Game Day - R21 Western Bulldogs vs Geelong

[BulldogBelle]

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

My predictions are:

The Dogs by 16 points
BOG : Adam Cooney
Jason Akermanis to kick the first goal.

[lemmon]

Dogs by 3
Bog- Lake
Murph to snag the first one

[LostDoggy]

Carn doggies!
Dogs by 14 points
BOG: Cooney - In decent form over the past couple of weeks
Hahn for the all important goal.

[Max469]

Dogs by 9pts

BOG - Boyd

1st Goal - Murph

[Scorlibo]

Dogs by 22 points
BOG - Higgins
First Goal - Cooney

[boydogs]

Dogs by 45 points
BOG Adam Cooney
First Goal Brad Johnson

[LostDoggy]

Catters by 20 points (sorry, but I sure as hell hope not!)
BOG to Cooooooooooooney
First goal to Murph

[LostDoggy]

Is this our home game? Can I use my membership if I have 11 games for Level 2? I can't find any details on whos home game it is!

[BulldogBelle]

Is this our home game? Can I use my membership if I have 11 games for Level 2? I can't find any details on whos home game it is!

Yes, It is our final home game for the season.

[LostDoggy]

dogs by 3 points after the siren, kicked my Will minson, after Johnno takes a mark and does a Brian Lake and "pulls a hammy"...

Boydy to be best on ground...

Joshy Hill to kick 1sr goal...

[LostDoggy]

Doggies by 24 points
Johnson BOG
Higgins 1st goal.

[The Pie Man]

Dogs by 11, getting out by a bit only to wear a last quarter fightback
Cooney BOG
First goal Aka

[LostDoggy]

Dogs by 12
BOG: Johnoson
First Goal: Welsh

[The Underdog]

Dogs by 1 point
Aker first goal
Boyd BOG

Ironically enough I can't go because I have to work in Geelong tonight. It's going to be a tough evening for me, hopefully I can sneak a listen.

[neodog]

Dogs by 19 points...

Cooney BOG
Minson to kick the first goal after a strong mark.

[LostDoggy]

Dogs by 4 points
BOG: Brian Lake
First Goal: Gia!

[aker39]

I haven't been this nervous before a game for a long time. I think we can really build some momentum if we can get over Geelong tonight.

Dogs by 20 points
BOG: Matthew Boyd
First Goal: Scott Welsh

[LostDoggy]

I haven't been this nervous before a game for a long time. I think we can really build some momentum if we can get over Geelong tonight.


Same feeling here..can't wait to wander down Collins St after work, with no other thought about how everythings going to play out..hopefully as below.

Dogs by 13pts
Hahn first.
Lake BOG

[Mofra]

Johnno to nail a goal after the siren to hand us the win. Victory!

[bornadog]

Dogs by 25 points, after a good start

first goal - Hahn

bog - Cooney

[Tatts88]

Dogs by 8pnts

[LostDoggy]

Dogs by 8pnts

Dogs by 8 pints? I'll drink to that!

[LostDoggy]

Dogs by 16

First goal - Aker

BOG - Lake

[mighty_west]

Dogs by 32 points

first goal - Lake

B.O.G - Boyd

[LostDoggy]

they can do it!!! I have faith :-)

dogs by 23 points
Cooney BOG
Murphy 1st goal

GO DOGGIES!!!!

[LostDoggy]

Dogs by 11 points
Higgins BOG
Hahn first goal

CARNA DOGS!!!!!!!! :)

[LostDoggy]

Yeah, let's keep the faith!

Dogs by 3 points
BOG = Cooney
First goal = Gia (welcome back Guido!)

Go Dooooooggggggggiiiiiiiiieeeeeeesssssssss :p

[BulldogBelle]

Sorry, but Cats by 25 points.

1st goal = Murphy

Dogs best = Gilbee

[The Bulldogs Bite]

Dogs by 8 points.
BOG to Lake.
First goal to Aker.

Really hoping the boys can pull out a win tonight and send me off to my operation tomorrow happy.

[Happy Days]

Dogs by 24,
Shaggy BOG,
Murphy first goal.

Can't make it tonight, which is unfortunate, because the boys will do it comfortably.

