Game Day - Bulldogs vs Swans

[GVGjr]

This is the discussion thread for todays game.

Who's you tip to kick the first goal for us? I'll go with Cooney

More than most weeks I think Eade's impact on the game will be critical.

[GVGjr]

Good read...the outcome of Crouch vs Aker could be critical

Fitness clouds over key Dogs (http://www.realfooty.com.au/news/news/fitness-clouds-over-key-dogs/2007/05/26/1179601736613.html)

THE Bulldogs may be forced to make late changes ahead of today's match against Sydney with fitness clouds over some key players including Brad Johnson and Luke Darcy.

The Dogs have already lost Ryan Griffen (hamstring) and Jordan McMahon (thigh) and coach Rodney Eade said there may be more omissions.

"We've taken 24 to Canberra, we have a couple of little injury problems so we could have another one out as well," Eade said yesterday.

"Brad (Johnson) didn't train yesterday. Luke Darcy looks like he's going to be OK, Daniel Cross didn't train yesterday, Cam Wight. But I would expect at least two of those guys to play."

The long injury list, which includes key players Chris Grant and Robert Murphy, only highlights the Bulldogs' great depth, according to Eade.

"The pleasing thing, even though they're quality players out, we have got some depth and it's a good chance for our youngsters to get some more game time," he said. "But the ones we bring in we've got confidence in as well."

Although playing at Canberra in a home game is not ideal, Eade said it is a win of sorts as his side doesn't have to play Sydney on its home turf.

"It's the first time we've played there for a while," he said. "We'd prefer to play at home, there's no doubt about that, but our economic situation doesn't allow that so the players accept that … and we just get on with the job.

"Really it's an improvement from other years because we've played Sydney at the SCG which suits them more so it's a bit more of a neutral ground. That ground is a little bit bigger, about the same size as the MCG so I think that's a bit more of a positive."

Not only would a win today give the Bulldogs breathing space on the ladder, it would be the equivalent of beating a top-four side, which Eade believes Sydney is.

"It is a big game. There's a bit of a logjam in the ladder, it's pretty tight. And Sydney, even though they're ninth or whatever, they … really are a top four side and I think for us to keep making improvements we've got to beat the better sides."

While all eyes will be on the much-hyped duel between Jason Akermanis and Sydney stopper Jared Crouch, Eade says he is not concerned with the match-up. "Haven't thought about it. It's their own little battle but I think we're more concerned … about the team."

[LostDoggy]

Really looking forward to this game. First goal to Gia.

[Go_Dogs]

first goal Hahn. Can't wait for this one.

[bulldogtragic]

Not worth the wait.

[LostDoggy]

How disappointing - I was expecting a bigger effort than that. I know Sydney are a very good, disciplined side, but I thought our guys gave them too much leeway. I look forward to reading some analytical break downs on here of what happened. Too me it just looked like a lack of endeavour at times - ie didn't chase hard enough.

Harris is excused.

[Bulldog Revolution]

What happened?

I haven't really seen or heard anything - the very brief reviews on the age and herald sun websites dont provide much insight

[GVGjr]

What happened?

I haven't really seen or heard anything - the very brief reviews on the age and herald sun websites dont provide much insight


Never really in it. Typical Swans vs Dogs game where we just couldn't get the continuity of flow. Couldn't keep the scoreboard ticking over which is a real failure of ours.

This from the Sunday Mail

SYDNEY has completed its emergence from an early season slumber by cruising to a 43-point AFL win over the Western Bulldogs at Manuka Oval.
The Swans pinpointed the 'Dogs' weakness in the ruck and fully exploited it in a 15.10 (100) to 8.9 (57) victory in fine conditions in the nation's capital.

Sydney's ruck duo of Peter Everitt and Darren Jolly dominated the trio of Peter Street, Luke Darcy and Cameron Wight on a dirty day for the 'Dogs.

