Game Day 2011 - R9 Western Bulldogs vs WCE

[LostDoggy]

Last week Eade said to them to go out and play the way you like to play, attacking and with flair, change things up from the gameplan we've been trying to implement.

It looks lto a casual observer ike this week, now that Eade believes the players had go their mojo back, they've attempted to go back to the original game plan.

The players are either unwilling or unable to do it, or the plan is not tactically sound.

Our effort/energy for the contest was deplorable. The worst I've seen since 07 when we lost everygame by 70 points in the back end of the season

What causes a club to play so poorly and lose by 120 points? Game plan mean nothing when all effort and spirit is gone 5 min into the first Q. My sense is something is rotting inside the club and the smell is begining to get really bad.

[Sedat]

I would love to see some real heat turned on the Club right now.
You'll be getting your wish this week.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

No value like Williams game today!

Yep, was a shocker. His season up to this point has been good I thought, and on the back of a very solid year in 2010.
Think it's a bit harsh questioning his drafting at pick 6, on the back of 1 shocker when he has shown overall good positive improvement following his bad run with injuries.

[JohnGentStand]

I hope I dont have to listen to all the sack Eade tripe this week.
He is not resposible for that effort today. I would like to see Matty Boyd front up for that to be honest.
No coach can teach effort, pride in personal performance, or hunger for the next contest. Those are all resposibilities of the players. That is where I want to see the spotlight shine this week.
I dont like my chances ...

[comrade]

My sense is something is rotting inside the club and the smell is begining to get really bad.

Do you have any idea what it might be? I'm interested, that's all.

[LostDoggy]

I can't remember saying/writing this in his career - I feel I regularly defend him when discussing footy with my family - but what was with Tom Williams today?

That last handball to Griffen was one of the dumbest things I've seen done on a footy field. He went to ground easily, couldn't stick tackles...it was just awful.

We have all been hoping the experiment of transforming Williams from a rugby league junior to an AFL senior footballer would be successful. But it has always been in the back of our minds that this hasnt really worked but we have been hoping beyond hope.

Today, it finally blew up in our faces and giving up a first round draft pick for Williams by the "recruiting guru" Scott Clayton was another error of judgement .... as was Tim Walsh.

[w3design]

You know what I bet you he comes out next week and gets the Job done on Franklin, It will give us all hope again and then we will be let down in the coming weeks....sound familiar

I will be delirious if you are right but I think the hard truth is Tommy is no more than a toiler. He misreads the ball in flight, his body work still shows the hallmark of a guy who came to footy late, and his decision making is still poor. His early injuries gave him a mystique of a raw untapped talent that hasn't been justified. I actually think Markovich, though still inexperienced and raw, has gone past Tommy.

It gives me no joy to say it, but I think we've all been overly starry-eyed about what Tom offers, and this has been evident for a while. He is on his best days a serviceable third defender, not the dashing CFB that he promised to be that day in Launceston when he played on Buddy.

[Rance Fan]

Yep, was a shocker. His season up to this point has been good I thought, and on the back of a very solid year in 2010.
Think it's a bit harsh questioning his drafting at pick 6, on the back of 1 shocker when he has shown overall good positive improvement following his bad run with injuries.

Agree he has improved over the years. They have tried to make a footballer of him. Never will be an A grader!

[SonofScray]

You'll be getting your wish this week.

Yeah, I'm expecting things to get nasty. As far as I am concerned, that loss spent any remaining credits this current crop representing our Club had in the bank.

[LostDoggy]

Yep, was a shocker. His season up to this point has been good I thought, and on the back of a very solid year in 2010.
Think it's a bit harsh questioning his drafting at pick 6, on the back of 1 shocker when he has shown overall good positive improvement following his bad run with injuries.

Yankee, I have grown tired of hearing about Tom's injuries. He was a first round draft selection and it is time for him to play like one.

[LostDoggy]

I will be delirious if you are right but I think the hard truth is Tommy is no more than a toiler. He misreads the ball in flight, his body work still shows the hallmark of a guy who came to footy late, and his decision making is still poor. His early injuries gave him a mystique of a raw untapped talent that hasn't been justified. I actually think Markovich, though still inexperienced and raw, has gone past Tommy.

It gives me no joy to say it, but I think we've all been overly starry-eyed about what Tom offers, and this has been evident for a while. He is on his best days a serviceable third defender, not the dashing CFB that he promised to be that day in Launceston when he played on Buddy.

Its possible that the MC will stick with Williams and slot Mulligan in as a 2nd CHB against Hawthorn, I hope they do , the matchups this week against the talls just did'nt work , Mulligan would have been handy to play on the 40m arc to help try to cut off the ball supply

That being said , you do need a midfield working hard to stop the ball getting there in the first place

.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Yankee, I have grown tired of hearing about Tom's injuries. He was a first round draft selection and it is time for him to play like one.

I'll repeat. He had a shocker.
He had a good year last year, and up until today has been pretty good.

He won't be the first or last player to have a absolutely terrible day.
You can say your sick of hearing about his injuries, but it doesn't remove the fact that it robbed him the best part of two and a half years of his career, and furthermore since then has shown steady improvement.

