Always Right Match Committee Thread - 2021 AFL Grand Final vs Melbourne

[Mofra]

I am interested in the match ups. I do not want to see Oliver running around getting a free pass. I want to see a lot of attention paid to Fritsch. Dunkley for Oliver. One of the Baileys for Fritsch.

And Roarke to Brayshaw to stop him killing our switches.

[The Bulldogs Bite]

Nope. We haven't played the Dees with Stef, Dunks or Treloar.

They really are three massive ins that they haven't had to deal with previously.

For mine, the concerns are;

- Gawn: He's the one who could take it away from us.
- Oliver/Petracca: Curtail one of them and I think that goes a long way to winning.
- Fritsch: Punchable head but he's a dangerous goal kicking forward.

We obviously need to make May and Lever defend us, but I'm confident we'll do that after our last performance against them/our performance against Aliir last week.

[Mantis]

And Roarke to Brayshaw to stop him killing our switches.

Yep... happy for Hunter to take Langdon on the other wing.

[jazzadogs]

This thought process has all been prompted by a 1 second clip in the club's training video, where Schache was clearly with Stef Martin and the midfield group...

Are we going to pit Schache 1v1 vs Jackson? He competes against him in the ruck, and he goes with him as a defender when Jackson moves forward?

English and Naughton our 2 tall forwards. Hannan to play the defensive forward role on Lever.

Keath takes McDonald, Gardner on Ben Brown. Cordy out.

What do we think? Are we going to go wacky with Schache? (yes I am resharing my photoshop, I am very proud of it!)

New Project (19).jpg

[comrade]

This thought process has all been prompted by a 1 second clip in the club's training video, where Schache was clearly with Stef Martin and the midfield group...

Are we going to pit Schache 1v1 vs Jackson? He competes against him in the ruck, and he goes with him as a defender when Jackson moves forward?

English and Naughton our 2 tall forwards. Hannan to play the defensive forward role on Lever.

Keath takes McDonald, Gardner on Ben Brown. Cordy out.

What do we think? Are we going to go wacky with Schache? (yes I am resharing my photoshop, I am very proud of it!)

New Project (19).jpg

I think you could definitely be on to something. Might not be something we do all game, but at different times.

[bornadog]

This thought process has all been prompted by a 1 second clip in the club's training video, where Schache was clearly with Stef Martin and the midfield group...

Are we going to pit Schache 1v1 vs Jackson? He competes against him in the ruck, and he goes with him as a defender when Jackson moves forward?

English and Naughton our 2 tall forwards. Hannan to play the defensive forward role on Lever.

Keath takes McDonald, Gardner on Ben Brown. Cordy out.

What do we think? Are we going to go wacky with Schache? (yes I am resharing my photoshop, I am very proud of it!)

New Project (19).jpg

Hannan played the defensive role on May last time.

[Mantis]

I think you could definitely be on to something. Might not be something we do all game, but at different times.

Was it telling that for the last 5-10min of our PF that Schache was running around in defence?

Maybe it was just a ploy to get a few numbers in defence given we were resting our influential players, but I do think Bevo will move players to where they're most needed.

[dog town]

Some early thoughts on areas of concern or interest for next week.

Transition Game- Melbourne are just so powerful running both ways but particularly frightening on the spread if they find a quick exit out of D50. You look at the screen and their smalls and even talls often have 5-10 metres goal side running forward into space. The key for us is that when we go inside 50 if we dont have a clear 1 on 1 we like or easy target then we defend with the ball. Get numbers in and get set behind the ball and try and score from a contested mark, pressure or score from stoppage. Their speed of ball movement and how we combat it is the second most important aspect of this game behind what happens around the ball in my view.

The other thing we did really well in round 19 in this space is that when they do clear the ball from D50 and give us a chance to win it back that we take it. Our high defenders, wingers and mids have to work hard to shut it down and turn the ball back our way. Once they get out the only way you are shutting it down is someone leaving their man and impacting a contest. I actually think our defenders and particularly our high defenders are the best in the game at reading kicks and coming off to impact so this will be interesting.

