R9 Match Preview - Western Bulldogs v Geelong

[Sockeye Salmon]

Mantis has given me a nice easy one.

Western Bulldogs v Geelong


2008 Results

Preliminary Final: Geelong 12.11 83 d. Western Bulldogs 7.12 54
Rd 16: Geelong 19.17 131 d. Western Bulldogs 10.10 70

2009 Form

Geelong 8 wins 0 losses
Western Bulldogs 5 wins 3 losses

Players under the Pump

Western Bulldogs – Mitch Hahn, Ryan Griffen
Geelong – Team statistician has RSI

Players to return

Western Bulldogs – Shaun Higgins, Ryan Hargrave (perhaps),Tim Callan
Geelong – A couple of nobodies like Gary Ablett and Paul Chapman

Summary – God help us.



Defensive Match-ups

Brian Lake v Tom Hawkins. Lake has a good matchup for him this week in Hawkins. Hawkins will be a beauty but he’s not there yet. If Lake is on and can take some defensive marks that will be the first step to an upset win.

Tom Williams v Cameron Mooney. – Mooney is important to them because he always gives a contest but he rarely hurts teams. Williams has everything needed to do a defensive job on him but I’d like to see Williams hurt Geelong by running off Mooney as well.

Ryan Hargrave v Steve Johnson – Hargrave did the job last time out but a) Hargrave might not get up and b) Morris doesn’t seem to have a natural matchup. Morris can pretty much play on anyone though. Johnson is also spending more time up the ground this year.


Midfield Match-ups

Is it really worth bothering? Ablett, Selwood and Bartel don’t seem to care too much as to whether they’re being tagged or not. I always believed it was pointless trying to tag Scott West, he’d get it 30 times whether you did or not and I think some of the Cats midfielders are the same. There’s also too many of them; tag them all and who’s going to get the ball for us?

Picken will get first try at Ablett but for the most part other than that everyone must simply at least match it with his opponent.


What else do we have to worry about?

mjp has brought it up before but Geelong’s backline work together like no other. They zone off to take defensive marks as 3rd man up and they cover for each other when someone bolts off upfield.

Our forwards have to get separation from each other. Make sure you take Harley, especially, far enough away from his teammates that he can’t take those 3rd man up marks. If he tries to zone off too far, use his opponent. That goes for all of them.


Handball is your friend

We have to run at them. We have to play on at every opportunity and we have to handball, handball, handball. The supporters will be screaming for blood, BigFooty will go into meltdown if we lose but that’s just nuffies in the stands who wouldn’t know a drop punt from an Easter egg.

Blokes will make mistakes that will cost us goals, deal with it. The only sure way to guarantee to lose is to not take a risk.


The Verdict

The fact is they’re better than us and will probably win but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they will. I think the possible margin could be anywhere from +10 to -70 points. If we do everything right, play on at every opportunity and our skills are good we’re a show. If we stop and kick over the man on the mark we’ll get smashed.

Geelong by 25.

[Go_Dogs]

Good preview, and tend to agree with most of your thoughts.

Tiller is another who I think should (hopefully) come into consideration this week.

Mooney out also helps us a bit with the match ups down back.


Interesting you have Griff listed as a player under the pump. You obviously have not rated his performances very highly the last few weeks, what should be done to run him back into his best form?

[Sedat]

Great preview SS.

Allow me to indulge in a little revisionist history back to last year's PF - goes without saying that two of our most important players structurally that we have missed badly in patches this year have been Cooney and Murphy. Also Williams is a very important plank in the defensive 50 to free up the rest of the defensive group to find more appropriate match-ups. In last year's PF, Cooney had a cracked knee cap, Murphy's knee was stuffed to the point that he grubbered almost evey kick he had (I was very critical of his game at the time without knowing the extent of his injury), and there was no Williams down back. With these 3 either at barely 50% capacity or off the park, we still managed to push Geelong a very long way in that final.

On Friday night we have Williams, a fitter Cooney, but no Murphy. Geelong have no Ottens. If our rucks/mids can somehow limit Geelong to no more than about 50 forward 50 entries, and more important if we can spread and deliver smartly into our forward 50 so that we can isolate their defenders one-out, we are some sort of chance to get within a couple of goals or even pinch it. Failure to execute one of all of the above and it will be a comfortable loss on Friday night, simple as that.

