Game Day - Western Bulldogs vs Hawthorn

[BulldogBelle]

This is the discussion thread for this Saturday night's game at Etihad Stadium against Hawthorn.

My predictions are:

The Dogs by 23 points
BOG : Adam Cooney
Nathan Eagleton to kick the first goal.

[AndrewP6]

I'll say Dogs by 17 pts
BOG: Coooooooney
First goal to Johnno

[Max469]

Dogs by 11 pts

Murphy 1st goal

Morris BOG

[bulldog]

Dogs by 12
Aker first goal
Eagle Bog
By the way guys just got home from the G quality 4 page article of the Eagle in the footy record

[bornadog]

BOG Hargrave

First Goal Higgins

Dogs by 24 points

[boydogs]

Dogs by 22 points
BOG Robert Murphy
First Goal Mitch Hahn

[LostDoggy]

Dogs 49 points
BOG: Boyd
First Goal: Johnson

[Happy Days]

Dogs by 41,
Griffen BOG,
Cooney First Goal.

[G-Mo77]

In all honesty I'm not confident at all. I know Hawthorn are down at the moment but I really expect them to bounce back. It's going to be a tough game.

I'm assuming I'll be able to drive down when I finish football and just get in with a swipe? I'll be getting there pretty close to the opening siren if I'm lucky. It's not a ticketed game is it?

[LostDoggy]

In all honesty I'm not confident at all. I know Hawthorn are down at the moment but I really expect them to bounce back. It's going to be a tough game.

I'm assuming I'll be able to drive down when I finish football and just get in with a swipe? I'll be getting there pretty close to the opening siren if I'm lucky. It's not a ticketed game is it?

I think we can get in with our memberships. I sure do hope so. I haven't sat in my seat on level 2 in a while. I'm pretty confident it's our home game. Hopefully someone else can confirm.

[AndrewP6]

I think we can get in with our memberships. I sure do hope so. I haven't sat in my seat on level 2 in a while. I'm pretty confident it's our home game. Hopefully someone else can confirm.

sure can, it's a home game...take your membership card...

[LostDoggy]

Dogs by 52,
Hargrave BOG,
Higgins first goal.

[Remi Moses]

Dogs 3 pts
1st goal Aker
BOG Brad Johnson

[The Pie Man]

I share G-Mo77's anxiety with this one.

Dogs by 12 points in what will be a finals like atmosphere with us proving our cred.

Lake BOG, Cooney first goal

[LostDoggy]

Dogs by 26pts
Boyd BOG
Welsh first

[Dazza]

Extremely worried about this one. The hawks will be breathing fire for the first few quarters. Let's hope we can ride it out without going into our shells and win this comfortably by 4+ goals.

[LostDoggy]

I am reaaaaaally nervous about this one too, so hopefully it's a win for us. Especially because i'm going, and I hate it when I actually have a chance to go, and we lose. Anyway, like a said, hopefully a win!

Dogs by 18pts
Hargy BOG
First goal to Welsh.

Hope everyone else who's going also has a fantastic night!

[Mofra]

Dogs by 5 points
Cooney BOG
Hill first goal
Reid to kick the winning goal again, 2nd in two weeks

[LostDoggy]

Dogs by 21 points. First goal to Johnno.

[KT31]

Dogs by 35.
Boyd best on ground.
Johnno first goal.
Ward receive a Rising Star nomination.

[BulldogBelle]

Dogs by 51pts.
First Goal = Minson
BOG = Boyd

Quietly confident.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Dogs by 51pts.
First Goal = Minson
BOG = Boyd

Quietly confident.

Well you got Minson right so far. Let's hope the rest falls in place, it's looking good so far.

[LostDoggy]

I cant believe it!!
Hawks havent scored a goal in the first half. 84 points up!
Wish i was there - our foot skills and tackling have been first class...

[Dry Rot]

You people at the ground must have enjoyed the first half. :D

What were the Hawks fans like?

