Match Preview: Western Bulldogs vs Sydney

[Desipura]

Mantis has asked whether I wanted to do this weeks game, so here it is



Last 3 Times met:
2008 2nd Semi Final Western Bulldogs 16. 10.(106) def Sydney 9.15.(69)
2008 Round 18 Western Bulldogs 17.11.(113) def Sydney 14.13.(97)
2008 Round 7 Western Bulldogs 18.4.(112) def Sydney 14.10.(94)

Head to head Western Bulldogs 74 Sydney 69 Drawn 1
Finals record
Western Bulldogs played 38 won 12 lost 26 drawn 0
Sydney played 67 won 29 lost 38 drawn 0


Last years 2nd semi final proved to be was an arm wrestle to halftime with the lead changing 5 times in the 2nd quarter.
Having beaten the Swans in contested footy – normally Sydney’s hallmark – the Dogs destroyed them with their ability to run with the footy and pinpoint their passes to their leading forwards.
The Dogs then went on to kick 5 goals to none in the 3rd quarter, game over. If it was not for Barry Hall (4 goals), the result could have been even uglier. The Dogs had multiple goal scorers that night (Murphy, Welsh, Johnson & Eagleton), the Swans only having Hall along with a few other single goal scorers.



Form:
Dogs are coming of a tough game against the Cats, the 8 day break will assist. Last week was arguably our best game for the year with an improvement in our skill evident in that tight last quarter.
The midfield has added grunt this year with the inclusion of rookie Picken and the very promising Ward who nearly single handedly got the Dogs over the line in the last quarter comeback.
The Dogs proved to the football public that they are not that far away from the Cats, and may have given other teams an insight as to how to beat them. The Swans did everything right against a poor Port Adelaide, this game will be alot more physical and the centre clearances will be a telling factor in this game.


Under Consideration:
Bulldogs - Tiller, Reid, O’Keefe
Swans - Barry, Lewis Robert Thomson

Key Match Ups:

Picken v Jarred McVeigh:
McVeigh has caused a fair bit of trouble for us in previous encounters due to his ability to run all day and position himself well in centre clearances. McVeigh also has the ablity to score multiple goals in small bursts. We must not afford him the luxury to push forward without any pressure as he can hurt you on the scoreboard.


Boyd vs Goodes: Boyd is the obvious matchup for mine. Can run with him all day and had the strength to compete with him one on one. If Goodes pushes forward, we may have to put Morris on him with Callan moving onto O’Loughlin.

Morris v O’Loughlin: ‘The Glove’ lowered his colors last week to Steve Johnson who is in the best form of his career. Morris very rarely lowers his colors 2 weeks in a row so he will be very keen to atone against an inform Micky O.

Akermanis v Crouch: The arch enemies meet again perhaps for the last time. Aker is in red hot form at the moment and I have no doubt Roos will look to the experienced Crouch do the job on Aker.

Hudson/Minson v Jolly/White:
Second behind Sandilands in hitouts, Jolly has had a fine season thus far averaging 29.4 hitouts a game more than Minson/Hudson (27.3) combined. Our rucks ability to get their own ball out of the centre is crucial against the Swans who thrive on contested footy.

Harbrow v Shaw: I would look at playing Harbrow as a defensive forward, not allowing Shaw to run out of the backline easily. Shaw has the most running bounces in the league so his ability to create play cannot be understated. However if Gilbee does not play, we may need Harbrow run out of the backline.


Summary:
There are some fitness queries at the Kennel with Gilbee & Higgins remaining doubtful for this match. The Dogs beat the Cats in contested footy, which has been very rarely achieved in their last 50 games won.
This was a big positive against one of the best midfields in the league (Ablett, Selwood, Bartel, & Ling to name a few).
Whilst the Swans midfield does not have the class of the Cats, the Dogs will need to display the same commitment to the footy to overcome the Swans who’s game is based around winning centre clearances.

Even if we break even out of the centre, I think the Dogs have far more scoring options than the Swans and should run out winners by 23 points.

