Game Day - R4 Western Bulldogs vs Brisbane

[BulldogBelle]

This is the discussion thread for this Saturday night's game at the Gabba against Brisbane.

My predictions are:

The Dogs by 27 points
BOG : Shaun Higgins
Barry Hall to kick the first goal.

[boydogs]

Dogs by 11 points
BOG : Gia
Josh Hill to kick the first goal

[GVGjr]

Dogs by a point
Hahn first goal
Griffen BOG

[The Coon Dog]

Dogs by 22 points.

1st goal to Higgins.

BOG: Gilbee.

[AndrewP6]

Dogs by 9 points
First goal BAZZA
BOG Griffen

[Max469]

Dogs by 8 pts

Murphy BOG

Higgins 1st Goal

[bornadog]

Dogs by 11

BOG - Coooooooney

First Goal - Bazza

[Remi Moses]

Dogs by 21 pts
Hill First goal
Eagleton- BOG [Gabba specialist] If only finals were played there

[LostDoggy]

Dogs by 52 points
Gia first goal
Lake BOG

[BulldogBelle]

Dogs by 15

1ST goal Higgins

BOG Lake

[LostDoggy]

Lions by 7
BOG Brown
First goal Hahn

[Go_Dogs]

Dogs by 3 points
First goal - Moles
BOG - Cooney


Really good test this week, and think it'll come down to the wire.

[Bumper Bulldogs]

Dogs by 17 points,
First goal to Fev after the week he had, bulldogs first goal Bazza
BOG will be Murphy with 6 goal assists.

[LostDoggy]

Dogs by 19pts
First goal to Missy
Coons BOG

[NoName]

First Goal kicker:- Bob Murphy
Margin:- 26 points
BOG:- Lake

[LostDoggy]

Doggies by 22
BOG Boyd
First goal Hahn

[LostDoggy]

Dogs by 13
BOG - Boydy
First goal - Mitch

[Doggy]

Dogs by 27
BOG - Cooney
First goal - Bobby Murphy

[angelopetraglia]

Dogs by 23

BOG Griffen to continue his form on from last week

1st Goal BBB Hall

[comrade]

It looks like Brown is doing sprint throughs prior to the game - fitness test?

[chef]

Dogs by 35
BOG Lake
First goal Hill

[The Coon Dog]

The game hasn't even started & already I hate Alistair Lynch commentating when we play up there! :rolleyes:

[KT31]

Bit worried this week with injurie concerns and after such a hard game last week.
Dogs by 2pts
BOG - Cooney
First Goal - Hall

[comrade]

Rubbish free kick.

[GVGjr]

At this moment we just can't get near the footy. Being dominated with the possessions.

[comrade]

We need to hang on here and let the momentum shift.

[LostDoggy]

Home team always wants to come out strong. We will probably be quiet for the whole first qtr. till Rodney gives a good spray :D

[comrade]

Harbrow needs to tighten up on Banfield.

Will Minson's goal kicking has been atrocious this year.

[comrade]

Desperately needed goal from Gia.

[LostDoggy]

starting ealier then i thought? :P

[comrade]

Merrett wants to get his head knocked off. It'd be an improvement.

[LostDoggy]

Umpires got to make a stand on players trying to push Hall to the limit. Pay him a damn free kick!!!

[comrade]

I love you Daniel Cross but your dinky kicking is terrible.

[comrade]

Dylan!

[LostDoggy]

Has Everitt touched the footy yet?

[azabob]

What are the conditions like?

[comrade]

What are the conditions like?

Typical GABBA - slippery as hell.

[comrade]

Dylan the goal sneak? :confused:

[LostDoggy]

Has Everitt touched the footy yet?
1 kick 1 handball 1 mark 2 tackles

[BulldogBelle]

ADDISON! I wish I could see it. Well done man.

[LostDoggy]

Another to Barry. 19 points the margin

[azabob]

Dylan the goal sneak? :confused:

Is he playing forward? lake and Morris on brown and fev?

[LostDoggy]

better make that 25 (goal boyd)

[comrade]

We're getting some cheap frees - expect a square up after half time.

[LostDoggy]

addison leading DT points so far :o

[comrade]

Barry goes BANG!

[Dry Rot]

Hall 3 goals - told you he likes playing the Lions.

[comrade]

Albert Proud is fat.

[BulldogBelle]

Well, they had to score eventually.

[LostDoggy]

Is Lake taking Brown? Cos he seems to be doing a fine job so far

[LostDoggy]

Halllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll

[comrade]

What a howler.

[LostDoggy]

Hall is our saviour, Addison is showing us what he's made of, and the dogs are in front at half time by some 4 goals..Great second term!!

[LostDoggy]

come on afl half time video!!!

[ledge]

F#$%ing Big Bad Bazzaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
A wolf trying to become a vegetarian

[LostDoggy]

Are the commentators for Triple M Brisbane always this bias?

[LostDoggy]

Are the commentators for Triple M Brisbane always this bias?

