Game Day - Bulldogs vs Blues

[GVGjr]

This is the discussion thread for this afternoons against the Blues.
Over the last couple of years the Blues have caused us more than a few problems and I can see that happening again today.

My predictions are the Dogs by 2 points, Lake BOG and Higgins for the first goal.

[firstdogonthemoon]

Eagle will bounce back today and kick the first goal. Hahn will be best on ground. We will win by 11 points and a midstrength beer.

[The Underdog]

Dogs by 1 point (maybe).
Johnson BOG & First Goal

[Bumper Bulldogs]

Dogs by 32 points Gia first goal and Griff BOG.

[Jasper]

Sorry about being a negative nellie but Carlton by 16.

Johnson for our first goal and Cross for the BOG

[LostDoggy]

Just in Adelaide airport now waiting for my flight and glad that we are playing at Docklands.

Bruce McAvaney is here too, not sure if thats a good or bad omen but...special.

Dogs by 23, first goal Griff, BOG Crossy.

[dogman]

Dogs by 32
Minson first goal
Griffen BOG

[LostDoggy]

Dog by 22 points and Griffen to get our first goal.

[Go_Dogs]

I'm not confident about this game either - playing away from the closed roof may have helped us I think.

Replay on foxtel at 8.00 or something down here, so might try and watch the first half somewhere if I can.... :(

BOG Giansiracusa, first goal Higgins.



Any word on a late change?

[The Coon Dog]

Dogs by 13 points.

1st goal to Shaun Higgins.

BOG Ryan Hargrave.

[Rocket Science]

Dunno about this one, but it's the first instalment of a two-week test that'll give us a solid line on where we're at.

Blues by 22
Hahn first goal
Boyd BOG

[Dogs 24/7]

Blues by 9 in a nail biter, Higgins 1st goal and Morris as our best player

[Topdog]

Dunno about this one, but it's the first instalment of a two-week test that'll give us a solid line on where we're at.

Blues by 22
Hahn first goal
Boyd BOG

I'm not too sure about it either but this week and next week are really no indication of where we are at / will finish.

I'll go the Dogs by 10 points to win for Rocket's 250th.

[LostDoggy]

Dogs by 27pts
Boyd BOG
Grant First Goal (with first kick in afl) Long Shot but would be great

[wb_age]

Dogs by 2 points.

Gilbee first goal.

Higgens BOG.

[boydogs]

Dogs by 30 points
Grant first goal with first kick, Higgins BOG 5 goals and 30 touches
Fab 4 to get taught a lesson and forward line class to stand out

[Happy Days]

Dogs by 9,
Gia first goal,
Boydy BOG.

[Max469]

Dogs by 5 pts

Murphy 1st goal

Boyd bog

[westdog54]

Dogs by 15, Addison 1st Goal and Griffen BOG.

Hope those at the ground have rugged up, its f-f-f-f-freezing out there.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Listening on the radio up here in Brissy cause both Foxtel and Channel 10 in their infinite wisdom are both showing the Cats v Lions game.
Doesn't sound like we're playing that well, start of second quarter and our disposal efficiecy is only 58% and we've kicked 2.8!

[MrMahatma]

Yeah, we're butchering it. ATM still no forward line. Need Murphy up there making space.

[LostDoggy]

So unaccountable. Pathetic!
Williams is overrated

[Dry Rot]

A few lonely voices spoke out here during the pre-season about poor disposal, decision making etc. The first half is a good example.

Similarly a few of us claimed that our dwarf forward line (despite a record of high scoring) could be in trouble against better sides and defenses. Carlton aren't top shelf, but our forwards look like a rabble in the first half.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

2 goals to the Blues in the 1st minute into the 2nd half, blues goal 37 points up.......couldnt have a worse start.
Getting run off our feet by the sounds of it.

[MrMahatma]

Blues are killing us out of the guts. Killing us.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Murph seems underdone, maybe could've done with another week in the VFL?
Sounds like we've got nothing up forward, every foray into the 50 seems to be getting chopped off by the Blues? Bit hard to tell on the radio if it's poor kicking coming into the 50 or if we've just got nothing to kick to?
Either way it sounds like we're going to get pumped.

[Dry Rot]

We are a rabble ATM.

[Dry Rot]

Sounds like we've got nothing up forward, every foray into the 50 seems to be getting chopped off by the Blues? Bit hard to tell on the radio if it's poor kicking coming into the 50 or if we've just got nothing to kick to?


Both, but the first may be partly a result of the second.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

[QUOTE=Dry Rot;80546]We are a rabble ATM.[/QUOTE

Not going to get easier either, with the Saints next week and then Adelaide in Adelaide the following week.
Big trouble.

[MrMahatma]

We're putting on 0 pressure. They're rebounding and running through the guts at will.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

We're putting on 0 pressure. They're rebounding and running through the guts at will.

It sounds like it, Blues seem to be able to move the ball with little of no pressure.

Are we flat due to the trip to Perth? If so why then did we not make a couple more changes, especially running player wise.

Well Johnno has got us back under 5 goals, and normally you'd give us a sniff, with our running. However our lack of run and lack of pressure today doesn't bode well.

WTF!! Brian Lake takes a mark 10 metres out and tries to play on?? That would've got us back to 20 points!!!

[MrMahatma]

Lake = no confidence.

Funny. If he'd kicked the first he'd probably have gone back and slotted the 2nd. Confidence is a wonderful thing.

Needed it though. Still only 4 goals, but the gap is bigger than that ATM.

[LostDoggy]

Ryan Griffen - please stand up!

[comrade]

Where's Grant?

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Where's Grant?

Good question. Started well in the 1st, but has done nothing following his miss on goal from 15 metres out.

[Dry Rot]

Hill is the only positive out this game IMO.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Hill is the only positive out this game IMO.
It sounds like Higgins has done OK.
Eagleton has done well on Stevens.

[MrMahatma]

Good question. Started well in the 1st, but has done nothing following his miss on goal from 15 metres out.
Is he on? Haven't seen him since 2nd quarter.

[Dry Rot]

A few lonely voices spoke out here during the pre-season about poor disposal, decision making etc. The first half is a good example.



And again.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Dunno, hard to tell by listening to the radio?
Shees this is now turning into a route, and we now drop back into the pack.
Kruezer is running us ragged around the ground. Maybe Minson could've been rested and Skipper could've come in.

Hope there has been some strong performers in the VFL for us.

[Dry Rot]

IMO Cooney & Acker wouldn't have changed much today - getting smashed across the ground.

[Dry Rot]

It sounds like Higgins has done OK.


Has faded out of the game IMO.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

And again.

It sounds woeful. I'm not going to be watching the TV replay that's for sure.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

56 points now. That's it. I can't listen to this crap anymore, turning the radio off now.

[MrMahatma]

Skills very much down. Pressure down. No forward line.

Looks like 08 was another false dawn, if we keep this up.

[Dry Rot]

56 points now. That's it. I can't listen to this crap anymore, turning the radio off now.

