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View Full Version : Round 22 - Western Bulldogs vs Essendon match review



GVGjr
26-08-2010, 06:17 AM
Well the end of a long home and away season is upon us and our round 22 clash is against the very inconsistent Essendon Bombers.

Form
Bulldogs W, W, W, L, L (The last two loses have been humiliating)
Bombers W, W, L, L, L

Last Time We Met
Dons won by 9 points – in Round 10 this season. Barry Hall bagged 5 goals along with Hill who kicked 3 goals. Best players on this occasion for the Bulldogs were Hudson, Hall, Lake, Picken, Boyd and Morris (who will not be taking part this week due to injury)

Previous Games
Dogs have won the past 6 out of 7 matches against the Bombers by an average of 29 points, hopefully we can get that winning streak starting again this Saturday night and try and regain our form heading into the finals.

Key injuries
Bulldogs
Adam Cooney with a hamstring 5-6 weeks
Dale Morris with a shoulder injury and will miss the balance of the season
Brad Johnson with the Achilles injury 2 weeks
Easton Wood another week
Bombers
Jobe Watson has an ankle injury not a certain starter.
Patrick Ryder was out of the selected side against Brisbane with a virus may miss again.
Ricky Dyson - (knee) season
Bachar Houli - (knee) test
Jason Winderlich - (hand) test
Andrew Welsh - (groin) season
Scott Gumbleton - (fractured ribs) season


Key Players for the Bulldogs
Barry Hall - 2nd on the goal kicking ladder and we need him to stand up with a decent contribution.
Ryan Griffen - With Cooney out we need Griffen to provide a lot of run and dash.

Key Players for the Bombers
David Hille - Terrific ruckman who can push forward and kick a much needed goal.
Dustin Fletcher - Evergreen defender who can still shutdown good players.

The Coaches
Rodney Eade - Some fans are starting to question if the results Eade is producing are good enough and he must be happy to have Knights consuming the bulk of the scrutiny at the moment. A loss this week against the embattled Bombers however, could refocus the media.
Likely Tactics - Eade's main aim this week is to reinvigorate an under performing playing group so expect Eade to set an attacking line-up.

Matthew Knights - Simply needs a win to hopefully keep the media and the supporters at bay.
Likely Tactics - With the Bulldogs not noted for the pace the message from Knights to his players will be to Attack, attack , attack. It's just too late in the season for Knights to try anything else.

Selection table conundrums
Just how many changes will the Bulldogs make with so many injured players and question marks on forum with a few others?
Roughead, Everitt and Addison will be right in the mix and the match committee might have to play a couple of other guys that haven't earned their spot. Could Hooper be given his first game?

Potential Match-ups
Fletcher/Hurley vs Hall
Hille vs Hudson - Pivotal duel
Slattery vs Griffen - With Cooney out Slattery will most likely be asked to curb Griffen's influence on the game.
Habrow vs Jetta - Would be an intriguing battle.

Where the game can be Won and Lost?
Skill execution - Both sides enjoy space to work in and the team that uses the ball the best should get the points.
Expect the Dogs back half to control the game and chip the ball around before quickly moving it forward.

Summary
Both teams are desperate for a win in a game that won't do anything positive for either sides ladder position.
With the finals just a week away the Dogs just have a bit more to play for and will win by 24 points plus.

GVGjr
26-08-2010, 06:18 AM
Sorry for the cut down version this week but I have been battling a bout of food poising.

Go_Dogs
26-08-2010, 07:55 AM
Short sharp and shiny, I like it.

I know a lot of Bulldogs people are probably angry at football at the moment, so a morale boosting win heading into finals would be good.

Chicago1
26-08-2010, 08:05 AM
Hope you're feeling better, GVGjr. At least you're not blaming the flu for your poor disposal. Oops... maybe I shouldn't have gone there. http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q136/westernbulldogs1/devil.gif

bornadog
26-08-2010, 09:48 AM
Sorry for the cut down version this week but I have been battling a bout of food poising.

I hope it wasn't your own cooking:D


Definitely need to win this one and get some confidence back into the group. I expect Everitt to come in and show the MC he wants to play finals footy. Same with Hill if he gets a go, especially after missing last year.

Greystache
26-08-2010, 09:53 AM
Good review GVGjr.

Essendon's confidence is pretty much shot and I imagine they'd just be looking to get through the game and close the curtain on a disapointing season.

Putting pressure on the ball carrier will be the key, Essendon are still persisting with their attacking run and carry game but the players aren't backing themselves and are into survival mode. Pressure the player with the ball and he'll simply palm it off to another player under equal pressure, and so on and so on untill they turn it over. It's a good chance to practice this type of style before the finals start.

LostDoggy
26-08-2010, 10:04 AM
GVGjr hope you are on the mend now. Thanks for the concise review especially when you are obviously under the pump!

Going to be an interesting one, but I hope the dogs come out and show us their fighting spirit! Dogs by 35 points.

SlimPickens
26-08-2010, 10:06 AM
Agree Grey... This game gives us a massive oppurtunity to focus on the game style we need to use to beat the pies. Pressure, pressure and more pressure. I'd like to see them try a couple of different things as well like playing Hall high up the ground and Grant or Jones out of the goal square for stints of the game.

Addison in the side and on the ball for me. Think he could play a blocking role for the likes of Griff and Gia.

Cyberdoggie
26-08-2010, 12:59 PM
Sorry for the cut down version this week but I have been battling a bout of food poising.

What a week to have food poisoning.

You probably were already feeling sick then that week old fish curry just tipped you over the edge ;)

GVGjr
26-08-2010, 06:37 PM
Bounced back today so I'm ready to play.

