Game Day Round 13 2016 - Western Bulldogs V Geelong

[Eastdog]

Margin: Dogs by 18 points
First Goal: Bonti to get our first
Best On Ground: Wallis
Crowd: 46,554

[BornInDroopSt'54]

Margin: Dogs by 22 points
First Goal: Jong
Best On Ground: Stringer.

[Rocket Science]

Anticipating another gruelling, intensely-contested grind. Jeez, come September we're either going to be supremely battle-hardened or absolutely spent.

Dogs by 2 points.
BOG : Liberatore
First Major : Liberatore

Suckling with the long range game-winner.

[bornadog]

Dogs by 11 points
First Goal: HC
BOG: The Bont

[AndrewP6]

Heart says Dogs by 5 points
First goal Jakey
BOG Hunter
Crowd 41,117
Head says otherwise. :eek:

[bulldogtragic]

Dogs by 73 points
BOG Dickson
FG Dunkley

[Eastdog]

Dogs by 73 points
BOG Dickson
FG Dunkley

Very confident BT

[Throughandthrough]

Me to remind Mrs andThrough 12 times that I have the TV booked for tomorrow night
Me to have a couple of beers and yell at the TV
Me to feel annoyed and frustrated at some stage during the night
Mrs andThrough to tell me "it looks like its finished, can I have the TV" when they are showing a player going fishing or walking his dog or something at half time.

[kruder]

Its time Doggies. Time to beat the cats. They have dominated us over the years and it makes my gut turn. There is a very good chance we will play them in the finals this year and to get a win over them with key players out will be huge boost for us.

[chef]

How long since weve beaten them?

[Mantis]

How long since weve beaten them?

2009.

[Eastdog]

2009.

Round 21 when we thought they may have been decling a bit at the end in 09 and where we were on a huge roll.

[The Doctor]

Win we could go 1st, lose we could go 7th, thats how tight it is. What a season.

[bornadog]

How long since weve beaten them?

Last three games it has been 8 points, 13 and 21.

I am confident going into this game.

[Twodogs]

Dogs by 21 points.
FG Redpath
BOG Bont.

[ratsmac]

Dogs by 37
First goal - Redpath
BOG - Libba. Libba will put to bed who is the best contested ball player in the league when he schools Selwood.
Crowd - 41,673

[Bulldog4life]

Dogs by 7
First goal - Jong
BOG - Hunter

[1eyedog]

Cats by 19 points (just too many important outs Murph, JJ, Wood, Dahl, Stevens, McLean...).
First goal Redpath
BOG Wallis

[F'scary]

I keep thinking the Cats lost to the Flogpies. And to Carton.

Dogs by 19 points
1st Goal: The Woodchopper
BOG: Libba

[Mantis]

Cats by 19 points (just too many important outs Murph, JJ, Wood, Dahl, Stevens, McLean...).


Agree with this.. We probably have 4 of our first 6-8 picked missing this week which makes it tough against a quality team which is pretty much at full strength.

Whilst it's not an impossible task it will be a huge result if we can salute tonight.

[jeemak]

Can't make it tonight, not happy, but it's jeemak's partner's birthday today so she wins......

The compromise is the TV can be on silent as we have company over, so not a bad outcome.

I'm looking forward to seeing whether Geelong genuinely has the quality to cope with our pressure in close.

[merantau]

I'm expecting a close game with us being in front at the end - Dogs by 8. First goal - Big Jack. BOG - Libber. Crowd - 48,888.
This is a "payback time" game for me and, in saying that, I suspect I speak for many. What a sweet victory it will be. We are better placed to take them on compared to the last time we met. Etihad has become our fortress. Caddy was their match winner last time. I wonder who will get him?

[Bulldog4life]

Can't make it tonight, not happy, but it's jeemak's partner's birthday today so she wins......

The compromise is the TV can be on silent as we have company over, so not a bad outcome.

I'm looking forward to seeing whether Geelong genuinely has the quality to cope with our pressure in close.

That's bad luck Jee. I was lucky. I married a doggies supporter. On her last birthday we went to the footy.:)

[bornadog]

That's bad luck Jee. I was lucky. I married a doggies supporter. On her last birthday we went to the footy.:)

He is not married - yet :D

[LostDoggy]

Dogs by-21 pts
FG-Stringer
BOG-Hunter
49,329

[comrade]

He is not married - yet :D

I'd propose on the proviso I get to go to the game tonight.

Marriage is fleeting, the Bulldogs are forever...

:D

[GVGjr]

Should be a huge crowd. Plenty of people lining up to get in.

Thix would be a massive win for us especially when you consider the logjam for a top four spot plus tge fact tgat Geelong have had our measure for a few seasons now.

[comrade]

Guthrie out for them.
Gregson in.

[GVGjr]

Guthrie out for them.
Gregson in.

That should be a bonus for us.

[Throughandthrough]

Guthrie out for them.
Gregson in.

Greggo and Williams played junior footy together.

[whythelongface]

Guthrie out for them.
Gregson in.

Big out for the Cats.
Think the Cats will get over the line, just. Less than 10 points being the margin.
First Goal: Wallis
BOG: Bont

[DOG GOD]

I'm thinking Dangerfield to continue on from last week....Mackie/Enright to stall our fwd thrusts.
Guthrie a good out for us, but I think they'll kick enough to win....similar to the north game.

