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Re: Demons V Bulldogs - Round 1 17/3/24 MCG 1.00pm
I was really concerned about our backend going into the game and wasn't confident considering what we have dished up the last two years so a loss wasn't totally unexpected but what is a massive concern though, is that you couldn't see anything that the club had hung their hat on during preseason come to fruition.
-The only 2 players that looked fitter were West and yep I'm going to say this Mcsteal. Now this is my biggest concern more than anything. The rhetoric about not having to go to Springvale to train, new facilities, new fitness coach, fitness group ever in Bevo's era to kick off the season etc etc etc It was non existent. A good example was Cody, not once during the game did we see his improved running ability impact the game, we barely saw him up the field at all.
-Naughty also played pretty deep for the most part and like in the GF we did nothing about moving him up the field to him to get into the game. A guy that signed a mega deal, in the leadership group it was a disappointing day indeed. When the Dees started the run on surely he can go back at times? He pushed up a lot higher in the preseason I was very surprised that his role felt very 2023 again.
-Bevo continuing to select players that will never be AFL players. Buku has always been a liability when the ball hits the ground, he runs around like a little leaguer he just lacks urgency for defence. Mcsteal and VDM aren't natural small forwards they never will be.
-We get too many similar performances from English for a player of his ability and contract demands$$$ I can't remember a player that has to be reminded to compete at half time as much as Tim does. He looked more dangerous forward and must be prepared to play there at times to benefit the team.
Ageing midfield, yep looked older again today. In fairness we recognised this hence selling the farm for Sanders and have been unlucky with Smith. I'm fine with Macca not playing today considering his issues but yeah I think we need to try something different in there. Gags is going to be an AFL player that I can assure you all but once we get JOD back I agree I wouldn't mind seeing ED going in there.
You could hear Lade on the Doco on Lobb saying to the players at quarter time at the WO simulation game let's not go to sleep like we normally do after a good quarter. I did find it interesting hearing it and yep we were poor in the second quarter in that game and this time it started a few minutes to go in the first. Another run on, I can hear Kane Cornes already and rightly so.
Ball movement looked great for 10 minutes when JJ had them in his pocket early but once again another significant factor of our demise last year came out to haunt us. Are we playing the modern game? Could any woofers see anything different ?
While I'm half glass empty, 44k for a beautiful day at the G? We nearly have 100k members between us that crowd was reflective of our performance.
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Re: Demons V Bulldogs - Round 1 17/3/24 MCG 1.00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by
angelopetraglia
Bevo mentioned this in the presser. It was the number one thing he identifeid where we failed. We allowed them to pierce us at will. They had 50+ uncontested marks more than the AFL average.
It was horrendous.
This is where the journalism sucks.
Ask WHY it wasn't rectified. It was happening from the beginning.
If we can't adapt mid game to something that simple I'm at a loss to expecting anything from this group.
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Re: Demons V Bulldogs - Round 1 17/3/24 MCG 1.00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by
angelopetraglia
Bevo mentioned this in the presser. It was the number one thing he identifeid where we failed. We allowed them to pierce us at will. They had 50+ uncontested marks more than the AFL average.
It was horrendous.
Jack Billings had 15 uncontested marks, all on the wing. What did we do in game to combat this?
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Re: Demons V Bulldogs - Round 1 17/3/24 MCG 1.00pm
Went to the match. It was a warm day for the footy and looking forward to the cooler weather soon and daylight saving ending going back one hour.
Not a great day and plenty to learn from our first outing for 2024.
The match as one poster mentioned turned early in the 2nd quarter with that burst of goals once again which we know so well and seems to happen far too often against us
Need to make some changes going into the match against Gold Coast next week. We must put some work into Rowell in particular next week.
Hopefully Macrae comes back and Daniel starts that match. Need to fix that defence up as well. It was woeful. O'Donnell would have been good down there today.
Still need to take our chances when we go forward once again.
Thought Bramble, Marra and West were positives today. Bont and Libba did what they do but it can't be just them. I liked JJ game and Liam Jones intercepted very well down there.
Tough debuts for Sanders and Gallagher.
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Re: Demons V Bulldogs - Round 1 17/3/24 MCG 1.00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by
The Bulldogs Bite
Why did we allow them to chip and walk through us from deep in our own F50?
Why wasn't it addressed?
Is the message and game plan wrong, or are players not following instruction?
The fact we couldn't adapt all day to something so simple astounds me. Are we dumb, lazy, or both?
TBB we didn't man the mark again if felt like 2022 when we were sagging off all the time.
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Re: Demons V Bulldogs - Round 1 17/3/24 MCG 1.00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by
kruder
TBB we didn't man the mark again if felt like 2022 when we were sagging off all the time.
Something I picked up on as well.
