Game Day - Bulldogs vs Lions (NAB round 2)

[GVGjr]

Lets keep the discussions of tonights blockbuster to the one thread.

Prediction: Bulldogs by 28 points

[Dry Rot]

8 goals if we're switched on, damned close if we're not.

[The Bulldogs Bite]

18 points.

I think we'll play in bursts because we don't have Johnson, Griffen, Akermanis etc.

I'm really looking forward to seeing McDougall, Pask & The Aboriginal boys along with Higgins.

[GVGjr]

Well firstly the night got off to a good start because I caught up with part of the AAD clan.

Before the game commenced I listened to an interview with Peter Street (DR was jealous when I called him) and Tim Walsh. Both players talked well and answered the questions honestly and with a bit of fun.
Walsh talked about all the work he was doing coming back from his injury and gave a good insight to the 6 days training week. He indicated that there was currently 2 training sessions with running, a number weights sessions, pilates/yoga which they do not do during the season, and a couple of swimming sessions.
Walsh thought McDougall was a good addition and that he seemed to be enjoying himself here in Melbourne. Apparently he quite enjoys the Brunswick st lifestyle.

Street talked about his injury which is calf related. I think the fact that he is a ruckman and jumps off one foot means that he had to be careful. He is only another week or two away.
Street mentioned that one of the great things about Rocket is that if he gives them a spray it's forgotten about 5 mins later. Gave me the impression that he thinks the coach does not hold grudges. He made mention that the coaches box can get a bit spirited with with a few things flying around.

Now to the game. Very poor effort with very few good signs.

Hargrave's return from injury was very encouraging and Higgins was full of class and promise. McDougall contested well, held a couple of decent marks and laid a number of very good tackles up forward. Boydy tried hard but wasn't quite on his game.
Gilbee was very good early but made some mistakes in the latter part of the game. Gia was in and out of the game. Cross racked up a good possession rate but he wasn't nearly as effective as we come to expect. Eagle ran riot in the last quarter.

As AAD commented on Wight over committed himself to a couple of contests which resulted in the ball rebounding into the forward line. Ray's vision and decision making was very poor tonight and too often ran into trouble.
The team as a whole had problems with the 20mtr rule and time and time again kicked the ball too short to a team mate who was told to play on by the umps.

The Lions made the most of their chances and appear to be as fit as any team in the competition.

[bulldogtragic]

In short, probably as bad a performance as i've seen us dish up since Eade got the job.

[bornadog]

Lucky the start of the season is still a month away, lot a work to do, but also some good players to come back in.
Heard Rocket on the radio before the game:

Cooney: Played half a game for Werribee and pulled up ok
Darcy: Will play next week if ok in training during the week.
Grant: To play next week
Hahn: No power in legs at this Stage so still a few weeks off
Street: I think he said should be ok for next week.
Murphy: Very close to playing

Based on the team that took the field, I am not too worried and I have never taken these games seriously in the past. Good learning curve for the young guys.

Not sure where and who play in the regional game next week.

[GVGjr]

In short, probably as bad a performance as i've seen us dish up since Eade got the job.

Very short :) Was he out coached or just couldn't answer the challenge when it happened in the 2nd quarter?

Harbrow and Lynch worked well the previous week but in the pristine conditions just weren't strong enough. We can't and shouldn't be happy with that performance but with the players we have coming back I don't think we should be shattered either.

[bulldogtragic]

Very short :) Was he out coached or just couldn't answer the challenge when it happened in the 2nd quarter?

Harbrow and Lynch worked well the previous week but in the pristine conditions just weren't strong enough. We can't and shouldn't be happy with that performance but with the players we have coming back I don't think we should be shattered either.
I haven't made a batch of David Koresh cool-aid. It's disappointing but it's a NAB game and we have mnay, many good/great players coming back and players better for the run after time off. Membership wise it would've been better to win, but my bugbear is how we lost it was just so insipid.

[Dry Rot]

I predicted that if we weren't on our game we'd be in trouble, and we were.

Sadly, Channel 7 are a pack of ****s and only started their coverage a few minutes ago in Sydney, so I can't really comment.

[LostDoggy]

Lucky the start of the season is still a month away, lot a work to do, but also some good players to come back in.
Heard Rocket on the radio before the game:

Cooney: Played half a game for Werribee and pulled up ok
Darcy: Will play next week if ok in training during the week.
Grant: To play next week
Hahn: No power in legs at this Stage so still a few weeks off
Street: I think he said should be ok for next week.
Murphy: Very close to playing

Based on the team that took the field, I am not too worried and I have never taken these games seriously in the past. Good learning curve for the young guys.