[comrade]

You people at the ground must have enjoyed the first half. :D

What were the Hawks fans like?

I saw some leaving 20 minutes into the FIRST quarter - absolute gold!

[G-Mo77]

Dam what a terrible game to miss out on! I was just to banged up after footy to even make the drive down this week. :(

I would have loved to see all those Hawthorn supporters leaving after the first quarter.

What an incredible performance! :eek:

[Dry Rot]

I saw some leaving 20 minutes into the FIRST quarter - absolute gold!

Gee, that's piss weak.

[LostDoggy]

You people at the ground must have enjoyed the first half. :D

What were the Hawks fans like?

Very quiet :D

[LostDoggy]

Half way through the second quater, Hawthorn scarfs were thrown off the third level. I saw atleast
three fly. It was priceless.

Just wondering if there were any records broken today with this game. Best first quater or anything?

[LostDoggy]

What a first half, I am so excited now I don't think i can sleep.

I'll watch the game again now...

GO DOGGIES.............................

[LostDoggy]

I thought the celebrations at the Hawthorn cheer squad end when they scored their first goal was quite funny.

[LostDoggy]

anyone know what happened to Higgo? I dont think I saw him play any of the last quarter and there has been no injury report anywhere...

[BulldogBelle]

Hawthorn.
Worst.Title.Defense.Ever.

[The Coon Dog]

anyone know what happened to Higgo? I dont think I saw him play any of the last quarter and there has been no injury report anywhere...

I understand it was just precautionary. We play next Friday night, so it makes it 2 consecutive 6 day breaks in between.

He's really going to have to be eased through the remaining games as most are at Etihad Stadium & after 3 or 4 in a row there it does take it toll.

[LostDoggy]

I love a big win. It's probably unhealthy that my emotions can be so influenced by a footy match but after a win like tonight I can't stop smiling for days. The highlight for me was Griffen's smother. Repeating tonights performance against the Pies next week is vital because they've strung 6 together now and with us playing them twice more it would be a lot easier playing them with zero confidence heading into the finals.

[angelopetraglia]

How good was that!

I was hoping for 100+ points in that last quarter, but some uncharacteristic misses from Aker made that hard (he ended up with 2.5).

Massive, massive game for us now on the big stage against the Pies. Can't wait, bring it on. We have had a good record against them of late (3 in a row and 4 of the last 5).

Winning next week will go a long way to cementing our top four position.

[LostDoggy]

Next week is a must win game as we have Geelong and St. Kilda coming up again right?

[LostDoggy]

Next week is a must win game as we have Geelong and St. Kilda coming up again right?

Next 4- Pies, Essendon, St Kilda, Freo (all at Etihad). All very tough games minus the Freo game.

[AndrewP6]

You people at the ground must have enjoyed the first half. :D

What were the Hawks fans like?

Yeah it was an absolute blast... loved every minute! Hawks fans near me were VERY quiet, understandably...and very critical of any errors made... as I said, it was a blast!:)

[AndrewP6]

I thought the celebrations at the Hawthorn cheer squad end when they scored their first goal was quite funny.

Yeah, and around the ground too... I was sitting on level 3 under the big screen, and it was like they'd scored the winning goal!

[boydogs]

What a win. I am usually quite animated watching our games but was just quietly smiling to myself tonight

Good
Undersized defense keeping Hawthorn to their first goal-less first half in 30 years. Extremely promising for our September chances. Buddy Franklin was owned by Brian Lake, Morris did well punching above his weight division, Gilbee, Harbrow and Hargrave were very solid and good rebounders

Matthew Boyd on Sam Mitchell, keeping him relatively quiet and hurting him going the other way

Ryan Griffen first 30 possession game. Was at his cool calm tackle breaking best

Brad Johnson continuing his great form with 24 touches, 11 marks and 3 goals

Cooney, Minson, Aker, Higgins also a thumbs up

Bad
Ben Hudson didn't get his hands on the ball enough and made a couple of mistakes - turned the ball over to gift Hawthorn a goal and gave away a free when Crossy was about to line up

Nathan Eagleton, not a great 250th for mine, missed a sitter 25 out directly in front and looked out of his depth in traffic turning the ball over on several occasions

Ward (13) and Reid (11) did not get enough of it given we dominated the game and amassed 453 possessions

Our intensity in the second half dropped right off, Hawthorn really dropped their heads and we could have won by a lot more

[Max469]

1st time since 1979 they had been kept goal less at half time :D

[LostDoggy]

Best game everrr.

