Round 5 - Non Bulldog Games

[Eastdog]

Discussion for all other matches for Round 5. It starts tomorrow Wednesday Anzac Day with the Collingwood v Essendon match.

[Remi Moses]

Thought they might both want Anzac day moved!
Are we going to the usual tripe player x showing "Anzac Spirit"

[bornadog]

On principle I refuse to watch this.

All this does is promote those two clubs to get bigger and bigger. More exposure, more members. All the kids are at home from, school, live on TV, big crowd and they will start following the winner of today.

[Mantis]

On principle I refuse to watch this.

All this does is promote those two clubs to get bigger and bigger. More exposure, more members. All the kids are at home from, school, live on TV, big crowd and they will start following the winner of today.

You really believe that?

[Ghost Dog]

Essendon have had a very short break. However, Collingwood have a fair few outs. Wish them both as many injuries as possible.

[Greystache]

Essendon have had a very short break. However, Collingwood have a fair few outs. Wish them both as many injuries as possible.

Essendon and Collingwood both played on Saturday afternoon in Melbourne, how is Essendon's break relevant?

[Ghost Dog]

Essendon and Collingwood both played on Saturday afternoon in Melbourne, how is Essendon's break relevant?

My mistake. I thought Collingwood had an extra day up its sleeve.

[bornadog]

You really believe that?

yes, the more exposure they get the more likely young fans will follow those teams.

Collingwood have a target of 150,000 members within 5 years. Its gunna happen.

[chef]

On principle I refuse to watch this.

All this does is promote those two clubs to get bigger and bigger. More exposure, more members. All the kids are at home from, school, live on TV, big crowd and they will start following the winner of today.

I don't mind them having this day(they have made it IMO) and enjoy these contests.

[Maddog37]

I do enjoy the games too. I think a grand final replay would be a good recipe for Anzac day each year. That way it gets shared around and it still is pretty much guaranteed a blockbuster.

[AndrewP6]

I do enjoy the games too. I think a grand final replay would be a good recipe for Anzac day each year. That way it gets shared around and it still is pretty much guaranteed a blockbuster.

I think this is the better idea, I'm not a fan of any match being 'reserved' for two teams. I'm only watching this to avoid doing any work.

[chef]

I do enjoy the games too. I think a grand final replay would be a good recipe for Anzac day each year. That way it gets shared around and it still is pretty much guaranteed a blockbuster.

But the AFL wants a full house.

[Sockeye Salmon]

You really believe that?

Damn straight I do

[Remi Moses]

Pies controlled most of this game.
Dane Swan was the difference, simple as that

[Remi Moses]

Gee Eddie's got a fair roof over the old toolshed.
Needs less corporate lunches me thinks

[Sedat]

Pies controlled most of this game.
Dane Swan was the difference, simple as that
The filth dominated Essendon almost the whole game, got massive contributions from all of Swan, Pendlebury and Cloke (especially early) and yet scraped over the line by 1 point. Their much vaunted depth is something of a fallacy.

[Happy Days]

The filth dominated Essendon almost the whole game, got massive contributions from all of Swan, Pendlebury and Cloke (especially early) and yet scraped over the line by 1 point. Their much vaunted depth is something of a fallacy.

Sinclair, Seedsman and Ugle, 3 of their less experienced "players of the future" and currently comprising said depth, looked awful and totally below the level.

Fasolo might be the most selfish player in the league.

[Maddog37]

Sinclair, Seedsman and Ugle, 3 of their less experienced "players of the future" and currently comprising said depth, looked awful and totally below the level.

Fasolo might be the most selfish player in the league.

Apparently the coaches asked Fasolo to play the Didak role, so he did. ;)

[Mantis]

Sinclair, Seedsman and Ugle, 3 of their less experienced "players of the future" and currently comprising said depth, looked awful and totally below the level.

Ugle had played all of 0 minutes of AFL when he was subbed in when the game was 'hot'... What did you expect?

