It's not always like for like. Salem and Grimes slot into the backline and it's a slight reshuffle. I'd comfortably back any of JKH, Newton, Stretch or even a battered up Toump to provide more to the side than Lumumba at the moment. He should've been dropped after last week.

Agreed, it's not always like for like, but Lumumba has been taking the third best forward. In fact, last week didn't he take the second best? I'm not saying he shouldn't be dropped by the way, just that it matters who we replace him with, IMO. Newton doesn't do enough and is in trouble. I guess it would be between Toumpas or Stretch then. We need pace off half back. I'm gonna say it'd have to be Stretch.

Meh. Not surprising really. Dogs are one FIYAH and they play a style of footy that suits Etihad to the ground. They run and run and run and run. We don't at the minute and we were smashed.

No big deal in the context of the season.

Dogs will be found out in September though when they have to play outside.

Dogs were better than I gave them credit for. Their transitional play is light years ahead of where we are, and their forwardline is looking almost twice as potent as it did at the start of the year when you throw in the likes of Redpath and Dickson, both of whom many would have discounted having any signfiicant impact. The development of their young players simply must be applauded.

You will want to be switched on from the get go facing them in September. The likes of Hawthorn and West Coast have too much class and experience to allow the sort of procession out of the middle that we did, but they could cause more damage than I originally thought. They are tough, slick and fast. That's not a bad recipe.

Dogs were better than I gave them credit for. Their transitional play is light years ahead of where we are, and their forwardline is looking almost twice as potent as it did at the start of the year when you throw in the likes of Redpath and Dickson, both of whom many would have discounted having any signfiicant impact. The development of their young players simply must be applauded.

You will want to be switched on from the get go facing them in September. The likes of Hawthorn and West Coast have too much class and experience to allow the sort of procession out of the middle that we did, but they could cause more damage than I originally thought. They are tough, slick and fast. That's not a bad recipe.

And we are soft, clumsy and slow P-man just a small difference.

And we are soft, clumsy and slow P-man just a small difference.

great week for you old boy, this is your time to shine

The Bulldogs have nailed a few drafts in recent years too, I think I've undervalued the importance of the draft in recent years but seeing Melbourne and Carlton stagnate while other teams flourish is further proof of its importance. Mind you, how Jarrad Grant still gets a game is beyond me.

The Bulldogs have nailed a few drafts in recent years too, I think I've undervalued the importance of the draft in recent years but seeing Melbourne and Carlton stagnate while other teams flourish is further proof of its importance. Mind you, how Jarrad Grant still gets a game is beyond me.

He 20 and 3'd on the weekend. Jarrod Grant ffs.

If anyone wanted a demonstration of how poor we were, look no further than that stat.

And we are soft, clumsy and slow P-man just a small difference.

great week for you old boy, this is your time to shine

Yep, OD would have been watching this game with glee at the thought of how much he can get stuck in this week.

Let the negativity flow through you OD. Revel in it if you can.

After enduring the first quarter, I donned some leathers and headed out on the trusty Triumph for a leisurely spin around the surrounding Ballarat countryside. What a marvelous time I had as I headed through Creswick and across to Smeaton and then Newstead. Before I knew it I was heading into Daylesford where I stopped for a quick caffeine shot; being careful at the same time not to check the score. As I headed back into Ballarat I had imagined the worst and was convinced we would have lost by 170 points. Imagine how chuffed I was when I discovered that we had only gone down by 98.

It just goes to show that sometimes we pay attention to the wrong things on the weekend. I have a regular ride planned for the rest of the home and away rounds - starting next Sunday at 3.20. I intend convincing myself that we will win by 98 points and then being horribly disappointed when we scrape in by 7. It's hard to totally ditch my optimism.

I do have some selection problems for next week's game though. Do I take the Triumph or the Goldwing?

There were a lot of negatives yesterday, which I am sure have been well covered. The key negative for me was how often we went backwards from the stoppages. Gawn's ruckwork is too predictable and we need to get the ball moving in our direction more often and also be more willing to throw it on the boot.

I liked the move of Tom McDonald in the ruck after the centre bounces. It was so effective that it should be Plan A from now on. He could pick up 30 possessions every week in that role.

Also, Hogan should be used regularly in the centre square for the bounce and then go forward after. He could be our best centre clearance extractor with his size, strength and hands, which is very important in my view.

