Was it just me?

[EasternWest]

Or did anyone else actually quite enjoy todays game?

I thought it was hard and willing. There were plenty of mistakes sure, but there was no shortage of guys having a go. I thought Clarkson coached really well to plug up our forward line, making it constantly difficult for us to attack freely. It wasn't until later in the game when our ruckmen really got on top that we put it to them, and even then they hung around.

I take my hat off to the Hawks. They played hard and when it became a war of attrition (sorry to use a cliche), they never gave up. I thought it was a good game.

Some personal highlights:
Cyril Rioli - Man he's like a jack in the box. I wonder at draft camp if they test for back-to-feet-ability, because he's a master.
Lake/Franklin - What a demolition. Even if Lake's worst howler in ages (why did he kick it to a two on one against almost in their goal square?) cost a goal, his ownership of Buddy continues. I for one am perfectly happy to see Buddy try to outmuscle Brian. You almost know the ball is coming straight back out.
Picken/Bateman - All taggers cross the line to effectively do their job. No doubt about it. But they get as good as they give so fair play. Liam adds another scalp.
Harbrow/Lewis - I always regarded Lewis as a faux hardman, but his courage couldn't be questioned. Never took his eyes off the ball. It was unfortunate but he simply got cleaned up in a fair spoiling attempt. The best thing for mine was that Jarrod simply had to commit to potential injury to make the spoil, and he too never took his eyes off the ball. Happy to see Lewis return to the field, but doubt he'll remember it.
Renouf/Hargrave - Sorry to see Shaggy hurt and I hope he's ok of course, but I love big, fair bone rattlers.
Griffen - Loved his worm burner in the second. Played a really good 100th IMO. Made a few mistakes trying to do too much, but at least he made them doing.

I guess I could just about name every player for us and mention good things (Boyd, Murph, Williams, Everitt), but I really was satisfied with our players endeavour today. We still need to improve, but our commitment level was great. It was my kind of game. Tight, tough and most importantly we won!

[LostDoggy]

Lake/Franklin - What a demolition. Even if Lake's worst howler in ages (why did he kick it to a two on one against almost in their goal square?) cost a goal, his ownership of Buddy continues. I for one am perfectly happy to see Buddy try to outmuscle Brian. You almost know the ball is coming straight back out.!

Not one goal in the last 2 games against us, very dominating, B.Lake = God :D

[boydogs]

Yeah good game and a nice scalp for us to get our year rolling

[chef]

Or did anyone else actually quite enjoy todays game?

I thought it was hard and willing. There were plenty of mistakes sure, but there was no shortage of guys having a go. I thought Clarkson coached really well to plug up our forward line, making it constantly difficult for us to attack freely. It wasn't until later in the game when our ruckmen really got on top that we put it to them, and even then they hung around.

I take my hat off to the Hawks. They played hard and when it became a war of attrition (sorry to use a cliche), they never gave up. I thought it was a good game.

Some personal highlights:
Cyril Rioli - Man he's like a jack in the box. I wonder at draft camp if they test for back-to-feet-ability, because he's a master.
Lake/Franklin - What a demolition. Even if Lake's worst howler in ages (why did he kick it to a two on one against almost in their goal square?) cost a goal, his ownership of Buddy continues. I for one am perfectly happy to see Buddy try to outmuscle Brian. You almost know the ball is coming straight back out.
Picken/Bateman - All taggers cross the line to effectively do their job. No doubt about it. But they get as good as they give so fair play. Liam adds another scalp.
Harbrow/Lewis - I always regarded Lewis as a faux hardman, but his courage couldn't be questioned. Never took his eyes off the ball. It was unfortunate but he simply got cleaned up in a fair spoiling attempt. The best thing for mine was that Jarrod simply had to commit to potential injury to make the spoil, and he too never took his eyes off the ball. Happy to see Lewis return to the field, but doubt he'll remember it.
Renouf/Hargrave - Sorry to see Shaggy hurt and I hope he's ok of course, but I love big, fair bone rattlers.
Griffen - Loved his worm burner in the second. Played a really good 100th IMO. Made a few mistakes trying to do too much, but at least he made them doing.

I guess I could just about name every player for us and mention good things (Boyd, Murph, Williams, Everitt), but I really was satisfied with our players endeavour today. We still need to improve, but our commitment level was great. It was my kind of game. Tight, tough and most importantly we won!

I did, I thought the intensity was fantastic(but the skill level left a lot to be desired). I would rather watch a game like that than a game like we played in the previous round.

[SonofScray]

Harbrow/Lewis - I always regarded Lewis as a faux hardman, but his courage couldn't be questioned. Never took his eyes off the ball. It was unfortunate but he simply got cleaned up in a fair spoiling attempt. The best thing for mine was that Jarrod simply had to commit to potential injury to make the spoil, and he too never took his eyes off the ball. Happy to see Lewis return to the field, but doubt he'll remember it.