The other 2 struggled, but defensively they were sound and need more games.


Fasolo might be the most selfish player in the league.

The fact that he checks his own fantasy footy scores straight after the game probably gives this statement some weight... He has some talent though.

[G-Mo77]

The fact that he checks his own fantasy footy scores straight after the game probably gives this statement some weight... He has some talent though.

He would have been disappointed yesterday. One of those weeks for him when DT scores meant more. :)

[Happy Days]

Ugle had played all of 0 minutes of AFL when he was subbed in when the game was 'hot'... What did you expect?

The other 2 struggled, but defensively they were sound and need more games.


Not saying they won't get better, just that maybe their depth isn't very deep.

[chef]

Sinclair, Seedsman and Ugle, 3 of their less experienced "players of the future" and currently comprising said depth, looked awful and totally below the level.

Fasolo might be the most selfish player in the league.

If he had of kicked those two goals he missed in the last quarter he would have been a star. He looks alright to me and he would fit into our side nicely.

[Mantis]

Not saying they won't get better, just that maybe their depth isn't very deep.

But who really has the depth to cover missing at least 5 first team players and high quality ones at that?

[LostDoggy]

Someone tell me how when chose Sherman over Walker?

Freo going no where with players like Jack Anthony and Adam McPhee.

[Remi Moses]

Didn't it all hinge on Will going to the Suns?
Agree better player than Sherman.
Freo paying for not making the most of their chances, should have been up by a few goals up at 1/2 time.Can someone explain what Anthony was doing just after half time?

[LostDoggy]

Didn't it all hinge on Will going to the Suns?
Agree better player than Sherman.

yes and no
Once we wasted our Harbrow compo on Sherman, we needed another first rounder.
Walker wanted to come to us and needed to make him a priority over Sherman or Djerkurra.
Given he has improved since.

[Remi Moses]

What about Abletts's half time whinge tweet on Crowley?
Said Crowley should play like Ling, it was alright for Ling to scraggly his opponent, because he runs both ways!! Shut up junior

[Eastdog]

Good fight back from Freo but there kicking will let them down.

[Ghost Dog]

Good fight back from Freo but there kicking will let them down.

Carlton will be very lucky to get there if they do.15 points from Freo! Wayward or what.

[Eastdog]

Carlton will be very lucky to get there if they do.15 points from Freo! Wayward or what.

Carlton weren't that impressive tonight. If Freo had of taking there chances they would have won.

[Sedat]

Carlton weren't that impressive tonight. If Freo had of taking there chances they would have won.
Any win in Perth is a good win. No Yarran, Carrazzo and Laidler tonight, and Judd was a non factor most of the night - to get up against a good opponent is a fair effort. They got excellent contributions from their supposed b-grade mids Robinson and Simpson.

[jazzadogs]

What about Abletts's half time whinge tweet on Crowley?
Said Crowley should play like Ling, it was alright for Ling to scraggly his opponent, because he runs both ways!! Shut up junior
Gary Ablett Jr: "Crowley is a joke! Play the ball, not the man! That's why lingy was such a great player he ran both ways! #givejuddafreekick"

Don't understand the reaction he got on Twitter. He's completely entitled to his opinion, and surely suggesting that Crowley was playing the man rather than the ball was not that far off the mark?

Good on him for having the courage to say it. He would have known that a lot of people would get on his back about it. People complain that the AFL is too sterile and the players aren't allowed to speak their mind...I say good on him!

[Eastdog]

Any win in Perth is a good win. No Yarran, Carrazzo and Laidler tonight, and Judd was a non factor most of the night - to get up against a good opponent is a fair effort. They got excellent contributions from their supposed b-grade mids Robinson and Simpson.

Fair point.

[Remi Moses]

Gary Ablett Jr: "Crowley is a joke! Play the ball, not the man! That's why lingy was such a great player he ran both ways! #givejuddafreekick"

Don't understand the reaction he got on Twitter. He's completely entitled to his opinion, and surely suggesting that Crowley was playing the man rather than the ball was not that far off the mark?