That he was an early pick, is not of his doing and has no bearing on how he should perform. He can only play to the ability he has. Right now he's a serviceble player who today got shown up.

[LostDoggy]

Shame, Shame, Shame, I live in the West, and I have barracked for this team all my life..................Today I am totally gutted!! and yes I am surrounded by Eagles supporters, the absolute scurge of the AFL!! The emails and phone calls have started fropm people that havent heard of in quite some time!

[LostDog]

I left Pattersons at Half Time today, the most positive thing I think I have written on here for a week

[Scraggers]

Negative Nancys as far as the eye can see ... Same vitriol after every loss ... Predictable

[The Underdog]

Negative Nancys as far as the eye can see ... Same vitriol after every loss ... Predictable

I think everyone's struggling to pull positives out of today. The reality is we're a long way off the good teams...and some of the average ones.

[MrMahatma]

So, lets do like we have done every year, sit down witht he footy record and put a red line through players on our list.

Who makes for good trade bait?
Who is going to get us nothing on the trade table?
Who is a keeper?

I'm happy to offload half the team to GWS right now for a few draft picks.
Eagles showed against Freo last week - when Kerr & Embly were late withdrawals - that in modern footy, the blokes on the park are only a part of the picture. Tactics, effort, discipline and desire go along way to winning the game these days.

We don't display any of the necessary traits of successful teams.

Is there anything our team is better than other teams at? Used to be ball use/skills - that's not the case now. We don't pressure or tackle better than anyone. We don't run harder...

[bornadog]

Williams - was he our 1st rd draft pick a few seasons ago?
Dont think that choice has payed dividends.

Williams was taken the pick after Franklin, I think it was 6. He has done well this year, but was out gunned today as was the whole team.

Posters, easy to start talking about we should have picked that player or why did we go for this player. Lets sack the coach etc etc. Its all emotional and a waste of time reading it.

What I would like to see discussed is what are we going to do next week against the Hawks.

Cooney, Hall, Lake must come in.

I would keep Jones in and drop Grant, Moles and maybe Marcovic, not sure yet depends on match ups.

[LostDoggy]

Give me 1 positive out of todays game Scragger..You except that performance and like our beloved Dogs, we all become predictable!!

[MrMahatma]

Negative Nancys as far as the eye can see ... Same vitriol after every loss ... Predictable
There's losses, there's bad losses, then there's what we all just witnessed.

As much as many of us like to pull the trigger on being negative, I don't think anyone can really say something today that isn't deserved. We're simply out of our depth currently - and it simply can't be just the blokes on the park. There's more to it - and as with all professional sports, the coaching/admin are going to have to wear the brunt of the fall out.

[FrediKanoute]

So the match committee put the best side on the park available too them, the 3 you mention are not worth 12 goals to our side, something is wrong and it starts at the top. if you are going to field an underman side state it prior to the game and at least demand they put their head over the ball and their body on the line.

Really, not worth 12 goals......the All Australian FB, 2nd in the Coleman last year and a Brownlow Medalist????? I think you sell short the abilities of these guys.

[ReLoad]

Give me 1 positive out of todays game Scragger..You except that performance and like our beloved Dogs, we all become predictable!!

One positive today will be that our club will recieve a lot of free media and press.

Another positive is that our team also recieved a lot of Virgin Australia frequent flyer miles.

Another positive today was that we're going to be busy on this forum for the next week.

finally and perhaps most importantly, the players can save some serious money by booking thier footy trip to take place in september, as opposed to the peak footy tours month of October.

[MrMahatma]

Williams was taken the pick after Franklin, I think it was 6. He has done well this year, but was out gunned today as was the whole team.

Posters, easy to start talking about we should have picked that player or why did we go for this player. Lets sack the coach etc etc. Its all emotional and a waste of time reading it.

What I would like to see discussed is what are we going to do next week against the Hawks.

Cooney, Hall, Lake must come in.

I would keep Jones in and drop Grant, Moles and maybe Marcovic, not sure yet depends on match ups.
Is our season still alive?

If not - do we just rest Cooney for another month or so - get him cherry ripe and not risk his injury further. Do we bother with Hall much more this season?

I still don't think that the ins/outs are what the problem is. They aren't what caused us to get rolled by 100+ points.

[the banker]

One of the greatest coaching feats ever witnessed by Woosha - he was the most hunted coach at the end of last year. Where did he go to school over summer? This is an enormous achievement from a powerful footy club and the coaching staff.

Can't come to any other conclusion than this is the end of an era for us. Not to say that we can't recover and be competitive later in the year, when the draw will be less demanding, and that we can't challenge next year, but the game plan that we have employed for the past 5 years is GONE.

Today was the first blistering chill leading to our winter of discontent.

We are simply bamboozled by the forward press and it forces us into some ludicrously risky plays. Pull it off and we look potent but the percentages are pretty low with the skill levels and decision making we have ATM.

The coaching PANEL (not just Rocket) have to be under the microscope. It's going to be painful watching us experiment on match days. Likely to further confuse players and sap confidence.

Nothing good came out of this.

