Game Day - Bulldogs vs Kangaroos

[LostDoggy]

Re: Game Day - Bulldogs vs Kangaroos

The team HAS been travelling well. One questions, then, whether there was the need to rush anyone back from injury the way we have with Farren and Tom. While understanding their long-term importance to the Dogs, I, for one, always thought that Hilly was showing a lot more than Farren ever did, even though he's played far fewer games. While his last few weeks were quieter than his blistering first three games, in our last two matches, Josh was instrumental in the last quarters, getting some crucial touches. The most important thing about Josh that has him far, far ahead of Farren at this point, is that he doesn't make stupid mistakes that lead to turnovers (apart from one ill-advised speccy attempt a few weeks back -- but even then, it was pure skill that led to that, not fumbling incompetence). His poise and one-grab ability under pressure is also far ahead of Farren, and he has already helped stemmed the flow of momentum a few times this year with a well-timed interception, or a well-laid (unnoticed) tackle. I was VERY disappointed when he was dropped, and even more so when I found out it was for a player that has flattered to deceive thus far, and performed accordingly yesterday. Hill should be ahead of Ray in the pecking order, no question.

You DON'T change a winning team. (The chemistry of a particular combination is more important than individual stats).

Get Hilly back in there.

Of course you change winning teams. You have to keep on improving. Eade didnt take Hill out the back and shoot him, he dropped the KID for a few games in the reserves. A good move considering Hills influence has been minimal since round 3. Its called 'blooding youngsters'.

[dog town]

Re: Game Day - Bulldogs vs Kangaroos

Little bit of hysteria around here after one loss.

We copped what we deserved for not putting them away and for just expecting it to happen. I dont think anyone who was at the game yesterday would have walked away thinking North were a better side but they were certainly more desperate on the day. Had we put as much into it as they did we would have won by 10 goals plus and thats the dissapointing part. It is not like it was a dead rubber. I hope the players are gutted by that loss.



They cleaned us up around the stoppages a bit. Was bound to happen eventually.

We made some poor handling errors and missed some chances to goal that we have been converting. The attention will focus on Johnson in the last quarter but realistically with a bit more poise we could have been 6 goals up at quarter time.

Johnson- I am not annoyed that he missed the shot at goal. It was one moment in a whole game. I am annoyed when he makes poor decisions which cost us goal scoring opportunities. Part of his genius is also his greatest weakness. He is not your standard footballer. He wont get front and square at a marking contest, square the ball up for another player, shepherd, run to create space or always do what is expected. He will however demand the ball all game, throw himself at every marking contest, run his arse off all game, play with all manner of injuries, do the impossible around goal and generally put the fear of god into his opponent because they just dont know what he will do next. He will always frustrate but he is an all time great of our club (my opinion) and I hope people dont forget that now that we are no longer relying on him to kick our entire score every week. Yep he missed a few goals and didn't handpass to Aker in the square. He also kicked a couple of brilliant solo goals, laid a fantastic tackle and busted his arse all game (with multiple injuries).

Wight- Made some horrendous errors but I honestly saw some positives in his game yesterday. Maybe he needs to go back to Willy for a bit but its not all doom and gloom for him. He did some nice things and some poor things. Looks good everytime he goes forward.

Welsh- I saw someone call for his head on the round 10 thread. He is doing more than his stats would indicate. The umpires brain explosion also cost him two shots at goal yesterday.

Guido- I also saw someone putting pressure on him. He was pretty god again yesterday. Having a top season. One loss and he is in trouble? Please have some perspective.

Eagleton- Brilliant job on Harvey. Cant blame him for the loss.

It was no single players fault. Almost every player could have done something better and thats why we lost. We didn't do the right thing everytime we were involved and until we do start doing that consistently we will not be contenders. That is why North won. They wore us down with consistensy. They just keep chipping away at you.

[Bumper Bulldogs]

Re: Game Day - Bulldogs vs Kangaroos

What was going on with Eagleton playing half back at times?

I must say that I question the coaching staff as it looked an advantage that the Roos would have liked. IMO they should have made a rotation and got eagle out of their.

