Round 3 - Carlton V Western Bulldogs - Fri 28/3/25 Marvel Stadium 7:40PM AEDT

[mighty_west]

A very gutsy and satisfying win, horrid start but got parts of our game back after that to the point where we seemed to wear them down somewhat, Tim, Sanders huge in that last quarter, De koning is arguably the dominant ruck in the league right now and Timmy edged his way back, Sanders to me always looks to give it off as soon as he gets it, that's a lack of confidence imo, he just needs to start taking the game on a bit more but i like what i see, Davidson was bloody huge, love the way he just runs and runs and is the type of player we have been screaming out for.

[angelopetraglia]

How good was that? Wow. Just wow. How good beating the Blues again in an away game in front of their “tragic” fans. Another 3-0 start. Ha.

Lost about five litres of fluid on the top deck! Will rehydrate with some beer now

[angelopetraglia]

Buku reading that ball off the Walsh kick in the last quarter was absolutely superb. He has come so far. Such an important moment.

Well done Buku.

[Go_Dogs]

After a disappointing first half we got our act together. Great to beat the Blues. Their supporters are muppets.

[kruder]

Only got to see the last but win of real grit just feels like we haven’t won when things have been against us the last few years. Bevo was wrapt in the rooms after the game loved his interview Wheatley.

[Go_Dogs]

How big was that McNeil tackle???!!!!

[Eastdog]

Just got home now from Marvel.

That was a great win against a Blues side who came out desperate to get their first win. Great courage to fight back into the game.

Sam Davidson just fantastic in his 3rd AFL game 31 disposals. Libba great per usual in particular the 2nd quarter after that poor 1st quarter.

Darcy got back into it and finished with 2 goals. English was pretty good 34 hit outs to De Koning 29. English still has work to do but he has been alright.

Kennedy has slotted in really well a great pick up. Thought Bailey Williams really got to work in the 2nd half and was good.

Harmes very good early when we were up against it.

Really good to go interstate next week against Freo 2-1 with some confidence and a bit of a longer break.

Was a great sight seeing the Blues fans leave again at the end and Snapper went crazy on SEN listening on the way home

Go the Mighty Bulldogs!!

[soupman]

Hell yeah that was so satisfying.

First quarter or so was crap, our execution was terrible and Carlton were able to nail some limited chances while we squandered so much opportunity. Even so we dominated territory and possesion, and while them getting the score was disheartening you could see that eventually we would click and get some reward for effort.

Thought the defensive unit gave up too many marks, but also didn't think any of them were bad. Khamis played to is strengths, and Curnow didn't really get on top at any point. Jones had a solid return, Lobb was good, Gallagher was positive and Baker and Bramble did enough to offset a slow starting Dale. Pretty pleasing that despite none of them playing super well our system worked and limited a side that kicked the first 4 goals of the game to just 7 for the rest.

Midfield was pretty good in the clinches, English was real mixed bag, competed well in the ruck and was decent in transition but no where near assertive enough aerially and had many big blunders. He has had a pretty uninspiring start to the year. Libba was immense, did everythig and really made up for the reduced output from Richards and Freijah in there. Harmes great, and thought Sanders was pleasing. He is really good with his hands in tight and there are glimpses of him using it to better offensive intent, I'd be happy with him continuing his current formline and growing into the season from that. Davidson and Williams both good on the wings.

Darcy obviously was great and cool to see him fight through a challenging opponent and backline that really setup to counter him specifically. To still have the influence he did was super impressive. Vandermeer and McNeil have both started the season really well, aggressive and dangerous and the big difference is this season they are hurting teams when given the opportunity, that McNeil goal was awesome. JOD looked great tonight, played his role really well and thought most of his involvements were positive. Naughton was frustrating, I think his positioning on the wings is stuffed up. He sets up way to deep when we are going to dump kick it and is almost always caught behind his opponent when the ball drops. If he started even 5m closer to the ball I think he'd be able to influence a lot of the marking contests that he ends up shaking his head at. Again like last week pleasing to see him still have an impact late despite having a poor first 3 quarters, can't fault his endeavour or work rate.

Another week where I thouhgt we really limited the impact key movers for the opposition had. Houston last week had no influence, I thought Saad was relatively ineffective this week despite being their prime mover, and we managed to keep Cripps fairly subdued as well. Are we tagging these guys or something else, because it is very un Bevo like to not just let their best player have the best day ever.

Lastly, Matthew Kennedy, that was incredible. His last quarter was huge, won heaps of curcial contests and clearances, strong in the contest, goaled (or was that the 3rd?), that centring kick on his left was Sam Darcy esque. Amazing recruit.

