How do we get our bark back?

[bulldogsthru&thru]

You know, typically in the days following a loss I'm more level-headed and pragmatic about our game. But not this week. Last weeks loss really irks me. It's eating away at me as the days pass. Yeah losing games when you've built a lead are always the most frustrating but this one is different. The way it happened was all too familiar and.....predictable for this new post-flag group.

Following the manner in which we were meekly dumped from the finals last year against the giants, this season was meant to be about revenge, redemption and standing up for ourselves. Then in the first two games of the season we put up two dismal performances where we didn't give a yelp. We then decided enough was enough and that this time we were serious and we would show some desire. Some hunger. Some fight. We put in three solid performances against the two sydney sides and north. In hindsight looking at the ladder now, two of these performances were against bottom 4 sides. But at the time we loooked like we gave a damn. Then the car crash performance in the wet against Carlton happened and we've been up and down like a yoyo since.

But back to friday nights loss. Here we are in a season of redemption where we have beaten up on poor sides and gone missing against contenders. We're 6 goals up after a quarter against one of the flag favourites. This is our best bet of claiming a scalp. We knew it before the game started and we've got them on the back foot.
Not only is this the best chance of a scalp but this night our season is on the line. This win really solidifies our finals chances. If we lose season 2020 is essentially done. So what happens? Geelong ups the ante and we lie down and don't give a yelp. Our 6 goal lead in a shortened game is whittled away relatively easily. Watching some of the footage is not pretty viewing for our midfield. No accountability. No desire to chase. No desire to defend. No desire to take the game on. Whilst during the game it didn't look so bad, upon watching the replay it was a fairly insipid effort from our midfield group who are meant to be our strength.

What is it about this group and the perceived lack of desire? It's almost business-like out there for them. There just doesn't seem to be much spirit or energy or want, especially when the chips are down. I know we've moved on a lot of the players who possessed these qualities but surely this is a non-negotiable. We just lie down far too easily and it really irks me.

If this season was meant to be about redemption then I'd hate to see what we look like when we don't have a chip on our shoulder to spark us. Am I just ranting and seeing too much into this? Is it just our inexperienced list? The covid season draining us? How do we really get our bark back?

[Vred]

Ive actually felt the same all week myself, I even said it to a co-worker that I’m fine with our side losing, but losing in the fashion we did, giving up a 6 goal lead after a blazing fast start where they didn’t kick a single goal all first quarter, that, that *!*!*!*!ing bites and drains you and nips at you and it builds up and festers and even thinking about it pisses me off more than any other loss in recent memory. I’m not ‘’back on the oh its a new week’’ train, I’m still stewing over that loss and how it shouldnt of been a *!*!*!*!ing loss.

How do we get our bite back? I dont know, but you are right, some of our players just lack balls, we are really soft in a lot of areas and honestly I dont know how to improve it, coaching? Shake up in leadership? Different head coach? I Don’t even know anymore. It’s not the dogs of 15 and 16 that’s for sure. Do we have to wait another 50 years for the desire to win a flag is enough to fuel the engine? I bloody well hope not.

[DOG GOD]

In all honesty, we aren’t that good. We have a list that is probably somewhere in the 8-12 ladder bracket. We have players who are one dimensional in their running (no defensive runners), we have a few overrated players which makes us look better on paper than we are. We have a coach and MC who pin the tail on the donkey.

Over the last year or so, I’ve made my thoughts known of how I saw our premiership year (I won’t say it again in fear of being exciled) and the 4 years that have followed Paves way to my thoughts.

So, we do we go from here?

1) Our MC needs fresh blood urgently. Bevo needs a right hand man that can stand up to his ego.
2) our list needs to rid itself of dead wood and we need to draft/trade for absolute needs (designated ruckman/smart,fast crumbing fwd)
3) better leaders on field
4) a game plan that’s not just PLAN A
5) competitive beasts in the 22

And this is probably just the start.

I’ve heard about Neil Balme. We need him ASAP. Someone successful who can bring something to our club we need.
A few have mentioned Shaun Burgoyne. For matters of indigenous, he would be the ideal get. Professional on and off the field, and even at his age would be in our best 22. Give him 1 year, followed by a mentoring role/coaching panel.

We need to make some major decisions on our playing list, and I’d be looking at trading JJ if we were able to get Zac Williams.

