Autopsy Dogs beaten by the Lions 96-72

[Yojimbo]

Bont in the middle 3 quarters
Scores
Dogs 9 4 58
Lions 8 4 52

Not rocket science
Second quarter sat at full forward
Lions 6 4 40
Dogs 2 1 13 including 1 from Bont

Keep him in the guts Bev

I would have thought not leaving it to the one bloke was why Richmond is now winning flags.

 

[dogwatch]

Can the posters who keep pushing up Dale tell me what he brings to the team. I’m talking actual results. He was non existent for the first half and only marginally better in the second. I kept looking for him but could not find him. Maybe I need a wide screen tv. He did do a good pass to Lloyd and he did kick one goal so he did far better than I expected. Don’t give me anymore “ potential “. His nickname should be Godot. ( end of rant)

I've often felt that way about Dale. He had a purple patch late last year when the side was flying and that has bought him a lot of brownie points.

At the moment the excuse for his modest 2020 form is that he has been playing with a troublesome ankle which may well have been true. Anyway he's had a few weeks to recover so that shouldn't apply any more. I'm prepared to go easy on him this week as it was his first game in a while but he needs to increase his output in the coming weeks.

Dunkley and Naughton are in the same boat in terms of getting back into the swing of footy. Naughton especially as he has barely had any game time with the current forward structure and the personnel are likely to change again next week (maybe Greene or Cavarra will come in).

However with these two we at least know what they are capable of. They have had more good games than Dale.

 

[Pocket Terrace]

Both matches today were won by the sides that still get to play at home. Both Port and Brissy, even when they play away games at the moment it is at a neutral venue. Eg. Against Melbourne on the Gold Coast.

We've got some evident flaws in how we are playing, but wouldn't it have been nice to have one of the past 3 games on our home deck? A lot can be said for the confidence Brisbane and Port are playing with by getting home games. Look at West Coast since they've returned home.

It goes to show that the AFL right now (even more than usual) is not actually a sport, but an entertainment industry for the sake of tv audiences.

 

[ForeverHardcore]

I would have thought not leaving it to the one bloke was why Richmond is now winning flags.

Nothing to do with it. We play to dustys strengths
Play your players in the best positions and you’ll get the best out of them. Bont at full forward may get the odd goal but he’s far more important in the middle for you guys

 

[weltschmerz]

Macrae should be our B&F this year.

 

[BEaston]

What I meant was that the data is skewed when comparing to his actual game. Moot point and not disagreeing with what you're stating.

How can the data be skewed when comparing to his actual game? It is literally telling you the things he did in his actual game.
It's just....data.

Skewed data is when you have an asymmetrical distribution of a data set.

 

[Snarls Barkley]

Both matches today were won by the sides that still get to play at home. Both Port and Brissy, even when they play away games at the moment it is at a neutral venue. Eg. Against Melbourne on the Gold Coast.

We've got some evident flaws in how we are playing, but wouldn't it have been nice to have one of the past 3 games on our home deck? A lot can be said for the confidence Brisbane and Port are playing with by getting home games. Look at West Coast since they've returned home.

It goes to show that the AFL right now (even more than usual) is not actually a sport, but an entertainment industry for the sake of tv audiences.

To be fair to Port, today was their second home game (not counting the Showdown since its both teams home) and they lost the first one against St Kilda.

 

[VogonProsthetnic]

Caracella

‘And he must be really pissed at missing out to Rutten.

 

[adammonerz]

Never thought I'd say it but Bevo has to go, has no plan B, making weird as * team selections and seems stubborn since 2016 thanks Luke but piss off now

 

[VogonProsthetnic]

Other than team selection (that everyone has talked about) the two big concerns for me are:

1. Onfield leadership. I've talked about leadership three weeks in a row now. There's even a thread on it. We were a disorganised rabble for most of the match. Bontempelli is the captain but he can't do all the directing himself, especially when Bevo parks him in the goalsquare. Wallis is cluey and respected but he's standing in the forward pocket for most of the match. We are missing Crozier and Hunter so much.

