Game Day Round 3 2017 - Fremantle V Western Bulldogs

[Eastdog]

Margin: Dogs by 75 points - Need to get a big win and boost the % early on
First Goal: Tom Boyd to get us started
Best On Ground: Macrae to have a great one
Crowd: 24,163

Look forward to all woofers predictions especially the one from BT :)

Go Bulldogs!!

[BornInDroopSt'54]

Margin: Dogs by 45 points
First Goal: Libba
Best On Ground: Hunter

[1eyedog]

Margin: Dogs by 31 points reckon they'll come out smarting and chase our tail all day.
First Goal: Stringer
Best On Ground: Picken

[Eastdog]

Margin: Dogs by 31 points reckon they'll come out smarting and chase our tail all day.
First Goal: Stringer
Best On Ground: Picken

Could be closer earlier on and then we run away with it but agree that we have to be weary all the time even against 'weaker' opposition.

[bulldogtragic]

Dogs by 112
BOG - Cloke 10 Goals
First Goal - Hunter

[1eyedog]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceuKtra7ecs&feature=youtu.be

[boydogs]

WB by 45
First Goal McLean
BOG M Boyd

[Ozza]

Dogs by 38
First Goal - Stringer
BOG - Dahlhaus
Crowd - 29,887

[AndrewP6]

Dogs by 22. I hope it's much, much more
First goal Jack Mac
BOG Pickers
Crowd 23,117.

[Remi Moses]

Dogs by 27 pts ( hoping more, but I think they've been stung) we owe them a few kickings
BOG Dahl
1st goal Cloke

[Twodogs]

Dogs by 75-I'm hoping it's much more but I'm going conservative.
BOG the Bont
FG Magic McLean.

[Eastdog]

Dogs by 75-I'm hoping it's much more but I'm going conservative.
BOG the Bont
FG Magic McLean.

Same as me :) yeah 75 odd would be a good win even if we win day by 40 odd I'd still be very happy but hopefully will be closer to what BT has predicted :)

[bornadog]

Dogs by 29
First Goal Toby
BOG: You know who
Crowd 25,600

[MrMahatma]

Dogs by 150. Cloke- 7 goals. Stringer- 7. Goals.
Bont- 40 possessions

First goal: McLean

[Go_Dogs]

Dogs by 40
BOG Dahlhaus
First goal Picken
Crowd 24,334

Can't watch tonight but will be monitoring the scores. Good chance to put Freo to the sword and boost our percentage. Let's see how the comfort level out West is after the Elimination final.

[ratsmac]

Dogs by 99
First goal - Clokey Pokey
BOG - Bont (firming as brownlow fav)

[KT31]

Dogs by 53
BOG - Hunter
First goal - Cloke
Crowd 19,900

[GVGjr]

I'm looking forward to this game

If enough things click for us we will have a comfortable win.

Dogs by 26 points
Suckling first goal
BOG Macrae

[comrade]

If you need a gee up before the game, watch the first quarter of round 1 last year. Freo are still recovering from that domination.

[LostDoggy]

Dogs by 49
FG-Dahl
BOG-MaCrae
26,756

[comrade]

Praying for a Tom Boyd field day and no injuries to any one.

Dogs by 47 after leading by 8 goals at half time
FG: Cloke
BOG: Dahl

[Eastdog]

Dogs by 49
FG-Dahl
BOG-MaCrae
26,756

I have feeling that Jack could have a good game.

Any WA woofers going?

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Dogs by 49
First goal:Murphy
BOG: Libba

[jeemak]

Freo seem up and about. It will be interesting to see if we tighten up in the centre.

[jeemak]

Wake up Zaine! Goodness me.

[Eastdog]

Wake up Dogs! Defence is getting killed right now.

[bulldogtragic]

We look shell shocked.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Any chance we start to play soon?

[G-Mo77]

Oh yuck. We've got a fight on our hands here.

[AndrewP6]

Anyone care to revise their tip? Bloody awful.

[Rocket Science]

If you need a gee up before the game, watch the first quarter of round 1 last year. Freo are still recovering from that domination.

Looks like the lads might've liked to have followed your advice.

What a stinker of a start.

[Murphy'sLore]

Oh my god, this is embarrassing.

[GVGjr]

Early days but not great signs. We look slow, disorganised and lacking in skills.

[Murphy'sLore]

Cam McCarthy has the worst hair ever.

[AndrewP6]

They look exhausted, and they're 15 minutes in.

[bulldogtragic]

AFEL media will be happy about the umpiring thus far.

[jeemak]

Suckling and Macrae have done some smart things.

Nice finish from Hunter.

We need to provide each other more support between the 50's. We're being well outnumbered.

[Eastdog]

Lachie with the first we needed that one. That could stem the flow.

[G-Mo77]

Needed that. Starting to get it together slowly. Need to get a couple more and hold before the end of rhis quarter

[AndrewP6]

To me it looks like we're choosing to push instead of tackle. Smacks of desperation.

[jeemak]

Just in case you're not aware Peter Bell is a Fremantle board member.

[Murphy'sLore]

Even Picken can't kick one!

[Murphy'sLore]

Time for an old-fashioned Rocket-style spray at quarter time, methinks.

[MrMahatma]

That was awful!

[always right]

Time for an old-fashioned Rocket-style spray at quarter time, methinks.

Bevo doesn't do sprays. Shame....they deserve one. Looks like they've been drinking their own bathwater and are outnumbered around the ball on every occasion.

[Throughandthrough]

Geez i wish Basil Zempelis would STFU

[G-Mo77]

Just in case you're not aware Peter Bell is a Fremantle board member.

Yeah he's excited.

They're here to play tonight. I'd like to think our boys are completely asleep but full credit to the Dockers, they earned that lead. We've now got to adjust and reel back this deficit this quarter or it could get out of hand.

[jeemak]

Ruckmen and ambition don't mix.

[bulldogtragic]

Ruckmen.

You're assuming he's nominating at contests...

[jeemak]

I don't know why Shane Biggs drank a bottle of red wine before the game.

[Stefcep]

Hunter the only one looking like who wants to be out there.

[Eastdog]

Hunter been good but pressure intensity needs to lift.

[Eastdog]

I don't know why Shane Biggs drank a bottle of red wine before the game.

Was awful that moment.

[1eyedog]

Need to be patient and systematic when we get our chances. They wont maintain the rage.

[G-Mo77]

I think we're getting it back on our terms just need to get it on the scoreboard

[Eastdog]

Loving how Lin Jong is going. Marking really well

[Stefcep]

Freo V Hunter.

[G-Mo77]

Wow. That was as good as it gets right there. Amazing kick

[jeemak]

Lachie's playing like an elite footballer at the moment.

[Eastdog]

Hunter on fire!