I feel sorry for the poor bastards at the ground watching this crap.

[LostDoggy]

We got smashed by the sounds of things. Midfield were non-existent and no forward line.

Hahn - hasnt turned up in 2009.
Griffen - not enough impact.
Ward - potential is not counting for much now.
Eagleton - i will leave it to the masses to decide.

Very disappointing. St Kilda next week.......

[Scraggers]

I don't think anyone would be writing off Hawthorn right now ... anyone you would speak to thinks they will finish top 4. Yet we sit a game above them !! Our season is far from over ...

Even after these two losses, I still think we will finish top 4 ... we are three and two with a big couple of weeks in front of us ... time to start again

BRING ON THE SAINTS !!

:)

[LostDoggy]

I have been telling everyone we are no good for years. Flat track bullies! Rely on other teams making mistakes and not applying pressure, but it doesnt happen like that.
Good to see all you 'loyal' supporters turn so savage!

We cant win this years flag, it's time to get more kids into the side.

[LostDoggy]

I prefer us when we are the underdogs. We never play well when we are clear favourites.

Today showed we have no midfield pressure. The Blues went straight through the middle and were able to give off perfect passes to their forwards. When we had the ball it was wide and bomb it in hope. You'll never win like that.

Also shows how important Cooney is to our team. Our middle just looks like a rabble without our premium on-baller. Too many players don't keep their feet. Just watching about 3 or 4 of our guys on the ground while a shuffle out gets to Carlton and they had runners everywhere.

Not expecting much next week. I'll be happy if it isn't a flogging.

[Happy Days]

We got smashed by the sounds of things. Midfield were non-existent and no forward line.

Hahn - hasnt turned up in 2009.
Griffen - not enough impact.
Ward - potential is not counting for much now.
Eagleton - i will leave it to the masses to decide.

Very disappointing. St Kilda next week.......

Definitely not our worst today.

Grant wasn't up to the level, and I'll be seriously surprised if he got more than five touches after half time.

Minson might be in a bit of strife; Kreuzer smashed us today, and with Skipper's form, his grip on the 2nd ruckmans spot is slipping fast.

Ward should be dropped. He'll be a gun, just not right now.

Mitch Hahn would have used up his last credits today. If Welsh is ready to go, then Hahn should be in the two's next week.

Gilbee didn't really do a whole lot, and his disposal seems to be on a downturm. That kick hasn't looked overly surgical for a while now.

Brian Lake should NEVER EVER go forward again. Ever. I know we had no right to win, and probably wouldn't have, but that play-on sunk any lingering hope we had. If we sling Brian forward for a target, why bother playing Grant?

There were some positives, however; Higgins and Hill's games, Johnno's return to some sembelence of form, and Morris' job on Fev, who he probably beat on the day.

But overall I'm absolutely shattered. Today we could have proved how good we truly are, and we did the exact opposite.

[Scraggers]

We got smashed by the sounds of things. Midfield were non-existent and no forward line.

Hahn - hasnt turned up in 2009.
Griffen - not enough impact.
Ward - potential is not counting for much now.
Eagleton - i will leave it to the masses to decide.

Very disappointing. St Kilda next week.......

I thought Griff was okay ... he got a hit on the knee in the first quarter which slowed him up a bit, but the goal in the second/third when he broke through a pack of 4 Carlton players was sensational.

Eagleton was far from our worst :(

[LostDoggy]

I feel sorry for the poor bastards at the ground watching this crap.

Thank you DR - I just got back and it was horrible to watch. Carlton made some blunders very early in the game and we were just unable to make them pay. It went downhill from there. There was little or no pressure applied by our players and no run. I cringe when I see Lake moved into our forward line - I always feel Eade is at a loss what to do when he resorts to that one.

Bring on next week. This team is capable of much better performances than what they produced today. I thought Higgins was a lonely worker out there.

[doggystyle]

Definitely not our worst today.

Grant wasn't up to the level, and I'll be seriously surprised if he got more than five touches after half time.

Minson might be in a bit of strife; Kreuzer smashed us today, and with Skipper's form, his grip on the 2nd ruckmans spot is slipping fast.

Ward should be dropped. He'll be a gun, just not right now.

Mitch Hahn would have used up his last credits today. If Welsh is ready to go, then Hahn should be in the two's next week.

Gilbee didn't really do a whole lot, and his disposal seems to be on a downturm. That kick hasn't looked overly surgical for a while now.

Brian Lake should NEVER EVER go forward again. Ever. I know we had no right to win, and probably wouldn't have, but that play-on sunk any lingering hope we had. If we sling Brian forward for a target, why bother playing Grant?

There were some positives, however; Higgins and Hill's games, Johnno's return to some sembelence of form, and Morris' job on Fev, who he probably beat on the day.

But overall I'm absolutely shattered. Today we could have proved how good we truly are, and we did the exact opposite.
Happy Days...spot on...great assessment of today's rubbish. Hill and Higgins were definite stand outs but the rest of the team left a lot to be desired. I'm a little bit sick of Eagleton calling for the easy posessions behind play rather than running forward. But once again, he wasn't the only passenger out there. Not looking forward to next week

[ledge]

Hey your all going off at Lake , what other tall forward did we have who at least took marks, and as far as the play on , why the hell was Gia calling for it ?

[LostDoggy]

Shocking
Simply shocking!!!
Dogs had NO chance after 5mins into the 3rd term.
No pressure given whatsoever!!!
Our midfielders were flatfooted all day.
Hence the centre clearences.
It's that sort of year though...who knows? We COULD beat the saints next week,,wouldn't want to bet any money on it though..


Dogs supporters,,stay faithful!!

[ledge]

Eagleton put in a great effort i thought today.
Minson? got about 4 years more experience and bigger build than Kreuzer but just lets him take an easy jump over the top mark.

[easybeat]

That might have been the worst performance I've seen for quite a while.
Some of the most poor........no, stupid......no, ******** decision making I've seen a football team undertake.
And to think I spent $145 at the merch stand, and froze my tits off for that. Hahaha.
It was obviously a poor game today, but I think we were exposed big time today.
Not looking forward to playing the Saints, who have been smashing teams this year.

[lemmon]

We were putrid, the hardest thing to watch for me was our lack of run from behind, we couldnt penetrate the zone and when we turned it over we were cut to ribbons.
Griffen really didnt do enough today, his run was missing. Not sure if that knock was worse then I thought or he was tired or just lazy.
Ward simply doesnt work hard enough at this level, doesnt get to enough contests. Really has to start running harder.
Addison's decision making was terrible.
Hahn is close to needing a run in the magoos, doesnt do enough for the amount of times they try to go through him.
Hudson was dominated by Kreuzer, he had no impact
We had no forward structure, really need Welsh back.
Tom Williams was poor today, too many mistakes. I would love to see him run with the footy instead of dishing off to teamates in worse positions and putting them under pressure.
Grant started well but I wouldve liked to see him play deeper, spent to much time around the middle making no impact.
Rant over

[LostDoggy]

Anyone listen to Eade's press conference? Talking about us being 'up' on KPI (key performance indicators) until 3qtr time. How come everytime a Carlton midfielder got the ball he had 15m of space? Hard to get a KPI on that. What a load of modern day garbage, we were smashed!

