Aflw 2022/2023

[Grantysghost]

Do you think holding the ball was paid more quickly when you played? I know that has been offered as an argument - players now are instructed to hold their tackles for longer because the opposition player is more likely to try and hold on to the ball, which means that holding the tackle will either cause a stoppage or earn a free kick.

For me I remember the "sling" action to kind of be a bit of a dirty move because you can really hurt someone when they're off balance if you want to. Especially with some of the cricket pitches in April.
Was it quicker, maybe it was. I think you would dispose of it immediately when tackled (talking 90s). A 360 tackle would never happen (a player holding on to the ball looking for options).
That's my experience.

[bornadog]

It is a very disappointing loss. We are a great contested team - tackle hard, win the ball inside - but our spread is poor, our field kicking tends to be rushed and under pressure, and we often throw out a loose handball from congestion.

But it was a great effort against a strong team, on the back of the last few weeks.

Just can't kick goals.

Players need to stop hesitating when they have the ball, and make a quick decision - in that split second they are getting tackled far too much.

We had our chances but there was no one to take hold of the game and get us over the line.

[Hotdog60]

I didn't want to mention it because I have a lot of bias but in the presser Burke didn't think much of the umpiring last night.
Does anyone know what the 50 was for that gave them a goal Brown was on the mark and the only thong I could put it down to was she moved her foot 2 inch settling her stance as far as I could see other players were with there opposition unless I missed something it seemed a very harsh and expensive free in a tight game if it was the foot movement.

[jazzadogs]

There was a player on the Hawkins wing side who ran past - would have only just been within the protected zone, was very soon after the mark (when normally the get given some leeway) and had no bearing on the Dockers ability to move it forward.

The standard of umpiring probably has a bigger impact on my desire to watch neutral games than the actual game - I find it very frustrating and inconsistent. And in Bulldogs matches our physical contested style seems to lead to us giving away a lot of FKs, which is also frustrating.

[Axe Man]

Also as a counter to Mantis, my first run ~10 days after covid diagnosis was a PB 3km time trial. I haven't been able to explain it, but it does show there will still be a lot of variability in the way the team copes.

Sub 10 minutes?

I haven't had Covid but I've given up trying to figure out why sometimes I run crap for no reason and other times run well when I really shouldn't.

[jazzadogs]

Sub 10 minutes?

I haven't had Covid but I've given up trying to figure out why sometimes I run crap for no reason and other times run well when I really shouldn't.

Ha. No. Not sub 10 minutes.

[Bulldog4life]

The intercept marking from Freo killed us.

[GVGjr]

The standard of the competition has really slipped. The talent pool isn't deep enough yet and we have at least 4 teams too many.

[Axe Man]

The standard of the competition has really slipped. The talent pool isn't deep enough yet and we have at least 4 teams too many.

About to become 8 teams too many, it's madness. The competition needed to time to establish and gradually expand as more junior girls came through. With 18 teams there are sadly going to be a large number of girls running around not up to the standard.

[josie]

About to become 8 teams too many, it's madness. The competition needed to time to establish and gradually expand as more junior girls came through. With 18 teams there are sadly going to be a large number of girls running around not up to the standard.

Agree totally.

I’m fearing one of the players is going to be suffer a really serious head knock. Really hope I’m wrong. My heart is in my mouth a lot because it seems to me, due to lower skill levels with diluted pool of good players, a higher percentage of players fumble with the ball at stoppages, allowing more tackles. Really hope all clubs have a concerted focus on how to tackle and reduce injuries when tackled. Also makes the game harder to watch (that and the inconsistent umpiring).

Countering this I watched some of the Freo vs Pies match and I thought the skill level was very good. It appears to be an outlier unfortunately based on what I’ve seen, granted I tend to focus more on our games.

[jazzadogs]

I think for the next few years the best 10-20 games will be fantastic, but they will be surrounded by some extremely poor matches as a result of weaker squads, especially for clubs who have had injuries to one of their top 5 players (e.g. imagine if we didn't have Ellie).

It's a real shame that the AFL couldn't hold their nerve and let it grow naturally.

[bornadog]

ROUND FIVE – PRIDE GAME


Western Bulldogs v Richmond


Sunday 6 February, 1.10pm AEDT - VU Whitten Oval


B: Naomi Ferres, Katie Lynch
HB: Isabella Grant, Eleanor Brown, Sarah Hartwig
C: Isabelle Pritchard, Ellie Blackburn, Jess Fitzgerald
HF: Brooke Lochland, Nell Morris-Dalton, Britney Gutknecht
F: Richelle Cranston, Bonnie Toogood
R: Celine Moody, Elisabeth Georgostathis, Kirsty Lamb
Int: Ashleigh Guest, Bailey Hunt, Alice Edmonds, Jemima Woods, Elizabeth Snell
Emer: Annabel Strahan, Amanda Ling


Ins: Brooke Lochland, Nell Morris-Dalton, Bailey Hunt
Outs: Gemma Lagioia (injured), Elle Bennetts (injured), Annabel Strahan (omitted)

Would love to win this one

[The Underdog]

About to become 8 teams too many, it's madness. The competition needed to time to establish and gradually expand as more junior girls came through. With 18 teams there are sadly going to be a large number of girls running around not up to the standard.

100%. The league has just absolutely *!*!*!*!ed it. This could be a really strong high quality 10 team league with scope to grow over the next 10-15 years into something really special. Instead it’s going to be teams with a few high quality players and a LOT of really poor skill level. I honestly think the way they’ve rushed this will set the growth of the game back exponentially.

[bornadog]

100%. The league has just absolutely *!*!*!*!ed it. This could be a really strong high quality 10 team league with scope to grow over the next 10-15 years into something really special. Instead it’s going to be teams with a few high quality players and a LOT of really poor skill level. I honestly think the way they’ve rushed this will set the growth of the game back exponentially.

One way to try and fix things is have an extended season ie, say 20 weeks, so they can get more experience at the higher level. I would also run it during Winter, and only televise say 3 or 4 games per week, giving all the teams exposure on alternate weeks. People will say it is clashing with the men's, but that is not necessarily a problem. A few big games can be played before a men's game to also get the crowds in.
I am sure fixturing can be sorted between both comps, if some thought went into it (unlike what the AFL currently do when they stuff it up)

[Bulldog Joe]

Watching the game today and the commentary is pretty poor.

It would be really helpful if they could actually call the players names, but clearly they haven't taken the trouble to know enough. They seem to identify the main 2 or 3 players for each team and not much else.

Even with my limited opportunity to watch I can identify more of our players off the TV coverage than the commentators seem capable of.