[Mantis]

Good luck with the op TBB.

Really can't make up my mind about this one, I think we can win, but not sure if we will.

Cats by 21pts.

BOG - Lake
1st goal - Higgins

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

More hope than belief
Dogs by 9 points
Boyd BOG
1st goal, Welsh.

[DOG GOD]

Hmm i'd have to say Cats by 33pts

1st goal Murphy
BOG Boyd

[KT31]

Depends which Dogs turn up.
If its the Dogs that played Brisbane, then

Dogs by 13
Johnno first goal
Boyd BOG

I don't even want to think about the team that played the Eagles.

[anfo27]

Heard something on the radio about Lonergan possibly coming in to the line up, they didn't mention who was in doubt.

Fairly confident about this one, i think we can win by about 3-4 goals. Brian Lake BOG & Josh Hill for the first goal, not that we ever kick the first goal (except last week)

[LostDoggy]

Dogs by 12 pts
Lake B.O.G
First goal to Picken.

Go Dogs!

[Dry Rot]

Anyone got a link to a stream?

Please PM me.

Cheers

[Scorlibo]

We should be 40 points up, but I guess I'll settle with 19 at half time :)

[Dry Rot]

Mantis must be choking on his hotdog and beer - Eagleton has had a terrific first half IMO.

Quick, sign him up for another 3 years! :D

[Dry Rot]

Clearances 12-1 against us!

[Scorlibo]

COME ON DOGGIES! Run it out like last time!

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Clearances 12-1 against us!

Yep has come back and bit us in the third, and all of a sudden Ablett & Bartel are getting ball forward of centre. In the first half they were getting their possies in the back and weren't able to be damaging offensively.
I hope we can re-group in the last, and hope a lack of match fitness for Murph, Higgins, Welsh and Gia doesn't thwart the freshness of our legs.

[DOG GOD]

Cats have all the run which is a worry...we NEED first 2 goals to get the confidence running. Got a bad feeling though :(

slaughtered in the clearances.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

first blood! Great kick Johnno!! Good forward pressure from Aker got that for us.

[Dry Rot]

Addison isn't good in the air. Can't mark, can't punch.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

We got it BAby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Scorlibo]

We got it BAby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WOooOOOHoooHOOOoo!

[LostDoggy]

Top 4!!!!!!!

[BulldogBelle]

you ****ing beauty

[Dry Rot]

Should Eagleton be captain next year? ;)

[LostDoggy]

COME ON DOGGIES! Run it out like last time!

They sure did! =D

[Scraggers]

I've just done my victory dance and woke the baby ... care factor ... you beauty ... secure in the top 4

Bring on the pies and the saints :D

[DOG GOD]

Great stuff dogs...got that pressure back from the 1st half. Geez Johnno was good tonight. Gia lacked awareness at times with playing on when he shouldnt've but he certainly didnt look match fit and could hardly run in that last qtr.

Reid impressed again...have to re-sign him up.

top 4 here we come.

[LostDoggy]

Carn doggies!
Dogs by 14 points
BOG: Cooney - In decent form over the past couple of weeks
Hahn for the all important goal.

Yay! 3 from 3 =D

[LostDoggy]

great win!!

[lemmon]

Let out a big sigh of relief after that one.

[KT31]

Sen Bloody Sational !!!!!!!!

[LostDoggy]

Sons of the scray, red white and blue.......yippee

[Dry Rot]

Reid impressed again...have to re-sign him up.



That was one thing I took away tonight.

Seemed hesitant early, handballing rather than kicking. Then hr really got into it, and didn't let us down.

[anfo27]

Bring on the pies. Mitch Hahns grunt work was fantastic, Sam Reid impressed me tonight, Cooney WOW & can someone tell me who that bold headed bloke wearing number 10 for the bulldogs is.

WOOF WOOF WOOF

[Dry Rot]

Sam Reid impressed me tonight,

Yes, once he stopped just handballing it, he played well IMO.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Cal Ward 10 tackles, Reid 7 tackles, Hahn & Aker both 6 tackles each, Cooney 11 contested possies, Lake 10 contested possies, and Hahn 3 goal assists.

Loved how Ward and Reid put their head over the ball, and tackled hard in close. Hahn & Aker's tackling especially forward of centre was crucial.