Not really, but it was great and more importantly, HILARIOUS.
The only Hawks fan who continued to be optimistic was a 5 year old boy sitting a couple of seats down. He was smiling, for some reason. I don't know.

Anyway, fantastic win for a game I (and most) thought was going to be a bit tough.

GO DOGS!

(By the way, am I the only one who though Eagleton must've had the worst 250th game ever? Not because we lost, just because of his continuous errors?)

[LostDoggy]

I thought Reid did alright. It was only his 2nd game.

[AndrewP6]

What an incredible win! I was a bit concerned with how we would stop Buddy and Roughy, but the boys just swamped them! To me, it really showed how important winning the midfield is... looked at times like the Dogs had their own ball, we just didn't give them a look in! Coons is coming back to his best at the right time of the year, and I was pleased with Griff tonight, thought he was quite influential. Mill Winson continued his good form, providing a good option up front, and getting it done in the ruck. Aker is terrific value, even with his radar not functioning in front of goal (2 goals 5!!!!) and what can you say about Johnno...this effort all round the ground was fantastic. Go Doggies!

[LostDoggy]

Best game everrr.

The only Hawks fan who continued to be optimistic was a 5 year old boy sitting a couple of seats down. He was smiling, for some reason. I don't know.



The kids a doggies supporter in disguise. Probably forced to put on the hawks jumper because his family are hawks crazy. Or maybe he has some of our players on supercoach.

[strebla]

anyone know what happened to Higgo? I dont think I saw him play any of the last quarter and there has been no injury report anywhere...

It could very well have been leather poisening he was sensational tonight that one handed mark and some of his passes were Doug Hawkins like what a great game footy is!!!!

[AndrewP6]

Ben Hudson didn't get his hands on the ball enough and made a couple of mistakes - turned the ball over to gift Hawthorn a goal and gave away a free when Crossy was about to line up


Ward (13) and Reid (11) did not get enough of it given we dominated the game and amassed 453 possessions

Our intensity in the second half dropped right off, Hawthorn really dropped their heads and we could have won by a lot more

Agree on Huddo... couple of stupid frees...

Thought Ward and Reid did OK... hard to get heaps of the ball when we had a number of players with high possies...and it is only Reid's 2nd game.

I'd have liked to see a few more kicked too... break the 100pt margin... Triple MMM commentators wanted it too!

[AndrewP6]

The kids a doggies supporter in disguise. Probably forced to put on the hawks jumper because his family are hawks crazy. Or maybe he has some of our players on supercoach.

I'm doing SC for the 1st time this year...and have come under criticism for having so many Dogs players in my side...games like tonight help me a lot... one down note is I also have Buddy... radio commentators were saying at one point he's in negative points! :)

[LostDoggy]

Reid kept his feet which is an under rated quality in a player. Seems to be very strong. He ran through Roughead easy enough which can't be too easy. Hopefully he can keep improving and win more of the ball so he can do something with it, otherwise him being able to keep his feet becomes useless.

[LostDoggy]

I'm doing SC for the 1st time this year...and have come under criticism for having so many Dogs players in my side...games like tonight help me a lot... one down note is I also have Buddy... radio commentators were saying at one point he's in negative points! :)

Yeah I have mixed emotions about tonight as well. Obviously stoked about the way we won and the fact that Lake/the midfield kept Buddy goaless. Sad because we didn't win by 100 and I have Buddy.