[EGC]

While Eade isnt responsible for the actions on the field, he most certainly is responsible for the mindset that players take into a game, and today that mindset was terrible. Perhaps the Doggies players have had enough of playing for Eade? Are they sick of his sprays and abuse at half time? Does he play favorites and exclude the players he doesnt get along with?

While his tactics, match day rotations and game plans all seem solid enough, perhaps his peple managing skills let him down, and he just isnt good at getting along with a diverse group of players. At Sydney it was the players who ultimately rejected him, and perhaps now it is heading towards that at the Bulldogs. I sure would love to be a fly on the wall at the club this week.

[Ghost Dog]

One positive today will be that our club will recieve a lot of free media and press.

Another positive is that our team also recieved a lot of Virgin Australia frequent flyer miles.

Another positive today was that we're going to be busy on this forum for the next week.

finally and perhaps most importantly, the players can save some serious money by booking thier footy trip to take place in september, as opposed to the peak footy tours month of October.

Hmmm I might take a break. Emotional fatigue! Maybe time to follow Williamstown haha! :D

[GVGjr]

Negative Nancys as far as the eye can see ... Same vitriol after every loss ... Predictable

Whilst it might be predictable the club also comes out and says bad losses are not acceptable.
The club President even raised the bar this year and I think a level of angst by our supporters after what was a shocking loss is to be expected.

I don't like negative nellies either but I also don't want to hear and read rah rah after that type of a loss.

[kruder]

Basically they're playing modern footy, we're stuck in a timewarp of 2008.

I watched us doing match simulations and in practice matches during the preseason and thought I must have missed something, we seemed unconcerned about the press and defensive pressure. The only thing I could see us working on was run and carry under minimal pressure, it felt at the time we were missing the point and I haven't seen anything since to quel my fears.

Hear Hear!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The writing has been on the wall for weeks.

This was my first post after the Collingwood game and it wasn't well recieved.

I agree it's not good to be negative on this forum all the time but I think our current plight makes it difficult not to be.

Hi,
The reason I have joined is because the bulldog game plan has not changed over the past 3-4 years. I have been reading this site for a few years now but have never posted.

I hate to start on a negative but here goes.

I was stunned in round one when the whole summer had been about the forward press and frontal pressure that the bulldogs were again inept in these areas. Our zone basically gives up an easy first possession to the opposition with greater importance on creating a contest on the second possession which basically gives up the opportunity to get the ball back until the wing. The whole point of a press is to force the kicker to kick long to a contest which gives you a 50/50 chance of keeping the ball in your forward line. It was embarrassing to see Collingwood walk the ball out of our defence on the weekend while Murphy was forced to kick wide and long. The only reason I can think of eade playing such a high press is that he is worried the ball getting over the top of the initial zone which will expose our lack of gut running and accountability of the majority of our team on the fast break.

The next major issue is our forward line structure in which eade forces players way to high which makes its extremely difficult to score goals. This structure is deployed in finals and against the good sides during the regular season. It was deployed on the weekend after a deep forward line structure got us a 3goal to 1 lead. When we started to struggle to get the ball in defence, the forward line is forced up the ground to provide further options, which actually creates more pressure on the ball carrier as there is maybe one player forward of the centre to aim for. I really believe it has a big impact on the players as they tend to go back into their shells and there belief drops dramatically. During the period of the high forwardline on the weekend we looked no chance of kicking a goal at all untill we got lucky on the fast break via glilbee and sherman. I have noticed in finals that we tend to go back to the deeper structure way too late in the game when we have so called nothing to loose... Unfortunately in the majority of occasions we have already lost!!!!
Eade we must have the discipline to hold at least 2 players in the forward 50 on the majority!!!!! Make the opposition worry about us for a change! I gaurentee the defender will man them up.

The 3rd major issue is the performance of the senior group in the big games. Too often do the match committee drop fringe players such as hill and addison after losses in which players such as COONEY, GIA,MURPHY, BOYD, GILLBEE, HARGRAVE have failed to make an impact. On the weekend Cooney played probally his worst game for the footbal club. His body language and his lack of interest at the contest was disgraceful yet eade actually said he was pleased with his performances over the past few weeks??????????? Does anyone on here believe he played well in the fremantle game aswell???? I'm praying that his knee is causing problems cause I'm loosing faith.

I thank EADE for his for efforts as this will be his final year as coach. The club has gone forward in leaps and bounds over the past few years off the feild but it is time for a change on it.

[Bumper Bulldogs]

Really, not worth 12 goals......the All Australian FB, 2nd in the Coleman last year and a Brownlow Medalist????? I think you sell short the abilities of these guys.

No not really and still state they are nit worth 12 goals, Hall maybe 2 on a day like today when the lack of supply he maybe could have blown his top.

A fit Lake yes would stop 3 or 4 and a totally fit Cooney maybe 2 or 3.

The point is we just didn't put the hard yards in and should have beaten the Eagles and kick started our season.

With players on the park today on paper we should have got over the line and I want to here why we still have this mind set that Smorgo paid money to sort out 2/3 years ago.

It seems it didn't change much.

[Jasper]

One of the greatest coaching feats ever witnessed by Woosha - he was the most hunted coach at the end of last year. Where did he go to school over summer? This is an enormous achievement from a powerful footy club and the coaching staff.

