Review Dogs d Suns 90-79 - Rd 18, 2021

[Wetdog]

Melbourne haven’t looked great tonight. Just goes to show the other teams around us aren’t having blinders every week. It’s a long season.

 

[Northernsoul74]

Young's biggest issue is game awareness. He just has no idea where to position himself and it costs us goals consistently. I've seen little to no improvement in him since his debut.

Yep he’s an athlete not a footballer.

 

[Mattdougie]

Maybe, perhaps…if Libbas kick in’98 ….went though. Now you are speculating.

im actually not mate

His positioning is WRFL level and hasn’t improved in his time at the club.

I was well behind him to be the bloke we needed but he isn’t so we move on and find another. He cannot play in the structure this team plays with his inability to gauge the space around him.

 

[perro_loco]

Job done, not pretty, but win is a win.

We’re in a bit of a rough patch but to be expected- injuries, travel, lockdowns etc

Bank the wins for now and hopefully we’re healthy and in form come finals time

Thrilled for Jamarra - great game

Me too. Great game. has a lot to learn but huge talent.

 

[NthBondiDoggies]

I reckon we all know deep down we can win the big one - so when we have a couple of down games we feel more nervous. Or maybe it is just the BigFooty preference for melts.

We won - top of the ladder - in AFL and VFL - two new stars emerged with Marra and Riley - were able to rest a top 5 player, ease another top player back in Dunkley, keep the opposition to 50 points (part their tactics) and have 6 best 22 out and coming back:

Libba
Trelor
Martin
Wood
Gardner
VDM

And should see McLean and a couple of others playing their way into contention for the side by the end of the year.

Butler has something special and Khamis is just getting better and better. I know many have written Lipinski off but if you look at how kills it in the VFL and how he now can play more inside (this change is a learning but will suit his size, great hands and lower speed) - his improvement is significant and will continue to get better - maybe not in time for this year.

Not all roses of course. Both Cordy and Crozier were very poor and our kicks inside 50 were just terrible. Richards had a few good things but consistently took out our players in a great position when he should have been out the back. There was no coordinated body work by our defenders just three at a time all jumping at the ball. Wood was badly missed. Crozier is one of my favourite players and I can see why Bevo wants him to iron out whatever is holding him back before the finals but on form, Khamis is the better option.

Cordy had one of his worst ever but Young has not taken his chances and so not an easy call. I would not be surprised if he is dropped but can’t see Young being a heap better - I expect Bevo knew that GC was only playing one tall and mediums - Cordy has played some good games against mid sized players but it did not work out tonight. Khamis too small to replace him. Will just be trying to find the best we can until Gardner comes back (and we are not talking about a star) so some work to do so before we come up against a good forward line.

At the other end GC are not stars in defence but are decent with Collins, Ballard and Lukoscious all good talls and will Powell having a cracker. All of our forwards beat their defenders and the ball got kicked over their head (and one to Weightman and another to JUH that were both marks but not paid). This is an easier fix and we will be better next week when we adjust again to get some space - was starting to work at the end.

Teams have worked out that chipping it around with lots of uncontested possessions works against us - have a few weeks to sort it out before we hit the finals. One more win for a top 4 so we have time to sort it out.

 

[perro_loco]

That was a bit embarrassing to be honest

I think it was more of a hard slog. Gold Coast are no longer the easy beats of one time. They have an amazing pool of talent. If they keep them together they will be a force to be reckoned with.

 

[Fossie 32]

I think it was more of a hard slog. Gold Coast are no longer the easy beats of one time. They have an amazing pool of talent. If they keep them together they will be a force to be reckoned with.

Fair form beating GW and Richmond in last 2 weeks

 

[Bulldog Brent]

Just posted in the stats thread. This was the third consecutive match our opponent scored exactly 11.13.79. Surely a record …

 

[Oliver G]

Now here's a mystery.... On FOX they kept showing pressure gauges well into the 200s for each quarter. sometimes they were at 230! I understand that this was halfway through quarters, and the final numbers for each qtr might have changed. But not to the point that they ended up in the low 170s like in Q4. And the Dogs were in the mid 220s according to FOX in the 3rd qtr, when they ended up with 181, according to these stats. I wonder why there was such a discrepancy.