I loved Hogan in the middle, that move highlighted his class and I thought Grimes was excellent when he came on. Still not sure why he was the sub in the first place but the most composed I'd seen him for a while.

He 20 and 3'd on the weekend. Jarrod Grant ffs.

If anyone wanted a demonstration of how poor we were, look no further than that stat.

3 in the first quarter!!

That pretty much sums it up.

The funniest free kick was the one to Garlett I think it was who got a player holding the ball, everyone stopped and about three seconds later the umpire realised it was a free kick and then decided to blow the whistle. How that can happen in professional sports is beyond me.

Spot on.

Not sure if its been mentioned elsewhere but how did Jetta pull up?? Was on his way to hospital last time I heard.....

My biggest negative of the past 2 weeks is that without Jones and Vince we are farked

Viney God bless him tries hard but he's a kid. We simply don't know how to cover low outputs from these two, and as a result can't get our hands on the footy.

I thought disappointingly our defence was super sloppy yesterday. Lamumba's constant brain fades certainly don't help, but we looked all at sea. As someone else mentioned, we always have extra men back for some unknown reason we didn't go with it for crucial parts of the game yesterday.

Serious questions need to be asked about selection and match ups. Again.

Dogs seem to me to have nice little tactic of throwing / handing off the ball in a congested pack situation.

Umpires are so happy the ball comes out it basically doesn't matter anymore how it leaves the player's possession.

At one stage (I think in the 3rd) the ball flew out the opposite direction the bulldog player was facing but no free.

This is the Bulldogs. A team that lost:

Their Captain

Their CEO

Their Coach

Their leading midfielder with a season ending injury

Shaun Higgins a 30 goal fwd

Their longest serving player, Gia

No-one wanted to go there, no-one wanted to coach. They were a basket case. Half the players in their team I didn't even recognise their names.

What they have done this year is extraordinary. For posters on here to say 'well its the Bullies and they are well ahead of us' and somehow justify this loss as being part of learning curve is simply insane.

Why can't we be like that? Why don't we demand that our team performs like that?

How is it that Alastair Clarkson assistant coaches can move to clubs and instantly invoke a strong system based style of play? (Wait til Carlton does it under Bolton)

Why do we acccept such putrid mediocrity?

Why isn't Roos being questioned more? He is not above criticism and for mine he deserves a pasting for the tripe that has at times been dished up this year.

This club has got to get tougher at demanding excellence. Yes its partly the cattle but system based football doesn't depend on cattle. Its about effort, running and pressure.

I fail to see how some posters can let Roos off with these club killing performances.

After enduring the first quarter, I donned some leathers and headed out on the trusty Triumph for a leisurely spin around the surrounding Ballarat countryside. What a marvelous time I had as I headed through Creswick and across to Smeaton and then Newstead. Before I knew it I was heading into Daylesford where I stopped for a quick caffeine shot; being careful at the same time not to check the score. As I headed back into Ballarat I had imagined the worst and was convinced we would have lost by 170 points. Imagine how chuffed I was when I discovered that we had only gone down by 98.

It just goes to show that sometimes we pay attention to the wrong things on the weekend. I have a regular ride planned for the rest of the home and away rounds - starting next Sunday at 3.20. I intend convincing myself that we will win by 98 points and then being horribly disappointed when we scrape in by 7. It's hard to totally ditch my optimism.

I do have some selection problems for next week's game though. Do I take the Triumph or the Goldwing?

No Indian?

Dogs seem to me to have nice little tactic of throwing / handing off the ball in a congested pack situation.

Umpires are so happy the ball comes out it basically doesn't matter anymore how it leaves the player's possession.

At one stage (I think in the 3rd) the ball flew out the opposite direction the bulldog player was facing but no free.

Noticed a few rugby union style ball rolls out of packs too. none pinged by the ump though.

This is the Bulldogs. A team that lost:

Their Captain

Their CEO

Their Coach

Their leading midfielder with a season ending injury

Shaun Higgins a 30 goal fwd

Their longest serving player, Gia

No-one wanted to go there, no-one wanted to coach. They were a basket case. Half the players in their team I didn't even recognise their names.

What they have done this year is extraordinary. For posters on here to say 'well its the Bullies and they are well ahead of us' and somehow justify this loss as being part of learning curve is simply insane.