Good on him for having the courage to say it. He would have known that a lot of people would get on his back about it. People complain that the AFL is too sterile and the players aren't allowed to speak their mind...I say good on him!

He's entitled to his opinion, conversely Crawley wasn't pinged at all.Yeah he was worked over just like Picken hopefully works over Ward.

[Hotdog60]

Tagging has been a part of the game for a long time and that's just life. I'm not saying Ablett and Judd arn't great players but they get their bit of a free ride from the umpires and know how to milk a free kick.

Anyway it was because of the taggers in some ways that we ended up with the extra umpires on the field.

[LostDoggy]

Saints doing it tough against Melbourne. I don't understand how we could have been so bad against the saints.

[Eastdog]

Saints doing it tough against Melbourne. I don't understand how we could have been so bad against the saints.

I was surprised by that performance against the Saints. We just did not turn up at all that night. I thought it would have been closer as the Saints also have plummeted as well.

[comrade]

I was surprised by that performance against the Saints. We just did not turn up at all that night. I thought it would have been closer as the Saints also have plummeted as well.

They still have top class A-Grade talent in Hayes, Goddard, Dal Santo, Riewoldt, Montagna and Fisher. That's 5 more A-Graders than us (Griffen is our only one right now). They will never plummet as low as us while they have those guys playing at a decent level.

[AndrewP6]

They still have top class A-Grade talent in Hayes, Goddard, Dal Santo, Riewoldt, Montagna and Fisher. That's 5 more A-Graders than us (Griffen is our only one right now). They will never plummet as low as us while they have those guys playing at a decent level.

Murphy?

[Eastdog]

They still have top class A-Grade talent in Hayes, Goddard, Dal Santo, Riewoldt, Montagna and Fisher. That's 5 more A-Graders than us (Griffen is our only one right now). They will never plummet as low as us while they have those guys playing at a decent level.

Would Boyd, Cooney, Murphy and Cross be with Griffen as other A graders for us?

[Eastdog]

Murphy?

Murphy would be up there with our top players.

[chef]

Would Boyd, Cooney, Murphy and Cross be with Griffen as other A graders for us?

Maybe Murphy, but not the others.

[Eastdog]

Maybe Murphy, but not the others.

Why do you think that Cooney, Boyd and Cross wouldn't be considered A graders?

[chef]

Why do you think that Cooney, Boyd and Cross wouldn't be considered A graders?

Cross is a average player, Cooney is not the player he once was(which was an A grader) and Boyd turns the ball over to much to be considered one IMO.

[Eastdog]

Cross is a average player, Cooney is not the player he once was(which was an A grader) and Boyd turns the ball over to much to be considered one IMO.

His 2008 form which got him the Brownlow. Still do you think there is a case more for Boyd as he does work hard.

[AndrewP6]

His 2008 form which got him the Brownlow. Still do you think there is a case more for Boyd as he does work hard.

IMO working hard isn't enough to be considered A-grade. If it was, there'd be an awful lot of people in the category.

[Eastdog]

IMO working hard isn't enough to be considered A-grade. If it was, there'd be an awful lot of people in the category.

Thats true. It is the way you use the footy that get you to A grade and not necessarily how many possessions you get.

[comrade]

Would Boyd, Cooney, Murphy and Cross be with Griffen as other A graders for us?

They're all quality players but none are at the same level as Hayes, Goddard etc. Our guys aren't as damaging as consistently as the Saints group.

In my opinion, of course.

[azabob]

Great win by the Swans today. Down by 20 odd points at half time against the Hawks.

Kept Hawthorn scoreless in the 3rd term, and kept them to only 2 goals, 3 behinds in the last quarter at the 28 min mark.

Great draw, great effort week in week out, champion in Goodes, Kennedy great in and under, defence under rated, should see them make top five perhaps top four?

I thought when Roos left they may fall away, but credit to Longmire and the leaders around their club.

