray & Eagleton did nothing, Cooney & Griff as I already mentioned, Aker's dead quiet and both Hudson/Minson have been quieter lately too. Ray was beaten easily by O'Keefe today and still his skills often let him down. We need a big lift in this area if we're going to turn around our form.

Everitt & Tiller are lucky to be playing. Both got beaten easily and made several mistakes. Everitt's decision making is too slow & ordinary, and he can't read the play. Add that to a lack of body strength and he's a liability in the back half at the moment. Not being too critical of him as it's only his second season, but he's not ready, and if we had the options he wouldn't be playing. Tiller was very, very poor today. He turned the ball over every single time, his skills were crap, he got caught with the ball four or five times which resulted in a couple of goals to Sydney. He's not a bad tackler, but he missed every single attempt today and really - based on that - he needs to be dropped.

Still a lot of stupid handballs and errant kicks. Lot of players not working hard enough throughout the game, and some refusing to go and win the ball themselves, preferring to wait outside for a handball.

The second quarter we turned it on and won the game - it was the only quarter we won for the day, and luckily, enough to get us over the line in the end.

The positives? Johnson was impressive, moved well, very strong hands, presented well, pressured reasonably well & looked back to his best. Welsh was very good minus getting caught in the last quarter, kicking 5 and probably being the difference between the two teams. Hill took some nice marks and ran the lines a few times, made some tackles too, though he still desperately needs body strength he played well. Harbrow was pretty important too, he worked hard (both ways) and set-up a few scoring opportunities. He's really starting to get himself in the right positions and the way he takes players on and opens up the play with his dare & pace is fantastic. Especially when a lot of our players were standing flat footed handballing to one another. He's kicking a few goals too which is good to see, and his field kicking has been spot on too. He's been a real positive since coming into the lineup IMO.

Might add a little more later but overall we're still a very, very long way from getting back to what we were playing earlier in the year. Back half is struggling with Everitt/Tiller, desperately need Williams & Callan back, though the former is re-injured again. Need a massive lift in the midfield right across the board. Today, the forward half was much better than in recent weeks.

[G-Mo77]

I thought Everitt was OK today not great but certainly a lot better than previous weeks. A key defender he is not but unfortunatly the cards have been dealt that way and he has to play out of position. I think we will see Cam Wight back in the side in the not to distant future.

[Mantis]

Can't disagree with much of what has already been said by TBB & RS.

Like G-Mo77 I thought Everitt was ok, still struggles man on man, but he is just a kid and deserves to be cut some slack. Thought his ball us was ok.

Tiller was terrible, his tackling is good, but is like a rabbit in headlights with the ball in his hands. Simply refused to take the first option and we/ he paid dearly.

A win we needed to have and we are can look forward to planning for our game vs Hawthorn in the first week of finals. The final 4 games are practice matches for this game and should be treated accordingly, yeah we need to keep our form up, but we are now in the position where we can rest guys who maybe sore and give game time to a few younger guys.

[bornadog]

These umpires are a disgrace! Our boys were playing against a side with 3 extra players.

they had 27 free kicks, we had 15. More than a disgrace.

[bornadog]

I thought Everitt was OK today not great but certainly a lot better than previous weeks. A key defender he is not but unfortunatly the cards have been dealt that way and he has to play out of position. I think we will see Cam Wight back in the side in the not to distant future.

I thought it was Everitt's best game since the break, did some nice things and would have helped his confidence, some what.

Again we have been smashed in the hitouts with Jolly winning 33 hitouts, not a bad effort, however, both Jolly and Spida did nothing around the ground and racked up only 13 disposals between them. Big Will played one of his better games and had 13 hitouts (Hudson 11) and they both had 12 disposals each.

Overall, people have to remember, we were playing the fourth side on the ladder and to come off with a win like that in Canberra was a great effort.

I for one am pleased with the win, although we should have won by 5 goals not three - bloody umpires.;)

[hujsh]

I agree with mjp (in his votes) that Ray did well on O'Keefe. While he got the ball his influence was curved.

Nice to see Johnno and Welsh playing well again.

Murph looked good when it was sent his way

[ledge]

Looking at our rucking and how Street is going in the 2s, i would say Jolly wouldnt have got anywhere near 33 hit outs if he had played.
Must be pushing for selection next week.

Thought Harbrow, Johnno and Griffen were good,great to see Welsh get a few.
Highlight of the day was Boyd, how good was that steal?
Murph, Johnno and Welsh had great hands today.

