Review Dogs 100 def Eagles 93 - Rd 2, 2021

[hutchy31]

Crowd confirmed to be 21,391.

Certainly felt bigger then that.

Was in Bay 37 on level 3 and we were packed in there. Felt liked it was a good sized crowd and added to the atmosphere from that perspective, but there were large sections of level 3 that looked pretty sparse.

So I can understand the lower crowd. Not particularly great organisation from AFL and Ticketmaster because fans were spread out in some bays and like sardines in others, so not sure how COVID-safe it all was.

Makes the noise that was coming in the last few minutes even more impressive. The place was shaking when Williams got the ball free and Bruce collected it down the wing before kicking it to Bont. Massive last passage of play.

 

[Bro_Pro]

So what did he do in that game that was a "prime example" of why he's never going to be any better than he currently is?
Nobody is going around saying he's an elite key back. He's played 14 games. But the things he lacks in are things that are able to be worked on.

He’s way of the mark to be in the team, if you want “examples” just watch the match highlights there’s enough seen in that let alone being at the game watching him to show why.
Yeah they can be worked on in the VFL not in an AFL side trying to make top 4. I’m not saying he’s a bad bloke or doesn’t try or give effort, he’s just flat out not ready and it’s the coach/match committees problem more then his!

 

[Golden_6]

I get WHY crowd numbers are down (number of reasons). But scanning a QR code and booking online isn't really that hard.

I guess that's because I know how to use a computer.

It's not hard at all but it will easily account for a 10-15% drop. The diehards will always go but there would be a good 25% that turn up every game that would be 50/50 about going to the game. A large % of those end up just dropping off and not attending with the minor difficulties and added layers.

 

[Charlie Bucket]

He’s way of the mark to be in the team, if you want “examples” just watch the match highlights there’s enough seen in that let alone being at the game watching him to show why.
Yeah they can be worked on in the VFL not in an AFL side trying to make top 4. I’m not saying he’s a bad bloke or doesn’t try or give effort, he’s just flat out not ready and it’s the coach/match committees problem more then his!

That’s a bit of a cop out.

Being so strongly against Gardiner playing I think it’s only fair you point out specific examples what you felt are reason he shouldn’t be in team.

 

[dergert]

It may well have been a different result if we didn't have Martin contesting the ruck for most of the game.

Damn English has a presence about him. Wasn't his best game yesterday but he was still good.

 

[Boyd oh Boyd]

My main complaints last year

- Lack of defensive work from our mids and forwards
- Decision making going inside forward 50

Defensive effort gets a big tick. Hunter, Vandermeer, McNeil and Wallis are covering the ground really well. Dunks is back to his best, Libba never puts a foot wrong and Macrae has stepped up here as well. Treloar concerned me slightly last week but worked both ways really well, especially when he was moved inside. Eagles are really good are creating space by pushing their forwards much deeper than most sides so they had a good amount of clean entries but we did our best to negate that. Room to improve but the effort is there

Decision making gets a tick as well. Hitting up Naughton 12 times is exactly what I wanted to see, and the returns were obvious. 5 shots at goal, 4 marks inside 50 and passed one off to English when he probably didn't need to. Backing him to kick straighter most weeks, and to get more of it when he doesn't have to worry about McGovern as well. Bruce getting 3 goals from 6 hit ups is a great return and if he can be a reliable scorer from limited opportunities we're doing very well up forward. We clearly were worried about McGovern and Barrass and didn't go as deep as we could've, which played a part in inaccuracy, but much much better in this area. Backing us to improve here with some added blocks to give some cleaner leading lanes.

 

[Igloo]

He’s way of the mark to be in the team, if you want “examples” just watch the match highlights there’s enough seen in that let alone being at the game watching him to show why.
Yeah they can be worked on in the VFL not in an AFL side trying to make top 4. I’m not saying he’s a bad bloke or doesn’t try or give effort, he’s just flat out not ready and it’s the coach/match committees problem more then his!

I was at the game. I watched him very closely. I thought he did a really good job.
If it was a prime example you should be able to list some things he did wrong with relative ease I would have thought.
Who else are we gonna play as a key defender that is out of the side? He's better than Young and Cordy has shown he's not up to it as the 2nd tall.

 

[stefoid]

Bloodyhell Vander. 15 possessions for a score of 1.2 and 3 goal assists.

only the 2 goals against the pies.

 

[Dogs_R_Us]

I really liked Treloar on the ball. Not sure how many minutes he got playing inside but he seemed to make a difference.

 

[doggies ftw]

Accuracy is so important now with the kick outs being so dangerous. You really cannot afford to miss easy set shots and I’d even go as far as saying don’t take shots at goal you aren’t confident in, no more having an extremely low percentage ping around the corner. I’d rather overuse the ball and get done trying to get in good positions for shots on goal. As long as you set up defensively quickly you’d rather them get a free or probably even a crappy turnover inside 50 then a kick in.

