The Recovery of Season 2023

[bornadog]

Club Records for Clearances (1998 onward):

14 - MARCUS BONTEMPELLI (R8 2023)
14 - JACK MACRAE (R6 2023)
14 - Tom Liberatore (R22 2013)
14 - Simon Garlick (R10 1999)
13 - TOM LIBERATORE (R9 2023) & 9 Others

Honourable mention Bailey Smith 10 (Career Best) in Round 9, Adam Treloar 10 (Best of 11) in Round 4 & Caleb Daniel 8 (Career Best) in Round 9.

Leaders in the midfield are racking up huge numbers in this recent run of form.

2023 AFL League Total Clearances Leaders (Minimum 2 Games Played)

Rank Player Team Games Clearances for Last Game Total 1 Marcus Bontempelli Bulldogs 9 3 v Carlton, Round 9 73 2 Lachie Neale Lions 9 5 v Essendon, Round 9 71 3 Matt Rowell Suns 9 6 v West Coast, Round 9 69 4 Darcy Parish Bombers 8 9 v Port Adelaide, Round 8 68 5 Patrick Cripps Blues 9 6 v Western Bulldogs, Round 9 67 6 Noah Anderson Suns 9 8 v West Coast, Round 9 66 7 Caleb Serong Dockers 9 8 v Sydney, Round 9 64 8 Clayton Oliver Demons 9 5 v Hawthorn, Round 9 60 9 Tim Taranto Tigers 9 6 v Geelong, Round 9 59 9 James Worpel Hawks 9 6 v Melbourne, Round 9 59 11 Thomas Liberatore Bulldogs 8 13 v Carlton, Round 9 56

[chef]

Whilst I agree our tackling numbers are much improved, I can't agree that Macrae is the stand out... The Bont's tackling numbers are off the charts good over the past 7 games averaging 8 tackles per game.

Im talking in the difference to what it was(effort not numbers), Macrae is putting a lot more heat into his tackles.

[bulldogsthru&thru]

*touch wood* we've had a decent run with injuries for the first time in Bevos tenure I would say. It's a positive but also a negative in that if we do get some longer term injuries, we don't have the depth at vfl level like we've had in the past.

[bulldogsthru&thru]

Liam Jones has obviously been a huge difference (I think the single biggest) but id also like to mention Ed Richards. He's been fantastic not only with his run and carry but his actual defence.

If we can maintain this form and reduce the time our mids cbf'd, then its just our forward line that needs improvement. I can't work out if it's the delivery to our forwards or our forwards patterns or both that are the problem, but against Carlton the ball went in and came out too quickly. I thought the kicks to our forwards were always to the defenders advantage and for the most part their scores were driven by the surge of their hbfs.

Our structure has just looked 100 times better since round 2. It's rare to see an open opposition 50 anymore. The ball goes in there and we now seem to always have defenders back there which is a sight for sore eyes!

[angelopetraglia]

This is also going to help. We have statistically the third easiest run home. We have nine more games against teams currently not in the eight. Just winning those alone would have a close to top four.


R10: Adelaide (Mars)

R11: Gold Coast (TIO Stadium)

R12: Geelong (Marvel)

R13: Port Adelaide (Marvel)

R14: North Melbourne (Marvel)

R15: BYE

R16: Fremantle (Marvel)

R17: Collingwood (Marvel)

R18: Sydney Swans (SCG)

R19: Essendon (Marvel)

R20: GWS (Mars)

R21: Richmond (Marvel)

R22: Hawthorn (UTAS Stadium)

R23: West Coast (Marvel)

R24: Geelong (GMHBA)

The Bulldogs have a massive nine games to come against teams currently in the bottom 10 on the ladder, equal-second for most games against teams currently outside the top eight. They play only two games against current top-four teams, with both of those games at Marvel Stadium. Their last game will be tough, but the stretch before that game is extremely favourable.

