5 Rounds After The Bye

[The Coon Dog]

Bit of a tough run over the next 5 games.

R13. North Melbourne v Western Bulldogs MCG (Sat)
R14. Western Bulldogs v Hawthorn ES (Sat N)
R15. Western Bulldogs v Collingwood ES (Fri N)
R16. Essendon v Western Bulldogs ES (Fri N)
R17. St.Kilda v Western Bulldogs ES (Sat N)

4 of the 5 games are at night at Etihad Stadium.

To win 5 would be outstanding. I'd be content if we won 4 out of 5 as I think we should account for North & Essendon. The assignments might be a touch tougher against Hawthorn & Collingwood, with St.Kilda a touch harder again.

[angelopetraglia]

Very tough next ten weeks.

We play Geelong, StKilda, Hawthorn and Collingwood twice. We also have to play Brisbane at the Gabba.

An absolute horror draw.

In saying that, if play like we have the last few weeks we can beat anyone anywhere.

[LostDoggy]

if we keep up this form there's no reason why we can't win all of them. It all depends on how we go after the break. Some times lift, some teams fall over (like us in the past couple of years). I think the easiest game for us there is Collingwood.

[LostDoggy]

I would be happy with 3 and rapped with 4 and ecstatic with 5.

[comrade]

Very tough next ten weeks.

We play Geelong, StKilda, Hawthorn and Collingwood twice. We also have to play Brisbane at the Gabba.

An absolute horror draw.

In saying that, if play like we have the last few weeks we can beat anyone anywhere.

Perfect preparation for finals. If we perform well, we'll have crucial momentum going into September.

Our destiny is in our own hands. If we're good enough, we'll win at least 7 or 8 of the next 10.

[Number 3]

Perfect preparation for finals. If we perform well, we'll have crucial momentum going into September.

Our destiny is in our own hands. If we're good enough, we'll win at least 7 or 8 of the next 10.

Absolutely agree. I'd hate to have the majority of games like tonights going into the finals. I think we have 8 good solid hit outs before finals, with a couple of nice easy ones against WC and Freo at home to freshen us up later in the season. If we can win 5-6 of those tough games, we will be so much better prepared for what is required of us in September, rather than the unaccountable, easy wins that we can rack up against poor teams.

I really hope we knock off Geelong or St Kilda before finals, I think that would be enormous for self belief for the players.

[comrade]

I really hope we knock off Geelong or St Kilda before finals, I think that would be enormous for self belief for the players.

You get the feeling our pre-season was geared towards building towards a strong finish to the season, rather than a fast start and hoping we can maintain it. Because of that, I honestly believe we can win at least 1 of our games against Geelong and St Kilda.

[The Coon Dog]

You get the feeling our pre-season was geared towards building towards a strong finish to the season, rather than a fast start and hoping we can maintain it. Because of that, I honestly believe we can win at least 1 of our games against Geelong and St Kilda.

Its like a mirror image of last season, well at least I've felt that way all along this season.

[dog town]

Bit of a tough run over the next 5 games.

R13. North Melbourne v Western Bulldogs MCG (Sat)
R14. Western Bulldogs v Hawthorn ES (Sat N)
R15. Western Bulldogs v Collingwood ES (Fri N)
R16. Essendon v Western Bulldogs ES (Fri N)
R17. St.Kilda v Western Bulldogs ES (Sat N)

4 of the 5 games are at night at Etihad Stadium.

To win 5 would be outstanding. I'd be content if we won 4 out of 5 as I think we should account for North & Essendon. The assignments might be a touch tougher against Hawthorn & Collingwood, with St.Kilda a touch harder again. Such a variety of styles among those opponents as well. Hard to see us winning them all. To win all of them we would have to win a couple on flat days. Break is probably at a good time looking at that. Time to re-focus and steel ourselves for the battle ahead.

[Mantis]

All things being equal we should account for North & Essendon.

We have a great recent record against Collingwood so I am confident that we can beat them.

We should be able to win one of the Hawthorn or St.Kilda games.

Pretty easy when you look at it that way, but I would take 3 wins out of the 5.

[LostDoggy]

Yeah 3/5 would be good.

I think you can mark down North & Hawks..but Essendon are one of those sides that would catch us off guard and strike..same with Collingwood..they came back last year we only managed to beat them by 10pts i believe. StKilda will be a big one, I think their engines are running out and will lose at least 2 games before we play them

[bulldogtragic]

Must be 4/5 at least. That will keep us well and truly in touch to keep 3rd spot on the ladder.

If we cannot beat Collingwood, undermanned Hawks and/or the Saints - then for me we are not genuine contenders. I think we need to be looking at 16 wins, and putting performances together that show not only can we mix it with others, we can beat them. Call the draw tough, call it what you like, we need to beat these types of teams to win finals, i'd like to think if we are going to a Grand Final, we could beat many/all of these sides in the season proper.

[Bulldog Revolution]

All things being equal we should account for North & Essendon.

We have a great recent record against Collingwood so I am confident that we can beat them.

We should be able to win one of the Hawthorn or St.Kilda games.