I am listening to SEN.

[comrade]

Lake, Higgins, Boyd, Griff, Addison and Hall are all playing well.

[LostDoggy]

I am listening to SEN.

I am to now. Didn't load the first time I tried it so had to click Triple M

[LostDoggy]

Cross had a couple of clangers but otherwise ok.

Gee, if only he could kick he'd be elite!

[The Coon Dog]

Lake, Higgins, Boyd, Griff, Addison and Hall are all playing well.

The much maligned Daniel Giansiracusa has done well too.

[BulldogBelle]

come on afl half time video!!!

Is that the one on the afl site?

I have no vision but the lions fans are saying we are getting some cheap free kicks.

Most games against St Kilda or Geelong recently have involved some cheap free kicks on the oppositions behalf, and I'm really sick of being on the receiving end of that.

Remembering the time that Aker was being literally hugged by D.Johnson for Geelong in the dying minute, which would've been a winning goal.

I'm definitely happy for the umpire situation to be in our favor, though (obviously) we can win without it.

[LostDoggy]

Yeah its the afl site one.
although the hawks v pies game on tv is almost at half time and they will hopefully show some vision

[Dry Rot]

Williams gone?

[BulldogBelle]

Cheers i'll check that one out.

Haha Fev, i'll be a happy happy man if he's goalless.

Williams in trouble??

^&#@&!@#&!@#(&!(^&(!^%~@)%^~

[LostDoggy]

Sounds bad for Tom :(

[lemmon]

What happened?

[LostDoggy]

What happened?

Running back with the flight into a pack, got cleaned up.

[lemmon]

Running back with the flight into a pack, got cleaned up.

F*$k, just starting to string some footy together as well

[comrade]

Terrible kick from Higgins - lazy.

[Scorlibo]

Running back with the flight into a pack, got cleaned up.

At least that's not his usual sort of injury.

[LostDoggy]

F*$k, just starting to string some footy together as well

Not sure how bad it is, i am only listening to radio.

[comrade]

Here comes the square up.

[LostDoggy]

Unless there's neck damage he should be ok you'd think. Usually the poor bloke breaks a foot or something along those lines.

[Dry Rot]

Have we gone to sleep again? Lions on top now.

[LostDoggy]

Fev is firing up a little.

[LostDoggy]

Sounds that way doesn't it? A couple of quick ones and we should get back the momentum.

[lemmon]

Need to quell this, Fev could get a roll on here.

[LostDoggy]

need a goal to stop their momentum

[LostDoggy]

If we piss this game down the drain...

[choconmientay]

only 9 points now. i am worries ;(

[Dry Rot]

Sounds like our midfield has gone AWOL.

[Scorlibo]

What was the fifty for?

[Dry Rot]

What was the fifty for?

Hargrave went in after the mark.

[LostDoggy]

Where are our leaders? Someone f*****g stand up

[LostDoggy]

all i hear on the radio is us trying to get it out of the pack but lions always somehow getting a kick into the F50

[LostDoggy]

Mitch Hahn only 3 touches so far

[Dry Rot]

Where are our leaders? Someone f*****g stand up

We're not showing any heart. Midfield are passengers.

[LostDoggy]

I've had a gutfull of this...

[Dry Rot]

Mitch Hahn only 3 touches so far
I didn't know he was playing from the radio call.

Stick him in the midfield.

[lemmon]

Triple M is a joke, one of the commentators just yelled 'YESSS' when Fev slotted that one, what bullshit. SEN here I come

[BulldogBelle]

Hahn has to be carrying...surely...

[LostDoggy]

He is playing @ Etihad

[comrade]

Moles is struggling.

[choconmientay]

we need Matthew Boyd, Ryan Griffen, Lindsay Gilbee, Robert Murphy, Shaun Higgins to do more in the midfield to stop their momentum

[BulldogBelle]

No Williams, No Bulldogs?

:P

[lemmon]

Sounds like Drummond is carving us up from the back half, we really need some composed, accurate disposal into the forward 50.

[LostDoggy]

Cooney? WhereTF is he?

[LostDoggy]

One word fpr the dogs at the moment - SCARED

[LostDoggy]

We've lost momentum and they have gained it.

[lemmon]

Need this one, GOOD BOY HILLY

[BulldogBelle]

Hill. Speaking of someone who needs to do something.

well done!

[Scorlibo]

I'm watching the game day live 'live play' map, and all I see it 'ineffective kick' or even 'smothered' whenever we get the ball. I've even seen 'clanger kick' on more than one occasion for Higgins. What is this?

[LostDoggy]

Hill. Bout time!

[comrade]

One word fpr the dogs at the moment - SCARED

Calm down.

[choconmientay]

woah, a goal from Hill ... hopefully this is the start of the come back

[LostDoggy]

Calm down.

