Preview Elimination Final: Western Bulldogs vs Essendon, York Park, Sunday 29/08/2021 @ 3:20 pm

[Keystone agony]

Damn raining makes it hard. Plays into the big body dogs hands. Stringer has to be huge today

Everyone will be crying for a big mid after today

 

[scottmclaren]

Dogs midfield is essentially unchanged but they do have 6 changes since we beat them in round 21

IN
Keath
Weightman
Vandmeer
R Smith
Hannan
Young

OUT
Bruce
Sache
Scott
Garcia
Richards
Ugle-Hagan

Keath and Weightmann the big inclusions for me. Big opportunity for Franga today we need him to give 2MP some support.

Bonus getting the dogs away from the Dome — they played better last week but honestly Port should have beaten them by more.

 

[boncer34]

Keath is a massive in for them from last time.

 

[Vander18]

This is a free spin for the bombers
i hope they win but on any measurement it has been a successful year
This weekend watching joe miss clutch shots at goal, Fantasia be amazing then look proppy and thinking about saad cope with the defensive demands of Ross Lyon shows footy truly is a weird and wonderful roller coaster ride

Connor had a really shitty week as well - that milk run is no fun once the weather starts to turn.

 

[TheGrizz]

Keath is a massive in for them from last time.

Yup, Wright wont get off the chain like he did with Schache.

 

[MiguelM]

Keath is a massive in for them from last time.

and Weightman, gun.

 

[DallasCrane316]

and Weightman, gun.

To be fair - Heppell, McGrath and Caldwell are massive ins for us too

 

[MiguelM]

To be fair - Heppell, McGrath and Caldwell are massive ins for us too

Yep, plus Bruce out has hurt the Dogs

 

[Foreverdon]

Half way there weather still fine and spoke to friends no rain in Launceston yet overcast but no rain

 

[YoboD]

Yep, plus Bruce out has hurt the Dogs

Yeah I think Bruce is far more important to them than Weightman and Keath, definitely looks like a weaker team than the last time we played them.

 

[eth-dog]

Keath>Schache
Young<Bruce
Weightman>Garcia
Vandermeer>Scott
Roarke Smith

37

Roarke Smith

Age

27

Ht

184cm

Wt

82kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

11.7

3star

K

5.6

2star

HB

6.1

4star

M

2.4

3star

T

1.7

4star

CL

0.4

2star

No current season stats available

D

12.0

3star

K

5.8

3star

HB

6.2

4star

M

3.0

3star

T

1.6

4star

CL

0.2

2star

<Richards
Hannan=Ugle-Hagan

Overall I think they have a stronger side than last time. As for us:

Heppell=Hind
Caldwell>Clarke
McGrath=Walla

I think we have a better side too but this is really a bit too basic a measure for anything meaningful

 

[Shane Heard]

This is a free spin for the bombers
i hope they win but on any measurement it has been a successful year
This weekend watching joe miss clutch shots at goal, Fantasia be amazing then look proppy and thinking about saad cope with the defensive demands of Ross Lyon shows footy truly is a weird and wonderful roller coaster ride

Daniher was awful last night. He’s pretty ordinary in general.
It was meant to be him leaving.
And now..he we are. Back in finals.
And we are ******* pumped ☝
Let there be rock!!!

 

[eth-dog]

Yeah I think Bruce is far more important to them than Weightman and Keath, definitely looks like a weaker team than the last time we played them.

Keath is their second most important player behind Bont.

 

[Shane Heard]

feels like waking up Christmas morning

it really does have that feel lol

 

[YoboD]

Jeez we are in a bit of trouble if McGrath isn’t a big improvement over Walla’s 5 touch 1 tackle game he played against the dogs last time.

But you’re right of course, the team looks better but the game isn’t played on paper. Hopefully they all commit and play hard today and we’ll be in with a chance.

 

[Shane Heard]

Jeez we are in a bit of trouble if McGrath isn’t a big improvement over Walla’s 5 touch 1 tackle game he played against the dogs last time.

But you’re right of course, the team looks better but the game isn’t played on paper. Hopefully they all commit and play hard today and we’ll be in with a chance.

mcGrath loves the slop. He’s a mudder. His mother was a mudder..

