Game Day - QF2 Western Bulldogs vs Geelong

[Bulldog Revolution]

Re: Game Day - QF2 Western Bulldogs vs Geelong

Why did we continually handball backwards? It put us under more pressure to dispose of the ball and as a result we coughed up at least 4 or 5 goals.

I would add Boyd & Cross to your list as well Doc.

They combined yesterday for a whopping 44 handballs and just 11 kicks, and each had just 2 clearances. Cross might be a little rusty, but the quality of possession was poor and I expect more from 2 of our more experienced players.

Our handball execution was very poor indeed

It wasn't just the fact we went backwards, we would often handball forward to teammates who had to jump to receive and then had to dispose of it whilst in the air as they were under pressure.

Boyd & Cross unfortunately had no impact at the stoppages, and we need to rethink how we are going to use them if they struggle like that again.

[DOG GOD]

Re: Game Day - QF2 Western Bulldogs vs Geelong

Boyd & Cross unfortunately had no impact at the stoppages, and we need to rethink how we are going to use them if they struggle like that again.

I agree BR. Cross reads the play well and can take an overhead mark so why not play him around half back (or as a loose man role)IF he is struggling to make an impact in the midfield.

Boyd for me would make a good wingman as he links up well and has the tank to run all day.

Giving these guys other roles would also help their ability to KICK the ball. Far too many handballs for players of their ilk.

Definately start them in the centre, but if theyre getting smashed then give them other roles.

[Go_Dogs]

Re: Game Day - QF2 Western Bulldogs vs Geelong

I think the major reason for the poor performance was lack of intensity.

We played poorly, turned the ball over and didn't work hard enough - but the reason Geelong won was because they simply did as they pleased. They took the ball effortlessly from defence, using the wide spaces on the MCG so that we could not shut them down and swamp the ball carrier ala Etihad a few weekends ago.

They were constantly able to spot up marks inside 50. I don't have any stats, but at a guess they would have taken well over 3 times the number of marks inside 50 that we did.

The clearances, tackles, contested possessions etc all point to it being a pretty even game, but their pressure was fantastic, and ours left a lot to be desired. The end result was us under pressure, turning the ball over, choosing poor options and generally playing some of our worst football (which we seem to revert to under any genuine pressure more often than not). On the flip side, as soon as a turnover occurred, our ability to put pressure on them was very weak.

At a few times it appeared our intensity was lifting and we were going to attack the ball and the ball carrier and really go for the kill. We'd manage that for a few contests, and then it would drop off again.



I agree with the sentiments regarding Gia, although I still think he offers us a lot. His handball to release a player running into goal was great. As Doc has said though, he does go to ground too often, is too slow and can often take the wrong option and/or execute poorly by foot.

If Gia is fit enough, a role in the centre square would be my bet. He can use his quick hands in close in there, and going to ground and moving slowly won't hold him back too much. Missy gives us better value up forward for now for mine, so perhaps he can play the Gia role.


I'm not sure it's time for sweeping changes at the selection table, as I'm still confident this group can do the required job. Our intensity, endeavor and willingness to pull every man over the line needs to get better. We can still win this thing, and hopefully we come out swinging next week with a bit of dash and show the world our best football.

[alwaysadog]

Re: Game Day - QF2 Western Bulldogs vs Geelong

Geelong also missed a lot of easy shots, I don't think you can say that. We played poorly and were out classed by a better team.

All of the above are true, but missed shots by mooney are legion while our better kickers missed when it counted.

My point is that in spite of being a poor second most of the day we had our chances to win.

[alwaysadog]

Re: Game Day - QF2 Western Bulldogs vs Geelong

I think the major reason for the poor performance was lack of intensity.

We played poorly, turned the ball over and didn't work hard enough - but the reason Geelong won was because they simply did as they pleased. They took the ball effortlessly from defence, using the wide spaces on the MCG so that we could not shut them down and swamp the ball carrier ala Etihad a few weekends ago.

They were constantly able to spot up marks inside 50. I don't have any stats, but at a guess they would have taken well over 3 times the number of marks inside 50 that we did.

The clearances, tackles, contested possessions etc all point to it being a pretty even game, but their pressure was fantastic, and ours left a lot to be desired. The end result was us under pressure, turning the ball over, choosing poor options and generally playing some of our worst football (which we seem to revert to under any genuine pressure more often than not). On the flip side, as soon as a turnover occurred, our ability to put pressure on them was very weak.