[Mantis]

Good work on the preview Desi.

The Boyd on Goodes match-up is one I haven't thought and I am not sure if I would be comfortable with. Boyd is more suited to the rough and tumble work in the centre square whereas Goodes plays more of an outside game that relies on his athleticism, but thinking about it we probably don't have a ready-made matchup (few clubs so) for Goodes so knows.

Do you think the Swans will allow the Picken v McVeigh matchup? I think they will be pretty keen to get on McVeigh onto Cooney so we may see a battle of tactics early on.

[Desipura]

Good work on the preview Desi.

The Boyd on Goodes match-up is one I haven't thought and I am not sure if I would be comfortable with. Boyd is more suited to the rough and tumble work in the centre square whereas Goodes plays more of an outside game that relies on his athleticism, but thinking about it we probably don't have a ready-made matchup (few clubs so) for Goodes so knows.

Do you think the Swans will allow the Picken v McVeigh matchup? I think they will be pretty keen to get on McVeigh onto Cooney so we may see a battle of tactics early on.
I thought long and hard about a match up on Goodes, I had Williams playing on him then Tiller, neither of these 2 offered me any great confidence that they could do the job.
Lets face it, no real obvious matchup that can match him in the air so I was confident Boyd would at least be able to run with him all day as well provide physical pressure.

I have Kirk on Cooney who is similar to Ling who did the job on him for the majority of the game last week.

[The Coon Dog]

Great preview Desipura.

Goodes. Certainly looms as the man to stop at all costs.

One from left field. Daniel Cross. Has the tank to run with him & is deceptively tall in a contested marking situation.

Like more & more games, I'm finding many are played out in my head in a number of different scenarios beforehand. Will Rocket send Gia to Kirk again? If so, how will Roos react this time. Will McVeigh go to Cooney? If so, will Cooney go forward & drag McVeigh away from the action? If he does, how does Roos react? Games withing games within games. Who'd be a coach?

[Mantis]

Great preview Desipura.

Goodes. Certainly looms as the man to stop at all costs.

One from left field. Daniel Cross. Has the tank to run with him & is deceptively tall in a contested marking situation.

Like more & more games, I'm finding many are played out in my head in a number of different scenarios beforehand. Will Rocket send Gia to Kirk again? If so, how will Roos react this time. Will McVeigh go to Cooney? If so, will Cooney go forward & drag McVeigh away from the action? If he does, how does Roos react? Games withing games within games. Who'd be a coach?

I think all us would..... And clearly we would do a great job.;)

Certainly it will be a massive battle of tactics matching up the Master vs his apprentice once again. I think last year we clearly out-pointed the Swans in each of our contests so it will be interesting to watch unfold the new tactics Roos employs to counter our improvement in areas that used to be Sydney's strengths (contested footy)

Cross might be given this role (on Goodes), but I thought he was great against Geelong mixing it up in the middle, I'm not sure if I like him in an 'outside' role.

[Mofra]

One from left field. Daniel Cross. Has the tank to run with him & is deceptively tall in a contested marking situation.
Cross is excellent overhead, just have a bit of a query on his burst/closing speed which means we'd need to have one match-up goal side of Goodes for most of the game to help Cross out.
Boyd would be an excellent match up for Goodes as well except for the overhead component, although Boyd has been in the sort of form that means he can be quite damaging in his own right.

If the Swans try to get McVeigh onto Cooney, and Picken tags McVeigh/blocks at the centre contests, who does that leave free for the Swans? Would make the ruck contests more important IMO.

[Ozza]

Great preview Desipura.

Goodes. Certainly looms as the man to stop at all costs.

One from left field. Daniel Cross. Has the tank to run with him & is deceptively tall in a contested marking situation.

Like more & more games, I'm finding many are played out in my head in a number of different scenarios beforehand. Will Rocket send Gia to Kirk again? If so, how will Roos react this time. Will McVeigh go to Cooney? If so, will Cooney go forward & drag McVeigh away from the action? If he does, how does Roos react? Games withing games within games. Who'd be a coach?