Cats by 11
First goal us - bonts
Best for us - Boyd

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Dogs by 1point
Dickson 1st goal
Wallis BOG

[ReLoad]

For those that are watching the game on TV, our campaign to stop violence against women showed an amazing and inspirational piece by a poor woman who suffered terribly from it.

Well done Western Bulldogs, and well done Ms Obrien your courage is greater even than what our boys put out on the field.

[KT31]

At the game so our chances of winning are reduced.��
Dogs by 10pts
Fg - Big Red
Bog - Bonts

[bulldogtragic]

Macrae's fear of goal kicking is getting patholigical.

[The Underdog]

Well Jack, that was *!*!*!*!ing terrible

[Rocket Science]

Every time we turn the ball over under minimal-to-no pressure a puppy dies.

[The Underdog]

They're all over us early. Well be lucky to take a forward 50 mark at this rate

[bulldogtragic]

Bad feeling. Need to turn things around quickly.

[jeemak]

This is disgraceful.

[bulldogtragic]

Prior opportunity!?!??! Thanks for the goal against us you knob umpire.

[AndrewP6]

One step forward, five steps back. This is disgusting.

[The Underdog]

Prior opportunity!?!??! Thanks for the goal against us you knob umpire.

We don't need any help, we're playing like shit.

[jeemak]

Why the *!*!*!*! would we leave Selwood on his own and go three up?

[cinder]

Worst quarter of the year ��

[chef]

Boys against men atm. Getting a good lesson

[bulldogtragic]

We Cant afford to lose and lose percentage, drop to 7th. Cmon FFS.

[whythelongface]

boys v men at the moment. Learning a big lesson.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Our mids need a massive bake. The amount of latitude at stoppages Geelong are getting, especially Selwood is appalling.

[AndrewP6]

Matt Boyd having a pretty good game... For Geelong.

[The Underdog]

We Cant afford to lose and lose percentage, drop to 7th. Cmon FFS.

Maybe we should stop playing like a 7th best team. That was embarrassing, something I thought this team wasn't capable of

[jeemak]

What a joke.

We choose to put out our worst effort in the biggest game of our year, it's so frustrating.

[jeemak]

Our mids need a massive bake. The amount of latitude at stoppages Geelong are getting, especially Selwood is appalling.

It's sickening.

[Mantis]

What a joke.

We choose to put out our worst effort in the biggest game of our year, it's so frustrating.

It was always going to be tough with our outs, but gifting them goals is inexcusable.

Need to stand up! Learn lots when you're under the pump.

[chef]

Matt Boyd having a pretty good game... For Geelong.

You could say that about 20 of them. Why single out one?

[Rocket Science]

Was beginning to think we were beyond this sort of stuff.

Let's see who responds. And how.

[Twodogs]

What a joke.

We choose to put out our worst effort in the biggest game of our year, it's so frustrating.


It's sickening.

Should you be on WOOF? Right now I mean.

[jeemak]

Should you be on WOOF? Right now I mean.

Why TD? Because of commitments already advised?

[KT31]

It was always going to be tough with our outs, but gifting them goals is inexcusable.

Need to stand up! Learn lots when you're under the pump.

What do the outs have to do with it when you are gifting the opposition goals with turnovers?

[The Underdog]

Lachie Hunter is using it like he's never met a footy

[bulldogtragic]

Advantage??? Right.

[Rocket Science]

Start writing the post-match presser notes.

This is going to be a comprehensive hiding.

[AndrewP6]

You could say that about 20 of them. Why single out one?

Senior player, former captain. When things get bad you need your seniors to stand up. He isn't.

[bulldogtragic]

Cue Damien Barrett.

[Rocket Science]

Mid way through the 2nd, and they're lairising.

And why not when the opposition can't get a hand on the pill.

[The Underdog]

Anyone not named Macrae or Roughead can go home.

[LostDoggy]

So how bout the rugby? wallabies looking good :(

[Ghost Dog]

Tip for watching this game: Ignore the score of the other team. Look for improvement, our score is going up! Yay! Dogs - you will improve faster if you kick between the big sticks.

[bulldogtragic]

Kiss goodbye top 4. We've no margin to deal with a percentage loss like this.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

I think this really shines a light on really where we are in tge pecking order. We're kidding ourselves if we somehow think the planets are aligned for us right now for a flag tilt. Injuries are an issue, but none of our so called stars have fired a shot tonight

[chef]

Senior player, former captain. When things get bad you need your seniors to stand up. He isn't.

I dont see the need to single him out. We've got a heap of players playing worse than Boyd.

[Ghost Dog]

We can win this. WATCH FOR ONE OF THE GREAT TURNAROUNDS IN BULLDOGS HISTORY. UNBRIDLED OPTIMISTS UNITE!
Kick....goals...please

[Rocket Science]

Oh good. What's a hiding without another key injury to boot...

[KT31]

Over 600klms for this shit.

[bulldogtragic]

My god this is getting really, really embarrassing.

[AndrewP6]

I dont see the need to single him out. We've got a heap of players playing worse than Boyd.

As I said, senior player kicking it directly to the opposition.

[bulldogtragic]

The players know the week off is next week right?

[jeemak]

What an embarrassing performance so far.

[bulldogtragic]

1.9 to half time....

[Rocket Science]

The most concerning aspect is how much time and how many options Geelong have when in possession.

Suspect they're as shocked as we are at the space they've been afforded.

[chef]

As I said, senior player kicking it directly to the opposition.

