Autopsy Post 2021 Grand Final Western Bulldogs game review, the good the bad and the ugly, come talk about it here!

[House_of_Dahl]

One thing that was really apparent last night was that we seemed determined to go down the wings almost every time. Other than centre clearances I really struggle to recall us going down the middle.

 

[Doggy]

Yep, I can sense a fair bit of the 2005 Ashes winning English cricket team about them already. Very happy with themselves. F*** them. I hope they get smashed by injuries next year, fall in a heap and become one hit wonders. That video should be played at every training session over summer. Seared in every player's head (along with the second half). It has to burn.

Modest in victory, humble in defeat.

Boy do they have some campaigners for supporters. Some absolute classics on here refusing to stop tagging a few of us onto their board and acting like tossers.

 

[the dog's kennel]

Obvious. Treloar.

Treloar was in the centre square as much as Macrae was, according to OG's stats.

I actually think the opposite - I think at the critical juncture in the 3rd it wasn't pace that was our problem - it was that they comprehensively beat us in ballwinning. That was when Libba got broken by Petracca. I think that was the time to get Dunkley in there.

 

[Sentinel]

Its not our song and used by heaps of sporting clubs, apparently many of the other AFL clubs too. May well have had nothing to do with us.

Yeah this wasn't a Bulldogs thing, sports teams everywhere have been using that song in recent years. We're being a little precious to think they were doing it to mock the Bulldogs.

 

[Brian Perrin]

Yep, I can sense a fair bit of the 2005 Ashes winning English cricket team about them already. Very happy with themselves. F*** them. I hope they get smashed by injuries next year, fall in a heap and become one hit wonders. That video should be played at every training session over summer. Seared in every player's head (along with the second half). It has to burn.

Modest in victory, humble in defeat.

Sounds like an Adelaide pre-season camp approach to me


Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com

 

[Dogs_R_Us]

Yep, I can sense a fair bit of the 2005 Ashes winning English cricket team about them already. Very happy with themselves. F*** them. I hope they get smashed by injuries next year, fall in a heap and become one hit wonders. That video should be played at every training session over summer. Seared in every player's head (along with the second half). It has to burn.

Modest in victory, humble in defeat.

I'm very proud that there was no show-boating by our blokes, just genuinely amazed and thrilled with their success.

 

[adogsfan5]

One thing that was really apparent last night was that we seemed determined to go down the wings almost every time. Other than centre clearances I really struggle to recall us going down the middle.

That’s why Melbourne are so good. They don’t give you that inboard kick.

 

[BrunswickDog]

I am absolutely flat this morning.

As I tried to explain what happened in the 3rd to my partner, she said "why didn't the dogs just move to different positions to stop the dees?"

After trying to explain, it really dawned on me, with the runner limitations and the 6-6-6, we really lacked onfield leadership to undestand and adjust in game and on field - without the coach making tbose changes directly.

This has been a constant issue for the dogs.

We lost a lot of battle hardened, mature players after 2016, and I don't think we ever recovered.

We have our sole vice captain who can't get a game FFS

 

[House_of_Dahl]

That’s why Melbourne are so good. They don’t give you that inboard kick.

They were very disciplined with their structure. Always seemed to have players in every patch of the ground. You know a team is playing well when they seem to have extra players on the ground

 

[Dogs 13]

 

[devil demon]

Hey guys, sorry if I'm intruding but just wanted to send my commiserations. I'm glad that the best two teams in 2021 made it to the final game and thought you guys definitely brought it last night. I honestly thought one more goal in the 3rd quarter and it would be game over for the Dees. Despite the scoreline, the game was a closer than that.

You should be proud of your club for having such a great season as well. I've heard some recent podcasts from Dyl and Friends with Lin Jong

46

Lin Jong

Age

30

Ht

188cm

Wt

87kg

Pos.

M/F

Career

Season

Last 5

D

15.6

4star

K

6.3

2star

HB

9.3

5star

M

2.7

3star

T

4.0

5star

CL

2.3

4star

D

13.7

3star

K

4.0

1star

HB

9.7

5star

M

3.3

3star

T

3.0

4star

CL

0.7

3star

D

16.0

4star

K

7.8

3star

HB

8.2

5star

M

3.0

3star

T

1.8

4star

CL

0.6

3star

and Cody Weightman

3

Cody Weightman

Age

23

Ht

179cm

Wt

75kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

6.5

2star

K

4.0

2star

HB

2.5

2star

M

2.0

2star

T

1.0

3star

G

1.0

4star

D

6.5

1star

K

4.0

1star

HB

2.5

2star

M

2.0

2star

T

1.0

2star

G

1.0

4star

D

6.5

2star

K

4.0

2star

HB

2.5

3star

M

2.0

3star

T

1.0

3star

G

1.0

4star

and it sounds like you've got some really good people in the right places. Pretty scary to think how your group has so much more to grow with JUH and Darcy to come in soon.