Totally agree with Sockeye - if we are static with our ball movement, and do not run at the Cats and take them on with hands through the middle, it will be as ugly as the Round 16 game at Kardinia Park last year and the Friday night fizzer late in season 2007.

[LostDoggy]

Entertaining as always SS.

Like you've said, their multiple possession winning backline is a key danger, but we isolated Higgo pretty well in the Prelim last year and just kept going through him sitting on the intersection of the 50 and the boundary as the Geelong backs kept zoning off him and refused to man him up.

It seems to me that we just have to be disciplined in ruthlessly exploiting whatever chink in the armour the day throws up and not try to be too cute because the Cats are deadly on the turnover. If we can keep the game a low-scoring affair we'll be in with a shout. If we turn it into a lairy fairy shootout there's only one winner and it won't be pretty.

A real character test. Time for the men to stand up.

[1eyedog]

An accurate and entertaining review SS. I notice you don't have a match up in the back half for Morris. Do you not think that Morris will be better suited to Johnson. Our best back on their best forward?

[Mofra]

Like you've said, their multiple possession winning backline is a key danger, but we isolated Higgo pretty well in the Prelim last year and just kept going through him sitting on the intersection of the 50 and the boundary as the Geelong backs kept zoning off him and refused to man him up.
I remember us isolating Milburn's opponent (Higgins in the first) as he doesn't play a tight backman's role. We wont have that luxury this time.
We need Hill. He can run all day and leap like a scared cat. He will have to provide a chop-out marking option across the HF line with Murphy out. Harbrow will have to give Scarlett another big "don't argue". Huddo will need to do his typical 3rd & 4th efforts at the centre bounces so we can match or win clearances. Boyd is probably our best-performed midfielder this year (15 possies in the 4th vs Melbourne, they guy is all ticker) so we need a big one from him. He's gone past Cross this year IMO.

We match up better than most against the Cats. We have to play dangerous though - if we go into our shells will get smashed. If we play with slick handball and pierce their zone, we should do ok - they move the ball very quickly but their footspeed isn't actually that great.

[Rocco Jones]

Just a few random points from myself:

- I thought our tackling against the Cats was great in the prelim. Not only did we work hard to get our tackles but we also were very smart in how we went about it. The Cats use the ball more than any side in history. I think the first rule to beating the Cats is placing pressure on their handball receivers.

- No Mooney frees up Lake. He towelled up Lonergan in the prelim and hopefully we can see a repeat.

- It also frees up Dale and boy do we need it against a side featuring small forwards of the quality of Stevie J, Chappy and Stokes. Shaggy gave Stevie J a bath last year in the prelim. Even if Shaggy is fit, SJ now spends more time in the midfield. Huge test for Harbrow.

- Ablett, Bartel, Selwood: Pointless trying to hard tag them out of the game because all it does is sacrifice one of our own ball winners. The use of Picken will be interesting. I would do with an outside tag of Ablett or Stevie J. If we are going to win we need something like Boyd smashing his direct opponent.

- The use of Gilbee. If we play him at HBF I think he will generate a forward tag by Rooke. We really need our talented but easily stoppables in Gilbee and Griffen to damage the Cats.

- Cooney is getting back to his best, we probably need him to hit the fast forward button.

- Hudson/Minson need to take advantage of Ottens missing. We really must get an overall win in the ruck.

- Limiting the help that their defenders give eachother. Our forwards really need to work their arses off. As others have already commented on, one way to really hurt the Cats is isolating their weaker defenders.

- Most of all, we need to be confident. As SS has mentioned, we need to play on, handball and take risks. If we are safe we are probably just as likely to get smashed anyway. We have defeated the eventual premiers in each of previous three seasons and are 3rd despite looking ordinary. Essendon have been a great example of how far a bit of belief can take you.

[boydogs]

A couple have mentioned confidence - its important that if we take the lead like we did early in the prelim that we don't shut down and wait for the what we believe to be inevitable in Geelong coming back at us.

In their big loss to Collingwood last year and loss in the Grand Final, their opposition did not let up. We must do the same and revel in every possession and score we can get against them

Geelong have Mooney out, Ottens out, and Ablett and Chapman have been out and hopefully not at their best. This is a good week to get them, we need to realise this and pounce like an opportunistic predator

[AndrewP6]

To paraphrase Pete Seeger... I think we're knee deep in the big muddy...

I reeeeeeally hope I'm dead wrong...

