Bulldogs V Bombers - Round 5, 12/4/24 Marvel Stadium 7.40PM AEST

[Scorlibo]

In my mind this is just a second West Coast match.

I expect a 10 goal win, with domination across all lines.

Who are their good players outside of Merrett?

They have a few very good smalls across the park in McGrath, Gresham and Martin. All of these guys can have a big impact on matches. Perkins is in the same category but out injured.

McKay is in great form down back, Stringer and Langford are two of the better medium forwards around.

I don't see them as a pushover but they are extremely vulnerable through the middle as evidenced last week, and even more so given Setterfield and Perkins are out through injury. Hopefully Parish takes another week to find his form, and it's our crew versus Merrett.

[bornadog]

Key timing

3:45pm ? Gates 4, 5, 6, 8 and 9 open
4:05pm ? Footscray v Essendon (VFL) curtain raiser
5pm ? The Pack Kids Club zone opens (Gate 7)
5:45pm ? All gates and Bulldogs Shop (Gate 7) opens
7:25pm ? Team entry & light show
7:40pm ? First bounce

[Axe Man]

Mick McGuane: Western Bulldogs v Essendon round 5 preview

Friday night?s clash between the Western Bulldogs and Essendon is set to tell us a lot about both sides.

AFL analyst Mick McGuane looks at the keys to success for each team and the players who need to lift.

Plus, Mick takes a look at Hawthorn after a 0-4 start to the season. Is Sam Mitchell?s side still on the right track?

FRIDAY NIGHT SPOTLIGHT
ESSENDON

Forget the ?Essendon Edge?.

When things go pear shaped, Brad Scott?s team have once again proved they struggle to wrestle back momentum against a quality opponent.

Don?t get me wrong ? their first quarter was outstanding against Port Adelaide last week.

However, after that it was a procession from the Power at the centre bounce and Essendon was soft and lacked initiative as it failed to adjust.

Port Adelaide won the centre clearances for the game 19-6, which is a smashing in anyone?s language.

That is the one area of the ground where you can?t saturate numbers to support stoppage loss and when you concede clearance numbers like that you will also give up significant inside-50s and put your defensive six under enormous pressure.

When they did have the ball, the Bombers managed only six goals from 43 inside-50s against the Power.

Much of that can be put down to their kicking and decision making when going forward, which was often fairly mediocre by AFL standards.

Port Adelaide only took one intercept mark in the first quarter, but grabbed 17 for the rest of the game as Essendon?s ball security imploded.

The Bombers are not hard enough for long enough and until they can find some greater consistency both from an offensive and defensive perspective they will remain a middle-of-the-road team.

What did Essendon?s legendary coach Kevin Sheedy and now current director say about another club and a couple of their football administrators in the late 1990?s?

?Marshmallow? Kangaroos comes to mind.

The way the Essendon on-ballers meekly surrendered to their more energetic and hungry counterparts last week resembled that of marshmallows.

To be blunt, they were soft and far too easy to play against.

Compounding the issues, two of their constants through the middle in Will Setterfield (knee) and Archie Perkins (hamstring) now find themselves on the sidelines.

But that might prove a good chance for Scott to be innovative with his midfield mix.

THE KEY

Bring the heat and hit back at centre bounce.

Winning first possession gains and transferring that into clearance wins against the Bulldogs is critical.

Also, the Bombers can ill-afford to get into a shootout, so their pressure and tackling game must be manic and kamikaze like.

On the back of a strong defensive mindset their attack will come.

Make no mistake ? this game starts and stops with ruck duo Todd Goldstein and Sam Draper, who face off with an in-form Tim English after being soundly beaten by Ivan Soldo and Jeremy Finlayson last week.

They need to be aggressive and set the scene, as do their midfielders ? both offensively and defensively.

Essendon can?t afford to let Marcus Bontempelli, Tom Liberatore or Adam Treloar come out the front of stoppage as easily as Connor Rozee and Jason Horne-Francis did last week.

Understanding trends and having solutions to counter the strengths of your opposition is what great leaders and on field organisers provide the team.

Last week the Bombers midfielders were rudderless and didn?t have the answers to change momentum, which is a facet of the game that hurt them.

If you are going to leave an area of space open, make it forward of the ruckman.

Don?t expose yourself with allowing your defensive side to be exploited, as Essendon did last week.

Talk about leaving the gate open.

WHO NEEDS TO LIFT?

If he doesn?t smarten up his game soon, Mason Redman could find himself in the VFL.

It has been an underwhelming start to the season for a player who inked a five-year contract extension last July.

Redman?s rebound-50s have dropped from 4.9 last year to 3.3 this year, his intercept possessions have halved from 6 to 3 and his intercept marks are drastically down from 2.1 to 0.7 a game.

As much as Redman is out of form, Nic Martin?s move to halfback hasn?t helped him.

Could Scott move Martin into the midfield to add some nimbleness and energy at the coal face, allowing Redman to be the main man off halfback once again?

It?s worth a try and may prove a win-win for both the team and players involved.

WESTERN BULLDOGS

The Bulldogs look to have found some bite.

It was a poor start to the season against Melbourne in round 1, but since then Luke Beveridge?s team has done a lot right.

They?re playing a strong front-half game and have the ability to do some damage centre-forward through the a potent attack which includes Aaron Naughton, Jamarra Ugle-Hagan, Sam Darcy and Cody Weightman.

The Bulldogs rank fourth in the competition for retaining the ?money kick? going inside-50, third for overall kicking efficiency, fifth for pressure rating and fifth for average points from turnovers at 53.8 points per game.

