Game day - Bulldogs vs Crows

[GVGjr]

This is the discussion thread for tomorrow tonights game.

Who's you tip to kick the first goal for us? I'll go with Higgins

I suppose the big question is around how Eade will manage to curb the Crows midfield.

[Bulldog Revolution]

Matty Boyd first goal

[GVGjr]

Not really related to Game Day but there is a very good article on Tom Williams in the Age today. As soon as anyone can find can they post it here? I have had a check and cannot find the link.

[bornadog]

First goal Bob Murphy. Lets hope the boys show some passion and fight and are competitive.

[BulldogBelle]

Giansiracusa to get the first goal

[LostDoggy]

Cooney to kick our first.

[Dry Rot]

Grant out, Tiller in.

[GVGjr]

Off to a good start with the first two goals.

[LostDoggy]

If we can kick 13 or 14 goals we will win this. The Crows are great at bunching it up on us though. It seems like it's always 2 of our players against 3 of theirs.

[LostDoggy]

Nice pass from Street to Eagleton for a goal but the late goals by the Crows have wrecked us a bit from having a lead. That Higgins error cost us.

At least we are pushing back on the Crows. Happy that we have kept the scoreboard moving along

[Bulldog Revolution]

I know we didn't get the result we were after but I thought it was a much better performance - I am not accepting that, but I want to see us play a better brand of footy over the final two weeks. We seemed to me to work a lot harder when we didn't have the footy, and our ability to win the contested footy was better. We just made too many mistakes when we did have it.

Tiller looked genuinely promising today. Williams and Everitt continue to grow. The return of Gilbee and Street was a positive - Gilbee was all class. Murphy now looks in good form.

[bornadog]

Much better performance, but a lot of errors going into the forward line. For some reason we keep bombing the ball into the forward line instead of looking for someone. But then again not too many players leading out, they seem to just stand there, including Darcy. This is something we need to work on.

Agree that we need to play our natural game for the next two weeks instead of that bullshit tempo rubbish that we don't know how to play.

Could be an opportunity to play a couple more youngters.

[Go_Dogs]

Even bringing the ball up from half back we were very stagnant yesterday. I was actually shocked at how little work was being done, there were occasions where perhaps 10 players were just standing around in the corridor clogging space and maybe one player making a lead out on a wing not even at full pace. Perhaps that was our tactic to really slow it down and take it casually but it certainly didn't help us moving forward. Far too many handballs and kicks missed there targets and far too many took the wrong option. The skill level of the whole game was really a good indication that it was a 10th v 11th battle, it was pretty average. Too often when we had the option to quickly move the ball by foot, we didn't - at times running forward we'd suddenly handball to a stationary target and this was at a time when someone in the forward line was actually leading to create something. Some of it was pretty ordinary. At a few stages our intensity seemingly lifted a notch, the pressure went up, we went in hard but as soon as we looked like we could kick a goal and get on a roll, a simple skill error turned the ball over, the confidence was shot and we were back to being a bit dejected.

I thought good players were Eagleton - even did a few ok right foot kicks, who worked hard and looked to create. Gilbee, Boyd, Cooney, West. Tiller was again reasonably impressive for mine, and I thought Skipper did a few ok things around the ground at times. Darcy got good value for his limited out put and his hit on Massie was almost the highlight of the game - until Massie got up and stole the ball off us.

It was good to get down there and have a watch, at least it was a close fought game, even if it was very scrappy. Hopefully as you say the next few weeks we go back to a hard running, goal scoring game - let's play some kids and get back to basics.

[Bulldog Revolution]

I agree McMahon and Bornadog - the desperation, and work of our players was markedly improved. We played a style of game that is far closer to being successful formula for us. We gave talls opportunities in the forward line - Skipper, Darcy and Tiller - and actually kicked it to them, to at least make contests. Our backline with Gilbees footskills plus Morris, Hargraves, Harris, Williams and Everitt on occassions looked ok also. Our real failing was the inability of Gia, Ray, Cooney, Boyd, Aka etc to really hurt the opposition with their disposals going forward.

[GVGjr]

Our real failing was the inability of Gia, Ray, Cooney, Boyd, Aka etc to really hurt the opposition with their disposals going forward.

This point is exactly what Mantis has been saying for several weeks now. I suppose you could add West to that list as well.

[Bulldog Revolution]

This point is exactly what Mantis has been saying for several weeks now. I suppose you could add West to that list as well.

I must have overlooked Mantis saying that - and wasn't meaning to just re-write his thoughts and claim them as mine

BUT I suspect this has been the real shock of the season for the coaching staff. I am sure they considered the group pretty skillful and SO this must be an enormous surprise for this element of our game to let us down so badly so consistently. With McMahon out of the team, and his form questionable, Murphy down on form for much of the season and with Gilbee and Giansiracus missing our game has lacked a penetration by foot.

Giansiracusas decision making and kicking yesterday was just appalling. And Ray really needs an intense summer with Leon Cameron if he insists on kicking left footed so much.