I like your thinking TCD. Crossy does indeed play quite tall. He was so good head to head with Bartel last week that I'd be happy for Cross to get first crack at Goodes.

Hopefully we don't have the nightmare start that we did in Canberra last time when we hardly touched the footy in the first 10 minutes! Geez that was stressful. Mitch Hahn was huge in that game last year - hope he gets going again this week.

[Sockeye Salmon]

Form:
Dogs are coming of a tough game against the Cats, the 8 day break will assist. Last week was arguably our best game for the year with an improvement in our skill evident in that tight last quarter.
The midfield has added grunt this year with the inclusion of rookie Picken and the very promising Ward who nearly single handedly got the Dogs over the line in the last quarter comeback.
The Dogs proved to the football public that they are not that far away from the Cats, and may have given other teams an insight as to how to beat them. The Swans did everything right against a poor Port Adelaide, this game will be alot more physical and the centre clearances will be a telling factor in this game.


Single handedly?

20 game rule coming into play there me thinks.

I reckon Aker, Johnno, Griff, Boydie and a few others helped a bit.

[Rocket Science]

Cheers for the preview...

From memory we've deployed Cross onto Goodes for periods before, with mixed success.

Crossy's good overhead for a mid but Goodes is exceptionally strong in the air, and as Mantis suggests exerts a lot of ground-level influence in open space. It's not an ideal pairing...I'd argue Goodes is going to get his share of the ball regardless, and while an obviously problematic match-up, if possible I'd rather we didn't sacrifice someone who'd otherwise be prime mover for us, such as Cross, who we'll surely need to rely upon for his strengths against Sydney, winning contested ball.

Could Everitt be an option if deemed worthy of a recall? Big ask for a 20-gamer but would appear to be the most appropriate physical match-up we have. If he's going to be a fixture in the team, perhaps it's time to give Everitt a job and see how he handles it.

[Desipura]

Single handedly?

20 game rule coming into play there me thinks.

I reckon Aker, Johnno, Griff, Boydie and a few others helped a bit. Out of my whole preview you highlighted a negative, typical! lol
The glass is always half empty hey SS? I said nearly singlehandedly, you forgot to paste that bit. Anything to suit your argument.
Wardy did something he nas never done before and that was become an integral part of the midfield in that last quarter by getting the ball out of the centre. If Wardy had not got it out of the centre as much as he did, we would most likely not have got as close to the Cats.
How many times did Aker and Johnno get it out of the centre, zero!

[LostDoggy]

I would be putting Morris onto Goodes and have him follow him wherever he goes. Neither Boyd (in particular) nor Cross will handle Goode when he goes forward. I would give Morris instructions to play a close-down role on him as Goode has struggled with close checking before.

He needs to have a strong body on him and some height. He made a mess of Thomas last week particularly in the air.

This will leave Lake for Micky O and Williams for Hall and I would be reasonably confident with both those match-ups

Picken gets O'Keefe now that he is in the middle and let Boyd and Mc Veigh go head to head.

Kirk can decide on Cooney or Griffen. Either way I don't mind.

I would give big Will first shot at Jolly with instructions to stick with him when he goes forward. Hudson can struggle to keep up with a forward running ruckman mainly because he is left on his hands and knees in the middle trying to get the pill. When the opposition gets it he can be found short.

My betting is we will prove fitter on the big ground than them and should come over the top of them in the last quarter.

[Desipura]

I would be putting Morris onto Goodes and have him follow him wherever he goes. Neither Boyd (in particular) nor Cross will handle Goode when he goes forward. I would give Morris instructions to play a close-down role on him as Goode has struggled with close checking before.

He needs to have a strong body on him and some height. He made a mess of Thomas last week particularly in the air.

This will leave Lake for Micky O and Williams for Hall and I would be reasonably confident with both those match-ups

Picken gets O'Keefe now that he is in the middle and let Boyd and Mc Veigh go head to head.

