Where's the pain ?

[westbulldog]

I mean, I get your point but westbulldog literally just said Fritsch "wasn't that good".

To be exact I said "he isn't that good imo" not that he "wasn't that good". He had a free reign, a blank cheque and nobody was seemingly accountable for him, unbelievable in a GF. What was required imo was close and hard physical checking and that did not happen.

[Bulldog Revolution]

Yeah I’m having a tough time with this. Lockdown sort of forces you to get wrapped up in footy too much and now I’m just depressed by the spectre of it. I can’t do list management chats and ruminating about defensive work at stoppages so think I might dip for a bit.

Completely understand - I’ve done exactly the same thing, thrown myself into a glorious September bulldogs run, because what else is there to do in lockdown?

And so losing has felt pretty damn deflating particularly for supporters like us who know we care more than we should or is perhaps sensible.

We all deal with this stuff in our own way. I need some of the list management stuff to distract me and then I’ll watch the best and fairest on Wednesday but maybe take a break after that.

[GVGjr]

I suspect you are in the majority.

I don't know about others but Woof has felt like a bit f a ghost town to me post Grand Final. Normally we are seething on here after a loss and the post count goes through the roof, discussion ramped up today but yesterday must've been the quietest "day following a game" in years.

*Don't disprove this with stats please Gary.

Subtle challenge accepted

WOOF members logging onto the site of GF day was less than the other finals days. About 15% down
WOOF members logging onto the site the day after GF day was less than the day after the other finals days. Again by about 15% down

GF day post numbers were lower than the other finals on the day by about 10%
The day after GF day post numbers were lower than the day after other finals by about 40%

Verdict, your observations are correct.

[MrMahatma]

Wide awake a 4am thinking about…

What if Truck didn’t turn over 2 and we got out to 5 goals up?
What if we only went into the last qtr 1 goal down?
What if we were able to kill a couple of minutes to end the 3rd?

Blegh…

[comrade]

Wide awake a 4am thinking about…

What if Truck didn’t turn over 2 and we got out to 5 goals up?
What if we only went into the last qtr 1 goal down?
What if we were able to kill a couple of minutes to end the 3rd?

Blegh…

I’ve done the same thing the last 2 nights.

[SonofScray]

Wide awake a 4am thinking about…

What if Truck didn’t turn over 2 and we got out to 5 goals up?
What if we only went into the last qtr 1 goal down?
What if we were able to kill a couple of minutes to end the 3rd?

Blegh…

Yeah, those early nerves really hurt in retrospect. That second quarter looked every bit the knock out blow, but they hung on and got the flash KO.

[bulldogsthru&thru]

Wide awake a 4am thinking about…

What if Truck didn’t turn over 2 and we got out to 5 goals up?
What if we only went into the last qtr 1 goal down?
What if we were able to kill a couple of minutes to end the 3rd?

Blegh…

To make it easier on you we did lose by 74pts. I understand there are a lot of what if moments but we got slaughtered. Who’s to say we had anything left anyway? We may as well just say what if we played better? Close losses can be torture but we were blown out.

[Danjul]

Not feeling much pain. I didn’t expect to be watching the Dogs in a GF and thoroughly enjoyed the journey from first game to get there. I enjoyed the first half and prefer to view the second half as a valuable set of lessons which can get us back there next year.

I am expecting a good 2022. We have a few things to improve, and I can’t see why they won’t be.

[mjp]

To make it easier on you we did lose by 74pts. I understand there are a lot of what if moments but we got slaughtered. Who’s to say we had anything left anyway? We may as well just say what if we played better? Close losses can be torture but we were blown out.

Yeah...but once Melbourne got the first in the last q, the game was done. The margin blew out 'cos margins blow out in grand finals...one team is celebrating and one team is done.

We can try and say 'it was a blow-out' or write it off as 'one of those days', but for the majority of the match it actually wasn't like that...it was seeing and sawing and backing and forthing and 'something' changed.

I heard Petracca talking about a mindset change at half time? Please. We dominated the first 10 mins of the 3rd as well...we have all seen what happened...

[mjp]

To be exact I said "he isn't that good imo" not that he "wasn't that good". He had a free reign, a blank cheque and nobody was seemingly accountable for him, unbelievable in a GF. What was required imo was close and hard physical checking and that did not happen.

But...we NEVER really defend that way. I know it's frustrating but it really is a team defence approach and Fritsch is the worst sort of player to defend that way (because he seemingly fits ALL size and shape matchups which means he doesn't really fit any).