[LostDoggy]

The Good:

Jarrad Grant made his debut (wouldn't say it was impressive but he still debuted!)

Bob Murphy getting some much needed match fitness.

No injuries, no reports.

Shaun Higgens tried hard all game (one stuff up when he decided to go for the miracle goal though :mad:)

A welcome return to form for Mitch Hahn.

Josh Hill did some good things, some strong contested marks.

The dogs were winning the contested ball, the clearances and had fewer clangers than the Blues. But..............

The Bad:

Where do we start the dogs had their opportunities but were less efficient than the Blues.

Bad decisions and some dodgy skill errors cost the dogs plenty of opportunities and were punished by the Blues on the rebound.

Whoever was on Bryce Gibbs should be given a spray for Rocket.

Kreuzar had his way around the ground, poor effor by Minson and Hudson.

I saw one very bad bit of play in the third quarter - Cross refused to man up ( he was staying in the space in front of Fevola and his man got the mark and kicked the goal:mad:


The Ugly:

Lake taking a few strong grabs and then missing a relatively easy set shot at goal and playing on with a sloppy handball, which cost the dogs a couple of goals.

Something has to be done about how the dogs run out from the backline, always taking the wrong option and going the long way around to the forward 50. Perhaps with Bob Murphy back, there may be more direct footy against Saints.

Many instances of a lack of accountability, if the dogs want to be competitive against the Saints, they better learn to man up!!!!:mad:

The Centre Bounce:

Momentum (was lost for both teams) with the repetitive recall of centre bounces. If you know you can't bounce the damn thing, just throw it up!!!!!!!:mad:
The Changes:
Well who do we pick as our scapegoat? I'm sure Eagleton will get plenty of mentions again, but he won't get dropped. Harbrow was supposed to stop Betts and got beaten - Betts kicked 3 goals.

I'm sure Tiller will slot straight back in to combat the Saints tall forwards, will Harbrow get another reprieve to play on the Tip Rat?

As for the dogs being a Premiership threat for 2009....I really don't know : (

[The Bulldogs Bite]

Same crap.

Woeful skills and absolutely no defensive pressure. Carlton's half backs and midfielders ran through the middle of the ground, over-lapping our players with incredible ease. Again we were unaccountable against Carlton - even Kruzer and Cloke were picking up possessions running through the corridor.

The whole side was pathetic. One of the worst performances I've seen from us for a very, very long time. I don't buy into the whole Perth crap - it didn't seem to bother West Coast a few years ago when they were one of the top sides and had to travel far more than us.

Why bring in Grant if you don't use him? What's the point of him floating up the ground and getting caught in traffic? He's got strong hands and is pretty quick - I would of thought playing him deep would of been a fairly sensible decision to make?

Dramatically out-played and out-coached.

Eh, had enough.

[GVGjr]

Anyone listen to Eade's press conference? Talking about us being 'up' on KPI (key performance indicators) until 3qtr time. How come everytime a Carlton midfielder got the ball he had 15m of space? Hard to get a KPI on that. What a load of modern day garbage, we were smashed!

Pretty much agree with that. Overall KPI's mean nothing with a result like that. Sure there will be some individuals that did better than expected but for the coach to be hanging his hat on KPI's isn't what I would want to hear.

[The Bulldogs Bite]

A welcome return to form for Mitch Hahn.

Josh Hill did some good things, some strong contested marks.



Hahn was passive as he has been all year. If he's not dropped I'll run around Melbourne for a week.

Hill took a couple of alright marks but he paid his opponents absolutely no respect. Incredibly unaccountable, but then again, who wasn't?

Higgins tried hard and Boyd was OK but aside from that - dreadful.

[LostDoggy]

Hahn was passive as he has been all year. If he's not dropped I'll run around Melbourne for a week.

Hill took a couple of alright marks but he paid his opponents absolutely no respect. Incredibly unaccountable, but then again, who wasn't?

Higgins tried hard and Boyd was OK but aside from that - dreadful.

Better get some protein shakes into you :)

[Scraggers]

Same crap.

Woeful skills and absolutely no defensive pressure. Carlton's half backs and midfielders ran through the middle of the ground, over-lapping our players with incredible ease. Again we were unaccountable against Carlton - even Kruzer and Cloke were picking up possessions running through the corridor.

The whole side was pathetic. One of the worst performances I've seen from us for a very, very long time. I don't buy into the whole Perth crap - it didn't seem to bother West Coast a few years ago when they were one of the top sides and had to travel far more than us.

Why bring in Grant if you don't use him? What's the point of him floating up the ground and getting caught in traffic? He's got strong hands and is pretty quick - I would of thought playing him deep would of been a fairly sensible decision to make?

Dramatically out-played and out-coached.

Eh, had enough.

Wow ... round five ... we are in a better position than three quarters of the other sides in the comp, and you're giving up already ??????

[Scraggers]

Pretty much agree with that. Overall KPI's mean nothing with a result like that. Sure there will be some individuals that did better than expected but for the coach to be hanging his hat on KPI's isn't what I would want to hear.

I agree, but ... I don't think he was hanging his hat on the KPIs ... he was saying that we should have been in front according to the stats (our KPIs) but we weren't because of "horrendous use of the ball and poor decision making"

[bulldogtragic]

I agree, but ... I don't think he was hanging his hat on the KPIs ... he was saying that we should have been in front according to the stats (our KPIs) but we weren't because of "horrendous use of the ball and poor decision making"
"...and poor kicking for goal"

[The Bulldogs Bite]

Wow ... round five ... we are in a better position than three quarters of the other sides in the comp, and you're giving up already ??????

No, I am certainly not 'giving up' but I am certainly sick and tired of watching garbage football. The coaching panel came in with the EXACT same game plan that has failed against Carlton the previous two times we played. Our accountability has been non-existant when we've played them - we've basically handed their half backs a free ride to overlap and run right through us. The amount of times Waite, Carrazzo, Simpson, Gibbs, Kruzer and Judd were free was astounding.

No structure up forward either. As I said previously; why bring in Grant if you're going to play him up the ground and in traffic? His best bet is to play a Westhoff role. Playing within the 50m arch and using his pace, leap and strong hands to advantage. Instead - we kept kicking to Johnson/Hahn/Hill in the pockets who were continually out-sized or gave little to no contest/pressure.

I would of thought that we'd of learnt from the last couple of times. I would of thought we'd show a bit of pride. The players talked about "hurting" at the end of last year's Prelim, but you've got to be kidding me if this is their kind of response. We had EVERY reason to beat Carlton today. They've insulted us in the past (Fev, Elliot etc.) and yet we seem to hand them the game on a silver platter.

