Round 1 - Western Bulldogs V North Melbourne - Sat 15/3/25 Marvel Stadium 7:35PM AEDT

[The Underdog]

Disgusting form from our supporters in this forum, the negativity around a win in round 1 is insane. Down 5 best 22 players, including 2 reigning All Australian midfielders, leading goal kicker and best key defender and the response is as if we are a second rate team that would be lucky to finish above bottom 2? We beat a side that has gone ALL IN this season and absolutely needed to win that game, North traded their first round pick, brought in experience and had everything riding on this game, to win undermanned is an absolute feat and a half and it is disappointing to see so many negative responses when the same people likely called out season over after the loss against Freo in 2016. Poor

Mate, wait until we lose one. The melts are epic.

[ledge]

Just on Nth , I thought they went in with a very limited forward line and the backline not good enough to beat us. . Their midfield belted us at times but the simple errors they made let us in.
what’s people’s thoughts on Daniels game ? I thought he was very quiet and didn’t do any damage at all . One turnover he did was horrific . I think we did the right thing letting him go.

[FrediKanoute]

Any idea why they played the game with a closed roof? Was it hot in Melbourne?

[chef]

Just to let you know, the game day thread people say lots of things, but the rule of the forum is : What goes on in the game day thread, stays in the game day thread.

You will notice I don't post much in this thread, just at the end of the game, and only if we win

Yeah a lot of hot takes posters shouldn't take to heart.

[The Underdog]

Any idea why they played the game with a closed roof? Was it hot in Melbourne?

It was a hot night and it was absolutely disgusting sitting inside the ground with the roof closed. Felt like we were in Cairns. They should have cracked the roof.

[Jasper]

Gee the mood feels like it is a bit dull for a win? A lot of positives today and to hold on down O'Donnel and Cleary. Not many teams win with 5 starters out and a key back out in game. Looked good to me.....

We might need to have an intervention with some of the supporters
We had some bad patches but all things considered it wasn't a bad one to shake out the cobwebs

The club would be happy with 34K people attending the game. North seemed well represented.

[Jasper]

It was a hot night and it was absolutely disgusting sitting inside the ground with the roof closed. Felt like we were in Cairns. They should have cracked the roof.

Marvel are shit at catering for the fans. Mind you the club isn't any better as I went to a function and it was like a Sardines crammed into a can.

[BiteNibbleChomp]

The club would be happy with 34K people attending the game. North seemed well represented.

There were a lot of Roos there, felt like an away game.

- BNC

[Hotdog60]

Not much aftermath in this thread unlike previous seasons.

I thought the new guys didn't alright Davidson running back to defense to help out was good and I think we may have found a winger although he was more half forward.
Dolan might have been overawed on the night and didn't spend much more time on the ground as Arty and it would have been nice for him to get a goal instead of a point.
Davidson looks to give our midfield a hard edge even though North beat us in there he did a few nice things on the night.

Good win by the Dogs without being brilliant.

On a side note, The Round So Far is so much better without Cornes.

[jeemak]

Interesting narrative about the teams in the live reporting by The Age - Dogs hold off young Roos. Here's the profile:

Average Attributes
	Western Bulldogs	Attribute	North Melbourne
189.0cm	Height	186.8cm
85.6kg	Weight	84.5kg
25yr 4mth	Age	25yr 3mth
86.4	Games	102.0
Total Players By Games
	Western Bulldogs	Games	North Melbourne
9	Less than 50	8
4	50 to 99	4
4	100 to 149	4
4	150 to 200	4
2	200 or more	3

[jeemak]

Collingwood vastly more experienced next week, will need to keep that in mind as the game approaches and unfolds.

[lemmon]

Big positive that we were mostly able to even up the stoppages in the second half.

It seemed like there was a clear instruction to try and get the ball outside the stoppage where we could let Richards and Freijah use their foot speed. Also seemed like Bailey Dale spent a bit of time coming up to the contest which was a good move

[merantau]

Mate, wait until we lose one. The melts are epic.

Have you ever looked at Bomber Blitz on game day? You will see players sliced, diced, eviscerated and disembowelled ad nauseum.

WOOF is Teddy Bears Picnic. Blitz is Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

[Scragger77]

I reckon the main person we missed was L Jones, we looked very vulnerable down back with JOD IMO. Good to see Vandemeer justify his constant selection.

[jeemak]

Disgusting form from our supporters in this forum, the negativity around a win in round 1 is insane. Down 5 best 22 players, including 2 reigning All Australian midfielders, leading goal kicker and best key defender and the response is as if we are a second rate team that would be lucky to finish above bottom 2? We beat a side that has gone ALL IN this season and absolutely needed to win that game, North traded their first round pick, brought in experience and had everything riding on this game, to win undermanned is an absolute feat and a half and it is disappointing to see so many negative responses when the same people likely called out season over after the loss against Freo in 2016. Poor

As others have said the Game Day thread isn't for nuanced discussion, good times or bad. It does get a bit much at times but mostly posters shake it off and post more thoughtfully after the game and across the other weekly threads.

[merantau]

I went to the game with the family. Big crowd. Good hard contest. Ebb and flow. Plenty of noise. Stifling. $12 a beer. $15 a can for spirits - that is un-Australian.

What I really liked was our contest all night - take a bow TEAM.

What I didn't like was some really poor turnovers that gifted them goals.

Make no mistake. North were primed for this game because we were so undermanned. They gave their all but we absorbed their best shots and got a UD points victory.

Go Dogs.