Three Things I've Learned - Round 21 Edition

[Cyberdoggie]

Agree Kennedy Darling Nic Nat and Sinclair for West Coast and we had two talls for forward and ruck
I want to see Tommy Boyd and Redpath both in next week

It worked fine the last few weeks.

You can use the same argument for our defenders, they were always going to be outgunned by Darling and Kennedy, so do we add an extra defender to stem their influence? or perhaps it's just that we were beaten in the middle.

If we were better around the ball then we wouldn't have an issue with our defenders and our forwards would have plenty of opportunity.

Having said that it hurt us when Campbell, Morris and Grant went down. Not that it cost us the game.
Same against Hawthorn when Morris and Wallis went down early.

[Rocket Science]

Agree Kennedy Darling Nic Nat and Sinclair for West Coast and we had two talls for forward and ruck
I want to see Tommy Boyd and Redpath both in next week

As an aside, I reckon we could do considerably worse in terms of return on investment than enquiring about Callum Sinclair.

Good mobility and clean skills for a big bloke, can play some key position too, almost a Roughy mach-2...and he's a Melbourne lad.

He's 25 and on the cusp of his prime, is he content to be 2IC to Naitanui for the next 3-5 years?

Perhaps we should ask him.

[Greystache]

As an aside, I reckon we could do considerably worse in terms of return on investment than enquiring about Callum Sinclair.

Good mobility and clean skills for a big bloke, can play some key position too, almost a Roughy mach-2...and he's a Melbourne lad.

He's 25 and on the cusp of his prime, is he content to be 2IC to Naitanui for the next 3-5 years?

Perhaps we should ask him.

I thought the periods of the game we dominated were the parts that coincided with Sinclair playing in the middle. I felt Campbell and Redpath easily had the better of him.

[SlimPickens]

I thought the periods of the game we dominated were the parts that coincided with Sinclair playing in the middle. I felt Campbell and Redpath easily had the better of him.

Agree- Nic Nat was massive for them. When he was off the ground we were able to win some clearances. They'll be very hard to beat if he is up and firing for the rest of the year.

[Templeton31]

1. West Coast have improved a lot since we beat em in round 1, are better home than travelling (all teams are like this though) and were looking good enough that maybe they could be premiers.

2. More and more Jake Stringer reminds me of Gary Ablett Snr. If Jake gets super fit and that allows him to impact more contests then he is gonna be super. I liked what Chris Scott said on 360 last week. He and Roosy were asked about what the Dogs had done this year and Scotty said something like "I think we all knew Jake Stringer was a good pick and was gonna be a good player - but we didn't expect this!"

3. Its gonna be pretty hard for our Team D if we get smashed around the stoppages and clearances. No Stevens or Libba, Campbell smashed and then injured, Redpath not a ruck man and WEagles were very good in tight (even without Masten).

[Remi Moses]

We need to win the midfield battle for our inexperienced defence not to be caught out.
Stringer is a modern day PHIL Carman without the temper.
West Coast are going to be mighty close to a flag

[Mantis]

3. Its gonna be pretty hard for our Team D if we get smashed around the stoppages and clearances. No Stevens or Libba, Campbell smashed and then injured, Redpath not a ruck man and WEagles were very good in tight (even without Masten).

Masten is about as outside as they come.. I'm not sure what has happened in recent weeks, but up until about round 16 Masten hadn't been inside the centre square for a single ruck contest.. Not 1.

[BornInDroopSt'54]

1. We lost a shootout on West Coast's ground under their conditions with a young undermanned team.
2. West Coast are more west than us and their name makes a mockery of our name in a national competition.
3. The game was like a sounding in the water and may not produce echoes in the near future; we could still reverse the result this season.

[Flamethrower]

1. Tom Campbell is no match for elite ruckmen. In fact we currently don't have a player on our list to match the best ruckmen in the league(Nic Nat, Goldy & Sandilands) at the moment. Rumour going around that we are a long way down the track with an available big man from another club to fix this situation.

2. The Western Wall defence crumbles against sustained bombardment. To win finals football you need defenders that can play one on one - especially against tall power forwards.

3. Hawthorn only beat West Coast 2 weeks ago because Nic Nat didn't play - he makes them at least a 5 goal better team. The Hawks are vulnerable this year, and the Eagles may be the team to stop the threepeat.

[ratsmac]

1. I learnt that West Coast are a bloody good team on their home deck, especially when Nic Nak is on.
2. Jake Stringer is the next big thing in the AFL. (I had a feeling before but now I am 100% sure)
3. We ran with a genuine flag contender for 2 and a half quarters with probably our weakest team this season whilst playing interstate. The blow-out stings but it will only make this group of lads stronger, so I learnt that we will seek revenge sooner rather than later.