Bad luck last night but you should be so incredibly proud of the boys for making it so far and it's amazing about the adversity you guys had to overcome.

 

[the dog's kennel]

Don’t think he was at the centre bounce in that 5 minute burst. I turned off after they were 42 points up so I probably missed some points to talk about in that last quarter.

Treloar was DEFINITELY in the center square then. I have a very vivid memory of when we went 3 goals down with 30 seconds to go in the 3rd yelling at the TV "KILL THE BOUNCE!" and watching with horror as treloar grabbed the ball and was tackled - and rather than just killing the play and forcing another bounce up he chose to try to handball to no-one through a demons players's legs and coughed it up - leading to another goal in 10 seconds. I was going spare. That was the very definition of stupid panicky football.

 

[Kermit]

I don’t think we are as young as people believe. No doubt we have a good 2 year window coming up, but Libba and Treloar will 30 and 29 next year. Keath 30, Duryea 31 who are our best 2 defenders. Even Bont and Macrae will be 27 and 28 next year which isn’t young.

On the whole Melbourne’s core is younger.

We have a good group coming through in early 20s like Baz and Naughty, but the majority of our core are in their prime. Now is the time to win flags.

May, Gawn, Brown, McDonald are all 29+ That’s their 2 key forwards, ruckman and key defender. Our best mids are older than theirs but we run deeper. Jackson can replace either a forward or Gawn but not both. They also have a number of players in their prime and will be a threat if they stay injury free again (their luck this year was insane). But they most likely won’t. And neither will we

 

[Doggy]

May, Gawn, Brown, McDonald are all 29+ That’s their 2 key forwards, ruckman and key defender. Our best mids are older than theirs but we run deeper. Jackson can replace either a forward or Gawn but not both. They also have a number of players in their prime and will be a threat if they stay injury free again (their luck this year was insane). But they most likely won’t. And neither will we

And they lose Darren Burgess which cannot be underestimated

 

[TommyD13]

Hi guys
Been a long time since I last logged in and posted. Tried to cut social medias out of my life for a while, but have found maybe a balance is better than cutting out altogether. Last nights game probably provides a good time for my return post.
Many things have crossed my mind since halfway through the third quarter.
My number one is our on ball rotation. I am firmly of the belief, now more than ever, that our best on-ball mix is Bont, Baz and Treloar. Enough pace, aggression and class in there. Libba and Macrae for me are better suited to the wings and flanks and then come in to around the ground stoppages to get their hands on the ball. Melbourne showed us how unstoppable a midfield that is explosive can be, and I think we have the tools already at our disposal to match this.
Number two is ruck. Martin is too slow, English is too soft. We need someone more in the middle of these two players. Sweet is probably more suited than both of these players, but is inexperienced and cant seem to get a look in. We need to solve this otherwise we will never fully take it to the best sides. A nice ruck feeding the aforementioned midfield is a very important starting point.
Number three. I am sorry but Wood is cooked. Cordy is too slow. I firmly believe our backline would have been much better served last night with them two out, and Richards and Naughton down there instead.
Number four. 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

. I am sorry. He may have limited natural talent but this man is as hard as any. He puts his body on the line for this club and a few other players could learn a thing or two from him. Was magnificent last night.
Finally, I am gutted from last night. Admittedly, it never felt quite right this year for me. A two-week build up and I am just not sure it felt very much like a grand final this year, but equally shattered to lose. I think our boys have it in them more than anyone to bounce back. They are a resilient bunch and we will be back amongst it next year. But I must add, I think next year is the year we need to put our foot down. No more of this elimination final stuff. Top four is where it is at. We must get there and become a force to be reckoned with rather than a romantic feel good story of underdogs who scrape through. We have the talent, we just need the ruthlessness. Chins up peoples.

 

[frenchconnection]

Too many players had an off night, hope they learn from it.

Also need some centre square tactics to stop a run on. Failed miserably there tonight

Bad luck guys but only one team can win and it was Melbourne's time. Your team did well just to get there as it would have been a hard road with having to travel from State to State leading up to the GF however it just appeared you ran out of petrol at the end. Better luck next time but from a neutral point of view it was good to see a different team win it this year (not Richmond lol) and for a team who has not been there for decades.