They continually put the ball to their midfield's advantage and also managed to boot four goals between them as the Swans seized an early lead and were never threatened.

With the Swans losing Tadhg Kennelly and Nick Davis on match eve, the 'Dogs looked a great chance of claiming the scalp of last year's grand finalists.

However Rodney's Eade's men were outplayed by a Swans side that has re-established their ruthless streak with dual Brownlow Medallist Adam Goodes bouncing back to form.

The 'Dogs had few winners but fullback Brian Harris did a sterling job on the seemingly out of sorts Barry Hall in front of a sell out crowd of 14,571.

Jolly and Everitt dominated from the opening, controlling the ruck and booting three of the Swans' first term goals as they cruised out to an early 25-point lead.

Dogs veteran Brad Johnson stemmed the bleeding, continually finding space to limit the damage to a 13-point deficit by quarter time.

Farren Ray pulled down a strong mark and goaled early in the second term to put his side back within seven points of the Swans.

But Sydney dominated the rest of the term against an error-riddled Bulldogs, booting five goals to one in the second term to burst to a 38-point halftime lead.

Eade would have been fuming as his side made some howlers against a Swans side that looked like it has rediscovered its crispness.

So good was Jared Crouch's blanketing job on Jason Akermanis the triple premiership player was dropped back into defence for the start of the third term.

Unfortunately for Crouch, he looked to have injured his hamstring later in the term as the Swans wrapped up the match by stretching their lead out to 42 points.

Sydney (5-4) host Essendon next week while the Bulldogs (5-4) take on Carlton.
SYDNEY 5.4 10.6 12.8 15.10 (100) d WESTERN BULLDOGS 3.3 4.4 6.7 8.9 (57)
Goals:
Sydney: M O'Loughlin 4 A Schneider 3 D Jolly 3 A Buchanan B Hall N Malceski P Everitt J McVeigh.
Western Bulldogs: M Robbins 3 B Johnson 2 F Ray M Hahn J Akermanis. Best:
Sydney: P Everitt D Jolly A Goodes M O'Loughlin A Schneider N Malceski B Kirk.
Western Bulldogs: B Harris B Johnson N Eagleton D Cross.
Umpires: M Vozzo S Ryan K Nicholls Official crowd: 14,517 at Manuka Oval.

[GVGjr]

Swans cruise past Bulldogs by 43 points
By Tom Wald

Sydney completed their emergence from an early season slumber by cruising to a 43-point AFL win over the Western Bulldogs at Manuka Oval.

The Swans pinpointed the 'Dogs' weakness in the ruck and fully exploited it in a 15.10 (100) to 8.9 (57) victory in fine conditions in the nation's capital.

Sydney's ruck duo of Peter Everitt and Darren Jolly dominated the trio of Peter Street, Luke Darcy and Cameron Wight on a dirty day for the 'Dogs.

They continually put the ball to their midfield's advantage and also managed to boot four goals between them as the Swans seized an early lead and were never threatened.

With the Swans losing Tadhg Kennelly and Nick Davis on match eve, the 'Dogs looked a great chance of claiming the scalp of last year's grand finalists.

However Rodney's Eade's men were outplayed by a Swans side that has re-established their ruthless streak with dual Brownlow Medallist Adam Goodes bouncing back to form.

The 'Dogs had few winners but fullback Brian Harris did a sterling job on the seemingly out of sorts Barry Hall in front of a sell out crowd of 14,571.

Jolly and Everitt dominated from the opening, controlling the ruck and booting three of the Swans' first term goals as they cruised out to an early 25-point lead.

Dogs veteran Brad Johnson stemmed the bleeding, continually finding space to limit the damage to a 13-point deficit by quarter time.

Farren Ray pulled down a strong mark and goaled early in the second term to put his side back within seven points of the Swans.

But Sydney dominated the rest of the term against an error-riddled Bulldogs, booting five goals to one in the second term to burst to a 38-point halftime lead.