Why can't we be like that? Why don't we demand that our team performs like that?

How is it that Alastair Clarkson assistant coaches can move to clubs and instantly invoke a strong system based style of play? (Wait til Carlton does it under Bolton)

Why do we acccept such putrid mediocrity?

Why isn't Roos being questioned more? He is not above criticism and for mine he deserves a pasting for the tripe that has at times been dished up this year.

This club has got to get tougher at demanding excellence. Yes its partly the cattle but system based football doesn't depend on cattle. Its about effort, running and pressure.

I fail to see how some posters can let Roos off with these club killing performances.

Well put jnrmac.

Agree totally and couldn't have said it better myself.

This is the Bulldogs. A team that lost:

Their Captain

Their CEO

Their Coach

Their leading midfielder with a season ending injury

Shaun Higgins a 30 goal fwd

Their longest serving player, Gia

No-one wanted to go there, no-one wanted to coach. They were a basket case. Half the players in their team I didn't even recognise their names.

What they have done this year is extraordinary. For posters on here to say 'well its the Bullies and they are well ahead of us' and somehow justify this loss as being part of learning curve is simply insane.

Why can't we be like that? Why don't we demand that our team performs like that?

How is it that Alastair Clarkson assistant coaches can move to clubs and instantly invoke a strong system based style of play? (Wait til Carlton does it under Bolton)

Why do we acccept such putrid mediocrity?

Why isn't Roos being questioned more? He is not above criticism and for mine he deserves a pasting for the tripe that has at times been dished up this year.

This club has got to get tougher at demanding excellence. Yes its partly the cattle but system based football doesn't depend on cattle. Its about effort, running and pressure.

I fail to see how some posters can let Roos off with these club killing performances.

It's never as good as it seems and it's never as bad as it seems.

WBD are like Port Adelaide. They had a group of excellent kids there (and some good leaders). Early draft picks who hadn't exploded yet.

A change in game plan saw people like Stringer, Dickson, Crameri, Johannisen, etc. all become lethal.

We looked decent under Bailey at the end with a free-flowing game style but when Neeld came in, we looked soft and weak because we changed to a style that didn't suit the cattle.

We have a spread of genuinely talented players (not speculative gambles) that will almost certainly develop in to very good players. It will happen quickly if all goes to plan.

Blah blah blah jnr.

No one here accepts it. While I don't get my knickers in a twist like you do we need to take a greater view.

The Bulldogs had ONE year of being a basket case. ONE. They have always had the cattle and it's all coming together now after McCartney's hard work. Outside of Libba they've had minimal injuries all year and a soft draw. They play a brand of football that our team can't contend with, yet, and they smashed us.

We've got some senior players down on form, younger players who are totally running out of puff and nothing to play for.

We did, however, beat them earlier in the year so we aren't that far off them, no matter what happened on the weekend.

Beat your chest, crack the sads and wet yourself over the weekend. Go for it. Fact is we are better than we've been for a long time no matter how much the Dogs rolled us by on the weekend.

We see this every week from most clubs and the supporters yell out "Just kick the bl00dy thing!!!!" like we used to see them do in the 60s 70s and 80s.

The modern thinking is, while we have the ball in our hands, even if heavily pressured, we can still work our system and have a chance to get it out to our guys, in position, and work it downfield. If not, fall on the ball and create a stoppage so we can get everyone in position.

But if we kick it somewhere, anywhere, it could (a) gift them a goal, (b) lead to a contest where they end up getting with their hands on it, near their goal, or © lead to a contest where we get it, possibly with everyone out of position. Or (d), we get it in space and work it downfield. The odds aren't appealing.

That's why they do it. Possession game. While we've got the ball, they haven't.

Some sanity.

Well i promised myself if we have another Neeld-era performance in the remainder of season Ill stop bothering with the MFC for 2015, so yeah thats it for me... see y'all back here in the lead up to the trade period..

see ya mate.

That pretty much sums it up.

The funniest free kick was the one to Garlett I think it was who got a player holding the ball, everyone stopped and about three seconds later the umpire realised it was a free kick and then decided to blow the whistle. How that can happen in professional sports is beyond me.

Can you remember when that happened? I want to go back and watch it.

Can you remember when that happened? I want to go back and watch it.

I think it was our first goal so second quarter? It should be easy enough to find on the Smart Replay.

EDIT: Found it here.