I was disappointed he got up. He is a 'faux hard man' and had that coming for a long time. Just a shame he hasn't had to pay a higher price. Came back on, back to his best - punching blokes in the guts and putting himself about like he is Hulk Hogan.

Look, full credit to him - it was his turn to go and he did but it was one courageous effort in a career punctuated by posturing and cowardice.

[LostDoggy]

Not one goal in the last 2 games against us, very dominating, B.Lake = God :D

Oh yeah, I love it when I can honestly yell stuff at Buddy cause he is having a crap game - priceless, gold, good on ya Bwian!

But seriously though, I think Buddy is having trouble adjusting/coming to terms with the fact that he can't smash his way into a contest as the umpires just pay free's against him. This wasn't happening so much in 2008. "oh.....poor Buddy" :D

I also enjoyed the game - tough and tight, just as I expected it would be.

[LostDoggy]

How do you stop the "Franklin (River)?"



Wait for it......



Dam it and create, a (Brian) Lake. Boom tish!!!!!

Chortle, Chortle!!!!!!! Works on two levels that one. Think about it.

[Go_Dogs]

Or did anyone else actually quite enjoy todays game?

I thought it was hard and willing.

Agreed - it was a finals like intensity I would have thought, and although not the cleanest and most open game, that is the style of game that we need to be able to grind out a win in.

[LostDoggy]

For my first Bulldogs game in Melbourne, it was fantastic!
Loved Griff's game, good to see Bazza have a day out.

[cinder]

I really enjoyed it, especially Bazza's last quarter, as he's struggled so far this season goal-wise.

[EasternWest]

I really enjoyed it, especially Bazza's last quarter, as he's struggled so far this season goal-wise.

I'm not sure that is entirely Hall's fault. All three games have seen the opposition clog up our forward line as they know how hard he is to stop on a lead. Once the game opened up yesterday, it was made for Barry.

[Murphy'sLore]

It was nice to see Bazza doing precisely what we hired him for!

[Scorlibo]

Griffen - Loved his worm burner in the second. Played a really good 100th IMO. Made a few mistakes trying to do too much, but at least he made them doing.


On Griffen's mistakes, I know it's slightly off-topic, but does anyone else feel the umpire blew his whistle too early in the Rioli rundown? It looked to me as if:

1) Griffen wasn't pulled to ground.
2) He legally disposed of the ball.
3) He wasn't spun 360 degrees.

So how was that holding the ball? I think it was payed just because everyone expected Rioli to demolish Griff, but instead Griff stood up in the tackle and got a handball away.

[EasternWest]

On Griffen's mistakes, I know it's slightly off-topic, but does anyone else feel the umpire blew his whistle too early in the Rioli rundown? It looked to me as if:

1) Griffen wasn't pulled to ground.
2) He legally disposed of the ball.
3) He wasn't spun 360 degrees.

So how was that holding the ball? I think it was payed just because everyone expected Rioli to demolish Griff, but instead Griff stood up in the tackle and got a handball away.

That's an interesting point. I actually thought that when it happened also. We all get caught up in the excitement pending a good run down and often completely disregard the fact that the player legally disposed of the ball. Maybe the umpires fall for that too?

[The Underdog]

On Griffen's mistakes, I know it's slightly off-topic, but does anyone else feel the umpire blew his whistle too early in the Rioli rundown? It looked to me as if:

1) Griffen wasn't pulled to ground.
2) He legally disposed of the ball.
3) He wasn't spun 360 degrees.

So how was that holding the ball? I think it was payed just because everyone expected Rioli to demolish Griff, but instead Griff stood up in the tackle and got a handball away.

Watching it on telly, it seemed a clear holding the ball. He took too long to get rid of it regardless of being spun 360.
Hodge had one paid against him earlier where he also got the handball off. The umpire clearly explained to him that he took too long to do it.
Umpires do appear to be letting guys stand in the tackle longer this year though.

As for the OP, I pretty much hated watching the game until it was over. I was stuck at home watching it on telly which sucked for a start, but while I admired the hardness of the contest, I was largely appalled at our ball use through the first 3 quarters aside from 3 or 4 exceptions (Murph, Gilbee particularly). Yes teams are dropping numbers back against us but that's largely because it works.
I also hate Hawthorn's style of play. It works for them but it's annoying.

[Mofra]

I was a little embarrassed at the game yesterday. I could have sworn some of our supporters were closet Richmond fans; I have never heard such vitriol direct to our own guys as I did yesterday. Made it hard to fully enjoy.

[LostDoggy]

I didn't really enjoy the game. I found it frustrating to watch, especially the third quarter with all those points we kicked. I'm glad we got the win in the end, but to be honest I wasn't overly excited.

