Game Day AFL Finals Week 2 Semi Final - Hawthorn V Western Bulldogs

[azabob]

Re: Game Day AFL Finals Week 2 Semi Final - Hawthorn V Western Bulldogs

Clay Smiths mark for his second goal of the second quarter against Ben Stratton was a very very strong mark. Outsmarted and out muscled a very good defender.

[Eastdog]

Re: Game Day AFL Finals Week 2 Semi Final - Hawthorn V Western Bulldogs

Eating lunch now at my local chicken shop and they have the replay on TV.

[bulldogtragic]

Re: Game Day AFL Finals Week 2 Semi Final - Hawthorn V Western Bulldogs

McLean's overturned shot, took us to 1.5 at quarter time. So then that's 15.6 after quarter time, and 10.1 after half time. Who would've thought straight kicking would make us soooo much better.

After Roughy's point halfway in the third quarter, our last 8 scoring shots were all goals. I didn't notice the absolute specifics of this 8/8 or 100% for a quarter and a half on the night.

[comrade]

Re: Game Day AFL Finals Week 2 Semi Final - Hawthorn V Western Bulldogs

After Roughy's point halfway in the third quarter, our last 8 scoring shots were all goals. I didn't notice the absolute specifics of this 8/8 or 100% for a quarter and a half on the night.

Definitely one of the most pleasing things about the game.

We had the advantage, momentum was with us and we rammed it home. Plenty of times we would have miffed our lines and let the opposition back in.

Not. This. Time.

[Scorlibo]

Re: Game Day AFL Finals Week 2 Semi Final - Hawthorn V Western Bulldogs

The overturned McLean goal was given zero attention by the commentary team. Given the lack of clarity in the shot being shown, you'd expect there to be some speculation, but I guess Hodge is such a sacred cow that they couldn't fathom the thought of asking the question. By stark contrast, when the corresponding call was made with the Wood touch, they couldn't shut up about it.

Another disparity between the call and the experience of the game at the ground for me was the sheer volume of Bontempelli fawning. I love Bont as much as the next guy, but the commentators would have you believe that he single handedly dragged us over the line! It's just exemplary of lazy commentary on our team, an enormous amount of focus on just a few players.

[chef]

Re: Game Day AFL Finals Week 2 Semi Final - Hawthorn V Western Bulldogs

Ling sooking about McLeans high free was funny too, Selwood gets a couple of those a week and he doesnt say a thing.

[LostDoggy]

Re: Game Day AFL Finals Week 2 Semi Final - Hawthorn V Western Bulldogs

You bloody beauty.

[comrade]

Re: Game Day AFL Finals Week 2 Semi Final - Hawthorn V Western Bulldogs

You bloody beauty.

Guess who's back!

[chef]

Re: Game Day AFL Finals Week 2 Semi Final - Hawthorn V Western Bulldogs

You bloody beauty.

About time.

[Eastdog]

Re: Game Day AFL Finals Week 2 Semi Final - Hawthorn V Western Bulldogs

Guess who's back!

Lantern's back!

[Webby]

Re: Game Day AFL Finals Week 2 Semi Final - Hawthorn V Western Bulldogs

Just watching the replay (4th time now!) and, call me petty, but I fail to how the hell McLean's goal in the first was overruled as touched by Hodge!

The umpire called it a goal, the goal was reviewed due to Hodge's protestations, the replay showed no flick back on Hodge's fingers, no noise and no deviation in the ball..... So we effectively had a goal over turned on Luke Hodge's word! The commentators failed to ask the obvious questions and just accepted what, to me, seemed a pretty dubious overrule!

I just ask the question, had the protestation come from a no name player, would it have been reviewed and would it have been over turned?

AFL footy - whether it be match review committees, umpires, tribunals or the commission itself - does seem to be riddled with double standards and hypocrisy. The powerful, or the chosen few - whether it be club or player - seem to regularly get the rub of the green. That's consistently the case across all levels of officialdom.

It's time we smash the glass ceiling on all of this $hit!

[kruder]

Re: Game Day AFL Finals Week 2 Semi Final - Hawthorn V Western Bulldogs

I saw an interesting stat on Friday. It was during the replay of the Doggies and Hawks qualifying final 2010. Brad Johnson was lining up for a goal, a Bulldogs legend and a graphic came up. He had kicked 11 goals in 12 finals(could have been the other way around) and went on to miss the shot.

Fast forward to Friday night, an out of form Jake Stringer kicks 3 in his 3rd final which brings his total to 6 I believe( he was on one leg in the first final). It just puts things into perspective with this group, nothing against Johnno and co but these boys are made of different stuff.

[Raw Toast]

Re: Game Day AFL Finals Week 2 Semi Final - Hawthorn V Western Bulldogs

Just a magnificent night, best experience I've had with footy - superb, glorious and all the rest. The combination of joy and stress at the end of the third quarter was amazing. The horrible thought that the Hawks would still come back haunted most of the final quarter, but oh my, we smashed them so beautifully, and I've never sung the song so many times (and to be at the game with The Underdog, my two young'uns at their first night game let along final, plus my converted partner, was marvellous).