At a few times it appeared our intensity was lifting and we were going to attack the ball and the ball carrier and really go for the kill. We'd manage that for a few contests, and then it would drop off again.



I agree with the sentiments regarding Gia, although I still think he offers us a lot. His handball to release a player running into goal was great. As Doc has said though, he does go to ground too often, is too slow and can often take the wrong option and/or execute poorly by foot.

If Gia is fit enough, a role in the centre square would be my bet. He can use his quick hands in close in there, and going to ground and moving slowly won't hold him back too much. Missy gives us better value up forward for now for mine, so perhaps he can play the Gia role.


I'm not sure it's time for sweeping changes at the selection table, as I'm still confident this group can do the required job. Our intensity, endeavor and willingness to pull every man over the line needs to get better. We can still win this thing, and hopefully we come out swinging next week with a bit of dash and show the world our best football.

Excellent post Griffin #16. Couldn't have said it better myself.

It's a bit like my 96 yo mother she puts her most precious things in secret places so that no one steals them and then we all look for them when she forgets where the secret place is.

Now where did we put our intensity, if necessary we should report it to the police and call the bloodhounds into the training centre.

[AndrewP6]

Re: Game Day - QF2 Western Bulldogs vs Geelong

[B]
Umpiring didn't have a massive impact - BUT, I would have much preferred a 21 point margin at qtr time, and that Bartel HTB on Cross was a CLEAR in the back.

How about Bartel's play-on not called for his 3rd goal? Or the 19 men on the field in the first...

[LostDoggy]

Re: Game Day - QF2 Western Bulldogs vs Geelong

How about Bartel's play-on not called for his 3rd goal? Or the 19 men on the field in the first...

Didn't know about that, what happened?

[The Pie Man]

Re: Game Day - QF2 Western Bulldogs vs Geelong

How about Bartel's play-on not called for his 3rd goal? Or the 19 men on the field in the first...

Oooh yeah that was off - this guy near me ripped into Griffen for not getting to Bartel in time for that mark, goals from that pocket in the 3rd hurt us.

Ladies in the row behind me were bleeding at Minson's 50 for their first goal - harsh as it was, it was technically the right call from the ump. It's a strange rule : say you're on the mark and you see you're man start to take off, you can start your action to close him down/tackle and have play on called in that motion before you get to touch the player and it be play on - but if the ump is too slow with it and you tackle before the play on call, you've blown it. Very fine line

Like JH40, I didn't know about the 19 on the ground - was that Milburn? I saw him stop dead on the boundary line while in stride onto the ground, like he was yelled at right at the last minute to stop.

[The Bulldogs Bite]

Re: Game Day - QF2 Western Bulldogs vs Geelong

I must say, Morris hasn't had a great season. He's been beaten quite a few times this year and again on Saturday. Is he carrying anything? I don't mind if he gets beaten in the contest, but the worry is that he's rarely in the actual contests anymore. He seems to be caught 5m's behind his opponent every time. Mooney killed him with this a number of times. Morris used to have the best closing speed at the club IMO, rarely was ever 'out' of a contest. I wonder if he's carrying something because he's been poor more so than he's been good lately.

[bulldogtragic]

Re: Game Day - QF2 Western Bulldogs vs Geelong

Poor 'team' effort. Need to show some of the form from the past 3 weeks to overcome a confident Brisbane. Something we can absolutely do if 22 players contribute.

[LostDoggy]

Re: Game Day - QF2 Western Bulldogs vs Geelong

I know what you are saying but imagine if the game went largely to today's script and we fell 14 points short despite playing Everitt and Reid.
My guess is that we would have a lot of people saying that we should have played Griffen and Giansiracusa and we lacked the heart to play the quality guys.

Hindsight probably confirms that they were underdone however, having the balls to not include them would have been a very gutsy selection.

Agree, hindsight is a wonderful thing, but it seems to me that all year, the selectors haven't really had the intestinal fortitude to drop some of the senior players who have had patchy form all season?? Personally, I felt that Griff, whilst he tried hard, was very underdone, and either Everitt or Reid would have been a better choice. It remains to be seen just what the selectors do this week. I am not totally gutted about yesterday, but very disappointed that when it counts, we seem to bring our B game. I want the A game back, pleeeeeze

[BulldogBelle]

Re: Game Day - QF2 Western Bulldogs vs Geelong

I think the major reason for the poor performance was lack of intensity.

