The loss we needed

[Topdog]

To get people to realise that we really are a long long way off and need an overhaul and not a "refresh".

It is going to be a very painful 2-3 years.

[LostDoggy]

Re: The loss we needed

It will be a painful 12 months but i can see massive upside in the list after that. I'm expecting a bottom 6 finish this year and pushing for finals as early as next year

[Eastdog]

Re: The loss we needed

We are well and truly come crashing down from where we were near the top a couple of years ago. We are now in a rebuilding phase and once again it is going to take time until we challenge. One thing we have struggled for a long time is getting KPP.

[Evel]

Re: The loss we needed

To get people to realise that we really are a long long way off and need an overhaul and not a "refresh".

It is going to be a very painful 2-3 years.

I agree that we do need to rejuvenate the team and find that next generation of players. Realistically we are probably a couple of drafts (with some likely early placed picks) away from getting these players.

To me the loss tonight was no different to the first two rounds in making me realize this. Round 1 in 2011 was the game where it hit home to me the current list was spent and needed a rebuild (or refresh or overhaul take your pick).

[AndrewP6]

Re: The loss we needed

No disrespect Topdog, but I sure as hell didn't need a demoralizing, humiliating loss like that. I've been pessimistic about this year since last year, now I know why. IMO we won't play finals for at least two years.

[jeemak]

Re: The loss we needed

I'm pretty disappointed with tonight's loss.

We were horrible, nothing more and nothing less. In just about every area of the game we let ourselves down and didn't account for ourselves like a professional football team should.

Make no mistake, tonight's effort was substandard and cheap. I have known for a while that we'd be lucky to break out of the bottom four to six teams, though I didn't think we'd disgrace ourselves so comprehesively against very ordinary opposition.

Beyond that, I'm speachless. I'll digest the game over the next 48 hours, though right now I'm feeling about as low as I've felt about our club and our side.

[westdog54]

Re: The loss we needed

I shook my head in disgust when David Smorgon said that the club needed a 'refresh' last year.

A club that falls from a preliminary final to 11th in the space of 12 months needs a hell of a lot more than a refresh. We've got an untried coach, an unbalanced list that chronically lacks pace, a slow as treacle midfield, a forward line in disarray and a 21 year old key forward who is getting double/triple teamed by opposition.

We're years off being a challenger again.

[Go_Dogs]

Re: The loss we needed

We were woeful last night, but nothing is ever as bad as it seems. No doubt we need a lot of improvement to become a genuine contender again, but at least we have a number of good young players coming through already. Some early draft picks this year and an astute trade or 2 and we could bounce back quickly.

We really need to accelerate the development of some younger players on our list, and IMO we simply must find game time for Wallis, Tutt and Howard once their back from injury, Panos and Vezspremi should also be given an opportunity to show what they can do in the not too distant future (form permitting).

Ryan Hargrave has been a fantastic player for the Dogs for a number of years, but some of his decision making under pressure was terrible. It's beyond rabbit in the headlights stuff. He's not going to improve, he's not going to be a part of our next crack, and what is he really adding at the moment anyway?

Shaun Higgins really needs to find a role for modern footy. At the moment he's a slow midfielder/forward who doesn't win many clearances, doesn't spread well and isn't kicking many goals. I'm not sure where we'll get value out of him but perhaps he needs to go back and dominate a few weeks at VFL level to get some confidence?

I'm not sure playing all of Minson, Roughead and Cordy worked very well last night - but we need to find another tall forward who can help out Jones. We need to get better at giving our young forwards a chance to break even in the contest too. Not sure if we persist or if a change needs to happen - but again, we need to continue to get games into Roughead and Cordy.

Our commitment to the contest over the first 2 rounds perhaps papered over the cracks, or perhaps we just had a very off night, but anyway there is a lot of work to do and hopefully we can see improvement over the course of the season.

[GVGjr]

Re: The loss we needed

Jeemak said it perfectly for me. I didn't have high expectations and saw this year as one where there would be a bit of pain. What I didn't expect was complete ineptitude and such a rapid stark decline from our senior core. Gia, Shaggy, Cross, Lake, Cooney are shadows of themselves. Minson and Higgins will never live up to the potential we once saw in them. What bothers me more is the uncertain quality of the kids below. Cordy is raw, roughead inconsistent, Mitch wallis, well still not sure, Howard and Tutt just not enough game time and continuity yet..but while some may make it (as in being 50-100 game players) I don't see a superstar among them. and I don't see the nucleus in terms of structure and gelling together to feel like, here is our next finals group.

It feels like we have skipped a footy generation.

[1eyedog]

Re: The loss we needed

The positive thing out of last night was that we have played more kids than the Aints over the past 2 years. They won't play in a Grand Final this year and will be 1-2 years behind us in development.

[The Underdog]

Re: The loss we needed

Look, I don't think any team needs a loss like that and I sure as hell was hoping for all of those who thought we'd be a top 8 team that we'd show something this year (and at times we have), but I predicted we'd be a bottom 5 team this year and there is pretty clear signs that that is about where we belong.
Losses like this have no positives as far as I can see, although given our draft pick situation, a bad year might have a decent roll on effect as far as getting young talent into the club.
We're pretty much what a lot of people thought we were before the season, if not worse. The list needs serious work and teams who can rebound and move the ball quickly are going to destroy us.

[LostDoggy]

Re: The loss we needed





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[Bumper Bulldogs]

Re: The loss we needed

Really disappointed in the Club, I have not heard of any player, coach or committee member com out and bleed about the loss.

I would have thought publicly they would have come out and spoken like the Melbourne coach and put som heat on he players. I know in this day and age we are all sensitive and like the warm and fuzzy stuff, but for christ sake dogs harden up..

I asked Brendon last night (over the boundary line). What it was like to coach the Greater Western Bulldogs?

In which Fanta gave me a dirty look, well I make no excuses for the coaching staff and Fanta got his job on the back of Rocket and a Werribee issue. Now that's gone and so should Fanta. Save his wage and put a spin doctor on the staff as we are going to need one to ensure that the committee that recommended Brendon and he new coaching staff are the way forward.

The pin doctor old also start on the recurtment guys as well that saw he need o build he list that has no backbone or hunger for today's AFL.

[Sedat]

Re: The loss we needed

I'm pretty disappointed with tonight's loss.

We were horrible, nothing more and nothing less. In just about every area of the game we let ourselves down.

Actually our contested ball numbers were on a par with St Kilda, we beat them in the clearances and we also beat them in the inside 50 count. And no I'm not searching for positives - these indicators make last night's result even more unpalatable. Either our 'manly' gameplan is horribly flawed, or our personnel are utterly incapable of carrying out the gameplan against any team semi-decent team.

[LostDoggy]

Re: The loss we needed

Three things that stood out for me.

1. Too slow to move ball from defence
2. One paced midfield.
3. Sainters have improved their speed and when clear moved the ball quickly to their 3 "power" forwards that stretched our undersized defence.

I dont think that I can see any KPP coming out of the big guys we drafted last year. After watching Willy yesterday, it appears that most of the taller players are ruckman size. Dont know if any of those guys will make a genuine KPP.