Review Bontempelli magnificent but the Dogs fall short. Lions 98 d Bulldogs 80

May 27, 2002
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Cordy must be the luckiest Bulldog of the last few years. Sneaks into a Premiership team towards the backhalf of the year to play a defensive CHF roles. Does it o.k yet actually was well beaten GF day.

Then is moved back, he started off o.k, never really showed a lot though in marking or ability to win contests. Has been a liability for 2 years yet because we lack so much in the key defensive spots gets a game. Can't seem to read the game and is always caught running back. Can't remember the last time he won a one of one battle.

Maybe some competition for spots my help him as at the moment the AFL looks above his ability level.
 
Aug 17, 2012
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Hey guys, just popped in to say that it was a great game to be at. Bontempelli & Macrae are absolute stars in the midfield for you, the number of times they broke away cleanly, or spread a handball out to a Bulldogs player in space reminded me of Black in the olden days.
As Beveridge pointed out, it was probably more due to efficiency going forward. Thought we were pretty lucky to come away with the win there, especially towards the end of the 3rd quarter. No doubt you will be aggresive at the trade table this year, look forward to many more close battles in the years to come. Much rather your blokes than the likes of Richmond, Essendon or Collingwood.

Naughton in the forward line was a scary proposition, think he could have kicked a couple more goals, but it's interesting that whenever Schache or he brought the ball down to ground, the Doggies small forwards always misread the ball drop. Would be at the front when it would drop out the back etc;.

All the best for the rest of 2019 season, and sorry about Robinson. He can be a bit of a brute sometimes, but we love him.
 

Dazb86

Brownlow Medallist
Mar 31, 2008
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Hey guys, just popped in to say that it was a great game to be at. Bontempelli & Macrae are absolute stars in the midfield for you, the number of times they broke away cleanly, or spread a handball out to a Bulldogs player in space reminded me of Black in the olden days.
As Beveridge pointed out, it was probably more due to efficiency going forward. Thought we were pretty lucky to come away with the win there, especially towards the end of the 3rd quarter. No doubt you will be aggresive at the trade table this year, look forward to many more close battles in the years to come. Much rather your blokes than the likes of Richmond, Essendon or Collingwood.

Naughton in the forward line was a scary proposition, think he could have kicked a couple more goals, but it's interesting that whenever Schache or he brought the ball down to ground, the Doggies small forwards always misread the ball drop. Would be at the front when it would drop out the back etc;.

All the best for the rest of 2019 season, and sorry about Robinson. He can be a bit of a brute sometimes, but we love him.

The smalls had a dirty day. As did most of the forward line. Converting shots into goals has been hard work all year for us. No problems with Robinsons hit he's a funny player to watch. All the best in finals.
 

Triple Baileys

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Jan 7, 2019
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Macrae and Hunter need to change their game and take shots at goal when they are within range (50m on the run) or piff it long to the goal square where Naughton, Schache, Bailey Dale, Johnny English (when resting forward), Bont (when resting forward) or even Billy Gowers could snaffle an overhead.

Something important for those two to work on this pre-season.
 
Macrae and Hunter need to change their game and take shots at goal when they are within range (50m on the run) or piff it long to the goal square where Naughton, Schache, Bailey Dale, Johnny English (when resting forward), Bont (when resting forward) or even Billy Gowers could snaffle an overhead.

Something important for those two to work on this pre-season.
Macrae yes. Hunter no.
Would need to be 40m maximum for Hunter. He'd be stretched to clear the defenders in the goal square from 50m out.
 
Chasing Keith and Moore seems as though the club has no plans to push Naughton to the backline.

Granted I want Cordy forward too but the ship seems to have sailed in regards to Naughton being a full time KPD.
Don't know if anyone else heard it but I'm sure that at one point I heard the commentators say that the club has had no contact with Moore and that it was his managers attempt at driving a better deal.
 
Oct 4, 2004
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Macrae and Hunter need to change their game and take shots at goal when they are within range (50m on the run) or piff it long to the goal square where Naughton, Schache, Bailey Dale, Johnny English (when resting forward), Bont (when resting forward) or even Billy Gowers could snaffle an overhead.