I am calm but listening to the radio and hearing fumble, dropped mark etc would suggest that some of the boys are hearing footsteps

[LostDoggy]

when u look at the scoreboard we should be getting thrashed

[choconmientay]

Triple M is a joke, one of the commentators just yelled 'YESSS' when Fev slotted that one, what bullshit. SEN here I come

YES! he piss...d me off to :mad:

[LostDoggy]

havent heard one of our midfielders name yet this qtr.

[choconmientay]

still no one stand up for the team :(

[lemmon]

Who's on Fev?

[comrade]

It's going to take a big effort from here.

[LostDoggy]

Cooney, Griffen, Boyd, Cross, Eagleton, hardly heard those blokes mentioned that quarter.

[LostDoggy]

Fevola - hated him at Carlton and now hate him even more at Brisbane

Aker should have played - he always inspires them.

[Scorlibo]

Far out.. I hate being on the wrong end of a comeback.:(

[BulldogBelle]

Have to admit I was so confident half an hour ago.

Come on boys, show your style!

[LostDoggy]

That was just a joke of a qtr. by the Bulldogs. I didn't hear us do anything at all.

[chef]

Terrible kick from Higgins - lazy.

His chasing leaves a lot to be desired also. He never going to be elite if he doesn't like getting his hands dirty.

[angelopetraglia]

Ever single ball in dispute they are getting. They have more numbers at every contest and so much cleaner in close. They are owning us in the part of the game I thought we could dominate them in. Unbelievable.

[AndrewP6]

Cheers i'll check that one out.

Haha Fev, i'll be a happy happy man if he's goalless.

Williams in trouble??

^&#@&!@#&!@#(&!(^&(!^%~@)%^~

You'd be very unhappy then....

[LostDoggy]

We are meant to be a professional football club, that trainer giving away a penalty and a goal by being where he is not meant to be is disgraceful:mad:

[angelopetraglia]

28 scoring shots to 17 tells the story of the game. We are so lucky to only be one goal down. Will take a massive reversal of momentum to get up from here.

[LostDoggy]

13 scoring shots to 3 that qtr. we are so lucky to be only 1 kick away

[comrade]

Need some clean ball in our forward 50. 7 inside 50s in a quarter is just not good enough.

[BulldogBelle]

You'd be very unhappy then....

I knew I'd regret that post. Extremely unhappy man at present.

Admire his talent..just absolutely loathe the bloke.

[Flamethrower]

Pretenders!

[LostDoggy]

Come on 7 goals in a row!

[NoName]

Goal to Higgo - scores even.

[LostDoggy]

1 down. 6 to go

[LostDoggy]

Time to stand up doggies. Frustrating to listen to that third quarter.

[choconmientay]

1 down. 6 to go

you are really optimistic :)

[lemmon]

Pretenders!

This post is going to look extremely silly if we pull this one out, prefer we kept the knee jerk comments to a minimum.

[LostDoggy]

i hear mistakes mistake mistakes again

[comrade]

Is Shaggy still concussed?

[LostDoggy]

ARGHWETJTQ34u913uPOPHJ)*((u!@#09Q32

[Scorlibo]

One guy who needs to stand up badly is Murph, he hasn't done much for a while including the last few weeks.

[choconmientay]

Moles is shocking today.

[LostDoggy]

What they hell is going on !!!!???!??!?!

[comrade]

Looks like we're cooked.

[NoName]

We do need to lift, but at the same time the umpiring for both sides at times has been pretty crap.

[LostDoggy]

Good to hear Tommy Gun is back on. C'mon Bulldogs.

[choconmientay]

ho comes we lost all the contested ball , so frustrating to listen to arrggggggggggggggg

[Dry Rot]

We can't get out of our back half.

[NoName]

Brown just hit the post, now is the perfect time for someone to step up and kick a bloody goal.

[LostDoggy]

What's happened after half time? Not only can we get our hands on the ball but when we do we can't get it anywhere near the forward line.

[choconmientay]

Brown got another crack ... as we turned the ball over.

[LostDoggy]

Big Will might be wearing blue and yellow next week.

[BulldogBelle]

Brown missing these are the last lifeline we will get thrown. COME ON DOGS!

[lemmon]

Time for Minno to have a few weeks off I reckon

[LostDoggy]

where are our players? all i hear is minsons name making a clanger

[choconmientay]

Big Will might be wearing blue and yellow next week.

it's about time.

[LostDoggy]

Bring on Roughy!

[Dry Rot]

Is Murphy playing?

[choconmientay]

Is Murphy playing?

Are haft of our team playing?

[OLD SCRAGGer]

I CAN'T watch anymore, making me sick in tummy. So frustrating:mad:

[LostDoggy]

We are being smashed by blokes I've never heard of???

[Dry Rot]

Have we won a contest in the second half?

[comrade]

Hilarious that we're still in it.

[LostDoggy]

We don't deserve to win.

[LostDoggy]

Speechless.

[LostDoggy]

Reckon we can kiss this one goodbye folks. If you can't get the ball inside 50 you're not going to kick goals. Simple I know!!

[lemmon]

Just about game over, that's done it

[AndrewP6]

Hilarious that we're still in it.