Can't come to any other conclusion than this is the end of an era for us. Not to say that we can't recover and be competitive later in the year, when the draw will be less demanding, and that we can't challenge next year, but the game plan that we have employed for the past 5 years is GONE.

Today was the first blistering chill leading to our winter of discontent.

We are simply bamboozled by the forward press and it forces us into some ludicrously risky plays. Pull it off and we look potent but the percentages are pretty low with the skill levels and decision making we have ATM.

The coaching PANEL (not just Rocket) have to be under the microscope. It's going to be painful watching us experiment on match days. Likely to further confuse players and sap confidence.

Nothing good came out of this.

All of that is spot on, would add the players should be under the scope too and that the Pies press last year hurt us, as did Essendon's earlier this year.

[1eyedog]

When Lake come back in can Williams go forward? I'm struggling to find him a future role. How much of a say does Rocket have in match day selections? I would like to see Moles, Cordy, Wallis, Liberatore, Jones, Grant and Vezspremi and DJ all in the same side but I think that Rocket will not play the kids in order to get as many wins as possible so we make the eight. If we play the kids and only get 7-8 wins for the year then Rocket will be even more under the pump than if we play our experienced players and fall into the eight.

[LostDoggy]

So where is Mantis, what have you got to say about a top four team last year, being smashed by the wooden spooners from last year???? More defensive excuses I suppose.

Love Rocket, he has fulfilled his purpose but it is time to go. The recruitment team needs to be reviewed, we recruit Everett and the Tigers recruit Riewoldt after our pick.

The development of our players is behind every other team, they are skinny, lacking in confidence, lacking in leadership, and until supporters like Mantis stop support mediocrity, we will always be the support act for the star teams.

That's a strangely targeted post, so if Mantis was a more critical poster we would have run over the top of west coast?

[Before I Die]

So where is Mantis, what have you got to say about a top four team last year, being smashed by the wooden spooners from last year???? More defensive excuses I suppose.

Love Rocket, he has fulfilled his purpose but it is time to go. The recruitment team needs to be reviewed, we recruit Everett and the Tigers recruit Riewoldt after our pick.

The development of our players is behind every other team, they are skinny, lacking in confidence, lacking in leadership, and until supporters like Mantis stop support mediocrity, we will always be the support act for the star teams.

I love the "the reason our club is unsuccessful is because our supporters accept mediocrity" line. To me it screams 'if all supporters were like me we would have 20 plus premierships" which translates directly into "individual with serious delusions of self importance".

[Rocco Jones]

I don't like negative nellies either but I also don't want to hear and read rah rah after that type of a loss.

Totally agree.

It isn't negativity I have an issue with, it's mindlessness. So often those accusing others of not being constructive when making negative comments are actually being mindlessly positive. Mindless negativity and positivity both annoy me.

[immortalmike]

What scares me most is that we already knew what we'd be up against this year i.e., we knew teams were going to emulate Collingwood, we knew we struggled against that style yet nothing seems to have been done in the pre-season to address this.
The big questions are;

Why do our players look so unfit?
Why do we still not know how to combat the press?
Why were our players brushed aside so easily in contested situations?
Why is our ball-handling and usage so bad?
Where is the spirit and the desire to play for the jumper?

On the last one, it really hit home today how little some of our players and fans (not supporters) care about our club. There were more Gold Coast fans at our game earlier in the year than it looked llke there was Bulldogs fans on television today. On the players, well Chris Tarrant summed it up perfectly for me today in the Collingwood-Adelaide game when he kicked a goal and pointed to the jumper on his chest. When is the last time you've seen one of our players show such love for the team they represent?...

[Before I Die]

Totally agree.

It isn't negativity I have an issue with, it's mindlessness. So often those accusing others of not being constructive when making negative comments are actually being mindlessly positive. Mindless negativity and positivity both annoy me.

You have been known to also be a little miffed by mindless (this adjective being a point of contention) calls for the status quo. :D

[Scraggers]

Whilst it might be predictable the club also comes out and says bad losses are not acceptable.
The club President even raised the bar this year and I think a level of angst by our supporters after what was a shocking loss is to be expected.

I don't like negative nellies either but I also don't want to hear and read rah rah after that type of a loss.

I sat at the game and watched every minute; I was abused, yelled at, and even spat at after the game on the way to the train.

Living in WA, nothing hurts more than that sort of loss to a WA team ... Regardless, the amount of posters on here tonight calling for Eade's scalp or sacking of the whole leadership group is laughable.

Sacking Eade (or the leadership team) is not the answer.

[w3design]

Sadly, our positivity or negativity, mindless or mindful, have no bearing on what the players present, hence our frustration.

This doesn't seem to be one of those 'glass half full vs empty' situations, where we can, for example, review the stats and be pleasantly surprised that we actually won contested possession, or console ourselves that if only we had our 'best' team we would have done better. Our club is at a crossroads. Maybe the magnitude of the loss may force us into the reality check that the 'respectable' losses against Freo and the Swans may have delayed.

[Jasper]

Living in WA, nothing hurts more than that sort of loss to a WA team ... Regardless, the amount of posters on here tonight calling for Eade's scalp or sacking of the whole leadership group is laughable.