Not sure where and who play in the regional game next week.

I was talking to someone from the club last night who confirmed that Cooney pulled up well after his hit out with Werribee.This is a good sign for us because he and Griffen add a lot of spark to us.
It was a shocking result given that we started the game so well.As 42-C-3 pointed out we were insipid and it will most likely impact out membership drive.I got the impression that Rockets heart wasn't in this NAB campaign from the start.

Does anyone know why didn't Cam Faulkner play last night? I hope this is not the power of hindsight talking but young players like Lynch and Harbrow were very unlikely to come up two weeks in a row and Faulkner could have been a far better option.
Also does anyone else think that Boyd might not have been 100% last night?

[LostDoggy]

As I sat down at the Telstra Dome last night, my first thought was how bloody hot it still was and I couldn't think of anything worse than running around playing footy in that humidity. A forgettable game. Lions players seemed a lot more eager out there and justifiably won. Everytime our guys had the ball they were swamped by opposition players.

Agree with TG that Eade doesn't seem too bothered about the NAB Cup - except as a chance to give certain players a run and fiddle around with positions. I feel the same as a spectator - I wasn't really bothered last night where the result was heading so long as noone got injured.

I did think Hargrave looked good, considering it was his first game since surgery over the summer. As for Higgins - so glad we have him in our team.

[Go_Dogs]

A few short comments from me.

I wouldn't take too much from this match, as we had probably 5 of our first 10 players not playing - Johnson, Akermanis, Cooney, Murphy and Griffen. We also had quite a few guys in the team who have had interrupted pre-seasons, and who would have been feeling the burn. A few more matches under their belt will ensure they are ready by Round 1.

A few positives to take out of the game - I thought Hargrave was excellent last night. He created well, ran the lines well, and contested well. Whilst he was on Patfull, he did a very good job. Impressive stuff for his first match back. My "Best 22" may indeed need some revising.

Higgins was sensational. I'm on the bandwagon for sure. There were a few times when he went in very hard, his goal kicking was excellent, and although he made a few errors with his decision making, overall he was the highlight.

Eagleton also was good. For his first game back, his second qtr long kick to Higgins who judged the ball well and ended up with the goal. Eagle's 2 super goals in the last qtr also showed why he is so damaging. Good to see.

I thought Baird presented really well. He made quite a few poor errors, but he tried really hard, and presented so well - once he gets some more size and improves his decision making, he's going to be a great player.

Addison was good with his run and attack. His disposal let him down quite a few times, but I thought his game was good.

Roe destroyed Lynch - Roe looks like he's going to be a great player for the Lions - they have quite a few exciting youngsters. Lynch was just way too small, and although he is very agile, Roe matched him in the facet, and then destroyed him with his size and nous.

I would have preferred to see either Faulkner or McCormack out on the park instead of Lynch I feel.

[Go_Dogs]

Also, what was Wight's injury? He looked to be struggling most of the night.

[Twodogs]

Also, what was Wight's injury? He looked to be struggling most of the night.



Just couldnt get any power in that first step could he? He'd go to take off and kind of stumble and his opponent would get a good break.



Might have been something to do with the injury he got the week before.

[GVGjr]

Just couldnt get any power in that first step could he? He'd go to take off and kind of stumble and his opponent would get a good break.



It was like he was wearing the wrong shoes or something. For someone so athletic it was a very uncoordinated display.

[Dry Rot]

I dunno why I stayed up to 3.30am to watch that rubbish.

Beaten all over the park.

Aside from Higgins and Hargrave, I can't really think of too many others who beat their man.

Poor lack of commitment NB the clearances.

Who were our "forwards"?

[bornadog]

Plenty of inside 50's but no one there to take the big grab or lead out. They really struggled in the mid field as well.

[Dry Rot]

Plenty of inside 50's but no one there to take the big grab or lead out. They really struggled in the mid field as well.

Were there any talls playing forward? Saw Wight down there and McDougall.

Not much left after Harris, Grant and Darcy.

[Go_Dogs]

McDougall did a few good things, but was very patchy.

I wouldn't read too much into though - clearances, forward lines, any of that.

[The Bulldogs Bite]

Were there any talls playing forward? Saw Wight down there and McDougall.

Not much left after Harris, Grant and Darcy.

Eade's coaching was confusing. He really didn't want to win the game at any point in time.

