Review Bulldogs belt Crows 85 - 40

[tonzdogs]

LOL he has played 2 games. I expect we are doing what we need to do

He is not ready and we were far too tall, what don’t you understand? Lucky we didn’t play a decent side

 

[Dannnnnnnnnn]

Interesting. How do stoppages work these days? I dont think mids always have a direct opponent? OR maybe thats something we have changed up recently? I feel like we play more 1:1 through the middle of the ground and in transition this year. But cant really say for sure.

I'm no tactics expert, in fact I know very little, I just go off of what I can see - so happy for someone who knows a little more to correct me or chime in. But as much as there's not typically a direct opponent in general play most teams match up 1:1 at the initial stoppage. If you watch someone like Bont (I know, an unfair comparison) he backs himself to win most contests but if he can't he is blocking the closest opponent for his team mates. Smith often bullets straight at the ball, and if he doesn't win it, his opponent (or at least, the guy standing next to him) does far too often. There isn't enough defensive stoppage craft there and it's why sometimes the opponent has a spare man or the ball just bullets out of the stoppage.

Anyway, agree with the above that we will (and should) see a lot more of him in there. I'm just nervous about what that might look like against the opponents that can hurt us more than Adelaide did.

 

[doggies ftw]

Anyway, agree with the above that we will (and should) see a lot more of him in there. I'm just nervous about what that might look like against the opponents that can hurt us more than Adelaide did.

To be fair Laird/Dawson is one of the best midfield duos in the comp on current form, doesn’t get much harder

 

[Dannnnnnnnnn]

To be fair Laird/Dawson is one of the best midfield duos in the comp on current form, doesn’t get much harder

Yeah, their connection game was absolutely atrocious though. I meant teams that can translate clearance dominance into actual score.

 

[MaxiBont]

I'm very interested to see how we match up against the Pies, I feel like we match up well with them and could be a real good shot against them. Got a fair few games before then but we could be in a really good spot when we play them

 

[ossie_21]

Anyone at the game notice the big screen when Libba hit the post from 30m out?

They played Libba Snr and that famous PF "behind" from 1997

Whichever producer decided to put that in, I hope they step in a puddle and get a wet sock.

 

[perro_loco]

Today has been the worst day. My cat and best friend of 19 years, had been sick for the past week. So I went to take her to the vet for a check up and blood test only 10 minutes down the road today, to get answers to why she was sick and had stopped eating. But unknown to me, she passed away in the carrier on the way there. I was worried about stressing her out by placing her in a carrier, and thought to leave her in comfort and happiness on her blanket and have the vet come over instead. So I am feeling an intense level of guilt on top of grief, that I played a role in her ending by not trusting my instinct.

So at the start of the game, all I wanted was for the team to just win. I didn't care by how much. As long as the day wouldn't be any worse. Was surprised by the margin, but we got the win which is all the matters. Didn't expect us to control the game in the way that we did, Adelaide have been solid in their ball use and movement this season.

I thought it was a brilliant all round game, despite the frustration of missing shots at goal directly in front. How good has Smith been the past two weeks? The teams defensive structure the past 8 weeks? A massive improvement on last season. Macrae with not just the rare goal, but two of them. A big game by him as well in general. Good to see Dale back to his best as well. They smacked us in the hit outs, but did not do much with them. Keays and Dawson were quite this time around, after playing well vs us last time. Libba, Daniel all good, but to many contributors this week to name all of them.

Obviously we need to get back on top of clearances as I think we have lost them in recent weeks, and to tidy up the goal kicking. But we are 2 from 2, from what is an important five game run on our fixture of 8 point games.

Onto the Suns next weekend. Hopefully the rain stays away this time around.

You did nothing wrong and you were doing the best you could! Pets are our best friends and when we lose them it is very tough. Stay strong!

 

[perro_loco]

I wouldn't rule out amputation and a prosthetic.

According to my sources his knob got tangled with one of his testes causing a major testicular strain. Not more than 2 weeks.

 

[perro_loco]

Not sure if this has been addressed, but we were the last side to beat both Freo and Brisbane who are both currently on winning streaks.
Been a really good comeback from those first two rounds.

the first two games were abominable, horrendous, terrible...Many and myself included wanted Bevo, the match committee, the president all dismissed and the whole WO burnt to the ground. it says lots about how much we know about the game from the safety of the stands.

