Game Day - SF2 Western Bulldogs vs Brisbane

[BulldogBelle]

This is the discussion thread for this Friday night's game at the MCG against Brisbane.

My predictions are:

The Dogs by 26 points
BOG : Jason Akermanis
Brad Johnson to kick the first goal.

[1eyedog]

Dogs by 48 points
Higgins first major
Cooney should shine to get BOG

[Scorlibo]

Come on Doggies!

Dogs by 41 points.
First goal to Everitt.
Callan Ward BOG.

[bornadog]

First Goal Aker

BOG Cooney

Dogs by 59 points

[LostDoggy]

Dogs by 47pts
Hahn first
Higgins to find some good form BOG

[Happy Days]

Dogs by 32
Minson 1st
Shaggy BOG

[AndrewP6]

***Crossing everything***

Dogs by 21 pts
BOG Aker
First goal Aker (I'm a fan!)

[boydogs]

Dogs by 25 points
First Goal Brad Johnson
BOG Daniel Giansiracusa

[LostDoggy]

Dogs by 22
First Goal to Welsh
BOG to Aker
Bring it on!!!!

[LostDoggy]

Dogs by 36 points (All 22 player redeeming themself)

Higgins 1st goal

Cooney BOG

[Max469]

Dogs by 22

Aker - BOG

Gia - 1st Goal

[AZHawkie]

Dogs by 24

1st major to Minson

BOG: Lake

[The Pie Man]

Dogs by 37
Welsh first goal
Griffen BOG

This will be a little hotter than your usual contest first 10 minutes - I'm expecting a tight first half.

[Ozza]

Dogs by 22
Cooney best on ground.
Johnson first goal.

[LostDoggy]

Okay.....

Dogs by 25 points
First Goal = Aker
BOG = Boyd

Carn' the Scray :D

[BulldogBelle]

Dogs by 1 point
First goal = Johnson
BOG = Johnson

[Mantis]

Dogs by 29

BOG - Cooney
1st goal - Higgins

Think it might be a bit like the Swans final last year, close early, but our class & midfield depth should see us prevail.... Gee I hope so anyway.

[anfo27]

Dogs by 60+
BOG: Ryan Griffen
1st goal: Mitch Hahn

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Dogs by 34 points
1st goal Guido
BOG Cooney

[LostDoggy]

dogs by 32
bog Cooney
first goal Griffen, who will be 2nd bog to make up for last week.


Can't go tonight, Friday nights are always difficult for us, as my son plays hockey.

[KT31]

Dogs by 18
Hill first goal.
Acker BOG.

Go Doggies!!!!!!

[chef]

Dogs by 37.
Hahn first goal.
Boyd BOG.

[DOG GOD]

Dogs by 13
Welsh 1st goal
Boyd BOG

[Bumper Bulldogs]

Dogs by 26 points,
Jonno first goal
Griff BOG

[FrediKanoute]

If the dogs win I'll be stoked. Lions playing the better football just not putting the score on the board. We have some passengers out there.

[Dry Rot]

If the dogs win I'll be stoked. Lions playing the better football just not putting the score on the board. We have some passengers out there.

Agreed. The margin is flattering us. Isn't our dwarf forward line working well? :(

Ross Lyon would be pretty relaxed after those 2 quarters.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

If the dogs win I'll be stoked. Lions playing the better football just not putting the score on the board. We have some passengers out there.

Really? I think we are looking the better team at the moment. Winning the ball in the middle and at stoppages in general very easy so far. I think clearances are over 2 to 1.
The only negative so far is again our forward line not functioning.

Very happy by and large with the endeavour of our group. Cooney has gone in very hard, Cross is blanketing Black, Boyd is back winning tough ball and dishing it off, and Lake and Morris winning the battle on Brown and Bradshaw.
The conditions are our worst enemy at the moment. It's going to be a tough game to break open and if we could win the 3rd quarter by 2 goal, it would make a 4 goal buffer handy in these conditions.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Agreed. The margin is flattering us. Isn't our dwarf forward line working well? :(

Ross Lyon would be pretty relaxed after those 2 quarters.