[bulldogtragic]

Thank God Lachie had $20 on himself for the 3 votes. Without him the games gone.

[chef]

Go Hunts.

Seems we let them get confidence and momentum with our soft start.

[Eastdog]

Freo V Hunter.

Yep the others need to come in.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Lachy well done. Singlehandedly keeping is in the game.

[bulldogtragic]

Tim English come on down.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Campbell has made some poor errors for this level

[jeemak]

We need to stop dishing bail out handballs to Campbell. We'll completely destroy his self esteem if we keep it up.

How it took the umpire as long as it did to stop the play with Picken clearly concussed is unbelievable.

[bulldogtragic]

Picken is one tough MF.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Picken is clesrly going to be gone for the game. Stone cold knocked out. Accidental hip to head. But i don't see how he can pass a concussion test from that.

[Murphy'sLore]

How tough is Picken - actually looks okay after that massive hit.

[Eastdog]

Liked Marcus Adams game

[Stefcep]

Campbell has made some poor errors for this level

Been very poor

[G-Mo77]

Looking a lot better now. Ross looks like he's got his lead and putting players back already.

[Eastdog]

Picken is one tough MF.

He certainly is. When he was down like that I had a feeling he'd get up and be walking very soon.

[Murphy'sLore]

Why can't we just once give someone a shellacking? Seriously, when was the last time we did that?

[jeemak]

Unbelievable kick from Suckling.

Typically classy finish from the Bont.

[comrade]

No fluency yet we're grinding it out.

That chain of rapid fire handballs is a perfect example of why we're so good.

[Eastdog]

Bonti scores we are back!

[1eyedog]

That shut em up

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Fantastic passage of play that led to Bont marking that. Our best of the night.
We've done very well to wrest control back.
I sense we're fortunate to both be well coached, and have a group of guys who can adapt and respond to new instructions.

[Eastdog]

We need to be better in the ruck department. Miss Roughy. Campbell needs to do better.

[G-Mo77]

Campbell not having a good one

[jeemak]

Daniel seems really out of sorts at the moment. His confidence in his ball use seems to be down.

[G-Mo77]

That is just rubbish from Stringer. Didn't even consider a closer option

[westbulldog]

Geez i wish Basil Zempelis would STFU

...try living here

[bulldogtragic]

Daniel seems really out of sorts at the moment. His confidence in his ball use seems to be down.

I've said it the last two weeks. He might need to get some touch at VFL level.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Some real work needs to be done during half time to get some guys going and work out how we're going to undo Freo's plans. They've clearly put a lot of time into their strategy for this game and are having a red, hot go.
Our poor start has made the job difficult, Picken's absence due to concussion will compound our problems unless we find a way in the third quarter to get well on top on the scoreboard.
If we are unable to get clear ascendancy in both general play and on the scoreboard in the 3rd, we're going drop this game.

[Eastdog]

That is just rubbish from Stringer. Didn't even consider a closer option

Could have been better.

Much better that quarter. Hunter, Adams, Jong, JJ, Bont all good. Campbell would be my anchor right now.

[comrade]

All the stats are trending our way but we're continuing to get torched with over lap run. Our forwards are getting sucked up way too high like always on this ground.

[ledge]

I'm sorry but Campbell is a liability.
I've been waiting for him to click but I would be tempted to play English ASAP the way Campbell is going.

[always right]

Campbell not having a good one

To be fair, he's been very competitive in the ruck but has made some terrible errors by foot. I've liked his effort which is more than I can see for many of our players in the first quarter.

[always right]

I'm sorry but Campbell is a liability.
I've been waiting for him to click but I would be tempted to play English ASAP the way Campbell is going.

English would be smashed in the ruck....as he was against Martin in the JLT. Campbell is our only option.

[comrade]

Sandi would kill English.

[ledge]

I think we will lose this we just don't seem up.
The old bulldog returns ? Are freo our bogey team ?

[ledge]

Sandi would kill English.
Sandi is doing that to Campbell anyway.
at least English is good at his feet what's Campbell good at ?

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

My concern with Campbell is that after several years on the list, he still does not seem to be used to the pace of the game, and makes very basic skill errors on a regular basis. Right now he gets a game because Roughy is out, English is both too light and now just coming back from a minor niggle.
There does come a time very quickly however whether his ruckwork alone does not see him continue to be picked. In a couple of weeks if English has form, he can play. I'd much rather English's superior ball use over Campbell's better ruckwork. We can put together strategies for losing the ruck tap, but not Campbell's howlers with ball.

[chef]

I think we will lose this we just don't seem up.
The old bulldog returns ? Are freo our bogey team ?


Have faith mate. This is a different breed.

[bulldogtragic]

My concern with Campbell is that after several years on the list, he still does not seem to be used to the pace of the game, and makes very basic skill errors on a regular basis. Right now he gets a game because Roughy is out, English is both too light and now just coming back from a minor niggle.
There does come a time very quickly however whether his ruckwork alone does not see him continue to be picked. In a couple of weeks if English has form, he can play. I'd much rather English's superior ball use over Campbell's better ruckwork. We can put together strategies for losing the ruck tap, but not Campbell's howlers with ball.

That's the interesting thing going ahead. Right now there's not much splitting what Campbell has given in two games, than what Minson could've given in 2015 & 2016. I don't want to sidetrack the thread too much, but it's at least interest to watch if Bevo wants taps and poor skills, or less taps and another good ball user.

[G-Mo77]

To be fair, he's been very competitive in the ruck but has made some terrible errors by foot. I've liked his effort which is more than I can see for many of our players in the first quarter.

For sure AR just what he is doing with the ball is just diabolical.

I really think we started to wrestle our way back in the 1st and got it on our terms that quarter. The last few minutes were disappointing though. It's one of those games when the underdog gets the smell of victory and they're hard to shut down. It's going to be a tight game in the 2nd half, hope we find a way to finish with more points on the board.

[MrMahatma]

Campbell hasn't been on his pat though. A fair few passengers so far. Better 2nd qtr.

[1eyedog]

Have faith mate. This is a different breed.

Issue is we are a tall too many. Will take a big effort from here I hope we have some run left.

[comrade]

Sandi is doing that to Campbell anyway.
at least English is good at his feet what's Campbell good at ?

No, I mean literally kill. As in dead.

[Dry Rot]

Hamling has done well.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Just want to say, quality work from Fyffe to stop the game when he saw Picken was in a bad way.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Good start to the quarter by Bont and Stringer.

[G-Mo77]

Just want to say, quality work from Fyffe to stop the game when he saw Picken was in a bad way.