[GVGjr]

I must have overlooked Mantis saying that - and wasn't meaning to just re-write his thoughts and claim them as mine

BUT I suspect this has been the real shock of the season for the coaching staff. I am sure they considered the group pretty skillful and SO this must be an enormous surprise for this element of our game to let us down so badly so consistently. With McMahon out of the team, and his form questionable, Murphy down on form for much of the season and with Gilbee and Giansiracusa missing our game has lacked a penetration by foot.

Giansiracusas decision making and kicking yesterday was just appalling. And Ray really needs an intense summer with Leon Cameron if he insists on kicking left footed so much.


Sorry BR I wasn't reading it that way. I think your observation is correct and I know that Mantis has been talking about the sameness of our midfield particularly around hurting the opposition with our kicking.
I agree about Gia's kicking yesterday. For an otherwise skillful player he isn't anywhere near consistent enough.

[aker39]

I agree about Gia's kicking yesterday. For an otherwise skillful player he isn't anywhere near consistent enough.


He is not a skillful player. You've been listening to much to the media say that about him.

I hope other clubs think he's a skillful player, it will help in getting a good trade deal.

Get rid of him.

[Sockeye Salmon]

I agree McMahon and Bornadog - the desperation, and work of our players was markedly improved. We played a style of game that is far closer to being successful formula for us. We gave talls opportunities in the forward line - Skipper, Darcy and Tiller - and actually kicked it to them, to at least make contests. Our backline with Gilbees footskills plus Morris, Hargraves, Harris, Williams and Everitt on occassions looked ok also. Our real failing was the inability of Gia, Ray, Cooney, Boyd, Aka etc to really hurt the opposition with their disposals going forward.

I don't agree at all.

Skipper, Darcy and Tiller failed to take a single mark between them inside 50 and the ball came back out at lightning speed.

Our problem (as usual) was we had no-one presenting up from CHF, not even Murphy. With no-one presenting up the ground our midfield had to dick around with it because there was nowhere else to go.

As usual Gia was way better than he's getting credit for (not good, but nowhere near as bad as is being made out).

[Bulldog Revolution]

I didn't think Gia was bad either but he isn't a consistent footballer given he is now regarded as a senior player.

At times this year Gia has played some career best footy in which you think: he's really got it, hes figured out he needs to play with desperation and assert himself physically on the game at all times. And then he goes back to dishing up sub standard performances.
There is too big a gap between his best and worst.

I am not saying he did nothing good yesterday but there were some terrible kicking errors, in situations where a player of his experience should have done better.

[Bulldog Revolution]

I don't agree at all.

Skipper, Darcy and Tiller failed to take a single mark between them inside 50 and the ball came back out at lightning speed.

Our problem (as usual) was we had no-one presenting up from CHF, not even Murphy. With no-one presenting up the ground our midfield had to dick around with it because there was nowhere else to go.

As usual Gia was way better than he's getting credit for (not good, but nowhere near as bad as is being made out).

Fair enough you are entitled to disagree Sockeye.

The stats can be deceptive though - Tiller kicked our second goal off a free kick but it would have been a mark inside 50 had he not been infringed, and he did take a mark inside 50 off a Power miskick in the second quarter on the lead. Darcy goaled twice off free kicks where he wouldn't have necessarily marked but the fact that we had a tall and kicked to it created the goal.

I am not saying the forward line functioned superbly yesterday but I prefer us having some tall options, and consider the Johnson, Robbin, Higgins, Aka, Gia forward combo or one like that as one that will never really get us anywhere.

I dont agree that the problem was centre half forward (but it is harder to tell watching it on the box) I felt it was more our midfield, half backs using the ball well enough to get good inside 50 entries, to give our forwards a 1 on 1 chance.

[Templeton31]

seems to me that it was a combination of players not presenting and poor skill.

on the gia front one thing I will say is his kicking for goal has improved out of sight. I thought he used to be a very shaky kick for goal with a big late hook on his shots but this year he has been very reliable.

[bornadog]

Skipper, Darcy and Tiller failed to take a single mark between them inside 50 and the ball came back out at lightning speed.

Our problem (as usual) was we had no-one presenting up from CHF, not even Murphy. With no-one presenting up the ground our midfield had to dick around with it because there was nowhere else to go.

SS, your right, the midfield players ended bombing it in as they had no one leading out for the mark. Tiller is not bad on the lead but in only his 4th game can't expect much, but Darcy and Skipper just stand there.
We are desperate for some one to take over CHF, we need another Chris Grant, a youthful one.:D

[Go_Dogs]

It's not even about having a big CHF for mine. If guys like Murphy, Gia, Higgins, Tiller, Johnson can lead up, present and take control of the ball between the 50-80m out mark, that would be wonderful and solve a lot of our problems going forward. The problem is that we're too slow moving the ball forward and not enough people are working hard to create an option. If I saw Gilbee running out of the backline, I'd be leading as hard as I could knowing that I'll get a good kick at me if I go to the right spot. This year we haven't seen enough leading, enough hard work and continuous presenting. Too many standing back waiting for someone else to lead. I don't mind having guys like Darcy and Skipper playing the stay at home power forward, and for mine they'd be more effective with a few guys who can play the lead up role - instead of relying on rushed bombs that sometimes don't go anywhere near their vicinity, they could get better delivery from a better range under less pressure.