Strategising a Win Vs Hawthorn in Semi Final 2, 2016

[The Bulldogs Bite]

Re: Strategising a Win Vs Hawthorn in Semi Final 2, 2016

We have stood up to it all year.. We won't be backward in coming forward this week either.

I'm gonna shake the hand of the first man that puts Hodge on his arse.

Selection will be interesting. I see merit in keeping the side as it was, but Campbell for Zaine has to be tempting.

[Scorlibo]

Re: Strategising a Win Vs Hawthorn in Semi Final 2, 2016

I'm incredibly excited for this game, and I reckon the players will be also. A week ago it seemed that we may have been watching a promising season slip away, with an out of form side, key players unlikely to return from injury and playing an Elimination Final against West Coast in Perth. Now we're part of the last six teams, coming off our best win of the year, and we get to play the reigning triple-premiers Hawthorn in a knockout with most of our best players out there. How good is this?

Hawthorn's forward line is their real weapon. Gunston, Breust, Puopolo and Rioli - every player down there is deadly with ball in hand. Our midfielders will need to work hard to get back and block some space as they did against West Coast, if we let them have it their own way on the rebound we will probably lose. I'd also like to see someone, maybe Clay, given a forward tagging role on Birchall, whom was very influential last night.

[Missing Dog]

Re: Strategising a Win Vs Hawthorn in Semi Final 2, 2016

We have stood up to it all year.. We won't be backward in coming forward this week either.

I'd really like to see Hodge flattened within the first minute. And when he gets up target him again

[chef]

Re: Strategising a Win Vs Hawthorn in Semi Final 2, 2016

Id rather we just do what we've been doing all season and channel our agression on the ball or the ball carrier. No need for faux toughman stuff.

[BornInDroopSt'54]

Re: Strategising a Win Vs Hawthorn in Semi Final 2, 2016

Get the ball before they do and then do what we did at Subiaco. Every possession is an opportunity to find another Bulldog or to support the mate in possession.

[Bulldog Revolution]

Re: Strategising a Win Vs Hawthorn in Semi Final 2, 2016

I'm gonna shake the hand of the first man that puts Hodge on his arse.

Selection will be interesting. I see merit in keeping the side as it was, but Campbell for Zaine has to be tempting.

Do it - we haven't played the three bigs all year, but Im a big Tom Campbell fan

[Twodogs]

Re: Strategising a Win Vs Hawthorn in Semi Final 2, 2016

FIGHT. (And fight hard)

And often. They aren't going to just let us turn up and dominate them from the get-go but if we keep at them they will break. They don't have the indomitable self confidence they had earlier in the season. They know they are teetering on the edge of the abyss. They will fight like madmen to push back and away from the edge but they are gettable.

We really need to minimise the mistakes with our ball use, as once this mob gets it they're off to the races .

We basically just need to keep the ball away from them.

I'm gonna shake the hand of the first man that puts Hodge on his arse.

Selection will be interesting. I see merit in keeping the side as it was, but Campbell for Zaine has to be tempting.

And I will shake the hand of whoever pushes him back down as he is getting up.

[The Underdog]

Re: Strategising a Win Vs Hawthorn in Semi Final 2, 2016

Do it - we haven't played the three bigs all year, but Im a big Tom Campbell fan

I'm not for it. I think we lose flexibility and defensive pressure and realistically we add maybe one or two contested marks. I like Campbell but he's had so little football recently and we rely so much on quick closing pressure. Cordy did a great job Thursday. Give him the chance to do it again.

[Bulldog Joe]

Re: Strategising a Win Vs Hawthorn in Semi Final 2, 2016

I would look at Libba going with Lewis and Macrae with Mitchell and back them both to get the job done.

We can win the contest and just need to minimise turnovers. We also need to be on top of them every time they get the ball.

Pressure and work rate are the non negotiables.

[Ghost Dog]

Re: Strategising a Win Vs Hawthorn in Semi Final 2, 2016

I'd really like to see Hodge flattened within the first minute. And when he gets up target him again

Nah. Step around this old hard nut and kick goals.