Yeah it was. Umpire should have showed better judgement and stopped anyway.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Fletcher Roberts, just saved a certain goal. Great work to get that hand in there and stop Mundy from marking

[kruder]

Jongy has been solid again becoming a lock for best 22.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

First two goals on the back of a last ditch save by Roberts to prevent Freo from getting one. Now we're in front.

[chef]

Issue is we are a tall too many. Will take a big effort from here I hope we have some run left.

I think we'll be fine.

[Eastdog]

JJ!! "The Norm Smith Medallist puts the Bulldogs in front" Basil

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Dahl and Jong doing very well at the contest this quarter, giving our outside runner some regular ball.

[GVGjr]

It's goal for goal and we need to get another run on.

We are carrying a few players tonight and while I know most don't like a few changes in selection I think we should have looked at it this week.

[G-Mo77]

Oh dear.

[bulldogtragic]

I wanna spew. FFS

[kruder]

It's goal for goal and we need to get another run on.

We are carrying a few players tonight and while I know most don't like a few changes in selection I think we should have looked at it this week.

I actually think people are to quick to drop players on this blog. Jong had 14 tackles in round 1 and many were all over him to be dropped and his his fast becoming one of our best midfielders.

[bulldogtragic]

Thank God for Bob.

[Eastdog]

Shocking defensive mistake gifting them a goal then quick response from our captain Bob.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Great response to the goal Adams' brain fart cost us

[jeemak]

We need to change the way we use Libba. For mine we don't get him out in the clear enough to use his elite foot skills.

[comrade]

Marcus Adams needs a simple directive: do not attempt any kick under 40m

[1eyedog]

Toby's off the pace.

[Eastdog]

Liked Cloke's second efforts when he dropped that mark. Too close for my liking.

[1eyedog]

Nearly killed Cloke

[G-Mo77]

Oh Suckling.

[Eastdog]

Nearly killed Cloke

Hasn't been that great tonight.

[jeemak]

We really should have kicked a few more this quarter. Disappointing finishing.

[jeemak]

Great work from Jake. And excellent finish from Bob.

We need to put the foot on the pedal now and make a statement.

[G-Mo77]

We really should have kicked a few more this quarter. Disappointing finishing.

Yep. 4 or 5 misses in a row before that

[GVGjr]

I actually think people are to quick to drop players on this blog. Jong had 14 tackles in round 1 and many were all over him to be dropped and his his fast becoming one of our best midfielders.

Jong shouldn't be a candidate to be dropped

[Eastdog]

Great work from Jake. And excellent finish from Bob.

We need to put the foot on the pedal now and make a statement.

Bob very important.

[comrade]

Should be another 2 or 3 up.

[Eastdog]

Jong shouldn't be a candidate to be dropped

Agree GVG liked his game tonight.

[GVGjr]

Toby's off the pace.

Certainly seems to be out of step

[Eastdog]

We have created the buffer which is good

[comrade]

How was the bullet from Suckling to McLean.

[jeemak]

I like how McLean hasn't given up on what has been a bit of a hit and miss night. His awareness of who was around him when he took that touched ball was top level.

Good finish Boyd.

[GVGjr]

Should be another 2 or 3 up.

We aren't getting a lot of value of our effort.
Nice lead now and we need a couple of more.

[GVGjr]

Adams is doing some nice things and some woeful ones. Mixed bag

[comrade]

Adams, mate. Kick. It. Long.

[always right]

Adams should kick long down the line....every time. Christ he makes me nervous,

[always right]

Jong and Dahlhaus have played three strong quarters.

[Jeanette54]

Dalhaus has been our best for the night, certainly he has worked his backside off in the heavy stuff.

[G-Mo77]

Adams should kick long down the line....every time. Christ he makes me nervous,

He is such a good long and accurate kick. He's got to get it out of his head now

[1eyedog]

It's our hands vs their run

[jeemak]

What a thoroughly terrible start to the quarter. When we needed our mids to lock it down and be tight we've done precisely the opposite. I question the attitude tonight, it's been off the boil, and you can't afford that one rotation down.

[jeemak]

What is the perversion we seem to have in handballing the bloody football to big men under immediate pressure.

Dahl's give to Tom Boyd then was unbelievably costly.

[Eastdog]

Cmon Dogs! Cmon!

[GVGjr]

We've got a bit of work to do. Nice lead has been surrendered. Quite a few players need to lift.

[Stefcep]

everything falling their way

[Eastdog]

Need the next one

[jeemak]

We have really struggled on the last line this quarter, it's actually been a titch embarrassing.

Come on lads, rally and show your class. Start with closing the ground up and get back to basics.

[1eyedog]

It's over we are a mile off

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

This is very tricky from here. We've stopped. Picken's loss hurting us in a couple of ways.

[G-Mo77]

Are we good enough tobtake it now?

[AndrewP6]

Pathetic. We look a step and a half off it all over the ground. Just so incredibly disappointed.

[westbulldog]

Biggs is getting torched

[DOG GOD]

I put $100 on freo at $5.50....we should be 0-3 for the year.

[GVGjr]

Real test of our character to see if we can finish the game strongly or just give up on the scoreboard.

[G-Mo77]

That's it. Absolute tripe in this last quarter

[ledge]

*!*!*!*! me ! Wtf ? Easton wood now

[bulldogtragic]

And we're cooked.

[jeemak]

Our inability to compete between the 50's and shut space or run down this quarter has been absolutely disgraceful.

Extremely disappointing and a wake up call for some players who seem to have had an overdose of their own bath water.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Game over. Very disappointing. Going to be tough coming back from the West to play next Friday too.

[bulldogtragic]

I put $100 on freo at $5.50....we should be 0-3 for the year.

Well there's one of us happy then.

[ledge]

Go over with an arrogant attitude and whack.

[Murphy'sLore]

All over. We deserve to lose, we didn't turn up tonight.

[The Bulldogs Bite]

*!*!*!*!ing disgusting football

[1eyedog]

I put $100 on freo at $5.50....we should be 0-3 for the year.

Great. Well done.

[GVGjr]

Freo are up for the fight after being highly criticized and we have worked hard for little reward. Costly mistakes at critical times have stamped our cards.

They've had our measure over the last few years and I wonder why we can't counter them?

[comrade]

Forgot what losing feels like. I don't like it.

Out worked us which is the most disappointing aspect.

[DOG GOD]

Well there's one of us happy then.

Had a feeling all week mate, and after our effort against them last year I always thought them to be a chance. We were lucky to beat both pies and swans with maybe 2 good qtrs in each game....not working hard enough and clearances an issue.

[chef]

To good Freo. Wanted it more than us. We'll bounce back.

[bulldogtragic]

Daniel is trying to get team mates decapitated and isn't even hiding it.

[The Bulldogs Bite]

Daniel is trying to get team mates decapitated and isn't even hiding it.

His form is horrendous.