I know it's only Round 5 but I think we as supporters deserve FAR more than what they're showing. We didn't just lose today - we were humiliated and we went down without a yelp.

[Scraggers]

"...and poor kicking for goal"

that's what I would call horrendous use of the ball

[GVGjr]

I agree, but ... I don't think he was hanging his hat on the KPIs ... he was saying that we should have been in front according to the stats (our KPIs) but we weren't because of "horrendous use of the ball and poor decision making"

And that's my point as well. "We had enough of the ball but we simply wasted our opportunities with poor skills" perhaps should have been the response. Once you start with the KPI's this and that it sounds like you are putting a modern day slant on the explanation.

I might need to have another look at his response though because I might have misread it.

[alwaysadog]

Time will tell... I don't know if we've got in front of ourselves with all the talk of flags, or if we didn't recover from to trips to WA in 4 games, or if this was the truth about where our form has been since the preseason started, IMHO so far we've beaten no one of note. Probably a bit of all three.
Certainly we were missing our usual spread around the contest and we couldn't link up, we missed Aker's cleverness and no one rose above the game for us, grabbed it by the scruff and turned. In fact we were woefully flat virtually across the board.

While changes will happen, any scapegoating or finger pointing will only hide the reality that we weren't beaten by an individual we were beaten as a team.

[LostDoggy]

I took my housemate to her first game of AFL today. It was kind of enjoyable, even if we did lose by so much (that bit wasn't fun, but explaining that Carlton are cheating bastards and how they are a horrid club who tank for higher draft picks etc. was)

Horrible, horrible game to watch though. Carlton shat all over us, but looked better due to how badly we played. What was the point in Grant playing if Lake was there up forward? Argh!! Just a terrible game.

Cross could've kicked s goal, but.... yeah well he kicked it, but it definately did not go in the right direction.

I am confident we will recover form, but it mightn't be for a week or two. Confidence needs to be back up, Hahn and the forwards need to learn.

Oh, and I just remembered, Hargrave was HORRIBLE today. Very very bad. Williams screwed up a couple of crucial times which cost a couple of goals. He was run down Farren Ray style, horrible to watch.

[hujsh]

I don't like all our forwards pushing up into the middle every game. We need to have targets to kick to. otherwise it will be turned over

I thought the difference today was we didn't run at all. Carlton did and created space which is why they were loose. Our guys didn't seem to wannt to push to create options when we were rebounding from defence. Hopefully just a side affect of the Perth trips. If not we're in plenty of trouble.

[bulldogtragic]

that's what I would call horrendous use of the ball
just finishing Eade's radio presser quote for you.

Brian will had two glown ear drums right now.

He kicks that goal form the square and we are within 20 points, stuffs it up two goal turn around and we're rooted. One of those moments you could look back on in a season and say 'if it wasn't for that'.

Last year we were getting away with wins in those types of games and this year not. Maybe we have believed our own bullshit. But i'm starting to be a little worried thruth be told. Hardly giving up, but the signs are not good. Lose to the Saints and we are mediocre and back to the middle of the pack.

[bulldogtragic]

just finishing Eade's radio presser quote for you.

Brian will had two glown ear drums right now.

He kicks that goal form the square and mwe are within 20 points, stuufs it up two goal turn around and we're rooted. One of those moments you could look back on in a season ands say 'if it wasn't for that'.

Last year we were getting away with wins in those types of games and this year not. Maybe we have beeleived our own bullshit. But i'm starting to be a little worried thruth be told. Hardlt giving up, but the signs are not good. Lose to the Saints and we are mediocre and back to the middle of the pack.
Any forward line structure would be great. Perhaps the forward coach might run drills where our forwards are in the forward line and can have the ball kicked to them.

God i hope GVGjr tells us there were standout performances in the VFL.

[LostDoggy]

And that's my point as well. "We had enough of the ball but we simply wasted our opportunities with poor skills" perhaps should have been the response. Once you start with the KPI's this and that it sounds like you are putting a modern day slant on the explanation.

I might need to have another look at his response though because I might have misread it.

What's interesting is the Blues had more clangers than the dogs for the majority of the game!!

[Rance Fan]

This zone defence idea that every team has jumped on, hurt us today. All we did is stand still. Standing off opponents and covering an area. It certainly didnt put any pressure on! how bout man to man!!! The blues ran thru us at will, often coast to coast resulting in goals.

[alwaysadog]

And that's my point as well. "We had enough of the ball but we simply wasted our opportunities with poor skills" perhaps should have been the response. Once you start with the KPI's this and that it sounds like you are putting a modern day slant on the explanation.

I might need to have another look at his response though because I might have misread it.

KPIs worry me, I remember Grant Thomas saying the Saints had won on all the KPIs in a game they lost badly.

IMHO the idea of trying to quantify the key aspects of the game is still a major work in progress, or should that be a work in need of major progress.

If you lose as badly as we did today and your KPIs are in the positive then either the wrong things are in the KPIs or if they are valid then something or somethings major is/are missing.

[bulldogtragic]

K - kicking innaccuraicies
P - passes by hand putting mates into trouble and/or missing the meark
I - Idiotic decisions in crucial moments of the match


I agree with Rodney, we had them dead to rights for KPIs. Shame we don't have

S - Shit, just go first Options
H - Hits the target
A - Accuracy for goals
F - Full 4 quarter effort
T - Teamwork


Give me shaft.

Whose the baddest mother western bulldogs team who wins games they should win? SHAFT! Damn right!

[G-Mo77]

I was really appalled by the amount of times or forwards were set up behind the ball rather than actually playing forward and attacking. There was 2 or maybe 3 goals in the first quarter alone because our boys had to play kick to kick until there was a forward target but TO'd it in the process. I lost track of how many times it happened. I can't comment much on last week because it is hard to see what happens behind the play on TV but to me it seemed like it happened over in the West as well which cost us.

IMO That is why we lost the game today.

I don't know why they bothered to bring Grant in as well. There were times he lead up the ground and he was ignored a lot of the time. We need a tall target and they should at least give him a chance even if it is a contest. I'd rather kick to a contest than trying to kick and handpass it back and forth under enormous pressure.

[GVGjr]

I don't know why they bothered to bring Grant in as well. There were times he lead up the ground and he was ignored a lot of the time. We need a tall target and they should at least give him a chance even if it is a contest. I'd rather kick to a contest than trying to kick and handpass it back and forth under enormous pressure.

It was a surprise selection as far as I am concerned. Sometimes it works but it didn't today.

[LostDoggy]

I don't know why they bothered to bring Grant in as well. There were times he lead up the ground and he was ignored a lot of the time. We need a tall target and they should at least give him a chance even if it is a contest. I'd rather kick to a contest than trying to kick and handpass it back and forth under enormous pressure.

Totally agree.

Why even bring him in if they aren't going to use him, nobody would pass to him when he was making leads. There was one time he was in the goal square one out, and yet nobody wanted to bomb it in to him.

