Game Day 2011 - R12 Western Bulldogs vs St Kilda

[Stefcep]

Not sure if dumb, but selfish and playing for a spot and not the team.

FARK if thats why are doing it then piss the lot of em off.

Anyway, how would it help their cause by repeatedly making the wrong choice and putting pressure on a team mate a step away with an opponent on his shoulder ready to pounce?

Actually i'm still dirty on Liam Jones. His decision-making and lack of skills cost 4 goals. I would have dragged him after the sitter he let through his fingers.

[Stefcep]

re: Jones, wait til he's had some games. He's not going to learn it all overnight, but he's shown an ability to clunk the ball. Goalkicking can be improved. The pass to Cross was a good decision, I would prefer him to see a free Dog in the 50 and kick it than analyse who the player is and take longer to make a decision.

even though there was a free player outside calling for it 15-20 m away, and he kicks 45 m in board to the least penetrating kick in the AFL?

re: Griffen, I would argue that his shots on the run aren't too bad but it's his set shots that are no good because of his silly little kink out to the right. He knows that he hooks it around to the right, so should either follow straight through the ball or aim towards the right so that it will curve in. Holding the balls against him would be high because he tries to take on the game and his opponents so often...does need to pick and choose these situations a bit better.

I remember too many low skimmers that don't need to be low skimmers, or long bombs that get mopped up the defense. And yes he takes men on, has all his career. Meanwhile he has two free team mates 10 metres away. He's no longer a 2-3 year AFL player, that sort of decision making should be instinctive for an elite AFL player by now.

re: Murph, I'm a huge Murph fan but I don't think the bolded is particularly relevant after tonight. Skills weren't at their best and there were a number of costly turnovers.

From Murph? Or the game in general?

[Greystache]

Actually i'm still dirty on Liam Jones. His decision-making and lack of skills cost 4 goals. I would have dragged him after the sitter he let through his fingers.

Seriously, has it been that long since we've had a KPF that we don't recognise what a developing one looks like?

Jones looks a potential star of the near future, I'd much prefer to see us persist and develop a player like Jones than continue to ply games into guys like Stack, DJ, and Barlow who should be far more developed at their age than they are.

[Scorlibo]

The decision-making of our players was appalling. With ball handling skills to match.

I was blaming Rocket, but no, these players will get him sacked.

Too many "dumb" players are in this side. Moronic handballs to players under pressure.

I agree with that, the number one quality I would look for in a player is their instinctive decision making. At the moment we have very few players who can be relied on in this area.

Liam Jones spilled a peach of a pass that resulted int a 12 point turnaround at a critical point. Then missed a couple of shots he had to get. Then ignored a free player outside to go inboard to..Cross. Who hit the post. Personally I think he is another "dumb" player, and over-rated.

For all of Jones' efforts and I don't doubt how hard he tried, he was terrible and that ball he dropped was just unacceptable.

Griffen. I know people love this guy for his effort and run, but... would love to see his career turnovers/holding the ball/missed shots on goal on the run.

He got done for one holding the ball, and there was bugger all he could do about it, against 3 guys on the wing, broke one tackle, looked up for options, nothing on short, committed himself to kicking, got no warning from teammates, no support, and was done with a tackle from behind. It's generally very seldom that he gets done for holding the ball. Today was his worst game for the year though.

Bob Murphy is a class above- EVERYONE needs to get at a DVD of this guy's decision-making, he got caught once, just. Very rare for him to turn it over or give it to a team mate that immediately turns it over.

Bob Murphy would have to be my favourite player, and again, I would put his 'errors' today down to teammates not shepherding for him or running for him. It's hard to make decisions when there are no options. He is a gem though, and as this side gets better he will shine.

[LostDoggy]

You have to remeber that Jones is getting the best backman and is our Main target and IMO doing ok for a 20 year old in what is his 2nd season considering his first season on the list he played school footy

[LostDoggy]

F&$@ me and this team I love. How come when we play these guys i feel heart broken and ripped off. So typical, we had every chance to win that game and shanked it with every chancee, one goal six unanswered, very gettable misses. It's just a tease when we play the saints we look like we are all over it but can't do the job.

That cross decision was a killer. I was mortified. But djs misses just rubbed it in. Other than his finishing and decisions he was intense.

A lot of our guys really tried which was good.

Williams played well. Dolly was a revelation. He looked our best player when he came on.
Boyd was great, Murphy too. I liked a lot of Stacks game too. He'll i liked a lot of parts of a lot of our guys games but other bits were attrocious. DJ is the perfect example, an excellent half a footballer.
I thought Ward was very good. Barlow did some good things but some poor.

We need to stick with these young half players and hope they come good in a year or two. Jones is the same great to poor to great to average.

