Game Day: Tigers vs Bulldogs

[GVGjr]

This is the discussion thread for tonights game.

Who's you tip to kick the first goal for us? I will go with Giansirascusa .

[Go_Dogs]

Cooney.

[Bulldog Revolution]

I am absolutely itching for this game tonight, I;ve had gastro all week and so this is a welcome distraction

I cannot wait for us to light the G up with our hard running game and workrate - I see us tackling the crowd roaring the ball spilling out a chain of handballs and dogs goals - lets hope I am channeling the spirits again.

[Dry Rot]

So did we play really well or were the Tigers just crap?

Can't tell myself - the replay in Sydney is stlll half an hour away.

[southerncross]

Funny game tonight. We were by far the better team but just couldn't finish things off. Some disappointing players for us tonight and some very undisciplined acts by a few of our guys.

Not sure where Minson is at as a footballer.

Very pleased with Cooney, Ray, Murphy and to a slightly lesser extent Griffen. Gilbee and Hargrave were creative and McMahon and Boyd supported West very well. Eagleton did some very nice things. Great to see darcy get us off to such a great start.
A couple of reports was bad luck. Eagleton might come under more scrutiny than Murphys. Shame Cross had to pull out.

[LostDoggy]

http://img264.imageshack.us/img264/3953/picture333tc1.jpg

[LostDoggy]

Was listening to 3AW on the way home (not during the game). Minson was awarded their Jason Tough Guy Award (some bedding prize apparently) and was interviewed after the game. Spoke very well as per usual, very upbeat and praised Darcy and Murphy's efforts. Didn't sound displeased with his own performance. Hunt commented after the interview that Minson would probably never be a world beater but brought grunt and energy to the side. I still bear in mind how young Minson is at 22, played less than 40 games, but is smart and clearly loves playing footy.

What are your concerns Southerncross?

[southerncross]

Was listening to 3AW on the way home (not during the game). Minson was awarded their Jason Tough Guy Award (some bedding prize apparently) and was interviewed after the game. Spoke very well as per usual, very upbeat and praised Darcy and Murphy's efforts. Didn't sound displeased with his own performance. Hunt commented after the interview that Minson would probably never be a world beater but brought grunt and energy to the side. I still bear in mind how young Minson is at 22, played less than 40 games, but is smart and clearly loves playing footy.

What are your concerns Southerncross?

Like most Doggies supporters I really appreciate his attack on the ball however at times last night he really did some silly things in his efforts to make a tough contest. There was a free kick given against him in the forward line where he clearly vigorously pushed his forearm across Deledio's head/face while Deledio was on the ground and then was very slow to get off him. That is not smart football and in fact he runs the risk of getting himself reported which we can ill afford. He also remonstrated with the umpire which was also tempting fate.
Another time he coughed up a 50 mtr penalty from memory through a bit of stupidity.

I know he is young but I don't think he is being given the coaching that he needs and really his 3 games this year haven't been great.

He does bring plenty of grunt and energy but I'd like to see him control his aggression a fair bit more plus start to be a value to the side when he is not in the ruck. He needs coaching and in time he should improve but at this moment he isn't making the progress that I was hoping to see.

[southerncross]

How much pressure does everyone think Wallace might be under? While he is the master of spin, he has had enough time to get the Tigers into better form than what they are displaying and I'm surprised that the media hasn't focused on it. Chris Connelly has been under heaps pressure throughout his tenure and yet Wallace somehow keeps escaping the same spotlight.

I noticed in a couple of extracts from various things he said after the game that he didn't seem to be putting himself under the same microscope as the players. I thought it was strange that he didn't move Polak onto Darcy in the first half or at least Gaspar. Once Gaspar went on Darcy he shut him down a fair bit but Wallace was very late with the move. I also thought it strange that Deledio wasn't given a real midfield role.

It's all very well for Wallce to say at the press conferences that 'we have been smashed in the clearances at vital moments in the game' but he basically used the same midfield set-up of Tuck, Foley and Johnson after each goal. I thought he might have tried a couple of different combinations.

[LostDoggy]

Hargrave did well last night. Loved that goal that he kicked. Thought he was on the receiving end of a couple of soft decisions as well. With Williams in the team it might create an opportunity for Hargrave to be used in a more attacking role from the back line. Jordy was good as well last night and it was great to see the team running well and moving the ball forward so quickly. How good was West? I have ready a few people having some cracks at him so I hope they had a good look at the game last night and start to appreciate what a great player he was and still is.

[Go_Dogs]

Was a terrific game we played some of our best football of the year in patches, and there were a lot of positives.
Cooney was brilliant in the centre in the 4th and as always applied plenty of scoreboard pressure with his smarts.

West was great, at one stage late in the game there were about 4 or 5 players from either side battling for a ball on the ground, Harris and a few others lost their feet and Westy charged through and won the ball and got the handpass over to Harris.