[Rocco Jones]

Great win by the Swans today. Down by 20 odd points at half time against the Hawks.

Kept Hawthorn scoreless in the 3rd term, and kept them to only 2 goals, 3 behinds in the last quarter at the 28 min mark.

Great draw, great effort week in week out, champion in Goodes, Kennedy great in and under, defence under rated, should see them make top five perhaps top four?

I thought when Roos left they may fall away, but credit to Longmire and the leaders around their club.

Huge win against a fellow top 4 contender. With the rise of interstaters in Sydney and the Eagles, getting into the top 2 will be massive this season.

[Eastdog]

Great win by the Swans today. Down by 20 odd points at half time against the Hawks.

Kept Hawthorn scoreless in the 3rd term, and kept them to only 2 goals, 3 behinds in the last quarter at the 28 min mark.

Great draw, great effort week in week out, champion in Goodes, Kennedy great in and under, defence under rated, should see them make top five perhaps top four?

I thought when Roos left they may fall away, but credit to Longmire and the leaders around their club.

Sydney always give their supporters good value. They are competitive and finished top 8 consistently for a while now. The premiership race looks interesting this year.

[Rocco Jones]

Sydney always give their supporters good value. They are competitive and finished top 8 consistently for a while now. The premiership race looks interesting this year.

Yep. I have the Eagles, Swans, Pies, Blues, Cats and Hawks as decent chances. It's been a very long time since the race has been this even with so many in the hunt.

[Eastdog]

Yep. I have the Eagles, Swans, Pies, Blues, Cats and Hawks as decent chances. It's been a very long time since the race has been this even with so many in the hunt.

Whoever comes good at the business end of the season will win it. You can win 21 games in the season like Collingwood last year but if you don't succeed in the Finals then it is really all for nothing.

[bornadog]

Hawks not as good as everyone thought, have only won two of five games.

[EasternWest]

I'm probably in the minority here, but I think Jack Watts will go on to be a good player. But, it bears repeating once again, what were Melbourne thinking not picking Naitanui?

[azabob]

Hawks not as good as everyone thought, have only won two of five games.

It is the same story every year with the hawks. Punters, media see Franklin, Hodge, Mitchell, Rioli etc and think wow what match winners they are.

They forget they don't have a decent ruck and an undersized backline and perhaps their midfield depth isn't that great.

[azabob]

I'm probably in the minority here, but I think Jack Watts will go on to be a good player. But, it bears repeating once again, what were Melbourne thinking not picking Naitanui?

The go home factor? Naitanui is exciting, very exciting but how often does he get the footy other than tap outs and how damaging is he when he gets the footy?

PS - (I don't know how he is performing right now against Richmond).

[Eastdog]

It is the same story every year with the hawks. Punters, media see Franklin, Hodge, Mitchell, Rioli etc and think wow what match winners they are.

They forget they don't have a decent ruck and an undersized backline and perhaps their midfield depth isn't that great.

They talk them up too much. in 2008 they got Geelong on a bad day and won the Premiership. Geelong clearly that year should of won and are still kicking themselves forming a rivalry with Hawthorn.

[azabob]

They talk them up too much. in 2008 they got Geelong on a bad day and won the Premiership. Geelong clearly that year should of won and are still kicking themselves forming a rivalry with Hawthorn.

Geelong did kick themselves out of that game...

[Eastdog]

Geelong did kick themselves out of that game...

Cast back to the 98 Grand Final. Adelaide v North Melbourne. Both had the same number of scoring shots (30) and the Crows won by 35 points. North that day kick 8.22 the Crows 15.15. Bad kicking will always come back to get you in the end.

[comrade]

Bulldogs v2009 would have been a huuuuuuuuuge chance this year, it's so wide open with no out and out champion teams (unlike our up years when we were contending against the Cats/Pies/Saints/Hawks at their very best).