Aker i am not so hard on, didnt get much of it but was in the back line a bit, he is an opportunist and a receiver, a bit hard to receive it off the opposition in a back pocket.
Think Eade was either trying to get Sydney off guard or teaching Aker about tagging his man when he hasnt got the ball.

Was surprised to see Morris on Hall a few times and Hall was always going to win that with his build in the air.
Love watching Lake run off and he was obviously told to do that and make Hall chase.
All in all i think we did only what we had to do.

[Sockeye Salmon]

Still a lot of worrying signs.

Lucky that they butchered several shots at goal.

Cooney was absolutely murdered by McVeigh today - again Eade allowed one of the opposition's prime movers to run around free all day. Why? Judd spanked us last week, and this time around, McVeigh booted 6 goals. That's extremely poor.

We're struggling to win in the center clearances & around the stoppages, both Cooney & Griffen are non-existent in this area and aside from the second quarter we didn't apply too much pressure. The entire midfield is down - Gia, Ray & Eagleton did nothing, Cooney & Griff as I already mentioned, Aker's dead quiet and both Hudson/Minson have been quieter lately too. Ray was beaten easily by O'Keefe today and still his skills often let him down. We need a big lift in this area if we're going to turn around our form.

Everitt & Tiller are lucky to be playing. Both got beaten easily and made several mistakes. Everitt's decision making is too slow & ordinary, and he can't read the play. Add that to a lack of body strength and he's a liability in the back half at the moment. Not being too critical of him as it's only his second season, but he's not ready, and if we had the options he wouldn't be playing. Tiller was very, very poor today. He turned the ball over every single time, his skills were crap, he got caught with the ball four or five times which resulted in a couple of goals to Sydney. He's not a bad tackler, but he missed every single attempt today and really - based on that - he needs to be dropped.

Still a lot of stupid handballs and errant kicks. Lot of players not working hard enough throughout the game, and some refusing to go and win the ball themselves, preferring to wait outside for a handball.

The second quarter we turned it on and won the game - it was the only quarter we won for the day, and luckily, enough to get us over the line in the end.

The positives? Johnson was impressive, moved well, very strong hands, presented well, pressured reasonably well & looked back to his best. Welsh was very good minus getting caught in the last quarter, kicking 5 and probably being the difference between the two teams. Hill took some nice marks and ran the lines a few times, made some tackles too, though he still desperately needs body strength he played well. Harbrow was pretty important too, he worked hard (both ways) and set-up a few scoring opportunities. He's really starting to get himself in the right positions and the way he takes players on and opens up the play with his dare & pace is fantastic. Especially when a lot of our players were standing flat footed handballing to one another. He's kicking a few goals too which is good to see, and his field kicking has been spot on too. He's been a real positive since coming into the lineup IMO.

Might add a little more later but overall we're still a very, very long way from getting back to what we were playing earlier in the year. Back half is struggling with Everitt/Tiller, desperately need Williams & Callan back, though the former is re-injured again. Need a massive lift in the midfield right across the board. Today, the forward half was much better than in recent weeks.

I'm really disappointed.

I looked at the score quickly after the game and thought we won. How much did we get smashed by in the end?


The game I watched must have been different. I saw a side come out sound asleeep and give up 4 goals in the first 5 minutes (interesting fact: at that stage of the game Sydney had more frees and goals than we had effective possesions) and still win fairly easily - despite getting totally screwed over by the maggots - without really having a dominate player.

And not against a bunch of gumbies, either, but against a mob who will probably finish top 4.

A year ago we were crying about how Sydney's contested game beats us every time, that's two from two this year (and sold our home game into their territory).

Sometimes you have to give the other mob a bit of respect.

[The Bulldogs Bite]

I'm really disappointed.

I looked at the score quickly after the game and thought we won. How much did we get smashed by in the end?


The game I watched must have been different. I saw a side come out sound asleeep and give up 4 goals in the first 5 minutes (interesting fact: at that stage of the game Sydney had more frees and goals than we had effective possesions) and still win fairly easily - despite getting totally screwed over by the maggots - without really having a dominate player.

And not against a bunch of gumbies, either, but against a mob who will probably finish top 4.

A year ago we were crying about how Sydney's contested game beats us every time, that's two from two this year (and sold our home game into their territory).

Sometimes you have to give the other mob a bit of respect.

So you were impressed with what you saw?

You've got to be kidding me.

Sydney are a good side, but they also had two first gamers in whilst Goodes, Micky O, Malceski & Barry were out. They were hardly at full strength.

