Toast I'll own up to it - I was wrong about the Western Bulldogs.

[ReaperX]

I hope I am not intruding here by creating a thread, but when I have views that are contradicted by such overwhelming evidence, and when I've voiced those views very loudly, I feel obligated to apologize and own up.

The Western Bulldogs are a bloody good team at the moment, and today they've proven that they actually have far more skill than I thought they did.

I don't know how they've done it, but almost every single player has improved, and it's real improvement too.

Guys like Grant and Wood, who have meandered in their careers to date, have new life about them.

Bontempelli looks like a future brownlow medalist.

Murphy's class and leadership is great to watch.

Stringer and Boyd is becoming a more deadly combination by the minute.

And finally, Lin Jong is a small skinny kid, but he has some flair and dash about him, and whilst he still does make silly mistakes, there cannot be any denying that he's improved out of sight.

I was very critical on here, and also in my own club's board, about feeling ashamed of our loss against the Dogs in Round 2. I've even said it was the worst loss I've ever seen from us, and I really felt that way at the time.

And while I am still disappointed, it's clear to me now that if the Dogs come to play, they can really trouble some teams, and that I shouldn't be as annoyed about that defeat. Watching you destroy Adelaide like that makes me think you guys might be another Port Adelaide.

Still a long way to go to prove that of course, but not many rated Port's list prior to 2013 and Hinkley, and he hasn't missed a beat.

I'm sure earning my respect probably means very little to you guys haha, but still as I said, if I'm wrong and I'm shown to be wrong, I like to own up to it.

The Western Bulldogs are indeed a good team, and they could even play finals this year, which would be an incredible achievement considering what happened in the off-season.

Best of luck to you guys moving forward, and I hope my own club can learn a few things from you guys RE intensity and pressure acts.

 

[stefoid]

Lin Jong is a powerhouse, not a skinny kid. 2nd opposition poster Ive come across today to call him skinny actually.

 

[Wizard17]

Lin Jong is a powerhouse, not a skinny kid. 2nd opposition poster Ive come across today to call him skinny actually.

188cm, 90kg ain't skinny or little.

 

[dogwatch]

I haven't read any of your work ReaperX but quite a few here (whose opinions I respect) commented what an insufferable a-hole you had been. They may well have been right.

Regardless, kudos to you for the OP and the retraction. Most would just creep away and hide, hoping that everyone forgets what they had said.

Retraction accepted.

 

[ReaperX]

Lin Jong is a powerhouse, not a skinny kid. 2nd opposition poster Ive come across today to call him skinny actually.

He's not a powerhouse.

Nathan Fyfe, Dustin Martin, Josh Kennedy (Swans midfielder, although the Eagles one is too haha), etc are powerhouse players.

He's a skinny kid in a physical sense, but he is showing the courage and determination of a powerhouse-type player.

Classic "it's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog" cliche.

Not potting him, it's actually a good thing, I'm just saying.

 

[Cori]

Nice to see you have some scruples after seeing some of the crazy stuff you posted during the Richmond game. Glad to see you are not as horribly one-eyed as you could have been. Respect!

 

[Contador]

To be honest a lot of people on here probably felt the same way. I did. Thought we'd finish bottom 2 and get frequently belted when Libba went down, and that any team losing to us would be fairly embarrassed.

 

[King Bont]

All good reaper! Love your passion for your club. Best of luck for the Rest of the season mate

 

[ReaperX]

Nice to see you have some scruples after seeing some of the crazy stuff you posted during the Richmond game. Glad to see you are not as horribly one-eyed as you could have been. Respect!

I was incredibly angry about the game, there's no question. But in a strange way, seeing what you did to Adelaide was actually good, because you were playing just as well against us as you were today, and you only got us by 19 points.

Then again, we also just lost to Melbourne in a practically identical way, so not sure that us losing by less than Adelaide did means that much!

Anyway this thread isn't about Richmond haha!

The Bulldogs deserve to be the story of the week.

 

[ManOfClay]

Kudos for owning up.

This'll make you feel better about your loss to us

 

[stefoid]

He's not a powerhouse.

Nathan Fyfe, Dustin Martin, Josh Kennedy (Swans midfielder, although the Eagles one is too haha), etc are powerhouse players.

He's a skinny kid in a physical sense, but he is showing the courage and determination of a powerhouse-type player.

Classic "it's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog" cliche.

Not potting him, it's actually a good thing, I'm just saying.

taller and heavier than Dustin MArtin, LOL.

 

[VogonProsthetnic]

It's going to be fun reviewing the so called experts pre season predictions at the seasons end. Most people had us finishing 15th to 18th. The football world has not seen much of us the past 2 seasons and way overestimated Cooney, Jones, Higgins and Tutt.

 

[Norm De Guerre]

Because the Tigers board is far and away my favourite opposition board, especially after a loss, I read most of your incredibly disrespectful posts leading up to and post our game. For mine your simpering mea culpa goes nowhere near making up for the general arsehattery that you have displayed in recent times.

Hope you sleep well tonight.

 

[King Bont]

Because the Tigers board is far and away my favourite opposition board, especially after a loss, I read most of your incredibly disrespectful posts leading up to and post our game. For mine your simpering mea culpa goes nowhere near making up for the general arsehattery that you have displayed in recent times.

Hope you sleep well tonight.

Come on dude! He's apologising

 

[Hard Ball Get]

Hopefully the next step is realising that the Tigers list really isn't that great...

 

[Norm De Guerre]

Come on dude! He's apologising

C'mon dude! Did you read any of the s**t that he posted about your team?

 

[King Bont]

C'mon dude! Did you read any of the s**t that he posted about your team?

