Autopsy Dogs win another close one.

[flamethrower]

Well that was a very satisfying win.

The way the inexperienced players stood up under extreme pressure augurs well for when we are back to full strength - really looking forward to having a forward line of talls Astro, Lewie and Darce, with smalls Arty, Cody and Westy next season.

Sellwood continues to look the goods and his complete blanketing of Watson was sweet. He deserved the meat tray - wonder if we will send little Nick a box of Krispy Kremes for his 2nd half contribution.

Junk Yard Dogs 1, Silver Spoon FIGJAMs 0.

 

[the dog's kennel]

Call me a nuffie, but I strongly disagree.

I won't call you a nuffie. I hope in 2 years I'll call you an astute judge!

 

[MaxiBont]

Watson v Sanders. the two are going to be compared by Dogs supporters for a decade because of their draft story. Watson is CLEARLY more talented than Sanders. He's one of the most dangerous players in the league. Yet Sanders is developing this knack for getting the job done in a no fuss manner. He doesn't panic when under pressure, and seems to actually step up in 4th qtrs and when the heat's on. He notably took a huge step up this year at the very moment when our whole team was on its knees. Again last night - he just did the little things in an unglamorous but EFFECTIVE fashion. Whereas Watson was all mercurial and emotional - all highlight reels and then COMPLETELY DISAPPEARING when it mattered. The Sanders mindset wins premierships. The Watson mindset does not.

Why? We didn’t have the chance to select Watson.

 

[doggie dog]

Judas?

Yep Judas, got my bible all wrong

 

[Anja_Nees]

It’s crazy how much good disposal off half back opens up the game in this era, like one good kick out of defence is the difference between going end to end and scoring or getting a goal kicked over your head.

I think we’re generally happy to take the risky kicks on and cop the turnovers that come with that, and to be fair when we don’t and we go slow and sideways we’re basically completely unable to move the footy.

It’s why I like Jaques, he’s not getting it a lot but when he does he’s always happy to take the game on by foot. And it’s why I’m desperate to see Bont off half back, that one kick off half back last night basically won us the game. Let’s get him in position to do that 15 times a game please.

Dale all in all had a massive night but some of the risky kicks he was nailing a year or two ago are slipping now and they resulted in easy shots on goal last night.

Coffield also had massive moments but he’s prone to the odd shocking shank in the backline. Makes a huge difference. It only takes two or three shockers to put you right under the pump.

 

[Some Idiot]

Re Beveridge's comments on McNeil. We supporters can only make comments about what our eyes tell us. In many games over the past few seasons, when selected, McNeil has had minimal impact and has made crucial errors at important times such as missing sitters in front of goal. In my view he has always been a bit too much 'outside' the action and it's no coincidence that he has been dropped numerous times. If there is a developing change in his output in terms of pressure acts, attack on the ball and an improved contribution overall then that's a good thing that we can all comment on constructively and give praise. I do think, however, that Bev's comments that McNeil is a whipping boy amongst our supporters and that "pisses him off" is a bit over the top.

He was used as the sub something like 20 times, resulting in less than 50% game time in many games and 0% in some games. At times he missed weeks of playing footy due to being an unused sub and not playing vfl - which obviously hinders match fitness and continuity.

Earlier this year he was asked to play VFL and AFL back to back. Not once have we seen him spit the dummy or look for opportunity at another club as many players do historically when they cop the short end of the stick. He just does the job that is asked of him.

Can absolutely understand the coach having his back.

 

[doggie dog]

Call me a nuffie, but I strongly disagree.

Watson has been the better player up to now, however if colonel maintains his 2026 form, I'd take colonel over Watson any day.
Plus Watson is a campaigner, hard to get around that smugness.

 

[DognBones]

He was used as the sub something like 20 times, resulting in less than 50% game time in many games, and 0% gametime in a few of his games. Not once have we see him spit the dummy or look for opportunity at another club as many players do historically when they cop the short end of the stick. He just does the job that is asked of him.

Can absolutely understand

Historically, that's a matter of opinion.

 

[doggie dog]

Lewis, McNeil, Jones, Hynes, Weightman, West tonight. All did their bit. Excellent team effort.

The pressure acts in the fwd line from Westy,Arty,Flea and Lewis was great to be see.
Super impressed with Cooper's pressue and running down the wing. A lot of BF posters have written of Cooper/Croft.
Only 21, gotta give them a good crack at it, nit every draft pick has to be a star out of the gate. Footy at the top level is hard.

