Where's the pain ?

[comrade]

I'd like to believe one more goal to push it out to 24+ would have broken them but we coughed up ONE HUNDRED POINTS to seven from the 16 min mark of the 3rd. The lack of fight, the capitulation. That is just horrendous, shattering stuff.

[The Bulldogs Bite]

Our guys lost a lot of trust from me last night.

Yep.

I know it's fresh, but that game killed a bit of my passion for footy.

[DOG GOD]

Like a few others have said, the last quarter, so therfor the final margin, is a bit irrelevant to me. More often than not one team succumbs late in the last quarter when they realise the hope is gone.

I want to talk about why our midfield didn't adjust and the mindset that didn't move to a more defensive set-up when Melbourne got on a roll. I also want to talk about why the backline couldn't defend better during the onslaught.

I won't be listening too much to the media but perhaps they may answer those questions for me.

I'm dirty that we didn't play well when it counted but the benchmark I had at the start of the season for the team was a finals win and we did so much better than that. It's shocking the way we capitulated but the actual margin doesn't mean that much to me because its more about how we dropped our bundle and succumbed so easily.

I'd rather discuss this with my WOOF brothers and sisters at the moment.

I’ll go first with the backline.
When Melb burst out of the centre like they did, a slow backline won’t stand a change. Wood and Cordy wouldn’t help this at all. Keath did not look 100% to me. A few times I saw him touch that hamstring area. Melb got 7 goals directly from centre clearances to goal without us touching the ball. The backline had no chance.

[comrade]

I’ll go first with the backline.
When Melb burst out of the centre like they did, a slow backline won’t stand a change. Wood and Cordy wouldn’t help this at all. Keath did not look 100% to me. A few times I saw him touch that hamstring area. Melb got 7 goals directly from centre clearances to goal without us touching the ball. The backline had no chance.

Our backline had no chance.

[GVGjr]

I'd like to believe one more goal to push it out to 24+ would have broken them but we coughed up ONE HUNDRED POINTS to seven from the 16 min mark of the 3rd. The lack of fight, the capitulation. That is just horrendous, shattering stuff.

It just doesn't do this club a service to get a pants down thrashing like this.
They say you can learn more from a loss than a win but this wasn't just a loss it was downright embarrassing.

Note sure how the club will dissect this but it needs a thorough review.

[DOG GOD]

I read on here that someone posted that Bevo said some internal thing had been a problem around those last 3 weeks. I wonder if it reared its ugly head again between the prelim win and last night. Clutching at straws maybe, but without knowing exactly what this problem was, I guess I can ask the question.

[macca]

Our ruck problem got exposed by a springy young, athletic and skilled ruck and explosive mid opposition , with no mid field defense when the leak was on

Goodwin is a good coach from the article:
https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/...26-p58usf.html

“ Gawn said he was “forever in debt” to Dean Bailey, the first coach he played under who died of cancer in 2013. “He drafted a tall lanky kid who probably shouldn’t have been drafted and gave me a debut as well.″⁣

Gawn credited his young ruck partner Luke Jackson for helping turn the tide in the third quarter in the ruck and said coach Simon Goodwin had been calm at half-time, as the Demons made changes to their approach.

“Western Bulldogs the way they play - they were switching a bit more, they hadn’t been switching. We adjusted and worked on their switch a little bit more. And our mids weren’t working hard enough at all.

“Goody was cool, calm head, was super. Then we chucked ‘Jacko’ in the ruck the majority of the third quarter, he seemed like he had a bit of spring compared to Stef Martin. Me and Stef are sort of workhorses, where Jacko’s got a bit of spring, that sort of changed it a little bit.”

[Go_Dogs]

Like a few others have said, the last quarter, so therfor the final margin, is a bit irrelevant to me. More often than not one team succumbs late in the last quarter when they realise the hope is gone.

I want to talk about why our midfield didn't adjust and the mindset that didn't move to a more defensive set-up when Melbourne got on a roll. I also want to talk about why the backline couldn't defend better during the onslaught.

I won't be listening too much to the media but perhaps they may answer those questions for me.

I'm dirty that we didn't play well when it counted but the benchmark I had at the start of the season for the team was a finals win and we did so much better than that. It's shocking the way we capitulated but the actual margin doesn't mean that much to me because its more about how we dropped our bundle and succumbed so easily.

I'd rather discuss this with my WOOF brothers and sisters at the moment.

I’m the same - the margin didn’t mean all that much. It just got away from us and I was probably just disengaged during the last so it didn’t impact me much. 100% the issue in the 3rd to lose as much ground as we did as fast as we did, and not have any way to arrest the momentum. Even giving away a free kick and getting another number back would’ve been better than them waltzing out for goal after goal.

[MrMahatma]

As the day has gone on I’ve started to process things. I still doubt I’ll get much sleep tonight but I’m trying to take the positives.