Fair enough. All Matt Boyds fault.

[Twodogs]

Ten scoring shots to thirteen. We are playing like shit.

This isn't over.

[KT31]

Worst quarter of the year ��

It has a partner now.

[The Underdog]

Ten scoring shots to thirteen. We are playing like shit.

This isn't over.

What game are you watching?
This game was over 20 minutes ago.

[GVGjr]

Boys against men atm. Getting a good lesson
Do the players really learn a lesson when playing so poorly? Yes its boys against men but Bevo needs to get us focused .

[Twodogs]

Why TD? Because of commitments already advised?


Yep. Bit of a difference between the silent telly in the corner and posting online. "Just taking another picture on my phone"

[GVGjr]

It was always going to be tough with our outs, but gifting them goals is inexcusable.

Need to stand up! Learn lots when you're under the pump.
Agreed. There are some genuine excuses but we arent standing up at the moment

[The Underdog]

A lot of our depth players looking severely VFL tonight. Dahlhaus out is our worst nightmare

[chef]

Do the players really learn a lesson when playing so poorly? Yes its boys against men but Bevo needs to get us focused .

I guess if we can learn anything from this than it is a lesson to me. We haven't come to play

[AndrewP6]

Fair enough. All Matt Boyds fault.

Of course not, my comment was in relation to those three kicks to opposition. That is all his fault

[AndrewP6]

That half severely tested my "never leave a game early" rule. Woeful right across the ground.

[Twodogs]

What game are you watching?
This game was over 20 minutes ago.


The one where they have only had three more scoring shots despite the fact we can't play any worse. If we were 9.1 or they were 3.10 would we all be going on about the sky falling in?

There is another half of footy to play out. If we were in Geelings position we'd be talking about how it was too early to be skiting. Sure we will probably lose but we shouldn't be giving up.

[GVGjr]

Can anyone see us being more competitive in the 2nd half? Huge test for Bevo

[bulldogtragic]

On track to the lowest percentage in the top 8. I'm gobsmacked.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Fair enough. All Matt Boyds fault.

I know...right. Right now, in this incarnation of the Dogs, Bontempelli, Wallis, Libba are as much, if not more important a leader for us as Boyd is.. Haven't fired a shot, have turned the ball up to the opposition. Have also given ridiculous amounts of leg rope to their man at the stoppages. But yep.. Boyd, your 2 turnovers are the reason we're 8 goals down. You terrible leader..

[The Doctor]

This is the sort of football we were playing when Macartney was coach. No system going forward, then chip it around til we lose it and get punished on the turnover.

Where's the run?

[chef]

Of course not, my comment was in relation to those three kicks to opposition. That is all his fault

And as i said others have done worse so why single him out.

[LostDoggy]

Whatever happens tonight Woofers let the other sites be the ones getting carried away with the crap talk. We know we are playing the worst footy in along time. We are much much better than this tripe, for whatever reason we are flatter than a shit carters hat and we are just polishing their shoes at the moment. Of course they are playing at the other end of the scale but we have put them there.

I never stop believing but and we are inside so 48 points isn't out of reach. Let's hope Bevo flips the switch and they put the cue in the rack.

[hujsh]

Very glad I'm not at the game as I was meant to go with my Geelong supporting Dad at one stage.

It's gone beyond the usual frustrations involved with watching this team at this point so I'll be catching up on the game at 30x speed later.

[Mantis]

The ease at which Geelong is moving the ball us embarrassing.

As is the fact they have taken 15 marks inside 50... In a half! We have 1!... Disgusting.

[bulldogtragic]

Can anyone see us being more competitive in the 2nd half? Huge test for Bevo

Unless Bevo is pulling on a jumper, it's a huge test of 22 blokes wearing our jumper. The coaching isn't close to the issue, disposal, turnovers, and 10% goal kicking accuracy are the issues.

[chef]

I know...right. Right now, in this incarnation of the Dogs, Bontempelli, Wallis, Libba are as much, if not more important a leader for us as Boyd is.. Haven't fired a shot, have turned the ball up to the opposition. Have also given ridiculous amounts of leg rope to their man at the stoppages. But yep.. Boyd, your 2 turnovers are the reason we're 8 goals down. You terrible leader..

Yep. Its ridiculous.

[whythelongface]

Can anyone see us being more competitive in the 2nd half? Huge test for Bevo

We have to be to save some face.

[Mantis]

This is the sort of football we were playing when Macartney was coach. No system going forward, then chip it around til we lose it and get punished on the turnover.

Where's the run?

Not many runners out there.. Picked a very slow team.

[The Underdog]

The one where they have only had three more scoring shots despite the fact we can't play any worse. If we were 9.1 or they were 3.10 would we all be going on about the sky falling in?

There is another half of footy to play out. If we were in Geelings position we'd be talking about how it was too early to be skiting. Sure we will probably lose but we shouldn't be giving up.

Our shots at goal are under pressure and our forward 50 entries are a joke, theirs are walks in the park. We shouldn't stop fighting but we can't win.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

This is the sort of football we were playing when Macartney was coach. No system going forward, then chip it around til we lose it and get punished on the turnover.

Where's the run?

That and our ability to win the hard ball but lose the clearance on the outside...it's like Welcome back 2014.
David Kings article today really has some credence in the way we're playing tonight. Our poor play going inside 50 is the elephant in the room that needs to be addressed before we can be taken with any seriousness as a premiership threat.