And it's also Rocket as well, 11 minutes into the 4th Grant came off the bench. What a waste of a debut game, don't even give him an inch.

[bulldogtragic]

Totally agree.

Why even bring him in if they aren't going to use him, nobody would pass to him when he was making leads. There was one time he was in the goal square one out, and yet nobody wanted to bomb it in to him.

And it's also Rocket as well, 11 minutes into the 4th Grant came off the bench. What a waste of a debut game, don't even give him an inch.
I remember thinking we're bombing the ball as if we had a tall target. Then i thought, well i guess we do, maye they trust the kid. But he was never near the bombing kicks to take marks. Totally confused on his game by the coaches and team mates. Reaaly confused.

[LostDoggy]

All in all, the dogs are still in the top 4 after 5 rounds...

[lemmon]

This zone defence idea that every team has jumped on, hurt us today. All we did is stand still. Standing off opponents and covering an area. It certainly didnt put any pressure on! how bout man to man!!! The blues ran thru us at will, often coast to coast resulting in goals.

Great point, we shouldve chucked it out at quarter time and gone man on man, the amount of times they had men free in there forward 70 metres was pathetic, they absolutely cut our zone up and we couldnt penetrate theres. IMO the most vital factor to breaking it down is run from behind and we had none, have to be seriously looking at Everitt and Wood for this week.

[LostDoggy]

Eade -

"It was just our errors early. It would have made it a pretty even game at three-quarter time. All our indicators at halftime and three-quarter time we were in front, but we just didn't have the score on the board," he said.

IIRC Eade said a similar thing last week ..'it was our turnovers that hurt us' or something
like that. It begs the question how well have we adapted to the zone that most teams seem to be using?
And whats going on with our forwardline structure? Seriously if you look up and have nothing
to kick to you have to go sideways and backwards and inevitably turn it over. Then your
confidence gets shot and it just gets worse and worse. Very few of our players
seemed composed with the ball in their hands under pressure. When our confidence is shot
we can look really,really bad .

Higgins , Hill, Boyd and Eagle were all ok. Callen would have been really handy on Eddie
Betts, Harbrow tries hard but i would love to see him up forward again.

[G-Mo77]

Eade -

"It was just our errors early. It would have made it a pretty even game at three-quarter time. All our indicators at halftime and three-quarter time we were in front, but we just didn't have the score on the board," he said.

IIRC Eade said a similar thing last week ..'it was our turnovers that hurt us' or something
like that. It begs the question how well have we adapted to the zone that most teams seem to be using?
And whats going on with our forwardline structure? Seriously if you look up and have nothing
to kick to you have to go sideways and backwards and inevitably turn it over. Then your
confidence gets shot and it just gets worse and worse. Very few of our players
seemed composed with the ball in their hands under pressure. When our confidence is shot
we can look really,really bad .


Applaudes!

I'm glad I'm not alone getting frustrated with the constant green grass that is our forward line :o

[Bumper Bulldogs]

Pretty much agree with that. Overall KPI's mean nothing with a result like that. Sure there will be some individuals that did better than expected but for the coach to be hanging his hat on KPI's isn't what I would want to hear.

Fully agree it's a absolute load of #@$!. we have the ability to kick 20 goals, but when you pay no respect to 2nd string players they look 1st class (K.Simpson) he kicked a couple of Goals on hill which swung the game their way.

[bulldogtragic]

Applaudes!

I'm glad I'm not alone getting frustrated with the constant green grass that is our forward line :o
It's a matter of perspective. Remember about 5 years ago when the turf wouldn't seed properly and the gradd would die and be slipperly and brown. And now when we bomb it into no-one it's green grass like you mention.

That and we made more stupid decisions in one match then we have in all the games and praccy games this season.

[G-Mo77]

It's a matter of perspective. Remember about 5 years ago when the turf wouldn't seed properly and the gradd would die and be slipperly and brown. And now when we bomb it into no-one it's green grass like you mention.

You're right. They've done a great job keeping the grass green. :D

[wimberga]

In fairness to Brian Lake moving forward, Eade said in his postmach conference that William's direct opponent had moved forward, and they decided to send lake up forward against him as he would at least add an option up front aswell. Apart from his much maligned decision and shot, I actually felt great when he took that second contested mark at the top of the square. I havent seen that in our team very often. Grant should still make FF his own, but have no idea why he wasnt sent their today?

Can someone actually tell me what our forward structure/strategy is? Numerous times we got the ball on the wing and wer running only to look up, see absolutely nothing,stop and kick backwards. What is the strategy, what is the supposed upside of ur forwards all drifting outside our attacking 50?

Please explain!

[G-Mo77]

Can someone actually tell me what our forward structure/strategy is? Numerous times we got the ball on the wing and wer running only to look up, see absolutely nothing,stop and kick backwards. What is the strategy, what is the supposed upside of ur forwards all drifting outside our attacking 50?

Please explain!

I wish someone would. I wish Eade would! When you go out playing defensive how are you supose to win? IMO it's the only reason why we lost, it lead to bad TO's that turned into goals. We matched Carlton in most other areas through out the game.

[Happy Days]

K - kicking innaccuraicies
P - passes by hand putting mates into trouble and/or missing the meark
I - Idiotic decisions in crucial moments of the match


I agree with Rodney, we had them dead to rights for KPIs. Shame we don't have

S - Shit, just go first Options
H - Hits the target
A - Accuracy for goals
F - Full 4 quarter effort
T - Teamwork


Give me shaft.

Whose the baddest mother western bulldogs team who wins games they should win? SHAFT! Damn right!

Can't have it,

Too complicated.

I've heard no-one understands it but some woman too... :)

[bornadog]

Eade -

"It was just our errors early. It would have made it a pretty even game at three-quarter time. All our indicators at halftime and three-quarter time we were in front, but we just didn't have the score on the board," he said.

IIRC Eade said a similar thing last week ..'it was our turnovers that hurt us' or something
like that. It begs the question how well have we adapted to the zone that most teams seem to be using?
And whats going on with our forwardline structure? Seriously if you look up and have nothing
to kick to you have to go sideways and backwards and inevitably turn it over. Then your
confidence gets shot and it just gets worse and worse. Very few of our players
seemed composed with the ball in their hands under pressure. When our confidence is shot
we can look really,really bad .

Higgins , Hill, Boyd and Eagle were all ok. Callen would have been really handy on Eddie
Betts, Harbrow tries hard but i would love to see him up forward again.

He said that because we were wining the clearances and hard ball gets, but didn't do much with the possessions we got.

[AndrewP6]

I purposely stayed away from the computer to avoid any over-emotional response. I'm here now...

I think we were beaten at our own game today. Slick handballs, kicks hitting targets... the Blues did it. We got more clearances, they made more errors, and we didn't make them pay. The past 18months or so, that's what we've done - made teams pay for their errors. We couldn't capitalise on any opportunities presented today. It wasn't even their "stars" that killed us... rather it was the so-called 2nd string players, as well as the group that the Blues got through their salary cap rorting (Murphy, Gibbs, Kreuzer) that did it.