We barely HAD a forward line. It was chopped and changed every 2 minutes. McDougall particuarly was thrown from forward to back. Thus, at times we played with a stupid small forward line which saw it get destroyed.

When Doogs was down there, we looked a little better because he presented pretty well. They could've kicked it to him more though, they were either too slow to get it moving or ignored him and bombed it to the classic Robbins-on-4 defenders.

Hopefully next week Eade starts setting up a structured forward line that doesn't change every few minutes. Last night was horrible.

Oh, and we're unbelievably poor in the stoppages department. We'd be hoping Street, Griffen, Hahn, Akermanis, Cooney etc. can make a big, big difference because atm we're pittiful in there.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Gotta say this is a much more rational and reasoned debate on last nights game than similar posts on BF...... seems as if some over there are ready to make final conclusions about players abilities on the strength of what essentially was only a practice match on steroids!

For me, in a game where most of our players seemd about 10% below there best , the positives were:

Higgins- oozing class, class class.....looking more and more like a deadset steal at pick 11 for us...
Harbrow- again showed he has the ability to be a very good player in future years for us, but needs to work on his ability to hit targets consistently
Cross- looks set to take a yet a further step toward ensuring Scotty West can one day (hopefuly not too soon) retire safe in the knowledge there is someone who will step into his very big shoes with relative ease. Looks like his upper body has strengthened, this will no doubt improve his already excellent overhead marking.. I think he is going to be increasingly become an extremely hard matchup overhead.

Wight- after looking a bit unco and out of his depth early on against Charman.. responded reasonably well and if he can just learn to use his body just a bit better in contests to compensate for his comparitively light frame he may have a decent future. Noticeably improved his timing of punches and closer checking as the game wore on. Which shows he can learn..still seems prone to making the odd howler though... needs to work on decision making under pressure.
McDougall... again showed he may feature as a positive for us in 2007 if he can continue to build on what he has shown in his first 2 hitouts for us. Adds a nice presence with his contesting abilities and mobility. As an aside I think it will be interesting if Eade tries to swap Grant and Mcdougall at times during some games as a temporary matchup exploitation.. swapping them between CHF and CHB??
Hargrave-can't wait to get him back to full match fitness I think fitness permitting he is in for a big year.
Power- his body finally looks ready, and he seems to have alot more composure. Also looks to have a noticeable steely resolve in his demeanour on the field this year to.
Will Minson... still expecting he will feature prominently this year for us.. but hasn't made the most of the first two weeks. However.. I am REALLY encouraged by his desire to try and get more involved as an option around the ground. I Noticed he really wanted the ball around the ground more and comign out of defence at times... Whilst he didn't necessarily excel at it last night, it is showing that both he and coach are looking to make a further step in his development by expecting more out of him than his ruck work. Still appears to need to work on curbing his high amount of silly free kicks... Having said that... I reckon you'd rather have to teach someone to pull themselves back as opposed to trying to teach them how to fire up!

The only genuine form concerns, amongst those who would perhaps consider themselves to be in the mix for first 22 selection come round 1 would be..

Farren Ray..for some reason appeared all of a sudden unsure of himself and not as switched on as usual... needs to refocus his efforts in training and remaining practice games.

Wayde Skipper- bodysize now looks right to compete, just needs to develop that look in his eyes like Sam Power has.. that shows he knows he deserves to be there and has the ability to make a difference. Looks still far too tentative when he has the ball and in contests.

[Dry Rot]

I wondered about all the hype about Higgins from training reports and even last week's game.

Now I understand.

At the very least, adding Aker, Higgins, McDougall and a fit Hargrave to least year's team should make a big differnece (I'm not so confident about the ACL guys)

[GVGjr]

McDougall... again showed he may feature as a positive for us in 2007 if he can continue to build on what he has shown in his first 2 hitouts for us. Adds a nice presence with his contesting abilities and mobility. As an aside I think it will be interesting if Eade tries to swap Grant and Mcdougall at times during some games as a temporary matchup exploitation.. swapping them between CHF and CHB??
Hargrave-can't wait to get him back to full match fitness I think fitness permitting he is in for a big year.
Power- his body finally looks ready, and he seems to have alot more composure. Also looks to have a noticeable steely resolve in his demeanour on the field this year to.
Will Minson... still expecting he will feature prominently this year for us.. but hasn't made the most of the first two weeks. However.. I am REALLY encouraged by his desire to try and get more involved as an option around the ground. I Noticed he really wanted the ball around the ground more and comign out of defence at times... Whilst he didn't necessarily excel at it last night, it is showing that both he and coach are looking to make a further step in his development by expecting more out of him than his ruck work. Still appears to need to work on curbing his high amount of silly free kicks... Having said that... I reckon you'd rather have to teach someone to pull themselves back as opposed to trying to teach them how to fire up!