[jeemak]

Yep. Bit of a difference between the silent telly in the corner and posting online. "Just taking another picture on my phone"

As I sit on the couch with my phone close to my groin....

[anfo27]

We go forward and we are outnumbered every time. We turn it over and we are again outnumbered in their forward line. We just don't want to work hard enough tonight. Biggest game of the year and they put up this effort!

[GVGjr]

Unless Bevo is pulling on a jumper, it's a huge test of 22 blokes wearing our jumper. The coaching isn't close to the issue, disposal, turnovers, and 10% goal kicking accuracy are the issues.

He needs to impose himself on the 22. We have to at least keep pace with the Cats from now

[Hotdog60]

Hopefully we can steady the ship and make it a game of two halves. At least I would like us to salvage some pride at the moment we look flat as a tack.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

As I sit on the couch with my phone close to my groin....

That may be the only thing getting close to your groin, if you don't turn the TV off soon...:p

[GVGjr]

We go forward and we are outnumbered every time. We turn it over and we are again outnumbered in their forward line. We just don't want to work hard enough tonight. Biggest game of the year and they put up this effort!
And we threw a player back to stop the bleeding limiting our ability to score further. Wallis and Bonts need to spark us in the midfield

[Mantis]

And we threw a player back to stop the bleeding limiting our ability to score further. Wallis and Bonts need to spark us in the midfield

Wallis is worst on at the moment.

[The Underdog]

And we threw a player back to stop the bleeding limiting our ability to score further. Wallis and Bonts need to spark us in the midfield

Blicavs is the perfect Bont match up. Bont has certainly struggled to have an impact. A bit of credit to Stringer, he's given us something, just hasn't quite finished

[LostDoggy]

Bailey can hold his head high, Jake has tried Hard in the middle, roughy great grabs. I don't have much else to say.

Libba, don't put up with this Caro, so many cats around the ball and killing us when we frequently turn over.

[KT31]

Here we go again.

[bulldogtragic]

My god... Their inaccuracy has shaved 20 points off the margin.

[bulldogtragic]

Doubled our goals with one kick. You don't often say that in the third quarter by a top 4 team.

[LostDoggy]

My god... Their inaccuracy has shaved 20 points off the margin.

Have you seen our conversion?

[Ghost Dog]

50% improvement. Well done lads!

[bulldogtragic]

2 goals
12 behinds
2 on the full

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

A better start. It's really important for us to finish this game with a margin inside 4 goals.

[The Underdog]

No press for Jack Redpath or Caleb Daniel this week.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Redpath needs to nail this

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Much better effort from all 22 right now. Why has this taken half a game?

[Ghost Dog]

Couple of quick goals. Well done Red, Jongy. Can still make this respectable. If we manage to score over 70 points we can put the first half down as an aberration and take some confidence out of this.
28 point behind - that's 4 goals and a bit. Yield to none dogs and play it out.

[Twodogs]

Our shots at goal are under pressure and our forward 50 entries are a joke, theirs are walks in the park. We shouldn't stop fighting but we can't win.


Not all the shots have been under pressure. Set shots from 10-20 metres out aren't under all that much pressure.

Absolutely everything has gone Geelongs way tonight. Every coaching move, every bounce of the ball, every umpiring decision and everything we have tried has turned to shit. If Geeking think that this proves anything then they are kidding themselves.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Well done Mitch. Has had a 'mare tonight. I thought he should've been proactive and looked to pass quickly... He took the responsibility and nailed a kick that he'd usually only be 40% at best

[bulldogtragic]

Picken's gather looked in to me.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

That boundary umpire has no sense of occasion or theatre and has potentially has robbed viewers a chance at a close finish, and goal of the year for Picken........
lest I be accused of bias....it was probably out of bounds...but no more so than Wayne Harmes...

[GVGjr]

Gee we work hard to get goals. Obviously I'm impressed by our fight back but we now need to back this up.

[Ghost Dog]

"The Bulldogs improving the longer the quarter progressed. Their improved kicking efficiency (73 percent) allowed them to score three goals from defensive half chains. They also led in forward 50 tackles (8-1) which restricted the Cats counter attack."

AFL bot.

[chef]

Where was that the first 2 quarters. Hope we keep fighting it out but its going to be extra disappointing if we get close.

[merantau]

Back it up boys. Keep it going.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

That quarter, makes what we threw up in the first half even more frustrating.
Clearly that 3rd quarter showed, that we are defined as a team by an all in effort base. When we don't get 100% from all 22.. we fall down.
When we do get the requisite effort and maniacal commitment from all, we can compete with the better teams

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Razor Ray what a flog. There was nothing wrong with Boyd's tackle on Bartel.

[LostDoggy]

5.13 say no more

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Stick a fork in it.

[Ghost Dog]

Come on - big finish boys.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

This last 15 minutes and how we play, now it's dusted, tells me whether we are going to win a finals game this year, or go out without a win.
If we fight back and can get it under 4 goals, we've got some mettle. If we let it blow out we're kidding ourselves and the football community.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Dunkley is a competitive and strong young man..but he does not have very refined skills.

[The Underdog]

This last 15 minutes and how we play, now it's dusted, tells me whether we are going to win a finals game this year, or go out without a win.
If we fight back and can get it under 4 goals, we've got some mettle. If we let it blow out we're kidding ourselves and the football community.

One and done

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

One and done

I think so too.