 

[Fossie 32]

Yep Judas, got my bible all wrong

Cody is the Lazarus

 

[doggie dog]

Cody is the Lazarus

Back from the dead...damn Coffield must be Lazarus mark2.
Did not have Coffield spoiling to win close games, his form suggested cut at the end of the the year. Got his body right

 

[doggie dog]

I just want to say how much I love Bailey Dale.

For a bloke who was a converted forward and was down back for his kicking his actual defensive stuff is more than impressive.

Just because he doesn't physically defend an opposition forward in a contest doesn't mean he doesn't find ways to prevent the opposition from scoring.

His reading of the play and positioning led to a game-high 11 intercept possessions, meaning he isn't just a kick-in merchant.

We've got a bit of team of it
Astro drafted as a kpd
Ed half back
Dale as above
Truck drafted as a mid
Westy drafted as a midfielder
Lobb traded as a kpf
Cooper drafted as a chf
Croft drafted as a kpd
Both Darcy's drafted as kpd

 

[the dog's kennel]

Why? We didn’t have the chance to select Watson.

Because its common knowledge that we combined the 1st round draft picks for two years just to get Nick Watson. And then we ended up missing out on him by one pick so we got Sanders instead.

 

[RedWhite&Blue]

Re Beveridge's comments on McNeil. We supporters can only make comments about what our eyes tell us. In many games over the past few seasons, when selected, McNeil has had minimal impact and has made crucial errors at important times such as missing sitters in front of goal. In my view he has always been a bit too much 'outside' the action and it's no coincidence that he has been dropped numerous times. If there is a developing change in his output in terms of pressure acts, attack on the ball and an improved contribution overall then that's a good thing that we can all comment on constructively and give praise. I do think, however, that Bev's comments that McNeil is a whipping boy amongst our supporters and that "pisses him off" is a bit over the top.

settle down… That’s just Bevo going into bat for his players… that’s why they love him so much. Bevo polarises our supporter base more than any other coach we’ve had yet he’s far and away the most successful and his players love him.

 

[Unorth]

The Coffield resurrection has had a lot to do with our form turnaround.

Allowing Lobb to play 2nd ruck means we don’t fall apart the moment we lose our starting ruck. He can go forward for representation there or go back for support if needed.

Our previous Hawks game, Bevo was still super committed to Lobb remaining in the backline no matter what. Which in fairness wasn’t that outrageous a stance given how weak our backline was looking overall. Hence the Emmett madness. But Bevo receiving these performances from Coffield has given him the confidence to change that stance, and move Lobb around as required.

It also benefits Croft who doesn’t have to play positions he isn’t comfortable in, we’re seeing the rewards there as well.

Without Coffield playing like this, we can’t turn to Gardner for obvious reasons, and there isn’t a that much faith in Buss right now either (he’s also injury prone regardless of form). So Lobb would still be there and we’d still have some big structural issues everywhere else.

Given Coffields injury history it’s very nervy relying on this for the rest of the season though. But I think the lesson would be to give Buss a go before panicking and returning Lobb to the backline full time.

 

[Anja_Nees]

Watson has been the better player up to now, however if colonel maintains his 2026 form, I'd take colonel over Watson any day.
Plus Watson is a campaigner, hard to get around that smugness.

I’d generally take a high quality mid over a high quality crumbing forward.

 

[Foxman98]

The Coffield resurrection has had a lot to do with our form turnaround.

Allowing Lobb to play 2nd ruck means we don’t fall apart the moment we lose our starting ruck. He can go forward for representation there or go back for support if needed.

Our previous Hawks game, Bevo was still super committed to Lobb remaining in the backline no matter what. Which in fairness wasn’t that outrageous a stance given how weak our backline was looking overall. Hence the Emmett madness. But Bevo receiving these performances from Coffield has given him the confidence to change that stance, and move Lobb around as required.

It also benefits Croft who doesn’t have to play positions he isn’t comfortable in, we’re seeing the rewards there as well.

Without Coffield playing like this, we can’t turn to Gardner for obvious reasons, and there isn’t a that much faith in Buss right now either (he’s also injury prone regardless of form). So Lobb would still be there and we’d still have some big structural issues everywhere else.

Given Coffields injury history it’s very nervy relying on this for the rest of the season though. But I think the lesson would be to give Buss a go before panicking and returning Lobb to the backline full time.

