Game Day Round 16, 2017 - Adelaide V Western Bulldogs

[FrediKanoute]

Re: Game Day Round 16, 2017 - Adelaide V Western Bulldogs

Really interesting snap shot of where we are.
First half we give it everything effort wise - almost 2016 standard...almost
I noted many were on their haunches at the end of half time. Looked spent. Played that way throughout 3rd Qtr.

What is wrong? Genuine question.

I said during preseason - we are unfit. We haven't done the work. Whether that is because:

a) we started preseason later;
b) we had a host of guys start later still because of post season surgery; or
c) we just didn't put the yards in.

I don't know, but we are unfit. When you add to this injuries, mental health issues depleting the squad further the pressure starts to mount. We held it together for first 10 rounds or so - but since the bye we have been putrid.

[Eastdog]

Re: Game Day Round 16, 2017 - Adelaide V Western Bulldogs

What can say. The 1st half effort was very good and I really believed we were chance at half time based on that effort. The 2nd half was total crap plain and simple. Absolutely no hunger/spirit on display whatsoever after half time.

Our defence was very poor and Bevo in his presser said we really lack some height. Wood battled hard early on in the game. Roberts really struggled down there and we were out muscled way to often.

Zaine is a big positive this year and Bailey Dale's goal set by Redders was great.

Up forward just as bad. We had 57 entries to 54 and managed only 5.15 - simply not good enough. I thought Stringer's endeavour in the first half was very good and he tried but as the game went on nope went into his shell. Jack Redpath took some nice marks up there and tried to have an impact. Our kicking as well 18th in the competition which is just awful and highlighted with Bonti kicking 5.9 this year and Suckers missing a goal on the run which he really should have got.

All in all very very disappointing and I hope Bevo and co. review this game and see what we can do to get it right as we have not got it right at all so far this year going into our next match.

[jeemak]

Re: Game Day Round 16, 2017 - Adelaide V Western Bulldogs

Reviewing the instance in which JJ was thrown into the goal post I was extremely disappointed with our attitude towards Dickhead Texas Ranger immediately afterwards and throughout the rest of the game.

We should have been mauling him every opportunity we got, and walked off the ground at least subject to a livid Adelaide crowd due to how poorly we treated their captain. We should have the media talking about how feral we were towards an arsehole who so horribly disrespected our Norm Smith Medallist. We should have had the commentators uncomfortable about how badly we treated him on a repeated basis as the game wore on.

But we didn't, instead we allowed him to run around us and make us look stupid often, without any physical imposition from us.

What is so wrong with us that we let this go unchecked? I can tell you what it is, we don't care for ourselves or each other at the moment and it shows by our unwillingness to use the football well, run hard and hit hard. There's a stink in the group at the moment that needs to be addressed.

[Eastdog]

Re: Game Day Round 16, 2017 - Adelaide V Western Bulldogs

Respect for our premiership players. Be disappointed but remember how this team bled for you last year and what they gave you. Wiping your arse with premiership players is very shitty.

Yep I have the same sentiment as well 1eyedog.

Right now I am very disappointed with what is going on but I have great respect for all our players who got us the premiership last year after 60 odd years and that was only our 2nd ever flag since we joined the VFL/AFL. So it's a mix of emotions I am disappointed but at the same time just glad we got a premiership because it has been so many years since we last got one and I'm more hopeful now we won't have to wait long again for premiership success.

[Eastdog]

Re: Game Day Round 16, 2017 - Adelaide V Western Bulldogs

We need to make the finals and copy and paste the 2016 final series into 2017.

[AndrewP6]

Re: Game Day Round 16, 2017 - Adelaide V Western Bulldogs

Interesting to hear Bevo say we are physically strong enough. I'm no expert, but it doesn't seem that way to me.

[SonofScray]

Re: Game Day Round 16, 2017 - Adelaide V Western Bulldogs

Reviewing the instance in which JJ was thrown into the goal post I was extremely disappointed with our attitude towards Dickhead Texas Ranger immediately afterwards and throughout the rest of the game.

