Eagles are so unconvincing. Such a waste of space at the top end of the ladder. They remind me a little of Geelong in that they have a handful of exceptional players and then a lot of guys who go missing when things gets really hard, or who look outstanding when they are 12 goals up.

29 minutes ago, A F said:

I gave him the credit of being a good player. He's just not a great player to me. He and Darling get silver service week on week.

You're underestimating his running patterns and work rate to find space and get separation from his opponent 

The Dogs are so good at ensuring only 1 goes up in those packs. Even when they go forward, there'd be 3 eagles going up to mark, and the 1 dog that went up simply made sure they punched it and brought it to ground to the crumbers who surge it forward.

Also remarkable, given how much they handball, how rarely it is to a flat footed teammate. They seem to all have handball skills like Clayton Oliver and always put it to a teammate's advantage. 

I like the look of that Bailey Dale as a potential outside midfielder / winger. Won't get a game when all the others come back, and they are chocca block with skilful half forward flankers. 

8 minutes ago, Pennant St Dee said:

You're underestimating his running patterns and work rate to find space and get separation from his opponent 

Fair enough, mate.

10 minutes ago, A F said:

This game is interestingly poised. The Bulldogs remind me very much of Melbourne tonight. They haven't really looked like it all night. They've stuck around though and now that the Eagles have missed a few easy ones, they're giving themselves a chance with bold ball movement. The difference between the Bulldogs and Melbourne at the moment is that they know how to win these types of games, as we will in time too.

I can't really see much of a comparison between how the doggies and the MFC play out a match AF.  We must view games very differently.

I wish we were playing at their level and with their mind set though.  We would probably be in a very good position at 5 - 2 right now and sitting in the top 4 going into this week.

8 minutes ago, Rusty Nails said:

I can't really see much of a comparison between how the doggies and the MFC play out a match AF.  We must view games very differently.

I wish we were playing at their level and with their mind set though.  We would probably be in a very good position at 5 - 2 right now and sitting in the top 4 going into this week.

The game styles are very similar. Our guys are just less familiar with it, while the Dogs have been doing it for two and a bit years now. The lack of miles in the legs and the fact our guys are still cementing the trust with team mates that is required to play this way is what is delaying results.

This the first time in my memory that the Eagles lost the free kick count at Subiaco oval. Congratulations are due to them for coping with such adversity 

Edited May 12, 20178 yr by Goffer

29 minutes ago, Watts the matter said:

I thought he was average (by his standards) tonight and Yeo got the better of that contest.

In the first half I would agree Watts but that second half he was all class and was involved in a fair bit of damaging link play I thought which, along with others, helped turn the tide to nearly pull off a miracle win.  Their injury list is pretty extensive at the moment.  As a club , they are very good at finding ways to win, even under substantial adversity.  Maybe gritty is a good word.  They just stick their heads down and go go go for the entire match at a franetic pace in so many aspects of the game including tackles, pressure, running, contested marking/spoil attempts and chasing.

This makes them a difficult side to beat no matter who is in or out.  Team based franetic attack, and team based franetic defending.  They do get caught out sometimes on the counter when they turn over but usually don't turn over too much in the middle or down back (in most matches, tonight probably wasn't as good...credit to Eagles defence?) which means they have a chance of defending a little better when they do as not turning over in the worst parts of the ground.

The Eagles seemed to out counter them tonight though and also defended bitterly in the second half down back to pull off a win. Albeit against a pretty undermanned opponent

21 minutes ago, Goffer said:

This the first time in my memory that the Eagles lost the free kick count at Subiaco oval. Congratulations are due to them for coping with such adversity 

Only the Doggies could pull off such a  feat.

Am convinced they pay off the umpires. Never seen a team get looked after so obviously by the umps, every single game.

17 minutes ago, A F said:

The game styles are very similar. Our guys are just less familiar with it, while the Dogs have been doing it for two and a bit years now. The lack of miles in the legs and the fact our guys are still cementing the trust with team mates that is required to play this way is what is delaying results.

Again I disagree AF.  Much of what is happening to the destiny of both of these clubs is what is happening upstairs, not so much on the ground/personnel.  We seemingly have a very talented bunch coming through.  But they so far haven't found the magical ingredient that sees a club become consistently competitive, that finds ways to win more often than it finds ways to lose, season after season.