Sacking Eade (or the leadership team) is not the answer.

Mate lived in WA for 10yrs - Coasters are an ordinary group of supporters. But they are maringally better than Pies and Blues fans:rolleyes:

Not having a crack but rather stating what is not the answer, do you have an answer...?

[Rocco Jones]

Sacking Eade (or the leadership team) is not the answer.

Why not?

We look totally lost with the modern game. No idea how to press or handle it. Our forward defensive pressure is the worst in the league. As greystache mentioned, we look stuck in a 2008 time warp.

So many posts have been hammering Lake for not wanting to play/how he has handle his rehab (myself include) but what about Eade? Lake being 'wrong' doesn't automatically make Eade 'right' in how he has handled him. There must also be questions asked about how we have handled Cooney, Hall (playing him against GC and Freo) and Higgins. Shaggy also had complications during the preseason due to hitting the track early. I am not blaming Eade for everything, just that there's a fair bit of mishandling injuries smoke in the air around Whitten Oval.

[LostDoggy]

I sat at the game and watched every minute; I was abused, yelled at, and even spat at after the game on the way to the train.

Living in WA, nothing hurts more than that sort of loss to a WA team ... Regardless, the amount of posters on here tonight calling for Eade's scalp or sacking of the whole leadership group is laughable.

Sacking Eade (or the leadership team) is not the answer.

Sorry but it falls on the coach to motivate the team, they didn't seem motivated today. I think we should look at alternate coaching options at the end of the year.

We can beat the hawks next week. But it will prove very little.

[GVGjr]

I sat at the game and watched every minute; I was abused, yelled at, and even spat at after the game on the way to the train.



That says a lot about the West Coast supporters and no one should have to put up with that.



Living in WA, nothing hurts more than that sort of loss to a WA team ... Regardless, the amount of posters on here tonight calling for Eade's scalp or sacking of the whole leadership group is laughable.


I don't think this is laughable though. The club raised the bar, the coach has had a long time to shape the list and the result today is a very bitter pill for a club and a supporter group with understandably high public expectations.




Sacking Eade (or the leadership team) is not the answer.

Fully agree but do we just accept the loss as part of doing business or bite the bullet and have a realistic look at what direction the club should now set itself on for the balance of the season?
Rightly or wrongly we talked ourselves up and we have fallen well short so I understand why supporters are outraged by such a loss.
I'm not calling for the coaches head and certainly I'm not apportioning blame at the leadership group but what I want to see is an honest assessment by the club of where we are and what we believe we can get out of the balance of the season.
I then want us to meet that assessment. Failing that then something must give.

[mjp]

I sat at the game and watched every minute; I was abused, yelled at, and even spat at after the game on the way to the train.


We did as well...no problem with the WCE supporters though.

Why would they care? They won by 100 + points?

[Jasper]

Why not?

We look totally lost with the modern game. No idea how to press or handle it. Our forward defensive pressure is the worst in the league. As greystache mentioned, we look stuck in a 2008 time warp.

Nah mate, its not Eade, he is a great coach out of luck...

1 - If it wasn't for the umpires and injuries in 09 we would have won a GF (never mind the mental preparation that led us to freeze in the first final against an underdone Geelong, and not get a rest and not avoid a StK/Geelong prelim)
2 - Injuries killed us in 2010, not Eade's fault (never mind list management that has too many old players at our club, making us more likely to get injuries)
3 - The forward press is a fad that doesn't suit our cattle (never mind Eade actively participated in the recruitment and development of the whole list)

Nothing to do with Eade, why should be accountable, he's only had what seven or eight years to get it right. Its not his fault. He is a true legend with an unmatched win loss record, what do you expect a premiership or something???

[Rocco Jones]

We did as well...no problem with the WCE supporters though.

Why would they care? They won by 100 + points?

I feel for Scraggers but I lived in WA for a couple of years and had the same experiences as you did today.

My issue with Eagles fans was the other extreme, utter ignorance. They never had a go at me for being a Bulldogs fans but it also seemed they had no idea of any team other than the other lot that wear purple!

[GVGjr]

How does a top 4 side for 3 seasons get so convincingly beaten by last seasons wooden spooner? I mean we aren't talking a 10 goal loss here.
I know they have improved a lot but why have we gone so far backwards

[Rocco Jones]

Nah mate, its not Eade, he is a great coach out of luck...

1 - If it wasn't for the umpires and injuries in 09 we would have won a GF (never mind the mental preparation that led us to freeze in the first final against an underdone Geelong, and not get a rest and not avoid a StK/Geelong prelim)
2 - Injuries killed us in 2010, not Eade's fault (never mind list management that has too many old players at our club, making us more likely to get injuries)
3 - The forward press is a fad that doesn't suit our cattle (never mind Eade actively participated in the recruitment and development of the whole list)

Nothing to do with Eade, why should be accountable, he's only had what seven or eight years to get it right. Its not his fault. He is a true legend with an unmatched win loss record, what do you expect a premiership or something???

Yep

4- How can you blame Eade and when you consider our small footy department budget? It's not Eade's fault that he doesn't have guys to correct him all the times he is blatantly wrong.