Wight had an absolute mare of a 3rd quarter and his last wasn't much better.
Lake got well beaten.

Thought he was just off today, no doupt he will not be happy and hopefully he bounces back next week. Thought he and Williams looked poor when Lake was off the ground but mistakes is still bad football. Thought the whole backline struggled all day. One of those games!

Our delivery into the F50 was pretty poor at times with far too much bombing it into no one.

Agree we missed some good hit up options. i would like to see Will on a lead a little more rather than a stay at home FF.

Decision making was also down a lot yesterday.

Yes I think it was just one of those games, but it really hurt us. Couldn't even say it was just the young guys either.

[Bumper Bulldogs]

Re: Game Day - Bulldogs vs Kangaroos

[QUOTE=dog town;39823]Little bit of hysteria around here after one loss.

They cleaned us up around the stoppages a bit. Was bound to happen eventually.

We made some poor handling errors and missed some chances to goal that we have been converting. The attention will focus on Johnson in the last quarter but realistically with a bit more poise we could have been 6 goals up at quarter time.

Johnson- I am not annoyed that he missed the shot at goal. It was one moment in a whole game. I am annoyed when he makes poor decisions which cost us goal scoring opportunities.

Agree and good to see some sense put back onto the tread.

Jonno has won us more games off his own boot than he ever will lose.

IMO the difference all day that cost us was McIntosh in the ruck. He was having an ordinary season but was the difference on the day by a long way.

[LostDoggy]

Re: Game Day - Bulldogs vs Kangaroos

Of course you change winning teams. You have to keep on improving. Eade didnt take Hill out the back and shoot him, he dropped the KID for a few games in the reserves. A good move considering Hills influence has been minimal since round 3. Its called 'blooding youngsters'.

Of course, the cliche (don't change a winning team) is simplistic, but as you said, the point is that you have to keep on 'improving'. That's the key, isn't it.

Change for change's sake is pretty pointless. Even more pointless is changing a team to weaken it. And even MORE pointless is to change a team by bringing in underdone players that turn the ball over 9 times out of 10. And finally, I really don't see the point in changing a team by bringing in players who have had no pre-season, who can't run out the game, so much so that our second half is so much worse than our first half that we give up a four and a half goal lead and turn a game we should have won comfortably into our first loss of the season.

Not quite 'improvement', is it?

(ps. and can you please explain to me who the bloody hell we blooded yesterday? Ray? And since when is sending a kid back to the VFL 'blooding' him? Anyone who watched the bloody game yesterday would have noticed that North didn't actually play all that well. Did anyone notice that?)

[LostDoggy]

Re: Game Day - Bulldogs vs Kangaroos

[QUOTE=Bumper Bulldogs;39838]

Little bit of hysteria around here after one loss.

They cleaned us up around the stoppages a bit. Was bound to happen eventually.

We made some poor handling errors and missed some chances to goal that we have been converting. The attention will focus on Johnson in the last quarter but realistically with a bit more poise we could have been 6 goals up at quarter time.

Johnson- I am not annoyed that he missed the shot at goal. It was one moment in a whole game. I am annoyed when he makes poor decisions which cost us goal scoring opportunities.

Agree and good to see some sense put back onto the tread.

Jonno has won us more games off his own boot than he ever will lose.

IMO the difference all day that cost us was McIntosh in the ruck. He was having an ordinary season but was the difference on the day by a long way.

Letting the team off too easily. Yes, it was a loss, but the great teams don't just take these things lying down.

All your excuses for the team are PRECISELY why we should be harder on them. More poise? More composure? That's what great teams are made of. Until we FIND that poise and composure 99% of the time we have no business thinking about a premiership.

"Should" have been 6 goals up? PRECISELY. Fact is, we weren't. The Dogs "should" have won a premiership in '97. 'Should's are the catch-cry of losers. In sport there is only yes or no. Black or white. 'Should' doesn't exist.

Scott Welsh has to go back and work through his goal-kicking process. That's what he's in the team for, and the fact that he missed the kick after the siren in the first half is not good enough.