We get sucked way too high on the press still, it was obvious WCE were trying to drag us as high as possible and get us over the back with their runners, which worked a number of times. Can’t afford to do that. Let them work up but we need to hold our defensive wall through the middle of the ground, no higher. I honestly don’t care how many numbers they push up around the ball hold that last line of defence further back and we’ll always be getting it back. We’re slowly getting better at getting the ball into the hands of our good users for that last kick inside 50, and we’re getting better at picking out players with short options just inside 50 rather than bombing into a congested forward line.

Got a few players in the team now quite capable of kicking set shots from that 50m range so need to utilise them when our forward lines being flooded

 

[Bro_Pro]

I was at the game. I watched him very closely. I thought he did a really good job.
If it was a prime example you should be able to list some things he did wrong with relative ease I would have thought.
Who else are we gonna play as a key defender that is out of the side? He's better than Young and Cordy has shown he's not up to it as the 2nd tall.

So was I but we obviously have extremely different views on him which is fine or the world would be a boring place!!!

 

[Charlie Bucket]

He’s way of the mark to be in the team, if you want “examples” just watch the match highlights there’s enough seen in that let alone being at the game watching him to show why.
Yeah they can be worked on in the VFL not in an AFL side trying to make top 4. I’m not saying he’s a bad bloke or doesn’t try or give effort, he’s just flat out not ready and it’s the coach/match committees problem more then his!

I thought that was the case. Critical of players yet don’t have the knowledge of the game to give a decent explanation as to why a player shouldn’t be in the team.

 

[NBates]

Mine cut out with 1.10 left in the game!
Lucky I knew the result, something might have got damaged.
But it's shocking how often this happens if you forget to add the 20 mins record time.
How can a "sports" channel be so irresponsible? (rhetorical question)

Yes! Hopeless. I emailed Foxtel but they'll probably blame it on 7. Apparently the replay/stream is up there now and we get the match to the final siren, but no interviews etc.

 

[_Mike_]

According to the main board we only won because the umpires love us, this is 2016 all over again, so that’s good news, another flag in the bag

 

[BEaston]

If we kick more goals than behinds, I don't think we'll lose a game all year.

With the system we play, inaccuracy at goal is the only thing that will limit our success.

 

[Charlie Bucket]

If we kick more goals than behinds, I don't think we'll lose a game all year.

With the system we play, inaccuracy at goal is the only thing that will limit our success.

We kick the ones we should’ve and WC don’t nail all those ones on the boundary, we probably win that pretty comfortably.

Thats not even mentioning the WC goals on the back of shithouse turnovers from Daniel and the goal Ryan kicked after our amateur turnover on the wing in the 3rd quarter.

Tidying up our skills could see us really tear teams apart this year. Hopefully it starts with North this week. Percentage will be important after two pretty tight wins to start the season.

 

[Pocket Terrace]

I was at the game and noticed WC changed tac in the second half. At the stoppages/centre bounce their mids were pushing our mids in to the contest and then Nic Nat was hitting the tap clear out in to space where they were able to get a clearer run at the ball. They were actually doing that for a while before our mids did anything about it.
I think it was down to our mids possibly being a little gassed.
You’re right though, it can be tough negating an on fire Nic Nat. But, as you say, our mids managed to get on top for most of the game regardless.

Noticed that too in 2nd half. They drew everyone in and created space goal side for them. Also held their half forwards inside 50 to create space, Sheed spreading left, Nic Nat straight and Kelly to the right, for obvious reasons.

The knock on Nic Nat is that he doesn't do enough around the ground. Who cares? His influence at centre bounces is exceptional.

Without our mids dominating, we are taking a knife to a gun fight against teams like this. The cap on interchange helps. Just keep running boys and wear them down. Great win.

 

[Boyd oh Boyd]

Alright, it's been a day, even if not 24 hours. Time for some negatives because these were frustrating me to no end at the game.

First off, we are crying out for a ground level small. Our ground level work was poor, at least by our standards. This is the area where we should've had an opportunity to exploit them because they are built around McGovern and Barrass being dominant forces in the air. Yes we did better than expected against those two but this should've been an added bonus on top to the real way we should've won, which is ground ball. At best we did alright here. This needs to become a strength because with the midfield dominance and speed we can move the ball, chaotic opportunities are going to present themselves often. I don't know if this is Cav, Weightman, West, Scott, or one of the players who is already in the forward line but this is a key space to watch.

Secondly, our half backs need to have more faith in the team. Long down the line is really safe football, and chip kicks 15-20 meters out are risky and can occasionally get you rewards. I'm not saying we need to avoid these. But at the ground I constantly noticed a few key 1v1s that were spotted and ignored. I can only assume that we are coached to either kick to a free man or go long to the congestion where we can kill it for a stoppage. A couple of times a game, especially when Naughton or Bont have pretty good matchups, could mean a couple of extra goals a game. I want to see a bit more dare with our ball use from defence.

Lastly, we need to stretch out the ground more. It was super noticeable at the ground but we chose to have every player with 1 kick at all times (say 50m) and West Coast chose to have all players within about 1 and a half (75m). This is how they create space for those little chip kicks to build up, but it also gives them a long option with another medium length option immediately after that. Absolutely the best use out of a 3 tall setup. We do our best work in congestion and want everyone to be within defending distance so I get the idea, but it makes moving the ball forward a real pain. I'd love to have at least 1 forward slightly deeper and our other wing further away to create a quick switch option. Play our way but with a little extra space.