Something important for those two to work on this pre-season.

Keep it simple let them take shots from within 50m on the run and know it will land 10 m out. They don't have penetration at all.
 

TiAn_

Norm Smith Medallist
Sep 19, 2006
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I‘ve made my own views on Hunter pretty clear over the last few years, but here are some stats that IMO can be interpreted either for or against him:

We are 9-3 when Hunter has 2+ clearances and/or 6+ CPs.

We are 0-7 when Hunter has 1- clearances and 5- CPs.

On the season he’s averaging 7.5 CPs and 3.4 clearances in wins, 4 CPs and 1 clearance in losses.

Barometer for our team, or liability when not impacting the contest? Or just a meaningless coincidence...
 
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I‘ve made my own views on Hunter pretty clear over the last few years, but here are some stats that IMO can be interpreted either for or against him:

We are 9-3 when Hunter has 2+ clearances and/or 6+ CPs.

We are 0-7 when Hunter has 1- clearances and 5- CPs.

On the season he’s averaging 7.5 CPs and 3.4 clearances in wins, 4 CPs and 1 clearance in losses.

Barometer for our team, or liability when not impacting the contest? Or just a meaningless coincidence...
That's a most intriguing stat TiAn.

One take on it is that if Hunter had just had 1 or 2 more clearances in each of those seven losses we'd now be sitting at least 13-10 in 4th or 5th spot.

Has anyone got Bevo's phone number?
 

Triple Baileys

Club Legend
Jan 7, 2019
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I‘ve made my own views on Hunter pretty clear over the last few years, but here are some stats that IMO can be interpreted either for or against him:

We are 9-3 when Hunter has 2+ clearances and/or 6+ CPs.

We are 0-7 when Hunter has 1- clearances and 5- CPs.

On the season he’s averaging 7.5 CPs and 3.4 clearances in wins, 4 CPs and 1 clearance in losses.

Barometer for our team, or liability when not impacting the contest? Or just a meaningless coincidence...

the latter. He's a good player but he needs to adjust his kicking style. He should take lessons from Suckers and develop a more exaggerated leftward run off the line to get extra power so that he has a leg canon (like Suckers does).
 

Bont did OK in the AFLCA votes, now in the lead.

BRISBANE v WESTERN BULLDOGS
9 Marcus Bontempelli (WB)
7 Mitch Robinson (BL)
6 Jack Macrae (WB)
6 Charlie Cameron (BL)
1 Josh Dunkley (WB)
1 Jarrod Berry (BL)

My guess:
Fagan
5 Robinson
4 Bont (WB)
3 Cameron
2 Macrae (WB)
1 Berry

Bev
5. Bont
4. Macrae
3. Cameron (BL)
2. Robinson (BL)
1. Dunkley

I'm with Bevo!


Leaders:
LEADERBOARD
88 Marcus Bontempelli

86 Tim Kelly
78 Patrick Cripps
73 Nat Fyfe
73 Lachie Neale
68 Brodie Grundy
67 Travis Boak
67 Luke Shuey
65 Ben Cunnington
62 Patrick Dangerfield
60 Max Gawn
57 Dustin Martin
57 Elliot Yeo
56 Jack Macrae
52 Josh Dunkley

51 Brad Crouch
51 Dion Prestia
51 Tim Taranto
51 Dayne Zorko
 

Bont did OK in the AFLCA votes, now in the lead.

BRISBANE v WESTERN BULLDOGS
9 Marcus Bontempelli (WB)
7 Mitch Robinson (BL)
6 Jack Macrae (WB)
6 Charlie Cameron (BL)
1 Josh Dunkley (WB)
1 Jarrod Berry (BL)

My guess:
Fagan
5 Robinson
4 Bont (WB)
3 Cameron
2 Macrae (WB)
1 Berry

Bev
5. Bont
4. Macrae
3. Cameron (BL)
2. Robinson (BL)
1. Dunkley

I'm with Bevo!