[KT31]

Well I hope they are hurting because that was pure unadulterated embarrassing crap.And what is worse we did it on prime time viewing.

[Ghost Dog]

Well, we are not as bad as the end score. We all know that. But not as good as Geelong I would say, even on a good day.

[The Underdog]

I swore to myself that whatever happened this year I'd just enjoy this team and the way it played. Of course I didn't expect poor effort VFL level embarrassment. Lack of depth is a killer.
Kind of glad it's a bye, I need some time off.

[The Underdog]

I think so too.

We'd need an interstate team at home and I'm not sure the G doesn't advantage The Crows and Eagles more than us.

[GVGjr]

Disappointing last quarter to top off a poor performance. We can write off some of this to injuries but we looked flat and we weren't up for a fight which isnt like us.

We get them again so it will be very interesting to see what we can improve on.

Did we get a crowd number?

[merantau]

We got a football lesson tonight and it's definitely a reality check. We looked good for one quarter. We needed to take our chances and we didn't. We hit the post twice we missed set shots, we could not buy a goal. But the worrying thing was the ease with which they scored, the ease with which than ran the ball out of defence and their dominance out of the centre stoppages. The bye has come at the right time as we looked cooked tonight.

[bornadog]

Disappointing last quarter to top off a poor performance. We can write off some of this to injuries but we looked flat and we weren't up for a fight which isnt like us.

We get them again so it will be very interesting to see what we can improve on.

Did we get a crowd number?
41k.........

[GVGjr]

41k.........
Smaller than I thought but a good crowd nevertheless

[bornadog]

We were very flat tonight the intensity wasn't there even though the cont. poss. Went our way. In the end the midfield just didn't win enough of the ball. Wallis very disappointing as was The Bont, and so many others.
our worse performance for a long time

[S Coast Simon]

Boys were a bit cooked after a few big weeks. Some people on here started to sound like Essendon supporters. The ball bounced away at every opportunity and Geelong kicked 16:4. Come on who ever kicks 16:4. We were done and missed the run of the umpires as well. It's still a long way to the finals have some faith people. Last thing we need is to turn on our own. ie Richmond

[Mantis]

Smaller than I thought but a good crowd nevertheless

What is the infatuation with the crowd size?

[Mantis]

Boys were a bit cooked after a few big weeks. Some people on here started to sound like Essendon supporters. The ball bounced away at every opportunity and Geelong kicked 16:4. Come on who ever kicks 16:4. We were done and missed the run of the umpires as well. It's still a long way to the finals have some faith people. Last thing we need is to turn on our own. ie Richmond

Pretty easy to kick goals from the goal square.. They just walked the ball in.

Our transition into defence or 2 way running was as bad as it's been all year.

[GVGjr]

What is the infatuation with the crowd size?
Club makes money and win or lose I enjoy going to Bulldog games where we have a good crowd. Problem?

[The Underdog]

Boys were a bit cooked after a few big weeks. Some people on here started to sound like Essendon supporters. The ball bounced away at every opportunity and Geelong kicked 16:4. Come on who ever kicks 16:4. We were done and missed the run of the umpires as well. It's still a long way to the finals have some faith people. Last thing we need is to turn on our own. ie Richmond

I thought we largely did OK with the umps, one or two decisions aside. Otherwise, 3rd quarter aside, we were shit

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Disappointing last quarter to top off a poor performance. We can write off some of this to injuries but we looked flat and we weren't up for a fight which isnt like us.

We get them again so it will be very interesting to see what we can improve on.

Did we get a crowd number?

We get them again at Sleepy Hollow, on a Friday night don't we?
That is either going to be a significant tale of redemption or confirmation of the shortcomings on display tonight.

[GVGjr]

In the end the boundary line decision against the Piicken goal wouldn't have made a bit of difference but did anyone see if was really out?

[S Coast Simon]

Pretty easy to kick goals from the goal square.. They just walked the ball in.

Our transition into defence or 2 way running was as bad as it's been all year.

True. I have wondered for awhile now why we refuse to tag. The last 10 premiers have had a tagger

[Nuggety Back Pocket]

We got a football lesson tonight and it's definitely a reality check. We looked good for one quarter. We needed to take our chances and we didn't. We hit the post twice we missed set shots, we could not buy a goal. But the worrying thing was the ease with which they scored, the ease with which than ran the ball out of defence and their dominance out of the centre stoppages. The bye has come at the right time as we looked cooked tonight.
It was a real reality check. The forward line was outclassed and Dangerfield and Selwood were a class above our midfielders. Our disposal is a major concern with far too many turnovers.Apart from our endeavour shown in the third quarter this was a very poor performance.The lack of class without Murphy JJ Wood and Dahlhaus was plain to see and whilst we have been able to cover losses for the most part this year, the lack of depth against a quality side in Geelong proved that we had run out of options.

[anfo27]

Really gutted after tonights performance. We were down like everyone has said but there was things i saw tonight that worried me.

I'm thinking we really need a gun KPD i.e. Hurley. Are we too defensively minded because our back six isn't great? i know we had Wood, JJ & Murphy missing from back there. I've noticed a lot this year that when we get a turnover in our back half we just don't do enough damage. Tonight for example; we get a turn over in the last quarter in our defensive 50. Hunter finds Suckling on the wing and Suckling has nobody ahead of him to catch them out. He has to hold it up and then go side ways, advantage gone. I see this a lot.
It seems other teams when they are out like that then its a race to the goal square. Are we getting sucked so far back to help out defensively that we hurt ourselves in transition?