Eade would have been fuming as his side made some howlers against a Swans side that looked like it has rediscovered its crispness.

So good was Jared Crouch's blanketing job on Jason Akermanis the triple premiership player was dropped back into defence for the start of the third term.

Unfortunately for Crouch, he looked to have injured his hamstring later in the term as the Swans wrapped up the match by stretching their lead out to 42 points.

Sydney (5-4) host Essendon next week while the Bulldogs (5-4) take on Carlton.

[Go_Dogs]

Disappointing. We started well with a lot of pressure, but we weren't patient enough with the ball and burnt it moving forward far too often. Sydney on the other hand waited, found the opening and were rewarded. In patches we looked like we could go with them, but those patches were few and far between.

Darcy shouldn't have played - he didn't get much game time and didn't look dangerous at any stage. Too many players losing their feet today, and being far too slow to get up. Too many tackles didn't stick, only a handful of our guys can lay tackles that stop those bigger bodies, better effort is required. Our ball movement was horrible, time and time again we went too wide, too slow or just butchered the ball because there was no one ahead.

We've got a long way to go to be a Premiership side.

Positives today were Addison - this kid can play, stick tackles and attack the ball and body with a bit of vigor. Very pleasing performance. Harris again looked really good, and Eagleton worked bloody hard all day on a day that wouldn't have suited him much.

Morris, Power, Cooney, Boyd, Cross, West, Akermanis, Gilbee etc all had average days out - although I'm probably being a bit harsh on Cross who tried hard, he just didn't do anything THAT worthy.

[bornadog]

God I hate watching Sydney play football, its so boring and frustrating and we played into their hands. The standard of entertaining football was no where near last week. Sydney are just one big boring team and that statement isnot because we lost, the games are not enertaining at all. I couldn't watch that sort of footy every week, but they were better than us.

Our mid field got smashed and they just couldn't get their hands on the ball or pressure the Sydney mid field, which put the pressure on our backline. The backline was under the pump all day and Harro did a good job, but was a lone hand. A number of players went missing today and we carried far to many players which didn't help. Darcy obviously looked out of sorts, Power very average and he really is a player that has completley dissapointed as has Faulkner. Gia, Cooney, Ray, Boyd couldn't get a kick and turned the ball over so many times.

We missed McMahon and Griffens run out of the backline and players like Higgins didn't get much of the ball as the opportunities just didn't come his way.

Although the umpires didn't influence the game that much but boy did they miss the obvious free kicks, eg, first qrt, Jolly takes the ball from the thrown in, held, but shrugs it off and kicks a goal. I thought the rule said he should be holding the ball. O'loughlin with the ball, tackled bounces the ball in from of him as he is held, then picks it up, kicks upfield to a player in the forward 50 and goal. Cooney tackled doesn't have the ball, the Sydney player is holding the ball against his body, Cooney's arms are outstretched (mind you both players are standing not lying on the ground,) result holding the ball 20 mtrs out.

All in all a very frustrating day and one to forget and move on.

[southerncross]

I thought this was interesting

Technology tells the tale of lacklustre Dogs (http://www.realfooty.com.au/news/news/technology-tells-the-tale-of-lacklustre-dogs/2007/05/27/1180205077206.html)