Its been a fun first three weeks, so many green shoots and so many whipping boys/players we haven't naturally warmed to have really shone and taken steps forward, I'd imagine many supporters (maybe not the ones on Facebook) would be much more on board with Vandermeer, McNeil, Harmes, Gallagher, Khamis in the team.

[Bornadog]

What's happened to the thread, Three things I learnt - we haven't had it this year

[BornInDroopSt'54]

Hell yeah that was so satisfying.

First quarter or so was crap, our execution was terrible and Carlton were able to nail some limited chances while we squandered so much opportunity. Even so we dominated territory and possesion, and while them getting the score was disheartening you could see that eventually we would click and get some reward for effort.

Thought the defensive unit gave up too many marks, but also didn't think any of them were bad. Khamis played to is strengths, and Curnow didn't really get on top at any point. Jones had a solid return, Lobb was good, Gallagher was positive and Baker and Bramble did enough to offset a slow starting Dale. Pretty pleasing that despite none of them playing super well our system worked and limited a side that kicked the first 4 goals of the game to just 7 for the rest.

Midfield was pretty good in the clinches, English was real mixed bag, competed well in the ruck and was decent in transition but no where near assertive enough aerially and had many big blunders. He has had a pretty uninspiring start to the year. Libba was immense, did everythig and really made up for the reduced output from Richards and Freijah in there. Harmes great, and thought Sanders was pleasing. He is really good with his hands in tight and there are glimpses of him using it to better offensive intent, I'd be happy with him continuing his current formline and growing into the season from that. Davidson and Williams both good on the wings.

Darcy obviously was great and cool to see him fight through a challenging opponent and backline that really setup to counter him specifically. To still have the influence he did was super impressive. Vandermeer and McNeil have both started the season really well, aggressive and dangerous and the big difference is this season they are hurting teams when given the opportunity, that McNeil goal was awesome. JOD looked great tonight, played his role really well and thought most of his involvements were positive. Naughton was frustrating, I think his positioning on the wings is stuffed up. He sets up way to deep when we are going to dump kick it and is almost always caught behind his opponent when the ball drops. If he started even 5m closer to the ball I think he'd be able to influence a lot of the marking contests that he ends up shaking his head at. Again like last week pleasing to see him still have an impact late despite having a poor first 3 quarters, can't fault his endeavour or work rate.

Another week where I thouhgt we really limited the impact key movers for the opposition had. Houston last week had no influence, I thought Saad was relatively ineffective this week despite being their prime mover, and we managed to keep Cripps fairly subdued as well. Are we tagging these guys or something else, because it is very un Bevo like to not just let their best player have the best day ever.

Lastly, Matthew Kennedy, that was incredible. His last quarter was huge, won heaps of curcial contests and clearances, strong in the contest, goaled (or was that the 3rd?), that centring kick on his left was Sam Darcy esque. Amazing recruit.

Its been a fun first three weeks, so many green shoots and so many whipping boys/players we haven't naturally warmed to have really shone and taken steps forward, I'd imagine many supporters (maybe not the ones on Facebook) would be much more on board with Vandermeer, McNeil, Harmes, Gallagher, Khamis in the team.

So good to read your reckoning.
Really tuned in.

[angelopetraglia]

How big was that McNeil tackle???!!!!

Absolutey superb. It was a difficult tackle to stick with Acres at full speed, but full commitment from McNeil. Respect.

[Eastdog]

How big was that McNeil tackle???!!!!

Great tackle. Huge in the context on the game.

[Eastdog]

Buku reading that ball off the Walsh kick in the last quarter was absolutely superb. He has come so far. Such an important moment.

Well done Buku.

Yep been really good. Bevo gave him great praise in his presser.

[FrediKanoute]

Only saw the last 2 mins so will relish watching the replay later.

Great to have a 2nd win of the season with so many key players out and some of our prime movers down. There is a lot of upside!

[SonofScray]

Good result, I think that’s a fair outcome at round 3 to be 2-1 with the challenges faced, a bit stiff to not be 3-0.

Not a great performance overall, but the fight and 2nd half was further signs that the squad has a bit of go about them, there’s a real presence that hasn’t been there for a while.

Baker was very good for a patch in the third and I think changed the way Carlton were defending when he broke some lines. Harmes was consistently prepared fo match their hardness at the contest when others weren’t. VDM continued his patch of good form. Buku really built up a strong body of work across the game, he isn’t far off nailing that role.


Timid English frustrated me. Officially my new whipping boy. The first since Shaun Higgins for me. Two footed jumps for the footy like Tim Membrey does, weird. Pan hands. One armed tackles. Just putrid stuff from a guy I know has much more to give.