Special mention of Hahn's effort behind centre square both tackling the Geelong player, getting the ball which led to a goal which swung the momentum back our way.

2nd week now that Cooney has showed some real desperation to win the hard ball too.
Lake very important early in thwarting Geelongs attack.

If Last week Eade said it was our best win for the year, then this has now superceded that.
Vital that we don't think we've climbed the mountain, still a few more peaks to go, starting with Collingwood next week.

[GVGjr]

This was a sensational football contest and I love it when we play the Cats. The lead changes and the way we rallied is something that the supporters and the club should be proud of.

[NoName]

Good win tonight, however my parents just told me that Bartell got the 3 votes on 3AW. Can't say I really noticed him TBH. MMM gave Cooney the 3 votes which I agree with as as played a very good game.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Good win tonight, however my parents just told me that Bartell got the 3 votes on 3AW. Can't say I really noticed him TBH. MMM gave Cooney the 3 votes which I agree with as as played a very good game.

THat is funny? Bartel was great in the 3rd quarter, but I didn't think over the 4 qtrs he was the most dominant player on the ground.

[hujsh]

Cats have all the run which is a worry...we NEED first 2 goals to get the confidence running. Got a bad feeling though :(

slaughtered in the clearances.

You've had a bad feeling almost every week;)


Just saw DaDruid on TV.

[bornadog]

Good win tonight, however my parents just told me that Bartell got the 3 votes on 3AW. Can't say I really noticed him TBH. MMM gave Cooney the 3 votes which I agree with as as played a very good game.

Dermie gave Cooney the three

[bornadog]

Dogs by 25 points, after a good start

first goal - Hahn

bog - Cooney

Two out of three not bad, just missed the points by 11:D

[jitboy]

Very impressive effort from the boys tonight. The best I've seen us play this year, and managed to hold strong when things were swinging against us.

Ward and Picken continue to impress me this year. Watching Ward and Reid work side by side makes me realise how much potential Ward has. He's certainly a class above in his development.

[Rance Fan]

Great effort by the first year players.
And good by Hahn, and Eagleton .. to silence the kncokers. Including myself, I had started to wonder if the game had passed them by
Good to see they got that good ol bulldog bite still in em!

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Very impressive effort from the boys tonight. The best I've seen us play this year, and managed to hold strong when things were swinging against us.

Ward and Picken continue to impress me this year. Watching Ward and Reid work side by side makes me realise how much potential Ward has. He's certainly a class above in his development.

Picken worked hard, but I didn't think it was one of his better games. Looks like opposition players are leading him back into the defensive 50 and looking to exploit him one out overhead.

He is however becoming a very important player for us.

[LostDoggy]

That was a great win, the atmosphere at the game was fantastic.
Good fight, great win.

Cooney and Johnson were excellent.

Go Doggies

[bornadog]

Picken worked hard, but I didn't think it was one of his better games. Looks like opposition players are leading him back into the defensive 50 and looking to exploit him one out overhead.

He is however becoming a very important player for us.

Picken was playing on some of the Geelong small forwards, thats why he was in the defensive 50. Not the whole game, but had stints there.

[LostDoggy]

If Last week Eade said it was our best win for the year, then this has now superceded that.
Vital that we don't think we've climbed the mountain, still a few more peaks to go, starting with Collingwood next week.

Rocket seemed to be talking to the boys after the game saying precisely that -- to keep a lid on it, to control their emotions and not let it get out of hand, enjoy it but don't get so high that we suffer a low next week. Just be professional about it.

Very proud of the team.

[LostDoggy]

That was a great win, the atmosphere at the game was fantastic.
Good fight, great win.

Cooney and Johnson were excellent.

Go Doggies

It was an awesome atmosphere, very very loud, was great to hear... The only think not great about the game was the fact ive come home with a very very very very sore throat(has been sore all week, but now its 78356873456784356784356347 times worse haha), but its all worth it....Just hope i havea voice when i wake up hahaha...

GREAT STUFF DOGGIES......

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Rocket seemed to be talking to the boys after the game saying precisely that -- to keep a lid on it, to control their emotions and not let it get out of hand, enjoy it but don't get so high that we suffer a low next week. Just be professional about it.