Frustrating at times, but not upsetting at all. If anything having things to improve on makes the wins even sweeter because I know we can do even better.

 

[Anja_Nees]

I really liked Treloar on the ball. Not sure how many minutes he got playing inside but he seemed to make a difference.

Has some serious tricks. You can see he still has to catch his breath a bit so it might take a little longer for him to seize a spot in the guts, but more than happy with his cameos yesterday.

 

[Braybrook Son]

Admittedly I only watched it on tv, but I don’t recall Keath having many goals kicked on him at all. Most seemed to come on Gardner and Duryea. Keath held darling quite well I thought. I’m comfortable with him being the #1 KPD.
NicNat simply unstoppable in the third turned the game. After being soundly beaten all day, Stef willed himself to break even in the last and gave us a sniff. Respect.

Stef did step up but it also helped that Nic was hampered by a poked eye!

 

[Billy Bob65]

Congratulations on the win.

Here are the midfield frequency stats from the game - if you haven't seen these before this is an overall summary of how often players were lining up as one of the mids (inside + wing) at bounces.

Overall Summary - 32 Bounces

Macrae 27
Treloar 27 (18w, 9i)
Bontempelii 25
B.Smith 23 wing
Liberatore 21
Dunkley 15
Lipinski 15 wing
Hunter 5 wing
Dale 2 wing

Martin 25
English 7

Centre Clearances (13-18)

Macrae 5
Bont 3
Dunkley 2
Libba 2
Treloar 1

Top 5 Pressure Acts

Libba 27 - 5th overall
Dunkley 20
Bont 18
Macrae 16
Treloar 15

Breakdown by Quarter - Q1

Macrae 7
Treloar 6 wing
Bont 6
B.Smith 6 wing
Libba 6
Dunkley 2
Lipinski 2 wing

Q2

B.Smith 7 wing
Libba 6
Macrae 5
Bont 5
Treloar 4 (3w, 1i)
Dunkley 4
Lipinski 4 wing

Q3

Bont 10
Macrae 9
Treloar 9 wing
Dunkley 8
B.Smith 6 wing
Libba 4
Lipinski 4 wing

Q4

Treloar 8
Macrae 6
Libba 5
Lipinski 5 wing
Hunter 5 wing
Bont 4
Dale 2 wing
Dunkley 1

 

[Mofra]

Secondly, our half backs need to have more faith in the team. Long down the line is really safe football, and chip kicks 15-20 meters out are risky and can occasionally get you rewards. I'm not saying we need to avoid these. But at the ground I constantly noticed a few key 1v1s that were spotted and ignored. I can only assume that we are coached to either kick to a free man or go long to the congestion where we can kill it for a stoppage. A couple of times a game, especially when Naughton or Bont have pretty good matchups, could mean a couple of extra goals a game. I want to see a bit more dare with our ball use from defence.

McGovern had zero intercept marks for the game, it was absolutely a tactic. Moore's intercept marking from round 1 would have certainly been highlighted, as well as may/Lever from the practice game. It's something more teams will adopt.

 

[JJHunter]

Lastly, we need to stretch out the ground more. It was super noticeable at the ground but we chose to have every player with 1 kick at all times (say 50m) and West Coast chose to have all players within about 1 and a half (75m). This is how they create space for those little chip kicks to build up, but it also gives them a long option with another medium length option immediately after that. Absolutely the best use out of a 3 tall setup. We do our best work in congestion and want everyone to be within defending distance so I get the idea, but it makes moving the ball forward a real pain. I'd love to have at least 1 forward slightly deeper and our other wing further away to create a quick switch option. Play our way but with a little extra space.

This was very very obvious. I dont think we are setup well at all for kicks ins.
The way the eagles setup gave them a kick to 40 generally to a loose man or the full back running to 30 and kicking to the wing.
They did that far better than what we did. Id imagine they got better results and scores also from kick ins.

I think I noticed 6 of our players in defensive 50 when we were kicking in.
Eagles were lucky to have 3.

 

[JJHunter]

The most surprising stat for me was Bevo informing everyone that we too more marks in our attacking 50 to what they did.
Wouldnt have put any money on that being the case prior to the game with their talls at eitehr end being as good as they are.

 

[Dannnnnnnnnn]

This was very very obvious. I dont think we are setup well at all for kicks ins.
The way the eagles setup gave them a kick to 40 generally to a loose man or the full back running to 30 and kicking to the wing.
They did that far better than what we did. Id imagine they got better results and scores also from kick ins.

I think I noticed 6 of our players in defensive 50 when we were kicking in.
Eagles were lucky to have 3.

This is the downside of playing Daniel down back, with the new rules. It's not effective to have him not take the kickouts, because realistically he can't present much of a target, but by having him as the designated kickout taker we're easily giving up 15+ metres of penetration.