Not now....

[Dry Rot]

We are pretenders - we've played two finalists this year, and been flogged each time. (I count this as a flogging on the field)

[LostDoggy]

That is absolutely shocking, Nothing after half time whatsoever!

[comrade]

I'm not sure how our midfield is getting beaten so badly, but it is.

[LostDoggy]

That goal was the nail in coffin:(

[BulldogBelle]

(I count this as a flogging on the field)

It definitely is considering the score turnover. sigh.......sigh

[Dry Rot]

8 goal turnaround now?

Where is our so called leadership group?

[choconmientay]

Reckon we can kiss this one goodbye folks. If you can't get the ball inside 50 you're not going to kick goals. Simple I know!!

Yeah, and if you can't get the ball out of your own 50, you won't go anywhere.

[LostDoggy]

We are pretenders - we've played two finalists this year, and been flogged each time. (I count this as a flogging on the field)

Form against other good teams would suggest you're on the money there.

[LostDoggy]

This is ridiculous!

[AndrewP6]

Far too little from far too many... premiership contenders? :eek:

[ledge]

Feel sorry for our backman.
No centre players whatsoever.

[LostDoggy]

How many frigging turnovers have we had? I'm gutted not because we're going to lose but the way we've been smashed in general play. It's never easy to win up there but top 4 requires you to win away from home.

[NoName]

The last 10 minutes have been terrible. Missing targets, no one wanting to stand up and take the match on. If I were Rocket, I would be giving the whole team a massive spray at the end of this match.

[lemmon]

I'm seriously starting to think our biggest hole at the moment is a true tap ruckman. Huddo's a good scrapper and Minno in form did provide this role but at the moment he's a walking turnover. Good news is Roughead is a very capable 'pure' tap ruckmen.

[AndrewP6]

This is ridiculous!

I'd prefer to say pathetic.

[ledge]

Not a whimper after half time

[cinder]

*sigh*

[choconmientay]

gone!

[MrMahatma]

Our midfield has been very poor. We should've had them. Their No 1 ruck out. Their No 1 mid out. We had our full strength midfield (maybe Ward out...) but have been absolutely hammered in this 2nd half.

[Rance Fan]

Wheres Cooney when it counts?
Moles,Hahn, Murphy, Hill did they play?
At least we got a half a game from Gia, Addison and Eagleton

[w3design]

I'd like to put a positive spin on this, but just not coming to me right now.

[LostDoggy]

Eade needs to start dropping players. perfect timing as we have the crows. rather lose to crows cos we got heaps of youngings. then lose if we have almost a full strength team

[angelopetraglia]

What is going on? We were dominated. Absolutely dominated. Lucky not to be a 10 goal thrashing. Not even competitive in large stretches of the game.

Not the only passenger tonight. But Moles is not up to AFL standard. Back to the rookie list.

[Dry Rot]

Aside from beleaguered defenders, has anyone else stood up?

Griffen injured now?

[NoName]

Brisbane have had 72 inside 50's - that is a disgraceful figure.

[comrade]

Yuck.

Question marks over plenty of players after that one.

[MrMahatma]

Horrible performance. Worst in about 2 years.

[LostDoggy]

Worst game i've seen us play in a long time.

Thrashed in every area.

Gilbee cant tackle, Cross cant kick - and these were our better players.

Hahn and Hill given nothing all season.

Gia fails to inspire.

More turnovers than I've seen in a long time.

FFS dogs. We've got some work to do!

[BulldogBelle]

I'd like to put a positive spin on this, but just not coming to me right now.

Well, on a positive note Rocket will have plenty of people to yell at. And we'll be underdogs for the premiership again? edit: If we play like that again we'll be lucky to make top 6.

Disgraceful, disgraceful performance.

[Dry Rot]

Eade needs to start dropping players.

Agreed - he's done it to Hahn, and now a few more deserve it.

But nothing will happen, we'll crush the Crows and the Titannic will sail on.

[comrade]

Agreed - he's done it to Hahn, and now a few more deserve it.

But nothing will happen, we'll crush the Crows and the Titannic will sail on.

Alright Captain Smith, how do we avoid the iceberg?

[AndrewP6]

It doesn't bode well when DFA impresses me more than Murphy, Cooney, Gia, Gilbee et al.

[Rance Fan]

Lucky the Lions didnt kick straight early!

[lemmon]

Agreed - he's done it to Hahn, and now a few more deserve it.

But nothing will happen, we'll crush the Crows and the Titannic will sail on.

Exactly, a win next week will simply wallpaper over the hole, time for a few players to have a rest.

[angelopetraglia]

No intensity at the contest. That is what we have prided our game on in recent times. That was the real disappointment. We just expected it to happen. Still can't believe how easily they brushed us aside and basically won every ball in dispute in the middle of the ground.

And .... how many chest marks did we drop? Looked like under 10s there for a while.

[Dry Rot]

Alright Captain Smith, how do we avoid the iceberg?

