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

[NAUGHTY100]

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.

Putrid is a bit strong dont you think?. I mean what do you expect the guy has had 34 hitouts to De Koning 28,( and in his present run of form i dont think English did to badly) 16 disposals with 6 marks , granted he wasnt our best but was far from our worst , you said it yourself your new whipping boy ,so no doubt even if he had 30 disposals youd still find error in his game , this i guess is why people have said game day thread is so brutal , a tad unfair for a supporter of our club , i can only imagine what your critique would have been if we had lost , it would have been Tims fault totally .

[Go_Dogs]

Players whose games I loved:
Harmes - he’s one of us now.
Libba - the king.
Darce - persisted. His field kicking is a weapon.
Richards - tough and quality of touch.
West - key moments that mattered he delivered.
Jones and Lobb - reliable

A few other thoughts:
Sanders definitely has a tendency to turn back into traffic looking for a handball option out of the clearance and when he doesn’t find one, a kick around the corner to no one. He was good last night overall but he’s got another level he will reach once he has the confidence to assert himself.

Buku is becoming a high quality intercept player. I’m not sure we need him every week (eg I want more running options in our back half that having all of Buku, Jones, Lobb somewhat restricts) but hard to leave him out when he is hitting a level of consistency and we’re getting him in the roles we want.

VDM - his aggression and ability to press the issue is great. He makes some errors but if he can maintain the rage and enthusiasm he’s a top 15 player in our side easily.

[Go_Dogs]

One final thought from me….

Last year we would’ve probably lost that game by 6 goals and blamed our injuries. This side has heart and guts and determination I haven’t seen from us in a minute. I’m liking a LOT of what we are building.

[SonofScray]

One final thought from me….

Last year we would’ve probably lost that game by 6 goals and blamed our injuries. This side has heart and guts and determination I haven’t seen from us in a minute. I’m liking a LOT of what we are building.

It’s palpable.

we haven’t had this in our game for years. We’ve been so “un-bulldog” like and it’s driven me to despair. But it is certainly back and a joy to see.

[angelopetraglia]

Players whose games I loved:
Harmes - he’s one of us now.
Libba - the king.
Darce - persisted. His field kicking is a weapon.
Richards - tough and quality of touch.
West - key moments that mattered he delivered.
Jones and Lobb - reliable

A few other thoughts:
Sanders definitely has a tendency to turn back into traffic looking for a handball option out of the clearance and when he doesn’t find one, a kick around the corner to no one. He was good last night overall but he’s got another level he will reach once he has the confidence to assert himself.

Buku is becoming a high quality intercept player. I’m not sure we need him every week (eg I want more running options in our back half that having all of Buku, Jones, Lobb somewhat restricts) but hard to leave him out when he is hitting a level of consistency and we’re getting him in the roles we want.

VDM - his aggression and ability to press the issue is great. He makes some errors but if he can maintain the rage and enthusiasm he’s a top 15 player in our side easily.

VDM was superb. His tenacity and pressure when he doesn’t have the ball has been first class. That finish last night with the set shot long range was incredible. Loved that he got in Acres face after the goal too. Definitely top 15 in our team at the moment.

[SonofScray]

Deliberate out of bounds remains an absolute crap shoot.

the Gags one, not super controversial and if there was no one near it, pretty clear cut. However, if the ball is kicked up the field, there is an opportunity for an opponent to take possession, but they stand over it to shepherd it out, haven’t they then shown insufficient intent? That should have been a throw in in my books.

[G-Mo77]

Deliberate out of bounds remains an absolute crap shoot.

the Gags one, not super controversial and if there was no one near it, pretty clear cut. However, if the ball is kicked up the field, there is an opportunity for an opponent to take possession, but they stand over it to shepherd it out, haven’t they then shown insufficient intent? That should have been a throw in in my books.

Is that the one where the Carlton player stood in front of the ball and let it roll out? He had half a quarter to pick it up.

[SonofScray]

Is that the one where the Carlton player stood in front of the ball and let it roll out? He had half a quarter to pick it up.

Yeah, I just don’t get it.