We came 2nd. And you have to be in it to win it, and that means maybe you lose it. What is comforting is that we will still improve next season, and I’d expect us to get some talent into the team over the off season. To be the best you really need to fix weaknesses and ours are at least clear and in many ways easy to fix. There’s no reason we should fall off a cliff next year.

I’m gutted we lost. To win a lot of flags you really want to take the chances when you get them. But Hawks, Lions, Eagles, Swans, Cats… they’ve all lost GFs. So… it happens, and you’ve gotta get back on with the task of the next season pretty quickly.

Finally, what a fun season this has been. The pain is real right now, but what a joyride it’s been for most of the year. I love this club and thank them for th best value for money entertainment anywhere.

Go dogs!

[angelopetraglia]

As the day has gone on I’ve started to process things. I still doubt I’ll get much sleep tonight but I’m trying to take the positives.

We came 2nd. And you have to be in it to win it, and that means maybe you lose it. What is comforting is that we will still improve next season, and I’d expect us to get some talent into the team over the off season. To be the best you really need to fix weaknesses and ours are at least clear and in many ways easy to fix. There’s no reason we should fall off a cliff next year.

I’m gutted we lost. To win a lot of flags you really want to take the chances when you get them. But Hawks, Lions, Eagles, Swans, Cats… they’ve all lost GFs. So… it happens, and you’ve gotta get back on with the task of the next season pretty quickly.

Finally, what a fun season this has been. The pain is real right now, but what a joyride it’s been for most of the year. I love this club and thank them for th best value for money entertainment anywhere.

Go dogs!

Great perspective and well said.

[bulldogsthru&thru]

For me, we can add all these extra pieces like a ruck and KPD, but it’ll mean nothing if the mental fragility of our mids isn’t fixed. This is our biggest issue. I don’t know what’s going on with them but their inability or lack of desire to defend is appalling. Can’t stick tackles. Won’t adjust or sacrifice their games. Bonts probably the greatest ever but is his leadership strong enough? Do we have enough strong leadership ala Boyd/Morris to call out shit when they see it and adjust on the fly?

[DOG GOD]

For me, we can add all these extra pieces like a ruck and KPD, but it’ll mean nothing if the mental fragility of our mids isn’t fixed. This is our biggest issue. I don’t know what’s going on with them but their inability or lack of desire to defend is appalling. Can’t stick tackles. Won’t adjust or sacrifice their games. Bonts probably the greatest ever but is his leadership strong enough? Do we have enough strong leadership ala Boyd/Morris to call out shit when they see it and adjust on the fly?

We do. His name is Wallis, and he’s not in our plans anymore.

[The bulldog tragician]

The pain is real, in answer to the original question. So is pride, and hope, and devastation and anger … and resignation that maybe Melbourne is a high quality if unlikable team and this was always their flag to win.

I don’t know why we can’t feel all those things at once. I certainly do. I’m hurting for our club, for the embarrassment the players must feel. I’m hurting for all of us fans for whom lockdown has taken a terrible toll, and for whom our club gave us joy for this season. I’m also proud that despite weeks of getting shoved from pillar to post, missing any week of respite and a bye weekend, and being the victim of poor planning on the part of the AFL having the toughest most arduous path to finals that anyone could have, we pulled out three great finals and handled ourselves well in that time.

I’m proud of Roarke Smith, what a story of perseverance. I’m devastated for Bont who carried us like a god on his shoulders for so much of the year, nearly single handedly won us the game and then had to do the worst job in footy, stand at the podium and congratulate your opponents even while feeling the pain of that loss. I’m sorry for those who didn’t play well. I’m frustrated and angry that the midfield issue we’d seen whenever we were shaky in matches, or in those last three losses, didn’t get addressed. I was revolted by the Melbourne mocking video, I burn at the arrogance of our opponents even while I know that our capitulation has brought us scorn.

I want us to improve, I want to feel 2016 again, I’m not satisfied that we got there and that’s enough. I’m not a happy clapper but I’m not a “we are miles off it” person, I saw and know our best, even in that quarter and a half, is terrific and electrifying but I still want answers and solutions to why it went so horribly wrong. I’ve seen worse losses, many worse seasons and it’s all part of being a fan and belonging to our club and part of what will make it even better when next we lift the cup.

[Topdog]

I don't even know what the final margin was. Had to turn it off after they kicked their 10th in a row.

[SonofScray]

A great perspective. There is a lot of stuff to unpack in that loss.

I had a question all year that I thought could only be answered in finals. The question was are we the team that plays joyful, manic, irresistible footy or the one that looks soft and lacks cohesion?

I got an answer in this finals series and it as A with an *

I know our best is good enough, on our day. I’m not certain on how I know when it is our day though, action research continues in 2022.