5- Injuries in 2011. Can't players just get their own fitness right and know when they are ready?

6- Don't they get it? When Eade screams, he wants them to improve their motivation, play with confidence and take risks. The players seem to not get what Eade wants when he is screaming! I think he needs to yell more to explain the intent of his screaming.

[Jasper]

How does a top 4 side for 3 seasons get so convincingly beaten by last seasons wooden spooner? I mean we aren't talking a 10 goal loss here.
I know they have improved a lot but why have we gone so far backwards

Ask Rossy Lyon...

A good question though. The simple answer is age, our time has come and gone as our list aged. We simply don't have enought 23-27 year olds that are good players. Most of our players are over 28 and more likey to be injured, and to take longer to get over injuries. And when we get injuries to good players in their prime (like Cooney) it kills us as we don't have enough of them to cover.

I would also think either Eade has a plan to beat the press (Bomber and WC are the teams we have played that have put it in place, and have smashed us) and:

a - The players won't or can't implement it
b - His plan is not a good plan

Either way the responsibility is Eade's to address

[BulldogBelle]

Very hard to watch us go down like that...a friend over in Perth texted me and made mention that one man (Kennedy) kicked more in his ten goal haul over our entire score. I've switched my phone off now. I don't want any more texts today. :(

[Jasper]

6- Don't they get it? When Eade screams, he wants them to improve their motivation, play with confidence and take risks. The players seem to not get what Eade wants when he is screaming! I think he needs to yell more to explain the intent of his screaming.

Yeah this method is renowned for working with Brian Lake. How's he going?

[Rocco Jones]

I would also think either Eade has a plan to beat the press (Bomber and WC are the teams we have played that have put it in place, and have smashed us) and:

a - The players won't or can't implement it
b - His plan is not a good plan

Either way the responsibility is Eade's to address

It's not so much the execution/combat of the press that I am worried about, it's that we seem to have little tactical depth and/or aren't motivated.

Whatever it is, I agree, it's Eade's responsibility.

[Doc26]

Our leadership across the board should be called to account. There appears a lack of a strong leadership culture at our Club both within our playing group and that which makes up our supporting roles. Under pressure we are brittle and too often fail on the big stage when it's our turn to make a stand such as that which we saw with today's result, such as that which we've painfully seen under the spotlight in big games, in big finals.

It is the culture, the what we stand for, that needs attention, not so much the rather insignificant shuffling of player deck chairs such as the Out Stack In Hill / Addison type calls each week. The leadership DNA running through the Club presently is what I would be paying more attention to as we run the serious risk of passing the genes onto our younger brigade coming through and the probability of taking us another eternity to grab a premiership.

[Mantis]

So where is Mantis, what have you got to say about a top four team last year, being smashed by the wooden spooners from last year???? More defensive excuses I suppose.

Love Rocket, he has fulfilled his purpose but it is time to go. The recruitment team needs to be reviewed, we recruit Everett and the Tigers recruit Riewoldt after our pick.

The development of our players is behind every other team, they are skinny, lacking in confidence, lacking in leadership, and until supporters like Mantis stop support mediocrity, we will always be the support act for the star teams.

Here I am. ;)

I won't answer to the rest of your ramblings, but from my understanding the person who was directly responsible for the recruitment of Everitt was Scott Clayton who has since left the club.

[LostDoggy]

To Rocket Eade
To quote Neale Daniher who was most likely instrumental in our demise today
"Dont have a bad year in your last year of contract"

[Greystache]

Our leadership across the board should be called to account. There appears a lack of a strong leadership culture at our Club both within our playing group and that which makes up our supporting roles. Under pressure we are brittle and too often fail on the big stage when it's our turn to make a stand such as that which we saw with today's result, such as that which we've painfully seen under the spotlight in big games, in big finals.

It is the culture, the what we stand for, that needs attention, not so much the rather insignificant shuffling of player deck chairs such as the Out Stack In Hill / Addison type calls each week. The leadership DNA running through the Club presently is what I would be paying more attention to as we run the serious risk of passing the genes onto our younger brigade coming through and the probability of taking us another eternity to grab a premiership.

The problem with our leadership group is a number of them are strong and hugely vocal perfectionists when in the security of a meeting room at Whitten oval, but put them on the big stage against a top team and they're among the meekest players on our list. The group needs wholesale changes, and it should start with removing any player who routinely fails to perform against the top sides, eg Higgins, Gia, and Cross.

[Greystache]

I will be delirious if you are right but I think the hard truth is Tommy is no more than a toiler. He misreads the ball in flight, his body work still shows the hallmark of a guy who came to footy late, and his decision making is still poor. His early injuries gave him a mystique of a raw untapped talent that hasn't been justified. I actually think Markovich, though still inexperienced and raw, has gone past Tommy.

It gives me no joy to say it, but I think we've all been overly starry-eyed about what Tom offers, and this has been evident for a while. He is on his best days a serviceable third defender, not the dashing CFB that he promised to be that day in Launceston when he played on Buddy.

Good analysis, that's how I see him too. I really wonder if Williams is a better long term 3rd tall defender than Wood (regardless of Wood's lack of height)

[AndrewP6]

Honestly did you expect anything else?

