Game Day - R8 Western Bulldogs vs Sydney

[BulldogBelle]

This is the discussion thread for this Saturday afternoon's game at Manuka against Sydney.

My predictions are:

The Dogs by 31 points
BOG : Ryan Griffen
Mitch Hahn to kick the first goal.

[LostDoggy]

Dogs by 36 points.
BOG: Barry Hall
First Goal: Stack

[bornadog]

Dogs by 25 points

First Goal - Hill

BOG - Gia

[chef]

Dogs by 23
Gia First Goal
Harbrow BOG

[Go_Dogs]

I have a feeling that we're going to win this one fairly convincingly, even though we haven't been in outstanding form.

Dogs by 42
BOG Cooney
First Goal Hahn

[LostDoggy]

Hopefully this one will give us a little form!
Dogs by 23 points after a strong 2nd quarter
BOG Griffo
Bazza First Goal!!

[LostDoggy]

Dogs by 23 points
First goal Grant
BOG Griffen

[boydogs]

Dogs by 55 points
First Goal - Stack
BOG - Griffen

[AndrewP6]

Come on Dogs, let's get it done. Build some momentum!!! Make my weekend!!!

Dogs by 22
BOG Griff
First goal Gia

Ok, I'll change BOG to Coooooooney.

[lemmon]

Dogs by 3
Lake BOG
Murph first goal

[The Bulldogs Bite]

Dogs by 26
First goal to Higgins
BOG to Boyd

[GVGjr]

Dogs by 24 points.
First goal to Giansiracusa
Higgins BOG

[surferboy]

Dogs by 19
First goal Hall
BOG Cooney

GO DOGS!

[BornInDroopSt'54]

Dogs by 23 points
First goal Acker
BOG Cooney

[LostDoggy]

Dogs by 16 points
First Goal: Hall!
BOG: Boyd

[Bulldog4life]

Dogs by 20 points
First goal Hill
BOG Cooney

[mighty_west]

Dogs by 36
first goal : Hahn
BOG : Cooney

[The Coon Dog]

Just got a text from mantis in Canberra. Eagleton was seen boarding the team bus.

[Go_Dogs]

Just got a text from mantis in Canberra. Eagleton was seen boarding the team bus.

Any word on whether Mantis tried to prevent Eagleton from boarding the bus? Seems a much more likely scenario. ;)

[Doc26]

Just confirmed, Bradshaw out, Bevan in. Griffen out, Eagleton in.

[LostDoggy]

Dogs by 23 points
First goal Grant
BOG Griffen

Considering that Griff has now pulled out.

BOG Boyd.

[BulldogBelle]

The Dogs by 31 points
BOG : Ryan Griffen
Mitch Hahn to kick the first goal.

Same here...my BOG choice is now Adam Cooney

[LostDoggy]

Well one of our best is out along with one of their best

[The Pie Man]

Aka continuing from his second half last week - one word...clean

Murph in the back half a good move

Nice goal Brian

[LostDoggy]

Lets clone lake, who agrees?

[AndrewP6]

Aka continuing from his second half last week - one word...clean

Murph in the back half a good move

Nice goal Brian

Good call, he doesn't waste many...

[LostDoggy]

If Grant can continue playing well, we should leave Bobby down back.

[LostDoggy]

Cooney playing like he is a mad bull.
Aker reading the ball like he is a crystal ball.
Lake taking marks in defence and kicking goals in the forward.
Murphy playling like the ball is a hot potato. (Which is good)

[anfo27]

9 tackles in a quarter is nowhere near good enough.

[LostDoggy]

Even though our tackles are down our pressure seems to be great.

[comrade]

Mitch Hahn is struggling.

Sydney are spreading well, always seem to have a loose man coming out from defence.

[LostDoggy]

Come on dogs need to lift this quarter so far.

[comrade]

Dale has destroyed Goodes so far.

[LostDoggy]

Hall 1 2 Grab! lol

[LostDoggy]

Go BARRY stick it up em!!

[comrade]

FFS Shaggy.

[AndrewP6]

FFS Shaggy.

Not his best moment, but IMO umps these days give too many 50s. It's a far too harsh penalty for what is usually a minor crime...

