Dogs should have the bite

[The Coon Dog]

Robert Walls | September 11, 2009


THE Western Bulldogs have been the highest-scoring team in 2009. Over the home-and-away season their average score was 108 points per game. Yet it will count for little if they lose tonight to the Brisbane Lions, and find themselves eliminated from the premiership race in straight sets.

The Bulldogs have lost four of their past five finals, going back to 2006, and in those games have averaged just 10 goals an outing. So a loss tonight would be a major setback to a team that has looked so promising. The knock on the team has been that they don't have a power forward to aim at when the speed and squeeze of finals football bears down on them.

Article in full...

[Mantis]

I can clearly hear the sound of a musical instrument be played, something that one may hear in an orchestra....... it must be a f****g violin.

Power forwards this, power forwards that.... I'm over it. Time for us to silence some critics with a 'strong' performance this team is well and truly capable of.

[Sockeye Salmon]

I love his selective arguements.

"In week one of the final series, the thing that stood out were teams that had dominant strong marking forwards. Brisbane's Brown and Daniel Bradshaw combined took 21 marks and kicked nine goals. Adelaide's Brett Burton and Kurt Tippett delivered seven goals. St Kilda's Riewoldt and Justin Koschitzke took 18 marks and slotted seven goals, while Cats pair Cam Mooney and Tom Hawkins dragged in 15 marks. Each team won."


Er, and Collingwood has Travis Cloke and Anthony Rocca and got smashed. This years Coleman medalist was playing with a dildo on Mad Monday as well. I think it's more about having good players than big ones.

As much as I'd love a power forward or two, if we could get decent performances out of Hahn and Welsh it would help. I don't think they're not big enough, I think they're not good enough.

[LostDoggy]

This years Coleman medalist was playing with a dildo on Mad Monday as well.

Which one was the dildo, that's what I want to know....

[Happy Days]

I love his selective arguements.

"In week one of the final series, the thing that stood out were teams that had dominant strong marking forwards. Brisbane's Brown and Daniel Bradshaw combined took 21 marks and kicked nine goals. Adelaide's Brett Burton and Kurt Tippett delivered seven goals. St Kilda's Riewoldt and Justin Koschitzke took 18 marks and slotted seven goals, while Cats pair Cam Mooney and Tom Hawkins dragged in 15 marks. Each team won."


Er, and Collingwood has Travis Cloke and Anthony Rocca and got smashed. This years Coleman medalist was playing with a dildo on Mad Monday as well. I think it's more about having good players than big ones.

As much as I'd love a power forward or two, if we could get decent performances out of Hahn and Welsh it would help. I don't think they're not big enough, I think they're not good enough.

Is anyone else as sick of uninformed opposition supporters, or journos in this case, bringing up that we don't have a key forward to refute any claims we may have to being a good side?

For all the knocks on our forward line, we:

- are the highest scoring team in the comp
- have the most inside 50's
- we are the most efficient team when inside 50 (i.e: when our forwards have it)

Its simply lazy arguing, without any thought in it at all.

[Stefcep]

Is anyone else as sick of uninformed opposition supporters, or journos in this case, bringing up that we don't have a key forward to refute any claims we may have to being a good side?

For all the knocks on our forward line, we:

- are the highest scoring team in the comp
- have the most inside 50's
- we are the most efficient team when inside 50 (i.e: when our forwards have it)

Its simply lazy arguing, without any thought in it at all.

But none of that changes the fact that last night (again) on too many occassions we just bombed it up to the small forwards in a contest. A miserly St Kilda defense will eat that up for breakfast, and we'll be back here again saying we have no plan going forward, no-one to take a contested mark. Yes its an old boring argument, but its still a true one: we need a tall marking forward to take the next step.

[Happy Days]

But none of that changes the fact that last night (again) on too many occassions we just bombed it up to the small forwards in a contest.

We scored 100+ in terrible conditions. I would not be complaining about our attack going forward last night.

A miserly St Kilda defense will eat that up for breakfast, and we'll be back here again saying we have no plan going forward, no-one to take a contested mark. Yes its an old boring argument, but its still a true one: we need a tall marking forward to take the next step.

Our main plan of attack is usually to a) look for a pinpoint pass by chipping it around atop the 50 until a target appears (e.g: last night) or, failing that to b) kick it over the defence with long, penetrating kicks (Geelong in rnd 21). I agree that point b will not work, but I see no reason why point a can't.

Saying we need a tall forward to win a flag is bollocks. If anything, it would ruin our frontal pressure, which will be key this week. I'm more worried about matching up on Riewoldt and Kossie than our forwards kicking a winning score.

[Stefcep]

We scored 100+ in terrible conditions. I would not be complaining about our attack going forward last night.



Our main plan of attack is usually to a) look for a pinpoint pass by chipping it around atop the 50 until a target appears (e.g: last night) or, failing that to b) kick it over the defence with long, penetrating kicks (Geelong in rnd 21). I agree that point b will not work, but I see no reason why point a can't.

Saying we need a tall forward to win a flag is bollocks. If anything, it would ruin our frontal pressure, which will be key this week. I'm more worried about matching up on Riewoldt and Kossie than our forwards kicking a winning score.

One reason i can see is the pressure and intensity lifts in finals footy and you don't get the time to pinpoint passes as easily. The bomb to a marking contest then starts to happen. Anyway we'll agree to disagree.

St Kilda have the best defense in the comp, by a long way. Thats their "secret" to success. Our forwards will have to beat their defenders. Kozzie and Reiwoldt will kick their 5 to 8 between them, thats a given. Its how we enter our forward line and how our forwards compete that will determine the outcome.