 

[The Inbetweener]

May, Gawn, Brown, McDonald are all 29+ That’s their 2 key forwards, ruckman and key defender. Our best mids are older than theirs but we run deeper. Jackson can replace either a forward or Gawn but not both. They also have a number of players in their prime and will be a threat if they stay injury free again (their luck this year was insane). But they most likely won’t. And neither will we

Yeah I think we are pretty similar in position - Petracca and Oliver being at the very beginning on their primes and Gawn getting better with age makes them very formidable.

 

[charcoalchicken]

Dogs came out nervous in the first, dees were on from the start, thought it was more likely to be the other way around. second quarter obviously good and a bit into the third but yeah smashed in the midfield from then on, needed to stop the run they were getting and just couldn’t, Williams had a mare, when he coughed up two goals in the first qtr I kinda knew we probably wouldn’t win, got my hopes up though in the second only to be let down again.
How Fritsch kicks six goals is a disaster as well.
Sort the ruck situation out this off season, that should be top priority and we can go again, we’re not far off it.

 

[Dizzy Stuff]

Feeling pretty miserable right now. In a way, it feels like we got the worst of both grand final experiences - close enough at one point to feel like we could have / should have won it (a la Collingwood 2018, Hawthorn 2012, St Kilda 2009/2010, etc.) yet completely embarrassed by the scoreline in the end (GWS 2019, Sydney 2014, Port Adelaide 2007, etc.). To go from thinking we were about to witness Bont become a two-time premiership player, Norm Smith medallist and probably the greatest Bulldog in history, to then being on the receiving end of arguably the most dominant 40-minute period of football of all time, was a heartbreaking way to end an otherwise mostly enjoyable season.

One silver lining is that at, as Dogs fans, at least we've now experienced the full gamut of football emotions - we know what it feels like to lose a grand final. As one poster suggested a few pages ago, the cruel beauty of sport is that if the losses didn't hurt, the wins wouldn't feel anywhere near as good. This one really hurts. Hopefully, it'll make our next premiership all the more sweet.

And while I think the risk of such a brutal loss damaging the psyche of the playing group is real, we're fortunate to have a coach who is probably more capable of combatting that risk than anyone else in the league. If anyone can make the players proud of what they achieved this year, rather than despondent and broken over the nature of the loss, surely it's Bevo.

Another silver lining is that at least we're not St Kilda (shout out to any Saints fans reading this for a bit of schadenfreude). I can't imagine how bad this would feel if we didn't have the crutch of 2016 to fall back on.

 

[Deemanding]

Its not our song and used by heaps of sporting clubs, apparently many of the other AFL clubs too. May well have had nothing to do with us.

I'm a Perth Glory member as well. We play that song after every win. The (right side of the) shed goes nuts.

I would like to think that given where we've come from we'd be the last team to mock others. Anywho last I'll say, best of luck to the dogs in 2022, now that we've broken the drought certainly would have no complaints if you went one better next year.

 

[Chicago1]

Meh. I'm over it. (Not really. )

Hope the summer goes quickly and winter is once again here, except for that flu thing that has been going around.

 

[Maverick Dog]

Still in shock how we capitulated.

The backline, unfortunately nerves got into the players. Was worried about Bailey Dale

31

Bailey Dale

Age

27

Ht

188cm

Wt

85kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

13.2

3star

K

7.6

3star

HB

5.6

4star

M

3.1

3star

T

1.6

4star

MG

117.4

2star

D

9.0

2star

K

5.1

2star

HB

3.9

3star

M

2.3

2star

T

1.7

3star

MG

117.4

2star

D

8.0

2star

K

5.0

2star

HB

3.0

3star

M

1.4

2star

T

2.0

4star

pre game but was surprised how Bailey Williams did not cope.

so many drop marks by our defenders that resulted in goals.

Bevo needs more tactical assistance, As others mention they had Williams and Richo helpin. Bevo needs an experienced assistant to help.

Schache needs to spend the whole preseason training as a defender and try and put on some size. He has far more upside than both Cords and Gards.

Juh needs a big preseason and be played from the ghetto. He showed he has it.

I don’t understand how we did not adjust our centre square set up after 3 goals. That was poor coaching.

A good season apart from a shocking and embarrasing 45 minutes.

 

[dergert]

If Sam Darcy can play defence, I could see him getting a few games next year. Worked for Naughton as well as a few others around.

 

[who_let_the_dogs_out]

Had to front up to my Mums bday lunch today at a bistro and the bloody replay was on in the dining area. Not loving life at the minute.

 

[Munnez]

Nothing in that.

Don‘t let little things get to you.


Ah it’s good to be hated. Wait for the hate when we draft Darcy after making a grand final.

I know there isn't much in and that I am something of a fossil but it goes against what I learnt in my limited sporting career.
Just basic respect have moved past it , just saying class doesn't cost anything