[F'scary]

I think we had trouble getting up for this match after a prolonged run of pressure games.

That said, our deficiencies were truly on display tonight: lack of marking power in the forward line, inept kicking for goal and, possibly the biggest problem, good teams have us figured out on a couple of our strategies. They are not being sucked down the boundary line defending us but are actively looking to intercept our lateral passing into the centre corridor; they are also employing a press against our handballing through the centre of the ground instead of making the mistake of flooding back and conceding ground.

I just hope no psychological damage was suffered from this thumping. I would not be surprised to see a few players lose a bit of confidence after this.

[Twodogs]

In the end the boundary line decision against the Piicken goal wouldn't have made a bit of difference but did anyone see if was really out?


Definitely the ball and Picken were both outside the field of play. Only for a nanasecond but the boundary umpire was a metre away, any further and he wouldn't have been able to tell.

[GVGjr]

Definitely the ball and Picken were both outside the field of play. Only for a nanasecond but the boundary umpire was a metre away, any further and he wouldn't have been able to tell.
Thanks TD

[Sedat]

Thank god for the Euros - salvage something from the night

[The Bulldogs Bite]

I hate Geelong. 7 years of losing to this club makes me sick.

Injuries have hurt us and caught up, but we were disgusting tonight.

[G-Mo77]

I hate Geelong. 7 years of losing to this club makes me sick.

Injuries have hurt us and caught up, but we were disgusting tonight.

Yeah still 22 out there. I felt like leaving at half time. It was just awful and really tough to watch. Only positive I'll tske out of it was getting a free T.

[kruder]

Boys were a bit cooked after a few big weeks. Some people on here started to sound like Essendon supporters. The ball bounced away at every opportunity and Geelong kicked 16:4. Come on who ever kicks 16:4. We were done and missed the run of the umpires as well. It's still a long way to the finals have some faith people. Last thing we need is to turn on our own. ie Richmond

I had a dude behind me that criticised the whole game. He wasn't abusive towards the players but nothing was ever good enough for him. At one stage he cursed the Bont and I turned around and said I agree we should trade him, not a good player that bloke.

You have to put things into perspective. You cant underestimated that cumulative impact of the injuries across the season on a young group. We all know if we don't bring the manic pressure and run when playing a high press you start to look like Collingwood have defensively for the most part of this year. Obviously ball movement and our forward set up is a work in progress but I would like us to see how we look once we get personal back after the bye before making a judgement.

My other concern is our flexibility mantra. At some point I'd like to see us bed down a forward line and play them in position for the most part. Once again we had kid Dunkley playing as a power forward against 3 opponents similar to Bailey Dale at stages in the North game.

In saying that you have to give credit to that Cats. Defensively they smashed us tonight with their set up sublime, ball movement was excellent and kicking for goal was also a highlight considering how poor they have been in that area all season.

Much to work on but I'm pretty happy with 9-4 all things considered.

[kruder]

I hate Geelong. 7 years of losing to this club makes me sick.

Injuries have hurt us and caught up, but we were disgusting tonight.

It started in the 1992 finals for me. I have hated them ever since.

[Eastdog]

Very disappointing effort tonight.

I expected much more than that. Our first quarter was the pits as well as the second. 3rd quarter was our best of the game clearly and I thought just maybe we were a chance but we ruined it and stuffed in the last quarter and dropped our bundle again. Too many turnovers, over handballing, forward line non-existent.

In saying this in the overall context we have had a great season thus far and are still in with a chance for top 4 and to win the flag. Things can change.

[bornadog]

Club makes money and win or lose I enjoy going to Bulldog games where we have a good crowd. Problem?

Agree, nothing worse than playing to a half empty stadium. I thought we would get at least 45k tonight.

[bornadog]

Definitely the ball and Picken were both outside the field of play. Only for a nanasecond but the boundary umpire was a metre away, any further and he wouldn't have been able to tell.

Looked pretty close from where I was sitting. Would have been 22 points the difference at the point and we had all the momentum.

[Eastdog]

Agree, nothing worse than playing to a half empty stadium. I thought we would get at least 45k tonight.

I was expecting between 45-50K but 41K odd is still quite decent. Would have been disappointing had it been 35-36K odd.

[Ozza]

Agree, nothing worse than playing to a half empty stadium. I thought we would get at least 45k tonight.

Being a night game seems to make a difference for Geelong games. Those coming from Geelong are probably less inclined to travel to the night games in Melbourne, than they would during the day.

[Dry Rot]

Luckily had to work tonight.

Tell me more about Williams.

[bornadog]

I know we don't like excuses, but injuries and a young side was always going to be a tough ask. Geelong had on average 50 games more experience, and were on average 2 years older.

I hope by the time we play them again in 6 weeks time we have JJ, Wood, Stevens, Boyd and maybe Dahl back in the side.

[bornadog]

Being a night game seems to make a difference for Geelong games. Those coming from Geelong are probably less inclined to travel to the night games in Melbourne, than they would during the day.

Pretty sure you are right there. One thing for sure, I won't be going to Geelong in 6 weeks time for a Friday night match

[Ozza]

I know we don't like excuses, but injuries and a young side was always going to be a tough ask. Geelong had on average 50 games more experience, and were on average 2 years older.

I hope by the time we play them again in 6 weeks time we have JJ, Wood, Stevens, Boyd and maybe Dahl back in the side.