If they cant chain out by hand in D50 they will look at Langdon, Brayshaw or a half high forward to spread wide or come back at the footy for a mark. If that’s not on they are quite happy to just kick a scrubber to space and back themselves to out number (think Richmond).

Nullify Interceptors- This feeds into the above, bring it to ground (preferably mark ourselves) but don’t allow easy intercepts to turn into easy transition. Couple of reference points here, their game against Hawthorn and GWS but more recently their first qtr against Brisbane. Limited entries but every time it was nullified Rivers, Smith and even Bowie looked poor. I actually rate all 3 of them but they were taken out of their comfort zone.

Ruck- Really concerns me that Gawn might get an advantage here. I watched our pre season game and a 2019 Brisbane vs Melbourne game and Martin didn’t get dominated. My concern is if Gawn pushes forward aggressively. The last thing to come back after a long lay off is your awareness in the air, you just cant quite seem to get your feel for it the first few games back. Something else to consider is Martin will have a clear advantage on Jackson when Gawn isn’t there which will be minimal but will be on their minds.

Power from stoppage- We want this played in tight, they are a better contested ball team than us in general but I don’t think they are particularly dangerous in tight. We don’t want Oliver getting on loose balls and getting it to the outside or Petracca getting through traffic and breaking lines/drawing tacklers. Control the ring around the contest, win it and clear the area to turn them around. They will be sweating on our handball game so one handball to release and then kick unless we are completely out.

Tagging Decisions- Both teams trying to balance upsetting the apple cart with shutting down key players. Viney was amazing last week so to tag Libba they would have to turn him to a negating role or kick Viney out of the first string mids for Harmes. I think Viney will go to Libba. We can send Dunkley to one of Oliver or Petracca who are exactly the mobile types that have hurt us. Petracca plays in the Dusty mould with a license to free wheel which concerns me. On the other hand if Oliver gets on the hunt and starts taking the ball away from that little 5 metre bubble we like then that’s dangerous. I would go Oliver I think. Salem would be a hard one for us with the amount of games we need to play with our talls, we need to make sure we still have a positive ground level game.

Structure- They really are buying into the game plan they have and every player knows exactly where to stand, you can see it and its why it looks like they have extra players on the ground sometimes. They out number behind the ball and then still look uncontested going forward which is a great place to be BUT sometimes when you play like that it can be easier to take something away from you. What happens when something you have relied upon dries up? Can Beveridge manipulate our numbers game to make them doubt what they are doing?

Wingers- I saw some posts re Brayshaw and while he is incredibly important to their structure he is going to do what he does. Wont get a heap of the ball and it is going to be hard to stop him playing that wing role regardless of who you play there. Langdon is the one that drives their transition but I think Hunter and B.Smith have both kept up with and beaten him before so we have options. It is kind of a decision between trying to exploit Brayshaw (makes errors under pressure) a bit or just being happy to have a nil all draw with two role players out there. I am happy with Hunter and Langdon if it goes that way.

Defensive Match Ups- Not as worried about them playing 3 talls as some. We have to take a risk to beat them and in most games we have been happy to have a high talls matched up by Dale, Williams, Duryea or Wood. Last week Dale played on Marshall for periods if he was high and Dale also played on Jackson in round 19 for periods in a high defender role. Not sure what we will do with Fritsch, Williams seemed to be on him a lot last time but I quite like him defending higher. The only time I am worried about them playing 3 talls is when Max is forward, in this instance I expect a genuine talls to go to him and we take a risk on McDonald which we have done before. Pickett needs bumpers every time he turns to run towards goal or he will destroy us, elbow in the chest every time he turns.

Youth- They are young, really young if you think about it. If we get off to a good start hopefully the occasion gets to them.

Naughton/English- To me they have both been playing within themselves when forward. Naughton is nearly back to where he was but those one on ones he is still not as strong as he was. If he dominates it changes everything for them, big questions for Melbourne if we go with Hannan as our CHF like last week but we have options to manipulate regardless of what they throw at us.