Pretty easy when you look at it that way, but I would take 3 wins out of the 5.

Thats pretty much the way I see it

If North beat us it would be a debacle.

Essendon could beat us but you'd hope our midfield was switched on enough to get on top, and that we'd physically dish it up to them.

I think we will knock over Collingwood - should be too strong in the ruck and have a too much depth for them.

Hawthorn will hit form at some stage and Buddy and Roughy always mean they are not easy to beat. They smashed us in the middle in the final and obviously it was an extremely disappointing performance

St Kilda are obviously flying and beat us comprehensively earlier in the year

[BulldogBelle]

We still have several areas for improvement in the 2nd half of the season............

-We have played some very good football this season without regular contributions from two of our regular forwards, Murphy and Welsh...
-Cooney is still getting back to full fitness and form...he hasent really been amoungst our best players
-Griff hasnt exploded like we all know he is capable of...stay tuned
-Williams has been injured, and could come back in and play some good football
-We have Callan, Williams, Everitt, Tiller, Stack, O'Keefe, Skipper, Addison, Grant, Reid and Wight who didnt play against Port who could all easily play senior and finals football

I'm praying that we dont have a mid season collapse, similar to last year...and that our fitness increases as the season goes on, and doesnt drop off of bottom out like it did last season.

I'm sure we could beat the Saints, the Cats and the Hawks...not all three in the regular season, but 2 of the 3

Essendon, Collingwood and North should be tough gmes but i'm comfortable we can beat all of them

[Mantis]

Hawthorn will hit form at some stage and Buddy and Roughy always mean they are not easy to beat. They smashed us in the middle in the final and obviously it was an extremely disappointing performance

They aren't travelling anything like they were last year. Our midfield will hopefully get themselves up for this game as they have a score to settle. I think we will go into this game with a point to prove and should give a good account of ourselves.


St Kilda are obviously flying and beat us comprehensively earlier in the year

Their form over the last 2 or 3 weeks has dropped away a little, especially the output they are getting from their lower ranked players who were so good early on. Perhaps the break comes at a good time for them and I know they were far too good for us earlier in the season, but I am pretty sure we will be up for the challenge next time around.

[GVGjr]

Their form over the last 2 or 3 weeks has dropped away a little, especially the output they are getting from their lower ranked players who were so good early on. Perhaps the break comes at a good time for them and I know they were far too good for us earlier in the season, but I am pretty sure we will be up for the challenge next time around.

The thing is with the Saints is that Kosi is now going from strength to strength. He will make a big difference to them if he can stay injury free.

[Mantis]

The thing is with the Saints is that Kosi is now going from strength to strength. He will make a big difference to them if he can stay injury free.

He isn't a player I am really concerned about. So far he has kicked 28 goals from his first 11 games, but from this he has kicked 22 in just 5 games (therefore just 6 from 6 in the others - he did get injured early in one of these).

I think he is a bit of a flat track bully who beats up in smaller opponents, but rarely performs against quality opposition.

[aker39]

I think he is a bit of a flat track bully who beats up in smaller opponents, but rarely performs against quality opposition.

I know it's a bit early to start thinking about him, but who do we play on him and Reiwoldt. (Assuming Williams isn't playing)

[LostDoggy]

Agreed

Put in a short one last year when he saw Boyd coming at him

[Mofra]

The Saints have the points, but I think as a team we've clicked wheras the Saints are slowly being reeled into the pack.
We had a very poor patch at the start of the year, but our major asset (ball use) is returning and we are maintaining our run. Few sides are improving at the rate we are, and I expect we will be the main challengers to Geelong by the time September comes around.

[The Doctor]

We are beautifully positioned.

We are a clear third, we are starting to beat up some decent opponents and we still have plenty of improvement in us.

I don't mind having a hard run home. We are an experienced side now with many players in their peak years. Playing strong opponents should only toughen us up in the run home.

I would love to play Saints in the first week of finals as it represents our best chance of a granny appearance. We beat them and we should avoid the Cats.

Sorry if I'm getting ahead of myself but I dare to dream.

[Twodogs]

Its like a mirror image of last season, well at least I've felt that way all along this season.



It was fairly obvious back in jan/feb that Eade and the coaching staff had turned the previous years preseason around 180% I reckon. The players did more strength work and not as much running. The fitness base of the squad was built up over a greater period of time and there wasnt as much gut running.

I think it shows in the way we run out games and I'm fairly upbeat about september.

[Bulldog Revolution]

They aren't travelling anything like they were last year. Our midfield will hopefully get themselves up for this game as they have a score to settle. I think we will go into this game with a point to prove and should give a good account of ourselves.

I was absolutely convinced they would bounce back and win well today - but having lost to the Lions in Tassie then things are not going to plan with the Hawks.



Their form over the last 2 or 3 weeks has dropped away a little, especially the output they are getting from their lower ranked players who were so good early on. Perhaps the break comes at a good time for them and I know they were far too good for us earlier in the season, but I am pretty sure we will be up for the challenge next time around.

