Season over

[LostDoggy]

Re: Season over

I didnt get carried away with last week. Allowing the opposition to score 18 goals was not good and told me that we havent changed in relation to pressuring the opposition.

We have not moved with the trends & we are now paying. If you look at most teams around the top 6, defensive pressure, especially in the Fwd 50 is an intergral part of their game plan.

After some of the comments pre-season, i expected to see us adopting this tactic.

Simple thing is we dont work hard enough when we dont have the ball, and now we are also not working hard enough when we do have it.

Think we need to make some calls on some older players and if they are not likely to add anything into the future, then play some of the young draftees. No point in getting smacked each game with older players in the side, it just holds back the development of younger players. I know people will say that we may get flogged by playing too many kids, but at least the club can review the list at seasons end with having a bit more of insight into how the younger players looked when playing 4-6 games in a row in the seniors.

The one thing that really dissapointed me yesterday, was that we gave up......I dont mind losing so much if we have had a crack, but that was so disheartening.

[chef]

Re: Season over

Was everyone thinking the same way last week? Didn't think so.

We just had a bad game. Perth doesn't suit us, and 3 of our best players were out.

This result will put a lot of pressure on, but so did the Aker fiasco last year before we came out and smashed Freo.

Those three players are shadows of their former selves and aren't going to help that much when they return.

[Jasper]

Re: Season over

Was everyone thinking the same way last week? Didn't think so.

We just had a bad game. Perth doesn't suit us, and 3 of our best players were out.

This result will put a lot of pressure on, but so did the Aker fiasco last year before we came out and smashed Freo.

best post I've read tonight

Yeah the other problem is that fwd press, we are okay if teams don't play that against us...

Fair dinkum Lake is approaching his twilight and even now can't get his body right
Hall won't be there next year
Cooney appears chronically injured and has been for some time

Add to this Higgins appears to be perpetually injured. Murphy is carrying a chronic knee that has packed up at the business of the last few years, and you reckon everything's okay and its just a bad game?

Fully agree with Banana's comments.

[LostDoggy]

Re: Season over

I think we have missed our chance simple as that.

We need to look at the players who are going to be there for out next assault and trade accordingly.

If we are going to bottom out, it might as well be next year when we can again get some decent draft pics.

A couple of years of pain and if we can get games into the following players Grant, Jones, Cordy, Wallis, Ward, Roughead and Libba we might be back and playing finals in 3 years with hopefully a fit Cooney, Griffen, Higgins.

I think theere is enough of a side there with some new talent coming through to hopefully build for a flag

We need to seriously look at trading for draft pics anyone who inst going to be there.

[LostDoggy]

Re: Season over

I think theere is enough of a side there with some new talent coming through to hopefully build for a flag
.

Biggest problem I see is our repeated lack of fight when things run against us. Thats not a talent issue its a mental thing, we don't have enough players on our list who dig inside themselves and pull out something extra when the chips are down. We can all accept losses, its hard to accept capitulations, and its becoming a trend.

[DOG GOD]

Re: Season over

So you think they are sacred dogs...erm... cows eh Dog God?
It seems that way.

Absolutely. They are in the leadership group for starters.

I like Cross as a player. he's hard, tough, won't skirk a contest and will put his head over the ball at all times, BUT, he's just too slow, has poor skills, and his decision making can put others under more pressure than required.

Gia plays 3-4 great games of footy per year. The other games he just meanders around the fwd 50 giving little to no defensive pressure, tackles that don't stick, and can be a very poor shot for goal (on very gettable ranges).

I would certainly drop Gia before Cross, but like others have posted previously, it makes it really hard to play both Cross and Boyd and both Gia and Higgins.

Guys like Gilbee and Higgins need to go back to the VFL and DOMINATE. Too many players get games on NAME alone at this club.

Some hard decisions need to be made, and if Rocket can't do it, then get someone who can and will.

[LostDoggy]

Re: Season over

The rapture was just a day late

[Murphy'sLore]

Re: Season over

The Rapture would have been the only thing that might have saved us...

[LostDoggy]

Re: Season over

I agree with this statement. But I also agree with what Dermot B. said (Think it was Dermie) couple of weeks ago. Now I don't usually rate anything Dermie says, but he did say he does expect the Bulldogs to be quite poor in the first half of the year, but when the team does get settled and get its best 22 in for a consistent amount of time we will be a much better side. Maybe not top 4, but I still think we will just scrape into the finals (and probably get knocked)

[Bornadog]

Re: Season over

Can I remind people that worse than this weeks game was round 20 last year. At least we have time to regroup (if we can )

[Cyberdoggie]

Re: Season over

Guys like Gilbee and Higgins need to go back to the VFL and DOMINATE. Too many players get games on NAME alone at this club.

Some hard decisions need to be made, and if Rocket can't do it, then get someone who can and will.

Gilbee dominately at AFL last week so i don't think he's out of form.

It's the same old story everytime we have a bad loss and i know we don't want to admit it to ourselves but perhaps we just are flat track bullies, downhill skiiers etc.

Our team has been labelled with the term for a while now and you would have to say with good reason now.

I don't think it's any one player that is letting us down etc, perhpas it's just the mix of players/type isn't right. We look great when the game is going our way but when we are under pressure we don't have many that stand up. It's like the school yard bully and his friends are picking on us, standing around us in a circle and pushing us down everytime we try and get up. Unfortunately we don't have enough of the cohones to stand up when this happens.

p.s. Was it just me or did anyone else think they were watching the Harlem Globetrotters vs the Washington Generals last night?

[Cyberdoggie]

Re: Season over

Can I remind people that worse than this weeks game was round 20 last year. At least we have time to regroup (if we can )

Statistically this was the worst loss since 1996.
7th worst loss in our history, worst since changing our name to "Western Bulldogs".
Last years game against Geelong was the previous worse loss under our current name.



We all remember what a fun year that was.
I don't think the rest of our year will turn out like that but it hurts none the less.

[Maddog37]

Re: Season over

Can I remind people that worse than this weeks game was round 20 last year. At least we have time to regroup (if we can )

Flogged by cats in round 20, flogged by pies in final. Flogged by Bombers first game. Flogged by Eagles this week. That is four floggings in 14 games.

[Murphy'sLore]

Re: Season over

Go ahead and shoot me down but I would rather see us play with some dash and attack (a la last week) even if we lost anyway, than struggling to replicate a game plan that we just seem uncomfortable with, or unable to execute, and getting steamrolled. If we must go down let's go down with style -- our own style.

[Cyberdoggie]

Re: Season over

Go ahead and shoot me down but I would rather see us play with some dash and attack (a la last week) even if we lost anyway, than struggling to replicate a game plan that we just seem uncomfortable with, or unable to execute, and getting steamrolled. If we must go down let's go down with style -- our own style.

They were probably trying to attack but it's not really an option when your under siege and not prepared physically or mentally to deal with it.