Our Transition With Ball- It will be a pressure game and they set up really well behind the ball when it is in their 50. Obviously we want to find a mark or a handball receive to get out but I don’t think we can afford to be afraid to kick it to grass or a contest. They will out number most times but we don’t want to give them easy turnover goals or free kicks by being hesitant with the ball. If we win those 50/50s there is space over the back and they get scored on.

[jazzadogs]

Some early thoughts on areas of concern or interest for next week.

Transition Game- Melbourne are just so powerful running both ways but particularly frightening on the spread if they find a quick exit out of D50. You look at the screen and their smalls and even talls often have 5-10 metres goal side running forward into space. The key for us is that when we go inside 50 if we dont have a clear 1 on 1 we like or easy target then we defend with the ball. Get numbers in and get set behind the ball and try and score from a contested mark, pressure or score from stoppage. Their speed of ball movement and how we combat it is the second most important aspect of this game behind what happens around the ball in my view.

The other thing we did really well in round 19 in this space is that when they do clear the ball from D50 and give us a chance to win it back that we take it. Our high defenders, wingers and mids have to work hard to shut it down and turn the ball back our way. Once they get out the only way you are shutting it down is someone leaving their man and impacting a contest. I actually think our defenders and particularly our high defenders are the best in the game at reading kicks and coming off to impact so this will be interesting.

If they cant chain out by hand in D50 they will look at Langdon, Brayshaw or a half high forward to spread wide or come back at the footy for a mark. If that’s not on they are quite happy to just kick a scrubber to space and back themselves to out number (think Richmond).

Nullify Interceptors- This feeds into the above, bring it to ground (preferably mark ourselves) but don’t allow easy intercepts to turn into easy transition. Couple of reference points here, their game against Hawthorn and GWS but more recently their first qtr against Brisbane. Limited entries but every time it was nullified Rivers, Smith and even Bowie looked poor. I actually rate all 3 of them but they were taken out of their comfort zone.

Ruck- Really concerns me that Gawn might get an advantage here. I watched our pre season game and a 2019 Brisbane vs Melbourne game and Martin didn’t get dominated. My concern is if Gawn pushes forward aggressively. The last thing to come back after a long lay off is your awareness in the air, you just cant quite seem to get your feel for it the first few games back. Something else to consider is Martin will have a clear advantage on Jackson when Gawn isn’t there which will be minimal but will be on their minds.

Power from stoppage- We want this played in tight, they are a better contested ball team than us in general but I don’t think they are particularly dangerous in tight. We don’t want Oliver getting on loose balls and getting it to the outside or Petracca getting through traffic and breaking lines/drawing tacklers. Control the ring around the contest, win it and clear the area to turn them around. They will be sweating on our handball game so one handball to release and then kick unless we are completely out.

Tagging Decisions- Both teams trying to balance upsetting the apple cart with shutting down key players. Viney was amazing last week so to tag Libba they would have to turn him to a negating role or kick Viney out of the first string mids for Harmes. I think Viney will go to Libba. We can send Dunkley to one of Oliver or Petracca who are exactly the mobile types that have hurt us. Petracca plays in the Dusty mould with a license to free wheel which concerns me. On the other hand if Oliver gets on the hunt and starts taking the ball away from that little 5 metre bubble we like then that’s dangerous. I would go Oliver I think. Salem would be a hard one for us with the amount of games we need to play with our talls, we need to make sure we still have a positive ground level game.

Structure- They really are buying into the game plan they have and every player knows exactly where to stand, you can see it and its why it looks like they have extra players on the ground sometimes. They out number behind the ball and then still look uncontested going forward which is a great place to be BUT sometimes when you play like that it can be easier to take something away from you. What happens when something you have relied upon dries up? Can Beveridge manipulate our numbers game to make them doubt what they are doing?

Wingers- I saw some posts re Brayshaw and while he is incredibly important to their structure he is going to do what he does. Wont get a heap of the ball and it is going to be hard to stop him playing that wing role regardless of who you play there. Langdon is the one that drives their transition but I think Hunter and B.Smith have both kept up with and beaten him before so we have options. It is kind of a decision between trying to exploit Brayshaw (makes errors under pressure) a bit or just being happy to have a nil all draw with two role players out there. I am happy with Hunter and Langdon if it goes that way.

