Bulldogs V Demons - Round 21, Fri 2/8/24 Marvel Stadium 7:15PM AEST

[lemmon]

Re: Bulldogs V Demons - Round 21, Fri 2/8/24 Marvel Stadium 7:15PM AEST

Pretty funny how some people don't get a pretty obvious joke.

And an even bigger joke is how Tom McDonald is still on an AFL list.

Sorry mate! Joke's on me

[GVGjr]

Re: Bulldogs V Demons - Round 21, Fri 2/8/24 Marvel Stadium 7:15PM AEST

I think I counted at least 3 occasions where Jones passed the ball to Lobb. They seem to have quickly worked out some synergies and have become a really competitive the KP pillars of our defence.

[soupman]

Re: Bulldogs V Demons - Round 21, Fri 2/8/24 Marvel Stadium 7:15PM AEST

TBH I couldn't pick Viney out of a lineup. Could anyone else?

Yep. His head looks like it was modelled on the Easter Island statues.

[Critter]

Re: Bulldogs V Demons - Round 21, Fri 2/8/24 Marvel Stadium 7:15PM AEST

Once again, I want/need to defend VDM. So often he is the difference between an opposition's walk in goal and an interception/tackle or contested delay. I would love to know what his Satnav distance figures are for tonight.

Agree he runs a lot but am unsure about his tackling contribution. Stats in recent games are:

R21 - 1
R20 - 1
R19 - 1
R18 - 2

For someone who doesn't get many possessions, I'd like him to have a more direct effect in his contests - stick more tackles, take more marks that bounce off his hands etc.

[Hotdog60]

Re: Bulldogs V Demons - Round 21, Fri 2/8/24 Marvel Stadium 7:15PM AEST

Is it more about shutting down space which forces them to go down the line for our interceptors.
It was mentioned last night on Fox where they show a snippet of VDM running to the boundary dragging his opponent with him which open up space behind him which I think it was Treloar ran into and then sent us into attack.
So his role may be defined in ways we don't understand and if he is doing all the right things the coaches want he stays in the team.

[kruder]

Re: Bulldogs V Demons - Round 21, Fri 2/8/24 Marvel Stadium 7:15PM AEST

Good match-up between English and Gawn last night. Tim's tactics in the middle caused Gawn to have a rethink and while Gawn was probably their best player I though English did very well against him. A goal, some good marks in defence and his overall impact around the ground meant that Tim had a good night.

Tim seems to be adjusting better at centre bounce to the shorten run up? He made a few errors but he is moving really well atm, he has found his marking form around the ground again.

[Bornadog]

Re: Bulldogs V Demons - Round 21, Fri 2/8/24 Marvel Stadium 7:15PM AEST

What an enjoyable night at the footy. Definitely much better than what I witnessed vs. Essington earlier in the year.

I really struggled to intellectualise the game, with respect to how players position themselves and what they are trying to do. The modern game is so quick that you need practice in watching live to understand what's happening. I guess I need to start attending live again if I want to understand it better.

The things that were obvious to me though were things that always have been. Commitment and work rate of the playing group. We're bringing each to the game and it makes such a massive difference.

We're also clearly setting up the ground well for when we don't have the footy. Add the commitment and work rate and we're in most games.

Fantastic stretch.

Nothing like watching the game live. There was one piece of play where English ran the entire ground and then positioned himself in the F50 to take the mark. Gawn couldn't keep up. Just don't get that watching on TV. Watching VDM live and his running is also incredible, again you don't see that on TV.

[Bornadog]

Re: Bulldogs V Demons - Round 21, Fri 2/8/24 Marvel Stadium 7:15PM AEST

Agree he runs a lot but am unsure about his tackling contribution. Stats in recent games are:

R21 - 1
R20 - 1
R19 - 1
R18 - 2

For someone who doesn't get many possessions, I'd like him to have a more direct effect in his contests - stick more tackles, take more marks that bounce off his hands etc.