[boydogs]

Thought Ward and Reid did OK... hard to get heaps of the ball when we had a number of players with high possies...and it is only Reid's 2nd game.

Reid looked up to the level just not involved enough, hopefully he will build. Ward I am worried is slipping back to his numbers from before he was dropped rather than kicking on after the Port game where he got it 33 times.

If Ward were working as hard as our other guys the spread of possessions would have been more even, 13 possessions out of 453 is 1 in 35, not good for a midfielder

[AndrewP6]

Yeah I have mixed emotions about tonight as well. Obviously stoked about the way we won and the fact that Lake/the midfield kept Buddy goaless. Sad because we didn't win by 100 and I have Buddy.

Just checked SC scores...have a handy lead over my opponent this week, but tomorrow's blockbuster will have some bearing...

Buddy got 16 points...:o:o Lake got 134!!!!

[The Pie Man]

Reid kept his feet which is an under rated quality in a player. Seems to be very strong. He ran through Roughead easy enough which can't be too easy. Hopefully he can keep improving and win more of the ball so he can do something with it, otherwise him being able to keep his feet becomes useless.

Was one of the highlights of the night for mine, he's a tough nut. He hurt Roughead with that bump.

I was anxious about tonight for no reason - I got Lake close to BOG right and that's where my predictions end. Sets up a massive Friday night perfectly

Near the end of the first quarter the gallery got up and going...'we've got 52,000 members, and we didn't all pay money to watch this' Astonishing, funny night - the earliest I've seen the sting go out of a game in quite some time.

Side note : how slow are the ATM's at Etihad? Hopeless

[LostDoggy]

Just checked SC scores...have a handy lead over my opponent this week, but tomorrow's blockbuster will have some bearing...

Buddy got 16 points...:o:o Lake got 134!!!!

I'm happy with that. Higgins 124 as well. Josh Hill-88, Cross-97, Cooney-109, Gilbee-102. Good enough. Good luck with the rest of the weekend.

[comrade]

I loved the nonchalance of Higgins after he reeled in that one-hander.

It was like 'yeah, that's how I roll'.

He's becoming a brilliant player, is a natural leader and will hopefully be the next captain of the mighty Dogs.

[AndrewP6]

I'm happy with that. Higgins 124 as well. Josh Hill-88, Cross-97, Cooney-109, Gilbee-102. Good enough. Good luck with the rest of the weekend.

Yep, good results...

[AndrewP6]

Nothing to do with the game itself, but at half-time I went for a coffee...waited about ten minutes, got my cup... it was STONE COLD! Not lukewarm, but COOOOLD! So I politely pointed this out, to which the not-so-nice lady replied "No, it's just come out"... So I dipped my finger in it to illustrate my point...wasn't paying $5 for an iced coffee!

On the upside, for my pre-match meal in the Victory Room, the guy didn't charge me for my adult beverage, because I had to wait for more chips to come out! So that was a win...

[Remi Moses]

I had to look at the tv at half time quite a number of times to actually believe they hadn't kicked a goal:D:D
Brian lake was just brilliant keeping franklin goaless first time in 70 odd games.
Pressure and intensity was just tremendous. Very proud tonight


Special sledge to The Travel reporter who sometimes does special comments on SEN.
He believes that if Hawthorn bring their A-game and we do they'd smash us,seriously I think the botox has done some irrepreable damage to the brain cells Brereton:rolleyes:
Just going to wait for the injury excuse to get wheeled out again

[GVGjr]

Comprehensive win and one that will give the side a lot of confidence.

Great to see the job Lake did on Franklin
Terrific to have such a win on a milestone game for Eagleton.
Gilbee performing great, Murphy getting back into the swing of things and Higgins dominating a large chunk of the game. Johnson, Welsh and Akermanis all great up forward and around the ground.

Some challenging games coming up but we are well placed to make the most of it.

