Tweet
When and Where
Saturday 11th May
Etihad Stadium 4.40pm
Last 5 Times
Round 19, 4 Aug 2012 ES Western Bulldogs defeated by North Melbourne 61-115
Round 7, 13 May 2012 ES North Melbourne defeated by Western Bulldogs 83-101
Round 17,17 Jul 2011 ES North Melbourne defeats Western Bulldogs 142-111
Round 18, 1 Aug 2010 ES Western Bulldogs defeat North Melbourne 143-72
Round 9, 22 May 2010 ES North Melbourne defeated by Western Bulldogs 57-127
KEY STATS
Western Bulldogs Ave Per Game North Melbourne
46.7 Inside 50s 53.8
150.8 Contested Possessions 147.6
189.8 Uncontested Possessions 206.8
233.0 Effective Disposals 258.3
68% Effective Disposals % 72.6%
47.7 Clangers 45.0
11.2 Contested Marks 11.5
7.5 Marks Inside 50 9.8
41.7 Clearances 42.2
Form leading in
North Melbourne
North have made a solid yet unspectacular start to the season (2 wins and 4 loses). They pushed Hawthorn right to the final siren, were up by 42 points against the Cats, pushed the Pies and were soundly beaten by the reigning premiers. The games they should have won they have but they have come up short against some serious opposition.
Their confidence should be up after beating previously undefeated Port Adelaide last weekend down at Hobart. Of concern for the coaching staff has been Norths inability to close out games and giving up substantial leads.
Western Bulldogs
The Dogs have been disappointing over the last few weeks, with loses to WCE, Geelong and Crows. The performance against the Cats was admirable but the defeats to the Crows and WCE were poor. Injury and form has forced us to field a very young side, with 15 players with less than 50 games experience in the side against the Coasters. The effort at the contest is there, the class certainly is not. Back at our home ground in neutral conditions we need better and more concise ball use and movement, as well as an ability to defend the ground throughout the contest.
Line Ups
North Melbourne
B: Scott McMahon, Scott Thompson, Michael Firrito
HB: Aaron Mullett, Jamie Macmillan, Brent Harvey
C: Daniel Wells, Shaun Atley, Sam Wright
HF: Aaron Black, Majak Daw, Taylor Hine
F: Lindsay Thomas, Drew Petrie, Leigh Adams
Foll: Todd Goldstein, Andrew Swallow, Jack Ziebell
Int: Ryan Bastinac, Ben Cunnington, Sam Gibson, Will Sierakowski
Western Bulldogs.
B: Dale Morris, Jordan Roughead, Liam Picken
HB: Jason Johannisen, Lukas Marcovic, Tom Young
C: Ryan Griffen, Matthew Boyd, Adam Cooney
HF: Robert Murphy, Dylan Addison, Daniel Giansiracusa
F: Luke Dahlhaus, Liam Jones, Jason Tutt
Foll: Will Minson, Nick Lower, Tom Liberatore
Int: Mitch Wallis, Clay Smith, Daniel Cross, Mark Austin
Key Match ups
Roughead vs Petrie-
Drew hasn’t been in the best form, but his record against the dogs is very solid. Roughead gets the job. He matches up quite well speed and size wise and will give a very solid contest. Roughead will need our mids and forwards to make it difficult for North to move the ball into their forward line quickly where Drew is most dangerous.
Jones Vs Thomspon
Jones has become the focal point of the bulldog forward line and has played a lone hand up forward the last couple of weeks. His 4 goal games against the Cats/Tigers were very good as was his effort against the Eagles. Scott Thompson is in outstanding form, some may argue all Australian form after keeping Buddy goal less just a fortnight ago.
Minson Vs Goldstein
This is a mouth watering match up with the two outstanding ruckmen of the competition at moment going head to head. Both will ruck the majority of the game with the winner of this dual going along way in getting their team the win.
Picken Vs Thomas
Thomas is leading all comers in the Coleman medal, he has become a vital cog in the North Melbourne forward line. He has got rid of the goal kicking yips, to become one of the most accurate goal kickers in the AFL. Picken gets first crack and must do a job for the team to stop this dangerous small forward.
Where the game will be won and lost
In the middle of the ground- The Roos love to play a quick corridor based style of football that stacks up very well against teams that struggle to defend the ground well. The dogs must force them to go wide around the boundary line and dictate their pattern of movement. The Dogs ability to win the hard ball cannot be questioned, we now must move away from the contest in a much more concise manor. Both ruckmen will give their midfielders a fair share of footy, we must win this battle to win the game.
First Quarter- North are a very good starting team winning the majority of their first quarters over the year, we must minimise this and not find ourselves 5-6 goals down at quarter time. If we can stay in the contest right to the end we are a very good chance of getting the ascendancy late in the game.
Leadership-BMac has put a bit of heat back onto the senior players within the team to demand and provide the standards we expect. The inclusions should help and I’m looking for Boyd, Cross, Cooney, Griffen, Murphy and Gia to stand up and make their teammates better. We need 22 blokes contributing to beat this mob and these blokes need to lead the way.
Verdict
North are not as bad as their ladder position suggests, they tend to beat the teams they should whilst struggling against the upper echelon in the competition (sound familiar?). For the Dogs to win we must defend the ground better and be more efficient when going into attack. Some much needed experience has been injected into the team which will hopefully help the dogs get the chocolates in a close one.