2. The packed schedule. Mostly we think about cumulative fatigue with these tight clusters of games and in the case of Tim English and maybe Bailey Smith that's probably correct. However there's a mental and tactical impact as well. When things start to fall apart there's very little time to sort it out - to talk it through with each of the players (and the group) and get everybody to understand, practise and internalise what's required. Also when a run of games go against you there's little time to get mentally rebalanced. You run out for another match before you've actually worked the mental demons from the last game out of the system.
The obvious objection is that every club has to deal with it, but it's not a problem when you're winning. It might even help - you move onto your next game still feeling "in the zone" so there's less time for any doubts to creep in.

These factors aren't why we are a middle-ranked team, but they might explain some of the bizarre things we've been watching and give us a clue why they aren't automatically fixed up by the next game.


So what do we do?

The first problem can be fixed with more onfield leaders. The return of Hunter and Crozier, bringing in Trengove and maybe Dickson and Duryea when fit. In the offseason it'd be great to secure a player who is still handy but well past his peak, one that would come at almost no cost (eg a Luke Hodge type of pickup). I think players like Keath, Libba and Daniel could be coached in being onfield leaders too. They read the game well, they're composed and well-respected.

The second problem is unlikely to go away in 2020 so we just have to live with it. Maybe hope that the cycle of self-confidence comes around again as we start to play lower-ranked sides, and with it we develop a bit more cohesion as things fall into place.
Otherwise we just wear it until 2021.

Surely our premiership captain is one of our leaders.

 

[Yojimbo]

Nothing to do with it. We play to dustys strengths
Play your players in the best positions and you’ll get the best out of them. Bont at full forward may get the odd goal but he’s far more important in the middle for you guys

We had the same starting midfield for years for many years and it cost us multiple flags, after GWS roughed up Bont last year he
was always going to draw attention, he has had a poor year to date.

 

[Pocket Terrace]

To be fair to Port, today was their second home game (not counting the Showdown since its both teams home) and they lost the first one against St Kilda.

3 of their past 4 games have been at Adelaide Oval. Now they hit the road for a neutral game against Geelong, before getting back to Adelaide Oval the following week. They've played just 2 games all season where the opposition are genuinely on their home ground. Same with Brisbane actually.

Not knocking either of them necessarily. Good luck to them. But it's not bad if you can get it and start to build momentum.

Just an observation. Dogs can't play 4 quarters at the moment, so we won't win many games wherever we play until we fix that.

 

[Pugz89]

One bright light is Laitham Vandermeer. Enjoying his progress this season so far.

 

[Here we go dogs]

The season is probably dead after the last 3 games.

So many negatives at the moment, we can’t even isolate our problems to one part of the ground. Structurally we are so fragile and we can’t wrestle back momentum when things don’t fall our way.

Killed onthe spread from stoppages tonight. Toby McLean should’ve gone in the middle tonight. I would of liked to see him do a shut down role on neil.

Has wood always been such a terrible kick?? I honestly don’t remember him being that bad pre 2017. Other than his disposal he was excellent tonight on Cameron.

B.smith, english, Richards, Cordy and maybe libba need a rest. I don’t think sweet is the replacement for english, I doubt sweeet will have the tank to ruck solo and the season doesn’t lend to a two Ruck set up. saying that if we lose a couple more games and finals are done why not feedhim to the wolves and see what

Lipinki’s effort frustrated me tonight. His tackling technique is shocking and thought he didn’t v line the footy when he had the opportunity.

Lloyd also needs to do more I’d rather play a third tall in shache as there pressure levels are at the same level.

i don’t want to knock garbner anymore and it’s not his fault his getting a gig but I think it’s pretty clear that he is the answer now and I can’t see him being the answer in future. so I’m really not sure what we are achieving playing him.