Buss JOD Coff is probably I ideal structure now

Keep Lobb as forward ruck with Lewis and Astro

Croft on the wing

 

[maddog37]

Compare that effort by Will Lewis on Sicily to the one by JUH in that ill fated final where Sicily destroyed us.

Kudos Will.

 

[Pencil case]

Because its common knowledge that we combined the 1st round draft picks for two years just to get Nick Watson. And then we ended up missing out on him by one pick so we got Sanders instead.

We traded up for Sanders. All the pre draft content had Watson going before that pick we traded up for.

Had Watson slid it would’ve been interesting to see who we went with, likely still Sanders though.

 

[MaxiBont]

Because it’s common knowledge that we combined the 1st round draft picks for two years just to get Nick Watson. And then we ended up missing out on him by one pick so we got Sanders instead.

I appreciate that, but in the end we couldn’t have selected Watson.

I don’t think we can compare Sanders (and any other draft picks) to players we couldn’t pick.

Just my opinion.

 

[Norm De Guerre]

I think that most of us are not entrenched in our position on Bevo.

I believe the majority of Bulldogs folk on here wax and wane on whether Bevo is doing a good job or not.

There are some who are very vocal and who never miss an opportunity to make their strongly held views known. They treat the rest of us as somewhat idiotic for not seeing that Bevo is an underappreciated genius... or is flawed and has run his race.

Im not sure if this is addressed at me or not. And I got a drive by in the match day thread about the same.

So Im going to address it anyway from my perspective. Because...its my birthday!

Do I think that Beveridge is an under appreciated genius? Now I like to use hyperbole for effect as much as the next guy. But, Absolutely not. To think he is would be silly. Do I think he is flawed. Absolutely. I think all coaches are. Just like I think that Sam Mitchell or Chris Scott who most would say have a distinct match day advantage over Beveridge are.

The thing that irks me about the entire discussion though, is the role that the players have in our loses gets ignored like they have no agency in what just happened. Sure the likes of McNeil, VDM or some other fringe type fighting for his slot in the side will get piled onto. They're fair game. But for the most part the blame is always laid at the feet of the coach. Its just a lazy knee jerk reaction. One only needs look back at the irrational over-reactions all but calling for Beveridges head to be paraded around the MCG on pike at half time. In last nights game day thread for examples of that.

As for his future. If he and the club parted ways tomorrow. Id thank him and move on with my life.

He's an important part, but ultimately just a part of the passing parade of the club that I choose to support.

 

[cherrypie]

Because its common knowledge that we combined the 1st round draft picks for two years just to get Nick Watson. And then we ended up missing out on him by one pick so we got Sanders instead.

If there’s any comparison between draft picks that year it’ll be North picking Duursma when the next picks were Watson, Sanders, Windsor, Curtin, Caddy, O’Sullivan and Gothard. Sanders is proving to be well worth his draft position

 

[Dogs_R_Us]

You can never really be sure, but I got the impression the players were a bit spooked given Hawthorn’s recent record against us.

Some ridiculous uncharacteristic fumbles and basically skill errors.

Well, who knows what their tactics are that we can’t discern. Lots of trash talk and tackling to hurt. Playing for free kicks. Sure, they are good footballers, but their coach teaches them what worked when he was playing, I.e. unsociable football.

 

[Freshwater]

One of the most satisfying home and away wins I’ve ever attended in over 50 years supporting the club. Very cocky Hawthorn supporters everywhere. I reckon we had 15,000 of the 60,000 there last night. At least we were able to have good natured banter with the ones around us.
I went to the MCC members area for the first time in my life. So I dressed up, wore a collar and blazer I’d found in an opp shop. I looked like I was dressed as a respectable MCC guest. Except I was in the wrong century Families and the oldies on level 3 Marvel have better manners, swear less, have less tattoos and are better dressed. And I thought you could buy full strength beer cans in the members, wrong. Great spot though, right at Bulldogs race and couldn’t have been closer for the quarter time wrestle.
To ride that wave of momentum and excitement as every Bulldog on the field just kept trying and pushing. We could feel the intensity of every moment. Heroes everywhere. For us we just loved JOD and Coff and all the backline.

 

[bresker]

I challenge Bevo to open a bigfooty account and come here to verse us in writing . Easy to talk shit about us supporters .at a press conference when we can't reply