Game Day - Bulldogs vs Crows

[The Bulldogs Bite]

Re: Game Day - Bulldogs vs Crows

Harris was terrible in the air yesterday Ernie. His third man up attempts were poorly timed and left us exposed a few times and in his one on one contest he went for the mark too often. Wight let the ball get past him once in the last quarter which was pretty poor.

Thought Morris did a great job yesterday in terms of defending anyway. I saw a contest in the last quarter where the ball came in long over his head and Burton had a positional advantage but Morris somehow spoiled it. Not one other player in the side could have stopped it. One of our most valauble players IMO.

Morris is certainly one of our most valuable players, but I think you're over-rating his game a little. Did well in the last few minutes, but he was beaten several times before and turned the ball over far too often. I'd consider it one of his worse games, minus those last few spoils.

Cross was the same, he improved in the second half, but he still made far too many costly errors. A few resulted in shots on goal for The Crows, whilst he also dropped a couple of marks and missed a few tackles. For mine, Cross didn't play too well at all - but he's entitled to one bad game, he's been fantastic over the last few years.

[dog town]

Re: Game Day - Bulldogs vs Crows

Morris is certainly one of our most valuable players, but I think you're over-rating his game a little. Did well in the last few minutes, but he was beaten several times before and turned the ball over far too often. I'd consider it one of his worse games, minus those last few spoils.

Cross was the same, he improved in the second half, but he still made far too many costly errors. A few resulted in shots on goal for The Crows, whilst he also dropped a couple of marks and missed a few tackles. For mine, Cross didn't play too well at all - but he's entitled to one bad game, he's been fantastic over the last few years.

No doubt Morris made some costly blunders but he probably saved 5 or 6 goals through sheer will power and had the most contested possessions on the ground.

Wasn't the best game Cross has played but I struggle to find fault with anyone who puts himself on the line as often as Cross does. I pin pointed a few of his costly errors but things like his quick handpass out of congestion after a centre bounce in the last quarter were as valuable as his errors were costly.

On a seperate note I should probably acknowledge how good Guido was. Very tidy with the ball in his hands and always looked dangerous. Very impressed with him off a short preparation.

[The Bulldogs Bite]

Re: Game Day - Bulldogs vs Crows

Wasn't the best game Cross has played but I struggle to find fault with anyone who puts himself on the line as often as Cross does. I pin pointed a few of his costly errors but things like his quick handpass out of congestion after a centre bounce in the last quarter were as valuable as his errors were costly.

On a seperate note I should probably acknowledge how good Guido was. Very tidy with the ball in his hands and always looked dangerous. Very impressed with him off a short preparation.

Just think Cross made too many errors. His handballing, usually a feature, often missed the target. He was still important around the packs because of the way he throws his body in, but he'd probably want to improve his disposal because he missed a lot of targets. His first two possessions in that first minute or so were pretty poor.

I agree wholeheartedly with you about Gia though, he was exceptional out there and deserves more credit than he's probably got. 24 disposals & 3 goals from a very limited pre-season highlights his importance to this side. Every year his name is bandied about by supporters as possible trade bait, but he's a vital player and a leader of this football club. Gia needs to find a little more consistency though. Yesterday he did most things right, including his first rate attack on the ball. If he can keep this sort of attack on the ball and performance up most weeks, he's going to be a very dangerous player and especially handy with the likes of Johnson, Murph, Welsh & Aker/Higgins running around.

[Mantis]

Re: Game Day - Bulldogs vs Crows

Wasn't the best game Cross has played but I struggle to find fault with anyone who puts himself on the line as often as Cross does. I pin pointed a few of his costly errors but things like his quick handpass out of congestion after a centre bounce in the last quarter were as valuable as his errors were costly.

I honestly thought it was Crossy's worst game for us for a long time when 100% fit. Too many skills errors and too much indecision. I have made the point before that Cross kills our momentum when on fast breaks through his unwillingness to kick the ball, its not good enough and he did of a number of occassions yesterday, especially in the 2nd qtr.

Could the fact that he hasn't played for 3 weeks be a factor remembering that Cross missed our final practice match due to a wedding? He looked very scratchy.