WB Game Day V Carlton R6 2020

[bulldogsthru&thru]

Do you think it's a case we don't have that genuine hunger?
I think we've proven our best is very competitive but there is a question mark if we are going to see the good, bad or downright ugly each week.

I think it’s a matter of consistency. We’ve certainly shown we have that hunger but the gap between our best and worst is larger than the Grand Canyon. This can happen with young sides however I don’t think it’s an acceptable excuse. A lot of our young guys have been around long enough to have the experience to know better. We just need to learn to grind out passages of play when things aren’t going as well as we’d like. Right now if we’re off, even a vfl team could make a mockery of us.

Secondly, I don’t know if mental application is leading to the passages of play opposition teams are having when they get all those goals off turnovers. Are we pressing too high? If so, why do we continue to do it for an entire game without rectifying it? It really is baffling to me. Our three losses this season (and large ones at that) have all happened in the same fashion. If we can’t address it then teams have a fairly easy plan to beat us: pack our forward line and hurt us on the turnover

[soupman]

The only minor quibble I have is you are IMO too generous to Dale and Wally. For 52 entries into our F50, we need them to be so much more involved than 6 and 7 possessions respectively. Betts, Martin and Gibbons all had double the involvement than these two and also combined for 8 goals from far less F50 entries.

I thought the effort was there from Dale and Wallis and they contributed in their own ways, but I certainly wouldn't grade them any better than ok. I think what was glaringly obvious was that we lack a "chaos forward". Someone who is just so unpredictable in broken play, like when the ball hits the ground, really makes defenders panic, and can make something out of nothing. I think both Martin and Betts are this, as was Stringer back in the day for us, but almost all our forwards are a little straightforward and it means while our forwardline isn't bad, it isn't as dangerous as it could be and is much easier to defend.

Gee Martin is a class player. He causes maximum damage from his possessions and is often involved in their scoring chains. No wonder we went so hard after him.

He is beautiful isn't he. Absolute robbery that they grabbed him through the PSD, he was absolutely worth what Gold Coast were asking for and then some.

[The Bulldogs Bite]

RE our forward line, if you are the opposition who do you worry about?

Naughton - yes. Moves so well, fast and can take big marks. If he's 'on' he's impossible to stop and brings others into the game. Also has the ability to lift the rest of the side with the spectacular.

Dale - no. Play him tight, run off him.

Wallis - no. Decent in one on ones, but run off him.

Lloyd - no. Run off him, play him defensive side.

Bruce - maybe. Has the ability to influence a game but he's inconsistent.

Schache - no. Body him and run off him.

West, McLean - no. Can offer some pressure but hardly a worry for the opposition.

Whilst our forward line isn't terrible, it's not great. The good news is that it can be rectified quickly, as we've seen with the likes of Carlton and St Kilda.

[bulldogsthru&thru]

RE our forward line, if you are the opposition who do you worry about?

Naughton - yes. Moves so well, fast and can take big marks. If he's 'on' he's impossible to stop and brings others into the game. Also has the ability to lift the rest of the side with the spectacular.

Dale - no. Play him tight, run off him.

Wallis - no. Decent in one on ones, but run off him.

Lloyd - no. Run off him, play him defensive side.

Bruce - maybe. Has the ability to influence a game but he's inconsistent.

Schache - no. Body him and run off him.

West, McLean - no. Can offer some pressure but hardly a worry for the opposition.

Whilst our forward line isn't terrible, it's not great. The good news is that it can be rectified quickly, as we've seen with the likes of Carlton and St Kilda.

I suppose that’s why we went hard at Martin and Wingard. Whilst JUM and hopefully Weightman will give us more spark, we can’t count on them for a number of years. Who can we target in the coming offseason? I’m happy with our talls, I think we need a smart, firey small. Missing Martin hurts even more after last night.

[jeemak]

I'm not sure whether our high press is something we decide we're going to do at the start of the game and can't adjust in game, or whether it's a concentration issue.

Bevo's commentary suggested adjustments needed to be made after the Saints game and we seemed to defend the ground better and this opened up space and free players. Last night it seems we reverted back to similar issues as faced against the Saints, so is this a player or coaching issue, or both?

[Danjul]

I suppose that’s why we went hard at Martin and Wingard. Whilst JUM and hopefully Weightman will give us more spark, we can’t count on them for a number of years. Who can we target in the coming offseason? I’m happy with our talls, I think we need a smart, firey small. Missing Martin hurts even more after last night.

I thought Vander played better than Martin. He worked a lot harder, because the supply into our forward line was so poorly handled.

[bornadog]

Saw an interesting stat regarding carlton and us. Since 2018 their average score against all teams except us is 69.1. Against us it’s 101.3. They’re our new bogey team for sure

Carlton has exploited our backline the last three times we played them. We have made guys like Mckay look like guns.
We also went back to putting Wood on talls which stifled his intercept marking. Even Williams was forced to play a little taller.

[Mofra]

Carlton has exploited our backline the last three times we played them. We have made guys like Mckay look like guns.
We also went back to putting Wood on talls which stifled his intercept marking. Even Williams was forced to play a little taller.

McKay is one of the best contested marks in the AFL, he's no mug. Casboult too, and he's learned how to kick in the last 24 months.

[The bulldog tragician]

In Bevo's message today he mentioned the defensive press was too high and that was something to work on. He talked about the deflating effect of the fumbles and misses too. (I thought he seemed very flat but maybe I'm projecting?)

[Happy Days]

McKay is one of the best contested marks in the AFL, he's no mug. Casboult too, and he's learned how to kick in the last 24 months.

McKay had one goal for the year leading into last night.

[comrade]

McKay had one goal for the year leading into last night.

Joins Lenny Hayes and Brodie Grundy in the pantheon of players who sleep in the change rooms overnight before playing the Bulldogs.

[EasternWest]

Joins Lenny Hayes and Brodie Grundy in the pantheon of players who sleep in the change rooms overnight before playing the Bulldogs.

One of these things is not like the other though.

[1eyedog]

In Bevo's message today he mentioned the defensive press was too high and that was something to work on. He talked about the deflating effect of the fumbles and misses too. (I thought he seemed very flat but maybe I'm projecting?)

How many humiliating defeats in this manner does he need prior to making an adjustment?

[bulldogsthru&thru]

How many humiliating defeats in this manner does he need prior to making an adjustment?

This. And are the players incredibly stupid or lazy that they don't know when to stop doing it or don't know how to not do it or are too lazy to bother trying not to do it? I just don't get how we can continue to do something we know is killing us.

[bulldogsthru&thru]

Interesting hearing Hardwicks comments regarding their game against Sydney.

He mentioned Sydney essentially flooded their forward line and that despite the tigers having repeat forward 50 entries they just couldn't score because of all the congestion. He also mentioned Sydney were never going to score as a result.
My question: Carlton employed a similar tactic to Sydney against us. Yet for whatever reason we allowed Carlton PLENTY of chances to score on the counter whereas Richmond did not allow that against the swans. There's no chance Carlton are world beaters and that much better than the swans. So what gives? Is it simply we pressed to high? Seriously i can't stomach that as an answer.