Take a breath & debrief - round 23

[Palmybulldogs]

Here we go again, successful prelimination final 4/5. One to go. Short and sweet this week, business trip at marvel, did what we had too and did it comfortably, no signs of the 2023 disaster


Only quick shoutout is Crofty, well done on your debut, played a great, unselfish game, hard to be dropped after that effort.


We now go on to next week, Freo are a good side and truly whoever misses finals is cruelly unlucky, no team has ever missed finals in this finals layout with 14 wins let alone 15…

We owe them one from earlier in the year where I thought we were the better side but just couldn’t get it on the scoreboard.


I won’t lie I’m a little worried about going with 3 falls against a defence that can run, break lines and score heavily on transition which is exactly what we have struggled against all season.


Now for the part I’m certain people will disagree with, IF we do lose, all in all, we will highly likely miss finals (barring a Suns implosion), which as stated earlier, missing with 14 wins is a historic amount of wins to not be playing finals. It does not mean it was a failed season, simply our early season struggles have caught up to us and the top 8 sides were simply 1+ wins more consistent than us. We’ve been competitive all season against the top 8 but just couldn’t get over the line against any not named GWS


BUT I don’t want to see any player or coach slander, it was still a good overall season considering some of the challenges we faced and our future is very much bright with few players we’ll be likely to lose in the short term, just a few pieces away


All that being said, LETS GO DOGS! Get the job done and let’s march into finals in some solid form

[Bornadog]

Many Bulldog supporters were a little worried about this game with memories of 2023, but we had nothing to worry about with the massive wins we have had against bottom 9 teams (except the 6 points v Dees).

We would have to go back along while since a Bulldogs team thrashed so many teams. Footy is all about goals and winning and we certainly have kicked lots of goals, which is so entertaining.

[Bevo]

I reckon that right now Croft is saying: "How good is this football game?" Bit sad that his success means that Poulter's time in the AFL has just ended, unless he can develop some higher level performance via the VFL.

[Jeanette54]

Many Bulldog supporters were a little worried about this game with memories of 2023, but we had nothing to worry about with the massive wins we have had against bottom 9 teams (except the 6 points v Dees).

We would have to go back along while since a Bulldogs team thrashed so many teams. Footy is all about goals and winning and we certainly have kicked lots of goals, which is so entertaining.

I think this probably has more to do with the failure of the AFL's equalisation policies, or maybe we have just managed the situation better than most. I cannot remember a time when the "haves and have nots" were so clearly defined. Kudos to our player development initiatives.

[JackCJohnston2000]

Bontempelli vs Freo under Justin Longmuir

5-3 (2-1 at Marvel)

Disposals: 26.6
Goals: 1.4
Clearances: 6.6
Contested possessions: 12.4
Player rating: 20.0
Coaches votes: 5.4

If Freo don't tag Bont, they are setting themselves up for failure but that means Richards can operate freely...

I know we are worrying about their star players but I think they have to worry about our star players just as much. Based on current form, all of the following players deserve attention from Freo:
Bontempelli
Richards
Darcy
Naughton
Dale

That's a lot of guys to "tag" or "double team"... so you'd imagine at least a few of them will get an opportunity to play with some freedom.