I think we have already hit it.

[LostDoggy]

Ok we probably can't play any worse than that and we all know that our best is as good as any team in the comp so we just need to hope we can deliver our best on a consistent basis.

[KT31]

Well, on a positive note Rocket will have plenty of people to yell at. And we'll be underdogs for the premiership again? edit: If we play like that again we'll be lucky to make top 6.
Disgraceful, disgraceful performance.

Would not make the eight.

[Doggy]

70 plus inside 50's to the Lions. We are so lucky they butchered it in front of goals

[comrade]

I think we have already hit it.

In April?

Geez, you over-react at times.

[Dry Rot]

In April?

Geez, you over-react at times.


You're still optimistic? Did it end being a ten goal turnaround? And our midfield went missing?

It's not losing two early games, it's being comprehensively outplayed by the two finalists.

[AndrewP6]

Ok we probably can't play any worse than that and we all know that our best is as good as any team in the comp so we just need to hope we can deliver our best on a consistent basis.

We need to deliver our best for more than 20 mins...or more correctly, somewhere even near our best.

[chef]

Alright Captain Smith, how do we avoid the iceberg?

Playing two key forwards(Hahn isn't one) would be a start. One of either Grant or Jones needs to play each week.

[bornadog]

The half forward line was smashed. Murphy and Hahn had 16 possessions between them. Hill wasn't much better and poor old Hall, the ball hardly went to the forward line in the second half. Although Boyd, Griffen and Cooney got a bit of the ball, the turnovers were terrible.

Hard to find a winner around the ground. Lake did well but he was under siege in that last quarter and Brown got some easy marks. Other than Fevs goals in the third quarter, Morris held his own.

We looked lethargic and just have to put this behind us and look at next week to re group and get back some confidence.

[comrade]

You're still optimistic? Did it end being a ten goal turnaround? And our midfield went missing?

It's not losing two early games, it's being comprehensively outplayed by the two finalists.

I'm not high-fiving, but I'm also not about to throw the baby out with the bath water.

[Rance Fan]

We may even struggle to make top 4. Few ahead of us...
Geelong, St K, Coll, Swans, Lions, even Freo?

[chef]

You're still optimistic? Did it end being a ten goal turnaround? And our midfield went missing?

It's not losing two early games, it's being comprehensively outplayed by the two finalists.

Why not?, we are only 4 games in.

[Rance Fan]

Damn Fev turned it on in a quarter again against us. Makes me sick!

[Dry Rot]

Why not?, we are only 4 games in.

Fine but when you think this is answer


Playing two key forwards(Hahn isn't one) would be a start. One of either Grant or Jones needs to play each week.

then we are in trouble. Neither would currently cut it against most good defences. Nor would it help a non-existent midfield or a lack of heart (except for the defenders).

Did you check out the comparative inside 50s?

[LostDoggy]

Completely out played tonight, no run, no system. We were beaten in parts of the ground regularly that we should own against those guys.
Its early days but our bad is very ordinary, even our worst should be a lot better than that.
Lake played a lone hand and was swamped late, he was out on his feet.
The positives.. Its still early days, the season is long and we have Adelaide next week. Lakes early mark over Brown. I thought Addison had his best game for us for a while.
I regularly back him but Will should not play next week.

[chef]

Fine but when you think this is answer



then we are in trouble. Neither would currently cut it against most good defences. Nor would it help a non-existent midfield or a lack of heart (except for the defenders).

Did you check out the comparative inside 50s?

Fair enough.

[MrMahatma]

Rucks should've dominated. Mids should've dominated.

WTF happened after half time. Talk about falling asleep at the wheel.

[G-Mo77]

Really disgusted with the performance tonight. The scoreboard really flattered us, it should have been a much bigger margin.

Slow and lazy, just like last week and against Collingwood.

The defensive mindset of the midfield is a real concern for me.

[LostDoggy]

Wow, we were lucky not to lose by 10 goals. We were absolutely horrible. We really didn't look like a side that is anywhere near a flag. I'm absolutely gutted. In particular our execution of skills and decision making was poor. I keep remembering the Gilbee handball where he had 3 players to handpass he couldn't his one of them.

[AndrewP6]

For so-called premiership aspirants, our inability to match it with the best sides is really worrying. Four games in, and IMO, we haven't put a good performance in across any of the games. First game we were supposedly hit with a virus, well, there must've been about twenty who were still suffering from it tonight. Our pathetic turnovers, inability to hit targets, lack of defensive pressure were terrible tonight. I picked Brisbane as a side who will trouble a few this year, and unfortunately, was on the money. It's hard to single out players, as so many did virtually nothing for long periods tonight.

That said, I thought DFA had a dip. As everyone knows, skill isn't his selling point, but a few times I thought he did OK. Lake was really good v Browny, but ran out of gas in the last qtr. Shaggy's two goal-gifting frees were almost worthy of worst on ground, IMO. Coons and Griff got a bit of it, but didn't look like damaging the Lions with their use. Commentators mentioned Baz not getting near it in the 2nd half - well, he relies on the delivery, and for a long while, we didn't even look like clearing it out of the back half. Williams wasn't bad I thought, and kudos to him for coming back after that big hit. He's improving.

