Game Day - Western Bulldogs vs Richmond

[BulldogBelle]

This is the discussion thread for Friday night's game at Etihad Stadium against Richmond.

My predictions are:

The Dogs by 35 points
BOG : Daniel Cross
Akermanis to get the first goal

[AndrewP6]

Dogs by 29 (but I hope a whole lot more)
BOG Matthew Boyd
First goal to Aker

[The Coon Dog]

Dogs by 105 points.

Mitch Hahn 1st goal & Adam Cooney BOG.

[bornadog]

Dogs by 105 points.

wow, that would be great. I would like to see us put on a big score in the first quarter and blow the game apart.

Does anyone remember in the 1980's when we kicked 10 goals to one against the Tigers in the first quarter.

Dogs by 62 points

First Goal Johnno

BOG Cooney

[boydogs]

Dogs by 1 point. Brian Lake to actually take his free kick after the siren this time and slot a behind from outside 50 to break the deadlock
BOG Brad Johnson
First Goal Brad Johnson

[bulldogsman]

Dogs by 50 points

First Goal Missy Higgins

BOG Gia

[Rocket Science]

So many factors, some rational, some not, make this the toughest game to peg so far this season.

Still, I want something on a par with our memorable first round shellacking of them in '06.

Dogs by 79 points
First major: Mitch Hahn
BOG: Nathan Eagleton. Yes, Nathan bloody Eagleton.

Just leave the keys under the mat Terry.

[Scraggers]

So many factors, some rational, some not, make this the toughest game to peg so far this season.

Still, I want something on a par with our memorable first round shellacking of them in '06.

Dogs by 79 points
First major: Mitch Hahn
BOG: Nathan Eagleton. Yes, Nathan bloody Eagleton.

Just leave the keys under the mat Terry.

And don't let the door knob hit you where the good lord split you :cool:

[Scraggers]

Dogs by 17 points
Lake first goal ;)
The Glove BOG

[The Coon Dog]

Does anyone remember in the 1980's when we kicked 10 goals to one against the Tigers in the first quarter.

Was that ANZAC Day? Jock kicked a bag in that quarter & we ended up winning by 2 points.

[The Underdog]

Dogs by 15 points
BOG - Higgins
First Goal - Akermanis

Games against the Tiges scare the crap out of me if only because losing to them is an unthinkable result. Although no Richo always makes me feel more confident.

[Go_Dogs]

Dogs by 28
BOG - Gilbee
First goal - Griffen

[LostDoggy]

No Richo..No Brown..No Nahas..

On paper we should win by 90pts

I'll tip us by 38
First Goal: Johnno
BOG: Griff - get your explosiveness back!

[LostDoggy]

Dogs by 40 points
First Goal: Guido
BOG: Akermanis.

[Mantis]

Dogs by 55

BOG - Cooney
1st goal - Hahn

I hope we stamp our authority on the game from the get-go.

[Mofra]

Dogs by 45

Eagle first goal
BOG will be Ward, just to rub it in :)

[bornadog]

Was that ANZAC Day? Jock kicked a bag in that quarter & we ended up winning by 2 points.

Yeah may have been, Tigers kicked 9 in the second quarter. If you look back, it was a game that was played 20 years ahead of its time, fast and furious.

[comrade]

I think Terry might pull out one of his patented underdog gameplans, so I’ll go conservative and say Dogs by 15.

BOG: Higgins

First goal: Cooney

Will Terry get a guard of honour from the Bulldogs: No

[LostDoggy]

Dogs by 55.

BOG - one of the players who was at the club when Terry shafted us. Most likely Gia.

1st goal - Mitch Morton

Disappointing that Nathan Brown couldn't come up for this game. Apparently he's suffering from a bout of soft-cockitis.

[The Pie Man]

Dogs by 32
First goal Murphy
BOG Boyd

Anyone think this could get ugly?

[LostDoggy]

Dogs by 47
First goal boyd(from a McMahon turnover)
BOG Griff

[bornadog]

Dogs by 55.

BOG - one of the players who was at the club when Terry shafted us. Most likely Gia.

1st goal - Mitch Morton

Disappointing that Nathan Brown couldn't come up for this game. Apparently he's suffering from a bout of soft-cockitis.

Ist Goal for bulldogs in this thread?

[LostDoggy]

Ist Goal for bulldogs in this thread?

Maybe he thinks Morton will do a 'David Rodan' like last last year in Darwin :D

[craigsahibee]

Was that ANZAC Day? Jock kicked a bag in that quarter & we ended up winning by 2 points.

Yep, that's the one.

Dogs by 63 points
Hahn first goal.
GIA B.O.G

[Happy Days]

Dogs by 83,
Minson 1st goal,
Aker BOG.