[G-Mo77]

Daniel is trying to get team mates decapitated and isn't even hiding it.

He's not alone. Look at all our disposal in the 4th. Freo just wanted this one more

[GVGjr]

Daniel is trying to get team mates decapitated and isn't even hiding it.

I wonder if his shoulder operation in the off season has really slowed him down? To me he's really struggled in the 3 games so far.

[Eastdog]

I'm am very dissapointed right now :(

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

I'm switching off for the night. We should not lose to teams making 6 changes, coming off 2 bad performances, and where we looked in control by 3 Qtr time.
I hate losing to Ross Lyon coached teams.
Im not liking the casual attitude after the loss by a few guys. Doesn't look like its hurting JJ much, having a calm, easy chat with Hamling.

[comrade]

I'm am very dissapointed right now :(

Go to watch highlights from the GF :D

[MrMahatma]

I'm switching off for the night. We should not lose to teams making 6 changes, coming off 2 bad performances, and where we looked in control by 3 Qtr time.
I hate losing to Ross Lyon coached teams.
Im not liking the casual attitude after the loss by a few guys. Doesn't look like its hurting JJ much, having a calm, easy chat with Hamling.

We can't have beaten Ross many times? He wouldn't care too much for us. Always wins.

[comrade]

I reckon this might be a bit of a reality check for the playing group.

[MrMahatma]

Go to watch highlights from the GF :D


No. Losing to that mob wasn't good enough. The GF was last year.

That performance was a joke.

[GVGjr]

Im not liking the casual attitude after the loss by a few guys. Doesn't look like its hurting JJ much, having a calm, easy chat with Hamling.

I think JJ was having words with him at the start of the game.

While it's OK to be a good sport after a loss the same thought crossed my mind that they doesn't appear to be a level of disappointment on many of them.

Bevo has some work to do.

[always right]

Wow!
We spent the whole last quarter panicking whenever we got the ball.
No system carrying the ball forward.
Outcoached.....did we ever consider having someone stand close to Fyfe and Hill at clearances?
So many blokes went missing in the last quarter.
Boy did we look slow.

[G-Mo77]

Wow!
We spent the whole last quarter panicking whenever we got the ball.
No system carrying the ball forward.
Outcoached.....did we ever consider having someone stand close to Fyfe and Hill at clearances?
So many blokes went missing in the last quarter.
Boy did we look slow.

They just used the open space so much better especially in the last. Runners peeling off and making space, we couldn't get near them.

[jeemak]

Wow!
We spent the whole last quarter panicking whenever we got the ball.
No system carrying the ball forward.
Outcoached.....did we ever consider having someone stand close to Fyfe and Hill at clearances?
So many blokes went missing in the last quarter.
Boy did we look slow.

Summed up my thoughts perfectly. Fremantle were coached really well tonight in terms of set-up from a ground usage point of view, we either weren't or didn't have players following instructions.

It will be interesting to see how Bevo handles the press conference. He would have to be incredibly frustrated by our lack of composure deep in defence, and some of the efforts (or lack of) that permeated the entire group at various times of the game.

At this stage I'd like to see the axe swing on a few, but not sure whether anger is clouding my judgement so will hold the names back for now.

I just really struggle with the attitude we brought to the game versus what our opposition did. They made us look silly last time we played them on that deck and we should have had a point to prove to them this time around. That point should have been that we're the premiers and we are ruthless in our attack and effort. Very disappointing that we started the way we did, we need to get that rubbish out of our system.

[Sedat]

We spent the whole last quarter panicking whenever we got the ball.
I just reckon we were hunted and hunted hard. Freo channeled their 2013-15 form and bashed us up in the middle, and worked much harder to get numbers to every contest. We had no time whatsoever to actually do anything with the ball because they hunted us, and simply pressed us in their own forward 50.

We needed the reality check - I hope the players come to next week with the right attitude to roll the sleeves up and hunt the ball and the opposition. Work rate needs to go up significantly on tonight's effort. Ruck division is in crisis point and next week definitely won't be a stroll in the park with Goldy and Preuss.

Oh and David Cloke, please STFU for the rest of the year.

[The Underdog]

I'm switching off for the night. We should not lose to teams making 6 changes, coming off 2 bad performances, and where we looked in control by 3 Qtr time.
I hate losing to Ross Lyon coached teams.
Im not liking the casual attitude after the loss by a few guys. Doesn't look like its hurting JJ much, having a calm, easy chat with Hamling.

Maybe he's asking Joel about real estate?

[Remi Moses]

Wow, that was complete rubbish .
Lacked any intensity at the start, and hoping that's the kick in the arse we need .

[Remi Moses]

I just reckon we were hunted and hunted hard. Freo channeled their 2013-15 form and bashed us up in the middle, and worked much harder to get numbers to every contest. We had no time whatsoever to actually do anything with the ball because they hunted us, and simply pressed us in their own forward 50.

We needed the reality check - I hope the players come to next week with the right attitude to roll the sleeves up and hunt the ball and the opposition. Work rate needs to go up significantly on tonight's effort. Ruck division is in crisis point and next week definitely won't be a stroll in the park with Goldy and Preuss.

Oh and David Cloke, please STFU for the rest of the year.

My sentiments exactly . Just move on David Cloke

[The Bulldogs Bite]

I think JJ was having words with him at the start of the game.

While it's OK to be a good sport after a loss the same thought crossed my mind that they doesn't appear to be a level of disappointment on many of them.

Bevo has some work to do.

If we're being honest, there's been signs from pre season that our attitude is off and the first three weeks certainly haven't corrected that.

It's unforgivable that we lost to that Fremantle side tonight, a squad of kids and/or lemons.

I'm embarrassed and angry that we can still dish that up.

[Remi Moses]

If we're being honest, there's been signs from pre season that our attitude is off and the first three weeks certainly haven't corrected that.

It's unforgivable that we lost to that Fremantle side tonight, a squad of kids and/or lemons.

I'm embarrassed and angry that we can still dish that up.

I accept tonight's performance was rubbish, but how can you gleen the attitude to be wrong from the pre-season ?
Having been firing on all cylinders yes, but it's a tad hysterical saying the attitude isn't right.

[bulldogtragic]

I didn't think Travis was incredibly poor. I thought unlike last week, our kicking to his vicinity was incredibly poor. In the last half, Campbell had him free inside 50 for 10 seconds, and slowly thought about it, and then tried to kick it as high and slow as possible to ensure Trav couldn't get an easy shot away.

If we made entries towards him count, he probably kicks a couple and we may or may not win. But going at Cloke's scoreboard impact I think is somewhat overly simplifying the issue tonight.

[The Bulldogs Bite]

I accept tonight's performance was rubbish, but how can you gleen the attitude to be wrong from the pre-season ?
Having been firing on all cylinders yes, but it's a tad hysterical saying the attitude isn't right.

