Port v Bulldogs review

[Macca19]

Well gotta be happy with that result. We played till the end and came away with a big percentage booster.

Tredreas injury is a worry but it proves we can win, win big and kick a big score without him there.

After the first 5 minutes I thought we were in for a toughy. Hahn and Robbins kicked the first two goals of the game and we looked very lethargic. Montgomery scored our first running into an open goal and Josh Mahoney took a very strong pack mark moments later to kick our second. Carr kicked one from 50 metres out on the run and Wanganeen snapped a goal from the square from a throw in. We looked much better and were using the ball quite well, going quite direct as well. Johnson got one back for the Dogs before Wanganeen got his 2nd after the siren.

The second quarter saw Port pull away a bit more, kicking 5 goals to 2. Kingsley kicked his first and Lade scored running into goal after good work by Mahoney. Dew kicked one from 55 out and he was playing a pretty good game on a wing.

Darcy and Cooney kicked 2 for the Dogs before Schofield goaled after a play which involved about 25 handballs out of defence and up the field and Monty put us up by 28 points after a 50m penalty.

The third quarter saw us dominate the match and put out a huge lead. 8 goals to 1 and we completely dominated play. Mahoney opened the scoring with his 2nd and he was playing yet another fantastic match. Lade snapped a goal after again, some good work by Mahoney and Kane goaled from 40 out after making a spoil in the Bulldogs forward 50. Wanganeen kicked his 3rd and Toby kicked his first after a 50m bullet pass by Dew. Wanganeen goaled again before Carr kicked his first and the match was over with still 1 1/2 quarters to play. Eagleton got one back before a late James goal put us 12 goals up at 3 quarter time.

The last quarter saw the Bulldogs try and win some respect but Port ended up on top again. Murphy kicked 2 goals for the quarter in an impressive debut match. Cassisi goaled from 30 out and Toby got his second. Schofield kicked one after a free and big Damien Hardwick kicked his first goal in Power colours which he would have loved.

Mahoney kicked his 3rd to end the match and a big 86 point win.

Good hard win, really nice play and without Tredrea as well.

The best thing in my opinion was it was a very even performance. A lot of players played very good halves but there was no true standout.

Player Review:

Tredrea - Went off after 1/4 time with a AC joint injury. Apparnetly will miss next week, hope its not too bad.

Poulton - Not too bad. Not too great either, but not bad. Liked his attack early on and he didnt make too many mistakes tonight.

White - Excellent first half...setup quite a few goals and took some strong grabs. unsighted for the second half without Tredrea. Still, some good signs early.

Thurstans - Pretty good game coming off the bench and then playing up forward. 2 goals and some good marks.

Wakelin - Played pretty well on Darcy. Darcy didnt do much.

K Cornes - Spent time on Eagleton and Johnson. Did well. Good last half.

P Burgoyne - not huge numbres but every touch was a winner tonight which was good to see.

Cochrane - Well he got the ball tonight but was used as the 1-2 man most of the time. Most of his touches were little handballs.

Wanganeen - Excellent up forward. 4 goals, some really good play and good signs before the finals.

Dew - One of his best games for the year on the wing. Kicked long into the forward line a lot of the time which is what we want.

S Burgoyne - Solid down back. Ran it out with ease all night.

Bishop - The rock. Typical solid bish game.

Hardwick - Excellent work in the midfield and great to see him get a goal!!!

Cassisi - Quite early but really came alive in the second half kicking a goal and getting some kicks.

Carr - 2 goals but wasnt his best game i thought.

Lade - awesome again. 2 goals, 9 marks, excellent in the ruck.

Schofield - 2 goals and some good attacking football from him.

Mahoney - Go Josh!! 10 marks, 3 goals, one of our very best. Took some good marks, setup 3 goals as well.

C Cornes - great attack out of defence. Very good game.

Kingsley - solid in the midfield. Classy tonight i thought.

James - his best game for the year just about. Great in the middle.

Monty - definately his best game for the year. Great in a roaming role that saw him up forward, down back and spent quite a bit of time in the midfield.

POTY Votes:
10
9 - Mahoney, Monty
8 - Wanganeen, Lade, Kingsley, James
7 - Wakelin, Dew, Schofield, C Cornes
6 - K Cornes, P Burgoyne, S Burgoyne, Bishop, Hardwick, Carr
5 - Thurstans,
4 - White, Cassisi
3 - Poulton, Cochrane
2
1

[wishbone]

It was nice to see players like Dew and Kingsley doing tough things to get clearances.

Will we even get to know how bad Tredrea's injury is? We know what happened to Primus at the end of last year. I won't believe anything the club says until he's back out there.

[Ferox]

Great review.

I thought it was generous to Cochrane who continues to look ineffective around the ball, weak in tackles and gives off pathetic little handpasses, usually to the closest player even when they are standing virtually next to him. 'Nuff said. Aaaargh!

Toby needs to work on holding contested marks.

I thought Dew showed he can be of value - the opposition cant afford to ignore him, so he stretches their matchups.

[portentous]

Imagine if we'd had Broges, Wilbur and Pickett out there too.

Roll on finals.....

[_espoir]

I thought it was generous to Cochrane who continues to look ineffective around the ball, weak in tackles and gives off pathetic little handpasses, usually to the closest player even when they are standing virtually next to him.

I remember when Cochrane first came to the club, the games he played were top notch. But this season? don't know what has happened to him. Lets hope that a few of our great players this season (J.M) aren't gonna pull a Cochrane on us in the next few season.

[Andre]

I remember when Cochrane first came to the club, the games he played were top notch. But this season? don't know what has happened to him. Lets hope that a few of our great players this season (J.M) aren't gonna pull a Cochrane on us in the next few season.
Unless Choco gives him a gold pass it's unlikely. It's 50-50 if Cochrane got the boot from the side he'd pull his finger out, but where's the motivation at the moment ? Sub-standard and still gets games. :confused:

[PJ Power]

Found it hard to get really excited during this game.

Happy with the result, but one of those weekends, where the other sides came across as being more imposing and getting more out of their matches than we did.


The Bulldogs style of play is frustrating to watch, as when each side has the ball there doesn't seem to be an opponent within 20m.

I liked Damon's input in the first half and he showed terrific team-oriented skills in the second term. I suspect last week he got chastised for that point he kicked on the run, when he had Wangas calling for the ball more centrally. If that is the case, then he is clearly a quick and ready learner.
He combines alot with Kane Cornes. Must have fed out 5-6 handballs to Kane in the last fortnight.
His second half was definitely noticeable for his lack of presence around the contests. It was almost as though he was moving away from the action or we were avoiding him. I say that because his opponent Grant hardly got any action, despite Damon himself only touching it 2-3 times after halftime.

Really rated the games of Lade, Mahoney, James and Hardwick.

The JB and Chad combination back there is a real treat. They definitely straighten us up out of defence.

Wakelin also showed he is best suited to picking up ruck-forwards.

Finally, Monty's game was a real pleasing aspect. A back six that includes a firing Monty, Wilbur, JB and Chad is one that you can feel confident will stretch the opposition forward line's defensive skills.

[dyertribe]

The Bulldogs style of play is frustrating to watch ...

Eight of their players registered over 20 disposals, Johnson ended up with 19.

Their possession:damage ratio is terrible. Sure they lack a CHF or FF of any note, but cripes, they should've been able to do better with their 326 touches (Power 348) and 46 Inside-50s (Power 53) than cop an 86-point hiding - especially with Port's best player off the ground injured.