[bulldogsthru&thru]

Yeah...but once Melbourne got the first in the last q, the game was done. The margin blew out 'cos margins blow out in grand finals...one team is celebrating and one team is done.

We can try and say 'it was a blow-out' or write it off as 'one of those days', but for the majority of the match it actually wasn't like that...it was seeing and sawing and backing and forthing and 'something' changed.

I heard Petracca talking about a mindset change at half time? Please. We dominated the first 10 mins of the 3rd as well...we have all seen what happened...

Yeah I see this angle for sure. But…for me it’s not like a bounce of the ball here, or a missed contest there. It was repeated centre clearance exits that we didn’t adjust to. And this isn’t even the first game we’ve seen our mids not adjust either. I believe we could have won the game. No doubt. I guess I’m just completely mystified as to how and why we didn’t expect or respond to the centre bounce situation and why it’s been an ongoing issue prior to this game.

[Ozza]

I've only jumped on now for the first time since a day or two before the grand final. And haven't read a great deal to be honest. No doubt we are all hurting.

Immediately after the game, although sad, we had a couple of bottles of red and actually re-watched (albeit background) most of the game again. I wanted to face up to watching it again. I actually found yesterday (Monday) was the hardest day, after the dust had settled and some deeper analysis was done. And the realisation that its so hard to get back there.

The margin blow out really hurt. I didn't think we deserved that after being a chance to win. Had we have kicked the next goal to put us 25 points up, then maybe it blows out our way. And perhaps the blow out was impacted by us having already gone to the well several times this season and we had no more to give once the result was a foregone conclusion.

Its a really low feeling this week. But there is plenty from the season to be proud of as supporters, and plenty to be optimistic about into the future. I'm not one feeling like we need enormous list and strategy changes - but we obviously need to look at the ruck. The age profile of our list is great - and I think the loss will fuel us rather than diminish us for next year.

I'm not at all of the view I've heard from some opposition supporters over the years that 'you're better off losing the prelim, as a GF lost hurts too much'. It was a great month that didn't finish how we wanted, but we are the envy of 16 clubs and I honestly think we are a fair way in front of most of them.

[Bulldog Joe]

I have just logged on for the first time since pre-game.

I do feel the pain and it was exacerbated by my partner telling me to be happy for Melbourne, because ...blah..blah..blah and her son barracks for them.

I don't begrudge Melbourne supporters enjoying the result but....

The margin is irrelevant as we were like the marathon runner who hits the wall and just couldn't finish. We were actually right in and I feel 1 or 2 goals our way in the third would have broken them.

What is most irritating is how we lost it, with the centre clearance stuff.

So many on here have been critical of Bevo (me definitely), for his disdain for the actual position of ruck, but that has been our big weakness.

How much is the lack of development from Tim English as an actual ruckman been impacted by Bevo's desire for him to be an additional midfielder?

I can see us now recruiting another second rate ruckman to further undermine English, when we really need him to step up and use his size and athleticism to be a top 5 ruck.

We also need to better defend the centre clearance situation. Allowing opposition mids to waltz out the front and lead to so many direct scores is an impossible situation.

[Bulldog Revolution]

Yeah...but once Melbourne got the first in the last q, the game was done. The margin blew out 'cos margins blow out in grand finals...one team is celebrating and one team is done.

We can try and say 'it was a blow-out' or write it off as 'one of those days', but for the majority of the match it actually wasn't like that...it was seeing and sawing and backing and forthing and 'something' changed.

.

That was the way I saw it - they got the first two of the last and then our players just hit the wall, they all collectively knew it was over and then we were really done, and the score just went 'bang'! All the players running around knowing they were playing in a losing grand final etc

After everything we'd done in the past month including the travel and quarantining, we just knew we were cooked 6 goals down in the last - so the final result whilst large wasn't really a reflection of the overall contest

[Danjul]

Bulldog Joe.

How much is the lack of development from Tim English as an actual ruckman been impacted by Bevo's desire for him to be an additional midfielder?

when we really need him to step up and use his size and athleticism to be a top 5 ruck.

I have never seen English as a ruckman. He has the wrong proportions. Yes he is tall. But his general characteristics are of a champion key position player. I would be happy to never see him in the ruck again, except for the occasional throw in near the behind post. I want to see him develop into a 350 goal forward like some other tall players who are nowhere near as mobile as him. For example King at St Kilda, I think he is 2 cm shorter than English and has kicked 60 goals in 2 seasons while finding time 20 hitouts.

What we have needed for years is a ruckman, and we need to send out someone who understand What they are to find one.