Positives are macrae, bont, Vdm and return of dale/ Naughton (both quiet but I actually thought dale Tried to impose himself a little more on a game than usual)

 

[dogwatch]

Do you think that our issues stem only from the unusual circumstances surrounding this season?

Nope. Not at all. That's only one of the two issues anyway. I did say we'd only be a middle-ranked side regardless.

However, as dire as we looked at times tonight especially just before half time, I do think we're not that far from pushing up the table. St Kilda have gone from dreadful to dreaded in one season. We can do that as well. We'd be coming off a higher base, for a starter. We have a good core and are only missing 2-4 good players. We lack depth but that's been the case for a while.

I'm with you that I have concerns about the club's footy hierarchy. A bit of a shake-up and a few hard-arse types are needed. Bevo has lost his touch and either needs to re-invent himself or move on. He needs different people around him. I'd love to know what his KPIs are if he has any.

And was it you who said "what's our brand? what do we stand for?" Spot on. It's hard to know right now. That's a form of leadership that comes from off the footy field.

 

[Mattdougie]

‘And he must be really pissed at missing out to Rutten.

That being said I think Bev Seaver’s the chance to accept a new panel surrounding him and see how that goes first.

I’d be going after Caracella HARD to be senior assistant.

 

[dogwatch]

Surely our premiership captain is one of our leaders.

Yes he is, I forgot about him. Perhaps that's one reason why our defence is working so much better than our forward line most of the time?

He had a pretty poor night tonight so maybe had a few other things on his mind, especially if his brief was to stay on Charlie Cameron. It's much easier to organise defence when you are a libero.

 

[Mattdougie]

Nothing to do with it. We play to dustys strengths
Play your players in the best positions and you’ll get the best out of them. Bont at full forward may get the odd goal but he’s far more important in the middle for you guys

He moves Bont forward to break up our one speed midfield of Bont, McRae, Dunkley and Libba.

Seeing Bont is the only one that can move forward and be a target that’s why he pushed him forward.

Add to that his hip is playing up again and needs a break.

We all think Bont should be in there as much as possible but in this team set up with his hip it’s not possible

 

[Chicago1]

Caracella

One of my former students at Parade College. Year 8. That would be fantastic.

 

[adammonerz]

We need to sack Bevo player potential is counting on it and I think some players have stopped playing for him

 

[True Dog]

Bont in the middle 3 quarters
Scores
Dogs 9 4 58
Lions 8 4 52

Not rocket science
Second quarter sat at full forward
Lions 6 4 40
Dogs 2 1 13 including 1 from Bont

Keep him in the guts Bev

Suggest you watch the game a little closer, Bont was on the ball when McCluggage Kicks the first of 5 in a row in the second and was in the center bounce for the next 3 and the ball just walked out of the middle....Game lost in that period. Had nothing to do with Bevo, nothing to do with Gardner our midfield are slow soft, and not clean enough atm and the Bont is as responsible as the rest.

 

[Lindsay_Gilbee]

I can’t believe how out of shape Bruce looks. He looks like a country footballer.​

 

[BeMoreBont]

If Richards can't even deliver the footy inside 50 to our advanatge or actually anywhere near a player wearing our jumper, in space with no pressure then he shouldn't be in the team. He can't actually do much else.

I would rather Hayes.

 

[adammonerz]

I can’t believe how out of shape Bruce looks. He looks like a country footballer.​

Defiantly needs to hit cardio over the off season like * if he hits the weightroom some cardio and gets his BF% it would do wonders for his game

 

[dogwatch]

For those who are interested in these things:

Average Attributes​
Brisbane		Western Bulldogs
188.3cm	Height	187.7cm
88.5kg	Weight	85.5kg
25yr 9mth	Age	24yr 10mth
99.3	Games	82.2
Total Players By Games​
Brisbane	Games	Western Bulldogs
6	Less than 50	7
6	50 to 99	7
5	100 to 149	6
5	150 or more	2