Work rate = attitude.

We've been playing like millionaires and tonight we looked like we were more concerned with sharing jokes and having chats than playing ruthless football.

It's not something I can say we've seen from a Bevo coached side until now.

[anfo27]

I put $100 on freo at $5.50....we should be 0-3 for the year.

Didn't see you post that at 3/4 time. Not sure why you would post that on this forum. Poor form!

[Sedat]

It's unforgivable that we lost to that Fremantle side tonight, a squad of kids and/or lemons.
I don't know what to make of Freo - on paper they still look like a finals side but their output has been utter tripe for 24 weeks. I have no doubt they played possum from about round 6 last year, and unfortunately their first 2 weeks this year were rubbish so they wielded the axe a week too soon for us unfortunately, and got rid of the truly dead wood. Maybe tonight will be an embarrassing loss by the end of the season or maybe it will a sign of things to come for Freo's opponents especially in Perth.

[jeemak]

Hahahaha, someone just asked Bevo whether he'll consider bringing Will Minson in!

Bevo had to alert him to Will's retirement.

[merantau]

After dominating the 3rd quarter we really should have put them away but missed shots meant we only had 15 point lead instead of 25 -30.
But the last quarter was a complete rout. The players should hang their heads. A very poor effort after getting well on top. The game is not over till it's over
Being jumped at the start didn’t help either. Good wake up call. Let's bounce back quickly. Go Dogs.

[always right]

After our loss to them in the last round last year, you would expect our blokes to be switched on and ready for the challenge. Our coaches clearly failed in this regard.
How many times were we outnumbered around the ball? That used to be our MO but we appear to be playing a different game style this year. Maybe time for a re-think.
Don't know the stats but I suspect we were smashed in clearances. Not a lot of talent in the Freo side but you know they depend on Fyfe and both Hills to get the ball moving from clearances. I saw nothing tonight to suggest we had a plan to combat this.
Some blokes horribly out of form....the most notable being Caleb. Tine to regain form with Footscray.
It pains me to say it but I'm seeing some worrying signs from Matty Boyd. Sure it's early days but he looks dare I say it.....older. Murph is not far behind him. Whilst his skills are still pretty good, he's showing some signs that the end is near. Hope I'm wrong....but it was always going to happen eventually.

[Eastdog]

Very disappointed like most woofers. We were very flat tonight and probably would have got out of that had we won but we didn't and now we have to move on and focus on North on Good Friday and bounce back. Bevo will I'm sure come down hard on our guys.

Highlights of the night Hunter, Jong, JJ, Bonti, Adams - thought he did some very good things. Im impressed by Lin Jong's marking ability and he is become great through the middle in great form. Bob Murphy another still so important popping to kick a couple.

Very poor final quarter we have a more healthy forward line and our players just were defending and not working hard enough. The ruck area is where we need to improve. Campbell disappointing and needs to have a break out game. Roughy isn't too far away.

As they say there is always next week.

Go Dogs!!

[ledge]

Hahahaha, someone just asked Bevo whether he'll consider bringing Will Minson in!

Bevo had to alert him to Will's retirement.

Unbelievable .. That idiot will now be plastered on all the footy shows and shouldn't have a job after that.
He will never have any respect as a football journalist, how did Bevo keep a straight face ??
A Scott or clarkeson would have unleashed on him !

[GVGjr]

Despite a good nights sleep it still hasn't helped me accept the loss.
We had everything going for us against a side that wasn't playing well including what would have been our first 3 and 0 start under Bevo.

So what went wrong?

Did we get the wrong selection balance?
Are we not in good enough form yet?
Are we carrying too many players without the required form

We've never been a particularly quick side especially when we lose but at times last night we looked very slow and lethargic. The other aspects of the game stood out including that our skill level wasn't good enough, our decision and composure under a bit of pressure wasn't anywhere near the standard expected and we were woeful in the ruck.

I know many people have recently been of the thought that the ruck is now an overrated position under Bevo and that we can somehow simply just concede the position and it still be good enough to counter it but against Sandilands I think it left our midfield to do too much and ultimately it gave Freo the ascendancy to move the ball quickly forward.

I see Campbell is copping a fair bit of the blame but I didn't think Tom Boyd looked good enough in the role either. This concerns me for next week against Goldstein and and Preuss. We sort of need both Campbell and Boyd but it also creates some challenges.

I'd be interested to hear some valid reasons why we lost because we should have beaten Fremantle last night and really were really only competitive for half the game.

[Hotdog60]

Losing a gut runner early in the game wouldn't have helped on a large ground. If we were playing on the turn over and they were good enough not to turn it over may be we need to flick a switch to revert back to last years style against Ross Lyon.

[always right]

We won our first two matches on the back of our defensive six who have been fantastic. Last night they were simply poo with the exception of Roberts.

Please end the experiment of MBoyd at half forward. He struggles to convert and we lose his steadiness at half back.

[SonofScray]

We certainly didn't bring the standard effort and commitment to the contest we usually do last night. Looked like we wanted to bank 4 points without much expenditure at all. Our disposal was very poor. Combined with diminished effort, we were going to battle to get a result in our favour. Going a man down on the bench amplified the challenge.

Freo were getting first hands on the ball which has been an issue for us all season so far and I think they were able to sheep dog up front and resist the temptation to play a numbers game with us at the stoppages. They didn't have to worry too much about the turn over game because we were not applying that sort of pressure and just not hitting enough targets to force them to do anything different. Lyon got the match ups he needed inside 50, with Biggs outsized regularly and Adams out paced. They punished almost every error those two made. JJ/Wood also made some terrible turnovers inside defensive 50 which are uncharacteristic but were incredibly damaging.

Freo's stars performed at a high level. They outgunned us in the end.

I was pleased that we were able to stem the flow after the poor start and just eek out enough good footy to get 14 points up at 3/4 time. Felt we needed to cash in more, given the likelihood Freo would come again with the extra man. The last 10 minutes told the story I think. We were out on our feet, had plenty of opportunities to get our noses back in front but just couldn't get the footy into any meaningful positions and in the hands of guys we would expect to win it for us. Each failed effort forward saw them rebound and get a man out the back.

Ruck/midfield work is a concern. Jong seems to to be the only one who can read what is happening at the fall of the ball. Stringer had some good moments too, to be fair. Otherwise our set up is wrong. We were pulling some shifty's with ruck nominations, obviously trying to find a way past Sandilands' dominance but I found that irritating to observe.

[Topdog]

I see Campbell is copping a fair bit of the blame but I didn't think Tom Boyd looked good enough in the role either. This concerns me for next week against Goldstein and and Preuss. We sort of need both Campbell and Boyd but it also creates some challenges.