The numbers I post are for the entire quarter, when Fox Footy show the gauge it's generally only for the last 5 so it can vary drastically during the quarter.

Under the formula, each disposal is categorised as being under physical pressure, implied pressure (either being corralled or chased), no pressure (general play) or set position (mark or free kick).

Weighting is given to each category, with a player applying an "implied" pressure act receiving 1.79 points, while a physical pressure act receives 3.75 points.

Tackles that stop opposition disposals draw the top rating for physical pressure.

How does our tackle efficiency stack up across the season? I could be wrong but to the naked eye we don't seem to be sticking as many tackles as we were earlier in the season.

Overall for the season we go at 63.8% which is 4th in the competition. Today we went at 51.2% our lowest for the season.

 

[doggies ftw]

Didn't get 40 odd touches but felt like this was one of the best games Macrae has played. Kicked 2 goals, was clean, and super evasive. Barely missed a target all day.

Macrae was so good today, he was like 19 year old macrae, his movement out of congestion was next level and I genuinely think he’s the best inside 50 kick in the comp. just does not waste them. Must be an absolute delight to be a forward leading up at him. Nice to see him hit the scoreboard too!

 

[Oliver G]

Just posted in the stats thread. This was the third consecutive match our opponent scored exactly 11.13.79. Surely a record …

Never happened before in our VFA/AFL history but it came mighty close to being 4 weeks in a row in 1921 with 45, 45, 46, 45 scored against us in R9-R12...

 

[Snarls Barkley]

Anyone have the coaches votes? Would be fascinated to see where they both had Bont..

Will come out Monday

 

[perro_loco]

A comment on the discussion about how terrible Cordy is as a defender. He looks sloppy and uncoordinated. His kicking technique is weird but the ball mostly arrives at the required destination. He has played 97 games and won a premiership. He was really good then, although played a different role. The comments about how Gardner should come in and replace Cordy immediately are laughable as most of those people commented in the past that Gardner was not up to AFL standard. In summary, it is very difficult to have two top defenders who are as good as Keith. Today we and last week we were down on form. It is natural. The season is long and players get tired and don't perform 100% each week. Ease up on the negativity children!!! We are second on the ladder and we will make the top 4 easily with Cordy or Gardner or both.

 

[lachy]

We have been going through a flat patch for quite a few weeks now. Obviously 4 wins 3 losses through that patch is adequate.

Not going to go through the negatives as I am not sure of their value

Postives:
JUH, Garcia and Dunkley getting a game back under his belt.

We have quite a few to come back that will strengthen the team

We won putting us 2 games and percentage inside the top 4

On SM-G975F using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[Cousin Ben]

Re Bont - you don't deserve to get in the votes with 15 clangers, in my view. And you could tell Bont was annoyed at himself too. I reckon Champion Data have got it about right tonight - I think Macrae was clearly our best player - and Garcia, English, Smith, Keath and Daniel all had good games too. (Very happy about how Garcia is building.) Halfway through the game I was thinking Bont should take a rest next week Libba-style. But I think he actually moved pretty well tonight. It was just his disposal was weirdly off - by both hand and foot. I have no idea why. I guess that happens sometimes.

Also was very pleased with Weightman sticking at it with his best efforts when luck was working against him. He plays for frees a bit too much and makes some stupid attempts to fly for marks, but those quibbles will be ironed out with time. He's a beauty, I reckon.

And how good is it to see a forward kicking like Marra was? Hopefully he can keep that up. A tall who can lead, mark the ball at its highest point, and kick straight is exactly what we need for our 3rd tall. A definite immediate upgrade on Hannan or Wallis.

Getting worried about Bruce and Crozier's form. Crozier can be replaced by Wood (if Wood stays fit when he returns). But there is no replacement for Bruce this year, so hopefully he can pull it together.

