With all this talk of fundraising and contracts and Bailey Smith...

[mjp]

...can anyone tell me if we are actually focussed on this week's game??

All I am hearing about is:

1/. How good we are and if it wasn't for Brisbane, we'd be the flag favourites.
2/. Fundraising for the new facility.
3/. Bailey Smith
4/. Tim's contract/impending free agency.

The club is focussed on the game against Adelaide right? 'Cos there's no point beating Melbourne (or Sydney, or Geelong, or Carlton) if you're going to fall asleep on the flight to Adelaide and not get the job done...

Really concerned right now. Not loving the change of focus from footy to fundraising. Yep - of course it's important but happy members will donate more....

[hujsh]

...can anyone tell me if we are actually focussed on this week's game??

All I am hearing about is:

1/. How good we are and if it wasn't for Brisbane, we'd be the flag favourites.
2/. Fundraising for the new facility.
3/. Bailey Smith
4/. Tim's contract/impending free agency.

The club is focussed on the game against Adelaide right? 'Cos there's no point beating Melbourne (or Sydney, or Geelong, or Carlton) if you're going to fall asleep on the flight to Adelaide and not get the job done...

Really concerned right now. Not loving the change of focus from footy to fundraising. Yep - of course it's important but happy members will donate more....

Do you think this is something that impacts the players and coaches? I know it's what WOOF has talked about but surely aside from the admin it's not really anything that gets much notice from the footy side of the club

[bornadog]

We need to be totally ready, says Beveridge

The Western Bulldogs are hopeful they can achieve a positive outcome at Adelaide Oval this Sunday.

The Bulldogs are yet to register a win at the venue this season, but coach Luke Beveridge says preparing the same way they have over the last month will hold them in good stead.

?We?re 0 from two, so it?d be nice to at least get a positive result (there) this year. That?ll be our intent ? to go over there and put our best foot forward,? Beveridge told media on Tuesday.

?I was impressed by Adelaide against Essendon, and then they ran Geelong pretty close down at the sleepy hollow and almost should?ve won that game.

?I think Rankine is coming back this week, so when you look at their forward-line and their threats, and consider quite recently how prolific they were with how much they scored particularly early in the season, they?re extremely capable.

?We need to be totally ready for their best.?

Beveridge said the evenness of the competition, even still at this point in the run home, means his team needs to stay alert.

?We?ve only won 12, but there?s (probably four games) that we?d not rather forget, but you learn a bit from how the challenge of the competition is real...anyone can sit you on your backside so I think that?s probably the key,? he said.

?Being cats on a hot tin roof is about being really wary that that can happen in any given week. It?s why I highlight the possibility that Adelaide are that team.

?We need to be ready for them like we have been against the teams we?ve played in recent times who were above us on the ladder.?

[mjp]

Do you think this is something that impacts the players and coaches? I know it's what WOOF has talked about but surely aside from the admin it's not really anything that gets much notice from the footy side of the club

Yep - I sure do.

You need a bit of a unified purpose to be successful and whilst last week was all about retro round, honouring the past and moving forward together, this week it just doesn't feel like that. Adelaide fluffed their lines last week in a game they coulda/shoulda won...Further, the week before they beat Essendon and were deluding themselves finals were 'MAYBE' on the agenda...now that's clearly GONE so they will be playing with real freedom (aided by the desire to get a 2025 contract).

This just spells danger to me and my opinion is that Bevo would not be loving what's going on right now...we need to knuckle down. This has become SO important - who here wants to play GWS in Ballarat on the final day of the season with finals on the line and the Toby/Jesse show operating inside the Giants forward 50.

I am 100% hating all of this right now and the timing seems so wrong. I mean, when you need money you need money I guess and I bet the admin are saying "this stuff doesn't impact on footy"...but it does.

[comrade]

...can anyone tell me if we are actually focussed on this week's game??

All I am hearing about is:

1/. How good we are and if it wasn't for Brisbane, we'd be the flag favourites.
2/. Fundraising for the new facility.
3/. Bailey Smith
4/. Tim's contract/impending free agency.

The club is focussed on the game against Adelaide right? 'Cos there's no point beating Melbourne (or Sydney, or Geelong, or Carlton) if you're going to fall asleep on the flight to Adelaide and not get the job done...

Really concerned right now. Not loving the change of focus from footy to fundraising. Yep - of course it's important but happy members will donate more....

Last week we had 10x more exposure about the new facility, how well we?re going etc. We had ex-legends talking about the new swimming pool. We were the lead on every footy show throughout last week (trust me, I watched them all). This week? Basically crickets. It?s all on the Swans wobbling, Brisbane rising etc. If we were guilty of being distracted by the off field stuff, last week would have confirmed it. We went alright if I recall.

Bailey Smith and Tim English have been ongoing topics of interest all year round, this week is no different.

Time to enjoy what you?re seeing on the field, mjp. Remember, you were pretty confident we?d drop the game against Melbourne also.