Higgins was again all class, didn't win a lot of the ball, but whenever he was near the play, he did everything right pretty much all the time. Love his ability to kick goals too.

Darcy & Murphy were sensational, Darcy's first half would've lifted both him and Murphy, it was so good to see. I had a huge smile on my face as he kept getting in good spots and using his body reasonably well - as well as leading out to the ball too. Murphy really played a great role off half forward, and I'm glad he stayed up there like I had wanted instead of being thrown into the backline.

Addison was good, again not too involved but got a few clearances early and showed good composure. Looks a real player to me.

Wight was again good.

Ray played his best game of the year. His contested mark on our F50 was huge, his pressure, run and skills all looked great. So good to see.

Boydy, Jordy, Gilbee, we'd be lost without these three. Some toughness, some dash and some sublime kicking skills. All played great roles.

Eagleton was good. Wish he'd been able to finish his work better with a couple of goals, but that's ok. Hopefully he can continue to improve as the weeks go on.

[GVGjr]

What did everyone think of the way that Eade used Cooney early on?

[bornadog]

Hargrave did well last night. Loved that goal that he kicked. Thought he was on the receiving end of a couple of soft decisions as well. With Williams in the team it might create an opportunity for Hargrave to be used in a more attacking role from the back line. Jordy was good as well last night and it was great to see the team running well and moving the ball forward so quickly. How good was West? I have ready a few people having some cracks at him so I hope they had a good look at the game last night and start to appreciate what a great player he was and still is.

I am a big fan of Hargrave but God he dissapoints me with the number of stupid free kicks he gives away. I know he is often mistmatched but look at the free kicks he has given away over the past few years. Yes, some were soft, but slinging players to the ground in a marking contest is just silly. I thought Shulzt should have marked more balls and really could have kicked 6 last night, but he wasn't good enough.

I really enjoyed the game , but we should not have allowed Richmond to kick 6 in the last quarter when we had them on their knees. The backline is still not settled, but Harro has had a good start to the season and was very impressive once more down there.

In the mid field, Scotty West, what a Champ, 35 posessions what more can you say. The unsung hero for us was Matthew Boyd, his centre clearances really hurt Richmond and his hard running and long kicks into the forward line created a few goals for him and others.

Murphy was unstoppable in the forward line and really should have had 5 on the board , he must be kicking himself missing from 12 metres out. He also created a few goals for Cooney and others. But was it a case Richmond didn't have any one to put on him?

Overall, I thought we did well against an opposition lacking any real stars.

[Go_Dogs]

Discipline was one area that was disappointing last night.

[GVGjr]

Discipline was one area that was disappointing last night.

Who did you think were the main culprits?

[Bulldog Revolution]

Like most Doggies supporters I really appreciate his attack on the ball however at times last night he really did some silly things in his efforts to make a tough contest. There was a free kick given against him in the forward line where he clearly vigorously pushed his forearm across Deledio's head/face while Deledio was on the ground and then was very slow to get off him. That is not smart football and in fact he runs the risk of getting himself reported which we can ill afford. He also remonstrated with the umpire which was also tempting fate.
Another time he coughed up a 50 mtr penalty from memory through a bit of stupidity.

I know he is young but I don't think he is being given the coaching that he needs and really his 3 games this year haven't been great.

He does bring plenty of grunt and energy but I'd like to see him control his aggression a fair bit more plus start to be a value to the side when he is not in the ruck. He needs coaching and in time he should improve but at this moment he isn't making the progress that I was hoping to see.

I think most of us know what you are saying but I actually thought the signs were very positive for Minson tonight, I thought it was his best game on the ball, and thought he did plenty around the ground. I agree he let himself down with some stupid overaggressive/overassertive stuff but he is still a very young ruckman. Remember that Mick Malthouse is still defending Josh Fraser, a 25 year old, as a developing ruckman. Minson has only just turned 22 and when you think how much he has improved his running ability and added muscle to his frame since he started with us it is obvious he is working hard. And he does add a real grunt to our side. But he does he need to learn how to control his emotions and channel them into his football.

I thought our rucks were a lot better tonight, but our centre square work still has a long way to go.

[alwaysadog]

How much pressure does everyone think Wallace might be under? While he is the master of spin, he has had enough time to get the Tigers into better form than what they are displaying and I'm surprised that the media hasn't focused on it. Chris Connelly has been under heaps pressure throughout his tenure and yet Wallace somehow keeps escaping the same spotlight.

I noticed in a couple of extracts from various things he said after the game that he didn't seem to be putting himself under the same microscope as the players. I thought it was strange that he didn't move Polak onto Darcy in the first half or at least Gaspar. Once Gaspar went on Darcy he shut him down a fair bit but Wallace was very late with the move. I also thought it strange that Deledio wasn't given a real midfield role.

It's all very well for Wallce to say at the press conferences that 'we have been smashed in the clearances at vital moments in the game' but he basically used the same midfield set-up of Tuck, Foley and Johnson after each goal. I thought he might have tried a couple of different combinations.