Leaders:
LEADERBOARD
88 Marcus Bontempelli

86 Tim Kelly
78 Patrick Cripps
73 Nat Fyfe
73 Lachie Neale
68 Brodie Grundy
67 Travis Boak
67 Luke Shuey
65 Ben Cunnington
62 Patrick Dangerfield
60 Max Gawn
57 Dustin Martin
57 Elliot Yeo
56 Jack Macrae
52 Josh Dunkley

51 Brad Crouch
51 Dion Prestia
51 Tim Taranto
51 Dayne Zorko
According to the Coaches we have three of the top 15 players in the comp.
 
Bont phenomenal. If we’d won a few more he’d be in the Brownlow convo.

Macrae good.

English mostly solid.

Naughton and Schache showing signs they could be a very good one-two punch in time.

Hunter wtf. Dicko off the pace. Wood and Cordy poor.

Missing gimmes deep in the forward line can be fatal. The upside is we are slowly getting there. If we actually fix it we’re good.

Three goal loss to a top three side at their home ground is not a disaster. Honestly the real problem was losing to GC, Carl, Saints and North.

We've won the same amount of genes as Freo, have the same %, are above them on the ladder yet Fyfe is practically Brownlow fav and We haven't won enough games for Bont to be "in the conversation" hang on tight, he is right in the convo and I'll keep loading up at the stupid odds...gambling responsibly of course
 

badkicking

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Aug 4, 2019
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The idea of moving Naughton to defence is by itself incredibly short sighted, but the idea of replacing him up there with Cordy is just the creme de la creme of suggestions that would nosedive our already sputtering attack.

Naughton is only 19 and already leads the league in contested marks (!! Next youngest in the top 20 is Harry McKay, who is 21, no one else is under 24), is 8th in marks inside 50, averages over a goal a game and just had 14 touches, 10 marks (3 contested) and 2.2 (including a bad miss) against the consensus 22 year old AA FB. The second time he has convincingly beaten him this year.

He’s the KPF prospect we’ve been dreaming of since Grant and some people want to plop him at CHB so he can play as a rich man’s Easton Wood. It’s just unfathomable to me.

Cordy gets so much credit for doing even the most basic things half-well when he’s swung forward, but he’s a terrible contested mark (and occasionally even flubs chest marks), is a shonky kick, zero threat of out-bodying anyone close to goal and his only demonstrated skill is flailing into packs with no hope of ever actually taking a mark. People call that a defensive forward, but really almost any hack on an AFL list could do that. Playing forward against Freo in a side that kicked 12 first half goals in the first half he had 4 kicks, 3 handballs, 0 marks and 0 scoring scoring shots. And most of those kicks were when he shifted to defence during Q2.

Naughton is a young generational talent and unless the wheels completely fall off for him as a forward, he needs to stay there. Cordy is what he is and the team will be much better when he isn’t a walk up start any more.
 

Munnez

Premiership Player
Apr 2, 2018
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Macrae yes. Hunter no.
Would need to be 40m maximum for Hunter. He'd be stretched to clear the defenders in the goal square from 50m out.
Hunter had plenty of time to run to 40m and have a ping he just didn't want to take responsibility for having a go at it
 
May 15, 2005
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Commiserations on the loss.

Here are the midfield frequency stats from the game. If you haven't seen a previous post, this is an overall summary of how often your players were lining up as one of the 5 mids at bounces.

Overall Summary - 28 Bounces

Macrae 25
Dunkley 22
Bont 18
Lipinski 16 wing
Hunter 14 wing
McLean 14 wing
Libba 12
Richards 11 wing
B.Smith 5 (4i, 1w)
Daniel 3

Rucks:
English 25
Schache 3

Centre Clearances (as per Champion Data/AFL.com.au
Macrae 7
Dunkley 2
Bont 1
Libba 1
Schache 1
Lipinski 1
B.Smith 1

1st Half - 10
Macrae 10
Dunkley 8
Hunter 8 wing
Richards 7 wing
Bont 5
Lipinski 5 wing
Libba 4
B.Smith 3

