Game Day Round 8 2015 - Melbourne V Western Bulldogs

[GVGjr]

Maybe I'm the glass is half full person but I see today's result as just another trial of playing such a young side. They will excite us and disappoint us for the balance of the season. Who really knows what next week will dish up but I'll be there to watch it.

[Mantis]

We subbed off Boyd because he was pathetic in the first half and fell over as his only contribution in the third. It had nothing to do with Cordy.

Fair enough, Boyd was poor, but when we went with Cordy as our key forward he was outmarked in the next 3 contests by the same opponent that Boyd never lost a contest too ( he didn't win one either)

Cordy had to be shifted to defence in the last qtr as there was no where else to hide him.

[kruder]

The Stkilda one didn't hurt me that much but to see a bunch of second hand AFL footballers make us look second rate... Ahhhh that hurt! I was really concerned about our midfield at the start of the year, we then lost Libba so even more so and you can see why when you watched todays game. We just got smashed at the coal face and having ACE as our ruckman it just makes things even more difficult. Luke is playing the long game I understand that but gee its a fine line. Its very difficult to gain momentum back after losing it and he now has the task to build it again.

On the positive I thought Dahl played his absolute guts out and has been great all year. Boyd ditto.

[jeemak]

Fair enough, Boyd was poor, but when we went with Cordy as our key forward he was outmarked in the next 3 contests by the same opponent that Boyd never lost a contest too ( he didn't win one either)

Cordy had to be shifted to defence in the last qtr as there was no where else to hide him.

The thing I don't get, is if we needed to hide the ruckman why didn't we just sub him and play Roughead there and Boyd as the back up, as he has been to Cordy and Minson this year?

Do you think Boyd would have evened all of the contests you're referring to?

[Mantis]

Extremely disappointing effort.. From the first contest you could see Melb had come to play.. And bar the first 15 minutes where we dominated possession we just got completely out worked and out played and turned the ball over with ease.

Echo other posters thoughts on team selection.. Some extremely poor decisions ( in hindsight).. Bringing in an unskilled and soft flanker for a tackling machine was a strange call, especially when our game in the early part of the season has been built on F50 pressure.

[chef]

Maybe I'm the glass is half full person but I see today's result as just another trial of playing such a young side. They will excite us and disappoint us for the balance of the season. Who really knows what next week will dish up but I'll be there to watch it.

Yep, im the same. Happy to go in with zero expectations now and just enjoy what we are trying to build, with such a young side there will be days like this.

[Mantis]

The thing I don't get, is if we needed to hide the ruckman why didn't we just sub him and play Roughead there and Boyd as the back up, as he has been to Cordy and Minson this year?

Do you think Boyd would have evened all of the contests you're referring to?

You would have to ask the coaches on the 1st one, yes Boyd couldn't get into the game early on.. Wasn't helped by our poor ball use, but he is a much better option than Cordy as the stay at home forward.

And no I couldn't see Fitzpatrick out marking Boyd.. Just didn't look likely.

[jeemak]

You would have to ask the coaches on the 1st one, yes Boyd couldn't get into the game early on.. Wasn't helped by our poor ball use, but he is a much better option than Cordy as the stay at home forward.

And no I couldn't see Fitzpatrick out marking Boyd.. Just didn't look likely.

Even the mongrel kick that clearly advantaged him over Cordy and he had to dive and take a chest mark for?

[Greystache]

We subbed off Boyd because he was pathetic in the first half and fell over as his only contribution in the third. It had nothing to do with Cordy.

He had a poor first half, which wasn't helped by extremely poor delivery, so we subbed him for a terrible ruckman who's a worse forward?

We then had to move a defender into the ruck so we could get routinely out marked up forward. Which eventuated in us having Dahlhaus trying to our mark multiple defenders as our deep target. The final result was simply a formality.

[jeemak]

He had a poor first half, which wasn't helped by extremely poor delivery, so we subbed him for a terrible ruckman who's a worse forward?

We then had to move a defender into the ruck so we could get routinely out marked up forward. Which eventuated in us having Dahlhaus trying to our mark multiple defenders as our deep target. The final result was simply a formality.

You stated we had to sub Boyd off to hide Cordy. The logic's flawed. Why wouldn't we just sub Cordy rather than hide him and play Roughead in the ruck and have Boyd as the back up.

In a half of footy Boyd couldn't manage a stat aside from one handball and one hit-out. We've pilloried Cordy for that sort of output this season in the first three weeks, and with that in mind we should be able to admit Boyd got subbed because of that poor output.

[Greystache]

Even the mongrel kick that clearly advantaged him over Cordy and he had to dive and take a chest mark for?

Are we really suggesting a defence to a terrible structural change was that one of the times that quarter Cordy got outmarked it wasn't his fault?

[The Pie Man]

The opportunities Boyd had at impacting a contest were woefully inferior to the level required in the first half. Have no issue with him being subbed out

[bornadog]

Jong, is struggling at the moment, not even his tackling saved him today (2). He needs to drop back to VFL. Goodes, I am afraid is not up to AFL standard. I prefer Macrae or Hrovat in the team.

[bornadog]

I thought Roos out coached us today. Melbourne stopped our run and bounce from the backline. Murphy, JJ, Wood hardly ran through the corridor to spot someone up field, and were constantly pressured into either turning the ball over or into a stoppage. Melbourne's tackling matched ours and we were under pressure to get rid of it quickly. In the end they delivered the ball better into their forward line and we gave our forwards no chance.

[ratsmac]

We were horrible today across the whole ground. We were a fumble or a bad handball away from breaking the lines all day. Because we kept fumbling our run dried up. We were our own worst enemy. We seriously made them look good without taking anything away from Melbourne. They were just harder at the contest and used the ball way more efficiently than us when it counted.