Campbell is getting a fair bit of blame because he was utterly useless around the ground too. He is soooo slow with both body and mind. Kicking for him seems to be a foreign concept where he has to look at the ball, look at his foot, look at the ball again and then slowly drop it onto his boot. Roughhead injury with is really hurting at the moment and as you suggested last year we probably needed to keep Minno for depth. Against anyone bar North, Melb and Freo I'd bring in English

[anfo27]

Very disappointing to lose to a bottom 4 team last night. Its like we came into the last quarter expecting that Freo will just roll over, they've given it their best but the premiers are in front now so just let us do our thing. Freo's pressure was excellent in that last quarter but where was ours? Some of our errors were just embarrassing!

Campbell looked very ordinary last night. Just looks out of touch, dropped plenty of marks but no way would i bring in English against Preuss. Biggs 2 ordinary games out of 3. Daniel not having an impact at all.

Like to see a few changes. Bring in some hungry players! Just not sure if that hurt enough last night & that really worries. I've seen a lot of losing in my lifetime & last years results is something i want to get used to. I'm not interested in going back to what we were.

[GVGjr]

Campbell is getting a fair bit of blame because he was utterly useless around the ground too. He is soooo slow with both body and mind. Kicking for him seems to be a foreign concept where he has to look at the ball, look at his foot, look at the ball again and then slowly drop it onto his boot. Roughhead injury with is really hurting at the moment and as you suggested last year we probably needed to keep Minno for depth. Against anyone bar North, Melb and Freo I'd bring in English

Everyone keeps saying to bring in Tim English like it will fix things but 2 weeks ago he didn't participate in a leisurely kick to kick when other players were warming up for some training. I could very well be wrong but on what I was told he could still be a few weeks away from being in the selection mix.
Also I get he has some unique skills but he will need time rather than being rushed. In my opinion if we get 6 senior games out of him this year it will be a massive bonus.

By the way, I'm not sure I said we should keep Minson but I still think we needed to replace him with somebody decent even a part timer. We could easily drop Campbell if we had someone who could properly assist Boyd.

[Go_Dogs]

Fortunately I'm away at the moment, so didn't watch any of the game but it sounds like we dished up an absolute shocker.

Given the form Fremantle have been in and our loss in round 23, I agree this is a big concern. We need to rebound strongly for the Good Friday clash.

[Topdog]

By the way, I'm not sure I said we should keep Minson but I still think we needed to replace him with somebody decent even a part timer. We could easily drop Campbell if we had someone who could properly assist Boyd.

ah forgot exactly what you said other than needing a decent ruck back up.

[DOG GOD]

Putrid, insipid, lacklustre effort last night....get the feeling we have a few divas who think we might just have to turn up to win the game..we are a premiership team after all.

We seem to be being smashed around the clearances, not running hard enough, poor foot skills and decision making at times.

I'm not sure if Matty boyds ear injury is having an effect on him in a psychological way, but man he looks like he has travelled to 2020 the way he's started this year.

Have to get smith and Dunkley back in that team ASAP.

[always right]

Anybody recommending we bring in English for Campbell is kidding themselves. I would genuinely fear for him going up against most senior ruckmen. When we played Brisbane in the JLT series it was apparent that Martin was jumping into English......looking to physical intimidate him. Unfortunately at this early stage Tim's body is not strong enough and he will pick up significant injuries if not managed properly.

[ratsmac]

I saw on the footy show today that Freo has won 2 games out of the last 12. Both against us. On the flip side we have lost only 2 games in the last 12. Both against Freo. I suppose a positive could be that we don't play them again this year. :p

[Eastdog]

Didn't see you post that at 3/4 time. Not sure why you would post that on this forum. Poor form!

Yeah sorry DOG GOD. Our first 2 wins were hard fought. Last night was a downer and very good teams have them even against more "weaker" opposition sometimes. Now we need a good response.

[Eastdog]

I saw on the footy show today that Freo has won 2 games out of the last 12. Both against us. On the flip side we have lost only 2 games in the last 12. Both against Freo. I suppose a positive could be that we don't play them again this year. :p

We were excellent against them at home in Round 1 last year.

[Sedat]

Anybody recommending we bring in English for Campbell is kidding themselves. I would genuinely fear for him going up against most senior ruckmen.
I reckon some of Preuss' meals would be heavier than English. I have no problem if English is selected on the back of some great form in the VFL later in the season, but he should be nowhere near key ruck duties this year and only provide a few minutes of chop-out if his value around the ground justifies it.

We are limited to Boydy, BTC and Roughy as our ruck depth in 2017, so it realistically is Boyd and Campbell until mid season unless we want to do something funky with our 2nd ruck (ie: Jong).

[bulldogtragic]

I reckon some of Preuss' meals would be heavier than English. I have no problem if English is selected on the back of some great form in the VFL later in the season, but he should be nowhere near key ruck duties this year and only provide a few minutes of chop-out if his value around the ground justifies it.

We are limited to Boydy, BTC and Roughy as our ruck depth in 2017, so it realistically is Boyd and Campbell until mid season unless we want to do something funky with our 2nd ruck (ie: Jong).

I wonder if we will steal an idea off Hinkley, and perhaps play a tall defender/ruckman. If Collins can string some games together, he's tall and strong enough (around 195cm, 100kg) to contest in the middle and drop back. Then use Boyd & Cloke middle and forward.

But from the round 1 presser, I could easy believe that Bevo could play Jong as the ruckman.

[always right]

I wonder if we will steal an idea off Hinkley, and perhaps play a tall defender/ruckman. If Collins can string some games together, he's tall and strong enough (around 195cm, 100kg) to contest in the middle and drop back. Then use Boyd & Cloke middle and forward.

But from the round 1 presser, I could easy believe that Bevo could play Jong as the ruckman.
Not sure we should toy with Collins in the ruck when he has battled to get on the park regularly.

[comrade]

Work rate = attitude.

We've been playing like millionaires and tonight we looked like we were more concerned with sharing jokes and having chats than playing ruthless football.

It's not something I can say we've seen from a Bevo coached side until now.

We racked up huge tackle stats in the first two weeks which is as good a signal for work rate as anything.

Yeah, losing to Freo is disappointing but I reckon you're a tad off the mark.

[GVGjr]

Not sure we should toy with Collins in the ruck when he has battled to get on the park regularly.

I saw him 2 weeks ago jogging with his left leg heavily strapped. He looked to be a long way off playing for Footscray let alone for the WB. He's 4 months younger than Tim English and shouldn't be rushed despite his physical maturity.