We should have been mauling him every opportunity we got, and walked off the ground at least subject to a livid Adelaide crowd due to how poorly we treated their captain. We should have the media talking about how feral we were towards an arsehole who so horribly disrespected our Norm Smith Medallist. We should have had the commentators uncomfortable about how badly we treated him on a repeated basis as the game wore on.

But we didn't, instead we allowed him to run around us and make us look stupid often, without any physical imposition from us.

What is so wrong with us that we let this go unchecked? I can tell you what it is, we don't care for ourselves or each other at the moment and it shows by our unwillingness to use the football well, run hard and hit hard. There's a stink in the group at the moment that needs to be addressed.

Agree. The response to him and then the subsequent contests was insipid. They brought shame upon the reputation to them as a group and us as a Club tonight. We just don't stand for anything at the moment.

[Eastdog]

Re: Game Day Round 16, 2017 - Adelaide V Western Bulldogs

Agree. The response to him and then the subsequent contests was insipid. They brought shame upon the reputation to them as a group and us as a Club tonight. We just don't stand for anything at the moment.

We need to start adhering to our motto "Cede Nullis".

[jeemak]

Re: Game Day Round 16, 2017 - Adelaide V Western Bulldogs

Interesting to hear Bevo say we are physically strong enough. I'm no expert, but it doesn't seem that way to me.

I think he's in fairyland at the moment and needs to pull his head out of his arse and come back to earth.

Yes we win the contested ball, much like we did in the Bmac era, but that's because we crowd the contest and don't set up well 20-50m away from it.

Sure, he may be using data from testing that tells him this, but game day visual evidence doesn't lie, and we are not strong enough particularly when trying to impact contests where we may need to bring poor position back to a nullified position (aerial contests, for instance) and continually lose the ball.

[FrediKanoute]

Re: Game Day Round 16, 2017 - Adelaide V Western Bulldogs

Wait, you're serious?

Are our players beyond criticism because they bled for us last year? Do they get a leave pass for that this year?

Sorry mate, this is a new year, zero credits carry over. If you're content to not scrutinise our players due to the afterglow, that's cool, and I understand it. But that's not how I see it.

We've been average to putrid the last 6 weeks and it's our premiership players out there doing it.

I'll forever love what our players did for us last year - I'll never forget it - but they've still got a job to do and I'm not watching through rose coloured glasses.

Hate to say it, but yes. They get a leave pass. You know what if these guys did nothing else for the rest of their careers I would still be stoked about 2016 - what I would say though is that if they had any level of integrity and sense of self worth they would be unsatisfied with 2017 and missing the finals this year could actually work to our advantage - steeling the guys into wanting to achieve more.

Sometimes you need a step back to go forward

[merantau]

Re: Game Day Round 16, 2017 - Adelaide V Western Bulldogs

Make no mistake. Our second half was abysmal. We played as individuals and we seemed devoid of any plan to kick to our advantage, run into space and create something. We fumbled and bumbled. We kicked blindly or in hope and we failed to take chances - either red hot, 50/50 or slim.
The ins added little to the line up. Four premiership players all out of form. Clay Smith - zero impact. Fletcher Roberts - battled but no impact. Libba - a couple of kicks to advantage but that was it. Matthew Boyd - tried hard and can hold his head up but his time is frawing to a close.

It will be a miracle if we can recover from this. What a dofference it would make if next match we can nail 4 out of first 6 shots at goal. Is that too much to ask?

We can't be that bad, can we? Where there is life there is hope. Let's finish the year with a bang, not a whimper.

[Sedat]

Re: Game Day Round 16, 2017 - Adelaide V Western Bulldogs

I think he's in fairyland at the moment and needs to pull his head out of his arse and come back to earth.

Yes we win the contested ball, much like we did in the Bmac era, but that's because we crowd the contest and don't set up well 20-50m away from it.

You don't think we dominated all key indicators in the first half, and save for a couple of dreadful errors that gifted Adelaide 3 goals out of 5 and the obligatory awful missed set shots and butchered clear goal scoring opps by us at the same time, we shouldn't have been 20-30 points up at the very least?

The 2nd half was disgraceful on all levels, but what I saw in the 1st half was a team every bit as competitive against the best teams in 2017, and a team that looked an awful lot like our 2016 finals team.