[comrade]

Stackalicious!

[AndrewP6]

Stackalicious!

Terrific knock on and finish!

[comrade]

Terrific knock on and finish!

He's had a lively second quarter.

[LostDoggy]

Nice stuff Lakey good on ya! GO DOGS, keep it up!!

[The Pie Man]

Mitch Hahn is struggling.

Sydney are spreading well, always seem to have a loose man coming out from defence.

Just as I was thinking the same thing, he presented and won a bit of the pill

Did we just see the emergence of Stack as a senior footballer? Surely the best quarter of footy he's played so far

McVeigh was stiff then - so was Goodes on the in the back on Morris.

[comrade]

Good boy Stacky.

[AndrewP6]

Hahn has bobbed up for a few grabs.. Hall is showing touch, some nice quick hands as well as a great option up front. Stacky playing well.

[LostDoggy]

What happened to Murphy?

[LostDoggy]

What happened to Murphy?

Sore knee apparently

[AndrewP6]

What happened to Murphy?

They said it was a knee injury. Not sure how it eventuated...

[AndrewP6]

Stackalicious pinches his third!!!!

[comrade]

Stack is putting on a bit of a show.

[LostDoggy]

Bad luck to Murphy he was playing really well!

Great work so far by Stack!

[LostDoggy]

Good quarter from Grant across half forward.

[AndrewP6]

Bells of St Christopher's would drive me nuts...

[LostDoggy]

Percentage on the way up!

[LostDoggy]

This bell is giving me the shits!

[AndrewP6]

This bell is giving me the shits!

Me too... the bell is tolling for Sydney...

[LostDoggy]

lloyd saying Murphy has been the only "flat spot" for the Dogs. What an idiot, does he realise he is injured...?

[angelopetraglia]

Any chance getting a holding the ball decision against Adam Goodes? How many times has he taken us on, got caught and we have not been rewarded? Driving me mad.

[azabob]

lloyd saying Murphy has been the only "flat spot" for the Dogs. What an idiot, does he realise he is injured...?

Fairly sure that's what he meant. As in Murphy is injured.

[LostDoggy]

lloyd saying Murphy has been the only "flat spot" for the Dogs. What an idiot, does he realise he is injured...?

...

He meant he is the only flat spot for us in this game because of the injury. Meaning everything else has been going well for the team.

[LostDoggy]

Come on dogs finish em off and get some percentage!

[LostDoggy]

Too me it sounded like he was saying he was the only player not performing...But probably did mean it in that way though

[LostDoggy]

Lets hope we don't let them get some easy goals to make the margain smaller. (From a percentage perspective)

[LostDoggy]

Come on dogs get some percentage finish em!

[comrade]

Lets hope we don't let them get some easy goals to make the margain smaller. (From a percentage perspective)

I can see us running out of puff, especially with one man down on the bench. Morris needs to tighten up on Goodes.

[AndrewP6]

Lets hope we don't let them get some easy goals to make the margain smaller. (From a percentage perspective)

Agreed, show some killer instinct Dogs!

[LostDoggy]

Kick a goal damnit

[angelopetraglia]

We have dominated them in the 2nd half of this quarter without reward due to bad kicking for goal and also some poor choices moving forward.

[Max469]

Disgraceful - not a goal kicked by us in the last quarter at the 26 min mark.

7 behinds.

Nothing has changed from last year in that regard.

Want a flag? Learn to kick straight and really put teams away when they have a chance.

[The Pie Man]

This last qtr is one of the more boring stanza's of footy I've ever seen. Won't complain about the margin though.

[comrade]

A rubbish last quarter is disappointing but a good performance overall.

[LostDoggy]

Shit last quarter we needed the percentage and only 38 points in the end is pretty disapointing but I'l gladly take a good win!

GO DOGS!!

[AndrewP6]

Great job for 3 quarters. Shocking in the last... again, we didn't make the most of the chances...

[angelopetraglia]

That should have been a 10 goal + win.

Can't believe we only won by 38 points. Should have absolutely destroyed them.

However, definitely take the four points and a much, much better performance.

[chef]

Good win by the boys.