Our forward structure is non-existent. Every time we got a possession in the middle, the ball-carrier has no one to give it to.

I said I was worried about this one... sadly I was right on the money. Regardless of the stage of the season, there are aspects of our team that are severely lacking. Next, the Saints?? Good God...

[AndrewP6]

It sounds like it, Blues seem to be able to move the ball with little of no pressure.

Are we flat due to the trip to Perth? If so why then did we not make a couple more changes, especially running player wise.


How long can we use the Perth trips as an excuse?

[Stefcep]

K - kicking innaccuraicies
P - passes by hand putting mates into trouble and/or missing the meark
I - Idiotic decisions in crucial moments of the match




Nothing new there. That's what we did last year for maybe 6-7 games but somehow managed to win them. This year other teams will be smarter than that.

Lake is basically too stupid to play as a forward. Actually I think he's just stupid, period. Even at full back I've seen him kick stupidly, or try to run with the ball when he had no hope of getting around his man and a team mate was free, or handball to put a team mate under enormous pressure. He just lack football smarts. He should stay at FB where he can just try to foil his opponent.

Josh, he tried but as always, was too loose. Always lacks accountability, even when he has a good game.

I wish Cross would learn to kick.

Griffen: where was he?


The kicking for goal is a major problem, has been all this season, and in important matches last season.

Not the worst I've seen from this group of players. But not far off it. Will require a HUGE turnaround in form and confidence against the Saints.

[Bulldog Revolution]

How long can we use the Perth trips as an excuse?

The truth as I see it is that we just haven't played that well in 09 yet

We've beaten 3 teams who are far from flying and been exposed against two teams that did not make the finals last year

[lemmon]

The truth as I see it is that we just haven't played that well in 09 yet

We've beaten 3 teams who are far from flying and been exposed against two teams that did not make the finals last year

We have beaten nobody yet and even in our wins you got the sense we had a higher gear we hadnt reached, if we want to match it with the Geelongs, St Kildas and Hawthorns we have to find that other gear. St Kilda have definitley done it since last year.

[LostDoggy]

I purposely stayed away from the computer to avoid any over-emotional response. I'm here now...

I think we were beaten at our own game today. Slick handballs, kicks hitting targets... the Blues did it. We got more clearances, they made more errors, and we didn't make them pay. The past 18months or so, that's what we've done - made teams pay for their errors. We couldn't capitalise on any opportunities presented today. It wasn't even their "stars" that killed us... rather it was the so-called 2nd string players, as well as the group that the Blues got through their salary cap rorting (Murphy, Gibbs, Kreuzer) that did it.

Our forward structure is non-existent. Every time we got a possession in the middle, the ball-carrier has no one to give it to.

I said I was worried about this one... sadly I was right on the money. Regardless of the stage of the season, there are aspects of our team that are severely lacking. Next, the Saints?? Good God...


Have to agree, I think we were beaten at our own game. Did the 2 trips to WA have an effect? Maybe, but we can't use that as an excuse. IMO, we didn't man up enough, and it seemed like we didn't want to tackle, especially Judd & Murphy - are these guys untouchable? I realise they are hard to tackle down - they seem to have this little side swivel that gets rid of the tackler!:( In the 3rd quarter, I finally saw some tough tackling, and it paid off when we got the free kick! I think we missed Aker - his silky skills, and explosive dash! We just couldn't seem to match them at all and at times it certainly appeared we weren't manning up. Very disappointing, however, it is April after all, and finals aren't won in April! I'm hoping they will come out and make me eat my words next week, and make a contest and win against the Sainters!

[LostDoggy]

He said that because we were wining the clearances and hard ball gets, but didn't do much with the possessions we got.

Yeah but why didn't we do much with it?
as andrew P6 said below - our forward structure is non-existent. Every time we got a possession in the middle, the ball-carrier has no one to give it to.

[bulldogtragic]

Can't have it,

Too complicated.

I've heard no-one understands it but some woman too... :)
It's shafts duty to whip the boys booty(on the training track this week), as Shaft is a bad mutha....

Google 'shaft quote', god there are some ultra lame shaft quotes...

[Mofra]

Having an actual HF line would be a start. Murphy needs to get fitter & quickly. Grant led, was ignored, and dropped his head. In the last quarter he'd handball, and stop. As a tall, he needs to keep running to rpovide a target, an option.

Gadzooks we missed Cooney today. A semi-fit Cooney sitting in the forwardline makes a difference over the rubbish we served up today. How does a team win clearances but end up smashed?

[LostDoggy]

How does a team win clearances but end up smashed?

I thought we lost the uncontested marks? Not a usual KPI but does it say something?

[GVGjr]

Our forward structure is non-existent. Every time we got a possession in the middle, the ball-carrier has no one to give it to.

I said I was worried about this one... sadly I was right on the money. Regardless of the stage of the season, there are aspects of our team that are severely lacking. Next, the Saints?? Good God...

I agree on both points and next weeks game is a huge challenge for us.

[lemmon]

Having an actual HF line would be a start. Murphy needs to get fitter & quickly. Grant led, was ignored, and dropped his head. In the last quarter he'd handball, and stop. As a tall, he needs to keep running to rpovide a target, an option.

Gadzooks we missed Cooney today. A semi-fit Cooney sitting in the forwardline makes a difference over the rubbish we served up today. How does a team win clearances but end up smashed?

The loss of Cooney and Griffen being well held left us short of run, not much use winning the ball in the contest if you have no one to carry it and deliver.

[Mofra]

I thought we lost the uncontested marks? Not a usual KPI but does it say something?
Says we either didn't run hard enough or made dumb decisions.

We really played dumb football today.

[hujsh]

I don't like all our forwards pushing up into the middle every game. We need to have targets to kick to. otherwise it will be turned over


Applaudes!

I'm glad I'm not alone getting frustrated with the constant green grass that is our forward line :o

I'm with you.

[Stefcep]

There seems to be this emphasis on "hard ball gets" at the expense of the bleeding obvious: once you've got the ball, pass it to your advantage ie to a team mate . Oh and make sure the last kick goes between the big sticks. We were what ? 1.8 at one point, and we've missed heaps of sitters against North. Its only a matter of time before good teams will make you pay dearly.

[LostDoggy]

There seems to be this emphasis on "hard ball gets" at the expense of the bleeding obvious: once you've got the ball, pass it to your advantage ie to a team mate . Oh and make sure the last kick goes between the big sticks. We were what ? 1.8 at one point, and we've missed heaps of sitters against North. Its only a matter of time before good teams will make you pay dearly.

Don't know if it's an intentional emphasis or just a result of the balance of our middle at the moment. Boyd, Cross, Picken, Addison et al are all hard-ball specialists, with Cooney, Griffen, Eagleton, Gia, Higgins, Ward and Aker to provide more of the class and disposal. (It's certainly strange to criticise our improvement in hard-ball gets, as we were getting smashed in this area not too long ago.)