I certainly like the sounds of having the pace of JJ and Dahlhaus back in there. Dahl gives us such energy around the ball which was missed tonight. Obviously JJ's line breaking is also huge for us. Those 2 and Woody, are 3 very significant INS.

[1eyedog]

I think this really shines a light on really where we are in tge pecking order. We're kidding ourselves if we somehow think the planets are aligned for us right now for a flag tilt. Injuries are an issue, but none of our so called stars have fired a shot tonight

So may outs...

[1eyedog]

I hate Geelong. 7 years of losing to this club makes me sick.

Injuries have hurt us and caught up, but we were disgusting tonight.

Ah you missed the 90s then...

We have whole half season with key players to make amens.

It's the loss we needed to have?

[jeemak]

Not having gone to the game it was hard to tell definitively however, it looked like we were out coached around the stoppages all night.

We had tired looking players crowding the ball and making token efforts in close leaving key Geelong players in the middle to outside areas open for take aways under little pressure. How much of this was straight effort, tiredness, or hangover from last week I'm not sure, but it was disappointing to watch given the stage we were performing upon.

It's frustrating that this seems to happen each time we're on the rise and being talked up as a challenger. Each time it looks like we're about to surprise the competition with consistent performances, or above consistent performances, we seem to find as way to let ourselves down.

We're going to get pounded in the media this week, and rightly so, because we were pathetic and we should be ashamed of the way we represented ourselves tonight. I get that we had injuries and we'll be better as we become more experienced however, we need to realise that doesn't mean much if we want to be taken seriously. The time's now and we blew it tonight.

[LostDoggy]

That was the worst game i have been to in a long time. I mean the Norf game was awful but not getting flogged bad. And to get flogged by Geelong of all teams, ugh. Luckily the crowd wasn't too bad.

Looking forward to the break is all I can say.

[AndrewP6]

Agree, nothing worse than playing to a half empty stadium. I thought we would get at least 45k tonight.

41k was a good crowd I thought.

[1eyedog]

Relax its only June.

[bornadog]

41k was a good crowd I thought.
Yes it was, I was responding to previous posts.

[jeemak]

Given that we had 9K at my place for my girlfriends birthday and 5% of them were Bulldogs fans it's not a bad effort.

[Sedat]

16 goals and 20 marks I50 from only 44 inside 50's tells me they had so much clean and easy ball out of the midfield and into their forward line. Sounds like they structured up very well to negate our assets and we were also poor in pressuring them. The loss of Dahlhaus hurts big time - his pressure, ball winning ability and workrate are elite and clearly not easily replaced.

Shits me to tears that Geelong continue to toy with us, but all things considered 9-4 to the break is a very good result. Just don't expect a premiership in 2016 as we are off the pace with the top 4 - unless key personnal come back better than ever, our forward structure starts to funcfion with much more potency and we deliver much more consistent manic pressure on the opposition. We have no margain for error if we are to really challenge this year.

[Mantis]

Not having gone to the game it was hard to tell definitively however, it looked like we were out coached around the stoppages all night.

We had tired looking players crowding the ball and making token efforts in close leaving key Geelong players in the middle to outside areas open for take aways under little pressure. How much of this was straight effort, tiredness, or hangover from last week I'm not sure, but it was disappointing to watch given the stage we were performing upon.

We crowd the ball, its how we play.. Weight of numbers, win the ball and then spread via handball, but we couldn't win the ball and when we did our skills were poor.. But I don't buy into the 'token' effort comment.


We're going to get pounded in the media this week, and rightly so, because we were pathetic and we should be ashamed of the way we represented ourselves tonight. I get that we had injuries and we'll be better as we become more experienced however, we need to realise that doesn't mean much if we want to be taken seriously. The time's now and we blew it tonight.

Our time isn't now.. Sure we had an opportunity to put our case forward and fell along way short, but if we are serving up performances like that in 2 years time I'll be shocked... Even add in the 6-7 players missing from our best 22 and we still perform better.

And we are very young & inexperienced, and we put in a young teams performance.. Average games played of 70 games v 122... One shit performance won't define our season, how we rebound from it will and I'm confident the team will come again.

[jeemak]

We crowd the ball, its how we play.. Weight of numbers, win the ball and then spread via handball, but we couldn't win the ball and when we did our skills were poor.. But I don't buy into the 'token' effort comment.



Our time isn't now.. Sure we had an opportunity to put our case forward and fell along way short, but if we are serving up performances like that in 2 years time I'll be shocked... Even add in the 6-7 players missing from our best 22 and we still perform better.

And we are very young & inexperienced, and we put in a young teams performance.. Average games played of 70 games v 122... One shit performance won't define our season, how we rebound from it will and I'm confident the team will come again.

I appreciate 100% that we crowd the ball as a rule. When you're off a little bit in effort and execution as we were last night it shows up. You might not call a lot of our effort around the contest out as being token but I did. We just didn't have that hard edge last night.

Our time is now just as Port's time was two years ago. We control our own effort and performance, nobody else does, we were pathetic and need to be accountable for it. When we bring the effort and team work we're really good, and if we don't take advantage of the competition being a little weak this year we may miss out on winning a flag.

