Drugs Are Bad Mackay?
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- May 24, 2006
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Western Bulldogs vs Adelaide
Sunday April 27
Etihad Stadium
12:40pm (Adelaide time)
Overall
Western Bulldogs - 21
Adelaide - 17
At Etihad
Western Bulldogs - 6
Adelaide - 1
History
Early in the third quarter, 1997 Preliminary Final, Western Bulldogs vs Adelaide, MCG
Tim Watson: “…and Shaun Rehn has decided to take the bandage off his knee.”
Has there been a more symbolic moment in our club’s history? Shaun Rehn was our spiritual leader, coming off two knee reconstructions and he made a statement that went beyond mere possessions or hit outs. We were behind at half time but this said we were throwing caution to the wind, going to have a crack at it, no fear, no safety net. Watching it now (as I do daily) it still sends a shiver down the spine because you know what is about to unfold.
Early memories of games against Footscray involve the old Western Oval, some embarrassing floggings and a lot of mud. Terry Wheeler, that sly old dog, was the first coach to claim he’d unlocked the secret to winning at Football Park. Take the crowd out of the game early. Err… der… Some secret: starting well is good. Who’d have thunk it? Sounds simplistic but to this day it rings true. Rather than being an advantage the huge, expectant home crowd becomes an added pressure as the frustration builds. The Dogs enjoyed some early victories at Football Park.
A rare highlight at the now-named Whitten Oval occurred in 1996 when the Jarman brothers combined for 13 goals. I’m not sure if that really counts in this thread though because it was against Fitzroy. Just as an aside, Terry Wheeler must have LOVED Steven Kretiuk. Also in 1996 the Bulldogs beat us but Modra kicked 7 goals on him. Wheeler still gave Kretiuk one vote in his 3-2-1!
But the 1997-98 preliminary final double obviously dominates the history of these two clubs. It seems wrong in a way that two of our greatest moments were against the success starved Bulldogs. We’ve never had anything against them, aren’t traditional rivals or anything, their fans aren’t offensive in any way and there’s never been an ugly incident between the two teams to make the blood boil. But we’ll take them anyway.
The 1997 final was a tense, gripping classic filled with typical tough, hard finals football. Tyson Edwards’ smother is perhaps my strongest memory but there were plenty of others that stick in the memory bank for various reasons:
Some inspiring words from the Messiah: “Don’t kick it to Koster, boys. He’ll only **** it up.”
1998 was a different beast altogether. A shoot out! Last season was a disaster for us with Tory Dickson and ??? (anyone know his first name?) Campbell kicking a swag of goals to claim their spot in the Callum Chambers Club. WTF?! However, we have to acknowledge that Matthew Robran once kicked 6 goals against them in a preliminary final, surely the biggest football miracle of all time outside of Jared Petrenko reaching 50 games. So we can’t be too bitter about Dickson/Campbell’s heroics. Sando was so miffed that he actually gave Truck a big shove in a rare display of aggression.
Other random memories... Luke Darcy steering them to victory with 6 goals at Etihad in 2005... 1999 Lucas Herbert on the bench for the entire game to teach him a lesson!
Sunday’s Game
$2.28 Bulldogs
$1.65 Crows
I was a little surprised when we were listed as favourites for the Saints clash when we were sitting 0-3. History shows the bookies were on the money. Let’s hope they are again. The Dogs looked the part against Richmond then fell apart against Carlton. We’re actually at a fairly similar stage of our development as the Dogs. The average age last week of the Bulldogs was 24 years 10 months, the Crows was 24 years 8 months.
Brenton McCartney comes from the new fad of football coaches… the old stagers/seasoned pros who have inexplicably been overlooked for years: Hinkley, Richardson, McCartney. There’s no flash to McCartney and he seems to come from the Neil Craig School of Effervescence but he is just quietly and methodically building a football team. Starting with contested ball and now branching out into some sexier stuff.
Sanderson appears to be trying to instil the Geelong way of moving the football. It hasn't been super-successful thus far but sometimes it is difficult to tell the difference between game plan and execution. Time will tell.
