Brisbane Lions V Western Bulldogs R19, Friday 18/7/25 at the Gabba at 7:40pm

[soupman]

Man we have had this exact loss like 10 times these last 2 years.

[Scorlibo]

Of our losses to top sides how many have been significant losses?

Collingwood - 6pts
Freo - 16 pts
Brisbane - 21 pts
Suns - 10 pts
Cats - 14 pts
Hawks - 22 pts
Crows - 11 pts
Lions - 10 pts

The biggest loss this year was to the Hawks by 22 pts. In a game that is two or three things going against you. Yes it's disappointing, but We are within range and I bet none of those teams will want to play us in the finals, beause the know that if we click and get it together and those 2 or 3 things go our way we will wipe the floor with them.

Agree with you. It's too easy to look at the wins and losses. We are better than our record suggests. Collingwood we would have beaten if not for the umpiring, Brisbane earlier in the year we went to sleep with the lead but looked the better team, Gold Coast and Geelong those games were on a knife's edge.

HOWEVER tonight we were totally off the pace, same as last week. We are getting worse not better. Our biggest weapon is our midfield and scoring from clearance, but that's faded in recent times. Need to get the right mix in there and get that firepower back if we're still to challenge this year.

Some of the young or inexperienced players aren't defending like they need to at AFL level - looking at Freijah in particular - but that's what you get with kids. Our backline isn't fixable on the run, clearly a personnel problem.

[The Bulldogs Bite]

Actually quite the opposite. They know that we are unknown quantity with a huge X factor. Unpredictably is often your biggest asset. That is what we are.

You're too one eyed, mate.

We are predictable. The record says so.

[Bulldogs201616]

Dogs by 25
Bont best on ground
Naughton first goal

It's the type of game we win with our backs against the wall.

Well I got that wrong lol

[soupman]

I don't think we can "play the kids" much more than we already are. There are a couple of spots at the periphery but I don't think its a good idea.

we can and should still play finals. That's good. That's not season over.


But mainly would our young guys benefit from it? Imo the best way to develop young guys is to put them in a role they can perform in (to a lower standard) and surround them with a team that is structured and experienced. It takes the pressure off them but allows them to contribute and grow within the side.

Im ok with Buss playing a key defender role, or Sellwood getting a shot at the medium defender role, but we can't just bring in a bunch of these guys at once, give them nominal roles and expect them to benefit from it.

Would Jaques be a better inclusion than Poulter....yes, but if he comes in he does need to have a role we have set out for him.

[Sedat]

We are predictable. The record says so.

We are probably the most honest team in the competition. We are consistently 1-3 goals off the pace with the top 8 and we get it done against those below us. We are exactly where we deserve to be on the ladder thus far.

We are regenerating on the run, but man we have enormous holes in small pressure forwards and small lock down defenders. We are miles off the top 8 in those areas especially.

[1eyedog]

All those teams would absolutely love to play us in the finals.

I have zero faith we'll beat the Giants at Marvel or the Dees at the G. We may well be sitting at home watching as neutrals.

Egg on Egan and Bains' face if we miss finals.

[The Bulldogs Bite]

I don't think we can "play the kids" much more than we already are. There are a couple of spots at the periphery but I don't think its a good idea.

we can and should still play finals. That's good. That's not season over.


But mainly would our young guys benefit from it? Imo the best way to develop young guys is to put them in a role they can perform in (to a lower standard) and surround them with a team that is structured and experienced. It takes the pressure off them but allows them to contribute and grow within the side.

Im ok with Buss playing a key defender role, or Sellwood getting a shot at the medium defender role, but we can't just bring in a bunch of these guys at once, give them nominal roles and expect them to benefit from it.

Would Jaques be a better inclusion than Poulter....yes, but if he comes in he does need to have a role we have set out for him.

I agree you can't go the North Melbourne route but do we lose much by playing Sellwood/Jacques over JJ and Dolan over McNeil? The latter was 'trusted' this week because he's a senior player. Well he didn't register a single kick. Not one.

[Vred]

We simply don’t deserve finals.

also starting to question if we went early on re-signing Bevo…

[1eyedog]

JJ.is completely done and should be dropped. Playing with no confidence at all and he's had a month of footy to find some touch.

He's actually a liability at this stage.

[whythelongface]

You're too one eyed, mate.

We are predictable. The record says so.

Sure whatever you think.

[jeemak]

Making and losing finals isn’t hard for this team under Bevo, we have done it more often than not. I would rather try to fix what’s fundamentally wrong with us and that begins by seeing what we have on the list. We won’t, and we’ll probably scrape into the 8 and get bundled out week 1 off the back of playing guys like JJ and Jones over the next 5 weeks.

Completely disagree. Making finals has been ridiculously hard because we've never had continuity in quality key positions forward or back at the same time since he walked in the door (possibly 2021 notwithstanding although Bruce went down - compare ourselves to Geelong) and have relied on cobbled together forward lines, all supported by elite midfielders.

It's a midfielders game in the eyes of the umpires and media alike. We've been blessed with quality in that area, and in recent times lucky enough to have some genuine A-grade talls at our disposal forward.

But imagine throughout Beveridge's tenure we had the quality of Tom Stewart, Jeremy Cameron and Tom Hawkins to build a structure around. Or in recent times Harris Andrews and his defensive mates, plus Raynor, Cameron, Bailey, Berry, McCluggage etc. etc. etc. delivering quality on the outside.

We've never had either at once.

[1eyedog]

We simply don’t deserve finals.

also starting to question if we went early on re-signing Bevo…

I think a few of us questioned it at the time but we were too busy beating up bottom 8 sides to care.

What choice did we have at the time it seemed like we were under pressure to get it out of the way.

[kickit2Koly]

Yep bang on, was exactly the same against the Cats.

Was the first game I thought of as well. He was horrible that night. Then Tonight his decision making cost us at least 2 goals tonight.

firstly the out of the fall was a bad option, it was to a 3 on 1. Then he went the wrong way against Berry who snapped one from 45.

[whythelongface]

I agree you can't go the North Melbourne route but do we lose much by playing Sellwood/Jacques over JJ and Dolan over McNeil? The latter was 'trusted' this week because he's a senior player. Well he didn't register a single kick. Not one.

Probably right but gee loads of supporters were wanting to drop Dolan for McNeil and now it is the other way around. It just shows that at the periphery we are struggling and that shows in
these games. We are thereabouts but rely on too few, whereas Brisbane have players across the ground that make the difference