Very proud of the team.

Yep thought I heard him say it was a good win, but it was one game, but it's not finals yet.

[LostDoggy]

Same feeling here..can't wait to wander down Collins St after work, with no other thought about how everythings going to play out..hopefully as below.

Dogs by 13pts
Hahn first.
Lake BOG

I didn't do bad either, almost exactly 2/3 ;)

Edit: And an awesome win! The roar of the Geelong crowd when they were on fire was frustrating but when we kicked a couple away it was brilliant then Shauny's goal on the siren made it all the much sweeter. Loved how Rocket got them into a huddle on the ground, I assume just telling them to believe in themselves (or so I hope thats what he said haha)

[LostDoggy]

Awesome win, great game, great effort across the ground. The intensity was there, we have belief.

The culture of winning is back and the memory of late season fade out is to be buried. Johno, coons, Harbrow(related to Usain Bolt??), Boyd, Lake, Eagle, Hill, Murph and Ward were awesome, great to see Higgo and Gia back, better for the run.

Rocket said that Crossy and Griff trained well today and are chances for this week.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, I feel a lot different than two weeks ago.

[AndrewP6]

Coming in, I was my usual pessimistic self. Thrilled to admit I WAS DEAD WRONG! Bloody terrific effort tonight. Started well, played on our terms. Should've been about 6 ahead at the half, but the effort was there. As all good teams do, the Pussycats came back hard. The pleasing thing for me was that we didn't just let them step on us. We kept our heads, played some sensible footy, got the lead back, and held on for an awesome win. Not perfect by any means (belted in the middle!), and some ordinary accuracy... but hey, I'll take a 14 point win over the Pussycats any day!

[BulldogBelle]

Great! I was so hyped seeing how well we played in the first half I was feeling sick.
Joy.

[LostDoggy]

How's everyone doing? I for one am rapt about our win. I have fluctuated all week, thinking we will win, then worrying about our form againt Freo and WC and thinking we can't pull off a win.

A couple of things I take from this game:


Johno is Captain Courageous - there was no way in hell that he would have allowed the dogs to lose tonightl
Lake - deserves every cent he is asking for - a player like that comes along once in a 100 years - please dogs keep him somehow:(
Cooney is back to his Brownlow medal best at the right end of the season for a change!

The last game against Geelong = Aker was the star - tonight Johno and Lake - they don't know who to shut down anymore
Finally, I had given up on a premiership this year, now I am starting to dream again..............

[Go_Dogs]

Just wanted to mention Addison - thought he had a pretty good game althought a bit unlucky at times. His work ethic was very good, and his hardness and willingness to create a contest was important.

Hill was also very good. The goal he kicked off a Lake turnover, Hill was right next to Lake as the turnover occurred and worked very hard running forward.



One aspect of the game I noticed tonight was our willingness to tackle the ball carrier. It worked quite well, although at times we seemed to have too many numbers attacking the ball carrier and Geelong were able to back their guys to win the ball and spread well.

Overall, glad I was in Melbourne and at the game tonight! Fantastic result.

[LostDoggy]

What is the go with Geelong??????
6 players with over 30 poss, Dogs still won.
Killed every center clearance, Dogs still won.
WB 5 posters in the 1st half, Dogs still won.
Gia played like puss, no Griff, no Cross, No Williams. Dogs still won.
A year or two ago if all this happened in a game, Cats would have walked off 50pts up???

[SonofScray]

Loved the fact that our pressure denied the opportunity for the Cats to exploit the alternative "Geelong only" officiating that allows them to hang onto the ball for an eternity, throw it to advantage without consequence, hold off the ball but not be held off the ball.

Some very telling decisions in that respect. Funny that is coincides with media talk of their loss of "invincibility." Its been a constant whinge of mine against the Cats but I found it an interesting little side note to the game.

Was just glad to see a team apply heavy pressure to the Cats and actually get rewarded by the laws of the game.

[bornadog]

Just wanted to mention Addison - thought he had a pretty good game althought a bit unlucky at times. His work ethic was very good, and his hardness and willingness to create a contest was important.

Hill was also very good. The goal he kicked off a Lake turnover, Hill was right next to Lake as the turnover occurred and worked very hard running forward.