Our forward line is struggling and yes Rossy would hardly be shaking in his boots.

[Dry Rot]

Hahn going well.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Hahn going well.

Apart from his goal, has worked well off the ball as well.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Really starting to get reward for our pressure and workrate now.

[Dry Rot]

Really starting to get reward for our pressure and workrate now.

Yes our class above the Lions now showing. Morris isn't having a great night. Griff's answered his critics.

Saints won't be worried.

Eagleton's done well - give the man a 5 year contract extension and the captaincy. :D

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Yes our class above the Lions now showing. Morris isn't having a great night. Griff's answered his critics.

Saints won't be worried.

Eagleton's done well - give the man a 5 year contract extension and the captaincy. :D

and right on cue.... Eagle fumbles twice in 10 seconds.....

[Dry Rot]

Harbrow's having fun.

We are a class and half above these Lions but I thought they had our measure for the first 2 quarters, hampered by getting no clearances an their inaccuracy.

Biggest positive is obviously we're still alive and Ward's game. But I haven't seen much to be confident about next week.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Harbrow's having fun.

We are a class and half above these Lions but I thought they had our measure for the first 2 quarters, hampered by getting no clearances an their inaccuracy.

Biggest positive is obviously we're still alive and Ward's game. But I haven't seen much to be confident about next week.

Tough to judge how we will go next week based on the conditions tonight. However based on how we've played the Saints this year it's hard to see how we could best them.
Having said that, noone will expect us to win, and the pressure will be somewhat off us and the expectations will be right on the Saints.

Boyd, Cross, Ward, Cooney, Griffen, Ward, and Eagle have all done well. That's almost our entire midfield playing in form, so that's good confidence wise.

I'd love to see Cross do the job he has done tonight with Black on Hayes next week.

[Dry Rot]

Griff looks stuffed post game.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Griff looks stuffed post game.

Yes, looks like a calf injury. Hard to tell whether he's really lame though, as he almost has a limping gait after games more often than not even when not injured.

[Dry Rot]

Buckley: Eagleton BOG. :D

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Buckley: Eagleton BOG. :D

Yes..... I would've given the choccy's to Boyd.
Eagleton had a very good game, but I thought the win was set up by our ball winners in tight and that was down to Boyd, Ward, Cross and Cooney, not our Eagle.

[Mantis]

Biggest positive is obviously we're still alive and Ward's game. But I haven't seen much to be confident about next week.

Like that would ever change...

[The Bulldogs Bite]

Boyd, Cooney and Ward were very good. All won plenty of contested ball and helped set-up the play running forward. These three are really important to our chances next week so hopefully they can carry their form tonight into the PF clash. Cross did a fantastic job on Black and I hope he's assigned a similar job next week on Hayes. Black was restricted to 14 possessions whilst Cross collected 20, if I remember correctly.

Eagleton's run and carry was pivotal. I thought he was OK last week and was pretty influential in our three important matches prior. He was arguably our best player tonight with his hard running and great disposal by foot. Again though, he really needs to perform v the Saints.

Gia/Hahn did well considering they've struggled in recent weeks/years to impact finals. Both were very influential. Hopefully Griff is OK too because it was his best game for the year. He ran very hard and for the most part his disposal was much better than it has been for a long while. Great to see him return to some form. Desperately need him for next week.

Overall, a solid team performance in trying conditions. Still think we make things harder for ourselves than it has to be at certain times, though. Sometimes taking a step too far or one handball too many. The finer details need to improve if we're a chance next week because we made a lot of errors tonight. Against St. Kilda, we'll be punished, even in such conditions. Murphy still worries me - he's a liability. He can't dispose of the ball and misses too many opportunities at goal. If he's being hampered by the knee, he shouldn't be playing.