Check with GG on his pressure acts

[Sedat]

Re: Bulldogs V Demons - Round 21, Fri 2/8/24 Marvel Stadium 7:15PM AEST

What an enjoyable night at the footy. Definitely much better than what I witnessed vs. Essington earlier in the year.

I really struggled to intellectualise the game, with respect to how players position themselves and what they are trying to do. The modern game is so quick that you need practice in watching live to understand what's happening. I guess I need to start attending live again if I want to understand it better.

The things that were obvious to me though were things that always have been. Commitment and work rate of the playing group. We're bringing each to the game and it makes such a massive difference.

We're also clearly setting up the ground well for when we don't have the footy. Add the commitment and work rate and we're in most games.

Fantastic stretch.

We conceded 2.1 from turnover last night. That is insane and easily the biggest change to our game plan - we are defending the entire ground a million times better than we have in the past.

And on the flipside we scored 9.10 from turnover, again something we haven't been strong at in previous seasons. And we are still a strong clearance and stoppage team.

It's a compelling mix and shows we have a number of ways to hurt the opposition.

[mighty_west]

Re: Bulldogs V Demons - Round 21, Fri 2/8/24 Marvel Stadium 7:15PM AEST

Nothing like watching the game live. There was one piece of play where English ran the entire ground and then positioned himself in the F50 to take the mark. Gawn couldn't keep up. Just don't get that watching on TV. Watching VDM live and his running is also incredible, again you don't see that on TV.

That's exactly what Tim needs to do week in week out, to simply run his opponents around especially with Gawn on one leg last night, there was one piece of play where he just let Gawn take that grab in front of goal by losing concentration for that second or two but overall played well, even Leathal Leigh who was scathing on English's lack of strength earlier in the season has been a lot more impressed over the past month or so.

[Bornadog]

Re: Bulldogs V Demons - Round 21, Fri 2/8/24 Marvel Stadium 7:15PM AEST

That's exactly what Tim needs to do week in week out, to simply run his opponents around especially with Gawn on one leg last night, there was one piece of play where he just let Gawn take that grab in front of goal by losing concentration for that second or two but overall played well, even Leathal Leigh who was scathing on English's lack of strength earlier in the season has been a lot more impressed over the past month or so.

Yeah Tim knew he did the wrong thing there and looked disappointed with himself. Gawn is physically stronger than Tim, but to Tim's credit he pushed back many times at stoppages

[jazzadogs]

Re: Bulldogs V Demons - Round 21, Fri 2/8/24 Marvel Stadium 7:15PM AEST

Yeah Tim knew he did the wrong thing there and looked disappointed with himself. Gawn is physically stronger than Tim, but to Tim's credit he pushed back many times at stoppages

I was really happy with English's game, but was really impressed by Darcy's strength in the ruck. Just refused to be pushed around.
I shouldn't have been surprised because he does the same thing in marking contests but still...I just freaking love Sam Darcy.

[cinder]

Re: Bulldogs V Demons - Round 21, Fri 2/8/24 Marvel Stadium 7:15PM AEST

A friend of mine who works at WB managed to get me and the family tickets right next to the cheer squad. It was a fantastic vibe and experience. Here's a great pic:

[G-Mo77]

Re: Bulldogs V Demons - Round 21, Fri 2/8/24 Marvel Stadium 7:15PM AEST

I was really happy with English's game, but was really impressed by Darcy's strength in the ruck. Just refused to be pushed around.
I shouldn't have been surprised because he does the same thing in marking contests but still...I just freaking love Sam Darcy.

I've been very critical of Tim. Without looking at stats he was very good last night. Looked more physical and didn't back down to the contest. It's the most influential I've seen him this season.

[GVGjr]

Re: Bulldogs V Demons - Round 21, Fri 2/8/24 Marvel Stadium 7:15PM AEST

Did anyone else see Josh Bruce and Matt Suckling at the game yesterday?