[azabob]

So what mjp is saying is "Get it done"

https://megaphone.link/NTETP3069341031

[jeemak]

I'm hoping the timing of our game gives us time to put today's fundraising behind us and purely focus over the next few days. If it was a Friday night game it'd be more concerning to me.

[comrade]

Are the players out there making calls and rattling tins today?

[Happy Days]

It did occur to me that they are risking screwing with the vibes by launching this weird opaque fundraising campaign seemingly out of nowhere, but also this stuff only really seems to be on my mind until the games start and then it disappears completely.

[EasternWest]

Are the players out there making calls and rattling tins today?

They've got too many side hustles to get to.

Besides, the family of 4 on 80k a year are more emotionally invested in the club and should definitely be bled for that little bit more.

[bornadog]

I am more concerned about actually playing at Adelaide Oval where we have lost two games this year.

Hopefully the boys don't get ahead of them selves and put in the effort to beat this mob.

[mjp]

Last week we had 10x more exposure about the new facility, how well we?re going etc. We had ex-legends talking about the new swimming pool. We were the lead on every footy show throughout last week (trust me, I watched them all). This week? Basically crickets. It?s all on the Swans wobbling, Brisbane rising etc. If we were guilty of being distracted by the off field stuff, last week would have confirmed it. We went alright if I recall.

Bailey Smith and Tim English have been ongoing topics of interest all year round, this week is no different.

Time to enjoy what you?re seeing on the field, mjp. Remember, you were pretty confident we?d drop the game against Melbourne also.

Start at the bottom first:

I wasn't CONFIDENT we would lose to Melbourne. I said - and I'm not gonna go and find it but it would have been something like this - "Until we can prove that our #1 attacking plan vs Melbourne ISN'T to kick the ball to Steven May and Jake Lever, then I am not prepared to concede we will win this game". To be fair, I did suggest we would beat Carlton and was pretty confident vs Sydney. I'm pretty sure I said the same thing about Tom Stewart that I said about Lever and May btw - both were footy based reasons to be nervous based on past performance.

I think the "distractions" LAST WEEK were all about footy. Past players coming in is GOOD for footy culture and players get very focussed in on performance when things like that are on. Having Hawkins at the club and watching highlights of Dougie doing Dougie things is inspirational. Listening to him talk about how he feels about the facilities etc - that helps ground them and reminds them of some simple truths - like, "We are lucky to be playing a game and getting paid to do it. We have things that those before us didn't have...etc".

The distractions this week are all about 'self' - $ and cents, pure and simple. That is not a good mindset for a football team.

If the players are disconnected from it...well, that's great. I just know that talking about Chinese walls and other such devices of separating issues within organisations is all cool until it isn't...I don't want it to not be cool this week against a dangerous team.

[The bulldog tragician]

Last week we had 10x more exposure about the new facility, how well we?re going etc. We had ex-legends talking about the new swimming pool. We were the lead on every footy show throughout last week (trust me, I watched them all). This week? Basically crickets. It?s all on the Swans wobbling, Brisbane rising etc. If we were guilty of being distracted by the off field stuff, last week would have confirmed it. We went alright if I recall.

Bailey Smith and Tim English have been ongoing topics of interest all year round, this week is no different.

Time to enjoy what you?re seeing on the field, mjp. Remember, you were pretty confident we?d drop the game against Melbourne also.

I feel the same. Last week I was alarmed that we were flavour of the month and concerned we would drop a game against a tough opponent who has historically troubled us while we basked in our own glory. I thought the signs were very good from the get-go against the Dees.

To me this week’s fundraising drive has been part of the unveiling of a brilliant new facility and celebrating our Footscray heritage. A positive future to sell and be part of, aligning with a team performing on the field. It doesn’t feel like a forlorn, desperate, down and out, poor old Dishlickers, can-we-at-least-stay-afloat strategy. It’s quite different to be asked to contribute to an amazing state of the art revitalisation than “hoping” to save the old John Gent stand when it was condemned as a fire hazard. So I don’t think, mjp, that it has had that sort of vibe. The Bailey Smith - English thing has gone on all year. Unless you mean it’s our Woof chatter that’s fixated on these things, I’m not sure where the sense that the club is likely to be distracted has come from?

[Mofra]

I want things difficult.
I really do. I want hurdles because we tend to perform best when we make things hard for ourselves.

Adelaide - and any team with small forward threats - worries me more than sizes with a more "traditional" set up. That's great.

We'll "find out" this week because if we don't beat Adelaide, I don't think we'll beat the Hawks either and they may week be our week 1 finals opponent (if we get there)

[Axe Man]

I want things difficult.
I really do. I want hurdles because we tend to perform best when we make things hard for ourselves.

Adelaide - and any team with small forward threats - worries me more than sizes with a more "traditional" set up. That's great.

We'll "find out" this week because if we don't beat Adelaide, I don't think we'll beat the Hawks either and they may week be our week 1 finals opponent (if we get there)

I think there is a fair chance Hawthorn miss out with 14 wins unless they can increase their percentage or there are some major upsets. They are also a fairly unlikely opponent for us in week 1.