Defensive Match Ups- Not as worried about them playing 3 talls as some. We have to take a risk to beat them and in most games we have been happy to have a high talls matched up by Dale, Williams, Duryea or Wood. Last week Dale played on Marshall for periods if he was high and Dale also played on Jackson in round 19 for periods in a high defender role. Not sure what we will do with Fritsch, Williams seemed to be on him a lot last time but I quite like him defending higher. The only time I am worried about them playing 3 talls is when Max is forward, in this instance I expect a genuine talls to go to him and we take a risk on McDonald which we have done before. Pickett needs bumpers every time he turns to run towards goal or he will destroy us, elbow in the chest every time he turns.

Youth- They are young, really young if you think about it. If we get off to a good start hopefully the occasion gets to them.

Naughton/English- To me they have both been playing within themselves when forward. Naughton is nearly back to where he was but those one on ones he is still not as strong as he was. If he dominates it changes everything for them, big questions for Melbourne if we go with Hannan as our CHF like last week but we have options to manipulate regardless of what they throw at us.

Our Transition With Ball- It will be a pressure game and they set up really well behind the ball when it is in their 50. Obviously we want to find a mark or a handball receive to get out but I don’t think we can afford to be afraid to kick it to grass or a contest. They will out number most times but we don’t want to give them easy turnover goals or free kicks by being hesitant with the ball. If we win those 50/50s there is space over the back and they get scored on.

Amazing input dog town. I agree that the transition/turnover game will be vital - in our first matchup this year their pressure and defensive setup lead to some terrible turnovers which gifted them early goals, and then the game was over.

We can never be set up the way we want for a bad turnover, so if we make silly mistakes and cough it up they become almost guaranteed looks at goal for Melbourne.

[The bulldog tragician]

Some early thoughts on areas of concern or interest for next week.

Transition Game- Melbourne are just so powerful running both ways but particularly frightening on the spread if they find a quick exit out of D50. You look at the screen and their smalls and even talls often have 5-10 metres goal side running forward into space. The key for us is that when we go inside 50 if we dont have a clear 1 on 1 we like or easy target then we defend with the ball. Get numbers in and get set behind the ball and try and score from a contested mark, pressure or score from stoppage. Their speed of ball movement and how we combat it is the second most important aspect of this game behind what happens around the ball in my view.

The other thing we did really well in round 19 in this space is that when they do clear the ball from D50 and give us a chance to win it back that we take it. Our high defenders, wingers and mids have to work hard to shut it down and turn the ball back our way. Once they get out the only way you are shutting it down is someone leaving their man and impacting a contest. I actually think our defenders and particularly our high defenders are the best in the game at reading kicks and coming off to impact so this will be interesting.

If they cant chain out by hand in D50 they will look at Langdon, Brayshaw or a half high forward to spread wide or come back at the footy for a mark. If that’s not on they are quite happy to just kick a scrubber to space and back themselves to out number (think Richmond).

Nullify Interceptors- This feeds into the above, bring it to ground (preferably mark ourselves) but don’t allow easy intercepts to turn into easy transition. Couple of reference points here, their game against Hawthorn and GWS but more recently their first qtr against Brisbane. Limited entries but every time it was nullified Rivers, Smith and even Bowie looked poor. I actually rate all 3 of them but they were taken out of their comfort zone.

Ruck- Really concerns me that Gawn might get an advantage here. I watched our pre season game and a 2019 Brisbane vs Melbourne game and Martin didn’t get dominated. My concern is if Gawn pushes forward aggressively. The last thing to come back after a long lay off is your awareness in the air, you just cant quite seem to get your feel for it the first few games back. Something else to consider is Martin will have a clear advantage on Jackson when Gawn isn’t there which will be minimal but will be on their minds.

Power from stoppage- We want this played in tight, they are a better contested ball team than us in general but I don’t think they are particularly dangerous in tight. We don’t want Oliver getting on loose balls and getting it to the outside or Petracca getting through traffic and breaking lines/drawing tacklers. Control the ring around the contest, win it and clear the area to turn them around. They will be sweating on our handball game so one handball to release and then kick unless we are completely out.