Kirk can decide on Cooney or Griffen. Either way I don't mind.

I would give big Will first shot at Jolly with instructions to stick with him when he goes forward. Hudson can struggle to keep up with a forward running ruckman mainly because he is left on his hands and knees in the middle trying to get the pill. When the opposition gets it he can be found short.

My betting is we will prove fitter on the big ground than them and should come over the top of them in the last quarter.
I have never known Lake to play on a slippery forward like O'Loughlin, would think he would be too evasive for him.
Hall on Williams? When was the last time Williams played on the last line? This matchup would worry me big time!

[The Coon Dog]

I have never known Lake to play on a slippery forward like O'Loughlin, would think he would be to evasive for him.
Hall on Williams? When was the last time Williams played on the last line? This matchup would worry me big time!

Me too. Lake on Hall for mine & if Hargrave comes up, then he goes onto O'Loughlin, failing that then Tiller. He would be too crafty for Williams.

[Bulldog Revolution]

Nice one Desi,

We've always struggled for a matchup for Goodes - I am wondering whether Griffen on Goodes might work- neither will probably spend all day side by side, but if Griffen gets it 20 times he is as damaging as Goodes.

McVeigh ran rampant at Canberra last year, and Cooney was incredible at the SCG.

I'll be interested to see if Harbrow does play as a defensive forward. I've been wondering who we will play on Josh Drummond when we play the Lions. Whilst I haven't seen the swans I figure Rhys is getting the ball because teams are opting to matchup other players and allowing him to have possessions because they dont believe he will hurt them.

Will Kirk V Cross go head-to-head for the title of the best NSW in and under?

[Sedat]

Top write-up.

Morris on Micky O worries me a little - he's had a few bags kicked on him recently and is a little down on confidence. And O'Laughlin is one of the few players to have toweled Morris up in the past, not to mention is in sharp form at the moment. Hargy would be a perfect match-up but is an unlikely starter. Williams might be an option worth considering? He's certainly quick enough on the lead to go with him and has good 'negating form' in recent weeks (if a little shaky when he actually has the ball in his hands). I would be confident that Williams has the physical tools to do a successful blanket job on O'Laughlin. Of course Jolly and White will be ghosting forward to try and create match-up problems down back (they did this very well against Port) so Williams' height might be required here as well.

[LostDoggy]

I have never known Lake to play on a slippery forward like O'Loughlin, would think he would be too evasive for him.
Hall on Williams? When was the last time Williams played on the last line? This matchup would worry me big time!

O'Laughlin isn't as slippery as he used to be - down on pace.

Hall plays all over the forward line and certainly doesn't stay deep. Williams can handle him for pace and strength

[lemmon]

Should be a good game. Jolly is the biggest threat for mine, I dont see any way Minson and Hudson can win the hit outs or around the ground where Jolley has improved massively. Hopefully Hudson can provide his hussle and bussle and win a few clearances as another midfielder. But Jolley has improved again this year and is IMO the AA ruckmen at this stage.

Anyone doubting the role of the ruckmen should watch the Swans V Hawks game, Jolley absolutely anhilated Renouf. If our rucks can break even I'd go as far as saying we are assured of a win.

[bulldogsman]

Lake vs Hall

Picken vs O'Keefe

Cooney vs McVeigh

Griffen vs Kirk

Boyd vs J.Bolton

Williams vs White/Jolly

Goodes vs Cross or Addison maybe to have a crack

Morris vs O’Loughlin

Johnson vs C.Bolton

Aker vs Crouch

[Go_Dogs]

Nice one Desi,

We've always struggled for a matchup for Goodes - I am wondering whether Griffen on Goodes might work- neither will probably spend all day side by side, but if Griffen gets it 20 times he is as damaging as Goodes.

Don't mind this idea, and might allow Griff to be afforded a bit more freedom than he has recently.


Pretty intriguing game as far as match ups go.