Backs vs Forwards
The Dogs' forward line has long been their Achilles Heel with poor Liam Jones regularly flying solo. The make-up of our defence will be very interesting. Neither the much maligned Jones nor the clever Stewart Crameri really match up all that well with our preferred Talia-Rutten combo. Same with Jake Stringer. They haven’t been playing a resting ruckman so I can see us giving Truck another week off. Expect Tory Dickson to come in for his annual good game. Apparently kicked 5 goals in the VFL… shudder.
Andy Otten returned to the SANFL last week but ran out of puff after half time. Probably another game in the twos but he would be gunning for Shaw or Reilly’s spot in the coming weeks. Silverfox Daniel Giansiracusa is still bobbing up in the forward fifty while Luke Daulhaus made a welcome return last week, minus his hair. Both are dangerous and I’m not super confident that Brown and Jaensch can handle them.
Their defence looks a little shaky and this is perhaps an area where the Crows can get an advantage this week with both Jenkins and Podsiadly in decent touch. Against the two-pronged attack of Waite and Henderson, Tom Young struggled, Michael Talia is still pretty green and the injury-prone Tom Williams always has a question mark over him.
I hope we place a forward tag on Robert Murphy. He is pure class and sets them up from the back half. We cannot allow him to do his own thing. He must be made accountable.
Where we have lifted is in the small forward department. Wright and Laird have been steady while the arrival of Eddie Betts looks to have had a positive effect on Jared Petrenko. Petrenko’s last two weeks have been much improved. Apparently Pets is living with Eddie at the moment too. Let's hope some of the magic rubs off. It feels like a now or never period for him. He started the season out of the team and has flittered around for years, never nailing a permanent spot in the 22. He was lucky to retain his place after Round 3 and can’t afford a slip up with players to return.
Midfield
Will Minson vs Sam Jacobs could be the decisive duel. Two ruckmen who basically ruck solo for the whole game. Jacobs has looked like he’s back to his 2012 form while it seems Minson hasn’t quite scaled the heights of previous seasons yet. The Crows are the No 1 centre clearance team in the league this season (believe it or not) while the Dogs are 13th so this could be an advantage.
The Dogs have got a bit more depth through the midfield this season with Shaun Higgins’ body looking like it will finally carry him through a full season (touch wood), Adam Cooney’s knee finally free of inflammation and in Jackson Macrae it appears they’ve uncovered a blue chipper. Alongside Liberatore and Boyd it is a pretty decent combination.
Wallis got the run around from Murphy last week so you’d expect that Picken will be given the defensive job this week, probably on Dangerfield. The Dogs clamped down on Sloane last season – will they run with two players? Sam Kerridge has been a fringe player for two seasons playing a variety of roles but with Nathan van Berlo injured is filling the run with role with some aplomb. Good teams don’t tag we’ve been told, but now we do. Ipso facto… Expect Kerridge to head straight to Ryan Griffen. Good luck!
Dangerfield up forward could be the key as you’d think Dale Morris would be his perfect match up but is under an injury cloud.
Losing Douglas from the midfield opens the door for Mitch Grigg to return to the side. His 2014 has been a little disappointing so far. He has been shunted from the midfield/wing role he excelled in at the end of last season and has been playing as a half forward. He hasn’t been involved in the games much but what he has touched has been gold.
Game Style
Finally… a team that’s as handball happy as we are! Two teams trying to play a Geelong style without the talent. Hmmm.
Turnover goals were what killed us from Rounds 1-3 and these have dried up the last two weeks. Is this because our skills and decision making has improved or is it that St Kilda and GWS applied less pressure? Nothing against the Dogs, but they seem closer to the Saints than they are to the teams that feasted on our mistakes in Rounds 1-3.
Whether they can ramp up the pressure on the ball carrier will be a key. Our preferred option of using lots of handball to clear the ball from defence and using short passes up the ground will be tested. I’m not convinced we have the quality for this game style to stand up against the best teams. Mercifully we have seen some run and dash from Smith, Mackay and Jaensch the last two weeks. Looking to push forward, run and carry. We’ve looked more dynamic as a result and have moved the ball faster.
Prediction
Both teams will go into this match fully expecting to win which hopefully means that we’ll see a high scoring shoot out with both teams scoring >100 points.
Tip Adelaide by 14 points.
