Take a Breath & Debrief - Round 13

[Palmybulldogs]

Well that was horrible… now allow me to be your voice of reason. It’s round 13, we have 11 games to go. YES, we are 1-6 vs the top 8, YES, we have absolutely lost very winnable games, YES, we’ve made some head scratching team selection decisions. BUT, we’ve competed all season, we are not that far off.




Unfortunately, this has been the Bulldogs way for a long time, I’m not gonna sit here and try to come up with excuses, quite simply we were not good enough, in fact I would go as far as to say, this was the worst game we played all season. The pressure was nowhere near the level, the turnovers were local footy like, even our best players couldn’t get their hands on the footy or when they did, they couldn’t handle the pressure and coughed it up, but despite all of that it was only a 22 point loss.




I’m as frustrated and disappointed as anyone, but this whole post is about taking a breath, and seeing the game/season for what it is, still alive. Our fixture from here gets much easier and the Dogs have proven they should be good enough to make the finals, although we’ve once again put ourselves in a position where we can no longer afford any slip-ups.




Mathematically, anything’s possible, though realistically top 4 is likely out of reach. We have 4 more chances to beat top 8 sides before the finals and they will be absolutely pivotal, if nothing else, than to give the team confidence that they can actually beat the top sides.




I’m not gonna point fingers at who is to blame for the loss tonight, i guarantee the players themselves would be feeling it more than anyone, there would be very few, if any, players happy with their performance and singling out players does nothing to help.




Last thing I’ll say is don’t let it ruin your weekend. It’s disappointing and it hurts, always will. But in the end, It’s a game of footy, we have plenty of season left. Let’s back the boys in to bounce back next week and really finish the season off strong

[Aidan7557]

1-6 against the top 8.... that is hard to wrap your head around.

[Bornadog]

I am hoping this past 4 weeks where we have won 1 game is our slump for the year. Very deflated after last nights game.

[Palmybulldogs]

I am hoping this past 4 weeks where we have won 1 game is our slump for the year. Very deflated after last nights game.

I hope so. I found it very strange how all the commentary was that we were the in-form team in the comp, despite being 1-2 in the last 3 games. While we’ve been competitive I don’t think we’ve done anything to prove we’re a genuine contender yet

[GVGjr]

It was a poor result but I'm hoping that it's the turning point for us and we can recapture some momentum

[The bulldog tragician]

There were no positives from that match. It has cast a shadow on our reputation that won’t be erased til we regularly beat quality sides in matches that count.

I don’t agree that we evened the match up after poor first quarter. Our goals were hardly ever easy and theirs were. I’m not sure what the stats were about clearances, I just know that whenever we got close they waltzed away with one. Our skills were just diabolical. We have been so crisp with the ball this year but we butchered it time and again. Our captain seemed listless and unable to impose himself on the match.The selection of Gardner seemed weird, and it was. Treloar is either unfit or has just missed too much footy. Watching Naughton used to be a joy and now it’s kinda sad.

There has been a pride in how we’ve shown resilience week to week and even quarter to quarter in 2025. A lot of goodwill from that effort has dissipated. I almost wish that we were playing another top team next week to see what we are really made of.

[Palmybulldogs]

It was a poor result but I'm hoping that it's the turning point for us and we can recapture some momentum

Exactly. That’s why I emphasised we’re just over halfway through the season. I don’t think we’ve embarrassed ourselves in any game, so clearly we aren’t too far off. Just need to improve that extra 1% quickly and try to surge into finals with some momentum. Those 4 remaining games against the top sides will be crucial in doing that

[Bornadog]

Exactly. That’s why I emphasised we’re just over halfway through the season. I don’t think we’ve embarrassed ourselves in any game, so clearly we aren’t too far off. Just need to improve that extra 1% quickly and try to surge into finals with some momentum. Those 4 remaining games against the top sides will be crucial in doing that

As Bevo said in his presser, we need to make that next leap to get to top 4.

[Palmybulldogs]

There were no positives from that match. It has cast a shadow on our reputation that won’t be erased til we regularly beat quality sides in matches that count.

I don’t agree that we evened the match up after poor first quarter. Our goals were hardly ever easy and theirs were. I’m not sure what the stats were about clearances, I just know that whenever we got close they waltzed away with one. Our skills were just diabolical. We have been so crisp with the ball this year but we butchered it time and again. Our captain seemed listless and unable to impose himself on the match.The selection of Gardner seemed weird, and it was. Treloar is either unfit or has just missed too much footy. Watching Naughton used to be a joy and now it’s kinda sad.

There has been a pride in how we’ve shown resilience week to week and even quarter to quarter in 2025. A lot of goodwill from that effort has dissipated. I almost wish that we were playing another top team next week to see what we are really made of.