 

[blitzer]

I think there are 4 players in particular that we really need to stand up today: Our 3 AA Squad members and our ruck
Draper, Stringer, Merrett and Parish - These blokes need to win their positions today doing all the things that lead them into the AA squad this year. Its going to be at least somewhat wet and whilst we should have an edge in hitouts we need it to translate into meaningful forward 50 entries. Its not going to be an easy task even though the Bulldog mids have gone to sleep a bit the past few weeks we know the quality they have and they have it all over us in the size department.

We also need our forward line to be willing to fight and scrap for everything today. Its not the most talented forward line out there and the omissions of Langford and Tippa hurt. But if blokes like Guelfi, Waterman and Smith fight and scrap the whole day to keep that ball inside the forward 50 then I think we can score well enough. Hopefully Wright plays a decent game but he's not going to kick 7 goals again - they have a better defender in Keith available and its worse conditions and frankly it was just a fortuitous game for him last time around. I am a bit worried that we don't have anyone that we can 100% rely on to score no matter what so we'll be relying on system over individuals.

 

[Don Won]

If it’s wet or potentially wet you’d have to think Clarke will be the sub. In fact if it pisses down I’d look to squeeze him in before the game.

 

[YEMOC NAYR]

Hopefully the boys can get it done. Never thought we'd be in this position at the start of the season so I'm happy regardless. But let's take it up to them

 

[eth-dog]

I think the following match-ups are most likely to happen:

Keath - Wright
Cordy - Francis
Williams - Waterman/Stringer when he's down there
Wood - Perkins/Waterman as above
Duryea - Smith
Daniel - Snelling
Dale - Rotating mid (apart from Stringer)

The match ups aren't as good as last time but hopefully Francis can step up against Cordy yet again and Stringer can do the same to Williams. Smith on Duryea will be vital, we need a win there and for Snelling to beat Daniel as well.

Stewart - English/Young
Laverde - Naughton
Redman - Weightman
Gleeson - Vandermeer
Ridley - Hannan
Cutler - Johannisen
Heppell - Rotating mid

Stewart against the rucks is pretty much the one we need to win here. Laverde and Naughton should be a good battle and I'm not confident with Redman on Weightman but he's the only one quick enough to go with him. If Stewart can keep those two to under 3 goals we're a good chance.

 

[Andronicus]

We have a guaranteed 7 goals from wright again yeah?

 

[Jobe Watson]

Alright, we literally cannot win. We're up against the umpires' pets of the AFL, having to contend with noted duckers like Macrae and Weightman and boy scouts like Bontempelli, who gets a free kick if you look at him the wrong way. The weather doesn't suit our lineup. We've lost Hind - one of our most important players - in the most stupid of ways, in addition to Langford, Jones and Tippa on the sidelines. They've got Keath back which means Wright won't touch it. Caldwell off no AFL games in 20 weeks.

All-time choke if the Dogs blow this one. They couldn't... they couldn't go from near flag favourites to out within a month...

 

[MiguelM]

Alright, we literally cannot win. We're up against the umpires' pets of the AFL, having to contend with noted duckers like Macrae and Weightman and boy scouts like Bontempelli, who gets a free kick if you look at him the wrong way. The weather doesn't suit our lineup. We've lost Hind - one of our most important players - in the most stupid of ways, in addition to Langford, Jones and Tippa on the sidelines. They've got Keath back which means Wright won't touch it. Caldwell off no AFL games in 20 weeks.

All-time choke if the Dogs blow this one. They couldn't... they couldn't go from near flag favourites to out within a month...

Maybe, but we are hitting form and Dogs going backwards. The ruck is where we can gain a big advantage IMO.

Our defensive numbers are great the last month.

We have absolutely nothing to lose but need to start well.

 

[Foreverdon]

In Launceston no rain yet

 

[wichidi]

In finals you often see some players really step up and some struggle.
Who do you guys think will step up today and who do you think might struggle with the pressure?

players I think will thrive:
Stringer
Draper
Parish
Laverde
Shiel

players I think who might struggle:
Wright
Cutler
Durham

but would love to be wrong and hope everyone has a blinder!