Game Day Round 6 2015 - Western Bulldogs V St. Kilda

[stefoid]

Re: Game Day Round 6 2015 - Western Bulldogs V St. Kilda

Macrae needs to kick the percentages in second halves, until his fitness improves the dinky around the corner kicks are nonsense.

why didn't anyone go to Billings? He's a gun for sure but without any pressure he wasn't made to earn anything.

I hope the coaching team learn just as much as the players, they need to learn tempo footy, when to take a breather and slow things down.

Murph was on Billings - he had a shocker.

[Mantis]

Re: Game Day Round 6 2015 - Western Bulldogs V St. Kilda

We haven't been sacrificing our players with run with roles at all this year. I don't mind it, back in our players against theirs but there are times like tonight it bites you. Hodge had his own ball and we didn't try and slow him down. Do we need to move Picken back to jobs like this? Jong? Wallis?

Armitage and Steven took us to the cleaners today.. Our lack of inside mids hurt, but going man on man against their only 2 would have helped achieve a better result.

[hujsh]

Re: Game Day Round 6 2015 - Western Bulldogs V St. Kilda

I know its a big letdown and frustrating to watch but I think we all knew in the abstract that there was going to be days like today. We have a young team and that means they can be inconsistent and can tire more easily after a game like last week.

But let's also not lose perspective with regard to other teams in the AFL. Hawthorne just lost to GWS. Good teams still lose games they're expected to win and put in sub-par performances. Sydney lost to us and we lost to St.Kilda. It's just football. Hell it's every sport.

Like how StKilda just lost to Essendon and then managed to get over the line today, I hope that we are able to show that we've learned from this game in the future.

[G-Mo77]

Re: Game Day Round 6 2015 - Western Bulldogs V St. Kilda

I know its a big letdown and frustrating to watch but I think we all knew in the abstract that there was going to be days like today. We have a young team and that means they can be inconsistent and can tire more easily after a game like last week.

But let's also not lose perspective with regard to other teams in the AFL. Hawthorne just lost to GWS. Good teams still lose games they're expected to win and put in sub-par performances. Sydney lost to us and we lost to St.Kilda. It's just football. Hell it's every sport.

Like how StKilda just lost to Essendon and then managed to get over the line today, I hope that we are able to show that we've learned from this game in the future.

We did have a 55 point lead though. I know we had a hard slog last week and we're still a young side who are going to have ups and downs but dropping a lead like that is inexcusable.

[Ghost Dog]

Re: Game Day Round 6 2015 - Western Bulldogs V St. Kilda

Granted I didn't see the game but it sounded like a mirror image of Geel v Coll last night. Cats were down in rotations after jumping the Pies, Pies came back hard but Geelong won comfortably running away. By crumbling so meekly against a fellow youthful side, we basically wiped away all of the massive gains from last week - not just talking premiership points either. Self-belief and confidence would have been shattered today.

Maybe we are back to,realistically, where we are at. A young, talented side with potential, but not premiership material for a few years yet.

[The Bulldogs Bite]

Re: Game Day Round 6 2015 - Western Bulldogs V St. Kilda

We did have a 55 point lead though. I know we had a hard slog last week and we're still a young side who are going to have ups and downs but dropping a lead like that is inexcusable.

This is how I see it.

If we lost in normal circumstances, whatever. Live and learn, get fitter and stronger etc. but we blew a 55 point lead and that utterly disgusts me when it's against such poor opposition. Feels like five steps back and a big kick in the guts.

[Sedat]

Re: Game Day Round 6 2015 - Western Bulldogs V St. Kilda

This is how I see it.

If we lost in normal circumstances, whatever. Live and learn, get fitter and stronger etc. but we blew a 55 point lead and that utterly disgusts me when it's against such poor opposition. Feels like five steps back and a big kick in the guts.

Yep, all the talk about being happy to be 4-2 and also the youth of our team pales into insignificance when you consider that we did something only 5 other teams have done in the history of this competition. As such, the manner of our capitulation is something that cannot be masked by any factors.

[chef]

Re: Game Day Round 6 2015 - Western Bulldogs V St. Kilda

We'll be right. We'll bounce back next week and put in a decent shift against the Dockers.

As crappy as it was it was just one of those things that happens. 2 players over 100 games, we've got to be the youngest team in the league.

[SonofScray]

Re: Game Day Round 6 2015 - Western Bulldogs V St. Kilda

Our gameplan isn't particularly resilient to changes in rotations and personnel going down. Everything broke down after Smith's injury, Stevens was hobbled, Stringer was looking for the bench and all of a sudden the load was being carried by too few.

I think in normal circumstances, we go on with it. We defended against the concern around being flat & tired from last week's slog but once we added the trauma of seeing a mate potentially end his career, I think it became too big a hurdle to jump. We were scrambling all through the 3qtr and just couldn't hang on. I had us cooked at the 12 minute mark.

What I would've lied to have seen is a shift towards territorial footy. Keep the ball long and wide, kick to the big blokes and drive it out of bounds. We would've hung on if we executed that late a handful of times but instead kept opting to keep the ball in play and up the middle. It wasn't particularly wise.

[comrade]

Re: Game Day Round 6 2015 - Western Bulldogs V St. Kilda

We'll be right. We'll bounce back next week and put in a decent shift against the Dockers.

As crappy as it was it was just one of those things that happens. 2 players over 100 games, we've got to be the youngest team in the league.

Only Gold Coast had a younger team than us this week and only because their squad is full of drunks

And even with wholesale changes, they still had 1 more player with over 100 games experience than us.

20 players under 100 games experience would have to be close to a record, even for the expansion teams who topped up with some older guys.

I'm going to sound like a broken record, but I don't understand or feel comfortable with all the fretting going on. History suggests we're no chance at finals, let alone a flag this year so take the good with the bad, and yeah demand improvement over the course of the season but don't get tied in knots when weird stuff happens.

Looking forward to playing the Dockers next week to see how we'll respond.

[chef]

Re: Game Day Round 6 2015 - Western Bulldogs V St. Kilda

Great post comrade.

[comrade]

Re: Game Day Round 6 2015 - Western Bulldogs V St. Kilda

Great post comrade.

Hey, after almost 30 years I'm usually a glass half empty type of supporter but I just don't feel as bitter as some after yesterday.

[chef]

Re: Game Day Round 6 2015 - Western Bulldogs V St. Kilda

Hey, after almost 30 years I'm usually a glass half empty type of supporter but I just don't feel as bitter as some after yesterday.

Yep, I'm 38 and I've never been more excited by a young Bulldog side. This team is going to go places, yesterday was just a learning experience. With a team so young and raw physically we are going to have these fade outs.

[Bornadog]

Re: Game Day Round 6 2015 - Western Bulldogs V St. Kilda

Hey, after almost 30 years I'm usually a glass half empty type of supporter but I just don't feel as bitter as some after yesterday.

I don't feel bitter either, just stunned and very disappointed. It just goes to show the type of game we play, we can't afford to lose players during the game, and we need a little bit more experience, ie some older heads like MBoyd to steady the ship. Like Bevo said in his press conference, its a game of inches. Another goal here and there and the Saints would not have caught us.

[comrade]

Re: Game Day Round 6 2015 - Western Bulldogs V St. Kilda

I don't feel bitter either, just stunned and very disappointed. It just goes to show the type of game we play, we can't afford to lose players during the game, and we need a little bit more experience, ie some older heads like MBoyd to steady the ship. Like Bevo said in his press conference, its a game of inches. Another goal here and there and the Saints would not have caught us.

That's all fair enough.