If Lake goes to Hall, Morris or Hargrave to Micky O, there doesn't seem a logical match up for Williams. (Unless I'm missing someone - honestly have only caught 2 Swannies games this season thus far).



Would like to see Tiller come back in as he did very well against Sydney in the final and plays a tough brand that is well suited against them.

[Mantis]

If Lake goes to Hall, Morris or Hargrave to Micky O, there doesn't seem a logical match up for Williams. (Unless I'm missing someone - honestly have only caught 2 Swannies games this season thus far).

Would like to see Tiller come back in as he did very well against Sydney in the final and plays a tough brand that is well suited against them.

These 2 comments don't really fit well with each other. We have no match-up for a tall in Williams (who can play shorter), but you want to bring in Tiller who fills a similiar role, doesn't make much sense.

[The Pie Man]

These 2 comments don't really fit well with each other. We have no match-up for a tall in Williams (who can play shorter), but you want to bring in Tiller who fills a similiar role, doesn't make much sense.

I'd be prepared to try Williams on Goodes, but I think I can see the point raised - this might be perception, but I think Tiller might be a bit quicker than Tom (I'm prepared to be proven wrong on this, I've got no supporting evidence, all perception) and more mobile...when there's 5 cm difference between the two that's perfectly reasonable. Goodes absolutely can play 'shorter' but I'm not sure I agree 100% Williams does. Whereas Tiller, I'm still curious how he would've gone on Johnson last week instead of Morris (in the absence of Shaggy given he is first choice on him) and he's good on the ground and hard at it.

FWIW - Goodes 194 cm : Tiller 191 cm & Williams 196 cm

I think Tiller would be worth playing this week, either on O'Keefe or O'Laughlin. I hear a call for Everitt, though it's about time we reward some solid Tiller form.

Interesting times

[boydogs]

Lake vs Hall

Picken vs O'Keefe

Cooney vs McVeigh

Griffen vs Kirk

Boyd vs J.Bolton

Williams vs White/Jolly

Goodes vs Cross or Addison maybe to have a crack

Morris vs O’Loughlin

Johnson vs C.Bolton

Aker vs Crouch

Don't think we should have Picken on O'Keefe, he is more of a midfield tagger on outside types. Others have mentioned problems with a matchup for Goodes and O'Loughlin

I would have Morris on O'Keefe and Everitt back in the side for Callan on O'Loughlin. Picken to get Goodes when he is in the middle, Williams when he is forward. Williams to Hall and Lake forward may be an option when Goodes is in the middle, or Lake to O'Loughlin and Everitt to a smaller player.

I am not sure the Swans would try and strectch us by having Hall, O'Loughlin, O'Keefe, Goodes and a ruckman all up forward, but if he they did I would be happy to bring one of our ruckmen back with theirs, bring the ball to ground and run it back the other way using Harbrow, Lake and Everitt.

I like the Cooney and Griffen matchups if we can get them. Not sure McVeigh is too defensive and Kirk is too slow for Griff. Hoping for big games from our guys.

I hope the umps have been watching videos of Aker being held through the week and are watching for this when Crouch does the same :rolleyes:

[Go_Dogs]

These 2 comments don't really fit well with each other. We have no match-up for a tall in Williams (who can play shorter), but you want to bring in Tiller who fills a similiar role, doesn't make much sense.

Perhaps one could play forward. Not sure I'm as confident about Williams playing small.


Can anyone recall who Tiller was matched up on in the final against the Swans last year?

[bornadog]

Perhaps one could play forward. Not sure I'm as confident about Williams playing small.


Can anyone recall who Tiller was matched up on in the final against the Swans last year?

Tiller = 191cm not overly tall.

Williams = 196cm

Can't remember the match up in the finals, was it Ted Richards?

[Dry Rot]

Great preview. I am pretty concerned about Micky O - IMO he is moving better now than he has for a couple of seasons.

I am also worried about the defensive efforts of our forwards - if they are slack, most of the Swans defenders (except RL-T) are pretty good counter attackers if given room like Port did. Shaw has been playing quite well and giving them something extra.

