Take a Breath & Debrief - Round 9

[Palmybulldogs]

I want to start this one off by saying I wasn’t able to watch the whole game, I managed to watch most of the second half so I apologise if I’ve misread the game and how it played out early

The biggest thing I noticed was the fatigue from the Dogs, they showed incredible heart to really fight it out but just didn’t have enough in the tank at the end. Now whether that’s just that Darwin heat or possibly even the accumulation of all the travel they’ve done to start the season, 7 venues in 9 games while also battling injury. The bye can’t come soon enough.
And a huge credit to the Suns, I felt like they handled the conditions better than us, there’s a reason they’ve won 7 in a row in Darwin. From the bits I did see of the first half it seemed like they really burnt us on transition, this has been an issue a couple times this year, I’m glad Bevo was able to get the boys to qwell that in the second half but a watch against the better teams with skill and pace that we can be poor in that area.

O’Donnell was outstanding, stood tall in defence and has done all year, he has really stepped up this year, at times as our #1 forward.

Naughton… what do I say, I have always been one of his biggest backers as our key forward and he has had some seasons where he’s looked so dominant but not quite finished his work. This season however.. I know he had an interrupted season but wow sometimes he has just looked like a complete liability. Hes going to be crucial to a finals push down the stretch so I really hope he can get back to his best.

I’ll keep it short because as mentioned, I didn’t watch the whole game, but boy these next two games before the bye are going to be crucial. Recovery will be so important this week, absolutely a danger game next week against the bombers if the boys are sore and still fatigued, then Geelong straight after that at the cattery. An absolute must that we go at minimum 1-1 over the next two games if we want to push for top 4

[EasternWest]

Gold Coast are a good team, and I'm not sure whether it was conditions and/or pressure but we were a bit uncharacteristically fumbly and some of our decision making was poor. Even by some of our better decision makers.

I was satisfied once again with the efforts of our guys. Disappointed that we lost, but I suppose that disappointment is tempered by the fact that we're a good team that lost to a team that was better on the night.

[Bornadog]

Naughton seems to have a problem with Collins. Has beaten Naughton a few times and now he is in Naughton's head and he can't shake it.

[Countrydog5]

I was only able to catch small snippets here and there in the second half, but we just looked gassed. We weren't running on top of the ground at all, so the comeback effort was even more impressive. We're just due a break, after having a tough few weeks with injury and some tough games interstate. Fingers crossed we can get up to full strength against the bombers, I hate those pricks and badly want the win.

[Jeanette54]

Was there any official explanation for not using the cool rooms at quarter and three-quarter time? Seemed like missed opportunities for recovery breaks.

[BiteNibbleChomp]

18 months ago if we'd had a game like that, it would have ended with everything falling apart and us losing by eight goals. Instead we got back in and were a kick shy of a win with two minutes to go. And if that's our worst game of the season (and it may well be at this point) - in tough conditions against a team that (much as I hate saying it, as I like thinking of Gold Coast as a joke) might be serious challengers this year, then we're doing pretty well. Losses happen.
We're now past the toughest part of our fixture with most of our travel done, so if we keep our form up then there's a lot to look forward to.

And best of all, finals don't get played in Darwin

- BNC

[Palmybulldogs]

18 months ago if we'd had a game like that, it would have ended with everything falling apart and us losing by eight goals. Instead we got back in and were a kick shy of a win with two minutes to go. And if that's our worst game of the season (and it may well be at this point) - in tough conditions against a team that (much as I hate saying it, as I like thinking of Gold Coast as a joke) might be serious challengers this year, then we're doing pretty well. Losses happen.
We're now past the toughest part of our fixture with most of our travel done, so if we keep our form up then there's a lot to look forward to.

And best of all, finals don't get played in Darwin

- BNC

100% I think we have had arguably the WORST fixturing to start the year, both with travel and quality of opposition, and have a positive win-loss so far. As I mentioned the next two games before the bye are massive danger games, but post-bye if we can have some good luck finally on the injury front I’m optimistic we can really surge into finals

[Scott2016]

Need to make sure we beat Essendon. They are an ordinary side but they are finding a way to win. They beat us last year and that loss hurt is for the remainder of the year. Given we have Geelong in Geelong the following week, we need to win and recover well to play on a Thursday night. If we lose to Essendon then a must win against Geelong against the odds at that venue.

[Dogs 24/7]

Palmybulldogs I look forward to this thread each week. Many thanks.

[Palmybulldogs]

Palmybulldogs I look forward to this thread each week. Many thanks.

Thank you! Means a lot! It was initially intended to be a calm down post after losses but hopefully we won’t have too many of those! I’ll be away the next couple games as well so I’ll post what I can!

[Bulldog Joe]

Thank you! Means a lot! It was initially intended to be a calm down post after losses but hopefully we won’t have too many of those! I’ll be away the next couple games as well so I’ll post what I can!

My agenda doesn't have many losses, but your debrief is also good to address what we discover in wins.

Thanks for your initiative.

[Mofra]

Need to make sure we beat Essendon. They are an ordinary side but they are finding a way to win. They beat us last year and that loss hurt is for the remainder of the year. Given we have Geelong in Geelong the following week, we need to win and recover well to play on a Thursday night. If we lose to Essendon then a must win against Geelong against the odds at that venue.

This may be the week to sub Libba off early to keep him fresh for Geelong.

[Angak]

I have a good feeling about Arty. I feel like he's just about to turn a corner.

He had 25 touches on the weekend and was really attacking the footy with intent. I wouldn’t rush him into the team just yet, but if he strings a few more games like that together, he could definitely play a role in the back half of the year.

[BornInDroopSt'54]

This may be the week to sub Libba off early to keep him fresh for Geelong.

Only when games in hand.
Libba is unaffected by kryptonite.

[BornInDroopSt'54]

100% I think we have had arguably the WORST fixturing to start the year, both with travel and quality of opposition, and have a positive win-loss so far. As I mentioned the next two games before the bye are massive danger games, but post-bye if we can have some good luck finally on the injury front I’m optimistic we can really surge into finals

The thing is that hereon in I'm backing us to drop less games for the rest of the season because of our draw, so at season's end we may think our draw is the reason why we win the flag.