[azabob]

Looking at that draw can we please shut down, delete and blow up this thread?

[bornadog]

Looking at that draw can we please shut down, delete and blow up this thread?

Well, to tell you the truth Aza, reading the thread not many have answered the OP. Most talk about individual players and not what we have done differently from round 3 as a team

[azabob]

Well, to tell you the truth Aza, reading the thread not many have answered the OP. Most talk about individual players and not what we have done differently from round 3 as a team

You know what BAD, I agree with you.

Having said that, how often on woof do we follow the OP's request!

[bornadog]

You know what BAD, I agree with you.

Having said that, how often on woof do we follow the OP's request!

Never

[Boots]

Looking at that draw can we please shut down, delete and blow up this thread?

I am going to quietly hope against hope that this is the year we utterly destroy the cats at their awful, grifted ground, showing them up for the ageing, entitled, borderline-fraudulent salary-cap-fiddlers that they are and putting the twin hoodoos of losing the last few games and never beating the cats at home to bed for good.

[bulldogsthru&thru]

Looking at that draw can we please shut down, delete and blow up this thread?

ASAP.

To be fair, a lot of those teams not in the 8 aren't exactly flops. Freo, Sydney, Essendon, Richmond and Gold Coast aren't push overs. Most of them were expected to make the 8 this year.

Now more than ever the unequal draw is becoming a problem because the Eagles, roos and hawks are so bad theyvare basically guaranteed wins. Essendon, Melbourne and saints got 2 of them twice.

[angelopetraglia]

ASAP.

To be fair, a lot of those teams not in the 8 aren't exactly flops. Freo, Sydney, Essendon, Richmond and Gold Coast aren't push overs. Most of them were expected to make the 8 this year.

Now more than ever the unequal draw is becoming a problem because the Eagles, roos and hawks are so bad theyvare basically guaranteed wins. Essendon, Melbourne and saints got 2 of them twice.

Ha. Yes. Off topic. Some truth in the quality outside the top eight.

But let's be honest. The Swans are in diabolical trouble. The Bombers have lost four in a row and have some serious injuries to KP players. We easily beat Freo on their home deck and we would all be expecting a W at Marvel. Gold Coast are no push over, especially with the lottery of a trip to Darwin. But without Touk Miller they are gettable and we have some history of playing in Darwin. The Tigers back at full strength are a force to be reckoned with but by Round #21 they could already be cooked and basically packed up for the year.

Our turnaround since round #3 (see what I did there) has put in a great position to have a serious crack at 2023.

[bulldogsthru&thru]

Ha. Yes. Off topic. Some truth in the quality outside the top eight.

But let's be honest. The Swans are in diabolical trouble. The Bombers have lost four in a row and have some serious injuries to KP players. We easily beat Freo on their home deck and we would all be expecting a W at Marvel. Gold Coast are no push over, especially with the lottery of a trip to Darwin. But without Touk Miller they are gettable and we have some history of playing in Darwin. The Tigers back at full strength are a force to be reckoned with but by Round #21 they could already be cooked and basically packed up for the year.

Our turnaround since round #3 (see what I did there) has put in a great position to have a serious crack at 2023.

Whilst I don't disagree with you, things can change very quickly so I'm just hoping for a healthy list for once and go from there.

[Dogs 24/7]

Its more or less confidence being restored in the game plan that has led to the recovery. We have since navigated some injuries and a terrible call to play Lobb when he injured and got back to playing the sort of football we should be. There is tendency for some on here to hose down expectations being placed on the club because it can come back and bite them but we really need to lift the focus not water it down. We cant keep saying that our supporters overrate the list if we fall short on achieving what we should. We dont need get out of jail free cards to be in play.

[angelopetraglia]

Whilst I don't disagree with you, things can change very quickly so I'm just hoping for a healthy list for once and go from there.

Yep. One week at a time. Live in the present. Let's get the job done this week. Let's enjoy the journey.