I agree with that sentiment about evening the game up after quarter time. There was never any point where I felt we were on top, the whole game just felt like we were hanging on by a thread and I think we were lucky the margin was as close as it was but there also wasn’t any period where I felt like we could mount a comeback.

Gardner has been good in the VFL, so I can understand the selection, to a degree. However I also feel like his form at AFL level is a known quantity, and with Hawks being a smaller, quicker team, going in with three tall defenders just seemed like an awful choice. I’m still surprised Busslinger only got 1.5 games opportunity, I didn’t think he did anything wrong in his debut to not warrant a second full game, but again internally I’m sure there’s thing they see that we don’t such as position, off-ball movements, etc which is where you have to trust the coaches know what they’re doing and are giving him specific things to work on.

Naughton has been a painful painful watch this year, what I’ve noticed is that 1. Our delivery to him is atrocious, but also, his running patterns seem way too predictable and straight-line that it makes him very easy to defend, the great forwards don’t just run in one direction, they’re constantly moving and changing directions. Naughton to me does one of two things, he’ll lead straight at the ball carrier or he’ll point up for them to bomb it in his head. I wish I could say he’d be better when he’s the no.2 again, but early season would show that may not be the case.

all this to reiterate, it’s round 13. We have 11 games to go. Ultimately if we make finals, our regular season reputation won’t matter, however I do believe winning those games against the top 8 that are remaining will be a massive mental hurdle for the boys heading into finals and will give them some much needed momentum

[EasternWest]

I don’t agree that we evened the match up after poor first quarter.

Nailed it.

Anyone saying otherwise are just the usual suspects who will never accept the reality before them.

It's like saying "English was better after halftime" but never admitting that the game was already lost by then while he was getting resoundingly smashed.

[Rusty12]

Exactly. That’s why I emphasised we’re just over halfway through the season. I don’t think we’ve embarrassed ourselves in any game, so clearly we aren’t too far off. Just need to improve that extra 1% quickly and try to surge into finals with some momentum. Those 4 remaining games against the top sides will be crucial in doing that

Lot more than 1%, TBF, but I love your optimism.

[Palmybulldogs]

Lot more than 1%, TBF, but I love your optimism.

All about how you choose to look at it, in 12 games, 7 of them have been against the top 8, we’ve had 1 game with a genuine home ground advantage (Port @ Ballarat), played at 8 different venues and our biggest loss for the year has been 22 points. W/L doesn’t look great but it also doesn’t tell the whole story

[jazzadogs]

Here's a question for the debrief, I might have missed discussion elsewhere...why the hell was Libba playing as a half back for most of the second half? His centre bounce attendances quarter by quarter were 6,4,0,1. He was matched up on Jack Ginnivan at some points. What on earth was going on?

This wasn't a 'midfielder starting off the back of the square' thing. He was playing half back. He offers no run. He does not have speed. He has never played the role before.

It was absolutely bizarre.

[Palmybulldogs]

Here's a question for the debrief, I might have missed discussion elsewhere...why the hell was Libba playing as a half back for most of the second half? His centre bounce attendances quarter by quarter were 6,4,0,1. He was matched up on Jack Ginnivan at some points. What on earth was going on?

This wasn't a 'midfielder starting off the back of the square' thing. He was playing half back. He offers no run. He does not have speed. He has never played the role before.

It was absolutely bizarre.

I did hear it mentioned by the commentary team. Watching on the broadcast meant I couldn’t see where he was when not on screen, I assumed he was starting off half back and running in. Hard to tell from the stats because he simply didn’t get any of the footy. Just a bad game for Libba? Weird role that didn’t work? Watch this space I guess, but if it’s the latter, I don’t like it. He’s too good as an inside midfielder to be playing silly games like moving him to half back

[Mantis]

Here's a question for the debrief, I might have missed discussion elsewhere...why the hell was Libba playing as a half back for most of the second half? His centre bounce attendances quarter by quarter were 6,4,0,1. He was matched up on Jack Ginnivan at some points. What on earth was going on?

This wasn't a 'midfielder starting off the back of the square' thing. He was playing half back. He offers no run. He does not have speed. He has never played the role before.

It was absolutely bizarre.

Just like the EF last year Hawthorn were able to expose Libba’s lack of pace and in the 2nd half we had to ‘hide him’ somewhere…. With other ‘slow’ HF’s in Sanders & Treloar already in place we couldn’t send him forward.

Hawthorn’s ability to get the ball quickly to the outside rendered Libba’s elite inside game useless, and he’s never winning a running race… well unless he’s chasing Brad Hill.