See you at the game
DOGS BY 3pts
Saturday 11th May
Etihad Stadium 4.40pm
Last 5 Times
Round 19, 4 Aug 2012 ES Western Bulldogs defeated by North Melbourne 61-115
Round 7, 13 May 2012 ES North Melbourne defeated by Western Bulldogs 83-101
Round 17,17 Jul 2011 ES North Melbourne defeats Western Bulldogs 142-111
Round 18, 1 Aug 2010 ES Western Bulldogs defeat North Melbourne 143-72
Round 9, 22 May 2010 ES North Melbourne defeated by Western Bulldogs 57-127
KEY STATS
Western Bulldogs Ave Per Game North Melbourne
46.7 Inside 50s 53.8
150.8 Contested Possessions 147.6
189.8 Uncontested Possessions 206.8
233.0 Effective Disposals 258.3
68% Effective Disposals % 72.6%
47.7 Clangers 45.0
11.2 Contested Marks 11.5
7.5 Marks Inside 50 9.8
41.7 Clearances 42.2
Form leading in
North Melbourne
North have made a solid yet unspectacular start to the season (2 wins and 4 loses). They pushed Hawthorn right to the final siren, were up by 42 points against the Cats, pushed the Pies and were soundly beaten by the reigning premiers. The games they should have won they have but they have come up short against some serious opposition.
Their confidence should be up after beating previously undefeated Port Adelaide last weekend down at Hobart. Of concern for the coaching staff has been Norths inability to close out games and giving up substantial leads.
Western Bulldogs
The Dogs have been disappointing over the last few weeks, with loses to WCE, Geelong and Crows. The performance against the Cats was admirable but the defeats to the Crows and WCE were poor. Injury and form has forced us to field a very young side, with 15 players with less than 50 games experience in the side against the Coasters. The effort at the contest is there, the class certainly is not. Back at our home ground in neutral conditions we need better and more concise ball use and movement, as well as an ability to defend the ground throughout the contest.
Line Ups
North Melbourne
B: Scott McMahon, Scott Thompson, Michael Firrito
HB: Aaron Mullett, Jamie Macmillan, Brent Harvey
C: Daniel Wells, Shaun Atley, Sam Wright
HF: Aaron Black, Majak Daw, Taylor Hine
F: Lindsay Thomas, Drew Petrie, Leigh Adams
Foll: Todd Goldstein, Andrew Swallow, Jack Ziebell
Int: Ryan Bastinac, Ben Cunnington, Sam Gibson, Will Sierakowski
Western Bulldogs.
B: Dale Morris, Jordan Roughead, Liam Picken
HB: Jason Johannisen, Lukas Marcovic, Tom Young
C: Ryan Griffen, Matthew Boyd, Adam Cooney
HF: Robert Murphy, Dylan Addison, Daniel Giansiracusa
F: Luke Dahlhaus, Liam Jones, Jason Tutt
Foll: Will Minson, Nick Lower, Tom Liberatore
Int: Mitch Wallis, Clay Smith, Daniel Cross, Mark Austin
Key Match ups
Roughead vs Petrie-
Drew hasn’t been in the best form, but his record against the dogs is very solid. Roughead gets the job. He matches up quite well speed and size wise and will give a very solid contest. Roughead will need our mids and forwards to make it difficult for North to move the ball into their forward line quickly where Drew is most dangerous.
Jones Vs Thomspon
Jones has become the focal point of the bulldog forward line and has played a lone hand up forward the last couple of weeks. His 4 goal games against the Cats/Tigers were very good as was his effort against the Eagles. Scott Thompson is in outstanding form, some may argue all Australian form after keeping Buddy goal less just a fortnight ago.
Minson Vs Goldstein
This is a mouth watering match up with the two outstanding ruckmen of the competition at moment going head to head. Both will ruck the majority of the game with the winner of this dual going along way in getting their team the win.
Picken Vs Thomas
Thomas is leading all comers in the Coleman medal, he has become a vital cog in the North Melbourne forward line. He has got rid of the goal kicking yips, to become one of the most accurate goal kickers in the AFL. Picken gets first crack and must do a job for the team to stop this dangerous small forward.
Where the game will be won and lost
In the middle of the ground- The Roos love to play a quick corridor based style of football that stacks up very well against teams that struggle to defend the ground well. The dogs must force them to go wide around the boundary line and dictate their pattern of movement. The Dogs ability to win the hard ball cannot be questioned, we now must move away from the contest in a much more concise manor. Both ruckmen will give their midfielders a fair share of footy, we must win this battle to win the game.
First Quarter- North are a very good starting team winning the majority of their first quarters over the year, we must minimise this and not find ourselves 5-6 goals down at quarter time. If we can stay in the contest right to the end we are a very good chance of getting the ascendancy late in the game.
Leadership-BMac has put a bit of heat back onto the senior players within the team to demand and provide the standards we expect. The inclusions should help and I’m looking for Boyd, Cross, Cooney, Griffen, Murphy and Gia to stand up and make their teammates better. We need 22 blokes contributing to beat this mob and these blokes need to lead the way.
Verdict
North are not as bad as their ladder position suggests, they tend to beat the teams they should whilst struggling against the upper echelon in the competition (sound familiar?). For the Dogs to win we must defend the ground better and be more efficient when going into attack. Some much needed experience has been injected into the team which will hopefully help the dogs get the chocolates in a close one.
See you at the game
DOGS BY 3pts
Comment