Sunday April 27
Etihad Stadium
12:40pm (Adelaide time)
Overall
Western Bulldogs - 21
Adelaide - 17
At Etihad
Western Bulldogs - 6
Adelaide - 1
History
Early in the third quarter, 1997 Preliminary Final, Western Bulldogs vs Adelaide, MCG
Tim Watson: “…and Shaun Rehn has decided to take the bandage off his knee.”
Has there been a more symbolic moment in our club’s history? Shaun Rehn was our spiritual leader, coming off two knee reconstructions and he made a statement that went beyond mere possessions or hit outs. We were behind at half time but this said we were throwing caution to the wind, going to have a crack at it, no fear, no safety net. Watching it now (as I do daily) it still sends a shiver down the spine because you know what is about to unfold.
Early memories of games against Footscray involve the old Western Oval, some embarrassing floggings and a lot of mud. Terry Wheeler, that sly old dog, was the first coach to claim he’d unlocked the secret to winning at Football Park. Take the crowd out of the game early. Err… der… Some secret: starting well is good. Who’d have thunk it? Sounds simplistic but to this day it rings true. Rather than being an advantage the huge, expectant home crowd becomes an added pressure as the frustration builds. The Dogs enjoyed some early victories at Football Park.
A rare highlight at the now-named Whitten Oval occurred in 1996 when the Jarman brothers combined for 13 goals. I’m not sure if that really counts in this thread though because it was against Fitzroy. Just as an aside, Terry Wheeler must have LOVED Steven Kretiuk. Also in 1996 the Bulldogs beat us but Modra kicked 7 goals on him. Wheeler still gave Kretiuk one vote in his 3-2-1!
But the 1997-98 preliminary final double obviously dominates the history of these two clubs. It seems wrong in a way that two of our greatest moments were against the success starved Bulldogs. We’ve never had anything against them, aren’t traditional rivals or anything, their fans aren’t offensive in any way and there’s never been an ugly incident between the two teams to make the blood boil. But we’ll take them anyway.
The 1997 final was a tense, gripping classic filled with typical tough, hard finals football. Tyson Edwards’ smother is perhaps my strongest memory but there were plenty of others that stick in the memory bank for various reasons:
Some inspiring words from the Messiah: “Don’t kick it to Koster, boys. He’ll only **** it up.”
1998 was a different beast altogether. A shoot out! Last season was a disaster for us with Tory Dickson and ??? (anyone know his first name?) Campbell kicking a swag of goals to claim their spot in the Callum Chambers Club. WTF?! However, we have to acknowledge that Matthew Robran once kicked 6 goals against them in a preliminary final, surely the biggest football miracle of all time outside of Jared Petrenko reaching 50 games. So we can’t be too bitter about Dickson/Campbell’s heroics. Sando was so miffed that he actually gave Truck a big shove in a rare display of aggression.
Other random memories... Luke Darcy steering them to victory with 6 goals at Etihad in 2005... 1999 Lucas Herbert on the bench for the entire game to teach him a lesson!
Sunday’s Game
$2.28 Bulldogs
$1.65 Crows
I was a little surprised when we were listed as favourites for the Saints clash when we were sitting 0-3. History shows the bookies were on the money. Let’s hope they are again. The Dogs looked the part against Richmond then fell apart against Carlton. We’re actually at a fairly similar stage of our development as the Dogs. The average age last week of the Bulldogs was 24 years 10 months, the Crows was 24 years 8 months.
Brenton McCartney comes from the new fad of football coaches… the old stagers/seasoned pros who have inexplicably been overlooked for years: Hinkley, Richardson, McCartney. There’s no flash to McCartney and he seems to come from the Neil Craig School of Effervescence but he is just quietly and methodically building a football team. Starting with contested ball and now branching out into some sexier stuff.
Sanderson appears to be trying to instil the Geelong way of moving the football. It hasn't been super-successful thus far but sometimes it is difficult to tell the difference between game plan and execution. Time will tell.