[The Pie Man]

A couple have mentioned confidence - its important that if we take the lead like we did early in the prelim that we don't shut down and wait for the what we believe to be inevitable in Geelong coming back at us.

In their big loss to Collingwood last year and loss in the Grand Final, their opposition did not let up. We must do the same and revel in every possession and score we can get against them

Geelong have Mooney out, Ottens out, and Ablett and Chapman have been out and hopefully not at their best. This is a good week to get them, we need to realise this and pounce like an opportunistic predator

Lose badly and hear the critics 'can't even get near them with all their outs' ...tis very annoying.

[Sockeye Salmon]

An accurate and entertaining review SS. I notice you don't have a match up in the back half for Morris. Do you not think that Morris will be better suited to Johnson. Our best back on their best forward?

Partly because Johnson towelled up Morris at KP last year, partly because Shaggy did a job on him in the prelim, partly because Johnson is spending more time up the ground, partly because Morris can play on anyone.

[dog town]

I have always thought Morris is a little less effective on players who turn him around and run him back towards goal. He is always hard to shake but most of the guys who have done ok against him have been players who not only lead up at the ball carrier but also run back into space towards goal. Johnson runs all day and gets many of his touches facing his own goal so I would save Morris for someone else. That is of course provided Hargrave gets up.

The game is ours for the taking. They havent been tested yet and with Mooney out I believe we can make it extremely difficult for them to score as we did in last years final. This gives us a shot at the very least. I dont really have anything to add that hasn't already been said. We know basically what we need to do to put them under pressure its just a matter of executing it.

[Scraggers]

Geelong can be beaten ... This round? Probably not !!

In round 21 we face them again ... again at Telstra Dome, and again on the Friday night.

If we get done this Friday, we need to learn from it ... put it in the memory bank ... use it towards the business end of this season, cause sure as eggs, if we make top 4 we'll be facing them again in the finals

[Mantis]

That was an entertaining read SS, with some insightful comments thrown in for good measure.

Our boys face the biggest test in football coming straight off an extremely lacklustre performance against the Dees. If we have as many bystanders this week as we did just last week we will be taken to the cleaners. Our pressure skills on a whole were woeful against Melbourne, but we weren't forced to pay. We do the same this week and we most certainly will.

The midfield battles shape as the key. We must at the very least find a way to break even with the powerful Geelong midfield. We must also find a way to score 15 goals, I don't know how we will, but we simply have to.

While a win might be out of the question I would like to be in the game for much of the night. While we are still a few key players away from being at our best there are no excuses for atleast 6 or 8 'key' players who aren't performing at the consistent levels that we expect, they simply need to show something against the leagues best to give us some hope that we will be a major player at the pointy end of the season.

[Topdog]

I'd like to see us use Hahn in the middle to start the game with 1 instruction. Tackle everyone in sight. Along with taking a lot of risks the only way to slow Geelong down is to constently tackle them and our team seems to do that more when they see it works. Having Hahn in there will hopefully get them moving.

I'd also like to see Picken on Stevie J. Think he is too small to stop Ablett.

[Mofra]

I'd also like to see Picken on Stevie J. Think he is too small to stop Ablett.
I thought Stevie J was much bigger than Ablett?

[Sockeye Salmon]

Our boys face the biggest test in football coming straight off an extremely lacklustre performance against the Dees. If we have as many bystanders this week as we did just last week we will be taken to the cleaners. Our pressure skills on a whole were woeful against Melbourne, but we weren't forced to pay. We do the same this week and we most certainly will.


I actually thought the pressure was OK. The intent was certainly there.

I thought there were a huge number of times we pressured them really well and came within a poofteenth of creating a turnover and they just managed to hold on to the ball.

A few times I thought we pressured them into making an error and the bloody ball hit someone's kneecap and rebounded back to them. For example, Tom Williams attacking the ball well in front of Miller and getting a bad bounce that hit him on the shoulder and rebounded to Sylvia who kicked a goal.

One of those days where things just didn't quite come off - bowling well without taking wickets kind of thing.

[Mantis]

I actually thought the pressure was OK. The intent was certainly there.

I thought there were a huge number of times we pressured them really well and came within a poofteenth of creating a turnover and they just managed to hold on to the ball.