We played well for a quarter, but we were out-scored in the other three - so whilst I'm pleased we won, I don't think I'll be singing the praises home because we have a long way to go.

[Sockeye Salmon]

So you were impressed with what you saw?

You've got to be kidding me.

Sydney are a good side, but they also had two first gamers in whilst Goodes, Micky O, Malceski & Barry were out. They were hardly at full strength.

We played well for a quarter, but we were out-scored in the other three - so whilst I'm pleased we won, I don't think I'll be singing the praises home because we have a long way to go.

And we were missing West, Williams, Higgins and Addison. We were hardly at full strength either. So what, injuries are part of football.

We were also playing massively experienced players like Tiller & Hill (what, 10 games each?)

I was seriously unimpressed by the first 5-6 minutes. After that we outscored them by 6 goals and we gave up three late ones in junk time.

All the while we were being bent over by the maggots.

Against a team that will finish top 4.

Sometimes you can't play perfect football all the time.

[hujsh]

Don't worry about how many quarters we won. They're just 3 breaks during one game of football. We won enough periods of the game and they didn't win 75% of the game.

[strebla]

And we were missing West, Williams, Higgins and Addison. We were hardly at full strength either. So what, injuries are part of football.

We were also playing massively experienced players like Tiller & Hill (what, 10 games each?)

I was seriously unimpressed by the first 5-6 minutes. After that we outscored them by 6 goals and we gave up three late ones in junk time.

All the while we were being bent over by the maggots.

Against a team that will finish top 4.

Sometimes you can't play perfect football all the time.

Well said although i agree that we didn't play brilliant football i will sit back and be quite happy having the memory of last week erased

[osakabulldog]

We mustnt forget we were playing the swans, one of the boringest teams in history.To kick a score over 100 is a great achievement against them - its happened 5 times this year (us twice, hawthorn, geelong and carlton managed it). Its great to be back on the winners list!

[1eyedog]

Is the baby keeping you up late:D

Yes he is and I am terribly grumpy so I have been avoiding this site and have registered with Punt Road End and am giving the Richmond players heaps to sate my annoyance. So glad to be proven wrong today, thank goodness:)

[Sedat]

Groundhog Day today.

We were asleep in the first qtr and were lucky to be only 2 and a bit goals down. We then proceed to break the game open with a scintillating burst of quality football. After the break we fall asleep again but the opposition don't make us pay on the scoreboard. And in the final qtr we steadied well early before withstanding a late charge. Are we talking about today's game or the SCG game earlier this year?

Final score 113 to 97. Final score at the SCG earlier this year 112 to 94. I've never witnessed such similar games between two sides in the same season. They were almost identical games in every aspect.

Agree with previous posters that Everitt found some good form today. Tiller's decision making was poor today and is a concern - I don't think he is in our best 22 based on what I've seen so faer this year. I thought today's win was a solid return to form, especially good considering our appalling first 7 minutes. Not without some tinkering needed but heading back in the right direction.

[Mantis]

And we were missing West, Williams, Higgins and Addison. We were hardly at full strength either. So what, injuries are part of football.

We were also playing massively experienced players like Tiller & Hill (what, 10 games each?)

I was seriously unimpressed by the first 5-6 minutes. After that we outscored them by 6 goals and we gave up three late ones in junk time.

All the while we were being bent over by the maggots.

Against a team that will finish top 4.

Sometimes you can't play perfect football all the time.

Agree with all that, but the lack of accountabilty through the midfield is worrying as too is the fact that quite a few of our 'backup' midfielders aren't pulling there weight.

[Scraggers]

We mustnt forget we were playing the swans, one of the boringest teams in history.To kick a score over 100 is a great achievement against them - its happened 5 times this year (us twice, hawthorn, geelong and carlton managed it). Its great to be back on the winners list!

Agreed ... A win is a win is a win ... Good teams find a way to win even when you are down; and we have certainly been down since Darwin ...

Next week is the big test, was today's win soley due to Sydney's injuries or are we playing ourselves back into good form ??

Finishing top three means nothing if you are out of form

Go Dogs, revenge against the Roos will be sweet ... early prediction; Johnno to have another shot at goal after the siren to win the game for us ... this time the result is completely opposite ... Dogs to win by three points !!