They are a side which wants to play the game at an up-tempo speed by playing on quickly from marks, changing angles and pinpointing open players in space.

That speed of ball movement will challenge Essendon?s defence on Friday night as the Bulldogs eye a third win in four weeks at Marvel Stadium.

However, as good as they have been with the ball, there is room for improvement without it.

Beveridge?s team ranks 12th for defending ball movement ? that is the opposition?s ability to move the ball from their defensive 50 to attacking 50.

This clash with the Bombers is big and will tell us a lot about the Bulldogs.

If Beveridge?s team wants to return to finals this year, these are the type of games they need to capitalise on.

THE KEY

It?s all about a strong inside-to-outside game around contest for the Bulldogs.

Tom Liberatore is one of the most influential players in the competition and had an off-the-charts match against Geelong last week.

He racked up 21 first-possession gains on his way to 19 clearances from 35 disposals.

If Essendon don?t put some serious work into Liberatore and take away his first-possession gains, he will again get the ball to the outside and kickstart the Bulldogs? offence.

On the flip side, the Bulldogs must ensure that the Bombers don?t get their tails up around stoppages after a poor showing last week.

Given that the Bulldogs? ability to defend ball movement is questionable, they won?t want to rely on winning the ball back across halfback.

The Bulldogs want to lock the ball in their front-half and generate repeat entries to hit the scoreboard ? which you do through winning clearances and gaining territory.

WHO NEEDS TO LIFT?

The Bulldogs? big names have all started the season in good form ? and that includes Naughton.

However, Naughton is a bit of a conundrum at the moment.

His forward-50 marks have dropped from 2.5 to 1.3 a game this year, as a result of playing higher up the ground and bringing with him the opposition?s best defender.

That is allowing Ugle-Hagan more space to work in inside-50, and as a consequence he is the Bulldogs? most targeted forward.

But he has only kicked six goals from four games and Naughton only has four majors.

Naughton is indirectly impacting the scoreboard in his higher role, averaging an elite 7.5 score involvements per game.

But is Beveridge getting his forward structure right when it comes to who he is trying to isolate?

That?s the big question given Ugle-Hagan?s returns.

KEY MATCH UPS

Harrison Jones v Liam Jones

The Bombers forward has to play a negating role but also make sure he stays relevant by being a viable option when his side is attacking the forward line. This will force his opponent to be accountable. Liam Jones is the Bulldogs? best interceptor, so Harrison Jones should be using him as a competitive starting point and make sure he doesn?t influence the air through intercept marks.

Tim English v Todd Goldstein & Sam Draper

This ruck battle will be fascinating. English is looking to secure a juicy new contract but will need to stand and deliver against a duo who should be fired up after being badly beaten last week. English often uses soft hands to tap down to Tom Liberatore, but if the Bombers give Liberatore some close attention then English might need to look to get the ball on the outside and into space, more like Ivan Soldo did against Essendon last week. English can also slide forward and be an aerial threat in front of the ball, which is something Goldstein and Draper will have to watch for.

Ben McKay v Aaron Naughton

Naughton has been playing higher up the ground this season and there will be some cat and mouse around how far he can take McKay with him to try and minimise his intercept game. I wouldn?t be surprised to see Naughton play a little deeper at times, though. Playing 20m forward of stoppages between the arcs doesn?t look to help the Bulldogs? forward structure.

Tom Liberatore v Sam Durham

Durham is a hard inside midfielder who will be a welcome addition given the losses of Perkins and Setterfield to injury. Durham can win contests himself, but he can also be accountable and take away Liberatore?s stoppage prowess. The Bombers need to cut the snake off at the head and that means limiting the impact of Liberatore.

[westdog54]

On the concourse for the first time since 2019, ready to walk in with the young bloke after we've visited the Kids zone.

Feels so good to be back. It's been too long.

Dogs by 40.
Gallagher first goal.
English to run Draper into the ground.

[bornadog]

On the concourse for the first time since 2019, ready to walk in with the young bloke after we've visited the Kids zone.

Feels so good to be back. It's been too long.

Dogs by 40.
Gallagher first goal.
English to run Draper into the ground.

Where have you been

[meenies]

Scoreboard is showing Sanders as sub

[Pleather Sole]

Scoreboard is showing Sanders as sub

Is that definite? 3 defenders and a mid/fwd on the bench......

[jazzadogs]

Is that definite? 3 defenders and a mid/fwd on the bench......

I think it's just the order they were listed in the team announcement, and Marvels graphics automatically make the 5th name the sub.

Every chance he is the sub, but I wouldn't take the scoreboard as official.

[Pleather Sole]

If Footscray whip Essendon in the VFL & there's some impressive performers who might trigger some selection pressure then:
Margin: Dogs by at least 70
First Goal: Sanders first goal or Marra if Sanders is sub
BOG:Think Marra might fill his boots in his 50th game.

[Pleather Sole]

I think it's just the order they were listed in the team announcement, and Marvels graphics automatically make the 5th name the sub.

Every chance he is the sub, but I wouldn't take the scoreboard as official.

Cheers, wondered if it was alphabetical?

[G-Mo77]

Scoreboard is showing Sanders as sub

What a great start.

[westdog54]

Where have you been

Without going into detail, some life complications have kept me away. Onward and upward from here.

[westdog54]

Is that definite? 3 defenders and a mid/fwd on the bench......

Official.

[bornadog]

Without going into detail, some life complications have kept me away. Onward and upward from here.

Great to have you back

[ledge]

Scoreboard is showing Sanders as sub

I’m not sure the reasoning in that . Play him in the reserves if that’s the case.