Cooney and Aker, two of our better ball users, were both out, and Eagleton has become a tagger/tackler to prolong his career, while Ward is just a pup. This tips the balance mostly to the ball winners, not so much the ball users. Also, Griff and Gia have both been copping criticism, but they haven't had the support of Cooney and Aker who would take pretty good match-ups, and Eagle and Ward aren't helping much in this area. Higgins is the only one really standing up at the moment.

This was probably Rocket's thinking around why Gilbee was further up the ground, as he is another one with good disposal.

I know that there shouldn't be a distinction between inside/outside types and good midfielders do both (Griff and Gia both go in pretty hard), but the reality is that our better ball users in the middle are out/underdone, too old, or too young.

I wouldn't give up on the Gilbee-in-the-middle experiment yet, will need some time to adjust but his disposal may be crucial further up the field and if the experiment works we would have an elite level midfielder who can work both ways.

But, and this has been harped on ad nauseum, forward structure is built around a pressure option ie. a good, old-fashioned, marking forward who can take a strong mark or bring the ball to ground for your crumbers, or at least be dangerous enough to take the best defender. Johnno is no longer capable of doing this, and Minson, while willing enough (no pun intended), is not up to it. Welsh is a crucial stopgap here, and Tiller/Grant/Boumann may or may not be the answer either, but, to bring another thread into this discussion, Pavlich certainly would. I would certainly be happy to sacrifice a bit of class around the ground to get this crucial, crucial piece of the puzzle in place.

Having said all this though, don't underestimate the absence of Cooney, Welsh and most importantly Aker. Losing that kind of class will cripple most teams, and takes more than a week to adjust to.

[The Bulldogs Bite]

Gilbee needs to be played in the back half. He's not a midfielder and the first five weeks have proved that.

His disposal and decision making has been very poor too which has been disappointing. He's lost a bit of poise and doesn't seem to be kicking the ball too well.

[BornInDroopSt'54]

Don't know if it's an intentional emphasis or just a result of the balance of our middle at the moment. Boyd, Cross, Picken, Addison et al are all hard-ball specialists, with Cooney, Griffen, Eagleton, Gia, Higgins, Ward and Aker to provide more of the class and disposal. (It's certainly strange to criticise our improvement in hard-ball gets, as we were getting smashed in this area not too long ago.)

Cooney and Aker, two of our better ball users, were both out, and Eagleton has become a tagger/tackler to prolong his career, while Ward is just a pup. This tips the balance mostly to the ball winners, not so much the ball users. Also, Griff and Gia have both been copping criticism, but they haven't had the support of Cooney and Aker who would take pretty good match-ups, and Eagle and Ward aren't helping much in this area. Higgins is the only one really standing up at the moment.

This was probably Rocket's thinking around why Gilbee was further up the ground, as he is another one with good disposal.

I know that there shouldn't be a distinction between inside/outside types and good midfielders do both (Griff and Gia both go in pretty hard), but the reality is that our better ball users in the middle are out/underdone, too old, or too young.

I wouldn't give up on the Gilbee-in-the-middle experiment yet, will need some time to adjust but his disposal may be crucial further up the field and if the experiment works we would have an elite level midfielder who can work both ways.

But, and this has been harped on ad nauseum, forward structure is built around a pressure option ie. a good, old-fashioned, marking forward who can take a strong mark or bring the ball to ground for your crumbers, or at least be dangerous enough to take the best defender. Johnno is no longer capable of doing this, and Minson, while willing enough (no pun intended), is not up to it. Welsh is a crucial stopgap here, and Tiller/Grant/Boumann may or may not be the answer either, but, to bring another thread into this discussion, Pavlich certainly would. I would certainly be happy to sacrifice a bit of class around the ground to get this crucial, crucial piece of the puzzle in place.

Having said all this though, don't underestimate the absence of Cooney, Welsh and most importantly Aker. Losing that kind of class will cripple most teams, and takes more than a week to adjust to.

I mostly agree with your fulsome analysis. We really missed Cooney and Aker. Minson is not the answer to our need for a "pressure option ie. a good, old-fashioned, marking forward who can take a strong mark or bring the ball to ground for your crumbers", he needs the ball to fall on top of him with accuracybefore he can take a grab.He is unable to read the flight early and then get there/ he's too immobile. Bring in Welsh. Out with Minson.
Grant is quick, he can be the answer. He deferred to Johnson once on Sunday, when he could have taken the grab himself, coming from behind. Johnson who had two to beat, didn't take the mark. Grant needs to make the forward line his own, and use his speed and marking skills to own the place. That may take a year, but could happen earlier. I don't buy the argument that he must have more upper body strength before we make him a regular. His speed and ability to take contested marks subverts this. He needs chances for success, and when he feels secure, his lack of confidence in his kicking will lessen.
"Eagleton has become a tagger/tackler to prolong his career". Obvioulsy it's not to prolong his career, the Bulldogs don't owe that to anybody. Rather its because he can tag that he's given this role. Equally he can still be used as an 'outside' carrier and kicker, and that's sometimes the right option for example in the absence of Cooney.
Gilbee is sublime coming off half back but looks very uncertain in the midfield being tagged.
Pavlich is made for us, but it only happens in the movies or at Carlton with a thief for a president. Let's start up a pass the hat around for Pav. A thousand supporters at $100 @ = $100,000....mmm Ten thousand supporters at $200 is $2mill. That's doable. I hereby pledge $200 to the cause.

[Mantis]

Just watch the game for the first time, here are some of my notes I jotted down while watching:

1st qtr

* Murphy used the ball extremely poorly
* Too many players going to ground at the contest, Cross the main offender.
* Must kick set shots.

Best for the qtr: Boyd, Higgins

2nd qtr

* Addsion - costly turn-over's
* Johnson - horrible without the ball
* No run & carry
* Both ruckman more worried about roughing up Kreuzer than attacking the ball
* Too many players filling holes and not closing down opposition.
* No composure in defence with ball in hand.
* Griffen kicks long too often, need to look short to hold possession.
* Last goal hurt.

Best for qtr: Griffen, Boyd, Minson

3rd qtr

* No forward pressure - too slow.
* Going to ground in contest
* Players who aren't good kicks need to play the percentage's.
* Johnson - turns the ball over too easily when up the field.
* The free kick to Carazzo was disgusting - umpire Vozzo is an attention seeking nuffie. Killed our momentum.
* No forwards -always out-numbered.
* Kick the goal Brian.
* Effort was pretty good.

Best for qtr: Hill, Griffen, Higgins, Harbrow

4th qtr

* Hargrave can't play on a tall.
* Turnovers by foot and especially hand are costly. Too many silly handballs to stationary targets.
* No accountability on the rebound.

Best for qtr: Hill, Boyd

General stuff:

* Murphy shouldn't have played, he was a liability until the last qtr.
* Gee we looked slow, especially without the ball.
* Our skills were bloody poor, heavy legs??

