Not Worth A Thread - Random Bulldog Discussion

(Log in to remove this ad.)

WallyStringhaus

All Australian
Joined
Aug 27, 2015
Posts
660
Likes
2,392
AFL Club
Western Bulldogs
Does anyone else get the feeling that we are a touch fragile emotionally?

Last year when Clay went down we dropped our bundle and of course it was understandable and lost after having a 10 goal lead.

Last night we froze up after JJ's hammy and who knows what would have happened had Kruezer kicked a couple...

No surprise it was the composure and experience of Suckling that steadied us late...

Its great that they are a tight knit group and love playing for each other. You can see it in the way they play...the flipside is the emotional toll of seeing a great mate go down and the loss of focus that comes with it...thoughts?
 

immortalmike

Brownlow Medallist
Joined
Feb 11, 2008
Posts
14,191
Likes
23,580
Location
West Footscray
AFL Club
Western Bulldogs
Other Teams
Chicago Bulls
Does anyone else get the feeling that we are a touch fragile emotionally?

Last year when Clay went down we dropped our bundle and of course it was understandable and lost after having a 10 goal lead.

Last night we froze up after JJ's hammy and who knows what would have happened had Kruezer kicked a couple...

No surprise it was the composure and experience of Suckling that steadied us late...

Its great that they are a tight knit group and love playing for each other. You can see it in the way they play...the flipside is the emotional toll of seeing a great mate go down and the loss of focus that comes with it...thoughts?
Think it had more to do with fitness, a 6 day break and lack of rotations rather than emotions to be honest.
 
Last edited:

ScragCity

Norm Smith Medallist
Joined
Sep 7, 2015
Posts
7,795
Likes
13,851
AFL Club
Western Bulldogs
Does anyone else get the feeling that we are a touch fragile emotionally?

Last year when Clay went down we dropped our bundle and of course it was understandable and lost after having a 10 goal lead.

Last night we froze up after JJ's hammy and who knows what would have happened had Kruezer kicked a couple...

No surprise it was the composure and experience of Suckling that steadied us late...

Its great that they are a tight knit group and love playing for each other. You can see it in the way they play...the flipside is the emotional toll of seeing a great mate go down and the loss of focus that comes with it...thoughts?
I don't think the JJ injury got to us at all. For all the players knew at that point it might have been a 2 week hammy. We were bad in the last quarter because we were TIRED and if you couldn't see that you are blind. We were coming off a 6 day break after a tough game against Hawthorn that went down to the wire. To add to this we were dropping like flies with injury. Hunter made the comment after the game that he didn't get a rest after the first quarter. It's a credit to the players that we didn't let Carlton score much in the last quarter being as tired as we were.
 

fpcookie

Norm Smith Medallist
Joined
Oct 9, 2013
Posts
5,030
Likes
4,710
AFL Club
Western Bulldogs
Other Teams
Dallas Mavericks
Does anyone else get the feeling that we are a touch fragile emotionally?

Last year when Clay went down we dropped our bundle and of course it was understandable and lost after having a 10 goal lead.

Last night we froze up after JJ's hammy and who knows what would have happened had Kruezer kicked a couple...

No surprise it was the composure and experience of Suckling that steadied us late...

Its great that they are a tight knit group and love playing for each other. You can see it in the way they play...the flipside is the emotional toll of seeing a great mate go down and the loss of focus that comes with it...thoughts?
Reckon you might be onto something here.
 

(Log in to remove this ad.)

WallyStringhaus

All Australian
Joined
Aug 27, 2015
Posts
660
Likes
2,392
AFL Club
Western Bulldogs
I don't think the JJ injury got to us at all. For all the players knew at that point it might have been a 2 week hammy. We were bad in the last quarter because we were TIRED and if you couldn't see that you are blind. We were coming off a 6 day break after a tough game against Hawthorn that went down to the wire. To add to this we were dropping like flies with injury. Hunter made the comment after the game that he didn't get a rest after the first quarter. It's a credit to the players that we didn't let Carlton score much in the last quarter being as tired as we were.
Bit harsh saying i'm blind. Carlton were coming off an interstate trip in humid conditions and were also down in rotations due to their captains absence. They seemed to run out the game ok...

The fact remains that when JJ went down at the 8 min mark of the 3rd quarter we had kicked 11.4...in the subsequent 50 mins we only managed a further 2.3.

You are right in that the players could have conceivably thought his injury was only minor...however, on the back of bob's injury and JJ's own history (missing finals) one cannot completely dismiss that it was another psychological blow to the team...

Just something to keep an eye on imho
 

ScragCity

Norm Smith Medallist
Joined
Sep 7, 2015
Posts
7,795
Likes
13,851
AFL Club
Western Bulldogs
Bit harsh saying i'm blind. Carlton were coming off an interstate trip in humid conditions and were also down in rotations due to their captains absence. They seemed to run out the game ok...

The fact remains that when JJ went down at the 8 min mark of the 3rd quarter we had kicked 11.4...in the subsequent 50 mins we only managed a further 2.3.

You are right in that the players could have conceivably thought his injury was only minor...however, on the back of bob's injury and JJ's own history (missing finals) one cannot completely dismiss that it was another psychological blow to the team...

Just something to keep an eye on imho
To label a team of 44 or so blokes as emotionally fragile as a collective is hard for me to comprehend. Every player on our team has had different lives and life experiences and their emotional fortitude will be different from player to player. It's statistically improbable that the emotional fortitude of our players as a collective would be significantly worse than any other list of 44 players from within the same country and similar cultures. That isn't going to change because they play for a certain football club. Give me a break.
 