I don't think Wallace is under much pressure from his board. He went for a preemptive strike with the 2001 nonsense. When he will come under threat is when the supporters get fed up with the hype and start to see through his self serving BS.

All the things that marked his weaknesses when he coached us were on display. Slow to shift players outside of predetermined routines. Has a small group he has faith in but very hard for others to break in. The kids don't seem to be going anywhere and there are no evident plans for long term solutions to existing weaknesses.

He should never forget that they eat their own at Tigerland and he's not their own.

To change the subject slightly, it is starting to seem as if he was lucky when he took us over that there was a pretty fair amount of talent on hand that had been underperforming.

[Bulldog Revolution]

I wasn't concerned with discipline but I thought we gave away too many free kicks but we did have 5 players (Williams, Harbrow, Addison, Higgins, Wight) who have played 15 games or less, and will only improve.

Williams obviously made two inexperienced mistakes. Minson had a couple of brain fades, Shaggy was very unlucky with some soft free kicks, and Harris looked in much better touch in the second half.

[bornadog]

Wallace will start to feel the pressure in the next few weeks as they have a tough draw. They will be lucky to win a game before mid season.

[alwaysadog]

Don’t think we should get too carried away by last night. I’m not complaining about the win just trying to get it into perspective.

While the Tigers growled briefly and in a very low key during the third quarter they didn’t look much across the whole game. With considerably less pressure on us we got some vestiges of our game to work and got the ball in the hands of some of our out-of-sorts players plus those returning from long term injury and lacking touch.

IMO there was still plenty of signs that we are still not firing on all cylinders. We are still like an out of tune car. Every time we looked to be building up speed and momentum we coughed and spluttered and lost drive. A little later we would repeat the performance. Can’t do that against good sides and expect to win.

The up side is that Williams has got through the game relatively unscathed. It might be one he rather not be reminded of, he is still pretty raw, but he showed enough to suggest he’ll fit in once he overcomes the stage fright. When he settles in he’ll be OK, whether he’ll live up to the hype I don’t know but hopefully with Harris and Wight they might provide a long term solution to our defensive height problem.

Another positive apart from having 2 first gamers was that we also had a bunch of other relatively inexperienced players, Wight, Higgins and Addison. Altogether they made up almost ¼ of the side. It would surely be some time since we’ve had so many in the one side and won. It wouldn’t have happened under Wallywood.

[alwaysadog]

I expected our discipline to be less than usual for two reasons; firstly we were under the pump and needed to make a big effort and secondly the build up to the game had been pretty intense. Both factors tend to increase aggression at the expense of composure and I suspect Rocket wasn't too unhappy about it. He would have been more worried if we hadn't fired up.

Regarding Shaggy I suggest that people who complain about his pulling Schultz down have a look at the replay. It clearly shows Schultz with a big hold on Shaggy and you can hear Shaggy tell the umpire that fact.

[Go_Dogs]

Who did you think were the main culprits?

Harris, Hargrave and Minson. Sadly 3 blokes who we can ill afford to lose. Eagleton will certainly be scrutinised for his attempted trip too.

Another point - why do our guys seem to lose their feet so often? Do you think that's a tactical ploy with the new "head over the ball" rule, or are we using the wrong boots, or something else?

[LostDoggy]

Wallace will start to feel the pressure in the next few weeks as they have a tough draw. They will be lucky to win a game before mid season.

I tend to think a win will turn any pressure away from him but it will be interesting to see if he can use the rebuilding phase argument again if they continue to struggle.
Anyway we have to get focused on our own results over the next few weeks and we still have a lot of questions to answer ourselves.

[Raw Toast]

I enjoyed this game, parts of it were ugly and frustrating but lots of things to enjoy as well.

I was with a Collingwood supporting friend. He'd come with me to the cats game and had found it very strange to be at a game where he was largely dispassionate, except where it came to Aka whom he likes a lot. He didn't want to repeat this dispassion (once was enough he said) so he'd put $50 on the dogs! He didn't get into things quite as much as me, but he wasn't far behind. His plan is just to come to MCG dogs games with me (after the first game of the season). Might have to find a way for him to come to the others as he's two out of two so far.

Things that I liked:

1) Our intensity. Our pressure skills were much better in this game for mine. This is close to our key indicator I reckon, and pressure skills was the shared skills of our three inclusions (Williams didn't show much of this, but Eade was talking him up in terms of pressure skills before the game, so I reckon that might have been the factor that swayed the match committee). For much of the game we really closed their run down and our tackling was impressive (still miss a few though).

West's tackling was especially good - didn't anyone get a disposal away once he tackled them? Higgins was also v good. He might not have got much of the ball but he chased and chased and caught quite a few at crucial moments. I thought Ray also stood up in terms of his pressure skills and rated his game because of this. Good to see Wight stick a few as well.