[LostDoggy]

Oh yeah, I love it when I can honestly yell stuff at Buddy cause he is having a crap game - priceless, gold, good on ya Bwian!

But seriously though, I think Buddy is having trouble adjusting/coming to terms with the fact that he can't smash his way into a contest as the umpires just pay free's against him. This wasn't happening so much in 2008. "oh.....poor Buddy" :D

I also enjoyed the game - tough and tight, just as I expected it would be.

Agreed my theory is that tackling has improved so much in the last 2 years that Buddy cant brush them aside any more( cross tackle a joy to watch) and Brian is a much better player than Buddy

[Scorlibo]

Watching it on telly, it seemed a clear holding the ball. He took too long to get rid of it regardless of being spun 360.
Hodge had one paid against him earlier where he also got the handball off. The umpire clearly explained to him that he took too long to do it.
Umpires do appear to be letting guys stand in the tackle longer this year though.

The difference with Hodge was that he meets clause #1 in that he was pulled to the ground. I just watched the replay, and it took a clean 2 seconds for Griffen to dispose of the ball after Rioli initiated the tackle. Even if it was longer, why does that matter? Rioli didn't complete the tackle. He didn't bring Griff to ground, he didn't rotate him, he didn't cause the ball to spill free and he didn't pin the ball to Griffen. Unless I'm missing the rule where if you hug someone long enough you get a free kick, I'm pretty sure that's not a free kick.

[LostDoggy]

I was a little embarrassed at the game yesterday. I could have sworn some of our supporters were closet Richmond fans; I have never heard such vitriol direct to our own guys as I did yesterday. Made it hard to fully enjoy.

One of my pet hates about going to any footy match is listening to idiots mouth off at players and ump decisions. My solution is to have the radio turned up high.

[LostDoggy]

On Griffen's mistakes, I know it's slightly off-topic, but does anyone else feel the umpire blew his whistle too early in the Rioli rundown? It looked to me as if:

1) Griffen wasn't pulled to ground.
2) He legally disposed of the ball.
3) He wasn't spun 360 degrees.

So how was that holding the ball? I think it was payed just because everyone expected Rioli to demolish Griff, but instead Griff stood up in the tackle and got a handball away.

Agree. Blew the whistle too early.

And can Hall get a free FFS??
If he was Riewoldt he'd have 10 frees a game!
Saw a number of blatant holds go unnoticed!

[bornadog]

Was a tough hard fought game that was very enjoyable. The Hawks didn't let us play our normal game in the first half and really kept tight reins around us. We broke away in the second half but through bad kicking didn't put them away early.

[mighty_west]

I enjoyed the game, i enjoyed the fact that is it was a very intense game, very hard at it it, almost finals type of game, all that does is harden us up, and getting on top gives us that mental edge we need down the track.

There we also alot of individual performances i really enjoyed, Griffen was very good, watching him & Cooney in good form is a pleasure, watching Lakey take Buddy to the cleaners, Minson bouncing back despite a few brain fades again, watching Everitt slowly establish himself as a definate starting 22 player.

There are so many layers to a game, alot to take in, it's not just about the final score, and we should have won by this or we should have won by that.

[bornadog]

I enjoyed the game, i enjoyed the fact that is it was a very intense game, very hard at it it, almost finals type of game, all that does is harden us up, and getting on top gives us that mental edge we need down the track.

There we also alot of individual performances i really enjoyed, Griffen was very good, watching him & Cooney in good form is a pleasure, watching Lakey take Buddy to the cleaners, Minson bouncing back despite a few brain fades again, watching Everitt slowly establish himself as a definate starting 22 player.

There are so many layers to a game, alot to take in, it's not just about the final score, and we should have won by this or we should have won by that.

Also Boyd, he was unbelievable with 11 clearances

[Go_Dogs]

Saw a number of blatant holds go unnoticed!

Yeah, I witnessed a few. Hall did some stupid things too and didn't have a free paid against him, so it works both ways.

(I'm thinking of two incidents - one where he threw the ball at a Hawthorn player prior to a boundary throw in, and one where he tackled and slung someone who had disposed of the ball - that were both frees as I saw them)

[Sedat]

Finally got around to watching a replay of the game last night. I agree with the OP and other posters on this thread - it was a cracking match played at high intensity. To be honest, it was not far short of the quality on display the previous week between Hawthorn and Geelong, a match rightfully lauded for its toughness and intensity. With all the off-field garbage over Malthouse/St Kilda and Richmond's hotel escapades, some very good football was glossed over this week.

[AndrewP6]

I enjoyed the toughness/intensity, but not the errors, poor disposals and inaccurate kicking. Not in my top ten season matches, I don't think. Unless we start dropping away badly.;)

Enjoyed BAZZA's finishing in the fourth though!