English 8
Schache 2

2nd Half - 18

Macrae 15
Dunkley 14
McLean 14 wing
Bont 13
Lipinski 11 wing
Libba 8
Hunter 6 wing
Richards 4 wing
Daniel 3
B.Smith 2 (1w, 1i)

English 17
Schache 1

Notes:
- Most starts for Lipinski & McLean in analysed games since Rd 16, 2018, when they had 23 & 19 starts respectively. This was McLean's most ever wing starts in analysed games - he had 13 in the 2016 Grand Final.
- Lowest percentage of bounces attended for Hunter in an analysed game since Rd 21, 2017, when he played the vast majority as a HBF.
- Most inside starts for Daniel in an analysed game since Rd 18, 2018 when he had 4
 

hutchy31

Norm Smith Medallist
May 25, 2014
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Inside mid groups don’t get any better than the Dogs. It’s the one feather in our cap.

Sorry, you misunderstood or I didn’t phrase that right - I meant Brisbane’s inside mid group isn’t going to stand up in finals, and they’ll face better groups than theirs in pretty much any final. Ours showed that will happen, we just didn’t play well up forward and are weak at KPD and got punished accordingly.

I wouldn’t swap our midfield group for anything. Collingwood looked good for a period and has a bunch of stars, but I’d rather have ours particularly going forward.

Now as for the rest of the team, that’s a work in progress........
 
Nov 29, 2018
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Wow, Smith only had 5 centre bounces? Wouldn't guess it with the 27 touches and 4 clearances.
 
How to unpick the Dogs:

A. SCORING
  • Don't go all the way back with their high defensive press. Have 2-3 smart players around the centre ready to break the "off-side trap". All need to be mobile, preferably one of them 190cm or more.
  • Have 3-4 players ready to move the ball quickly across half-back when the side regains possession. They need to be slick ball handlers.
  • Look for the intercept/turnover opportunities - especially when the Dogs try their chip kicks from about half-forward and their forward line is crowded.
  • When the (inevitable) turnover eventually comes, move the ball swiftly through the half-back and centre before the Dogs can get back.
  • At least one of the forwards to press hard, going goalside of their defender.
  • Final delivery: go deep looking for the player out the back. If he's covered already, lower your eyes. They should be outnumbered in their d50 so there will still be a loose target about 30-40m out.
  • Kick goal, rinse and repeat
I'm pretty sure all sides would be across this recipe by now.

B. STOPPING THE WB FROM SCORING (GOALS)
  • Maintain intense pressure on the ball carriers in the midfield so their f50 entries are rushed, long and/or high.
  • If it's a choice of marking one of two loose men going forward and one them is Hunter, always mark the other one. Hunter's i50s won't hurt as much and most of them should be easily rebounded.
  • Have someone block Naughton when the ball does come in high. He's about the only risk of a mark within range in the corridor. Scragging him is OK too - he only gets an average of about 1 FK a game. Hasn't learned to flop or throw out his arms yet.
  • Clog the hot spot with players who can take intercept marks or spoil
  • Have a few smalls also clogging up their f50
  • Blocking the corridor will force them to come via the boundary making shots harder to convert
  • Don't worry too much about them having set shots from marks or frees. Unless it's 20m out straight in front (or it's Dickson or Schache) they are pretty sure to miss.
 

Braybrook Son

Norm Smith Medallist
Jul 4, 2016
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the latter. He's a good player but he needs to adjust his kicking style. He should take lessons from Suckers and develop a more exaggerated leftward run off the line to get extra power so that he has a leg canon (like Suckers does).
You mean how Suckers takes 1 minute to kick the ball and then gets caught holding the ball? Yeah, no thanks
 

Triple Baileys

Club Legend
Jan 7, 2019
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You mean how Suckers takes 1 minute to kick the ball and then gets caught holding the ball? Yeah, no thanks

For every one of those, there are 20 75 metre missiles. How can you not see that?

I know I'd prefer to see Hunter and Macrae get caught every now and then if they stopped their ineffective short kicking to shallow areas of the forward line.
 
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