2) Our handballing. Thought we took more risks with our handballs this game - instead of choosing the quick defensive backwards handball when we got the ball under pressure down back we often chose an option 5-10 metres ahead of play who was able to run forward into space. In the past few weeks I reckon we've been slow to create space by hand but thought we really improved a fair bit on this against the Tiges.

3) Directing play through the middle. Think we made a conscious effort to play get the ball into the middle and run it from there more. We did this right from the start and Murphy was important, providing some long searching leads down the flank and then centering the ball as soon as he got it. We did this most of the night and it's what we were unable to do against the Saints for most of the game.

4) Our forwards. Obviously good to have Darcy and Murph go well. Also to kick 20 goals with Johnson only kicking one. Still got a bit of work to do here as shown by our third term where we kept on breaking down around our half-forward line. We're still lacking someone who can take contested marks around here. Murphy has done it before a bit and might do it again. He couldn't do it in the third but he did it in the fourth as he got his confidence up. Still a space for Doogs or even Skipper if they are good enough (don't think Skipper is and not convinced yet by Doogs either).

Would've been nice to win by more, though it should stand us in good stead to withstand the challenge. Get the feeling that we really are still feeling our way into this season and still have to learn that any time we become a little comfortable then we're going to be punished.

Eade really does seem to be working on developing our youngsters, putting players like Addison in at some centre bounces and even Harbrow at least once I think. Good to see, though it might cause some pain at times. Bit of a contrast with Wallace generally conservative in centre structure.

Glad Minson played and would keep him in the team despite him still taking his aggression a bit far. I thought he started getting better in the second half last week and he can tap to advantage which Street is yet to do with any consistency. His jumping and bustling does set the tone a bit and we're a much better team with him on song.

Wight is still really developing and showed some good signs in his ruck cameos. The 50 he gave away was poor though. What I really like about him though is his competitiveness. Important for us to find sustainable ways of keeping Darcy down forward as much as we can. Darcy's still probably our best ruck but with Grant injured, he's clearly our best big option down forward by a bigger distance. Last week we tried bringing in an underdone Street to keep Darcy forward and failed big time. Wight rucking with Williams covering might be a better long-term option.

Morris was better again this week, after improving from his poor start last week. Provided a bit more run and some good handpassing.

I like Harbrow. Only made one tackle, but it was a big one, and he did both lots of good pressure work, and provided a nice option. He's a possible option as a hff because he can lead out and take the ball when need be, and then create some run once he gets it. Would've liked him to kick his goal but he looked dangerous.

Williams first touches were very assured, surprising me and it seems a fair few others. Not so surprised that he gave up a couple of goals though and didn't have a big impact. He'll learn and is an exciting package. If his general disposal matches the couple of touches he had then we'll all be pretty gruntled.

Boyd was very impressive. Keeps on getting better and surprising me. Was really hard when needed and his smother was inspirational. Also tends to make the most of his goal-kicking opportunities.

West was clearly bog for mine. Don't know what more to say except that if he can keep sticking his tackles like that then that's just another dimension to his game.

Good to see McMahon spending some time in the centre as well as continuing to create great run from defence. Glad that he keeps taking risks, though his miskick that Polak marked threatened to be a very critical error (as the stats call it). Must be leading our best and fairest atm.

Higgins really does some classy things. Has tended to miss more tackles than he stuck until this week. Obviously would like him to get more ball, but his two goals were great opportunism.

Good to see Robbins get some form back and he did show a bit of crumbing ability, as well as a bit of selfishness. Not sure it will be enough, but important to have him contributing.

Johnson seems to have been trying a bit too hard the past few weeks. Wonder if he's feeling more pressure with captaincy this year. Darcy's back, Johnson's captain in his own right and the team's got a few expectations on them. Still not that bad to get 20 odd possessions as a forward and call it a bad game. And seems like Joel Bowden is just one of those who matches up well against him.

[alwaysadog]

I enjoyed this game, parts of it were ugly and frustrating but lots of things to enjoy as well.

I was with a Collingwood supporting friend. He'd come with me to the cats game and had found it very strange to be at a game where he was largely dispassionate, except where it came to Aka whom he likes a lot. He didn't want to repeat this dispassion (once was enough he said) so he'd put $50 on the dogs! He didn't get into things quite as much as me, but he wasn't far behind. His plan is just to come to MCG dogs games with me (after the first game of the season). Might have to find a way for him to come to the others as he's two out of two so far.

Things that I liked:

1) Our intensity. Our pressure skills were much better in this game for mine. This is close to our key indicator I reckon, and pressure skills was the shared skills of our three inclusions (Williams didn't show much of this, but Eade was talking him up in terms of pressure skills before the game, so I reckon that might have been the factor that swayed the match committee). For much of the game we really closed their run down and our tackling was impressive (still miss a few though).

West's tackling was especially good - didn't anyone get a disposal away once he tackled them? Higgins was also v good. He might not have got much of the ball but he chased and chased and caught quite a few at crucial moments. I thought Ray also stood up in terms of his pressure skills and rated his game because of this. Good to see Wight stick a few as well.