 

[Smiley Boy]

I've seen many severe hamstring injuries. All of the bad ones are high on leg near arse. I'm saying if it's a significant tendon injury he will struggle to get back.
Looked to me more than a standard hamstring tear.
Hope I'm wrong

He'll be out for 8-10 weeks

 

[Smiley Boy]

I'm very interested to see how we match up against the Pies, I feel like we match up well with them and could be a real good shot against them. Got a fair few games before then but we could be in a really good spot when we play them

I agree i think we match up really well against them

We flogged them last year too albeit a while ago i just think we have their measure

 

[Oliver G]

Thanks as always OG.

If you're taking requests, I have two for you.

1) When was the last time we lost clearances by more than 10 and yet won the game by more than 5 goals? (I would love to know how we pulled that off.)
2) How are those kicking efficiency stats now looking for the season and for yesterday amongst our mids compared to last year? At the start of the season it was a huge issue. I wonder if that has been remedied somewhat.

Thanks!

I'll get on it later today.

 

[House_of_Dahl]

I'll get on it later today.

Bit early in the morning to be talking binge drinking

 

[the dog's kennel]

Bit early in the morning to be talking binge drinking

Also not sure how OG going on a session is going to be helping me out. But it's nice to keep us in the loop, I guess!

 

[Lindsay_Gilbee]

I was very much against the Daniel in the middle experiment but happy to say I got that wrong. No surprise our forward 50 delivery has improved since he’s gone in the middle. In saying that I’d much rather he come up from the forward line with Macrae starting in the guts.

Gonna be interesting to see how we make Smith/Treloar work when they’re both in the team. Might just be a case of they rotate in game. Def love having one of them in the centre bounce working off the oppo best mid.

Dunkley is a gun but no one can doubt we are a better team with Jones/Lobb over him. Liber, Bont, Treloar/Smith + Macrae and Daniel giving a chop out is such a nice midfield.

 

[Next Waiting]

According to my sources his knob got tangled with one of his testes causing a major testicular strain. Not more than 2 weeks.

Well you can tell your source that I lol'd at her Roaming Brian interview in Perth.

 

[Dogs 13]

Watched the game live in Ballarat. Decent experience. A bit hard standing on the hill for 4 quarters but it felt like a local footy game which is cool.

On face value I thought Bailey Smith, Duryeah and Liam Jones were fantastic. But I was behind the goals so that’s probably why.

Arthur Jones had the unluckiest game I’ve ever seen haha

I just can't get onboard with this. We're supposedly playing at the elite level of our sport, I don't want it to feel like local football.
There's VFL and local football to attend if that's what people want to experience.

We have in excess of 51,000 members and this suburban ground holds 10k, seriously. How many are denied the opportunity to attend or have no interest in going there. I've never made a secret of my dislike for playing matches there when there's a perfectly good stadium with a roof and all modern amenities so close by to the majority of those members. If people want to stand out in the elements with a lacklustre atmosphere then go to those lower level competitions.

I know I'm ignoring the financials of playing at Marvel, but just get it sorted.

This is also without acknowledging the poor deal we're receiving of 9 home games with no replacement games for the same price as other teams are getting for 11 home matches.

 

[geoffjennings79]

So AFL site reporting we made 70 interchanges on Saturday, and Crows made...42!

There's a rumour North have offered Adelaide a first rounder for their interchange steward.

There's also a rumour this transpired on the Crows bench:

"Nicksy, we've had 20 interchanges, what do I do now?"
"Pull your pants down for the next one, then ask the bloke next to you to keep going with the count."

A little while later...
"Nicksy, we're up to 42. And no one else down here can count!"

"Should have stayed at the Giants."

 

[Angak]

English is having a great season outside of the contest but his contest/ruck dules of late are a bit worrying.

To the naked eye he looks like he is playing a bit timid and within himself. Anytime he is under a highball and has to mark the ball you can tell he is s**t scared of getting hit in the head which is really impacting his marking around the ground.

Even though we won handsomely vs Adelaide these numbers will not stand up in finals.

 

[geoffjennings79]

English is having a great season outside of the contest but his contest/ruck dules of late are a bit worrying.