[ledge]

Won’t hear the media mentioning Bevo s job under scrutiny again .
This team are playing like they love him.

[Grantysghost]

Anyone else think Naughton was close to being subbed ? He started the last quarter on the bench. If our very own pirate didn't get injured I'm wondering what happens there.

Considering he bobbed up at a critical stage I'm kind of glad we didn't !

[hujsh]

Is that the one where the Carlton player stood in front of the ball and let it roll out? He had half a quarter to pick it up.

I thought in the recent rules video they clarified that that would not count as insufficient intent. Maybe I'm misremembering

[SonofScray]

Anyone else think Naughton was close to being subbed ? He started the last quarter on the bench. If our very own pirate didn't get injured I'm wondering what happens there.

Considering he bobbed up at a critical stage I'm kind of glad we didn't !

Was way off it, they worked him over off and behind the ball and it seemed to get in his head. He’s had quiet nights before, and times where the defence has got on top of him, but I can’t recall too many times where he just dropped his bundle like that. Has enough credits that I won’t put too much into it, but I don’t want to see the head shaking, pointing and outward frustration directed towards team mates.

Pick a fight, win a hard ball, take a mark, do something to get going instead.

kick a game winning goal even.

[Boots]

I didn’t watch the game last night, but I’m watching the replay now.

Thoughts:

1Q - I think we were actually fine in this quarter - system stood up for the most part, Carlton were just able to capitalise better on key moments - getting out the back twice because we’d pressed up too far, for eg. The scoreboard flattered Carlton a little, but really I thought we were ok.

2Q - We looked super rattled at the start of this quarter, and we were behind the 8 ball for most of it but we righted the ship (before they started getting out the front of stoppage, an old problem). Of note is that the whole ground defence never really stopped, even when we were under lots of pressure - which is why we kept scores level for the quarter.

3Q - That Sam Darcy non-free followed by the very soft free to him (almost as consolation) was a mess. The game really broke open in this quarter. No notes. Great to watch. Lots of contributors, and we capitalised well. Loved Libba popping up as a goal keeper.

4Q - That Darcy score review really took the puff out of the game after some extraordinary play in the opening few minutes. Whole ground defence and tackling pressure this quarter was just sublime, though turnovers were not great. That 5th Kemp goal was unbelievably dispiriting and would have broken me if I was watching live. But what a competent finish!

Harmes, Kennedy, Buku, Davidson, JOD, Sanders all great. Great to have Jones back. Richards had a funny game. Bramble (Q1) and Baker (Q3) had good patches, Vandermeer mighty in the 3rd. Williams seemed on, Dale a bit off. God we need more from Naughton. Bevo back to form for getting middling players to play out of their skins.

One big change I’ve noticed is that we seem to play the corridor a lot more. We’ve preferred to hug the boundary for repeat stoppages for years now. Was that just Carlton pushing us out of our preferred style of play? If so, it’s even better that we stood up under pressure.

The biggest thing for me is that this team has so much heart. Since 2021 they’ve often come out looking like they would lose, and played listlessly. Three games in in 2025 and I really believe they’ll play their absolute best every week. I have so much faith in them. It’s great.

PS Gary Lyon can die in a fire. He talks like a Liberal politician discussing immigration, endless baseless insinuation.

[NAUGHTY100]

Anyone else think Naughton was close to being subbed ? He started the last quarter on the bench. If our very own pirate didn't get injured I'm wondering what happens there.

Considering he bobbed up at a critical stage I'm kind of glad we didn't !

i agree whole heartedly that Naughton was close to being subbed , but I think a lot of us have forgotten or just havnt taken into account, that Naughton missed a far chunk of preseason with an illness(i think glandular fever ) and a calf injury , and im wondering if that is playing a part in his mixed season start , but it just proves you can have a bad night but if you keep contesting things happen , perfect example was Naughtons night , beaten badly most of the night and bobed up to kick a crucial goal.

[NAUGHTY100]

Another thing and maybe its just me but i get the distinct impression that we are a fitter side this year , we are running out games much better then early last year .