[comrade]

I don't know what to make of Freo - on paper they still look like a finals side but their output has been utter tripe for 24 weeks. I have no doubt they played possum from about round 6 last year, and unfortunately their first 2 weeks this year were rubbish so they wielded the axe a week too soon for us unfortunately, and got rid of the truly dead wood. Maybe tonight will be an embarrassing loss by the end of the season or maybe it will a sign of things to come for Freo's opponents especially in Perth.

If Dawson & Griffin played, we win :(

[Remi Moses]

Work rate = attitude.

We've been playing like millionaires and tonight we looked like we were more concerned with sharing jokes and having chats than playing ruthless football.

It's not something I can say we've seen from a Bevo coached side until now.
Workrate was poor last night, and early last week .

[Remi Moses]

We racked up huge tackle stats in the first two weeks which is as good a signal for work rate as anything.

Yeah, losing to Freo is disappointing but I reckon you're a tad off the mark.
Angry and embarrassing is a tad hysterical as well . There's going to be results that surprise, if teams are a bit off .
The bar has been raised significantly, but we're going to lose games

[Remi Moses]

Bevo's brief was the most annoyed I reckon he's ever been .

[chef]

Putrid, insipid, lacklustre effort last night....get the feeling we have a few divas who think we might just have to turn up to win the game..we are a premiership team after all.

We seem to be being smashed around the clearances, not running hard enough, poor foot skills and decision making at times.

I'm not sure if Matty boyds ear injury is having an effect on him in a psychological way, but man he looks like he has travelled to 2020 the way he's started this year.

Have to get smith and Dunkley back in that team ASAP.

We've lost two games in 12 and now we have divas. Oh lordy.

[merantau]

Disapponting. We went from playing our best football to our worst football in the blink of an eye! Don't know how that happens - does anyone? Bevo looked shocked after the game. I believe he will have us ready to hit the ground running against North.

[bornadog]

What disappointed me last night was the poor field kicking across the ground and across the goals, ala Adams and Wood. These were real howlers at crucial times.

The last quarter was a shambles and forgettable - one of our worst under Bevo.

[comrade]

What disappointed me last night was the poor field kicking across the ground and across the goals, ala Adams and Wood. These were real howlers at crucial times.

The last quarter was a shambles and forgettable - one of our worst under Bevo.

The worst, easily.

[GVGjr]

The last quarter was a shambles and forgettable - one of our worst under Bevo.

The one against the Saints was worse in my opinion.

[comrade]

The one against the Saints was worse in my opinion.

Yeah, that was pretty bad actually. But we had some semblance of an excuse (backing up a huge away game, Clay's knee). No excuses last night.

[GVGjr]

Yeah, that was pretty bad actually. But we had some semblance of an excuse (backing up a huge away game, Clay's knee). No excuses last night.

We had no real excuse in the Saints game. 10 minutes of possession football and we had an easy win. The fact that we didn't try some changes and refused to change was a real blight on our coaches box ability to influence a game.
Smiths knee injury was a plausible excuse at the time however, when you had a lead like we enjoyed it really wasn't a genuine excuse.

Last night it was Fremantle coming off a 6 day break and a very disappointing performance and they picked a bunch of kids at the selection table. The bookend quarters were just a shambles for us and I didn't sense we had the answers. It's great having an unwavering faith in the game plan but we coughed up a decent 3 quarter time lead and failed to fire a shot when it counted.
We were simply outworked by a more hungry side. It wasn't an inspired player like Franklin willing them across the line it was a bunch of average or slightly above averages players working harder.

[comrade]

We had no real excuse in the Saints game. 10 minutes of possession football and we had an easy win. The fact that we didn't try some changes and refused to change was a real blight on our coaches box ability to influence a game.
Smiths knee injury was a plausible excuse at the time however, when you had a lead like we enjoyed it really wasn't a genuine excuse.

Last night it was Fremantle coming off a 6 day break and a very disappointing performance and they picked a bunch of kids at the selection table. The bookend quarters were just a shambles for us and I didn't sense we had the answers. It's great having an unwavering faith in the game plan but we coughed up a decent 3 quarter time lead and failed to fire a shot when it counted.
We were simply outworked by a more hungry side. It wasn't an inspired player like Franklin willing them across the line it was a bunch of average or slightly above averages players working harder.

We looked cooked in the last quarter. Really feel we're lacking an extra mid or two. Too many flankers both forward and back.

But it's one loss. Not throwing the baby it with the bath water.

[Twodogs]

We need some of the hardness that Smith or Dunkley would provide.

[GVGjr]

We looked cooked in the last quarter. Really feel we're lacking an extra mid or two. Too many flankers both forward and back.

But it's one loss. Not throwing the baby it with the bath water.

One of the reasons why Bevo is a great coach is that he has 100% faith in the players but it's irritating that we lacked a mid or two last night when we also lacked the same the previous week as well.

We keep tinkering around with selections even when we aren't playing well.
Yes it's one loss but we haven't been impressive in the previous 2 games. We need to look hard at our selections regardless if we won or lost the previous week.

[Ozza]

I wonder if we will steal an idea off Hinkley, and perhaps play a tall defender/ruckman. If Collins can string some games together, he's tall and strong enough (around 195cm, 100kg) to contest in the middle and drop back. Then use Boyd & Cloke middle and forward.

But from the round 1 presser, I could easy believe that Bevo could play Jong as the ruckman.

Port played really badly when they had Trengove playing ruck and defence. I'm not sure that's a great strategy, '

Tom Campbell was woeful last night - but I think we have to stick with him and Tom Boyd to share the ruck duties. Tom C has played good footy before, we need to back him in while Roughy is out.

Tom Boyd is an interesting one. He looked up and about early and ready to have a really good game, but faded out of it. His form isn't great - still only had one really excellent game under his belt....which was exceptionally well timed!

[Ozza]

One of the reasons why Bevo is a great coach is that he has 100% faith in the players but it's irritating that we lacked a mid or two last night when we also lacked the same the previous week as well.

We keep tinkering around with selections even when we aren't playing well.
Yes it's one loss but we haven't been impressive in the previous 2 games. We need to look hard at our selections regardless if we won or lost the previous week.

You make a good point.
One little issue I have, is that although it is all well and good to preach the 'everyone has to be versatile' approach - I think we still need to respect the limits of this trademark. We have started the year with the team being thrown around a lot [B]during[B] games. Murphy and JJ forward at times, Boyd up on a wing, Libba and Bont spending long periods forward and Stringer on the ball.
I think we might be overdoing it.