A few times I thought we pressured them into making an error and the bloody ball hit someone's kneecap and rebounded back to them. For example, Tom Williams attacking the ball well in front of Miller and getting a bad bounce that hit him on the shoulder and rebounded to Sylvia who kicked a goal.

One of those days where things just didn't quite come off - bowling well without taking wickets kind of thing.

The pressure was ok in parts in the 2nd half, but generally it was pretty poor. If we were playing another top ranked team we could have been 8+ goals down at half time.

Another concern was the lack of movement across the ground, the only player who got on his bike in the 1st half to create an option was Murphy and he only lasted 15 minutes. We had too many players who were ball watching early on which is very evident if you take a look at the half time stats.

Anyway onto this week and it's a big chance for many of our players who are in the gun so to speak to stand up and put in a credible performance against the competetion's benchmark.

[LostDoggy]

Did anyone else notice that is last years prelim we had a couple of players start behind the ball at the centre bounce? I remember noticing it in the second half, not sure if it happened all game, i'm pretty sure Tiller was one player can't remember the other, but Geelong seemed quite happy to leave the 2 players free in there forward line..

Do you think this would be effective? i know that we will struggle to score as it is, without 2 extra geelong defenders.. But it seemed to work in the Prelim, with us limiting there scoring, we were well and truly in the game..We would obviously have to rely on out run and skills to pin point passes, which has been dissapointing this year!

And if we are 3 goals down at 3 quarter time throw caution to the wind and go back to man on man!

[Sedat]

When Murph went down early in the game against the Dees, Aker basically stood up and became our pseudo lead-up forward so that we kept some semblance of our original structure. I'd like to see him do this again on Friday night so that his direct opponent has no choice but to stick tight to him. Then the likes of Welsh, Johnno, Minson and Hahn can spread with some confidence knowing that Aker can provide the missing link in the chain between the centre and the forward 50. Big ask of Aker but he is smart, talented and quick enough on the lead to pull it off.

[LostDoggy]

A couple have mentioned confidence - its important that if we take the lead like we did early in the prelim that we don't shut down and wait for the what we believe to be inevitable in Geelong coming back at us.

In their big loss to Collingwood last year and loss in the Grand Final, their opposition did not let up. We must do the same and revel in every possession and score we can get against them

Geelong have Mooney out, Ottens out, and Ablett and Chapman have been out and hopefully not at their best. This is a good week to get them, we need to realise this and pounce like an opportunistic predator

Agree - whilst I am not as tactically attuned as some on this forum (great preview SS by the way), it would seem to me that we need to run (and keep running) and keep possession - if we've got the ball, they can't damage us so much! ;)

[azabob]

When Murph went down early in the game against the Dees, Aker basically stood up and became our pseudo lead-up forward so that we kept some semblance of our original structure. I'd like to see him do this again on Friday night so that his direct opponent has no choice but to stick tight to him. Then the likes of Welsh, Johnno, Minson and Hahn can spread with some confidence knowing that Aker can provide the missing link in the chain between the centre and the forward 50. Big ask of Aker but he is smart, talented and quick enough on the lead to pull it off.

Is Hahn going to be more of a liability playing forward this week as he isn't playing great footy and he's is a yard slow? Geelong may really expose him but playing a Mackie on him and run off at every opportunity.

I do like your idea though of Akermanis being our lead up target. Be good if maybe Johnson and Welsh could start out of the goal square also and be leading targets rather than go up the ground.

[KT31]

Great for us Mooney accepting a week.

[Mantis]

SS,

With Mooney now out how do you think Geelong will structure their forwardline? Will they simply put Lonergan down there to fill in for Mooney at CHF or will they change it up a little?

How do you think the match-ups will be effected by these scenario's?

[Sedat]

SS,

With Mooney now out how do you think Geelong will structure their forwardline? Will they simply put Lonergan down there to fill in for Mooney at CHF or will they change it up a little?

How do you think the match-ups will be effected by these scenario's?
I reckon Gamble is a shoe-in to come in as Mooney's replacement. He has prior form against us and he changes up the formation a little, which will give us something extra to think about - at his best he plays tall for his size and also fulfils the mobile forward role.