I'm not sure how that chart works. Must be a bit of science behind it all. Regardless, with 36 touches you can already see Bont's name with 3 votes against it in Monday's Herald-Sun. They don't care much for detail.

His turnovers were shocking last week, so hopefully he can sort that out before it becomes too much of a pattern.

Weightman's efforts cannot be questioned, but they too often result in him being sprawled on the ground allowing his opponent to gather and repel those hard-earned F50 entries. Certainly worth persisting with though.

You've nailed it with Marra's value to the team. For so long now (since Travis Cloke!!!) we have screamed out for someone who can go back from 50m & beyond with confidence that he is a fair chance of putting it through. Opposition have killed us in the past with their set shots compared to ours. This gives their defenders more to think about in that they can't just push us out to the 50m and know we're still more than a kick away from scoring.

Crozier really should be better than what he's produced this year. For a bloke who could take great high marks he now can't even get up at the right time and fist the ball properly. Mind you he's not alone, with high ball floating over the back of contested situations far to often & easily.

 

[Beasley]

Someone who can punch the ball over the line and not let it go over the back. School boy stuff really. Really don’t see why anyone thinks Cordy is an AFL defender.

I get nervous any time the ball is coming towards Cordy. Sorry, but I have had enough of this bloke 8n the senior team. Unfortunatley there isn’t anyone else to fill his spot at the moment.

 

[TMoney22]

Can't wait to see VDM, Weightman and Garcia in the same forward line

 

[Norm De Guerre]

Ben King is also a great Flopper for someone that is 202cm he should be embarrassed of myself

He has great potential, but has some way to go before he joins the elites of the game like Joe Daniher in that regard.

 

[VogonProsthetnic]

im actually not mate

His positioning is WRFL level and hasn’t improved in his time at the club.

I was well behind him to be the bloke we needed but he isn’t so we move on and find another. He cannot play in the structure this team plays with his inability to gauge the space around him.

Fair enough. I have been impressed by some of his efforts in the Brisbane and North games. Will agree to disagree on this one.

Don’t think he is the next Lucas Markovic or Cam Wight yet.

Doubt Cordy will be in the team for the finals though.

 

[Some Idiot]

Yep or at worst Gardner who allows Croz to play a loser role

Gardner back in 3-4

I'm a bit worried about Croz, he got torched by all of Holman, Sexton and Ainsworth at times.

 

[BEaston]

Was Ayce the better brother?

 

[bobs head soup]

Just posted in the stats thread. This was the third consecutive match our opponent scored exactly 11.13.79. Surely a record …

And the score in the other match tonight was 79 v 79

 

[Dogs Rule]

Played a bit like how we’re feeling in Melbourne right now.

Flat, uninspired and just a bit down.

Bring on the post lockdown finals.

 

[Pesano]

Was Ayce the better brother?

Definitely not

 

[dogwatch]

If you have 15 clangers, it means you must be getting an awful lot of possession. Especially when most of those possessions are in the fierce midfield battles, not dinky little short passes or handball receives.

Bont had a game high 18 CPs. And as Mutt said he took the game on and lifted the whole side in that second quarter. That's the term that won us the game.

His teammates would know he's struggling with niggles too. Those sorts of inspiring acts don't show up on the stats sheet.

I do agree about Touk Miller

11

Touk Miller

Age

28

Ht

178cm

Wt

84kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

21.7

5star

K

9.5

4star

HB

12.3

5star

M

3.7

4star

T

5.4

5star

CL

4.2

5star

D

22.0

5star

K

11.4

4star

HB

10.6

5star

M

2.9

3star

T

4.8

5star

CL

4.1

5star

D

17.8

5star

K

5.8

3star

HB

12.0

5star

M

3.0

3star

T

3.8

5star

CL

3.0

5star

being BoG though. He was everywhere.
The Suns have got some very promising young players. They have a bright future and will make the finals by 2023, maybe even next year.