No Hahn, Hill, Murphy, Gilbee, Moles, Gia, Everitt... :mad::mad::mad:

[Dry Rot]

On SEN, there is a claim that Hall whacked Merritt. Anyone see it?

[G-Mo77]

On SEN, there is a claim that Hall whacked Merritt. Anyone see it?

Nope, Gia and Shaggy gave some tummy taps but don't think there is any concerns. Had it happened it would have been talked about a lot all ready.

[LostDoggy]

Wow, we were lucky not to lose by 10 goals. We were absolutely horrible. We really didn't look like a side that is anywhere near a flag. I'm absolutely gutted. In particular our execution of skills and decision making was poor. I keep remembering the Gilbee handball where he had 3 players to handpass he couldn't his one of them.

Happened many times by hand and foot, appalling disposal

[AndrewP6]

On SEN, there is a claim that Hall whacked Merritt. Anyone see it?

No, there was a bit of pushing and carrying on, but didn't see anything more. Commentary on Fox didn't say anything either.

[mighty_west]

On SEN, there is a claim that Hall whacked Merritt. Anyone see it?

Nothing in it.

[Scorlibo]

I found a positive: Rocket's press conference, it's gonna be grouse!:D

The disappointing thing is that each week so far this season we have expected to come out sharper than the previous down week. Yet they just continue to put in poor performances. Best performance was the win over Hawthorn, and even that wasn't all that pleasing, we should have done what Collingwood did to them this week if we are contenders.

[LostDoggy]

For so-called premiership aspirants, our inability to match it with the best sides is really worrying. Four games in, and IMO, we haven't put a good performance in across any of the games. First game we were supposedly hit with a virus, well, there must've been about twenty who were still suffering from it tonight. Our pathetic turnovers, inability to hit targets, lack of defensive pressure were terrible tonight. I picked Brisbane as a side who will trouble a few this year, and unfortunately, was on the money. It's hard to single out players, as so many did virtually nothing for long periods tonight.

That said, I thought DFA had a dip. As everyone knows, skill isn't his selling point, but a few times I thought he did OK. Lake was really good v Browny, but ran out of gas in the last qtr. Shaggy's two goal-gifting frees were almost worthy of worst on ground, IMO. Coons and Griff got a bit of it, but didn't look like damaging the Lions with their use. Commentators mentioned Baz not getting near it in the 2nd half - well, he relies on the delivery, and for a long while, we didn't even look like clearing it out of the back half. Williams wasn't bad I thought, and kudos to him for coming back after that big hit. He's improving.

No Hahn, Hill, Murphy, Gilbee, Moles, Gia, Everitt... :mad::mad::mad:

Hall actually went looking for it in the last quarter and a half up the ground, he didnt do anything wrong.

[AndrewP6]

Hall actually went looking for it in the last quarter and a half up the ground, he didnt do anything wrong.

Yeah, I agree, my point was just that the ineptitude in other parts of the ground didn't help his cause. I thought he did well.

[Sedat]

Didn't see the game but we must have stunk it up big time in the midfield and with our all-ground defensive pressure to have been smashed 73 to 37 in the inside 50's. Our so-called midfield advantage over Brisbane was anything but by the sounds.

I'm happy to chalk this one down as a horrible day at the office but it concerning that we have been so sluggish out of the blocks this season. I'd fully expect our players to come out breathing fire next week and beyond and bring with them an extremely committed defensive effort across the entire ground.

[GVGjr]

You're still optimistic? Did it end being a ten goal turnaround? And our midfield went missing?

It's not losing two early games, it's being comprehensively outplayed by the two finalists.

Do you expect to go through the season undefeated?
Regardless if the Lions are a finals side or not, tonight was the AFL's version of Twenty/20 football with us owning the Lions for some of the game and then the Lions owning us when it counted. We played poorly tonight and in my opinion we haven't hit our straps so far this season but to say we have hit the iceberg after 4 rounds is chucking the towel in way too early.

[LostDoggy]

I'm not making an excuse but we really seem to be missing the presence of Ward and Picken out there. They add so much hardness around the contests.

[AndrewP6]

I'm not making an excuse but we really seem to be missing the presence of Ward and Picken out there. They add so much hardness around the contests.

Have to work it out without him for quite a while... :(

[Stefcep]

I can handle being beaten by a side that is just too good, but to for us to consistently fumble, and turn it over with so much time and without pressure is unforgivable.

[Dry Rot]

Do you expect to go through the season undefeated?


It's not losing, but the manner of losing.



Regardless if the Lions are a finals side or not, tonight was the AFL's version of Twenty/20 football with us owning the Lions for some of the game and then the Lions owning us when it counted. We played poorly tonight and in my opinion we haven't hit our straps so far this season but to say we have hit the iceberg after 4 rounds is chucking the towel in way too early.

