Will the weather play a part?

[Mantis]

Forecast is for a warm & windy evening.

Last time I can recall us playing in such condition's was back in 1999, when a supposed highly skilled Bulldogs team came un-done to West Coast in a qualifying final on the MCG. On this night we turned the ball over on countless occassions and pretty much threw the game away.

With our foot skills being off the mark over the past couple of months will we be able to be effective in such conditions?

[Sockeye Salmon]

Re: Will the weather play apart?

Forecast is for a warm & windy evening.

Last time I can recall us playing in such condition's was back in 1999, when a supposed highly skilled Bulldogs team came un-done to West Coast in a qualifying final on the MCG. On this night we turned the ball over on countless occassions and pretty much threw the game away.

With our foot skills being off the mark over the past couple of months will we be able to be effective in such conditions?

The wind scares the buggery out of me.

If we run forward of the ball and then miss targets we're in real strife.

[LostDoggy]

Re: Will the weather play apart?

The forecast i saw said 14km/h breeze. Hardly anything to worry about.

[Mantis]

Re: Will the weather play a part?

For those who live interstate it's a pretty windy day here in Melbourne.

Wind coming from the north and blowing at 20-30km/hr, gusting a bit harder.

If it stays like this it will be very blustery inside the G tonight.

[Sedat]

Re: Will the weather play a part?

Forecast is for a warm & windy evening.

Last time I can recall us playing in such condition's was back in 1999, when a supposed highly skilled Bulldogs team came un-done to West Coast in a qualifying final on the MCG. On this night we turned the ball over on countless occassions and pretty much threw the game away.

With our foot skills being off the mark over the past couple of months will we be able to be effective in such conditions?

I was thinking the exact same thing as I was driving into work this morning. Warm day, strong wind gusts, Friday night final at the MCG against an interstate opponent, reeks of the 1999 QF against the West Coast. Only difference being we aren't all that skilled and have been missing plenty of targets even in pristine conditions in recent weeks. If we have a ferocity at the contests and the stoppages and are able to generate enough forward thrusts, someone like a Hahn will really come into his own this week. Funnily enough, so too will Welsh, who is a very good at reading the flight of the ball off the boot.

Having said all that, I'd much prefer a still night, but I suspect so too would Sydney's key forwards. You'd imagine our defenders will be hell-bent on giving nothing away this week, making life tough for the likes of Hall and Goodes. Factor in haphazard delivery as a result of the windy conditions and they might find it every bit as tricky as us. Sydney are great in the wet but would not have encounted windy conditions all that often.

[1eyedog]

Re: Will the weather play a part?

Unless we change the way we move the ball (i.e. hit up targets with precise field kicking) Sydney will undoubtedly have the advantage as they love to run the ball out of defence with chains of handball.

[Dry Rot]

Re: Will the weather play a part?

Having said all that, I'd much prefer a still night, but I suspect so too would Sydney's key forwards. You'd imagine our defenders will be hell-bent on giving nothing away this week, making life tough for the likes of Hall and Goodes. Factor in haphazard delivery as a result of the windy conditions and they might find it every bit as tricky as us. Sydney are great in the wet but would not have encounted windy conditions all that often.

Not sure I agree with that. They often do a lot of dinky little passes by foot and unlike our home ground, the SCG and Homebush don't have a roof. It can get quite windy at the SCG.

[Dry Rot]

Re: Will the weather play a part?

Our guys train at the Whitten Oval, just because we have stopped playing games there doesn't mean the wind has stopped blowing all of a sudden.

Yes, I assume that where we play hasn't affected the weather of Victoria.

What is has affected is actually playing in windy conditions, rather than training.

In any event, I was mainly answering the suggestion that Sydney aren't experienced in playing in windy conditions. And as others have said, windy conditions may affect our usual playing style a bit more than theirs.

It may aid us a little as they have had inaccuracy in front of goal issues this season.

[dog town]

Re: Will the weather play a part?

They might be the masters of contested footy but they rely on precision by foot just as much as us. The equation hasn't changed just because its windy. Its going to be a great game for neutrals and a great game for us as a team. We could be a laughing stock after this game or it could be the start of our side maturing into a hardened finals outfit.

Not a huge fan of all the talk about us trying to break even at stoppages and contested ball so that we can outrun them. When we were at our best this season we were just bashing sides in close so we just need to get back to basics. Dont give ourselves the option of falling back on our running game and just get the job done inside. Get in harder and lower than our opponents and just be honest every time we go into a contest. If we do that then we will win in any conditions against a team like Sydney. They are expecting us to fold and the longer we dont the more frustrated they will get.

[LostDoggy]

Re: Will the weather play a part?

Haha i think wind is the least of our worries

Lets focus on getting the ball out of the middle before kicking goals across the face

[Bornadog]

Re: Will the weather play a part?

Haha i think wind is the least of our worries

Lets focus on getting the ball out of the middle before kicking goals across the face

spot on

[westdog54]

Re: Will the weather play apart?

The forecast i saw said 14km/h breeze. Hardly anything to worry about.

The breeze can be real funny inside the G.

Swirls around and plays absolute buggery with your disposal.

Anything above 10km/h can play havoc with a team not ready for it.

[Mantis]

Re: Will the weather play a part?

Haha i think wind is the least of our worries

Lets focus on getting the ball out of the middle before kicking goals across the face

I think the main concern would be how we are going to get the ball into our forwardline to have a shot on goal in the first place.

Our field kicking in general hasn't been the best over the past 6 to 8 weeks.

Thinking back to the first qtr against Geelong in rd 16 we kicked with the use of a 2 to 3 goal wind, but continually butchered the ball going forward, especailly with our long kicks into the 'dead' pocket.

Our 'smart' players (not sure who they are??) will have to come to the fore tonight.

[Bornadog]

Re: Will the weather play a part?

I think the main concern would be how we are going to get the ball into our forwardline to have a shot on goal in the first place.

Our field kicking in general hasn't been the best over the past 6 to 8 weeks.

Thinking back to the first qtr against Geelong in rd 16 we kicked with the use of a 2 to 3 goal wind, but continually butchered the ball going forward, especailly with our long kicks into the 'dead' pocket.

Our 'smart' players (not sure who they are??) will have to come to the fore tonight.

In the Geelong game we kicked to the wrong side of the goals, whereas Geelong in that last quarter, used the wind better and kicked at least four cruticial goals in the last quarter from that pocket, which then buried us. Hopefully we play the MCG better.

[Raw Toast]

Re: Will the weather play a part?

If gale-force winds hit during the game things might get interesting...

http://www.theage.com.au/national/brace-yourselves-galeforce-winds-to-buffet-state-20080912-4f45.html