Review Dogs choke the life out of The Eagles

[gordo2016]

So our usual 4-4.5 hour round trip turned into a 6 hour marathon on the way home (detour for offspring with car trouble), so just got in from a very enjoyable day at the footy.

Apologies if others have mentioned him, and given it was a fairly poor opponent, but I'll just say rumours of Taylor Duryea's demise were a little premature. Makes good decisions, can kick both sides. Big challenge for him and the team next week, hopefully all are up to it.

Poulter looked ok when he came on, but I've still got Baker ahead of him for one wing. Baker just covers so much ground from end to end, brings lots of positive energy. Will be interesting with Richards back too, where does Williams go?

Some great team goals today, but against poor opposition. Hopefully give the Corio Moggies a good touch up in Adelaide.

Fantastic to see that the great man was also at yesterdays game Geoff. Looking like a million bucks for someone nearly 70.

 

[CarnTheScray]

I think he's saying how rediculous the mandating of a product and forcing people to choose whether to keep their job or take said product over something that no one knew the consequences of that said product, which said product was never tested to see if it would stop transmission of virus that product was meant to stop (admitted by product representative in EU parliament) seems like he is saying that pharmaceutical companies together with the media and government lied to and tricked a lot of people

Hmm yes using vague wording makes you sound smarter yes.

 

[grassman75]

Think this one might have gone over the top...

Probably, surely everyone is over it now though. People carry on about it more than they do about sacking Bevo

 

[CarnTheScray]

Worst part about our game was our entries going inside 50 and our use once it was in there. Some really diabolical entries, we would have close to 5-10 entries in a row and one behind to show for it at times.

I get the conditions were pretty bad, the turf is a disaster and it looked pretty slippery but seriously need to stop kicking it to the heads of McGovern and Barass, they love using their strength to just sit under the ball. Geelongs backs next week will not be so kind, especially Stewart, if the ball is kicked within 10 metres of him he will mark it.

 

[X_box_X]

I'm guessing I'm not the only one eagerly awaiting Sanders' first goal in the AFL.

Did anyone else notice English had the perfect opportunity to feed a running Sanders the ball as he was charging towards goal in the final qtr yesterday? English's lack of peripheral vision was annoying, as he ended up getting tackled front on. Sure, he probably only had half a second to react, but at the highest level, professional players should only need half a second to feed a handball laterally two metres to a free teammate. I've seen us do a countless number of training drills with a heavy focus on handballing under pressure, so it's not like that situation would have been foreign to Timmy.

 

[TiAn_]

I'm guessing I'm not the only one eagerly awaiting Sanders' first goal in the AFL.

Did anyone else notice English had the perfect opportunity to feed a running Sanders the ball as he was charging towards goal in the final qtr yesterday? English's lack of peripheral vision was annoying, as he ended up getting tackled front on. Sure, he probably only had half a second to react, but at the highest level, professional players should only need half a second to feed a handball laterally two metres to a free teammate. I've seen us do a countless number of training drills with a heavy focus on handballing under pressure, so it's not like that situation would have been foreign to Timmy.

Was watching the highlights and came here to post about Tim, so my post coming after yours is just a coincidence.

Tim has the best collection of tools outside of the ruck contest of any ruck in the comp, the way he moves and impacts at ground level, on the spread and in the air is phenomenal. If he could even just regularly break even with the other elite ruckmen in the ruck contest and similarly have clear wins in there over average/smaller rucks like Williams (like say Gawn and Witts do), he’d be in the discussion for the best players in the game. And there’s no physical reason why he shouldn’t be able to do that. I think that’s why I find him so utterly frustrating for a good player.

 

[Bulldogs Legend]

Shocking standard of umpiring.

Shocking standard of commentating.

Best game of his career from Vandermeer, needs to learn how to tighten the gap between his best and worst in a positive direction.

Brereton needs to be taken out back and shot, brain is actually fried.