One aspect of the game I noticed tonight was our willingness to tackle the ball carrier. It worked quite well, although at times we seemed to have too many numbers attacking the ball carrier and Geelong were able to back their guys to win the ball and spread well.

Overall, glad I was in Melbourne and at the game tonight! Fantastic result.

and you didn't tell us you were in Town

[bulldogtragic]

I think the fear in playing Geelong is rapidly reducing in the top teams. Their record against the top 8 isn't brilliant this year.

[LostDoggy]

I liked how Callan played in this game. Especially his goal. Top class stuff from the young man.

[LostDoggy]

Dogs by 11 points
Higgins BOG
Hahn first goal

CARNA DOGS!!!!!!!! :)


Was looking good with Mitch kicking the 1st goal, close on the margin, silly of me to pick Higgins as BOG in his first game back but I don't care!!!!!!!! SO HAPPY we won & Johnno was SUPERB. Now we've gotta thump Collingwood, get some more confidence leading in to the finals and BRING IT ON HOME!!!!!!!! :D

[LostDoggy]

I got pretty close:


Dogs by 12
BOG: Johnoson
First Goal: Welsh

But i think the winner goes to:


Carn doggies!
Dogs by 14 points
BOG: Cooney - In decent form over the past couple of weeks
Hahn for the all important goal.

[bulldogtragic]

B-RadBulldog, i'm having a punt this week, what do you think?

[boydogs]

Did anyone notice a bit of St Kilda in our setup last night in locking the ball in our forward half by cutting off the outs for the ball carrier? Second quarter in particular

[LostDoggy]

Did anyone notice a bit of St Kilda in our setup last night in locking the ball in our forward half by cutting off the outs for the ball carrier? Second quarter in particular

Well if we're not going to beat them we might as well learn from them.

AFL is notoriously trend copy-cat happy anyway, and teams work out faster than ever how to break the code of any new innovation (a good thing) .. anyone remember something called 'Clarko's Cluster'? THAT lasted a while. *grin* Well I guess it did its job for one season, which is all that matters.

[The Coon Dog]

Gia played like puss, no Griff, no Cross, No Williams. Dogs still won.


Gee, I thought he was terrific last night, particularly early when the heat was on with 9 first quarter disposals. Sure he tired late as expected, but no way would I term his effort puss last night.

[LostDoggy]

can someone tell me who that bold headed bloke wearing number 10 for the bulldogs is.
WOOF WOOF WOOF

Yep, I had to take off my glasses and give them a clean during the game, when that bald headed bloke ran down the half forward flank like a 20 year old to receive the kick from Johnno (I think?) . Who was he anyway? Do you think they had to drug test him after the game?? I don't care, I had a great time at the footy last night - best game I've seen all year. Fantastic pressure, tackling and hard at the ball. Was wonderful that they were able to regroup and come back after giving up the lead - we all know the Cats never give up and were always going to have a crack. Whoooo, hoooooo! Love those doggies!!!!! :D

[LostDoggy]

B-RadBulldog, i'm having a punt this week, what do you think?

Haha!! Utter fluke but I'll take credit for it ;)
Look out for next weeks Gameday and I'll look into my 'cristal ball' then! ;)

[AndrewP6]

Yep, I had to take off my glasses and give them a clean during the game, when that bald headed bloke ran down the half forward flank like a 20 year old to receive the kick from Johnno (I think?) .

This effort drew great praise from Foxtel's commentary team for Eagle's hard running.

[bulldogtragic]

Haha!! Utter fluke but I'll take credit for it ;)
Look out for next weeks Gameday and I'll look into my 'cristal ball' then! ;)
Both I and Betfair look forward to it! :)

[LostDoggy]

Finally, I had given up on a premiership this year, now I am starting to dream again..............
[/LIST]

[/LIST]

Same.

[The Pie Man]

Dogs by 11, getting out by a bit only to wear a last quarter fightback
Cooney BOG
First goal Aka

This wasn't far off - I had no internet over the weekend, I couldn't remember who I said was BOG but I thought I had the game pattern covered - well yeah, it was a 3rd quarter fightback I guess.

Top night, I'm still smiling :)