Tagging Decisions- Both teams trying to balance upsetting the apple cart with shutting down key players. Viney was amazing last week so to tag Libba they would have to turn him to a negating role or kick Viney out of the first string mids for Harmes. I think Viney will go to Libba. We can send Dunkley to one of Oliver or Petracca who are exactly the mobile types that have hurt us. Petracca plays in the Dusty mould with a license to free wheel which concerns me. On the other hand if Oliver gets on the hunt and starts taking the ball away from that little 5 metre bubble we like then that’s dangerous. I would go Oliver I think. Salem would be a hard one for us with the amount of games we need to play with our talls, we need to make sure we still have a positive ground level game.

Structure- They really are buying into the game plan they have and every player knows exactly where to stand, you can see it and its why it looks like they have extra players on the ground sometimes. They out number behind the ball and then still look uncontested going forward which is a great place to be BUT sometimes when you play like that it can be easier to take something away from you. What happens when something you have relied upon dries up? Can Beveridge manipulate our numbers game to make them doubt what they are doing?

Wingers- I saw some posts re Brayshaw and while he is incredibly important to their structure he is going to do what he does. Wont get a heap of the ball and it is going to be hard to stop him playing that wing role regardless of who you play there. Langdon is the one that drives their transition but I think Hunter and B.Smith have both kept up with and beaten him before so we have options. It is kind of a decision between trying to exploit Brayshaw (makes errors under pressure) a bit or just being happy to have a nil all draw with two role players out there. I am happy with Hunter and Langdon if it goes that way.

Defensive Match Ups- Not as worried about them playing 3 talls as some. We have to take a risk to beat them and in most games we have been happy to have a high talls matched up by Dale, Williams, Duryea or Wood. Last week Dale played on Marshall for periods if he was high and Dale also played on Jackson in round 19 for periods in a high defender role. Not sure what we will do with Fritsch, Williams seemed to be on him a lot last time but I quite like him defending higher. The only time I am worried about them playing 3 talls is when Max is forward, in this instance I expect a genuine talls to go to him and we take a risk on McDonald which we have done before. Pickett needs bumpers every time he turns to run towards goal or he will destroy us, elbow in the chest every time he turns.

Youth- They are young, really young if you think about it. If we get off to a good start hopefully the occasion gets to them.

Naughton/English- To me they have both been playing within themselves when forward. Naughton is nearly back to where he was but those one on ones he is still not as strong as he was. If he dominates it changes everything for them, big questions for Melbourne if we go with Hannan as our CHF like last week but we have options to manipulate regardless of what they throw at us.

Our Transition With Ball- It will be a pressure game and they set up really well behind the ball when it is in their 50. Obviously we want to find a mark or a handball receive to get out but I don’t think we can afford to be afraid to kick it to grass or a contest. They will out number most times but we don’t want to give them easy turnover goals or free kicks by being hesitant with the ball. If we win those 50/50s there is space over the back and they get scored on.

This is an awesome analysis but has made me very nervous. They are a very good team doing a lot of things right.

[comrade]

This is an awesome analysis but has made me very nervous. They are a very good team doing a lot of things right.

Now we need mjp to come in and let us know we're going to smash them.

[bulldogsthru&thru]

Now we need mjp to come in and let us know we're going to smash them.

So I’m not the only one refreshing the activity page waiting for that post?

[dog town]

They have plenty to worry about as well and Goodwin won't be sleeping that well. We defend transition as well as any team at the moment, our ground ball game is as strong as its been all year right now and we have weapons forward of the ball that will scare them.

[Ozza]

Yep... happy for Hunter to take Langdon on the other wing.

I thought when we beat Melbourne - Roarke and Langdon having a bit of a nil-all draw was a factor in us winning. I rate Langdon very highly so am keen for Roarke to try and quell his influence, and let Hunter be Hunter.

[bornadog]

I thought when we beat Melbourne - Roarke and Langdon having a bit of a nil-all draw was a factor in us winning. I rate Langdon very highly so am keen for Roarke to try and quell his influence, and let Hunter be Hunter.

Wasn't Hunter up against Brayshaw in that game?