Bremerton is full of crap but his and the others comments on VDM were spot on. We need players who can move up and down the ground at speed it’s crucial in today’s game

 

[Bulldogs Legend]

Good viewing. What the f**k is Dermott smoking just quietly?

Definitely a two box of pizza shapes and several beers game

 

[HK_Bulldog]

Was watching the highlights and came here to post about Tim, so my post coming after yours is just a coincidence.

Tim has the best collection of tools outside of the ruck contest of any ruck in the comp, the way he moves and impacts at ground level, on the spread and in the air is phenomenal. If he could even just regularly break even with the other elite ruckmen in the ruck contest and similarly have clear wins in there over average/smaller rucks like Williams (like say Gawn and Witts do), he’d be in the discussion for the best players in the game. And there’s no physical reason why he shouldn’t be able to do that. I think that’s why I find him so utterly frustrating for a good player.

Agree with this. He doesn’t fight for it at the ruck contests. I read an article during the week by Bucks where he said that ball players are not the best tacklers because they like to keep their feet whereas contested players are better tacklers because they commit to the contest at the expense of going to ground. English fits in the first category. Is it possible to coach him to be contested at the ruck contest and a ball player everywhere else? Or would that just disrupt his natural instincts? In any case we have Darcy developing and he shows great signs at the ruck contests. Coaches need to figure out how to use them both to best effect for the team.

 

[Bulldogs Legend]

Dermott Brereton is an absolute piece of garbage. What the * was that about?!

Not convinced by that unfortunately.
Cue was absolutely in the rack. Lost the clearances and basically broke even in i50s against a really really poor side.

For the past two seasons, it has been like watching a lazy, comfortable football team, that doesn't have to suffer any consequences from underwhelming play. Bramble stands out because he's playing for his career whereas the rest of these players look lackadaisical by comparison.

It doesn't help that this list desperately lacks raw legspeed and consistently goes in too tall at selection.

The defence is a real worry against teams that aren't complete trash. They must persevere with Buku and JOD and Richards who basically need to be the foundation of the defense
moving forward.

LOL cheer up mate 70 points is still 70 points. What were you expecting 170 points?
No one at the club would be under any illusions about the quality of opposition but you still have to win and 70 points is a big margin

 

[Bulldogs Legend]

Good game overall, with some things to work on.

Worst commentary I have ever heard.

You haven’t heard mine

 

[Ted's Robot]

Do not touch that ball!

I still laugh at this. So sad that people fell for it.

 

[Bulldogs Legend]

Why not? I think we can beat anyone if we’re firing on all cylinders.

Getting a flag should absolutely be the goal this year.

When you look at the teams that are favourites in the MSM we could absolutely win it. There is no standout sides

 

[Ted's Robot]

Love it. Good on him for standing his ground.

Getting Liam back was the only good thing that came out of the those ridiculous mandates. Smart player.

 

[doggy_dog]

How about this commentary gem from Mark Howard - “well you talk about father sons, Liberatore, West, Darcy. Go back 20 years and it was the same names, but their fathers!”

It’s almost as if that’s exactly how the rule works…

 

[Ted's Robot]

I think he's saying how rediculous the mandating of a product and forcing people to choose whether to keep their job or take said product over something that no one knew the consequences of that said product, which said product was never tested to see if it would stop transmission of virus that product was meant to stop (admitted by product representative in EU parliament) seems like he is saying that pharmaceutical companies together with the media and government lied to and tricked a lot of people

Could not agree more!

Fantastic to win like we did yesterday.
Could have been a different game if the Eagles took more of their chances.
Centre bounces are still an issue.
Love seeing Gallagher doing well, good kick.
Really noticeable how much Jamarra and Aaron look for each other.

 

[Bulldogs Legend]

Watched VDM closely. Some characteristic skill errors etc but the guy works seriously hard. Probably needs to quickly improve the attacking side of his game if he is going to be a long term fixture but his defensive effort is strong.