[The Coon Dog]

^^^^^^^
Interesting observation about going to ground. Obviously when you do that you are out of the contest.

It must frustrate the hell out of the coach. How do you avoid it?

[LostDoggy]

Love top know how many times we butchered a goal scoring opportunities and also how many times we gave off soft goals. There were a few '12 point' plays against us.

[Sockeye Salmon]

^^^^^^^
Interesting observation about going to ground. Obviously when you do that you are out of the contest.

It must frustrate the hell out of the coach. How do you avoid it?

Players go to ground when they're slow. Cross does it, Gia does it.

If they keep their feet the other bloke is away so they dive on the ball and try to feed out a handball.

This is not necessarily a bad thing, Liberatore was a star at it, and the end result is often possession. Even if we don't end up with it there's a good chance you'll get a bounce.

On the debit side, there's a chance you'll get done for holding the ball and if you don't get your hands on it lying on the ground while your opponent runs away looks bad.

[Bulldog Revolution]

Just watch the game for the first time, here are some of my notes I jotted down while watching:


You're a better man than I,

I could get through the whole thing last night after attending the game. And I taped over it tonight on purpose tonight.

[The Bulldogs Bite]

Why do we continually play Johnson as a midfielder?

He's slow, his skills are poor, his decision making is average and he has no defensive pressure. I can't see any reasons why we'd play him anywhere but as a FF/FP.

[Mantis]

Why do we continually play Johnson as a midfielder?

He's slow, his skills are poor, his decision making is average and he has no defensive pressure. I can't see any reasons why we'd play him anywhere but as a FF/FP.

I can't disagree with anything you have stated here.

Johnson has remarkable endurance for a player in his 30's, but as you say his field kicking is quite poor and he isn't our best chaser. Sure he needs to try and fatigue his opponent, but this can be done with 'selfless leading' rather than moving up the field to gather possessions. As captain he also probably feels the need to 'lift' the team by moving into the centre, but we have more suited players in the team to give us drive out of the middle.

I raised the point in the pre-season that Johnson shouldn't be allowed to run past the middle of the ground. I think our latest game highlights why this should be the case.

[Desipura]

^^^^^^^
Interesting observation about going to ground. Obviously when you do that you are out of the contest.

It must frustrate the hell out of the coach. How do you avoid it?
I do not know that you can TCD. When you lack foot speed, you tend to go to ground and potentially get a free kick for around the neck or you handball it off to one of your runners.
As SS stated, the risk is you get pinged for holding the ball.
I made this comment about Cross going to ground yesterday under the Cross thread. Mantis and I noticed the same thing obviously.

[Desipura]

did anyone watch footy classified last night? I am only quoting what I have been told and not using the loss as an excuse.
Apparently Mike Sheehan stated that almost the entire team were strong down with the flu during the Carlton game. Can anyone confirm?

[Sockeye Salmon]

did anyone watch footy classified last night? I am only quoting what I have been told and not using the loss as an excuse.
Apparently Mike Sheehan stated that almost the entire team were strong down with the flu during the Carlton game. Can anyone confirm?

The only two I heard about were Lake and Akermanis.

[bornadog]

did anyone watch footy classified last night? I am only quoting what I have been told and not using the loss as an excuse.
Apparently Mike Sheehan stated that almost the entire team were strong down with the flu during the Carlton game. Can anyone confirm?

Lake was confirmed during the week as he missed training, however, the report that came out said:

Lake and a few players have missed training today, no mention of who.

[LostDoggy]

did anyone watch footy classified last night? I am only quoting what I have been told and not using the loss as an excuse.
Apparently Mike Sheehan stated that almost the entire team were strong down with the flu during the Carlton game. Can anyone confirm?

Mike Sheehan trying to save face after he talked us up, after we bashed 3 bottom 4 sides.

[The Underdog]

Lake was confirmed during the week as he missed training, however, the report that came out said:

Lake and a few players have missed training today, no mention of who.

Any chance he missed out of continuing embarrassment? If I was him I'd be trying to find some sort of excuse for that handball.
I can't believe we'd play more than one guy who'd been ill during the week especially given our game relies on hard running.
I'd also imagine it's fairly standard for a few guys to be held out of training 2 days after a match for other reasons/activities.

[LostDoggy]

Mike Sheehan trying to save face after he talked us up, after we bashed 3 bottom 4 sides.

Nothing like yourslef as we only see you here after a loss.

[LostDoggy]

Nothing like yourslef as we only see you here after a loss.


Thats incorrect. Most people write after a loss what i write all year round. Not my problem some people are slow on the uptake.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Mike Sheehan trying to save face after he talked us up, after we bashed 3 bottom 4 sides.

I doubt it. Mike could just as easily gain extra print mileage if we don't live up to his expectations. If our slumpwere to continue he'd rub his hands with glee and write an article about how we were not meeting our potential.......and he'd probably be right.

[LostDoggy]

Thats incorrect. Most people write after a loss what i write all year round. Not my problem some people are slow on the uptake.

Who is slow on the uptake? We won more than we've lost over the last few years but I've never read a positive post from you.

You use this as a shit stir forum not a bulldog fans forum.

[hujsh]

Thats incorrect. Most people write after a loss what i write all year round. Not my problem some people are slow on the uptake.

You've definitely posted more after the Blues loss than you were before

[mighty_west]

Just a few of my observations from the game.....

I can't understand why we would play an underdone Murphy and play him down back, he has never been a defender, just go back and watch the 2003 season, plus he's one of the most creative players in the AFL, HAS TO PLAY FORWARD.

To me, he was played down there to get some run into the legs, get into the game etc, but i'd much rather an Everitt or Tiller, players in decent form play down back before an underdone Murph.

Grant had to be given more time up forward, especiually given that we lacked a forward line most of the night, Johnno as well for the same reasons, plus i don't think he is affective enough in the team to play in the midfield, oppositions must rub their hands together when they see no Johnno in our forward line.

Lake proved that he's a defender, and currently ranked in the top 3 of the league, he has to be a player that is kept with one job in mind, and not a player that has to think too much, i'd even prefer him as a Fletcher type that doesn't take the best forward, but to run loose in the backline, Morris & Williams should take the big boys.

[LostDoggy]

I don' think we're going to have Williams for a while...:(

[hujsh]

Just a few of my observations from the game.....

I can't understand why we would play an underdone Murphy and play him down back, he has never been a defender, just go back and watch the 2003 season, plus he's one of the most creative players in the AFL, HAS TO PLAY FORWARD.

Fairly certain he has been. May even have been CHB at one stage.

[LostDoggy]

Yes he was...but he wasn't any good. Kept turning the ball over - this was during the Peter Rohde days.

[LostDoggy]

Yes he was...but he wasn't any good. Kept turning the ball over - this was during the Peter Rohde days.

Looked classy as heck though, strolling forward and doing all these little perfectly balanced dinky chip kicks over traffic. I kept calling him Ryan Murphy in those days.