[G-Mo77]

I'll be glad when this circus is over. I'm sick of hearing about Terry Wallace, he's no longer apart of our club. The only part we play in his final game is that we are his opposition.

Dogs by 32
Aker 1st goal,
Cooney BOG

[LostDoggy]

Dogs by 72 points. First goal to Johnno.

Losing tonight just doesn't bear thinking about.

[Max469]

Dogs by 18 pts

Murph 1st Goal

Morris BOG

[Throughandthrough]

Dogs by 24 points in a crappy game

Bog Cross

First goal Eagle, 13 minutes into quarter 1 after richmond kick the first 2

[Bumper Bulldogs]

Dogs by 21 points,
BOG Cooney
1st Goal Gia.

[Bumper Bulldogs]

Dogs by 18 pts

Murph 1st Goal

Morris BOG

Sorry maybe try Stack

[LostDoggy]

Quarter Time

Dogs 4.2 26
Tigers 4.2 26

[LostDoggy]

Half Time

Richmond 4.2 12.2 (74)
Western Bulldogs 4.2 11.6 (72)

GOALS
Richmond: Morton 3, Riewoldt 3, Pattison 2, Tuck 2, McMahon, Collins
Western Bulldogs: Higgins 3, Hill, Ward, Akermanis, Hahn, Boyd, Hargrave, Giansiracusa, Gilbee

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Damn! I Thought we had them on toast mid way through the 2nd quarter....maybe a few of the Doggies players did too??? If we had've held a 4-5 goals advantage at half time it may've nullified any emotion for the tiges into the second half

Tiges will now have alot of confidence coming into the 2nd half and emotion could now play a part.

We need to take the wind out of their sails early on to stifle them.
Our midfield will need to lift a cog, just giving them too much run through the middle, and very un-Richmond like they have started to get on top in the clearances too.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

OK we've had a big 3rd quarter so far, let's just not blow it now and let the Tiggs back in.

[Dry Rot]

Lake sounds he is playing well. Ditto big Will.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

2nd half was excellent.
Richmond looked to try and continue with the momentum, but we shut them down very early in the 3rd and then we well and truly put them to the sword.
It's been a while since we've been able to do that to a side.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Lake sounds he is playing well. Ditto big Will.

Yep no brain explosions from either.
Minson was restrained yet was almost Hudon-esque in the clinches not letting Richmond get an easy clearance and his hands were good in close to in getting the ball out to our guys.

Cooney gained momentum as the game wore on, after initially having his colours lowered by Jackson who was sitting on Cooney and winning plenty of ball himself.

Johnno and Guido I thought were very good. Johnno with his running and presenting, Guido with his quality ball delivery inside 50.

Eagle's run was great. Twice I recall running and linking up from the back half all the way to the forward line.

Picken absolutely owned Deledio and kicked two himself.

[The Pie Man]

Picken absolutely owned Deledio and kicked two himself.

With his physique, speed, use of the footy and prowess overhead, he should be an elite midfielder challenging Chris Judd - he looks similar when he's up and going

Saying Picken 'owned' him couldn't be more accurate - he just succumbed, and then got hurt with Picken going the other way. I thought with Cousins there he might have told him to get serious and be the Judd he has the potential to be.

I'd be gutted with that if I was a Richmond fan.

And Liam, you're a bewdy :)

[dog town]

I have to say I thought we were really good tonight even though we were playing lowly opposition. Apart from a 10 minute patch at the end of the second quarter I thought our pressure and intensity was really good. Ok the first quarter we have gone in level but IMO the pressure was evident and it was slowly wearing them down. Generally these days in the first quarter the teams are just feeling each other out tactically. We started taking it away from them in the second with a brilliant burst that included some of the cleanest handballing I have seen but it might have come too easy for us. I think we were doing it that easy in the second that we may have just let up slightly and they came roaring back. The second half was a non event as our pressure ramped back up and this time we didn't let up.

My only concern during that poor patch in the second quarter was that our backline coughed up goals. We will get patches like that and your back 6 need to be able to repel that sort of pressure. We didnt help them out as much as we should have but they got some easy goals from mistakes and poor football.

Our mix of midfielders has slowly had a subtle yet important change. I remember early last season and the year before posters crying out for more impact around the ball. We had hard nuts in West, Boyd and Cross but none of them really split packs or ran through the ball. They are more calculating, ball winning types of inside players. We added Griffen to the mix who despite having a lot of problems to fix bullocks, bustles and generally takes a bit of stopping around the contest. Now on top of that we have added Ward and Picken to the mix and I think it has done us wonders. Both of them body line the ball and get in really low. A few times last night the ball spilled clear of the initial congestion and one of these two bodylined the ball, getting in first from another group of players and were able to burst through a pack and release with either a scarppy or clean handball. We are working the ball from the inside out into space really well with this mixture of hard nuts, burst players and a couple of guys who are really gifted by hand. The other thing about these hard bodied guys who run through the contest is that they draw players to them. It takes 3 guys to bring down Griffen at times and I am finding generally a couple go to Ward or Picken when they come through as well. It just releases other guys for spillages and quick releases.