We need more players that have his defensive efforts, it’s something that West has had to develop and it’s the hard running in both directions that is vital.

 

[CarnTheScray]

When you look at the teams that are favourites in the MSM we could absolutely win it. There is no standout sides

Still have some big problems to solve, but we should be pretty competitive with a fully fit best 23.

 

[Bulldogs Legend]

Still have some big problems to solve, but we should be pretty competitive with a fully fit best 23.

Not a team in the competition that doesn’t have problems to solve but we are betting placed to overcome them than most IMO

 

[Bulldogs Legend]

Good win by the boys. Pleasing to see good performances from youngsters Sanders, Gallagher , Buku West and Darcy.
English was very good around the ground as usual , less so in the ruck.
I thought it was the best that the three “key” forwards, Naughton, JUH and Cody worked together this season. Good to see.
Richards has to come back in , so someone will be unlucky to miss out. Maybe Poulter with Baker back to sub.

Full credit to the club and Buku. He clearly did not have the tank to play a defensive role in previous seasons but he has worked hard and resisted the easy temptation of another club.
Reward for effort by both club and player

 

[Bulldogs Legend]

He played a selfless centre half forwards game today.

It's no surprise that him playing up the ground resulted in us getting a nice spread of goal kickers today.

For better or worse he's such a ball magnet when played deep. One that we tend to use the get out kick of putting it on top of his head and hoping for the best. This predictability tended to draw a crowd and made scoring that much harder if he didn't mark it.

Today may've been what they were working towards when they ran him for stints through the middle of the ground. During the pre-season. It seems to me that for the most part the combination of JUH, Lobb/Darcy and Weightman is enough marking power deep in attack. This is especially so with JUH innate understanding of Leading pattens deep in the forward line in comparison to Naughtons reliance on brute force and marking power.

Why we went into our shells and didn't do this against May and Lever in round 1 is a question for another time.

I think fatigue played a big part in the Round 1 performance but time will tell that story

 

[Bulldogs Legend]

WC lost inside 50s 57-40 v Port, and 67-44 v GWS. 51-51 v the dogs today.

Im not sure if that’s a great defensive effort, or a poor midfield/clearance effort, or a bit of both. But it’s a significant difference.

Next week will be interesting. Geelong are not a top four team, but also likely not a bottom four team. Neutral ground, prime time, let’s see how good each team is.

Geelong won a Premiership not so long ago they absolutely could be a Top 4 side

 

[Bulldogs Legend]

No.
But I wouldn’t have sooked about it if I had.
Have you heard people saying stupid things on this website?
Writing long essays like they make believe they are journalists?
Making up childish and stupid names?
Don’t get me wrong, sometimes the commentary isn’t great, but at least their being paid.
The sooking about them is more about jealousy.

Yeah nah brereton was talking dribble

 

[threenewpadlocks]

I wouldn't read too much into the margin given we moved some magnets around once the game was already done.

In theory we win the game by more if we don't su Libba off.

 

[Bulldogs Legend]

Some thoughts ...

• Gallagher and Sanders are pure footballers. Good decision makers, tough and kick the ball efficiently
• Darcy is a more competitive ruckman than Lobb. Better second efforts and pressure acts. Not his best game, though we should persist and not be tempted by Lobb's VFL form (where he is the primary target)
• Williams is a better HBF than wingman. He was moved to the wing off the back of one poor game in the GF in 2021. He's not the best 1-1 defender, though is so composed with ball in hand from the back 50. With Richards, Williams and Bramble disposing from the backline, our forwards will be queueing up
• Whilst he didn't make the best in the report, Naughts gets my 3 votes. 13 score involvements and played a brilliant team game. Watch his celebration after West's 3rd quarter goal. Quality player and individual. Team first!
• Dale is out of form (better in 2nd half) and maybe worth trying on the wing instead of Williams.

I think Dale has had a slow start due to his late preseason injury at least that’s what I am hoping