Bevo mentioned in his presser that they were able to pick off short diagonals, but in order to do that you need to be super quick with your decision making or you need to be given space as a kicker.
The MCG is huge, sagging off doesn't suit that ground. While you can get away with it a little on smaller/ narrower grounds, you can't at the G. You need the opposition user to either be rushed to make a decision, or go back and take longer to kick the footy - hopefully allowing the defenders to cover it. Neither happened for us because we sagged off in two thirds of the ground and we didn't work hard enough to close up space.
I really do prefer it when our frontal pressure is noticeable for the last two thirds of the ground.
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Re: Demons V Bulldogs - Round 1 17/3/24 MCG 1.00pm
I think we got screwed by the draw, playing a team with already a game under their belts, on the rebound, at their home and in pretty tiring conditions. Plus they are a top 4 side.
I think we'll bounce back next week.
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Re: Demons V Bulldogs - Round 1 17/3/24 MCG 1.00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by
kruder
TBB we didn't man the mark again if felt like 2022 when we were sagging off all the time.
It also looks like we struggle to play the ground. For whatever reason when we play the teams that are quick on the G we get cut up on the rebound and sides pick us apart. Go to Marvel and we don't seem to have the same gaps.
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Re: Demons V Bulldogs - Round 1 17/3/24 MCG 1.00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by
chef
I think we got screwed by the draw, playing a team with already a game under their belts, on the rebound, at their home and in pretty tiring conditions. Plus they are a top 4 side.
I think we'll bounce back next week.
Have you seen the Suns chef?
Theyre a formidable outfit these days.
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Re: Demons V Bulldogs - Round 1 17/3/24 MCG 1.00pm
Robbo. Dislikes.
Same old Dogs need a new trick
That was disappointing. Aaron Naughton would be disappointed. He had six touches and took one mark and was targeted by teammates just twice inside the forward 50. Jamarra Ugle-Hagan was the target 10 times, Cody Weightman was five times and Rory Lobb was four times. If his teammates don’t kick it to Naughton, the $900,000 forward, what’s the point of him being there? The discussion must be about whether he is best suited for the team to play in defence. As Ugle-Hagan was developing, Naughton was needed forward. Now that Ugle-Hagan is a bona fide star, and Sam Darcy kicked six goals in a VFL game at the weekend and is craving selection, Naughton can easily be redeployed.
Certainly, they need to stiffen the defence. The Bulldogs made too many mistakes between the arcs which put way too much pressure on the defensive group. Buku Khamis was okay but the Dogs needed another interceptor to help Liam Jones. Dare we say it, they once again gave up a five-goal stretch, coming late in the first quarter and until the sixth minute of the second quarter. And they gave up 16 scores from turnover. It’s a familiar tale for the Dogs which needs to be challenged. Naughton to the defensive 50 is a trigger that can only help.
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Re: Demons V Bulldogs - Round 1 17/3/24 MCG 1.00pm
Tackles
Harmes 5
Gallagher 5
English 4
Bont 4
West 3
Sanders 2
Caleb 2
Coffield 2
Zero tackles
Weightman
Naughton
Lobb
Jones
Dale
Libba and Treloar also only laid one tackle each which is genuinly a suprise when you consdier how many minutes they spent in the midfield. Libba averaged 7 tackles per game in 2023. Treloar averaged 5 tackles per game in 2023.
It was a bruise free game with the way they cut us up with all that short kicking, but we did not have intensity around the contest or at the man.
When we are dying for some forward pressure from our forwards, zero tackles from Weightman, Naughton and Lobb is a real issue. Especially with someone with the athletic attributes of Naughton at ground level.
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Re: Demons V Bulldogs - Round 1 17/3/24 MCG 1.00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by
chef
I think we got screwed by the draw, playing a team with already a game under their belts, on the rebound, at their home and in pretty tiring conditions. Plus they are a top 4 side.
I think we'll bounce back next week.
And after a ten day break to thoroughly review what went awry, how to counter it, recover well, train well, and prepare well. Outside of winning round zero (whatever the **** that means) they had a ripping lead up to today's game.
Agree we'll be better for the run, and I hope we're quietly lobbying the AFEL to never let such a shit show occur again.
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Re: Demons V Bulldogs - Round 1 17/3/24 MCG 1.00pm
Every cloud has a silver lining guys....
We are off the bottom the alphabet put us in! Woot.
https://i.postimg.cc/x1hpYFTV/Screen...317-200707.png
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Re: Demons V Bulldogs - Round 1 17/3/24 MCG 1.00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by
chef
I think we got screwed by the draw, playing a team with already a game under their belts, on the rebound, at their home and in pretty tiring conditions. Plus they are a top 4 side.
I think we'll bounce back next week.