[chef]

Disgraceful - not a goal kicked by us in the last quarter at the 26 min mark.

7 behinds.

Nothing has changed from last year in that regard.

Want a flag? Learn to kick straight and really put teams away when they have a chance.

Bit harsh IMO, we took the foot off the gas as the game was won.

[LostDoggy]

Yeah we did take it really easy in the last. But finishing off a goal should be a given

[LostDoggy]

I dont care how we win, we just need to make in roads towards the top four. Getalong!

[LostDoggy]

We are in top 4 at the moment hehe

[LostDoggy]

What did you guys think of Minson's game?

[The Bulldogs Bite]

What did you guys think of Minson's game?

Very good.

His ruck work was good, I rated it better than Hudson's. I thought he gave a contest around the ground well and at times up forward, bringing our smaller players into the game. He made good decisions with the ball and used it well.

Very good performance for three quarters by the side, very disappointing last quarter. Stack was impressive and Grant continues to show positive signs.

[FlightoftheCallanWards]

Very good.

His ruck work was good, I rated it better than Hudson's. I thought he gave a contest around the ground well and at times up forward, bringing our smaller players into the game. He made good decisions with the ball and used it well.

Very good performance for three quarters by the side, very disappointing last quarter. Stack was impressive and Grant continues to show positive signs.
This.

Loved the way Will broke that pack open in the first. Resulted in a goal. What we want to see when he rests up forward

[LostDoggy]

Does anyone think that Grant should play a little deeper?

[LostDoggy]

Does anyone think that Grant should play a little deeper?

I think he should stay where hes playing now up the ground but when he gets abit of meat on his bones he should play abit deeper.

I liked it how Will was more confident today with his kicking and didnt look to hand it off as much he backed him self and it was good.

[anfo27]

Happy with the 4 points, thats one win closer to a top 4 spot.

I think we were lucky to get Sydney this week, they were terrible today. I don't think we were that great either but happy to take a 6 goal win. I thought Lake was terrific and Hall was good too.

Don't know if I'm hard to please but i found that hard to watch. The game felt like a practice game to me and lacked plenty.

[AndrewP6]

Happy with the 4 points, thats one win closer to a top 4 spot.

I think we were lucky to get Sydney this week, they were terrible today. I don't think we were that great either but happy to take a 6 goal win. I thought Lake was terrific and Hall was good too.

Don't know if I'm hard to please but i found that hard to watch. The game felt like a practice game to me and lacked plenty.

Definitely in the 4th...

[Max469]

Bit harsh IMO, we took the foot off the gas as the game was won.

Not harsh, Realistic. Last year we lost games we should have won - Prelim final etc because we did not kick straight - so nothing has changed this year.

I don't care if the game was won - there are 4 quarters in a game - not 3. You want to be the best - play the best and that includes not taking your foot off the gas when you are 50 points up.

They thought the had the Saints game won too and took their feet off the gas and hello - what happened there.

Percentage is such a big part - not just winning.


Don't be complacent as it will come back bite you on the behind.

And yes I am hard to please because like everyone else here I want the holy grail and we are not going to get it if we think we have games won when we are still in the 3rd quarter.

[chef]

Not harsh, Realistic. Last year we lost games we should have won - Prelim final etc because we did not kick straight - so nothing has changed this year.

I don't care if the game was won - there are 4 quarters in a game - not 3. You want to be the best - play the best and that includes not taking your foot off the gas when you are 50 points up.

They thought the had the Saints game won too and took their feet off the gas and hello - what happened there.

Percentage is such a big part - not just winning.


Don't be complacent as it will come back bite you on the behind.

And yes I am hard to please because like everyone else here I want the holy grail and we are not going to get it if we think we have games won when we are still in the 3rd quarter.

Fair enough, I just didn't think it was disgraceful that's all:). The only thing that I was disappointed with in the last was straight kicking(we had 7 scores to 3).

[ReLoad]

Ill agree that poor kicking for goal did cost us a 10 goal win today, no question, but our overall performance was excellent, Cooney was outstanding without his partner in crime, griffin, and Minson made an excellent disciplined return, he did all the team things today without doing anything stupid.

There is still room for improvement and we certainly do not have our best 22 on the park.