WallyStringhaus

All Australian
Joined
Aug 27, 2015
Posts
660
Likes
2,392
AFL Club
Western Bulldogs
To label a team of 44 or so blokes as emotionally fragile as a collective is hard for me to comprehend. Every player on our team has had different lives and life experiences and their emotional fortitude will be different from player to player. It's statistically improbable that the emotional fortitude of our players as a collective would be significantly worse than any other list of 44 players from within the same country and similar cultures. That isn't going to change because they play for a certain football club. Give me a break.
Have you not watched any interviews with our coach...he is all about emotion, as is our captain. It is a very effective motivational tool, i know because i use it myself within my own business. It binds people together and strengthens relationships...the flipside is it can effect the emotional psyche of the group when adversity strikes.

I'm speaking from experience within my own sector and yeah these guys may be professional athletes like many, many others but they are human beings first...

Look at the outpouring of emotion bob's injury conjured up throughout former and current players as well as supporters from all clubs...its one of the reasons i love footy and this club in particular so much.
 

ScragCity

Norm Smith Medallist
Joined
Sep 7, 2015
Posts
7,795
Likes
13,851
AFL Club
Western Bulldogs
Have you not watched any interviews with our coach...he is all about emotion, as is our captain. It is a very effective motivational tool, i know because i use it myself within my own business. It binds people together and strengthens relationships...the flipside is it can effect the emotional psyche of the group when adversity strikes.

I'm speaking from experience within my own sector and yeah these guys may be professional athletes like many, many others but they are human beings first...

Look at the outpouring of emotion bob's injury conjured up throughout former and current players as well as supporters from all clubs...its one of the reasons i love footy and this club in particular so much.
So you're saying that a few speeches from Bev has turned our blokes soft? Interesting.
 

WallyStringhaus

All Australian
Joined
Aug 27, 2015
Posts
660
Likes
2,392
AFL Club
Western Bulldogs
So you're saying that a few speeches from Bev has turned our blokes soft? Interesting.
Who said soft? What i'm saying is that using emotions as a motivational tool can have ramifications if you dont get the balance right...and it can be a very fine line.

Have you been on the field when a close mate suffers a severe injury? I have and dependant on the popularity of the bloke on the ground it can have a very deflating effect on the whole group.
 

immortalmike

Brownlow Medallist
Joined
Feb 11, 2008
Posts
14,191
Likes
23,580
Location
West Footscray
AFL Club
Western Bulldogs
Other Teams
Chicago Bulls
Who said soft? What i'm saying is that using emotions as a motivational tool can have ramifications if you dont get the balance right...and it can be a very fine line.

Have you been on the field when a close mate suffers a severe injury? I have and dependant on the popularity of the bloke on the ground it can have a very deflating effect on the whole group.
Think you're adding two and two and getting 5.
JJ coming off had more of an effect on our run and we struggled to get that going again. Hunter was also quoted as saying he wasn't rotated again from that point on. It stuffed up everything.
 

ScragCity

Norm Smith Medallist
Joined
Sep 7, 2015
Posts
7,795
Likes
13,851
AFL Club
Western Bulldogs
Who said soft? What i'm saying is that using emotions as a motivational tool can have ramifications if you dont get the balance right...and it can be a very fine line.

Have you been on the field when a close mate suffers a severe injury? I have and dependant on the popularity of the bloke on the ground it can have a very deflating effect on the whole group.
So now you are saying that ANY group would be deflated from something like that. And yet you said our group was "a touch emotionally fragile" because you think that's how we reacted to JJ going down. So which is it? Stop changing your argument.
 

WallyStringhaus

All Australian
Joined
Aug 27, 2015
Posts
660
Likes
2,392
AFL Club
Western Bulldogs
Think you're adding two and two and getting 5.
JJ coming off had more of an effect on our run and we struggled to get that going again. Hunter was also quoted as saying he wasn't rotated again from that point on. It stuffed up everything.
So what did marc murphy's injury do to their rotations? He went off before halftime, did it stuff up everything for them?
 

WallyStringhaus

All Australian
Joined
Aug 27, 2015
Posts
660
Likes
2,392
AFL Club
Western Bulldogs
So now you are saying that ANY group would be deflated from something like that. And yet you said our group was "a touch emotionally fragile" because you think that's how we reacted to JJ going down. So which is it? Stop changing your argument.
You need to stop putting words in my mouth to suit your own opinions...replace the words 'would be' in your above quote and replace them with 'can be' which is what i actually said...big difference yeah?

All i have done is made an observation mate. We have had 2 instances of massively popular clubmen going down with reoccurring injuries and on both occasions the team has stopped to a walk after the fact...
 

immortalmike

Brownlow Medallist
Joined
Feb 11, 2008
Posts
14,191
Likes
23,580
Location
West Footscray
AFL Club
Western Bulldogs
Other Teams
Chicago Bulls
So what did marc murphy's injury do to their rotations? He went off before halftime, did it stuff up everything for them?
We also had three others injured during the match, coming off a six day break after a punishing game and were showing signs of slowing down before JJ's injury.

Clay Smith was a special circumstance. JJ was a regular injury.
 

WallyStringhaus

All Australian
Joined
Aug 27, 2015
Posts
660
Likes
2,392
AFL Club
Western Bulldogs
We also had three others injured during the match, coming off a six day break after a punishing game and were showing signs of slowing down before JJ's injury.

Clay Smith was a special circumstance. JJ was a regular injury.
Look, i hope both you guys are right and we are strong enough mentally...having said that i will never back down on my views of the game from a psychological standpoint.

There are reasons why so many sportspeople refer to the majority of the game being played 'between the ears'...if a wrong bounce of the ball or a fumble can effect a players confidence and psyche is it that naive to have a belief that a significant injury to a good friend can effect the psyche of several players?
 
Top Bottom