I went into this game knowing we were going to beaten pretty convincingly. You can throw any excuse out there to defend this team but the fact is we are simply not good enough.

Agree 100%

[bornadog]

Is our season still alive?

If not - do we just rest Cooney for another month or so - get him cherry ripe and not risk his injury further. Do we bother with Hall much more this season?

I still don't think that the ins/outs are what the problem is. They aren't what caused us to get rolled by 100+ points.

I never said the ins and outs caused the result today. All I said was I don't want to read about draft picks from 5 years ago that we missed out on or lets kill the coach or why didn't we draft Pods, because guess what that is in the past and there is nothing we can do about it.

West Coast have beaten us the last 6 or 7 times we have played them and this year they are playing well, especially at home

What I am saying is what do we do now for next week with the players we have.

.

[AndrewP6]

Negative Nancys as far as the eye can see ... Same vitriol after every loss ... Predictable

What would you like?

"Yay! We didn't get beaten by 150 points. No one got killed"

Pretty hard to be positive after that tripe.

[Scraggers]

What would you like?

"Yay! We didn't get beaten by 150 points. No one got killed"

Pretty hard to be positive after that tripe.

I didn't ask for positivity ... I am happy with critisism especially after sitting through that game ... but lets make it constructive instead of destructive.
I understand that supporters are hurting ... I am hurting ... but attacking contributors to this site or calling for blood is not the answer.

What I would like is variety ... how about something different than 'we have to sack Eade'.

[Scraggers]

Mate lived in WA for 10yrs - Coasters are an ordinary group of supporters. But they are maringally better than Pies and Blues fans:rolleyes:

Not having a crack but rather stating what is not the answer, do you have an answer...?

Agree about WCE supporters ... the majority really don't understand football at all. They love it when they win, and 'virtually' eat their young when they don't.

Do I have an answer ? I have plenty of theories (like everyone else on WOOF) ... The straight forward answer is no, I don't have an answer, but 'throwing the baby out with the bath water' by sacking the coach is too extreme for a season that I believe is still salvageable; so I would say that we need to stay the course.

The last three years we have finished top four ... lost our first final, and been in a knockout position by week two. I think its pretty obvious that we will not finish top 4 now; but there is still a very good posibility that we will make the finals. The only difference this year in comparison to the last three, is that our first final will be a knockout final.

[Scraggers]

We did as well...no problem with the WCE supporters though.

Why would they care? They won by 100 + points?

Worst thing was, I was in a corporate box too. I started cheering for the Bulldogs early on in the game (mainly because there was nothing to cheer about for the rest of the game), and thats when the abuse started; it was like they had never had an oppostion supporter sitting in their realm before. By the end of the first quarter, I was the butt of their jokes and every goal the Eagles kicked their cheers and jeers seemed to be directed at me.

[Desipura]

Our leadership across the board should be called to account. There appears a lack of a strong leadership culture at our Club both within our playing group and that which makes up our supporting roles. Under pressure we are brittle and too often fail on the big stage when it's our turn to make a stand such as that which we saw with today's result, such as that which we've painfully seen under the spotlight in big games, in big finals.

It is the culture, the what we stand for, that needs attention, not so much the rather insignificant shuffling of player deck chairs such as the Out Stack In Hill / Addison type calls each week. The leadership DNA running through the Club presently is what I would be paying more attention to as we run the serious risk of passing the genes onto our younger brigade coming through and the probability of taking us another eternity to grab a premiership.

I have been saying this all along, totally agree.

[Chicago1]

It's Sunday afternoon here and I feel worse now then when I went to sleep 11 hours ago. With my Cubs doing crap too, it's going to be a long summer. If only I really cared about the Bulls... :(

[LostDoggy]

I didn't ask for positivity ... I am happy with critisism especially after sitting through that game ... but lets make it constructive instead of destructive.
I understand that supporters are hurting ... I am hurting ... but attacking contributors to this site or calling for blood is not the answer.

What I would like is variety ... how about something different than 'we have to sack Eade'.

Well said Scraggers, I must admit I avoided the forum last night - sat on the couch licking my wounds! I am hurting like everyone else, but I don't like when we start attacking one another - it's not necessary, coz, hey, we are all on the same side, aren't we? I just wish I had the answers to what the problem is with our boys.....:eek:

[LostDoggy]

The big questions are;

Why do our players look so unfit?
Why do we still not know how to combat the press?
Why were our players brushed aside so easily in contested situations?
Why is our ball-handling and usage so bad?
Where is the spirit and the desire to play for the jumper?

On the last one, it really hit home today how little some of our players and fans (not supporters) care about our club. There were more Gold Coast fans at our game earlier in the year than it looked llke there was Bulldogs fans on television today. On the players, well Chris Tarrant summed it up perfectly for me today in the Collingwood-Adelaide game when he kicked a goal and pointed to the jumper on his chest. When is the last time you've seen one of our players show such love for the team they represent?...