[Mantis]

Our intensity in the second half dropped right off, Hawthorn really dropped their heads and we could have won by a lot more

I think a few of our players put the cue in the rack in the 2nd half. Considering we have a tough game coming up against Collingwood this Friday night who have one extra day break I think they were entitled to take the foot off the pedal a little.

[boydogs]

I think a few of our players put the cue in the rack in the 2nd half. Considering we have a tough game coming up against Collingwood this Friday night who have one extra day break I think they were entitled to take the foot off the pedal a little.

Didn't expect to have that luxury coming in to the game. Quite amazing. The day after it still feels like a dream

[LostDoggy]

Absolutly sintilating footy!
After the Hawks first goal, i think the Dogs fans were cheering aswell! =]
How nice of us!!

[BulldogBelle]

Really enjoyed watching Josh Hill last night; I think it was his most complete game. Not only did he kick goals as we all know he can, but his defensive efforts time and time again, and his chase down tackles were excellent. Really stamped himself in my opinion.

Although he gave away a couple of frees, I thought Hudson's physicality was excellent. He and Minson smashed the Hawk big men.

[LostDoggy]

I think a few of our players put the cue in the rack in the 2nd half. Considering we have a tough game coming up against Collingwood this Friday night who have one extra day break I think they were entitled to take the foot off the pedal a little.

Yep, I agree with this - but what a great night overall! The Hawthorn supporters around where I sit were very quiet - so nice to not have to put up with their normal arrogance :D When you have a win like that, or more importantly a first and second quarter like that, you don't need to yell alot - just sit and smile (and be a little smug I guess!). We have a tough one next Friday night, and we can be sure it won't be a walk-over like last night. However, the boys are playing with great confidence, and their foot and hand skills last night were superb. Just a pleasure to watch - now I can watch the game replayed on One HD a couple of times this week. Yeah:D

[Stefcep]

great win.

friday is a real danger game, coming off last nights win. very easy to come in to the match lacking the same intensity. conversely a win keeps us two wins clear plus percentage, with a tough game against essendon coming up. very important match against the pies.

[hujsh]

First time this year we've entered a game with such intensity and got off to a flyer.

[bulldogtragic]

Need to back it up and show us and to some extent the footy world that we are serious contenders for the flag. Just because we dropped a few games we shouldnt have means jack. When you play us and were switched on, we';; do to you what we did to Hawthorn.

[AndrewP6]

As many have said, it was incredible to go into half-time with a score that many teams would be happy with at fulltime! Great to see us tear a team apart...

[LostDoggy]

I really enjoyed that game a few points from me.

Good
we were on national TV showing our excellent brand.
Iif we had kicked one more goal in that first quarter we would have broken our record for best first quarter.
At one stage when things were quiet I yelled out to Sam Mitchell to 'go back to Box Hill, and I swear he turned and looked at me;)
In that last quarter the boys didn't just look confident they looked arrogant, casually lopping a handball over the head of Sam Mitchell - I have NEVER seen that before and I just love it!
Credit to the Hawks supporters, the majority stayed until the end, and on the other site so many of them came over and congratulated us.

Bad
The crowd should have been chanting Bullllllllllldogs, Bullllllllllldogs, the same way other teams would have chanted if they were up by that much. Instead we just sat there politely:confused:

[Mantis]

Bad
The crowd should have been chanting Bullllllllllldogs, Bullllllllllldogs, the same way other teams would have chanted if they were up by that much. Instead we just sat there politely:confused:

In fairness I think most of us were just sitting with our mouths open in awe of what we were witnessing.

[Sedat]

We actually missed several gilt-edged chances to goal from inside 30 - Griff, Hill, Hudson, Aker (a few times), Eagleon, a couple of botched marks from Minson and Hudson under no presure. Such was our complete dominance in all facets of the game, we actually should have won by 20 goals. I haven't seen such a destructive performance by us in a long time, especially in the key defensive-oriented aspects of the game.