I couldn't care less! he apologises and we move on as winners

 

[Dancing Dougy]

You're a bigger man than I gave you credit for Reaper.

 

[GetDimmaBack]

I was incredibly angry about the game, there's no question. But in a strange way, seeing what you did to Adelaide was actually good, because you were playing just as well against us as you were today, and you only got us by 19 points.

Then again, we also just lost to Melbourne in a practically identical way, so not sure that us losing by less than Adelaide did means that much!

Anyway this thread isn't about Richmond haha!

The Bulldogs deserve to be the story of the week.

The Richmond board is my favourite opposition board, for many reasons.

I hope you find the Doggies board the same, Reaper.


It takes a big man to apologise, and you've done well.

 

[ReaperX]

Because the Tigers board is far and away my favourite opposition board, especially after a loss, I read most of your incredibly disrespectful posts leading up to and post our game. For mine your simpering mea culpa goes nowhere near making up for the general arsehattery that you have displayed in recent times.

Hope you sleep well tonight.

Come on dude! He's apologising

C'mon dude! Did you read any of the s**t that he posted about your team?

Nah no need to defend me on this one, it's a fair call by australian idle here.

Nobody needs to accept my apology, and if they don't that's all good, no skin off my back. I can definitely admit that I was being a huge dick towards the Bulldogs fans, and even some Richmond fans who were talking the Dogs up too, but when I go hard about something I believe to be true, I don't hold back.

I didn't rate the Dogs list at the start of the season, and even after the Eagles win, I thought that to be somewhat of a fluke. I defended this position as long as I could, but even after the Hawks game, despite the score blowing out late, Dogs were largely competitive and had me doubting my beliefs. And then today happened.

All I can say in my defense, is that when it becomes abundantly clear that I'm wrong about something, I'll own up to it and eat my words. The evidence right now indicates that the Doggies are heading for a good year, and may be closer to finals than I ever expected.

Also, I always sleep well, I'm a deep sleeper actually!

 

[ReaperX]

Hopefully the next step is realising that the Tigers list really isn't that great...

That I won't concede on haha, our list isn't the problem, it's Hardwick's inability to get the best out of it.

Not unlike Macca and you guys.

I also think Leppa might be in trouble with his Lions, they should be better than what they are producing, but he isn't smashing them hard enough and punishing them for their insipid footy either, just like Hardwick isn't.

Tigers will be thereabouts still in terms of finals, but we're no premiership threat until Hardwick is outta there unfortunately.

The Richmond board is my favourite opposition board, for many reasons.

I hope you find the Doggies board the same, Reaper.


It takes a big man to apologise, and you've done well.

You guys are alright!

I've had a look back at some of my posts from a few weeks ago, and there was some pretty cringe-worthy stuff said by me honestly, yet you guys were pretty reasonable!

I'm generally pretty reasonable too, but for some reason that loss against you just really pissed me off.

Doesn't piss me off nearly as much after today though.

 

[bresker]

You definitely need to change coach. He blames the players for everything and has the reaction time of an injured slug.

Also I quite like his banter pre-match but post-match he is a weak smart arsed puss puss.

Get rid of him. Has had far too long.

 

[ReaperX]

taller and heavier than Dustin MArtin, LOL.

Dusty does have much more of a presence though I think, and seems like he's much stronger through his core than a guy like Jong. Maybe it's because alot of Martin's weight is through the core, where maybe Jong it's sort of spread more thinly across more places, I dunno.

Jong seems like a wiry sorta type, not a bullish type of player, that's what I'm saying.

If you asked the average fan who they thought would be the bigger player in terms of size or strength, I think most people would say Dusty, because he's the sort of player that you see actually uses it more.

 

[Zeno The Great]

I read all your posts reaper after the loss to us and some of your comments like Melbourne's 2012 list is better than our current list and thought this guy is the biggest flog i have ever come across on BF. But credit to you, not many people have the balls to apologise when they are wrong, and your apology and sincere adulation of the efforts of our team are much appreciated. I wish you and the tiges all the best for the remainder of the year.

 

[ReaperX]

I read all your posts reaper after the loss to us and some of your comments like Melbourne's 2012 list is better than our current list and thought this guy is the biggest flog i have ever come across on BF. But credit to you, not many people have the balls to apologise when they are wrong, and your apology and sincere adulation of the efforts of our team are much appreciated. I wish you and the tiges all the best for the remainder of the year.

Yeah that one was a bit silly, though it is an opinion I sincerely held prior to the start of the year, I really thought the Dogs were headed for a spoon and were in some serious trouble. Which again, is where part of my intense anger was coming from.

In fairness though, only the most staunchly positive Dogs fan would have thought differently in terms of potentially being in spoon calculations, although I would assume you'd still have rated yourself ahead of the Dees in 2012, haha.

Not only are the Dogs not heading for a spoon though, they're actually a genuine shot at finals if they can keep up this style of play. It is a long season, but form is form.

I honestly do still have my doubts in terms of how long they can sustain it, being such a young team. I think the commentators were saying that 14 of your players today were under 25 years old, which is staggering really, but their enthusiasm for the contest is infectious.

I used to be of the opinion that skills are harder to learn than attitude, but the Doggies, and to a lesser extent, the failings of GC, are showing that all the talent in the world is useless if you don't have hunger and intensity, and that it's easier to cover for a bit of polish when you are manic with your defensive and pressure acts.

I do stand-by the comment that your game-plan is largely hinging on manic intensity though, so that's the next question in the Doggies evolution: can they sustain it for a 22 game season?

Personally, if they do make it to September, even if it's at our expense, I'll cheer for them, because they will have deserved it.