---

ps. Worse than the fact that we lost, which is acceptable if all the boxes are ticked and processes are followed through, is the fact that we lost to a team playing quite ordinary football. North missed many, many gettable shots on goal. If they had kicked straight the game would have been over by three-quarter time and we would be sitting here lamenting a forty point loss, not a missed shot by Johnno after the siren. Don't let the score fool you. The team has a LOT of work to do.

[LostDoggy]

Re: Game Day - Bulldogs vs Kangaroos

I mean, seriously, am I the only one who thinks that we turn the ball over far too much to be a serious contender? We rely on many, many moments of brilliance, but honestly, have any of you ever sat comfortably even when we are leading in matches?

The word I am looking for is 'clinical'. I can't wait until we finally mature into a team that wins 'clinically' and just gets on with the season. Until then, don't expect supporters to go soft on the team. If they can't handle a bit of criticism from their own die-hards, they'll be massacred out on the park.

[Raw Toast]

Re: Game Day - Bulldogs vs Kangaroos

Good to see your passion Lantern, but while it was an incredibly frustrating game but posters like DT are not making excuses - they're having a careful look at what we did poorly and what we did well.

We've had a pretty decent season so far and with a few minor adjustments we would've put North away and had the game in our keeping by half time. That we failed to do this is distressing but not a cause for panic or wholesale change.

We're not consistently playing like a contender, but we're closer than we've been for some time. Our list still has some clear strengths and weaknesses, but we've made a pretty big step from last year in terms of things like winning the contested ball and being able to get goals from long kicks into our forward line as well as spotting up leading targets.

I think we got a bit ahead of ourselves and our performance wasn't acceptable, but we don't need to hang anyone, just work to correct the mistakes and get more consistent with our intensity.

FWIW I also thought Hill was better in the last few weeks than most gave him credit for, but think the same of Welsh as well.

[LostDoggy]

Re: Game Day - Bulldogs vs Kangaroos

Of course, the cliche (don't change a winning team) is simplistic, but as you said, the point is that you have to keep on 'improving'. That's the key, isn't it.

Change for change's sake is pretty pointless. Even more pointless is changing a team to weaken it. And even MORE pointless is to change a team by bringing in underdone players that turn the ball over 9 times out of 10. And finally, I really don't see the point in changing a team by bringing in players who have had no pre-season, who can't run out the game, so much so that our second half is so much worse than our first half that we give up a four and a half goal lead and turn a game we should have won comfortably into our first loss of the season.

Not quite 'improvement', is it?

(ps. and can you please explain to me who the bloody hell we blooded yesterday? Ray? And since when is sending a kid back to the VFL 'blooding' him? Anyone who watched the bloody game yesterday would have noticed that North didn't actually play all that well. Did anyone notice that?)

"A good idea, is a good idea forever" -David Brent


We blooded Josh Hill for 8 wks. That was my point, he ran out of form, give him a rest then bring him back later in the year. Its called blooding youngsters. Farren Ray played 4 reserves games. Williams was rushed back, granted.

We ran out of legs yesterday because of the Perth trip, but the main reason we lost is becasue we had won 8 games, players didnt keep the foot on the gas.

[Sockeye Salmon]

Re: Game Day - Bulldogs vs Kangaroos

[QUOTE=Lantern;39842]

Letting the team off too easily. Yes, it was a loss, but the great teams don't just take these things lying down.

All your excuses for the team are PRECISELY why we should be harder on them. More poise? More composure? That's what great teams are made of. Until we FIND that poise and composure 99% of the time we have no business thinking about a premiership.

"Should" have been 6 goals up? PRECISELY. Fact is, we weren't. The Dogs "should" have won a premiership in '97. 'Should's are the catch-cry of losers. In sport there is only yes or no. Black or white. 'Should' doesn't exist.

Scott Welsh has to go back and work through his goal-kicking process. That's what he's in the team for, and the fact that he missed the kick after the siren in the first half is not good enough.

---

ps. Worse than the fact that we lost, which is acceptable if all the boxes are ticked and processes are followed through, is the fact that we lost to a team playing quite ordinary football. North missed many, many gettable shots on goal. If they had kicked straight the game would have been over by three-quarter time and we would be sitting here lamenting a forty point loss, not a missed shot by Johnno after the siren. Don't let the score fool you. The team has a LOT of work to do.