A few thoughts on the game:

* The hawks seemed to know that they needed to put us away early. Even when they were double our score, it still felt like we were in it up to our eyeballs, because when they scored their reaction was of relief, and there was already some fear in their faces and play;

* Roughead has developed wonderfully - loved him crashing into the opposing ruck, he was important when the ball hit the deck, channeling a little bit of the beard, and that mark and goal was one of the exclamation points, just like last week. Hope that he can dominate Mumford around the ground;

* Our hands in tight are incredible. Reminds me of the Sydney team of 2005, who won the flag that year (according to me) based on their ability to shoot it around in close until they found the space to move forward with a kick that retained possession. Libba, the Bont, and Macrea is a glorious handballing trio, with many others not far behind;

* Suckling's hands, however, are not why he is in the team, either with handballing or marking, but I thought we were able to use him as a weapon better than we have since his injury against the Blues. He's a fascinating player, from a more objective sense, because you can see how we target him as a weapon, and the opposition try and make him into a weakness - I think we got the points this week, in part because he's very good at moving to the right place both defensively as well as offensively, but I get why he becomes an easy scapegoat as well because his weaknesses are clear;

* Matty Boyd obviously didn't play as well as he did against the Weagles (I had him as bog there), but I liked the way he kept on trying to attack the game, and even when he stuffed up against Rioli (and he shouldn't have!), he was trying to find an attacking pass which is what we needed if we were going to win it;

* In terms of game plan, I think that part of the issue with the first quarter was that we weren't taking as many early risks as we did against the Eagles, which allowed the Hawks to pressure us more than before, and to win the ball back when we kicked it down the line or bombed it into our fifty. That said, the replay showed that we did attack more than I realised, just not as much as we needed to. You could see that we did it more in the 2nd quarter, and started to cut through the Hawks, though they maintained the pressure for a long time (102 tackles is immense!), we were just too good;

* Dunkley is a gem and had a huge game, but he still has a lot to learn, and had some infuriating moments - it's not as obvious on the replay I think, but there were at least 3 times when he refused to give the first option (which should never happen in our game plan unless you see a clearly better option at the same time), to go with a couple of wild kicks to no one in the 50, and a moment or two when he should have tapped to the free player rather than grab the ball and be unable to release it in the subsequent tackle. That all said, he did many great things, continued to play hard when things didn't go his way, and also showed he can learn by lowering his eyes to hit up Tom Boyd with a beautiful pass in the 2nd quarter when it would have been easier to bomb away;

* I would have selected Webb, so was glad that McLean proved me wrong - his work in tight was what impressed me the most, just as I think Stringer's smothers helped set up the rest of his game. That said, both Stringer and McLean are likely to dominate important games much more than they did on Friday in the hopefully not-too-distant future;

* I hope that Hamling takes his confident contested grab in the last quarter into his future games. He won his place in the team on the back of his increasingly impressive play, but I think he's got another level or two that he can reach, again hopefully soon - huge game for him against GWS;

* Clay Smith has turned me into a believer - that vision and skill in regaining balance and then kicking across his body to find Stringer was one of the turning points in the game, as was his first goal (and then second) in the 2nd. At the moment he's playing like the perfect defensive forward who can spend important time in the middle, and he's still clearly developing as a player as well. I love the way he can find the ball (or rip it away from others), and be damaging with it, to complement his pressure skills;

* We played a fantastic game, but I think the spread of talent across the team is shown by who could impact games much more than they did this one, such as JJ, Biggs, Wood, Libba, and M Boyd among others. Last week it was the Bont among others, and the beauty of what Beveridge does is that each player just needs to play their role, and if everyone does that we're going to be super-competitive regardless of who we play.

[Bornadog]

Re: Game Day AFL Finals Week 2 Semi Final - Hawthorn V Western Bulldogs

You bloody beauty.

Where the hell have you been, missed your posts

[Bornadog]

Re: Game Day AFL Finals Week 2 Semi Final - Hawthorn V Western Bulldogs

Just watching the replay (4th time now!) and, call me petty, but I fail to how the hell McLean's goal in the first was overruled as touched by Hodge!

The umpire called it a goal, the goal was reviewed due to Hodge's protestations, the replay showed no flick back on Hodge's fingers, no noise and no deviation in the ball..... So we effectively had a goal over turned on Luke Hodge's word! The commentators failed to ask the obvious questions and just accepted what, to me, seemed a pretty dubious overrule!

I just ask the question, had the protestation come from a no name player, would it have been reviewed and would it have been over turned?

AFL footy - whether it be match review committees, umpires, tribunals or the commission itself - does seem to be riddled with double standards and hypocrisy. The powerful, or the chosen few - whether it be club or player - seem to regularly get the rub of the green. That's consistently the case across all levels of officialdom.

It's time we smash the glass ceiling on all of this $hit!

All goals are reviewed