A 51 point victory in a Semi Final is always a good result. I felt we are still a long way off being able to challenge the Saints, but you've got to be in it to win it. St. Kilda have been known to fall over in the PF once or twice before too - something I'd remind our players of. Obviously we'll need improvements in a few areas and a contribution from the 22 that take the field. It'll be interesting if Callan holds his spot - thought he was OK and Sherman didn't have an influence on the game, but Callan did make a few errors which cost us a couple of times. The last position has to be out of Callan, Everitt and Hill. All three offer something different which could be handy v St. Kilda.

[Dry Rot]

Like that would ever change...

Did you like the way our forward line functioned in the first half when the Lions were still competitive?

We are a lot better than the Lions and it showed tonight. But I don't think that Lyon will have a troubled sleep - do you disagree? If so, why?

[GVGjr]

Did you like the way our forward line functioned in the first half when the Lions were still competitive?

We are a lot better than the Lions and it showed tonight. But I don't think that Lyon will have a troubled sleep - do you disagree? If so, why?

You keep going on about the forward line but as I have said a few times, unless you can come up with better options within our list we are playing the best side that we can put onto the field.

Who would have you picked tonight?

[Mantis]

Did you like the way our forward line functioned in the first half when the Lions were still competitive?

Our forwardline was not helped by some sloppy disposal in the first half. We really should have made more of our midfield dominance, but our forwardline cannot be blamed for the lack of scoreboard pressure.


We are a lot better than the Lions and it showed tonight. But I don't think that Lyon will have a troubled sleep - do you disagree? If so, why?

We can beat St.Kilda and I still think we have a couple of aces up our sleeves. If we can win/ break-even at the clearances and keep Riewoldt quiet we will be a big chance.

If you don't believe we can you might as well turn your computer off for a week and come and tell us all how shit we are this time next week.

[Dry Rot]

You keep going on about the forward line but as I have said a few times, unless you can come up with better options within our list we are playing the best side that we can put onto the field.

Who would have you picked tonight?

Yes, that's close to the best side we can come up with, but I don't think it's good enough structurally against the very best teams.

[Dry Rot]

Our forwardline was not helped by some sloppy disposal in the first half. We really should have made more of our midfield dominance, but our forwardline cannot be blamed for the lack of scoreboard pressure.



Whether it's a swirling wind or genuine pressure I fear that we rely on good delivery more than the rest of the remaining finals sides.





We can beat St.Kilda and I still think we have a couple of aces up our sleeves. If we can win/ break-even at the clearances and keep Riewoldt quiet we will be a big chance.



What are those aces? IIRC we won the clearances last time we played, but not the game.



If you don't believe we can you might as well turn your computer off for a week and come and tell us all how shit we are this time next week.

Good thinking - much better than putting forward a sincere different POV. Maybe the Mods could ban for a week anyone who is not part of the groupthink?

[Sedat]

Did you like the way our forward line functioned in the first half when the Lions were still competitive?

We are a lot better than the Lions and it showed tonight. But I don't think that Lyon will have a troubled sleep - do you disagree? If so, why?
DR, next week will be won and lost in the midfield battle, plain and simple. If we win the midfield battle next week anywhere near like we won it tonight, St Kilda's defenders (who all, except Baker, constantly zone off their direct opponents) will offer plenty of opportunities for our forwards to score. Of course St Kilda has a fantastic contested ball winning midfield, so it will be extremely difficult just to break even with them, let alone win this battle. St Kilda wins matches comfortably when they concede 30-35 inside 50's a game, which means their midfield is smashing it. But when they lose the midfield battle, it becomes a different ball game altogether.

As an aside, Brisbane's pitiful effort in the midfield tonight was just about the worst performance from a senior AFL midfield group I've ever seen. Smashed by 20+ in the clearances, smashed by 40+ in the contested possessions, and smashed by 100+ in the uncontested possessions. They are a long way from being a competitive top 4 team.

[GVGjr]

Yes, that's close to the best side we can come up with, but I don't think it's good enough structurally against the very best teams.

Then your criticism of the forward line on the game day threads isn't adding any value to the games discussions. We have who we have and the game day threads aren't to constantly rehash list management observations.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

as an aside. the AFL website has Black listed in the Brisbane bests? Whoever did that write-up must have either dropped acid half ano before the game started or has a wicked sence of humour.
Cross completely owned Black tonight.