2) Our handballing. Thought we took more risks with our handballs this game - instead of choosing the quick defensive backwards handball when we got the ball under pressure down back we often chose an option 5-10 metres ahead of play who was able to run forward into space. In the past few weeks I reckon we've been slow to create space by hand but thought we really improved a fair bit on this against the Tiges.

3) Directing play through the middle. Think we made a conscious effort to play get the ball into the middle and run it from there more. We did this right from the start and Murphy was important, providing some long searching leads down the flank and then centering the ball as soon as he got it. We did this most of the night and it's what we were unable to do against the Saints for most of the game.

4) Our forwards. Obviously good to have Darcy and Murph go well. Also to kick 20 goals with Johnson only kicking one. Still got a bit of work to do here as shown by our third term where we kept on breaking down around our half-forward line. We're still lacking someone who can take contested marks around here. Murphy has done it before a bit and might do it again. He couldn't do it in the third but he did it in the fourth as he got his confidence up. Still a space for Doogs or even Skipper if they are good enough (don't think Skipper is and not convinced yet by Doogs either).

Would've been nice to win by more, though it should stand us in good stead to withstand the challenge. Get the feeling that we really are still feeling our way into this season and still have to learn that any time we become a little comfortable then we're going to be punished.

Eade really does seem to be working on developing our youngsters, putting players like Addison in at some centre bounces and even Harbrow at least once I think. Good to see, though it might cause some pain at times. Bit of a contrast with Wallace generally conservative in centre structure.

Glad Minson played and would keep him in the team despite him still taking his aggression a bit far. I thought he started getting better in the second half last week and he can tap to advantage which Street is yet to do with any consistency. His jumping and bustling does set the tone a bit and we're a much better team with him on song.

Wight is still really developing and showed some good signs in his ruck cameos. The 50 he gave away was poor though. What I really like about him though is his competitiveness. Important for us to find sustainable ways of keeping Darcy down forward as much as we can. Darcy's still probably our best ruck but with Grant injured, he's clearly our best big option down forward by a bigger distance. Last week we tried bringing in an underdone Street to keep Darcy forward and failed big time. Wight rucking with Williams covering might be a better long-term option.

Morris was better again this week, after improving from his poor start last week. Provided a bit more run and some good handpassing.

I like Harbrow. Only made one tackle, but it was a big one, and he did both lots of good pressure work, and provided a nice option. He's a possible option as a hff because he can lead out and take the ball when need be, and then create some run once he gets it. Would've liked him to kick his goal but he looked dangerous.

Williams first touches were very assured, surprising me and it seems a fair few others. Not so surprised that he gave up a couple of goals though and didn't have a big impact. He'll learn and is an exciting package. If his general disposal matches the couple of touches he had then we'll all be pretty gruntled.

Boyd was very impressive. Keeps on getting better and surprising me. Was really hard when needed and his smother was inspirational. Also tends to make the most of his goal-kicking opportunities.

West was clearly bog for mine. Don't know what more to say except that if he can keep sticking his tackles like that then that's just another dimension to his game.

Good to see McMahon spending some time in the centre as well as continuing to create great run from defence. Glad that he keeps taking risks, though his miskick that Polak marked threatened to be a very critical error (as the stats call it). Must be leading our best and fairest atm.

Higgins really does some classy things. Has tended to miss more tackles than he stuck until this week. Obviously would like him to get more ball, but his two goals were great opportunism.

Good to see Robbins get some form back and he did show a bit of crumbing ability, as well as a bit of selfishness. Not sure it will be enough, but important to have him contributing.

Johnson seems to have been trying a bit too hard the past few weeks. Wonder if he's feeling more pressure with captaincy this year. Darcy's back, Johnson's captain in his own right and the team's got a few expectations on them. Still not that bad to get 20 odd possessions as a forward and call it a bad game. And seems like Joel Bowden is just one of those who matches up well against him.


Great review and post as well as containing the word for the week; "gruntled". A very gruntling effort Raw Toast. Have you had a look at the wrestling video clip on the club website (http://westernbulldogs.com.au/)?

A few insights into what we are trying to achieve with our tackling.

[dog town]

3) Directing play through the middle. Think we made a conscious effort to play get the ball into the middle and run it from there more. We did this right from the start and Murphy was important, providing some long searching leads down the flank and then centering the ball as soon as he got it. We did this most of the night and it's what we were unable to do against the Saints for most of the game.

.
I think Murphy leading up the ground at the ball carrier was an absolute key. Last year without him we started to sort of run and draw our way through midfield rather than kicking to target and feeding off that target. Some sides have figured out ( saints and crows did it last year and this year) that if you sit off us and make us kick over the midfield line rather than running at us and allowing us to break a line then we will have to change the way we play. With Murphy coming back to form it gives us that quick longer outlet to try and move the ball quickly before teams can get behind the ball. Hopefully Murphy only gets better.