Who said after 4 rounds? The signs have been there this year: Hahn too slow, Minson out of sorts, Aker not the player he was, etc mixed with a little bit of what we were all hoping was the Saints fate - perhaps other sides have worked us better.

And not to forget that little leadership was shown when needed v Pies and Lions.

[LostDoggy]

It's not losing, but the manner of losing.



Who said after 4 rounds? The signs have been there this year: Hahn too slow, Minson out of sorts, Aker not the player he was, etc mixed with a little bit of what we were all hoping was the Saints fate - perhaps other sides have worked us better.

And not to forget that little leadership was shown when needed v Pies and Lions.

I thought that Aker has been playing well & really contributing well to the team, doesn't have to be the main guy anymore.

He is one of the few that has stood up, at times of need this season.

[ledge]

Wonder how long Rodney will keep playing Minson?
Hall was great, Harbrow was good Griffen tried all day, basically we fumbled way too much.
The turning point seemed to be when Williams went down.

[Hotdog60]

I think we need to replay some tapes from last year, to remind the players what it takes to win a game. The intensity just isn't there at the moment, the hard tackles and pressure on the ball carrier are missing also.

[Rance Fan]

Wonder have many stats Cooney had it the last qrt?
Needed him to step up in the last ..but didnt

[GVGjr]

It's not losing, but the manner of losing.



Who said after 4 rounds? The signs have been there this year: Hahn too slow, Minson out of sorts, Aker not the player he was, etc mixed with a little bit of what we were all hoping was the Saints fate - perhaps other sides have worked us better.

And not to forget that little leadership was shown when needed v Pies and Lions.

It seems I overestimated which round you wrote us off.
So you were prepared to write us off one game after winning the NAB cup game when we lost to the Pies or was it after the Tigers and or Hawks game?

I don't think we are playing well at all but regardless what round you thought our season was as good as over I still think it's way too early to write us off.

[Go_Dogs]

Well, it was a pretty disappointing finish tonight. We took our chances when we had them early, and that is what really kept us in the game, because that last quarter was some of the worst football I've seen us play in a long time.

We simply ran out of legs, and it looked to me like once the game got away from us a bit, everyone dropped their heads collectively. No one chased, no one presented.... Some simply skills errors, such as Minson's kick, Lake's kick, Gilbee's botched handball, all really cost us at the end.

When Murph is off, like he was tonight, we break down across half forward really easily.

Our kick-in set up was also exposed tonight.

On a player level, thought Griff and Cooney were not bad, Boyd was solid but his disposal again let him down a few times. Cross and Gia battled hard all night, and Addison played a good game. Harbrow wasn't bad either, and loved his tackle on Browny.

Hahn was barely sighted, Murphy dropped a few simple ones, Moles had no impact at all, and whilst Higgins did some nice things offensively, he still just doesn't work hard enough without the ball (although he was certainly not alone in that category tonight).

Hargrave did some stupid things, and his kicking in the last quarter was poor, bombed away under pressure as he has a tendency to do and turned it over. He's generally a good user, but he really needs to be a bit more composed at times.

We really needed some run in the last quarter, and hopefully after a few more runs Eagleton will be able to provide some.

Going to be a massive game against the Crows this week.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Just got back from the game, very disappointing.

We seemed to run out of legs early in the 3rd quarter. Can't help but wonder if we were still quite sore and sorry after last weeks game.

We got a great run on in the 2nd quarter kicking 8 straight at one stage, and I thought we would go on with it in the second half.

I also think losing Tommy Williams for a good patch in the 3rd quarter was pivotal, as it seemed to coincide with Brisbane getting back into it.
Brisbane increasingly won both the contested ball and uncontested ball as the game wore on. Is this an indicator of tiredness or lack of effort? The Lions also out tackled us.

Our tackling pressure this year to date is something that concerns me, as it doesn't seem to be at the level we took it to last year.

The acid will be on us to rebound from this, I certainly think we can rise to the challenge, but we are going to have to really address some areas of our game and quickly.

[boydogs]

We seemed to run out of legs early in the 3rd quarter. Can't help but wonder if we were still quite sore and sorry after last weeks game.

Take a deep breath everyone - we were 4 goals up at half time, things aren't as disastrous as they are being made out to be. We were absolutely dead on our feet, and yet we were still somehow in the game until the last 5 minutes - something to be said for our ability to hang in there

[G-Mo77]

Take a deep breath everyone - we were 4 goals up at half time, things aren't as disastrous as they are being made out to be. We were absolutely dead on our feet, and yet we were still somehow in the game until the last 5 minutes - something to be said for our ability to hang in there

Or Brisbane's lack of ability in front of goals. :(

[AndrewP6]

Just watched the post-match presser, and I thought Eade was remarkably calm. Gave full credit to the Lions, and he did note our poor disposal, but I thought he'd be in a mood of Malthouse proportions.