You forgot to use the term 'accepting mediocrity', other than that, nice cliche-riddled rant.

[Bornadog]

Re: Game Day - Bulldogs vs Kangaroos

[QUOTE=Lantern;39842]

Don't let the score fool you. The team has a LOT of work to do.

Five goals after half time was not good.

[Bornadog]

Re: Game Day - Bulldogs vs Kangaroos

[QUOTE=Bumper Bulldogs;39838]

Little bit of hysteria around here after one loss.

They cleaned us up around the stoppages a bit. Was bound to happen eventually.

IMO the difference all day that cost us was McIntosh in the ruck. He was having an ordinary season but was the difference on the day by a long way.

Some stats for you:

Doggies
Contested posessions plus 6
Uncontessed minus 5
Clearances minus 3
Hitouts minus 1
Tackles plus 6
First Posessions plus 2
Total disposals plus 9
Contested marks plus 4
Overall, pretty even around the ground.

[LostDoggy]

Re: Game Day - Bulldogs vs Kangaroos

I can't understand the constant Gia bagging by dogs supporters.

Look I will admit that I am not a fan of Gia not because of his football ability but due to the fact I went to school with him back in the day. Now I go by the opinion that if I can't post constructively then I don't post at all which allot of people may want to take heade of but not so much in this forum WOOF is by far a much more dignified environment to voice your opinion and a more constructive comments in regards to the team and club.

The only time I would snipe him is between family and friends who know the reasons behind my comments.

Deep breath now. Gia had a good game far from brilliant but far from poor. His disciplined kick to Johnno instead of blasting away at goal shows that he is a team player and is following the "TEAM" mentality rather than the individual. (I can't believe I paid him a compliment)

I think we had our chances but just didn't take them unlike prior weeks. We are all doctors when it comes to hindsight. Sure what if Johnno hand balled to Aka and a goal was scored, this is a comment really irritates me because then you can say well WHAT IF North got a clearance from the centre and kicked a goal within 30 seconds (and vice versa) its exactly that a WHAT IF you just don't know.

The stats all game indicated that it was a close contest and the scoreboard reflected that. It was bound to happen, the loss, its a part of footy and losing is not the end of the world it hurts yes but without the disappointment of losing it makes you appreciate the jubilation of victory all that more.

[LostDoggy]

Re: Game Day - Bulldogs vs Kangaroos

[/B]

"A good idea, is a good idea forever" -David Brent


We blooded Josh Hill for 8 wks. That was my point, he ran out of form, give him a rest then bring him back later in the year. Its called blooding youngsters. Farren Ray played 4 reserves games. Williams was rushed back, granted.

We ran out of legs yesterday because of the Perth trip, but the main reason we lost is becasue we had won 8 games, players didnt keep the foot on the gas.

I just realised yesterday that I did not pay enough respect to your well made points, jerry. I've really enjoyed reading your posts lately -- very well considered and incisive, and credit where credit is due.

Everything you said above is sensible and balanced, and I agree with the 8 games hypothesis.. hopefully this loss is the kick in the teeth that the team need to really hone that hard, hungry edge.

I was just gutted when Farren on two occassions coming out of defence kicked it straight to a loose North player, who duly went forward and set up a goal. In a game that was lost by less than a kick, mistakes like that just kill you. I want as much as the next bloke for him to succeed, but Josh has shown more in his short career than Farren has, and also far less of a propensity to make mistakes, which is our major archilles heel at the moment. If we cut down on turnovers and stop trying to throw games away, we would be very, very hard to beat. (I would be interested to find out our turnover count this year. It would be close to the top 5 of the league I would think).

[LostDoggy]

Re: Game Day - Bulldogs vs Kangaroos

The stats all game indicated that it was a close contest and the scoreboard reflected that. It was bound to happen, the loss, its a part of footy and losing is not the end of the world it hurts yes but without the disappointment of losing it makes you appreciate the jubilation of victory all that more.

I think we've all had a gutful of the disappointment of losing, and don't think we need much more to appreciate victory. This is the Bulldogs forum, remember? To hell with losing.