I know one round does not a season make but I am so totally uninspired and unsurprised by what I've seen today that I can t even find the optimism in me right now to think we'll bounce back.
There's been no change to our game, our weaknesses are the same and after game one in another new season we're already discussing the future of guys like McNeil and Vandermeer. Again. Also like the year before. Harmes is Hannan. Buku is Cordy. The deja vu is strong.
I'm very concerned.
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Re: Demons V Bulldogs - Round 1 17/3/24 MCG 1.00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by
angelopetraglia
Robbo. Dislikes.
Same old Dogs need a new trick
That was disappointing. Aaron Naughton would be disappointed.
Senior football writer at the foremost football news outlet btw.
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Re: Demons V Bulldogs - Round 1 17/3/24 MCG 1.00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Happy Days
Senior football writer at the foremost football news outlet btw.
Even drunks have their moments of clarity.
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Re: Demons V Bulldogs - Round 1 17/3/24 MCG 1.00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by
EasternWest
Even drunks have their moments of clarity.
To be fair. It didn't require any real thought or analysis. Robbo has been on the decline for years. I struggle to keep up with most of his gibberish these days.
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Re: Demons V Bulldogs - Round 1 17/3/24 MCG 1.00pm
I'm sick of the drunk bashing on this site.
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Re: Demons V Bulldogs - Round 1 17/3/24 MCG 1.00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Grantysghost
I prefer to focus on the positives. In a massive turnaround from last season, we now sit only two spots behind the reigning premiers
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Re: Demons V Bulldogs - Round 1 17/3/24 MCG 1.00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by
bulldogsthru&thru
So will Bevo throw out the preseason plan? Or do we wait another week?
This was my exact thought. Thankfully didn?t get to watch a huge amount today, saw the opening - looked great for the first 10 mins, and then only saw snippets post.
Always an enjoyable read going through this thread after the game.
On your question? that?s the big one. Do we back ourselves in and say we get the selections largely right and have the plan and persist, or do we throw in the towel and go back to something else?
I mean - I?m sure Macrae gives a better outcome than Gags, and Daniel should maybe go back to defence where he hasn?t played for ages because we just don?t have any dare aside from JJ, and maybe Darcy can come back in so at least when we kick and hope we?ve got someone who can mark it.
Shame Jordan Sweet is gone because bringing him in for English vs Witts could?ve actually been a viable option?
If Harmes stays, does he tag Anderson?
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Re: Demons V Bulldogs - Round 1 17/3/24 MCG 1.00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Go_Dogs
This was my exact thought. Thankfully didn?t get to watch a huge amount today, saw the opening - looked great for the first 10 mins, and then only saw snippets post.
Always an enjoyable read going through this thread after the game.
On your question? that?s the big one. Do we back ourselves in and say we get the selections largely right and have the plan and persist, or do we throw in the towel and go back to something else?
I mean - I?m sure Macrae gives a better outcome than Gags, and Daniel should maybe go back to defence where he hasn?t played for ages because we just don?t have any dare aside from JJ, and maybe Darcy can come back in so at least when we kick and hope we?ve got someone who can mark it.
Shame Jordan Sweet is gone because bringing him in for English vs Witts could?ve actually been a viable option?
If Harmes stays, does he tag Anderson?
Agree 100%.
Bevo is going to have a sleepless couple of nights contemplating that. In the presser he mentioned how those that had big summers and he backed to take the spots of players like Caleb had poor days and they would be really dissapointed. Do they get a second chance or has he seen enough?
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Re: Demons V Bulldogs - Round 1 17/3/24 MCG 1.00pm
I just made the mistake of listening to Bevo brief and his press conference.
I have no confidence about next week.
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Re: Demons V Bulldogs - Round 1 17/3/24 MCG 1.00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Grantysghost
Have you seen the Suns chef?
Theyre a formidable outfit these days.
If im going to drive 3 hours each way i need positivity or whats the point.
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Re: Demons V Bulldogs - Round 1 17/3/24 MCG 1.00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by
azabob
I just made the mistake of listening to Bevo brief and his press conference.
I have no confidence about next week.
What were your take outs?
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Re: Demons V Bulldogs - Round 1 17/3/24 MCG 1.00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by
angelopetraglia
Agree 100%.
Bevo is going to have a sleepless couple of nights contemplating that. In the presser he mentioned how those that had big summers and he backed to take the spots of players like Caleb had poor days and they would be really dissapointed. Do they get a second chance or has he seen enough?
Bevo will back the same team in.
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Re: Demons V Bulldogs - Round 1 17/3/24 MCG 1.00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by
chef
If im going to dive 3 hours each way i need positivity or whats the point.
Ha. This is true.
Both my children play in Basketball Grand Finals next Saturday. So I will be missing from the Ballarat game.