[1eyedog]

Re: Game Day Round 16, 2017 - Adelaide V Western Bulldogs

Wait, you're serious?

Are our players beyond criticism because they bled for us last year? Do they get a leave pass for that this year?

Sorry mate, this is a new year, zero credits carry over. If you're content to not scrutinise our players due to the afterglow, that's cool, and I understand it. But that's not how I see it.

We've been average to putrid the last 6 weeks and it's our premiership players out there doing it.

I'll forever love what our players did for us last year - I'll never forget it - but they've still got a job to do and I'm not watching through rose coloured glasses.

Too right they do they're a bunch of kids and will be better for it. Our season ended last week and you're disappointed like the rest if us but talking about offloading Hunter, Stringer et. al. is very reactive.

[jeemak]

Re: Game Day Round 16, 2017 - Adelaide V Western Bulldogs

You don't think we dominated all key indicators in the first half, and save for a couple of dreadful errors that gifted Adelaide 3 goals out of 5 and the obligatory awful missed set shots and butchered clear goal scoring opps by us at the same time, we shouldn't have been 20-30 points up at the very least?

The 2nd half was disgraceful on all levels, but what I saw in the 1st half was a team every bit as competitive against the best teams in 2017, and a team that looked an awful lot like our 2016 finals team.

We contested well in the first half, definitely. The reason why our scoring was so bad and why we worked harder for our goals than Adelaide did was plain to see. So I don't think there's any point in going over it.

But, of the post of mine that you quoted, you edited out the most important part:

Sure, he may be using data from testing that tells him this, but game day visual evidence doesn't lie, and we are not strong enough particularly when trying to impact contests where we may need to bring poor position back to a nullified position (aerial contests, for instance) and continually lose the ball.

If it's not a physical, but rather a mental issue then I really worry about our coaching and leadership across all levels. I don't believe it's the latter solely, and fear we're not prepared.

Why did we seem to get by through only playing one or two quarters in the first half of the season when fresh after (delayed) significant preseason work, but seem to be falling away badly now? Everyone knows that the fitness base secured from a solid preseason is the best thing to ensure continuity in fitness and form for an entire season.

Adelaide set the ground up better than we did in the first half but we were able to keep up with them through effort. The second half saw us maintain effort around the contest but the rest of the ground opened up and we were burned time and time again.

That tells me we weren't fit enough to sustain our first half efforts. Maintaining effort on the inside is one thing, working hard enough to make the ground seem small is another. We failed miserably in the latter in the second half.

[Sedat]

Re: Game Day Round 16, 2017 - Adelaide V Western Bulldogs

We contested well in the first half, definitely. The reason why our scoring was so bad and why we worked harder for our goals than Adelaide did was plain to see. So I don't think there's any point in going over it.

But, of the post of mine that you quoted, you edited out the most important part:

Sure, he may be using data from testing that tells him this, but game day visual evidence doesn't lie, and we are not strong enough particularly when trying to impact contests where we may need to bring poor position back to a nullified position (aerial contests, for instance) and continually lose the ball.

If it's not a physical, but rather a mental issue then I really worry about our coaching and leadership across all levels. I don't believe it's the latter solely, and fear we're not prepared.

Why did we seem to get by through only playing one or two quarters in the first half of the season when fresh after (delayed) significant preseason work, but seem to be falling away badly now? Everyone knows that the fitness base secured from a solid preseason is the best thing to ensure continuity in fitness and form for an entire season.

Adelaide set the ground up better than we did in the first half but we were able to keep up with them through effort. The second half saw us maintain effort around the contest but the rest of the ground opened up and we were burned time and time again.

That tells me we weren't fit enough to sustain our first half efforts. Maintaining effort on the inside is one thing, working hard enough to make the ground seem small is another. We failed miserably in the latter in the second half.

What I saw was us getting our 2016 game back in the 1st half. Dominating field position, locking it in our forward half for repeat entries, getting our handball chain game going. Pressuring Adelaide on the ball. Double the clearances, big I50 and CP differential.

We need to review what went right in the 1st half and how it completely fell apart in the 2nd half.