[The Pie Man]

A win's a win, more positives to take out of it than negatives. Everett, Welsh & Johnson improved on recent output & Hahn was great (I want to see the Hahn prepared to move up the ground to win the pill and work back into the forward 50 just as hard as he did today more often) I got the feeling Eade grabbed Minson at quarter time and said 'gee Street & Skipper played well for Willy yesterday' as he was much improved

Umpiring was woeful, some of the no calls on holding the ball and then the actual holding the ball decisions given were freakin horrible. Very strange. Not sure why Murphy & Griffen on two seperate occasions let the ball bounce in front of them when they could have got to it on the full, schoolboy errors.

Extra love for Boyd's goal in the second quarter, is building an impressive back catalogue of inspirational goals/acts. Gilbee & Hargrave haven't turned the ball over in 3 months.

Felt for Tiller, he was worse than Aka yesterday, looked nervous. Tim Callan looks a dead cert to get called up soon.

[LostDoggy]

they had 27 free kicks, we had 15. More than a disgrace.

A lopsided free kick count means nothing. Why does everyone think that both teams should get the same amount of frees? Fair enough they missed a couple that they should of paid, but that will happen in every game. I didn't think the umpires had any influence over the game at all.

[LostDoggy]

And we were missing West, Williams, Higgins and Addison. We were hardly at full strength either. So what, injuries are part of football.

We were also playing massively experienced players like Tiller & Hill (what, 10 games each?)

I was seriously unimpressed by the first 5-6 minutes. After that we outscored them by 6 goals and we gave up three late ones in junk time.

All the while we were being bent over by the maggots.

Against a team that will finish top 4.

Sometimes you can't play perfect football all the time.
What he said, I was there.
We weren't that bad, after 2 performances a lot worse we are on the up in terms of form.

[LostDoggy]

A lopsided free kick count means nothing. Why does everyone think that both teams should get the same amount of frees? Fair enough they missed a couple that they should of paid, but that will happen in every game. I didn't think the umpires had any influence over the game at all.
Not true. Umpires did their best for Swans to win, we were just better than the Swans and 3 extra.
Swans had a great start, set up by 2 dodgy frees within a minute.
The Swans backline of Bolton and LRT are allowed to almost do what they want to the opposition.
Just take a look at our first goal. Johnno takes a mark and still Bolton took his legs out. Happens to often to be nothing in it.

[LostDoggy]

Not true. Umpires did their best for Swans to win, we were just better than the Swans and 3 extra.
Swans had a great start, set up by 2 dodgy frees within a minute.
The Swans backline of Bolton and LRT are allowed to almost do what they want to the opposition.
Just take a look at our first goal. Johnno takes a mark and still Bolton took his legs out. Happens to often to be nothing in it.

Bolton didn't take Johnnos legs at all. Johnson took the the mark and Bolton made incidental contact with Johnsons arms as he was trying to spoil which put Johnson off balance and knocked him over.

[LostDoggy]

Bolton didn't take Johnnos legs at all. Johnson took the the mark and Bolton made incidental contact with Johnsons arms as he was trying to spoil which put Johnson off balance and knocked him over.

Disagree. If it was done to St Nick, it would have been all over the press.

[LostDoggy]

Disagree all you like. Watch the replay and you will see Bolton doesn't touch Johnsons legs.

[LostDoggy]

Disagree all you like. Watch the replay and you will see Bolton doesn't touch Johnsons legs.

I never said he touched his legs nor do you need to, to take someone legs out. He bumped Johnno in the side when he in the air so he couldn't land on his feet.

[LostDoggy]

Fair enough. I still don't think there was anything in it. Bolton was trying to spoil, made a bit of contact and Johnson went over. I thought that's what footy was all about. Contests. If he had of just lined Johnson up and taken him out then I would agree wholeheartedly. They're not playing netball out there.

[G-Mo77]

A lopsided free kick count means nothing. Why does everyone think that both teams should get the same amount of frees? Fair enough they missed a couple that they should of paid, but that will happen in every game. I didn't think the umpires had any influence over the game at all.

The first half it didn't have much of an influence but in the second half it seemed every time a player was tackled or there SHOULD have been a ball up the umpires blew the whistle and gave a free to Sydney which in turn broke any momentum we gained. It became comical towards the end although I didn't find it funny at all at the time. Those 3 inbesciles dressed in yellow yesterday were an absoloute disgrace!

[bornadog]

Those 3 inbesciles dressed in yellow yesterday were an absoloute disgrace!

Thats two weeks in a row

[LostDoggy]

The only swans goal in the 2nd quarter came from a shocker.
I believe if you duck your head as soon as you are grab the ball and are about to be tackled it should be the same as diving on the ball. Players are looking to initiate contact with the head by ducking and running head first in.