Most of my mates adore Higgins already. Cant remember a young player reminding me of so many players all at once. God help the opposition if he can build enough of an engine to get his hands on the ball 30 times a game.

Agree that Jordy would probably be winning our best and fairest. Always knew he could play genuine midfield and it just gives him a bit more versatility. Makes it hard to stop him with the two different roles he can play in.

I thought it was a really good game to show where Wight is at. You can see that he is learning all the time but still has so much to work on. I suppose the fact that he has so many areas to improve is the reason I have such high hopes for him.

Happy with the 4 goal return from Darcy more so because of the confidence it will give him than anything else. I think the main problem he is having is with the new push in the back rule. He was always a big candidate to just monster people out of contests but without being able to give that little nudge his opponent is just being able to get a hand in as the ball comes over the top. As a rule Darce likes to play from behind when the ball comes in long unless he is getting a run at the ball. Thought his goals were good even though some of them were not classic tall forward goals. Has a massive role to play next week.

Again Harris has completely dominated an opponent and still managed to cough up 3 goals. His concentration lapses are extremely frustrating for me. He was so good that I would have loved to have seen him keep Richo to 1.

Certainly think Harbrow gives us something. Just has that quick step to get through a line and create an overlap. The fact that he can lead up at the ball gives him plenty of versatility as well.

Dont think we played particulalry well and we still have plenty of guys who only want to do just enough and no more. Good test for us this week against a side who will get numbers behind the ball and really have a crack at us in close.

[Raw Toast]

Great review and post as well as containing the word for the week; "gruntled". A very gruntling effort Raw Toast. Have you had a look at the wrestling video clip on the club website (http://westernbulldogs.com.au/)?

A few insights into what we are trying to achieve with our tackling.

One of my favourite words. I'll have a look at the wrestling clip when I've got access to a non-mac computer.

[Raw Toast]

I think Murphy leading up the ground at the ball carrier was an absolute key. Last year without him we started to sort of run and draw our way through midfield rather than kicking to target and feeding off that target. Some sides have figured out ( saints and crows did it last year and this year) that if you sit off us and make us kick over the midfield line rather than running at us and allowing us to break a line then we will have to change the way we play. With Murphy coming back to form it gives us that quick longer outlet to try and move the ball quickly before teams can get behind the ball. Hopefully Murphy only gets better.

Yup.


Most of my mates adore Higgins already. Cant remember a young player reminding me of so many players all at once. God help the opposition if he can build enough of an engine to get his hands on the ball 30 times a game.

Thought his first goal came at a crucial time when we were struggling to score. Made it look very easy when he'd run a decent amount on a narrow angle. Second goal was the type of forward opportunism we haven't had much of lately (though Smith would do similar things every now and then). Boyd created it with the great smother, but Higgins was able to put it onto the left quickly and sent it through. Others might have had to go to their right (which there probably wasn't time for) or at least take a few steps before launching on the left.


Agree that Jordy would probably be winning our best and fairest. Always knew he could play genuine midfield and it just gives him a bit more versatility. Makes it hard to stop him with the two different roles he can play in.

Really pleasing to get such a consistent start from McMahon. In for a very big year if he can keep it up.


Happy with the 4 goal return from Darcy more so because of the confidence it will give him than anything else. I think the main problem he is having is with the new push in the back rule. He was always a big candidate to just monster people out of contests but without being able to give that little nudge his opponent is just being able to get a hand in as the ball comes over the top. As a rule Darce likes to play from behind when the ball comes in long unless he is getting a run at the ball. Thought his goals were good even though some of them were not classic tall forward goals. Has a massive role to play next week.

Thought Darcy seemed to play a bit more from behind this week and looked more comfortable doing it. An incident in the third when Gaspar read it better and Darcy was v dirty on himself, but he should improve on this. Really happy that he took a big mark in the square, got himself in the right place and looked very sure at that moment. While he didn't get many touches up forward in the second half, I don't think the ball was rebounded quickly from the kicks that went to him. We seemed better set up to lock it in when it went to ground I think.

He created Cooney's goal in the first quarter with a hard tap out the back that neither Minson nor Street could do yet imo.



Again Harris has completely dominated an opponent and still managed to cough up 3 goals. His concentration lapses are extremely frustrating for me. He was so good that I would have loved to have seen him keep Richo to 1.

Yes, had a great game but it is v frustrating to see Richo still end up with three. He did keep Gherig to one, but I hope he's a bit annoyed at himself because he'd be a star if he stopped leaking goals when on top.


Certainly think Harbrow gives us something. Just has that quick step to get through a line and create an overlap. The fact that he can lead up at the ball gives him plenty of versatility as well.

Really like the look of this kid. I'd like him to get another game (maybe even ahead of Williams) but depends on match-ups and who's coming back in. Robbins did some v good things (and a couple of pretty selfish things), was it enough?


Dont think we played particulalry well and we still have plenty of guys who only want to do just enough and no more. Good test for us this week against a side who will get numbers behind the ball and really have a crack at us in close.