I'm off to Canberra tomorrow and hope our lads can bring along the intensity of last week. If they don't, I'll hear that bloody Swans song at fulltime yet again....

[BulldogBelle]

I'm off to Canberra tomorrow and hope our lads can bring along the intensity of last week. If they don't, I'll hear that bloody Swans song at fulltime yet again....

Enjoy your trip to Canberra DR and the song at fulltime will not be the Swans one.

[Dry Rot]

Enjoy your trip to Canberra DR and the song at fulltime will not be the Swans one.

Thanks BB - hope you're right.

Watching the Dogs lose to the Swans each year during 2003 - 07 has left some deep scars.

[Go_Dogs]

An interesting point to make that I don't believe has been made yet:

Port won the clearances easily and only just lost the contested possessions on Sat, but still lost the game. That's a worrying sign, because Port, much like us, are normally a very competitive side when they are winning the contested ball and clearances.

What it says to me is Sydney's pressure has been very good, and they are working very hard without the ball. We're definitely going to need our intensity up like it was last week to be a chance this week. Starting to get a bit worried about this one...

[Dry Rot]

Good point.

In the pre-season game, Swans put on a rolling zone against for a quarter or two.

We basically didn't score but they did, breaking quickly and putting a forward into a Pagan's paddock like space for them.

[ratsmac]

Cheers for the preview...

From memory we've deployed Cross onto Goodes for periods before, with mixed success.

Crossy's good overhead for a mid but Goodes is exceptionally strong in the air, and as Mantis suggests exerts a lot of ground-level influence in open space. It's not an ideal pairing...I'd argue Goodes is going to get his share of the ball regardless, and while an obviously problematic match-up, if possible I'd rather we didn't sacrifice someone who'd otherwise be prime mover for us, such as Cross, who we'll surely need to rely upon for his strengths against Sydney, winning contested ball.

Could Everitt be an option if deemed worthy of a recall? Big ask for a 20-gamer but would appear to be the most appropriate physical match-up we have. If he's going to be a fixture in the team, perhaps it's time to give Everitt a job and see how he handles it.

I agree with the Everitt call up. He is a player that has shown us something, and now it's time that he steps up. If he gets the job done on Goodes it going to give him an enormous confidence boost. On the other hand if he gets towelled it just shows where he is at and what he has to work on to improve.

[LostDoggy]

Whereas Tiller, I'm still curious how he would've gone on Johnson last week instead of Morris (in the absence of Shaggy given he is first choice on him) and he's good on the ground and hard at it.


I am a fan of Tiller's, but Johnson would have been too classy for him by half.. would have carved him up. Morris didn't do a bad job with what he was given, I feel, despite the criticism he's received. Hargrave would have been your man.

[azabob]

I am a fan of Tiller's, but Johnson would have been too classy for him by half.. would have carved him up. Morris didn't do a bad job with what he was given, I feel, despite the criticism he's received. Hargrave would have been your man.

Reality is Im not sure Morris did much wrong, the ball came in very quickly at times and clever forwards are hard to stop when that happens.

[The Pie Man]

I am a fan of Tiller's, but Johnson would have been too classy for him by half.. would have carved him up. Morris didn't do a bad job with what he was given, I feel, despite the criticism he's received. Hargrave would have been your man.

Likely right - no question Hargrave's absence hurt last week and he's first choice on guys like Johnson, I was just very nervous about Morris on him and he kicked 5. Would Tiller have done any better? Quite possibly (or highly likely) not...I'm just curious how that match up might have panned out.

Happy to see him in tomorrow - Tiller that is - I'll fall over if Hargrave gets up

And I don't want to be seen to be critical of Morris, he's fantastic overhead and does some terrific jobs, just don't want to see him on Johnson again (and I'm sure we won't should our back half be at full strength) Nor do I want to see him play on Reiwoldt again, I challenge a view that he has a good record on him - he's done all he can, but that should be Tom Williams' gig (who again was out last time we played them)