[Sockeye Salmon]

The only swans goal in the 2nd quarter came from a shocker.
I believe if you duck your head as soon as you are grab the ball and are about to be tackled it should be the same as diving on the ball. Players are looking to initiate contact with the head by ducking and running head first in.

A few weeks ago Footy Classified showed a few players who were basically headbutting oncoming players trying to milk frees.

[Dry Rot]

What he said, I was there.
We weren't that bad, after 2 performances a lot worse we are on the up in terms of form.

I was there too, and straight and sober by the start of the game after 3 big nights down there. I was 2 rows back, grandstand side near the 50 metre arc.

Was sitting with a group of mates (neutrals).

Consensus (including me) was that aside from a very good second quarter, we were real ordinary aside for a few players.

No forward structure or system or delivery most of the time, mostly poor clearance work, many Swans' shots on goal just too easy and rampant and infectious "rabbit in the headlights" panic disposals.

If we're still the second best side (which I doubt) then the 14 other teams are utter rubbish.

Unhappy Jan. Not a good performance at all.

[Sockeye Salmon]

I was there too, and straight and sober by the start of the game after 3 big nights down there. I was 2 rows back, grandstand side near the 50 metre arc.

Was sitting with a group of mates (neutrals).

Consensus (including me) was that aside from a very good second quarter, we were real ordinary aside for a few players.

No forward structure or system or delivery most of the time, mostly poor clearance work, many Swans' shots on goal just too easy and rampant and infectious "rabbit in the headlights" panic disposals.

If we're still the second best side (which I doubt) then the 14 other teams are utter rubbish.

Unhappy Jan. Not a good performance at all.

Good enough to kick 17 goals against the most miserly defense in the comp.

[Dry Rot]

Good enough to kick 17 goals against the most miserly defense in the comp.

Good enough to kick 17 against an undermanned Swans on the day.

You liked what you saw with our forward line and the delivery to it for 4 quarters?

I didn't.

[LostDoggy]

Good enough to kick 17 against an undermanned Swans on the day.

You liked what you saw with our forward line and the delivery to it for 4 quarters?

I didn't.

We were undermanned too. No Williams, West, Higgins, Addsion and Callan. I don't buy that excuse. If we got 27 free to 15 we would have looked a lot better too

I see that forward line just about every week. Its better than ok. When your 2 main forwards kick 4 and 5 its working. Also had Hudson not struggled then Minson would have been stationed there more.
We don't have a Jonathan Brown but we do pretty well without.

[Go_Dogs]

We were undermanned too. No Williams, West, Higgins, Addsion and Callan. I don't buy that excuse. If we got 27 free to 15 we would have looked a lot better too

I see that forward line just about every week. Its better than ok. When your 2 main forwards kick 4 and 5 its working. Also had Hudson not struggled then Minson would have been stationed there more.
We don't have a Jonathan Brown but we do pretty well without.

I'm going to be different and agree with both Ernie and Dry Rot.

I think our forward structure in theory is beautiful, fast moving targets with space in front of them, ball being moved in quickly.

Too often though we see poor delivery when we are rushed/under a bit of pressure. With our set up you really can't just bomb long and hope, you need to put the ball out infront of someone, or at least to their advantage. You rarely ever see Geelong bomb long to the square, they are always lowering the eyes to spot up shorter targets moving quickly. We have the skills to do it, but sometimes we just don't. I wouldn't want to guess who to point the finger at either.

I think there is still a lot of improvement in this area.

[LostDoggy]

I'm going to be different and agree with both Ernie and Dry Rot.

I think our forward structure in theory is beautiful, fast moving targets with space in front of them, ball being moved in quickly.

Too often though we see poor delivery when we are rushed/under a bit of pressure. With our set up you really can't just bomb long and hope, you need to put the ball out infront of someone, or at least to their advantage. You rarely ever see Geelong bomb long to the square, they are always lowering the eyes to spot up shorter targets moving quickly. We have the skills to do it, but sometimes we just don't. I wouldn't want to guess who to point the finger at either.

I think there is still a lot of improvement in this area.

Agreed. (Apparantly though as someone posted in reply to me, Geelong just move the ball as quickly as they can without spotting up a target. Any targets they hit are obviously by pure luck.)

In our second quarter, when we kicked 9 unanswered goals we were hitting our lead up forwards. They know they get results if they do this so why then revert to bombing it into the goalsquare or running past the ball and doubling back??

[hujsh]

apart from the start (4 unanswered) and finish (something like 5 of the last 6) we were the better team by far.