GVGjr
26-08-2010, 06:40 PM
How does everyone see the ruck contest between Ryder and Hille vs Hudson and Roughead?
Could be a beauty I would have thought.

Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
26-08-2010, 06:44 PM
How does everyone see the ruck contest between Ryder and Hille vs Hudson and Roughead?
Could be a beauty I would have thought.

I'll be interested to see how and when we rotate Hudson/Roughead through the ruck. Will Roughy get more time against Ryder than against Hille? And when Hille or Ryder push forward what will our response be.
Hille from memory has hurt us when he's drifted up to the 50mtre arc.

Many of us have lamented the loss of Cooney, however for Essendon the loss of Watson is probably relatively more of a loss for them, given how much ball he gets to give to their runners.
I will be very disappointed if we are not able to win most of the ball from ruck contests with Watson out.

GVGjr
26-08-2010, 06:53 PM
Many of us have lamented the loss of Cooney, however for Essendon the loss of Watson is probably relatively more of a loss for them, given how much ball he gets to give to their runners.
I will be very disappointed if we are not able to win most of the ball from ruck contests with Watson out.

It's a critical loss for them. He just distributes the ball so well for his team mates so I wonder who will do the grunt work for them?

Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
26-08-2010, 07:01 PM
It's a critical loss for them. He just distributes the ball so well for his team mates so I wonder who will do the grunt work for them?

I think they'll try at various times Howlett and Prismall, maybe even Reimers perhaps?

GVGjr
26-08-2010, 07:05 PM
I think they'll try at various times Howlett and Prismall, maybe even Reimers perhaps?



Marcus Marigliani who has been promoted off the rookie list might be added to that as well. A touch slow but a great ball magnet at the VFL level.

Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
26-08-2010, 07:07 PM
Marcus Marigliani who has been promoted off the rookie list might be added to that as well. A touch slow but a great ball magnet at the VFL level.

And if he cuts us up this Saturday then either Cross or Boyd should hang their heads in shame.
I hope we accord whoever their distributor at stoppages is some measure of respect.

LostDoggy
26-08-2010, 07:09 PM
I think they'll try at various times Howlett and Prismall, maybe even Reimers perhaps?

I will be very disappointed if our onballers, even without Cooney, don't get first use of the ball and win clearances. Hopefully will be a case of giving Cross, Boyd Gia Ward and co some confidence going into 1st final.

Go_Dogs
26-08-2010, 07:51 PM
Gia a good chance to spend more time in the middle this week?

Stevo
26-08-2010, 10:35 PM
Gia a good chance to spend more time in the middle this week?

Back it in. The captain in training needs to show that he can stand up when we need him.
In the scheme of things it's not an important game but I do think it is one for Giansiracusa to lead the boys.

LostDoggy
26-08-2010, 10:37 PM
Gia a good chance to spend more time in the middle this week?

Has to, I think.

Stevo
26-08-2010, 10:37 PM
And if he cuts us up this Saturday then either Cross or Boyd should hand their heads in shame.
I hope we accord whoever their distributor at stoppages is some measure of respect.

They have been under performing for a while now in a few areas other than the stats sheets. If they can't dominate the Bombers then we need to look at other roles outside of the midfield for them.

Scraggers
27-08-2010, 12:08 PM
This week has to be used as a confidence boost for us (after the two beltings) ... yes it only a lowly placed team, but a good 5/6 goal win could be just what the doctor ordered.

It will also be a good chance to try different match ups and positional play with to cover the loss of Coon Dog and the Glove.

I want to see Hahn play as the switch player this week (instead of Lake/Murphy) ... mind you, I also want to see him go hard at the player and the ball.

I also want to see Barry kick a bag full ... with no Fletcher (and McVeigh and Watson missing from their midfield) I expect the ball to be laces up on Barry's chest so many times that Quartermaine gets sick and tired of calling out "BARRY HALL yet again!"

Dogs by 39 points

Murphy'sLore
27-08-2010, 01:21 PM
Bullies by 43 for the spouse's 43rd birthday please.:)

Bumper Bulldogs
27-08-2010, 01:48 PM
Interesting week this one we should smack them by 12 Goals under the Dome.

For me I'll be interested to see if we still maintain that 3rd man up stuff that will let the dons get more numbers around the contest and could hurt us again.

I think that Mitch will find some form (I hope) as we will need his hard body in September. For those that worry about Gia's form hell bounce back this week, cant say the same against the Pies. That's why he will not be captain consistency, He has played well this year and had some brilliant games, but I think a Boyd who can "eye ball" the other blokes and play consistent footy would be ahead of Gia.

Sockeye Salmon
27-08-2010, 02:58 PM
Interesting week this one we should smack them by 12 Goals under the Dome.

For me I'll be interested to see if we still maintain that 3rd man up stuff that will let the dons get more numbers around the contest and could hurt us again.

I think that Mitch will find some form (I hope) as we will need his hard body in September. For those that worry about Gia's form hell bounce back this week, cant say the same against the Pies. That's why he will not be captain consistency, He has played well this year and had some brilliant games, but I think a Boyd who can "eye ball" the other blokes and play consistent footy would be ahead of Gia.

Yet it was Boyd who let Ablett do as he pleased the week before while we collectively on Woof rated Gia our 2nd best palyer.

bornadog
27-08-2010, 03:43 PM
We MUST not be embarresed by a loss. Full stop.

Bumper Bulldogs
27-08-2010, 03:54 PM
Yet it was Boyd who let Ablett do as he pleased the week before while we collectively on Woof rated Gia our 2nd best palyer.

True but the coaching staff did little about that as well.