[DOG GOD]

Re: Strategising a Win Vs Hawthorn in Semi Final 2, 2016

Hawks will try to untilize the "over the back run onto the ball" structure in their fwd line. Can't have the likes of Rioli and Puopolo one out in their fwd 50. They will kill us this way. When they got on top of Geelong it was those 2 plus Breust and Gunston that was destroying the cats with their pace etc.

Win it from the midfield and don't bomb it long...need to lower the eyes and pinpoint into fwd 50. This is where players like Daniel become very important...need good decision makers/kicks roaming wing to fwd 50.

Most importantly we have to make every shot on goal count. Can't miss any 30-40 metre directly in front kicks missing.

They will come out hungry, aggressive and more than likely dirty. The likes of Lewis and hodge will intimidate hunter, Macrae etc. I'd almost start stringer in at the centre square.

Can't allow Hawks to get space and be able to pinpoint from defence, otherwise they will cut us to pieces...no use winning contested ball if we give it back to them anyway.

Need to control the ball, control the play, and can't afford for them to get their cheap over the packs goals.

[jeemak]

Re: Strategising a Win Vs Hawthorn in Semi Final 2, 2016

The Hawks will play their own game and not worry about us too much similar to how they approach every week, with one exception. They'll employ similar tactics to those Norf employed when we played them first time around this year. We will have the better of contested ball numbers, but our first and second disposal out will be problematic and we'll be made to kick rather than using swift hands. If we bomb it we'll fall right into the trap, and they'll be able to mop up and get behind us quickly, which as DOG GOD points out will hurt us given the pace and smarts of the Hawks forwards.

To counter this we'll need a lateral bail out option to provide something other than the long blind kick. Not having one is genuinely my biggest fear.

When we have some clean ball we should still attack the corridor, but be mindful that to get it from wide onto the fatter side of the corridor it's a two kick connection rather than a one kick connection. If we try and bite off too much ground with a single kick we'll be picked off.

Retaining possession between half forward and wing is important, and this is where ideally we'd have Stringer working into - but I'm concerned he hasn't got his head around leading at the footy rather than running away from it (his shoulder is cooked, he motioned and grimaced towards it during the warm up on camera Thursday - he can't be relied upon to play a hard contested game). This is why I'd seriously consider bringing Camhead back together and allowing Boyd to play CHF. The latter is much more likely to lead at the football and take a mark in that area of the ground than Stringer is, though whether the benefit offsets a loss in mobility I'm not too sure. Boyd can't ruck significant minutes and play CHF.

If we decide to only play Rough and Boyd as our ruck options, then Bont should play CHF with stints in the midfield. Whoever defends him will need to be tall and mobile, I can see this disrupting the Hawks set up considerably and lean towards this rather than the above scenario.

I haven't gotten my head around defencive match ups yet. How we cover all of Breust, Puopolo and Rioli is problematic. I'd put JJ on Breust as for me he's the least likely to chase of the three, but I'm purely flummoxed on how we match up on the other two and will need to give it more thought. Wood can't really do the job as we need him to be able to provide aerial support, which won't be possible if he has to mind a quick crumbing specialist. That leaves Biggs, Morris and Boyd. Can we trust Hamling with Gunston?

Our broader defencive structure should replicate that of Thursday night. It's not complicated, we just need to keep our shape when pressing and pressure the ball carrier and receiver without actually crowding either.

[Remi Moses]

Re: Strategising a Win Vs Hawthorn in Semi Final 2, 2016

I'm not sure dropping Cordy is such a great move . Geelong did a great job keeping Gibson out of the play last night

[Remi Moses]

Re: Strategising a Win Vs Hawthorn in Semi Final 2, 2016

I'd really like to see Hodge flattened within the first minute. And when he gets up target him again

Not if we start giving away needless free kicks . Hunt the football

[westbulldog]

Re: Strategising a Win Vs Hawthorn in Semi Final 2, 2016

We lost to them by only 3 points in round 3 when Bob went down and Sicily got lucky, no reason why we cant win this one. They are on the slide and we are on the up.