Don't think we played that well either, but was pleased that we brought our intensity to the game and started taking risks again. Agree the Hawks will test us in another 'should-win' game. Who are the players you see as being content to just do enough?

[dog town]

He created Cooney's goal in the first quarter with a hard tap out the back that neither Minson nor Street could do yet imo.

Darcy has always been brilliant at that tap over the back into space. Just watching him is a perfect illustration of what age and experience does for a ruckmen. Aker will enjoy feeding off him up forward if he can get fit i would think.







Really like the look of this kid. I'd like him to get another game (maybe even ahead of Williams) but depends on match-ups and who's coming back in. Robbins did some v good things (and a couple of pretty selfish things), was it enough?

I would play him in front of a number of people. We talk about our pace and running power but we really dont have that much depth outside our best 22 and I see Harbrow as probably the easiest to fast track to a level where he can have a genuine influence. That is probably mainly because he can do what few others can. Good to give Williams a run but he would get more benefit out of a full game at Werribee at this stage until he is able to play a meaningful role at AFL level. Similar story for Addison. I really like him but he plays alot of roles that we can probably cover at this stage and as such he doesn't get enough ground time to really have an influence. Harbrow probably has more chance of impacting on a game when on for only short periods. Thats my call on it anyway. Still very early days for Harbrow though.




. Who are the players you see as being content to just do enough? It is not neccesarily a massive criticism. Some of these guys are our better players and most are young. Doesn't mean I dont rate these guys as players but they are the ones who need to get better for us to go past where we were last year and now. If we are to challenge the top teams then we need a more ruthless and consistent output from the majority of the team. As a group we take the easy road too often IMO. To be honest we dont have many who I would say are prepared to do that bit extra. We beat them because we are more talented and not because we worked harder (worked pretty hard but not at the feverish level we need). Obvious names are Cooney (in my votes mind you) , Griffen , Ray , Guido , Eagleton , Hargrave , Harris and most of our best 22 at some stage over the last 3 weeks. That is normal for a fairly young list but was just highlighting what needs to change for us to challenge.

Dont want to single anyone out but just as an example Cooney has chased really well at times and done some really hard solid work for us and then maybe takes a few short steps a couple of times where he might have been able to drop in front of an opposition player to stop a mark. Just need a more consistent effort. Consistensy comes from doing the right things everytime not sometimes. Could name 3 or 4 things for most of the other guys.

[Raw Toast]

It is not neccesarily a massive criticism. Some of these guys are our better players and most are young. Doesn't mean I dont rate these guys as players but they are the ones who need to get better for us to go past where we were last year and now. If we are to challenge the top teams then we need a more ruthless and consistent output from the majority of the team. As a group we take the easy road too often IMO. To be honest we dont have many who I would say are prepared to do that bit extra. We beat them because we are more talented and not because we worked harder (worked pretty hard but not at the feverish level we need). Obvious names are Cooney (in my votes mind you) , Griffen , Ray , Guido , Eagleton , Hargrave , Harris and most of our best 22 at some stage over the last 3 weeks. That is normal for a fairly young list but was just highlighting what needs to change for us to challenge.

Dont want to single anyone out but just as an example Cooney has chased really well at times and done some really hard solid work for us and then maybe takes a few short steps a couple of times where he might have been able to drop in front of an opposition player to stop a mark. Just need a more consistent effort. Consistensy comes from doing the right things everytime not sometimes. Could name 3 or 4 things for most of the other guys.

Thanks for expanding on this dt. Intensity is a strange thing imo. It seems simple, but while players like Cross, West and Morris are likely to give their all each week, getting the whole team to play for their lives (as Eade put it last week) is obviously pretty difficult.

How much is this all about building towards September? Last year we started in a rush (though really, after smashing Richmond we struggled for a half against Melbourne, scraped past Essendon and then battled with Geelong). This year Eade's kept saying we're a little behind but are building towards top strength, and of course we've had Murphy, Darcy etc to bring in. West Coast and Adelaide generally seem to start well while Sydney always takes a bit of time to get going. This is a bit muddled, but I guess I'm interested in the relationship between fitness and intensity, and as to whether we're trying to build both this year, rather than starting off in peak condition and tiring by the end of the season.

Also liked your thoughts on the way our game-plan changed after Murphy's injury. Seems like we've tried to get a bit of depth in this area. Baird is a bit like a poor-man's Murphy but was injured last year for most of the time Murphy was. McDougall is another leading forward, and the only other tall forward we selected, Hill, is another who seems suited to the long-ranging hf role. Be interesting to see if we start playing Johnson more as a hf as well, provided Darcy is able to keep establishing himself. Means the opposition has to deal both with our ability (Adelaide and Saints games notwithstanding) to run and carry, as well as to hit long leads and play on from there.