[anfo27]

WOW what a performance that was, I thought this team was past performances like that.

It looked to me like we were playing a game straight after mad Monday or we backed oursleves to lose so the boys can go on a better end of season trip.

Seriously though that was beyond bad and right into the the embarassing category. Great effort by the defense to hold them out for as long as they did considering we were under siege for most of the game.

Felt sorry for Murphy tonight, didn't get any service and when he was clear he had to try and control a greasy ball at his feet or over his head.

There is no point trying to single people out who played poorly, it was a team effort there. Nobody ran to provide an option or support or pressure the opposition, we just didn't run period. Our tackling is a concern and Harbrow defending is also a concern for me. Shaggy was definately drunk, no doubt about it. What was going on with our kick ins tonight?

As disappointing as it is i can't understand why am i not gutted and upset. I think its because I really believe that this team is good enough to go all the way and i'm just waiting till we get to September and the real stuff starts. But if we keep playing like that then we won't even make the 8.

[Scorlibo]

Just watched the post-match presser, and I thought Eade was remarkably calm. Gave full credit to the Lions, and he did note our poor disposal, but I thought he'd be in a mood of Malthouse proportions.

Clearly he's trying the easy, easy approach. I don't like it. Lack of endeavour deserves an emotive response, and the lack of numbers at the contest is indicative of a lack of endeavour.

[The Coon Dog]

Clearly he's trying the easy, easy approach. I don't like it. Lack of endeavour deserves an emotive response, and the lack of numbers at the contest is indicative of a lack of endeavour.

I reckon what he says to the players will be brutal, full of invective & leave no one in any doubt about where they stand.

[Chicago1]

I wasn't going to get up at 4am to listen to the match since I have things to do today and I knew I'd be going back to bed after the match for a few hours, but I decided it would be unBulldog of me not to. With no vision, it was hard to tell exactly what happened. It appeared our disposal was really bad and the Lions just took it up to us and bypassed us all over the ground. However, until Tom Williams got hurt things didn't seem to be too bad. Barry's goal right before half time seemed to be a sign that the second half would be even more promising. I did note that many players were hardly called in the second half. How many times did we get it inside our 50 in the second half, because it sure seemed to be very few compared to Brisbane?

I do have to admit that I really wasn't too impressed with our skills in the matches I saw, even though the Hawks match showed more promise. This didn't seem to be the same team that I remember watching at the end of last season and even in the NAB Cup. Does anyone know what happened to that team?

It worries me that we have been beaten by two teams vying for a place in the top four and our wins are against a mess of a team and one on the way down the ladder this year. I know that anything can happen during a long season, but I'm getting a bit nervous and we haven't even hit May yet. At least we won two out of three during my visit. Maybe I should have stayed... :(

[chef]

Fine but when you think this is answer



then we are in trouble. Neither would currently cut it against most good defences. Nor would it help a non-existent midfield or a lack of heart (except for the defenders).

Did you check out the comparative inside 50s?

We need other tall options in the forward.

It didn't hurt Geelong playing a developing tall(Hawkins and N.Ablett in premiership years) or Port(Westhoff in a GF year) and Hawthorn threw a couple in the deep end and they have developed nicely. I would love for Everitt to given a full game in the forward line, but Rocket obviously doesn't think he can cut it there.

[Mantis]

Clearly he's trying the easy, easy approach. I don't like it. Lack of endeavour deserves an emotive response, and the lack of numbers at the contest is indicative of a lack of endeavour.

It can also be due to the fact that the players were out on their collective feet.

I know for a fact that players were absolutely knackered after the Hawthorn game last week. In that game we lost a few players to injury which affected our rotations meaning the players didn't get their usual breaks and pulled up a little worse for wear.

Did it make a difference last night.... Yes, I think it did and although I wasn't happy with parts of our performance I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt and expect the team to bounce back over the coming weeks/ months.

In saying that a few guys need to make way because their performances haven't really been consistent enough, but in reality most of them are forwards and in the 2nd half last night their butts got cold as the ball just didn't get down there.

[Go_Dogs]

It can also be due to the fact that the players were out on their collective feet.

I know for a fact that players were absolutely knackered after the Hawthorn game last week. In that game we lost a few players to injury which affected our rotations meaning the players didn't get their usual breaks and pulled up a little worse for wear.

Whilst I understand what you are saying, there are going to be a lot of bruising encounters during the season, and during the finals. We need to be able to get ourselves up to play at or very close to 100% every week.

Adelaide will no doubt come out all guns blazing next weekend, if that's a tough game, do we excuse a domination by St Kilda the following week?




I'm not writing us off at all, but if we are going to be a top side, we're going to find ways to win, sore bodies or not. What we saw last night was a complete inability to move the ball from the defensive half to half forward. We were smashed in I50's, and just couldn't get near it. The 2nd half we were completely dominated. If Brisbane had been able to apply the proper score board pressure that correlated with their dominance, we would have lost by 6+ goals, easily.