[bulldogsthru&thru]

I was also quite annoyed at Bevo's post-match comments about how pleased he was we matched it with one of the best sides. We should have beaten them. If Geelong matched us in that first quarter it would have been a 7 goal loss. Typical for us against the top sides this year. Forgetting all the game plan issues and ruck problems, we just seem to be lacking spark.

[DOG GOD]

Even some of the top sides have had bad quarters etc, but can seem to pull it together just enough to get the win. Unless we play 4 qtr football, we can’t do that. Is that a mental thing? A competitive thing? A revamp of game plan at the qtr break? On field leaders revving the guys up? Whatever it is, it’s clear we dont have it.

[Mofra]

We need more pricks in the team. We have too many 'nice' players.

Libba is a mongrel. Cordy is a mongrel, but was missing. Smith has it sometimes. Naughton has swagger, but it's not quite the same thing.

We need one more bastard. A Clay Smith. A Tim Callan, who would walk to the quarter time huddle boasting about how he ground some opponent's face into the mud (yes, I overheard him talking to Ayce one break at Willy).
I don't think we play with enough "edge".

[The Doctor]

We need more pricks in the team. We have too many 'nice' players.

Libba is a mongrel. Cordy is a mongrel, but was missing. Smith has it sometimes. Naughton has swagger, but it's not quite the same thing.

We need one more bastard. A Clay Smith. A Tim Callan, who would walk to the quarter time huddle boasting about how he ground some opponent's face into the mud (yes, I overheard him talking to Ayce one break at Willy).
I don't think we play with enough "edge".

Yes we are too nice.

A lot of our blokes need to learn to tackle and to tackle with intent. Too many slip off opponents & I'm sure you all know who the repeat offenders are. But even some of our senior players are guilty of it. Bont missed one he should have nailed at a critical stage in the 4th last week.

Have we lost the art of 'Cracking in' a bit? We need more grunt in our play.

[DOG GOD]

Do we have a tackling coach? Coz we certainly need one. Every time we tackle an opponent around the waist I lose it...why can’t we grab an arm? Is it really that difficult ?

[GVGjr]

We need to develop that harder edge and turn some 'nice' players into a tougher breed.
We need to develop a tagger like Jack Steele at the Saints and we need to just have a couple of players willing to push the edge a bit

It's not a massive adjustment just a change of mindset and approach

[bornadog]

I completely disagree with the OP.

Yes, we gave up a 6 goal lead, but remember who we were playing on Friday. The number one Defensive, Offensive team, the team that has kicked the most goals for the season, number one in Stoppages, Clearances, Contested Possession and equal top of the ladder.

They threw everything at us in the second and third quarters and only managed 3 goals and 2 goals - our defence was under pressure, but they held out. Yes we made a few mistakes here and there. By the time the last quarter was on, we were down two players and tiring but still holding on to a ten point lead with about 5 minutes to go. If it wasn't for some lack of composure, we could have won the game.

This game was not like our weak efforts against Collingwood, Saints and Richmond and showed we can match it with some of the best teams. We played a similar game against Port Adelaide at their home ground and threw that one away as well.

I do agree, and have said it for some time, we don't have the full cattle on the ground to be top four at this stage. We aren't too far off.

If we can sort out the rucks, get a small forward to kick goals, and an athletic CHB we will be there. I would also love a speedy outside mid.

[Ozza]

Typically, you don't make the finals unless you win a game or two when you are not expected to. We have one more opportunity to do it this week against West Coast, and chances are if we can't find a way to win, then we miss finals. It would be a number of years since the last time we finished a season without having at least 1 good win against a top side. I'm not sure we have demonstrated a stable enough approach to stoppages or forward set up to achieve success during the year. I do think there is enough talent in the team to hae been a finals side, but there are weeks where we were all pretty sure we wouldn't win, on selection night.

We don't seem to have the structure or maturity to be able to make adjustments and get the game under control when it starts going against us. The most frustrating loss for me was Port, where we had good control in the game and completely lost it in the third quarter where we inexpicably had Bont forward for the entire quarter while it spiralled out of control. We blame the losses on blatant turnovers, but the way we play with assertive defensive positioning sets us up to have no room for error on turnovers.

Brisbane and Geelong we started well but were otherwise comprhesively beaten for the remainder of the game and the coach had the audacity to praise our efforts and put it down to one bad quarter in the Brisbane case (when we lost 3 quarters) and were flattered by the scoreboard. V Richmond we were appalling. And my expectation is that we will be soundly outplayed by West Coast this week because we absolutely NEVER handle what West Coast bring in terms of their game style. The last 3 losses have been 50+ v the Eagles.