Another poster (maybe Jeemak?) commented on Libba, and how we aren't getting the ball in his hands enough to use his elite kicking. I completely agree.
The commentators have been raving about how many tackles he has had this season, but to be honest - I want to see him getting far more of the ball, and being inside the centre square as much as possible. I don't have the stats to back it up - but I'd be betting that Jong has been in the most centre square stoppages this season so far. Jongy is going pretty well generally, but we are not winning our share of the contests. Stringer and Daniel have spent time in there too. Its an area where we need to improve, and Ithink we should curb the 'versatility' angle a bit and getting Bonti and Libba into most centre square starts - with the likes of Macrae, Dahlhaus, Jong as the second tier, and Stringer & Daniel as occasionals.

(Sorry didn't mean it to be all in bold - but can't seem to fix it on the ipad!!)

[KT31]

The worst, easily.

We have had more than couple of poor quarters against the Cats in recent times.

[comrade]

We have had more than couple of poor quarters against the Cats in recent times.

Yeah, but at least they've always been top 4 or finals contenders over the past few years. Freo were heading into basket case territory, we're the reigning premiers and we had a 2+ goal lead heading into the final 30 mins.

[always right]

We looked cooked in the last quarter. Really feel we're lacking an extra mid or two. Too many flankers both forward and back.

But it's one loss. Not throwing the baby it with the bath water.

I'm a little puzzled by the call for additional midfielders. Which midfielders who are currently out of the team should we be bringing in? If we are talking Smith and Dunkley, both basically played as permanent forwards last year and have not yet shown that they have a future in the middle. Of the others, Webb has spent increasing time in the midfield at Footscray but is still unproven at senior level. Dale is a flanker or wingman at best. Who else is there?

I would question our clearance structures as a first step. Outnumbered at the ball and giving opposition o ballers too much space. Something seems amiss.

[Mofra]

What disappointed me last night was the poor field kicking across the ground and across the goals, ala Adams and Wood. These were real howlers at crucial times.

The last quarter was a shambles and forgettable - one of our worst under Bevo.
Add Biggs to that - surely he missed more targets by foot than he hit?

I love his endeavor but when he's not switched on he really can turn it over a lot.

[Mofra]

We looked cooked in the last quarter. Really feel we're lacking an extra mid or two. Too many flankers both forward and back.

But it's one loss. Not throwing the baby it with the bath water.
We were down on a mid rotation for most of the night with Picken out, it really showed.

[Mantis]

Really disappointing performance... to be jumped 2 weeks in a row is really poor when we were such a good starting team in 2016.. did we expect Freo to just roll over and play dead?

As per other comments it seems we are being too clever with set-ups and selections, not getting our good players around the ball enough and selecting too many outside players who are neither fast or exceptionally consistent kicks. Understand the need to evolve, but it seems we have gone away from what made us successful last year and whilst there is so much of the season to go and adjustments will be made, it's been a lacklustre start to the year.

The Picken injury killed our rotations and we were smoked at 3/4 time.. If we were 4-5 goals in front, as we should've been then it wouldn't have mattered, but we didn't make the most of our opportunities all whilst gifting them a few and Freo capatilised in the last.

Time to re-gather, make the necessary changes to the line-up and move on.

[Ozza]

Really disappointing performance... to be jumped 2 weeks in a row is really poor when we were such a good starting team in 2016.. did we expect Freo to just roll over and play dead?

As per other comments it seems we being too clever with set-ups and selections, not getting a good players around the ball enough and selecting too many outside players who are neither fast or exceptionally consistent kicks. Understand the need to evolve, but it seems we have gone away from what made us successful last year and whilst there is so much of the season to go and adjustments will be made, it's been a lacklustre start to the year.

The Picken injury killed our rotations and we were smoked at 3/4 time.. If we were 4-5 goals in front, as we should've been then it wouldn't have mattered, but we didn't make the most of our opportunities all whilst gifting them a few and Freo capatilised in the last.

Time to re-gather, make the necessary changes to the line-up and move on.

Agree that we didn't make the most of opportunities. Disappointed with the Bonts misses in the third quarter, as well as Stringer (who is missing too many), and Boyd and Macrae.

While I'm on Macrae....what the hell was he doing in the first quarter, when we finally put together a good passage of play, he had Tom Boyd on as a short option, ignored him, went back and kicked the ball a mile in the air but only 25 metres forward - to a Freo player. Real school boy punt sort of stuff.

[jeemak]

Whilst the last quarter was hellish to watch, as other posters have noted we were out on our feet being a rotation down and couldn't seem to respond to the intensity and run of Fremantle.

Reflecting, it was the first and third quarters where we really shot ourselves in the foot. For us to dish up that start two weeks in a row (one might thank their lucky starts Collingwood couldn't kick to save themselves round one) is unforgivable and points to the attitude of the group. We know we are the hunted, we know teams will be coming out blazing to take it up to us, but what we've shown is a disregard for the intensity required to be a dominant force in the home and away rounds.

Bevo talks about us not being a side that really nails teams to the wall. If we start well, convert our opportunities when we have them as we should have during the third quarter on Saturday, we find ourselves five or six goals up at three quarter time. That's the position from which you launch big dominant wins.

Finals aside, this group has demonstrated an inability to consistently put four quarter efforts together over the past 12 or so months. If we want to be the side that records dominant wins - when we should - then we need to put four quarter efforts together regularly.

[Mofra]

While I'm on Macrae....what the hell was he doing in the first quarter, when we finally put together a good passage of play, he had Tom Boyd on as a short option, ignored him, went back and kicked the ball a mile in the air but only 25 metres forward - to a Freo player. Real school boy punt sort of stuff.
Worrying as it isn't the only time during the game Tom Boyd was ignored - Murph did it too, ended up hitting Hunter on the chest on a far more acute angle.
I'd prefer Tom Boyd taking set shots TBH

[bulldogtragic]

Worrying as it isn't the only time during the game Tom Boyd was ignored - Murph did it too, ended up hitting Hunter on the chest on a far more acute angle.
I'd prefer Tom Boyd taking set shots TBH

Bonts also had Tom 40m out for an easy mark, straight in front and chose to go to Stringer on an acute angle 40-45m out. Tom's entire career he's got an accuracy of 70%. We should be looking to get it to him. Cloke was also burnt several times. There's no point having talented KPFs if you're not going to use them when you have the opportunities.

[Twodogs]

We were down on a mid rotation for most of the night with Picken out, it really showed.

It showed that it was Picken too.

[Murphy'sLore]

Picken, Roughead, Dickson, Morris are all huge outs for us, can't underestimate their structural importance. That's key players out all over the ground.

[Ozza]

Picken, Roughead, Dickson, Morris are all huge outs for us, can't underestimate their structural
importance. That's key players out all over the ground.

Absolutely. All pretty vital players.
Would have loved the ball in Dickson's hands a few times in the 3rd quarter on Saturday night.
Would have loved Dale deep in defence with Froe came at us in the 1st and last quarters.
Would have loved Roughy competing the ruck for us - and using the ball considerably better than his understudy!