THE Western Bulldogs covered less ground in the second term against Sydney yesterday than in any quarter of football this year, a statistic that went some way to explaining a listless 43-point defeat.
The digital devices strapped to selected Dogs players revealed the unflattering statistic at half-time. But by then the margin was already 37 points, after the Swans booted five unanswered goals, and the difference proved insurmountable.
While Swans' coach Paul Roos was celebrating the return to form of dual Brownlow medallist Adam Goodes, who yesterday rivalled ruckman Peter Everitt for best-on-ground honours, the Bulldogs' Rodney Eade was lamenting his side's goalless 25-minute period before half-time.
"We just didn't run," Eade said after the loss that knocked his team out of the top eight. "Their pressure was very good and ours wasn't up to standard … we just didn't work hard enough."
The readings from the GPS devices, which measure the distance a player has covered as well as his heart rate, told the story.
"Bloody science," said Scott West, who was not wired up yesterday.
"You can't hide these days from anything and that's an indication, if the guys who were wearing them weren't running and they're some of our best runners. I guess, across the board, we didn't cover enough ground. That's disappointing."
Eade said full-back Brian Harris had been the only Bulldogs player to win his position in the relocated home game for the club yesterday.
"There's no anger, no anger about it. I'm certainly disappointed, but it's a long journey and we're going to have some poor games and we'll have some more poor games as we go along," he said.
Injured trio Robert Murphy, Ryan Griffen and Jordan McMahon were all likely to return for the club's round 10 match with Carlton, Eade said.
Nick Davis and Tadhg Kennelly were late withdrawals from the Sydney side, with the defender having spent last Wednesday and Thursday in hospital with a mystery virus.
"They tested for meningitis, I don't know what else, he's certainly cleared of that … I think yesterday he was feeling a lot better," Sydney coach Paul Roos said.
It was the the Swans' fifth victory for the year and it put them back in the top eight. Particularly encouragingly was the fact that Goodes, after an average start to the year, played his second strong game in as many weeks. He finished with 27 possessions and had influence all over the field.
"There's obviously a lot of pressure on guys like he and (Chris) Judd, the guys that have won Brownlows and are touted as the best players in the competition," Roos said.
"Everyone goes through a bit of a form slump, it's good to see him come back out the other end and play as well as he's played today.
"He was certainly back to his best today and it was good to see."

[LostDoggy]

I don't think electronic gadgets were required to prove the team's work rate was down yesterday. However, come match review time noone can hide from electronic data.

[Bulldog Revolution]

I watched the game last night on Ch7:

There was certainly none of the run and overlap that we are well known for but I wasn't sure watching the box whether it was work ethic - the coaching staff will obviously have far better evidence to make that decision on though.

I thought the clearances were heavily congested, and Everitt and Jolly always looked to drop the ball near their feet and not put it out into space and allow the game to open up.

The sydney midfield relentlessly shut us down. Never did Boyd, West or Cross get any time of space to set up the play or use the ball constructively - I didn't think any of them had an influence on the game. Because we got little constructive out of the middle we tended to clear the ball out of defence to set up our attacks and we did so by going wide. I dont know the dimensions of the ground but we spent a lot of time attacking from wide on the wings.

I thought our intensity was generally pretty good, led by Dylan Addison tackling everybody he could. But as the game wore on less of our tackles were effective and missed tackles created opportunities for them. The final thing I would say was that like a good side Sydney punished every mistake we made - I think their first 3 were off our mistakes.

[Dry Rot]

Having just got back, I'm still too angry to post anything meaningful here, except that we have several fundamental flaws which, until they're fixed, will mean that we will not be a top 4 team.

Only Harris can hold his head high after that garbage.

On a brighter note, it was good to meet Sockeye Salmon and firstdogonthemoon and tio catch up with Ernie Sigley and Capt Sensible again.

[Bulldog Revolution]

Having just got back, I'm still too angry to post anything meaningful here, except that we have several fundamental flaws which, until they're fixed, will mean that we will not be a top 4 team.

Only Harris can hold his head high after that garbage.

On a brighter note, it was good to meet Sockeye Salmon and firstdogonthemoon and tio catch up with Ernie Sigley and Capt Sensible again.

I mightn't know exactly how you'll see it but (and I am holding back even some of my thoughts), but:

We need to be much better at the centre square and clearances in general - we've been beaten all year - I'm not saying sack the clearances coach (Campbell) although others might go that far, but something needs to be done. We have got better the last two weeks but we've got a fair way to go.

We need to blood a key forward in the same way we are blooding C.Wight - I am not sure exactly who it is, but we need a key forward in the mix sooner rather than later