To the naked eye he looks like he is playing a bit tepid and within himself. Anytime he is under a highball and has to mark the ball you can tell he is s**t scared of getting hit in the head which is really impacting his marking around the ground.

Even though we won handsomely vs Adelaide these numbers will not stand up in finals.

View attachment 1693897

I'd take a tepid Tim English over a timid Tim English!
(I reckon the cold at Ballarat might have got to him!)

 

[dogwatch]

English is having a great season outside of the contest but his contest/ruck dules of late are a bit worrying.

To the naked eye he looks like he is playing a bit timid and within himself. Anytime he is under a highball and has to mark the ball you can tell he is s**t scared of getting hit in the head which is really impacting his marking around the ground.

Even though we won handsomely vs Adelaide these numbers will not stand up in finals.

View attachment 1693897

This is worthy of a longer discussion about
(a) what we need and get from English and
(b) whether it has any relevance to the traditional idea of a ruckman whose main job used to be to get the ball down to the rovers.

It seems to me there are two distinct roles and they don't need to come together in the one player any more. It also seems to me that we (i.e. Bevo et al) don't much care whether we win the taps or not, as long as the other mob aren't running rampant from the ruck contests. This seems to be paying off OK so far, but as you rightly ask, will it stack up in September?

Until recently we could say that English has been losing the HOs but has been winning or squaring the HOTAs most weeks. However I notice on Saturday he got smashed in the HOTAs too (on the stats sheet at least). And Reilly O'Brien was on world record pace for Hitouts, or something to that effect. Yet English was deemed (by our supporters at least) to have won the ruck contest, presumably because he pantsed O'Brien with his general play around the ground.

NB - I haven't watched the replay yet so I'm only going on reports.

So, if this is close to peak English is it enough to compete for a flag? Or do we somehow need to add improved HOTAs to our arsenal?

A lesser question but one that will no doubt occupy some of us: if English regularly loses the HOs and seldom wins the HOTAs will he be considered for the AA team? Are those who vote for it too much "old school" to accept that you can have a dominant matchwinning ruckman who loses the hitouts?

 

[dogwatch]

Even the Adelaide coach couldn't find a vote for Reilly O'Brien

43

Reilly O'brien

Age

28

Ht

202cm

Wt

105kg

Pos.

Ruck

Career

Season

Last 5

D

14.4

4star

K

5.9

2star

HB

8.5

5star

CL

1.6

4star

HO

23.8

5star

D

14.4

3star

K

5.9

2star

HB

8.5

4star

CL

1.6

4star

HO

23.8

5star

D

12.6

4star

K

4.8

2star

HB

7.8

5star

CL

1.0

3star

HO

24.8

5star

:

AFLCA votes vs Adelaide

• Bailey Smith (WB) – 10 votes
• Tom Liberatore (WB) – 6
• Bailey Dale (WB) – 6
• Liam Jones (WB) – 4
• Caleb Daniel (WB) – 2
• Tim English (WB) – 2

 

[Doggy]

Even the Adelaide coach couldn't find a vote for Reilly O'Brien:

AFLCA votes vs Adelaide

• Bailey Smith (WB) – 10 votes
• Tom Liberatore (WB) – 6
• Bailey Dale (WB) – 6
• Liam Jones (WB) – 4
• Caleb Daniel (WB) – 2
• Tim English (WB) – 2

Hunter got into the votes against Port. Not sure how

 

[BEaston]

English is having a great season outside of the contest but his contest/ruck dules of late are a bit worrying.

To the naked eye he looks like he is playing a bit timid and within himself. Anytime he is under a highball and has to mark the ball you can tell he is s**t scared of getting hit in the head which is really impacting his marking around the ground.

Even though we won handsomely vs Adelaide these numbers will not stand up in finals.

View attachment 1693897

Hitouts probably the most useless stat in football. Still, Tim ranks 7th in the league there.

Over the season we have:
Clearances - 3rd best differential
Stoppage clearances - 3rd best differential
Centre clearances - 11th best differential

Could probably improve our centre clearance work, but these numbers over the season aren't too concerning compared to a one game sample size.

 

[Dogs_R_Us]

Hunter got into the votes against Port. Not sure how

Also got himself reported and is sent to the tribunal.