Its obviously a season of unusual circumstances, but I had top 4 as a pass mark for the season, so have found it incredibly disappointing.

The performance of many players has not reached what I would expect, and the performance of the coach/coaches has been below a pass mark.

[azabob]

I completely disagree with the OP.

Yes, we gave up a 6 goal lead, but remember who we were playing on Friday. The number one Defensive, Offensive team, the team that has kicked the most goals for the season, number one in Stoppages, Clearances, Contested Possession and equal top of the ladder.

They threw everything at us in the second and third quarters and only managed 3 goals and 2 goals - our defence was under pressure, but they held out. Yes we made a few mistakes here and there. By the time the last quarter was on, we were down two players and tiring but still holding on to a ten point lead with about 5 minutes to go. If it wasn't for some lack of composure, we could have won the game.

This game was not like our weak efforts against Collingwood, Saints and Richmond and showed we can match it with some of the best teams. We played a similar game against Port Adelaide at their home ground and threw that one away as well.

I do agree, and have said it for some time, we don't have the full cattle on the ground to be top four at this stage. We aren't too far off.

If we can sort out the rucks, get a small forward to kick goals, and an athletic CHB we will be there. I would also love a speedy outside mid.

I think you make some valid points.

On the gaps in our team you have highlighted they are some fairly big positional holes to fill! But I don't think we need to fix them all.

I think we need a ruckman and add a harder edge to the midfield group.

If we improve our defensive midfield game, our defense will not be as exposed and if we can improve our midfield forward connection we have the right mix of players already on our list to regularly kick a wining score.

We need to find a Liam Picken type, a Koby Stevens type who were happy to do the hard work for the betterment of the team.

[mjp]

We need one more bastard. A Clay Smith. A Tim Callan, who would walk to the quarter time huddle boasting about how he ground some opponent's face into the mud (yes, I overheard him talking to Ayce one break at Willy).
I don't think we play with enough "edge".

I involuntarily spat out my coffee when I read that.

Has this been the only time in the history of the world where someone said we need a bit more of Tim Callan?

[bulldogsthru&thru]

I completely disagree with the OP.

Yes, we gave up a 6 goal lead, but remember who we were playing on Friday. The number one Defensive, Offensive team, the team that has kicked the most goals for the season, number one in Stoppages, Clearances, Contested Possession and equal top of the ladder.

They threw everything at us in the second and third quarters and only managed 3 goals and 2 goals - our defence was under pressure, but they held out. Yes we made a few mistakes here and there. By the time the last quarter was on, we were down two players and tiring but still holding on to a ten point lead with about 5 minutes to go. If it wasn't for some lack of composure, we could have won the game.

This game was not like our weak efforts against Collingwood, Saints and Richmond and showed we can match it with some of the best teams. We played a similar game against Port Adelaide at their home ground and threw that one away as well.

I do agree, and have said it for some time, we don't have the full cattle on the ground to be top four at this stage. We aren't too far off.

If we can sort out the rucks, get a small forward to kick goals, and an athletic CHB we will be there. I would also love a speedy outside mid.

I get what you're saying but I'm fairly sick of the excuses and hearing 'if only' or 'except 1 quarter we matched them'. I've seen it after our games against Richmond, Port, Brisbane and now Geelong. Hell I even saw it against Carlton. Remember we were highly touted as top 4 fancies and even for the flag. Most of us on here thought the same. So the excuses and what we're dishing up aren't acceptable for those sort of goals. So if we're no longer a top 8 side, then what's changed since the start of preseason? Did we simply massively overrate our list? I don't think we need drastic changes (listwise) either but I still think we're underachieving.

[bornadog]

'if only' or 'except 1 quarter we matched them'. I've seen it after our games against Richmond, Port, Brisbane and now Geelong. Hell I even saw it against Carlton.

Means we don't have the right players that can contribute for 4 quarters.

I don't think we need drastic changes (listwise) either but I still think we're underachieving.

Ideally we do.

Need to be ruthless:

Not worth persisting

Dale, Bailey

Gardner, Ryan R

Gowers, Billy

Greene, Fergus

Hayes, Will

Lynch, Bradley

Porter, Callum

Smith, Roarke R

Maybe or unknown

Sweet, Jordon R

Young, Lachie R

Young, Lewis

Cavarra, Ben

Khamis, Buku R

The trouble is when we have injuries to best 22, we have to choose from above. I maybe harsh on some players but so be it. I want another premiership.