[bornadog]

We actually missed several gilt-edged chances to goal from inside 30 - Griff, Hill, Hudson, Aker (a few times), Eagleon, a couple of botched marks from Minson and Hudson under no presure. Such was our complete dominance in all facets of the game, we actually should have won by 20 goals. I haven't seen such a destructive performance by us in a long time, especially in the key defensive-oriented aspects of the game.

Yes, the only disappointment for the night for me was kicking 6.9 in the second half, when it should have been at least a 10 goal second half.

[ledge]

Are you guys ever happy????
Lets face it no one will have complete dominance over a game for 4 quarters to dominate like we did for 3/4s you wont see any better.

I can only think of one game back in the 70s we dominated so well, even the game a few weeks ago we won by 93 was nowhere near as clean and precise as this, we were like a surgeon at an autopsy table.

[Sedat]

Are you guys ever happy????
Lets face it no one will have complete dominance over a game for 4 quarters to dominate like we did for 3/4s you wont see any better.

I can only think of one game back in the 70s we dominated so well, even the game a few weeks ago we won by 93 was nowhere near as clean and precise as this, we were like a surgeon at an autopsy table.
Absolutely stoked, just making an observation that our dominance on the night was so complete that we were 20 goals better than the opposition in general play. All of those missed chances I mentioned really were sodas.

[comrade]

In fairness I think most of us were just sitting with our mouths open in awe of what we were witnessing.

I think most of us didn't want to move in case we woke up and realised it wasn't actually happening.

[Mantis]

Are you guys ever happy????
Lets face it no one will have complete dominance over a game for 4 quarters to dominate like we did for 3/4s you wont see any better.

I can only think of one game back in the 70s we dominated so well, even the game a few weeks ago we won by 93 was nowhere near as clean and precise as this, we were like a surgeon at an autopsy table.

That doesn't make any sense, if the person is already dead I wouldn't have thought there wouldn't be the need to be to neat and tidy when you were slicing open the body.

Anyway we were damn good, but there is always room for improvement.

[LostDoggy]

Are you guys ever happy????

I can only get mildly excited by great performances in the home and away. I'll be "happy" when we add to our flag tally. Too easy to get carried away by great performances like these only to not follow through with the "potential".

[soupman]

I didn't go; unfortunately a mate selfishly scheduled his 21st for saturday night. However I did watch it when I got home. I was expecting a tough game and was worried that Hawthorn would throw everything at us, but the reality was fantastic. The best thing is that even if Hawthorn fans did pull out the injury card; the main players that were missing were Rioli, Croad, Young and Williams, it doesn't really work as the midfield was where it was won, and having a more potent forwardline or slightly taller defence wouldn't have made a difference.

Can I also just say that the highlight for mine was Higgins snap shot goal on his left. It was outrageously good. In one motion and off about three steps he gathered the ball and kicked it without breaking stride. He is such an impressive player.

[Stefcep]

That doesn't make any sense, if the person is already dead I wouldn't have thought there wouldn't be the need to be to neat and tidy when you were slicing open the body.


What about if the family wants to view the deceased afterwards? you can't butcher it all up

[Go_Dogs]

Missed the game, although I was updated by scores via pocket news off a guy I met randomly at a pub who also supported the Dogs, and have had no internet access for the past few days. Thanks a lot to all those who have given bits of info - I needed to read something!

[Desipura]

WHERE IS JERRY??????????????????????????????????????? Oh well, I shall wait until we lose our next game before he posts on here again.

[LostDoggy]

I think most of us didn't want to move in case we woke up and realised it wasn't actually happening.

Yeah, I think there were a few times when I thought I was having a fab dream :o And, how fantastic to realise it was true. As others have said, we need to follow it up on Friday night and beyond though!

[Mantis]

Game has just started on Ten HD for those who want to watch.

Keep a look out for some dill in a blue shirt trying to mark the ball in a corporate box from Johnno's goal coming up soon. :D