Game Day - Western Bulldogs vs St Kilda

[Go_Dogs]

Re: Game Day - Western Bulldogs vs St Kilda

We've got a ready made one already. He's proven he can harass and has been surprisingly good near the goals.

Picken.

I like this idea a lot - and if a Callan or Cross could play that lock down midfield role it certainly isn't out of the question.

Addison could also be a good option. He wasn't brilliant on the weekend, but he threw himself into a few contests and if given that sort of role, he could do well.

It's a real shame Lynch hasn't come on, watching the run down Nahas did yesterday - that sort of explosive chasing is something that we are really lacking with our old-ish forward line.

[Sedat]

Re: Game Day - Western Bulldogs vs St Kilda

That is a pretty good idea.

He has improved so much, we'll actually miss him around the ground, not to mention losing his ability to shut down a key opposition line-breaker. When he started I thought he had major limitations to his game but would at least be dedicated to the task. But he is much quicker, a much better decision maker and a much better distributor of the ball than I initially gave him credit for. He is tracking well ahead of the level of progress and development that Boyd achieved at the corresponding stage of his career, and we know how well that has turned out.

The small forward with defensive skills is a definite hole in our list - for various reasons, nobody really fills it adequately.

[Dry Rot]

Re: Game Day - Western Bulldogs vs St Kilda

I like this idea a lot - and if a Callan or Cross could play that lock down midfield role it certainly isn't out of the question.

Yep - games against Freo and WCE offer an opportunity to try Callan in that role.

[Mantis]

Re: Game Day - Western Bulldogs vs St Kilda

How about something from left field........... Lynch.

Alternative - Tim Callan in and Harbrow moves forward.

Lynch - He is only just going at VFL reserves level. In saying that Eade rates him so maybe they just have to throw him in the deep end, but really his form doesn't warrant him jumping ahead of others.

Harbrow has been too good in defence to contemplate the 2nd move.

[Mofra]

Re: Game Day - Western Bulldogs vs St Kilda

We've got a ready made one already. He's proven he can harass and has been surprisingly good near the goals.

Picken.

That is left field, but a move that really could work. He's shown if not given enough respect (even by the stars) he can hurt opponents the other way. Perfect time to reward Callan is we want to try something different, given he's played midfield in the VFL.

[LostDoggy]

Re: Game Day - Western Bulldogs vs St Kilda

How about something from left field........... Lynch.

Would absolutely love for this to happen, would be amazing.....but doubt it will....

[comrade]

Re: Game Day - Western Bulldogs vs St Kilda

Would absolutely love for this to happen, would be amazing.....but doubt it will....

You're right, it would be amazing, but only for the fact that he's done nothing to deserve it.

[Go_Dogs]

Re: Game Day - Western Bulldogs vs St Kilda

Yep - games against Freo and WCE offer an opportunity to try Callan in that role.

Agreed. Going to be interesting to see how selection goes this week - but it really is the ideal time to fiddle with a few things. I really like what Callan offers and I think his toughness will be important in finals games - so perfect time to see what he can do.

[Mantis]

Re: Game Day - Western Bulldogs vs St Kilda

Having just watched the first half again I am surprised that we were only 5 goals down at half time. I have never seen a team positioned 3rd on the ladder fumble the ball so badly. The pressure was good from St.Kilda, but not great, but our inability to handle the ball was almost embarrassing. The players need to learn that only committed efforts at the ball will be rewarded and the dinky little tap ons and handballs don't work against the good teams.

There was a lack of poise by all but a few and for large periods of the half it looked like the players had run out of ideas. The lack of effort by our forwards was poor, but they weren't helped by the sub-standard service they were supplied with.

Onto the 2nd half....

[Sedat]

Re: Game Day - Western Bulldogs vs St Kilda

Having just watched the first half again I am surprised that we were only 5 goals down at half time. I have never seen a team positioned 3rd on the ladder fumble the ball so badly. The pressure was good from St.Kilda, but not great, but our inability to handle the ball was almost embarrassing. The players need to learn that only committed efforts at the ball will be rewarded and the dinky little tap ons and handballs don't work against the good teams.

That was my feeling on the night, and that we were our own worst enemies. I also felt that we started quite well in the first 20 minutes and actually pressured St Kilda well when they were attempting to move the ball forward, but then stopped working hard enough which gave St Kilda free reign to move the ball into forward 50 with ease.

[Mantis]

Re: Game Day - Western Bulldogs vs St Kilda

That was my feeling on the night, and that we were our own worst enemies. I also felt that we started quite well in the first 20 minutes and actually pressured St Kilda well when they were attempting to move the ball forward.

Having seen as much as I want from the second half I am left scratching of how bad we butchered the ball. I read somewhere (as with our posts) that it seemed we fumbled a lot due to the 'inferred' pressure the Saints apply. And it wasn't just our young guys who fumbled and made poor decisions, it was also many of our senior players who have played in enought 'big games' and should be able to handle the situations that arise with some poise.

The amount of times we just the bombed the ball to no one in particular was amazing. I was hopeful pre-game that we would play a 'smart & clean' while still able to play at a fast tempo. The only player who for the large part of the game was able to use the ball well was Griff who on most occassions was able to pick the right option and then execute his skills with some efficiency.

Hopefully we learn from this game the areas that we need to improve in and put in place a plan to rectify these over the coming weeks and into next year.

[Bornadog]

Re: Game Day - Western Bulldogs vs St Kilda

Having just watched the first half again I am surprised that we were only 5 goals down at half time. I have never seen a team positioned 3rd on the ladder fumble the ball so badly. The pressure was good from St.Kilda, but not great, but our inability to handle the ball was almost embarrassing. The players need to learn that only committed efforts at the ball will be rewarded and the dinky little tap ons and handballs don't work against the good teams.

There was a lack of poise by all but a few and for large periods of the half it looked like the players had run out of ideas. The lack of effort by our forwards was poor, but they weren't helped by the sub-standard service they were supplied with.

Onto the 2nd half....

I deleted it, couldn't bring myself to watch the fumbling and dropping of marks, the inability to even pick up the ball and the bombing into the forward line and not giving any of the forwards a chance.

[Mantis]

Re: Game Day - Western Bulldogs vs St Kilda

I deleted it, couldn't bring myself to watch the fumbling and dropping of marks, the inability to even pick up the ball and the bombing into the forward line and not giving any of the forwards a chance.

I like to watch all our games again, win or lose. I tend to miss bits & pieces so its good to go over them again.

Our forwards did receive poor service, but it would have been nice if all of them as a group had applied more pressure to the St.Kilda defence when they were in possession. I lost count the number of times I could see our forwards walking or standing still in the picture when they should have been chasing and applying pressure. I don't think this poor effort would be allowed at St.Kilda and it's one of the reasons why they are a much improved team.

[LostDoggy]

Re: Game Day - Western Bulldogs vs St Kilda

Not sure it was discussed here, how crucial was Minson's 2 missed marks in the first quarter?
I think even if he marked and kicked 1, I think the complexion of the game change would have changed.

[Bornadog]

Re: Game Day - Western Bulldogs vs St Kilda

Not sure it was discussed here, how crucial was Minson's 2 missed marks in the first quarter?
I think even if he marked and kicked 1, I think the complexion of the game change would have changed.

Why does he insist on trying to take a mark with his hands in front of his head, ie hands facing the ball, instead of bringing in the mark to the chest. I am not talking about overhead marks either.