Will then also miss the next two due to being overseas on holidays. Next game will be against the Bombers on April 12.
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Re: Demons V Bulldogs - Round 1 17/3/24 MCG 1.00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by
angelopetraglia
Robbo. Dislikes.
Same old Dogs need a new trick
Naughton to the defensive 50 is a trigger that can only help.
Enough said.
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Re: Demons V Bulldogs - Round 1 17/3/24 MCG 1.00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by
chef
If im going to drive 3 hours each way i need positivity or whats the point.
Others would argue you need your head checked.
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Re: Demons V Bulldogs - Round 1 17/3/24 MCG 1.00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by
jeemak
Others would argue you need your head checked.
Nothing about football fandom makes sense. Our actions are truly unexplainable.
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Re: Demons V Bulldogs - Round 1 17/3/24 MCG 1.00pm
On a positive note it was good not listening to BT and Richo shit show. :)
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Re: Demons V Bulldogs - Round 1 17/3/24 MCG 1.00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by
jeemak
Others would argue you need your head checked.
We all chose a football team while children and let it dictate our moods for 9 months of the year for the rest of our lives.
We probably all need our heads checked haha.
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Re: Demons V Bulldogs - Round 1 17/3/24 MCG 1.00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by
chef
We all chose a football team while children and let it dictate our moods for 9 months of the year for the rest of our lives.
We probably all need our heads checked haha.
Indeed.
Funnily, I've pretty much narrowed down the negative impacts of football to watching the game and being directly engaged by SEN listeners.
It's a pretty good spot to be in, even if the game in itself is supposed to represent an outlet for recreation rather than masochism.
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Re: Demons V Bulldogs - Round 1 17/3/24 MCG 1.00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by
angelopetraglia
What were your take outs?
Not much. As always he didn’t say much.
I truly believe he thinks today was an aberration and we will bounce back.
Clearly what we planned for over pre season from team selection to structure to game day strategy did not work.
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Re: Demons V Bulldogs - Round 1 17/3/24 MCG 1.00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by
angelopetraglia
Agree 100%.
Bevo is going to have a sleepless couple of nights contemplating that. In the presser he mentioned how those that had big summers and he backed to take the spots of players like Caleb had poor days and they would be really dissapointed. Do they get a second chance or has he seen enough?
I haven’t listened to the press conference however it’s definitely a Bevo thing to do, to back them in again.
It’s also in his wares to bring someone senior back in when they’re ready to go - it seems like it’ll be how much running and at what pace did Jack get through on the GPS yesterday - but if he’s hitting the metrics, surely he’s straight back in?
Some big calls this week.
GC in Ballarat will be a hard ask, and if we lose, we’re really up against it - confidence will be hard to recover and fans / media will start going hard. It is still early doors but it’s really a season defining game in many ways.
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Re: Demons V Bulldogs - Round 1 17/3/24 MCG 1.00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by
go_dogs
this was my exact thought. Thankfully didn?t get to watch a huge amount today, saw the opening - looked great for the first 10 mins, and then only saw snippets post.
Always an enjoyable read going through this thread after the game.
On your question? That?s the big one. Do we back ourselves in and say we get the selections largely right and have the plan and persist, or do we throw in the towel and go back to something else?
I mean - i?m sure macrae gives a better outcome than gags, and daniel should maybe go back to defence where he hasn?t played for ages because we just don?t have any dare aside from jj, and maybe darcy can come back in so at least when we kick and hope we?ve got someone who can mark it.
shame jordan sweet is gone because bringing him in for english vs witts could?ve actually been a viable option?
if harmes stays, does he tag anderson?
whoop whoop sweet alert sweet alert whoop whoop
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Re: Demons V Bulldogs - Round 1 17/3/24 MCG 1.00pm
That race caller guy on Fox was cool. They should get more actual broadcasters in the mix.
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Re: Demons V Bulldogs - Round 1 17/3/24 MCG 1.00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by
chef
If im going to drive 3 hours each way i need positivity or whats the point.
Or beer
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Re: Demons V Bulldogs - Round 1 17/3/24 MCG 1.00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Happy Days
That race caller guy on Fox was cool. They should get more actual broadcasters in the mix.
He should be ostracised for doing research, if I'm honest.
Throughout the entire game I didn't notice ignorant things coming from his mouth, nor did he painfully sexualise any minorities or people of colour. It was weird.
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Re: Demons V Bulldogs - Round 1 17/3/24 MCG 1.00pm
Could anyone link Bevos brief? I don't receive the emails anymore for some reason.
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Re: Demons V Bulldogs - Round 1 17/3/24 MCG 1.00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by
chef
If im going to drive 3 hours each way i need positivity or whats the point.
I will be in Ballarat - we will bounce back