We played poorly, turned the ball over and didn't work hard enough - but the reason Geelong won was because they simply did as they pleased. They took the ball effortlessly from defence, using the wide spaces on the MCG so that we could not shut them down and swamp the ball carrier ala Etihad a few weekends ago.

They were constantly able to spot up marks inside 50. I don't have any stats, but at a guess they would have taken well over 3 times the number of marks inside 50 that we did.

The clearances, tackles, contested possessions etc all point to it being a pretty even game, but their pressure was fantastic, and ours left a lot to be desired. The end result was us under pressure, turning the ball over, choosing poor options and generally playing some of our worst football (which we seem to revert to under any genuine pressure more often than not). On the flip side, as soon as a turnover occurred, our ability to put pressure on them was very weak.

At a few times it appeared our intensity was lifting and we were going to attack the ball and the ball carrier and really go for the kill. We'd manage that for a few contests, and then it would drop off again.



I agree with the sentiments regarding Gia, although I still think he offers us a lot. His handball to release a player running into goal was great. As Doc has said though, he does go to ground too often, is too slow and can often take the wrong option and/or execute poorly by foot.

If Gia is fit enough, a role in the centre square would be my bet. He can use his quick hands in close in there, and going to ground and moving slowly won't hold him back too much. Missy gives us better value up forward for now for mine, so perhaps he can play the Gia role.


I'm not sure it's time for sweeping changes at the selection table, as I'm still confident this group can do the required job. Our intensity, endeavor and willingness to pull every man over the line needs to get better. We can still win this thing, and hopefully we come out swinging next week with a bit of dash and show the world our best football.

Why we lost. Skills and Intensity.

We they had the ball we didnt man up, we didnt chase and run and harass as much or as hard as they did.

We we had position of the ball we didnt stream forward in huge numbers, we waited, and mucked around.

If we ran harder, with and without the ball we would have one, they also got so many easy centre clearances...

Our skills at times were woeful, and again we caved under their pressure...

We lost by 14 points, and possibly if the game was played for another 10-15 minutes we would have won....I'm actually so sick of our slow starts...we cant give teams like Geelong a decent lead after the 1st quarter

Aker player well up forward, Gilbee player well, as did Lake, Cross and Boyd...Hudson tried hard all day...

[LostDoggy]

Re: Game Day - QF2 Western Bulldogs vs Geelong

Why we lost. Skills and Intensity.

We they had the ball we didnt man up, we didnt chase and run and harass as much or as hard as they did.

We we had position of the ball we didnt stream forward in huge numbers, we waited, and mucked around.

If we ran harder, with and without the ball we would have one, they also got so many easy centre clearances...

Our skills at times were woeful, and again we caved under their pressure...

We lost by 14 points, and possibly if the game was played for another 10-15 minutes we would have won....I'm actually so sick of our slow starts...we cant give teams like Geelong a decent lead after the 1st quarter

Aker player well up forward, Gilbee player well, as did Lake, Cross and Boyd...Hudson tried hard all day...

Great post and I totally agree - our intensity was sorely lacking, as were our hand and foot skills.

[AndrewP6]

Re: Game Day - QF2 Western Bulldogs vs Geelong

I must say, Morris hasn't had a great season. He's been beaten quite a few times this year and again on Saturday. Is he carrying anything? I don't mind if he gets beaten in the contest, but the worry is that he's rarely in the actual contests anymore. He seems to be caught 5m's behind his opponent every time. Mooney killed him with this a number of times. Morris used to have the best closing speed at the club IMO, rarely was ever 'out' of a contest. I wonder if he's carrying something because he's been poor more so than he's been good lately.

Not sure I agree...Morris, IMO is one of our most reliable...

[The Bulldogs Bite]

Re: Game Day - QF2 Western Bulldogs vs Geelong

Not sure I agree...Morris, IMO is one of our most reliable...

Lake, Hargrave and even Gilbee have defended better than Morris this year IMO. He set such a high bar that anything less would stand out and unfortunately this year I don't think he's been as reliable. Granted he's had to play out of his weight division most weeks, but he's being led to the ball far too often. Not sure if it's an injury concern or whether he's just not reading the play but I've seen seen him so out of position. Certainly not our worst performer by any stretch of the imagination, rather it's just an observation.