[LostDoggy]

Thought we lacked the poise to finish at critical times. Other than that it was a pretty boring game to watch whether you were a Saints or Dogs fan.

How come Jones is pretty bad with a set shot? Is it his kicking action or what? It's something both he and Grant need to get better at. They miss way too many shots. It's all good if you can take a mark but when you put it behind the big sticks every time it's not going to win the club any games.

I really do hope we can see what Tutt, Schofield and Cordy can do before the year is out.

I liked Howard's game tonight. He seems like he will make it at the level. It's strange because when he played in the NAB Cup he looked lost out there.

[LostDoggy]

Sorry for rambling but i went from no hope to hope so many times tonight and saw so much good work get undone.

[LostDoggy]

I also thought the matchups were pretty good by Eade and co.

[KT31]

, and again, I would put his 'errors' today down to teammates not shepherding for him or running .

Not only Bobby but for the whole lot,you can talk about the press and new innovations to the game ,but if they shephard and run it presents another option without pressure.
Basic footy and should not be needed to be drilled into players at this level.

[The Underdog]

How come Jones is pretty bad with a set shot? Is it his kicking action or what?

It is absolutely his kicking action. Look at what happens with his ball drop, it's stilted as hell, absolutely no smoothness to it. The ball looks like if he dropped it straight onto his foot it'd be an accident.


I was pretty happy with the effort tonight but the skill errors are terrible. Griffen's ball use and decision making were atrocious. Barlow was better than I expected and Dahlhaus gave a real spark. The real shame is that it's often senior players letting us down. For Cross and Griff to miss those goals when they did is just hugely disappointing.
I'm more impressed with Howard than I thought I'd be although I think he still needs to work a bit on his defensive side.

Do we play Cooney again this year, or just let him rest and get himself as right as he can for pre-season? I can see us shutting a few guys down as the season progresses.

[The Bulldogs Bite]

We are absolutely woeful. We look disinterested, slow, rushed and lazy. There's literally nothing to like about our performances from a team perspective.

Mulligan, DJ and Barlow really aren't up to this standard of football. Stack isn't far behind. I'd rather we didn't play any of these four going forward, as they offer us very little. DJ has effort - but that's about it. We need more than that.

Hudson is finished - not sure why we bother playing him. All it does is restrict Minson, who is a by far better ruckman now. Minson's energy and effort is very good - but it's limited because he's being asked to play primarily as a KPF.

We've got massive problems going forward. The only thing we can do is inject games into Dahlhaus, Howard, Libba, Jones, Wood, Wallis, Tutt, Schofield and Roughead to hope that they improve rapidly.

The upside:

* Dahl is going to be a player. Very quick, he's always moving. It creates space and he works hard to follow up his work. Thought he was a little unselfish at times, but that's understandable. Very impressed with his game - I like him a lot.

* Howard had a decent game. Still made some errors, and he really isn't a defender at all - always plays from behind. However, he got involved and used the ball reasonably well. There's a bit to work with here.

* Jones didn't have a good game persay, but still showed a lot. Skills let him down and dropped a crucial sitter, but he's only a young kid who is being asked to play as our #1 forward. He's doing a good job of it. He will definitely be a player.

* Wood was better. Won some good contests and used his body well. I'd like to see him take the game on a little more in coming weeks. Perhaps even have a stint or two in the midfield.

[aker39]

Coaching part 2 - Subbing Mulligan? Not the worst choice, but surely a ruckman would be better.

Mulligan was injured.

[LostDoggy]

It is absolutely his kicking action. Look at what happens with his ball drop, it's stilted as hell, absolutely no smoothness to it. The ball looks like if he dropped it straight onto his foot it'd be an accident.


I was pretty happy with the effort tonight but the skill errors are terrible. Griffen's ball use and decision making were atrocious. Barlow was better than I expected and Dahlhaus gave a real spark. The real shame is that it's often senior players letting us down. For Cross and Griff to miss those goals when they did is just hugely disappointing.
I'm more impressed with Howard than I thought I'd be although I think he still needs to work a bit on his defensive side.

Do we play Cooney again this year, or just let him rest and get himself as right as he can for pre-season? I can see us shutting a few guys down as the season progresses.

Eade said in his presser that Cooney will need an operation at the end of the season. So I think it would be best to just get it done now so he can have a full pre-season and get back to senior footy next year. What's the point in bringing him back in? He looks underdone when he plays and the team isn't going to play finals.

[GVGjr]

How come Jones is pretty bad with a set shot? Is it his kicking action or what? It's something both he and Grant need to get better at. They miss way too many shots. It's all good if you can take a mark but when you put it behind the big sticks every time it's not going to win the club any games.

He's been a poor at set shots for goals since we got him and in my opinion we just don't practice that skill well enough.