[lemmon]

Really have to spread their defence. They are beauties at zoning off and chopping out so the disposal into the forward fifty has to be precise but we cant let it get too congested in there. I wouldnt mind seeing Scarlett being taken to the wing where he cant have an impact and Harley being dragged up the ground as well. Mackie is probably the one we can exploit, great runner of the ball but he is probably a bit suspect one on one. Hopefully we can take him back to the square and go through his opponent ie Higgins and Milburn.
The other thing though is that too often players get sucked into the contest. Time and again a player goes to the stoppage or contested footy where he has little impact. Geelong then use his man as the release player and often it is Gazza or Selwood.
Its going to be a massive task this week but a win could set up our season.
I didnt think Id ever say this but having Plough at the club would be helpful this week, he was master of the upset.

[LostDoggy]

I am concerend at Welsh's ability or lack of it to run with Scarlett to prevent him from being their first source of attack from the backline.

He looks to have put on some poundage from last year and will need to be mindful of Scarlett's run.

Another key is to stop their chain of handballs from stoppages. We may not be able to hold Ablett but we need to put pressure on each opposition player to stop the flow through a series of handballs. The Crows and Demons tried an amateurish form of this and when it came off they ran free into their forward 50.

[Mantis]

I reckon Gamble is a shoe-in to come in as Mooney's replacement. He has prior form against us and he changes up the formation a little, which will give us something extra to think about - at his best he plays tall for his size and also fulfils the mobile forward role.

Would you think?

I am pretty sure Geelong had Lonergan (197cm), Scarlett (192cm) & Taylor (193cm) playing defence last week vs North. There won't be a need for them to go that tall this week in defence so you would think Lonergan will play forward.

[azabob]

I am concerend at Welsh's ability or lack of it to run with Scarlett to prevent him from being their first source of attack from the backline.

He looks to have put on some poundage from last year and will need to be mindful of Scarlett's run.

Another key is to stop their chain of handballs from stoppages. We may not be able to hold Ablett but we need to put pressure on each opposition player to stop the flow through a series of handballs. The Crows and Demons tried an amateurish form of this and when it came off they ran free into their forward 50.

I'm more concerened with Hahn's lack of run. Both of them could be a concern.

[Sedat]

Would you think?

I am pretty sure Geelong had Lonergan (197cm), Scarlett (192cm) & Taylor (193cm) playing defence last week vs North. There won't be a need for them to go that tall this week in defence so you would think Lonergan will play forward.
I think both Lonergan and Gamble will play forward against us this week. Just a hunch on Gamble coming into the line-up - he absolutely toweled us up at Kardinia Park last season and was a listed emergency last week so is close to cracking it for a run in the seniors.

[Sockeye Salmon]

SS,

With Mooney now out how do you think Geelong will structure their forwardline? Will they simply put Lonergan down there to fill in for Mooney at CHF or will they change it up a little?

How do you think the match-ups will be effected by these scenario's?

Longergan won't have a match-up as a defender, he'll have to either play forward or play reserves.

[Sockeye Salmon]

I am concerend at Welsh's ability or lack of it to run with Scarlett to prevent him from being their first source of attack from the backline.


I'd be a lot more concerned about Scarlett running off Will. He's done that before and it killed us.

[Go_Dogs]

I'd be a lot more concerned about Scarlett running off Will. He's done that before and it killed us.

I tend to agree, Will and Hahn are probably the bigger liabilities at the moment.


Welsh actually works pretty hard off the ball.

[1eyedog]

On a side note I think it will be a great honour for either Jarrod Harbrow or Josh Hill to call the coin toss at Etihad stadium on Friday night. I believe Matthew Stokes will call the toss for Geelong. I noticed last season that Brad Johnson did it but I hope that one of our talented indigenous boys gets the honour this time around.

[Mantis]

On a side note I think it will be a great honour for either Jarrod Harbrow or Josh Hill to call the coin toss at Etihad stadium on Friday night. I believe Matthew Stokes will call the toss for Geelong. I noticed last season that Brad Johnson did it but I hope that one of our talented indigenous boys gets the honour this time around.

Understand the reasoning, but wouldn't 'Aker' be entitled to the honour (if tossing a coin is) in his 300th AFL game.

[1eyedog]

Understand the reasoning, but wouldn't 'Aker' be entitled to the honour (if tossing a coin is) in his 300th AFL game.

He'll lead the team out but being indigenous round I just think one of our indigenous boys should get that honour.

[Mofra]

He'll lead the team out but being indigenous round I just think one of our indigenous boys should get that honour.
Would nominating Stack as a possibility be a bit smart A? :D

In any case, I believe this is a winnable game if we get our mojo working. We need to ensure our better ball users are given the ball so we can direct entries into the F50 with some sort of order, as just bombing it in against any side tends to kill us.