[GVGjr]

as an aside. the AFL website has Black listed in the Brisbane bests? Whoever did that write-up must have either dropped acid half ano before the game started or has a wicked sence of humour.
Cross completely owned Black tonight.

Agreed. Cross did a great job and shut down a prime mover.

[AndrewP6]

Good win in the end. Earlier stages didn't exactly fill me with confidence, some ordinary disposals/decisions...was good to put some points on the board to really put the game away. Cooooooney in great form I thought, and great work from Ward. Hahn and Eagle had a great influence. Boyd IMO made some ordinary errors, but as always, he's constantly amongst the contests.

Nice to be back in the win column.

[Sedat]

The last position has to be out of Callan, Everitt and Hill. All three offer something different which could be handy v St. Kilda.
Or Williams

[GVGjr]

Or Williams

Important day for him. If he plays and performs well he will be right in the mix for next week.

[Mantis]

Whether it's a swirling wind or genuine pressure I fear that we rely on good delivery more than the rest of the remaining finals sides.

Possibly, but Riewoldt also relies on good delivery & space and he is the key to their whole forward structure.


What are those aces? IIRC we won the clearances last time we played, but not the game.

If I told you I would have to kill you.:D

I am certain the coaching staff will have something in mind for the Saints this week, what that is we will have to wait til next friday night to find out.


Good thinking - much better than putting forward a sincere different POV. Maybe the Mods could ban for a week anyone who is not part of the groupthink?

Great idea.

No doubt it will be a tough task this week, St.Kilda are an extremely good team, as evidenced by their great record this year, but we are in with a chance and if we play a smart and calculated game I can see us causing an upset.

[G-Mo77]

Took a sickie to watch this game and got caught on TV. I kept my eye on the camera man all night who hovered around in front of my section and thought I evaded him but he managed to capture me late in the 3rd. I've only seen the last half so I may have been shot again earlier in the game.

Hopefully the boss wasn't watching. :D

[firstdogonthemoon]

Maybe the Mods could ban for a week anyone who is not part of the groupthink?

This is an excellent idea and I for one would pay to see it on a t-shirt.

[Dry Rot]

If I told you I would have to kill you.:D

I am certain the coaching staff will have something in mind for the Saints this week, what that is we will have to wait til next friday night to find out.

No doubt it will be a tough task this week, St.Kilda are an extremely good team, as evidenced by their great record this year, but we are in with a chance and if we play a smart and calculated game I can see us causing an upset.

The Bombers were able to beat them with reckless speed and perhaps the Saints weren't on that day.

The Swans were unlucky not to win. They were playing on a short ground but the Swans were highly accountable and kind of played a Saints game against the Saints (no surprises given the background of the teams' coaching staff). The swans players stuck to their opponents like fresh dogshit, Bolton played a ripper game on Riewoldt and Goodes bobbed up as CHF to offer a way forward down the corridor.

Will be interesting to see which approach we take. Maybe Everitt could be useful playing a kind of Goodes role - IMO we need a new approach getting the ball out of our back half. And it goes without saying that our forwards have to play the defensive game of their lives - the ball seemed to fly out of the Lions back half a bit too easy last night IMO.

[boydogs]

The swans players stuck to their opponents like fresh dogshit

You could have said superglue or something ;)


And it goes without saying that our forwards have to play the defensive game of their lives - the ball seemed to fly out of the Lions back half a bit too easy last night IMO.

I heard a stat that we had an unheard of number of turnovers from them to us in our forward 50 last night. I thought our chasing was much better, a few times when they were flooding back and we were waiting for an opening and couldn't get one they ran back the other way pretty well but I was happy with our forward pressure last night. Towards the end of the 3rd quarter we really locked them in our forwardline

[Topdog]

I can think of at least 3 goals that came from our pressure in our F50. Flash back to the Collingwood game and I can think of 4-5 that game and against Geelong the week prior again 3-4 goals.

Our pressure in the F50 has been sensational for the past 5 weeks with the only exception being against Geelong.