The only genuine form concerns, amongst those who would perhaps consider themselves to be in the mix for first 22 selection come round 1 would be..

Farren Ray..for some reason appeared all of a sudden unsure of himself and not as switched on as usual... needs to refocus his efforts in training and remaining practice games.

Wayde Skipper- bodysize now looks right to compete, just needs to develop that look in his eyes like Sam Power has.. that shows he knows he deserves to be there and has the ability to make a difference. Looks still far too tentative when he has the ball and in contests.

YHF, thank you for your detailed response. It's far easier for some to be overly critical of a performance that we displayed last night rather than taking it into the context of the bigger picture of the full season.

Glad to see you have highlighted the positive performances of Higgins, McDougall, Hargrave Power and Minson and for what it's worth I agree with your assessments of Ray and Skipper as well.

We have plenty of work to do and I'm sure Eade and co will give the team a particularly tough week on the training track.

[LostDoggy]

It was a frustrating game to watch but surely given the players coming back we can steady the ship in the next couple of weeks. I'm looking forward to this season like none other that I can remember and I refuse to let last nights game wreck my resolve. A couple more though and I will be as bitter as all hell. :D

[alwaysadog]

Well firstly the night got off to a good start because I caught up with part of the AAD clan.

Before the game commenced I listened to an interview with Peter Street (DR was jealous when I called him) and Tim Walsh. Both players talked well and answered the questions honestly and with a bit of fun.
Walsh talked about all the work he was doing coming back from his injury and gave a good insight to the 6 days training week. He indicated that there was currently 2 training sessions with running, a number weights sessions, pilates/yoga which they do not do during the season, and a couple of swimming sessions.
Walsh thought McDougall was a good addition and that he seemed to be enjoying himself here in Melbourne. Apparently he quite enjoys the Brunswick st lifestyle.

Street talked about his injury which is calf related. I think the fact that he is a ruckman and jumps off one foot means that he had to be careful. He is only another week or two away.
Street mentioned that one of the great things about Rocket is that if he gives them a spray it's forgotten about 5 mins later. Gave me the impression that he thinks the coach does not hold grudges. He made mention that the coaches box can get a bit spirited with with a few things flying around.

Now to the game. Very poor effort with very few good signs.

Hargrave's return from injury was very encouraging and Higgins was full of class and promise. McDougall contested well, held a couple of decent marks and laid a number of very good tackles up forward. Boydy tried hard but wasn't quite on his game.
Gilbee was very good early but made some mistakes in the latter part of the game. Gia was in and out of the game. Cross racked up a good possession rate but he wasn't nearly as effective as we come to expect. Eagle ran riot in the last quarter.

As AAD commented on Wight over committed himself to a couple of contests which resulted in the ball rebounding into the forward line. Ray's vision and decision making was very poor tonight and too often ran into trouble.
The team as a whole had problems with the 20mtr rule and time and time again kicked the ball too short to a team mate who was told to play on by the umps.

The Lions made the most of their chances and appear to be as fit as any team in the competition.


Very good summary GVG. Would add that I was disappointed with our tackling. If we have worked as hard as has been suggested it wasn't apparent to me that it has as yet had any impact. Also worried that our supposed speed advantage wasn't in evidence.

Thought they pretty well beat us at our own game.

[Go_Dogs]

Every list is going to be quicker this year - I still feel we hold the trump cards though for combining the run and carry with the skill. We just needed our full list playing.

[Max469]

Thought they pretty well beat us at our own game


This is exactly what I said to the people I was with on Friday night.


If this is how we were to play in season - we would have something to worry about. But the NAB is always a chance to find out where we are going and who we are - both the good and the bad.

The bad hit us big time.

They probably thought it was going to be an easy game - why not a lot of supporters did - but there is no easy game.

Humility is a wonderful tool - they now know there is still a lot of work to be done and the returning players will be a bonus.

There were good signs from Higgins, Shaggy and Doogs. Confidence will help a lot the players.


My concern is so many people are expecting so much from Darcy - they are putting so much pressure on him to be our Saviour - please let him get back into the game before we expect big things from him.