Backs vs Forwards
The Dogs' forward line has long been their Achilles Heel with poor Liam Jones regularly flying solo. The make-up of our defence will be very interesting. Neither the much maligned Jones nor the clever Stewart Crameri really match up all that well with our preferred Talia-Rutten combo. Same with Jake Stringer. They haven’t been playing a resting ruckman so I can see us giving Truck another week off. Expect Tory Dickson to come in for his annual good game. Apparently kicked 5 goals in the VFL… shudder.
Andy Otten returned to the SANFL last week but ran out of puff after half time. Probably another game in the twos but he would be gunning for Shaw or Reilly’s spot in the coming weeks. Silverfox Daniel Giansiracusa is still bobbing up in the forward fifty while Luke Daulhaus made a welcome return last week, minus his hair. Both are dangerous and I’m not super confident that Brown and Jaensch can handle them.
Their defence looks a little shaky and this is perhaps an area where the Crows can get an advantage this week with both Jenkins and Podsiadly in decent touch. Against the two-pronged attack of Waite and Henderson, Tom Young struggled, Michael Talia is still pretty green and the injury-prone Tom Williams always has a question mark over him.
I hope we place a forward tag on Robert Murphy. He is pure class and sets them up from the back half. We cannot allow him to do his own thing. He must be made accountable.
Where we have lifted is in the small forward department. Wright and Laird have been steady while the arrival of Eddie Betts looks to have had a positive effect on Jared Petrenko. Petrenko’s last two weeks have been much improved. Apparently Pets is living with Eddie at the moment too. Let's hope some of the magic rubs off. It feels like a now or never period for him. He started the season out of the team and has flittered around for years, never nailing a permanent spot in the 22. He was lucky to retain his place after Round 3 and can’t afford a slip up with players to return.
Midfield
Will Minson vs Sam Jacobs could be the decisive duel. Two ruckmen who basically ruck solo for the whole game. Jacobs has looked like he’s back to his 2012 form while it seems Minson hasn’t quite scaled the heights of previous seasons yet. The Crows are the No 1 centre clearance team in the league this season (believe it or not) while the Dogs are 13th so this could be an advantage.
The Dogs have got a bit more depth through the midfield this season with Shaun Higgins’ body looking like it will finally carry him through a full season (touch wood), Adam Cooney’s knee finally free of inflammation and in Jackson Macrae it appears they’ve uncovered a blue chipper. Alongside Liberatore and Boyd it is a pretty decent combination.
Wallis got the run around from Murphy last week so you’d expect that Picken will be given the defensive job this week, probably on Dangerfield. The Dogs clamped down on Sloane last season – will they run with two players? Sam Kerridge has been a fringe player for two seasons playing a variety of roles but with Nathan van Berlo injured is filling the run with role with some aplomb. Good teams don’t tag we’ve been told, but now we do. Ipso facto… Expect Kerridge to head straight to Ryan Griffen. Good luck!
Dangerfield up forward could be the key as you’d think Dale Morris would be his perfect match up but is under an injury cloud.
Losing Douglas from the midfield opens the door for Mitch Grigg to return to the side. His 2014 has been a little disappointing so far. He has been shunted from the midfield/wing role he excelled in at the end of last season and has been playing as a half forward. He hasn’t been involved in the games much but what he has touched has been gold.
Game Style
Finally… a team that’s as handball happy as we are! Two teams trying to play a Geelong style without the talent. Hmmm.
Turnover goals were what killed us from Rounds 1-3 and these have dried up the last two weeks. Is this because our skills and decision making has improved or is it that St Kilda and GWS applied less pressure? Nothing against the Dogs, but they seem closer to the Saints than they are to the teams that feasted on our mistakes in Rounds 1-3.
Whether they can ramp up the pressure on the ball carrier will be a key. Our preferred option of using lots of handball to clear the ball from defence and using short passes up the ground will be tested. I’m not convinced we have the quality for this game style to stand up against the best teams. Mercifully we have seen some run and dash from Smith, Mackay and Jaensch the last two weeks. Looking to push forward, run and carry. We’ve looked more dynamic as a result and have moved the ball faster.
Prediction
Both teams will go into this match fully expecting to win which hopefully means that we’ll see a high scoring shoot out with both teams scoring >100 points.
Tip Adelaide by 14 points.
Last edited:
great writeup. Glorious memories. Due for a rewatch of that match soon.