Didn't like the match up of Tiller on Reiwoldt. Obviously Tiller had a howler and that didnt help but IMO Reiwoldt is the tigers best forward. I suppose the way the other match ups fell we didnt have much choice as Tiller was the best match up for size and shape but I was never comfortable with that match up.

We got beaten for clearances which was a bit of a shock considering how well we have been going in that area. I think our clearances were a lot cleaner but they did get some very easy ones.

I think Harbrow has given us a different feel coming out of the back half. It gives the opposition something else to think about because its no longer just Gilbee, Hargrave and Lake linking up to kick the ball out of the back half. Now we have Harbrow running on angles and either kicking on the angle or taking blokes on and creating the over lap through the middle. It has taken the pressure off Gilbee and it makes us less predictable. We were all talking about getting another rebounding defender over the trade period last year. I somewhat foolishly put up Jake King for the exact reasons that are now making Harbrow so important to us. We have the ability to kick through a pressing zone but we had probably lost the ability to run at it and surge through it. Guys who take things on and create are more valuable than just the penetration of there kicking skills. He also used his pace to turn the ball over for us a fair bit last night. He ran players down or used his pace to intercept opposition kicks. Dont judge Harbrow purely off his ability to hit targets because he gives us more than that. While his kicking is improving rapidly it is his ability to come at the opposition that has the most value for us.

I have been giving Ryan Griffen a bit of a whack lately. This shouldn't be interpreted as me thinking he adds little value to the side. I think even at his current level he is one of our most valauble players we have. His strong body in the contest is massively important to us and he gives us some run and carry most weeks. I just get frustrated that he can be so much more. He does not get enough handball recieves/uncontested marks and when he does get the ball in a bit of space he doesn't look after the footy the way he should. When he kicks the ball properly he kicks with a mixture of deftness and penetration that is just about unheard of. Too often though he throws the ball on to his boot with little regard for the kicking action he uses. He is almost overly confident in his disposal. He often kicks the ball at full tilt with the ball half a metre outside the line of the body. I hope he can concentrate on the basics a bit more and really develop the way he should. Little things will make all the difference for him.

Cooney had a better game than they gave him credit for on the replay. He had an amazing second quarter and then worked pretty hard in the second half. I dont mind him throwing handballs forward into space if he has nothing on. We will beat most sides in that situation. He worked pretty hard inside and is getting back that burst that he has on the outside. Didn't think he was the only player opposed to Jackson as the replay implied.

Crossy has had a good little patch lately. Gone back to primarily a negating role with a bit of ball winning inside to go with that. Some of his handballs last night were worth 2 kicks. Just the way he puts guys into space, I dont think people always appreciate the full value of a good handpass. His courage will always be in him but he used the ball well by foot last night as well. I actually think his kicking has improved dramatically but he lacks the confidence to use it. His skills are not nearly as bad as his lack of confidence in them would have us believe.

Guido is playing really good footy. On the odd occasion he doesn't hit the contest the way you would like but he just atacks things a different way. It rarely costs us when he sticks a foot in rather than hitting the contest because of his skill level.

Johnson did a lot of grunt work last night because Murphy and Welsh were out. Wouldn't mind seeing him get a rest at some stage as he looks sore. I thought he was huge last night.

Minson had a pretty average start to the season but is playing great footy now. His effort around the contest is twice as good as it was. Discipline has improved as well. At one stage he got a holding the ball decision and was laying on his opponent. The old Will would not have got off him and probably would have had the kick reversed but you could see him stop and think about what he was doing.

Hargrave is just a top line defender these days. Rarely makes a mistake and always pushes to link up.

Boyd was very good all night.

Didn't really agree with Stack getting a game but was glad to see the way he applied himself. Plenty to work with.

Hahn has lifted his work rate back up to almost the level he was at last season. It wasn't just the tackling he did last night but his inferred pressure was excellent. When Murphy and Welsh come back you will find his goal count will lift a little as he will get a few more mismatches.

Hill was good all game and incredible in the last quarter. The clean hands off the ground and in the air make him a rare player. His defensive pressure has lifted dramatically IMO. I think he struggles from 30-40 out on the angle. He never looks like kicking these goals.

[Mofra]

Can I just mention, for what it's worth, I thought Callan Ward was better for us than McMahon was for Richmond.

I thought Callan Ward was better for us than McMahon was for Richmond.

I liked it so much I said it twice :)

[The Coon Dog]

Loved Wil Anderson's comment after the game:

'How now Brown Plough'