Theres been some suggestion that the St Kilda game plan is particularly taxing. I don't have any definitive thoughts on that so far, do you think that their second tier is worn down and just needs a break? Would their rolling zone be more taxing? How much work would we be doing on beating rolling zones?

[BulldogBelle]

We have beaten Hawthorns rolling zone previously (in Tasmania last year)

Need a string of handballs and defenders who are willing to run and side step opponents in defence

Improvement in Harbrow should help

Gilbee also important here, as is Cooney and Griff running out of defence and using their speed

[Desipura]

form is fickle. I would have loved to have played Hawthorn now as they are not playing well. This is a game you would probably put down as a loss if both teams are in form (which they are not). Having said that, I give us every chance to beat them in a few weeks time given our hot form.

[LostDoggy]

Some danger games.

North would have beaten the Saints, if they hadn't ended up with no players on the bench. They have Boomer back for their game against us, as well as a new coach - could be a danger game. But I think that game against the Saints was their last ditch stand for a run to the finals in the 2009 - so I think we should beat them comfortably.

Collingwood - nearly beat us last year, except they ended up with injuries, a bit of a danger team. However, watching Sydney and Collingwood tonight, I thought it was a very low skills scrappy game - not our level of football. But we do have to play them twice.

Hawthorn - flat track bullies, we should beat them, and we should have a a quest to beat them as that lost to them in the finals was disastrous. Still they are not a team to be taken lightly, but have enough good players missing that we should beat them comfortably.

St Kilda, a couple of near misses towards the mid season break. Farren Ray, seems to be quieter as well as a couple of their 2nd tier players as someone else mentioned. However Reidwoldt is flying and Kosi seems to have found form - still their midfield has to get it to them first and our midfield should get over them, we lost to them early in the year when we were not playing as well and went down by 28 points. They don't seem to like playing four quarters of football.

Geelong - I thought for awhile that we would beat them the second time around, but Geelong will steel itself for us and be on their best game, so I think it will be a close loss - but I think we will beat them if we come up against them in a final.

Essendon - they worry me, I would not be suprised if we lost to them - they are fast and skilful, and we are not as fast as we used to be.

Freo and West Coast - meh!

[Remi Moses]

We're capable of all 5 IMHO. I'd take 4 and glad we've got a difficult draw,unlike the soft [as per usual] draw Hypewood get. No point getting there getting ya pants pulled down because you have played ordinary sides.

[lemmon]

Still a tad nervous about playing the Hawks, would've preferred to have played them before the break. I think their going to come home with a bang in the second half of the year.

[MrMahatma]

Was much more worried a month ago. Now, I think we'll win at least 4.

[LostDoggy]

Win
Win
Win
Win
Loss

[Bumper Bulldogs]

I think we will win all games and run a few blokes back into form. We have to much class for North and they are in the #@$!, The Bombers will be a quick game but we have too many options up forward for them to cover, the hawks have an unsettled backline and we have too much class, Collingwood will be reading about them selfs and get a touch up in the middle and the saints are not traveling as well as the first 8 weeks and Rocket will set the boys for this on.

We are a side that everyone had in the top 4 at the start of the year and the club has stated we had been mentally tougher after the finals and that we have unfinished business. Well these games are the start of us believing that they have done the right thing "Off the field"

[ledge]

Essendon are a bit of a worry they run and run straight through the middle, very dangerous on the rebound considering we tend to go wide at times.

[mjp]

I think we have won 4 in a row already? To win 8 or 9 on the trot would be remarkable...Accordingly I expect that there will be an upset loss inside the next month followed by an upset win against one of the top two.

[bornadog]

I think we have won 4 in a row already? To win 8 or 9 on the trot would be remarkable...Accordingly I expect that there will be an upset loss inside the next month followed by an upset win against one of the top two.

History tells us your right, but then again, anything can happen.

[BornInDroopSt'54]

Bit of a tough run over the next 5 games.

R13. North Melbourne v Western Bulldogs MCG (Sat)
R14. Western Bulldogs v Hawthorn ES (Sat N)
R15. Western Bulldogs v Collingwood ES (Fri N)
R16. Essendon v Western Bulldogs ES (Fri N)
R17. St.Kilda v Western Bulldogs ES (Sat N)

4 of the 5 games are at night at Etihad Stadium.

To win 5 would be outstanding. I'd be content if we won 4 out of 5 as I think we should account for North & Essendon. The assignments might be a touch tougher against Hawthorn & Collingwood, with St.Kilda a touch harder again.

This is our proverbial Waterloo, Everest (v Everitt) you name it, there's no hiding in the wardrobe. If we're the champions we need to be then this is our opportunity to shove it up the opposition in a way we've hoped to all our supporting lives. Mind you we could still drop a couple of these games and wait till the finals to shove it up them.

[Topdog]

The Hawks dropped games against others in the top 4 last year. Didn't stop them taking it out in Sept.

[craigsahibee]

If we are top 4 at the end of the and considering our run home, there are 2 ways to look at our position. If we drop 5 of the last 10 and still make the four it means teams 5 -6 are crap and don't sereve a finals spot. If we win 7 - 8 of the last 10 we can go into September super confident. I think 7 - 8 wins for this group is achievable.