Oh well, pointless to dwell :D

[Maddog37]

The Hawks rushed 11 behinds that day and a rule change eventuated partly because of their tactics.

[Eastdog]

Bulldogs v2009 would have been a huuuuuuuuuge chance this year, it's so wide open with no out and out champion teams (unlike our up years when we were contending against the Cats/Pies/Saints/Hawks at their very best).

Oh well, pointless to dwell :D

Thats always interesting comparing sides from certain years. Bulldogs 09 would have definitely been a chance this year as that is when we peaked. How about Bulldogs 97 to Geelong 08 and Essendon 00.

[EasternWest]

The go home factor? Naitanui is exciting, very exciting but how often does he get the footy other than tap outs and how damaging is he when he gets the footy?

PS - (I don't know how he is performing right now against Richmond).

Fair question, and I don't have the answer.

As a total package, from an on and off field perspective, what he offers WCE is far above what Watts offers Melbourne. I also think just saying "he's exciting but" is probably a bit unfair. He works hard, chases, shepherds and from what I've seen doesn't seem to waste his possessions.

I'll put it to you like this: if we'd have had the number 1 pick that year, who would you have chosen?

On a side note, Josh Hill has just kicked his third in a tight game. Still drifts in and out of the game, but has done some good things.

[Maddog37]

Nic Nat rucking is basically like the umps handing the ball directly to the Eagles at each centre bounce. His influence on their mids is huge.

[azabob]

As a total package, from an on and off field perspective, what he offers WCE is far above what Watts offers Melbourne. I also think just saying "he's exciting but" is probably a bit unfair.

On a side note, Josh Hill has just kicked his third in a tight game. Still drifts in and out of the game, but has done some good things.


Nic Nat rucking is basically like the umps handing the ball directly to the Eagles at each centre bounce. His influence on their mids is huge.

Unfair and probably simplistic saying Nic Nat is "exciting but", especially with Maddog's view about his centre square work. Nic Nat will only get better as will Watts. You would have to take Nic Nat over Watts.

[comrade]

I do love seeing Richmond fans get up and about just before their hearts are ripped out right at the death.

Ah, schadenfreude. How sweet it is.

On another note, Nic Nat is ridiculously good. He's great to watch.

[The Underdog]

Nic Nat rucking is basically like the umps handing the ball directly to the Eagles at each centre bounce. His influence on their mids is huge.

Yep, having him and Cox in one team is almost unfair. The Weagles are at a massive advantage at stoppages with Nic Nat there, plus he becomes an extra mid once he lands. I know he probably would have left Melbourne to go home at the first opportunity, but you'd pick him over Watts every time.

On another note, I'm not looking forward to Richmond beating us by 50 points this year.

[Eastdog]

If Richmond won there supporters would have acted like they have won the premiership.

[Sockeye Salmon]

One day NicNat is going to jump and hit his head on the grandstand roof.

I first thought he was all sizzle and no sausage but the kid is prime beef.

[azabob]

Im not sure what it is but we need to get a pharmacist on the books or follow the W/C recruiting and weights program. Every one of their new players that come in are built, even the short ones (Hams). Josh Hill must feel slightly embarrassed with his lack of definition in the bicep!

[Remi Moses]

Sydney were sensational and have to be a strong chance for top 4.
They're perennially underrated and how good is Josh Kennedy!
Hawthorn showed when they're mids are down the backs get exposed.
Saying that Gibson and Birchall are big outs

Geelong are like Vander Hum in the wet honestly, they just thrive .
Hawkins has finally arrived, and it just proves how long it can take for a tall to develop.

[Remi Moses]

Im not sure what it is but we need to get a pharmacist on the books or follow the W/C recruiting and weights program. Every one of their new players that come in are built, even the short ones (Hams). Josh Hill must feel slightly embarrassed with his lack of definition in the bicep!

Hills getting of the leash with the focus on Darling, Kennedy and Lynch.
Great to see Richmond lose, as them winning is intolerable.I reckon port might surprise them next week.