[Sedat]

Longergan won't have a match-up as a defender, he'll have to either play forward or play reserves.
Give that man a cigar

[Topdog]

I thought Stevie J was much bigger than Ablett?

meant chest, strength, busting through people kind of big.

[Mofra]

meant chest, strength, busting through people kind of big.
I'd say Ablett has Setevie J covered in core strength and perhaps a little upper body strength too, but I'd be worried about the high difference & Johnson's ability overhead if Picken went to him.

[Desipura]

is there any concern that Higgins may not play. Why would he be named on an interchange bench? Do we pay much attention to a team of 22 that is named? Is Stack going to replace him?

[bornadog]

I thought Stevie J was much bigger than Ablett?

Steve J = 189cm, I think too big for Picken

[chef]

Steve J = 189cm, I think too big for Picken

Morris would have to get Steve J wouldn't he?

[LostDoggy]

Need to apply pressure to James Kelly when he has the footy. He has very suspect disposal.

[bornadog]

Morris would have to get Steve J wouldn't he?

Yes he will, Picken will go to Bartel.

[Mantis]

Yes he will, Picken will go to Bartel.

Who will go to Ablett? Boyd?

[The Bulldogs Bite]

Who will go to Ablett? Boyd?

Boyd to Ablett would be my choice.

He probably has the best ability in our side to be able to play on a very good player, quell his performance, and yet still perform well himself. Similar to Kirk from Sydney, but obviously not as effective.

It's almost impossible to stop Ablett but Boyd might be able to get enough of his own ball to hurt Ablett the other way, whilst still applying pressure. Griffen doesn't have the endurance, Cross is far too slow and Picken far too in-experienced. Davey really gave him the run around last week.

If Boyd fails, I'd try Eagleton.

Eagle has done well in the past when assigned specific tasks. It'd be a real challenge, but in a sense they play similar games. Around stoppages, Ablett often stands off the packs to get himself in the position to recieve a handball on the run. The Geelong players block space for him and he's good enough to work through traffic. This might actually suit Eagle - he too is effective at standing off the packs and hurting the opposition. By following Ablett around the stoppages, Eagle will get drawn to the ball and because it's his "game" to hang back, playing off Ablett might actually be our best option.

Boyd and co. often get drawn to the ground ball because they're purely in and under types that feed the ball out to Cooney, Griff, Gia etc. Playing against Ablett, you really need to either win that contested ball or you'll be killed because Ablett is very smart in where to position himself/where to run to recieve the ball.

[Jasper]

What did everyone think of the match ups tonight?

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

What did everyone think of the match ups tonight?

Harbrow on Stokes looked a shocker, as did making Harbrow the designated kicker early on.

I didn't mind the midfield matchups. Selwood and Ablett got alot of ball, but I don't think there was a realistic chance of a hard tag quelling them. Noone else has done it successfully to date, so I think it was fair enough of Eade to roll the dice by playing attacking players on them in Ward and Griffen.

I think Ward learned alot tonight, and his self belief would've risen tenfold after his performance.

I think the player we missed more than Murphy was Shaggy. I think he would've been a better matchup for Stevie J who tore Morris a new one tonight.

[LostDoggy]

I think the player we missed more than Murphy was Shaggy. I think he would've been a better matchup for Stevie J who tore Morris a new one tonight.

Agree we missed Shaggy big-time, but I think Morris did better than Callan. Tim is as honest as they come, and he did a couple of good things, but his disposal is horrendous at this level (sticks out like a sore thumb), and I counted three Geelong goals kicked off turnovers that started with his bad disposals. (Eagle also gave up two turnovers for Cats goals -- why, when in space, does he run into trouble before disposing of it? -- but he scored two as well, so it cancels out somewhat).

Also, I see Callan time and time again lose his feet in a race to the ball, and Bartel really smoked him off one such occasion. If he can just stay on his feet he would be so much more effective.

---

Speaking of effective, this match shows that Supercoach points have nothing to do with reality -- Gilbee and Higgins kept the Dogs in it for the first half, but they've scored barely anything. Ridiculous.

[AndrewP6]

To me, the backline looked lost at times tonight, particularly early. Was it Shaggy? Morris got towelled up tonight...Callan was disappointing.