[merantau]

It's the morning of the day after. I've been reading through the relevant threads so I'm pretty well dosed up on negativity. So, not wanting to make excuses or forget that it was a pretty underwhelming performance, let me say this: we are 9 - 4. We have played 52 quarters of football the vast majority of which have been good or very good. We played our worst three quarters of football for the year, IN THE SAME GAME. Point 2. On their performances this season Geelong are the most impressive team. 3. We played them minus Murphy, Wood, JJ, Dahl, Stevens and Maclean. We have covered our injuries better than at any time in our history. 4. Our big name players collectively had ordinary games - that is not going to happen often. 5. We badly need Tom Boyd in the team. We are under sized up forward. 6. Jake Stringer tried his guts out to lift the team last night and Liam Picken too. I would have used him as a tagger. 7. Our rucks and third man up often put the ball to Geelong's advantage. 8. They kicked deadly accurate - we were terrible. 9. It's true - we could not cope with the pressure they applied and we didn't apply enough. Their ball use was clean and precise compared to ours. 10. We are very young, we have a long way to go but the material is there. 11. Our bright future cannot be tarnished by one bad performance and we will bounce back.

[bornadog]

We crowd the ball, its how we play.. Weight of numbers, win the ball and then spread via handball, but we couldn't win the ball and when we did our skills were poor.. But I don't buy into the 'token' effort comment.

Agreed, that is how we play, but what I saw last night was an open game with little stoppages or chance for the mids to crowd the ball. Geelong's excellent field kicking and marking meant they played keepings off, and alot of the time that is how they kicked goals. When we had the ball we turned it over. Three goals were scored from stupid kicks that went straight to Geelong players, ie Redpath, Stringer, and one other (can't remember who it was).

[1eyedog]

Agreed, that is how we play, but what I saw last night was an open game with little stoppages or chance for the mids to crowd the ball. Geelong's excellent field kicking and marking meant they played keepings off, and alot of the time that is how they kicked goals. When we had the ball we turned it over. Three goals were scored from stupid kicks that went straight to Geelong players, ie Redpath, Stringer, and one other (can't remember who it was).

Boyd

[dadsgirl16]

What frustrated me was Bonti going 3rd man up every damn time and whacking it straight to a Geelong player..usually bloody
Dangerfield. Honestly if I could see it why can't the coaches?

[josie]

What frustrated me was Bonti going 3rd man up every damn time and whacking it straight to a Geelong player..usually bloody
Dangerfield. Honestly if I could see it why can't the coaches? Well said, and Roughie banging it straight to their players plus us not having our mids play on their mids - should not have 2 or 3 of their mids standing on their own for throw ins or ball ups. Wish we could combo Roughie's marking ability around ground with Campbell's better ruck and low ball efforts.

[Happy Days]

I didn't see the game last night (also girlfriend related) and I never will, but getting bodied as badly at stoppages as we seem to have is pretty concerning. As fantastic as our backline's commitment to structure in overcoming personnel deficiency was, it's just not replicable in the midfield.

[Mantis]

Our time is now just as Port's time was two years ago. We control our own effort and performance, nobody else does, we were pathetic and need to be accountable for it. When we bring the effort and team work we're really good, and if we don't take advantage of the competition being a little weak this year we may miss out on winning a flag.

Even if our time is now last night wasn't the GF.. Shit Haw got beat by 75 points earlier in the season, but that result wasn't the end of their season.. It was just a stumbling block... Like last nights game was.

We have almost half a season to go, we have 6 to 7 good to excellent players to get back into the team and at 9-4 we have the chance to push for an improved result from 2015.. I really look forward to our return games against Norf & Geel in 6 weeks time, will learn a bit about our coaches and players in those games before we get ready for a finals campaign.. And whilst we can feel sorry about ourselves and lament the fact we failed again on the big stage, it sure beats the shit out of turning up week in - week out and watch us play like that for 3 years straight.. At least now we only get a crap performance a couple of times a year.

[bornadog]

Even if our time is now last night wasn't the GF.. Shit Haw got beat by 75 points earlier in the season, but that result wasn't the end of their season.. It was just a stumbling block... Like last nights game was.

We have almost half a season to go, we have 6 to 7 good to excellent players to get back into the team and at 9-4 we have the chance to push for an improved result from 2015.. I really look forward to our return games against Norf & Geel in 6 weeks time, will learn a bit about our coaches and players in those games before we get ready for a finals campaign.. And whilst we can feel sorry about ourselves and lament the fact we failed again on the big stage, it sure beats the shit out of turning up week in - week out and watch us play like that for 3 years straight.. At least now we only get a crap performance a couple of times a year.

Good post Mantis - that is how I see it too, even though I feel really disappointed today.

[boydogs]

At least now we only get a crap performance a couple of times a year.

It hurts more, expectations are rising

We didn't show up last night, even the 22 we put out there can play a lot better than that

[Mantis]

It hurts more, expectations are rising

We didn't show up last night, even the 22 we put out there can play a lot better than that

No doubt expectations are rising, but they also have to be realistic... Whilst disappointed they we couldn't perform better, given where we are on the journey I'm happy to allow the odd stumble, but fully expect that when we meet challenges like this in the future and when we are better placed in terms of who is available, that they we give a much better account.. We let ourselves down last night, but I think it's an exception to a team that comes to play more often than not, which is a great sign for a young team.

[Hotdog60]

Maybe it's a timely reminder not to get too far ahead of ourselves. If you don't bring it on the day a good side will make you pay.
We can look at it as a bit of a kick in the pants to knuckle down because to take the big prize you need to be switched on.