I was impressed with murph at CHB today till he got guitar knee# and sat on the bench for the rest of the game.

Good win, good 4 points to get, cos its going to be a long year.

Cheers

Ryan
#Guitar knee is a rare medial condition only found in those who write columns for broadsheet newspapers under the title "football" but rarely if ever have anything to do with football.

Dr Zimmerman usually prescribes large doses of testosterone and bruce willis films in an effort to increase the manliness and thus reduce the susceptibility to Guitar knee.

[The Coon Dog]

Ill agree that poor kicking for goal did cost us a 10 goal win today

Sydney missed some very gettable shots for goal too, can't factor in one without the other.

[EasternWest]

Ill agree that poor kicking for goal did cost us a 10 goal win today, no question, but our overall performance was excellent, Cooney was outstanding without his partner in crime, griffin, and Minson made an excellent disciplined return, he did all the team things today without doing anything stupid.

There is still room for improvement and we certainly do not have our best 22 on the park.

I was impressed with murph at CHB today till he got guitar knee# and sat on the bench for the rest of the game.

Good win, good 4 points to get, cos its going to be a long year.

Cheers

Ryan
#Guitar knee is a rare medial condition only found in those who write columns for broadsheet newspapers under the title "football" but rarely if ever have anything to do with football.

Dr Zimmerman usually prescribes large doses of testosterone and bruce willis films in an effort to increase the manliness and thus reduce the susceptibility to Guitar knee.

Griffin plays for Adelaide.

But I'll give you bonus points for the delightfully random assessment of guitar knee.

FWIW I was satisfied with today's win but echo the sentiments of others that taking the foot off the gas continues to be a concern.

[Go_Dogs]

Very good.

His ruck work was good, I rated it better than Hudson's. I thought he gave a contest around the ground well and at times up forward, bringing our smaller players into the game. He made good decisions with the ball and used it well.

Very good performance for three quarters by the side, very disappointing last quarter. Stack was impressive and Grant continues to show positive signs.

Agree with this. Minson was good today, and some of his ball use by foot was solid. His ruck work was pretty deft at times, and generally pretty good (besides one airy they replayed on the telecast, which I'm sure will get a few laughs from the Beard this week!).

Stack and Grant both played well again. Grant is really starting to look an AFL quality player, his work rate is much improved and his marking is great. Still got to do a bit of work on his kicking, although today his foot skills were generally just down a bit, because he has kicked some good balls over the past weeks.

Being able to (consistently) apply more scoreboard pressure is the next string he needs to add to his bow.


I commented on Stack in the other thread, but agree that he really looked the goods today.

[LostDoggy]

What a fantastic win! We played like we should have been playing all year, everybody did the small 1 percenters and the effort from the boys was fantastic!

I was at the ground, drove up for the weekend with DaDruid. For all those complaining about our 4th quarter, bear in mind that the sun was extremely bright, the stands extremely low, and both teams had a very hard time with the glare directly in their eyes. We had the four points all stitched up, and the boys were well within their rights to take the foot off a bit. Sydney was a shambles by that stage of the game.

As for the weekend away, have to say with the exception of a few great guys we hung out with around the campfire on Saturday night, and one very nice girl in Nando's, the population of Canberra would have to be the most miserable, rude and god-awful people I've met. We asked a few little questions such as, “Hi, we're not local, could you please let us know how to get to Manuka?” to the reply of, “Ah… no.” They all had sad-sack faces and looked like we'd slugged their grandmothers in the face.

Otherwise, awesome weekend, awesome game, definitely well worth both the trip and the -2°C nights.

[Desipura]

I was disappointed we did not go on and win by at least 10 goals. Was a good chance to build the percentage. We still have not found our "mojo". With the inclusion of some handy players in the next 3 weeks, I hope we start to show our true form.

[wb_age]

Don't know if I'm hard to please but i found that hard to watch. The game felt like a practice game to me and lacked plenty.
I couldn't agree more, after a big bucks w/e I finally got to watch the game and was left wanting. After reading posts about how well the guys played and a 38 point victory, I watched the game and apart from Stack's clever tap on goal and the Sydney fan hugging Barry I was left uninspired.