Have to agree with these questions - it seems we are unable to run out a whole game - look at our last quarter fade outs this year. Is it the coach who doesn't know how to combat the "press" or are the players unable/unwilling to follow instructions? Yep, we seem to overuse the ball all the time, and finally, just where is that bulldog spirit to play for the jumper and each other? I'm far from an expert, but even when we win at times I wonder why the players often seem to not back one another up? I look at other teams and I see players running in 2's and 3's, backing one another up, helping one another but it doesn't happen with us!

[Mantis]

Having missed most of yesterday's game due to other commitments I have just finished watching the game... It isn't easy sitting to watch a game when you know the result, but when you know your team is going to get beat by 20 goals it is akin to torture.

As I posted in another thread last week you can't defend the indefensable and that was disgusting.

You don't mind losing when it looks like the team is having a crack, but it didn't look that way for the last qtr & a half.

We fumbled, fell over, were un-disciplined and our ball movement was pathetic.... We looked completely out of ideas.

Embarrassing.

[The Coon Dog]

The last time I felt that numb after a game was the 1997 Preliminary Final. Totally shell shocked!

[always right]

What I don't get is how they can have so many players running free, yet on the rare occasion they turned the ball over, we can't manage to get players loose. We also almost never seem to have greater numbers around the ball than the opposition.
Either our structures are completely wrong or our players doun't work hard enough for each other. Yeah I know....bit of both.

[The Underdog]

The last time I felt that numb after a game was the 1997 Preliminary Final. Totally shell shocked!

It had a lot of the Hawthorn '08 final to me. Just beaten in every way.

[comrade]

It had a lot of the Hawthorn '08 final to me. Just beaten in every way.

And the last 6 weeks of 2007. Non-competitive and seemingly non-caring.

[The Underdog]

And the last 6 weeks of 2007. Non-competitive and seemingly non-caring.

Funny that we came out and ripped into 2008 to start with after disappointing in 2007. History repeating? We can only hope.

[Sedat]

And the last 6 weeks of 2007. Non-competitive and seemingly non-caring.
I remember Buddy kicking 2.11 in one of those late season games in 2007, let alone his virtuoso 9 goal performance in the 2008 QF. If Leigh Brown can kick 4 goals in 10 minutes on an injured and unfit Lake, I shudder to think what Buddy in career best form will do to us this week.

[bornadog]

I didn't ask for positivity ... I am happy with critisism especially after sitting through that game ... but lets make it constructive instead of destructive.
I understand that supporters are hurting ... I am hurting ... but attacking contributors to this site or calling for blood is not the answer.

What I would like is variety ... how about something different than 'we have to sack Eade'.

Couldn't agree more scraggers, we just have to move on we don't have a choice, we still have to play 13 more games and hope we can get something out of the season.

[Daughter of the West]

What I don't get is how they can have so many players running free, yet on the rare occasion they turned the ball over, we can't manage to get players loose. We also almost never seem to have greater numbers around the ball than the opposition.
Either our structures are completely wrong or our players doun't work hard enough for each other. Yeah I know....bit of both.

This is the thing that has stuck out for me the most this season. If you didn't know any better, you'd think we were playing a couple of men down in our matches since there never seems to be a loose man outside of the packs ready to scoop it up and run. I don't know what the answer to fixing that is though (especially never having played competitive football myself).

The thing that upset most was how defeated the boys already looked at half time, and they more or less played like that after the break. No fight whatsoever. :(

[LostDoggy]

Basically that was the year I wanted us to cut deeper into the list knowing that compromised drafts were heading our way and allowing for our commitments to Wallis and Libertore a couple of seasons later.

We took Cordy as a 4 or 5 year development player with no real expectations before then. If we had taken Port's Jackson Trengove instead of Cordy for example we would have had that 2nd part time ruckman that's quite fashionable now and had someone to pinch hit as a tall defender or forward.

First of all, wow. Just saw the score and I don't think I'll be downloading this game to watch.

Re: your post: I remember all of us having detailed discussions around the time of these few drafts, and I made a point that we seemed to be making quite a few mistakes (Rose etc.) and that while they seemed like pretty small mistakes in hindsight, cumulatively they do add up. Our rookie listers have held up pretty well (Picken etc.), but getting the main draft wrong means that while we are adding workrate and desire through the rookie list, we will be short on the class that the higher picks provide, and it seems that the turnover and poor disposal stats suggest that the younger part of our list is class deficient at the moment. A team like WC show the value of getting even a few picks right and the difference adding even just one or two game-breakers can make in such an even competition.

Re: the game itself, even having not watched it, you have to say a lot of it is mental -- the fact that they kicked more goals in the final quarter than what the margin was at the end of the 3rd quarter suggests a significant falling away of effort and application. The concern to me is an inability to shut the game down, ie. having a change of gear/style to be able to just get numbers around a contest and shut a game down to avoid a blowout -- even when we've been in form the last few years we've never handled a shootout well against any reasonably good team. However, we do have a large number of plodders/hard inside players, the least we should be able to do is create congestion, protect our lack of pace and one-trick ruckmen, and keep scores low -- I like our team's chances when no one is scoring and actually have no problem with copying the way Sydney structure up. The question is of course if our hard men are willing to reign in their egos and play a boring gameplan that will make the most of their ability rather than play a high-risk style pretending that they are all Gabletts and Buddies.