[Go_Dogs]

When players like Cooney, Griffen, Minson, Giansiracusa, Eagleton etc are having good nights, their mates seem to lift their heads a bit too. Having the leadership of Darcy back was huge against the Tigers IMO. If he hadn't got those early goals, who knows what would've happened.

We need to find that catalyst and make sure that our guys are able to put in that 100% each week and really run themselves into the ground. It's mainly a mental thing, and with more confidence and time it will improve. It'll be another year or so before a few of those younger guys are capable of running that hard week in week out.

[southerncross]

Gia is down on form isn't he? Not bad but should be playing at a higher level.

Are we using him the right way? Are we playing him out of position?

[Go_Dogs]

Gia is down on form isn't he? Not bad but should be playing at a higher level.

Are we using him the right way? Are we playing him out of position?

So difficult to know exactly what his best position is. He is very well skilled with his ball movement when he's playing well - which is why I feel his best spot is on a HFF or on a wing. Personally I feel he's too small bodied and not really tough enough to warrant a full time midfield role - he doesn't have the explosive pace of say McMahon to use in his favor in those sort of situations. He's got good football smarts though, and is pretty clever around the clearance. With the emergence of more midfield options - Akermanis, Griffen, McMahon, Higgins etc - I think Gia will have his work cut out for him to cement a spot in our best 5 midfielders.

It's going to be a testing year for Gia I think as he tries to find a new niche in the team where he can play well and really help our team out in an influential manner.

Perhaps he could be moved to a half back flank?

[dog town]

Gia is down on form isn't he? Not bad but should be playing at a higher level.

Are we using him the right way? Are we playing him out of position?
He is not himself at the moment for some reason. Far cry from the dangerous midfield/forward of 2005 and even parts of last year. Has gone from one of our most consistent and hard working performers to being a bit of a battler this year. Strange that we haven't used him deep forward more as I always think he plays better when he is rotating between forward and midfield. Does have the ability to kick a score when he is up forward and will give plenty on the lead and even a bit in the air when coming out of the goal square. Probably not working as hard as he was and his confidence seems shot. Need more from him.

[dog town]

Thanks for expanding on this dt. Intensity is a strange thing imo. It seems simple, but while players like Cross, West and Morris are likely to give their all each week, getting the whole team to play for their lives (as Eade put it last week) is obviously pretty difficult.

How much is this all about building towards September? Last year we started in a rush (though really, after smashing Richmond we struggled for a half against Melbourne, scraped past Essendon and then battled with Geelong). This year Eade's kept saying we're a little behind but are building towards top strength, and of course we've had Murphy, Darcy etc to bring in. West Coast and Adelaide generally seem to start well while Sydney always takes a bit of time to get going. This is a bit muddled, but I guess I'm interested in the relationship between fitness and intensity, and as to whether we're trying to build both this year, rather than starting off in peak condition and tiring by the end of the season.

. Just from my own experience fitness plays a huge part because you just cant keep putting in those 2nd/3rd/4th efforts when your fitness is a bit off the mark. You actually end up not wanting the ball to come near you. Just impossible to tell from our position where they are a with fitness.




Also liked your thoughts on the way our game-plan changed after Murphy's injury. Seems like we've tried to get a bit of depth in this area. Baird is a bit like a poor-man's Murphy but was injured last year for most of the time Murphy was. McDougall is another leading forward, and the only other tall forward we selected, Hill, is another who seems suited to the long-ranging hf role. Be interesting to see if we start playing Johnson more as a hf as well, provided Darcy is able to keep establishing himself. Means the opposition has to deal both with our ability (Adelaide and Saints games notwithstanding) to run and carry, as well as to hit long leads and play on from there. Yep I would say Baird was drafted to play a similar role to Murphy and I think ideally we need that ability to spot up targets coming out of the backline. I thought Johnson would have played alot more as a high half forward by now but I suppose with Murph and Darcy struggling before last week and Aker being injured our versatility hasn't been as good as it could be eventually. Also Guido has not been as good in the lead up role as he was at times in 2005. I recall Murphy and Guido combining to take North apart in a game at 2005 with clever leading. Also as evidence for Eade wanting us to have alot of these sort of guys is that we trialled David Haynes (ex west coast/geelong) and almost drafted him before the 2006 season. Haynes was very much a one dimensional leading half forward and I thought it was very interesting that we were looking at him.

Always going to be a role for that run and draw handballing style that we can play but as you said having that quick option to get the ball out into space to a lead is something we have missed. Takes the ball away from the traffic and allows us to spread teams which is when we are at our best.

[alwaysadog]

Gia is down on form isn't he? Not bad but should be playing at a higher level.

Are we using him the right way? Are we playing him out of position?

Clearly something is wrong; he didn't have a good preseason, got beaten in the praccie matches and now at the start of the season not looking a shadow of his former self.

This time last year he was going so well Wallywood said he was the best recruit from his year which says how good he was cause Murph was burning.

Don't think it's position just not right. Can't tell if it's mental or physical, but if he doesn't get it together soon he will start to have doubts.