If at some stage we can string 3 or more wins together at some point when we are expected to win (ie, strong favourites) then we just might be finally showing the early signs of fixing our mental fragility dilemma.

However, at this moment we remain as brittle as a Violet Crumble and just as easily broken far too often, even by mediocre teams in very ordinary form no matter where either team might be on the ladder.

Fix our mind set (somehow!!???) and we might finally be able to take on the better teams and win more often and maybe even make finals.

1 hour ago, Petraccattack said:

Only the Doggies could pull off such a  feat.

Am convinced they pay off the umpires. Never seen a team get looked after so obviously by the umps, every single game.

"Free kick Hawthorn"

Times change 'Petrac'...the Dogs do get a good run these days, Bevo learned a lot from Clarko it seems.

3 hours ago, Moonshadow said:

Except Boyd was BOG in a winning GF and Vickery had done SFA forever

Was he BOG? Thought JJ won the medal. 

Either way, every dog has his day, been bog ordinary before and since.

3 hours ago, pineapple dee said:

Let's not stick the boots into the Catholics !!!  What have we ever done to anyone to anyone??

as BT would say "boy-o-boy"

11 hours ago, Rusty Nails said:

Again I disagree AF.  Much of what is happening to the destiny of both of these clubs is what is happening upstairs, not so much on the ground/personnel.  We seemingly have a very talented bunch coming through.  But they so far haven't found the magical ingredient that sees a club become consistently competitive, that finds ways to win more often than it finds ways to lose, season after season.

If at some stage we can string 3 or more wins together at some point when we are expected to win (ie, strong favourites) then we just might be finally showing the early signs of fixing our mental fragility dilemma.

However, at this moment we remain as brittle as a Violet Crumble and just as easily broken far too often, even by mediocre teams in very ordinary form no matter where either team might be on the ladder.

Fix our mind set (somehow!!???) and we might finally be able to take on the better teams and win more often and maybe even make finals.

What are you talking about? We've been level or leading in every final quarter this year. That's consistently competitive.

And this has absolutely nothing to do with the similarity in game style...

10 hours ago, Deestroy All said:

Was he BOG? Thought JJ won the medal. 

Either way, every dog has his day, been bog ordinary before and since.

You watch - Boyd will live off that GF performance for the rest of his career.  He could do sweet FA from here and everyone will constantly say 'but he did play well in a GF'.

I've tipped Bombers to beat the Cats. Cats have been exposed the last two weeks and we're lucky in some of their earlier games. 

1 minute ago, Bombay Airconditioning said:

I've tipped Bombers to beat the Cats. Cats have been exposed the last two weeks and we're lucky in some of their earlier games. 

Ah.. Country v The City .... can just see the young lads in their Akubras and moleskins warming up the hay filled utes and heading for the MCC members

35 minutes ago, Wiseblood said:

You watch - Boyd will live off that GF performance for the rest of his career.  He could do sweet FA from here and everyone will constantly say 'but he did play well in a GF'.

i reckon boyd has been playing well this year. he'll be alright

42 minutes ago, daisycutter said:

i reckon boyd has been playing well this year. he'll be alright

Playing well? How many times have you watched him? He's been terrible. 

He averages 2 more touches than Weideman, and most of his stats are equal/worse than Darcy Moore. 

Edited May 13, 20178 yr by Deestroy All

If Boyd is worth a $1,000,000 a season then Pederson is worth $999,000 a season.

1 hour ago, Diamond_Jim said:

Ah.. Country v The City .... can just see the young lads in their Akubras and moleskins warming up the hay filled utes and heading for the MCC members

Surely, the only game that should be billed as country vs city is Melbourne v Geelong... [censored] off Essendon.

19 minutes ago, Deestroy All said:

Playing well? How many times have you watched him? He's been terrible. 

He averages 2 more touches than Weideman, and most of his stats are equal/worse than Darcy Moore. 

knew i'd get a response

he's played 4 good games this year and his stats this year are much better than "2 more touches than weid"

he may not be worth his contract value, but he's on the improve

15 hours ago, A F said:

We could really learn from the Eagles' forward entries. They almost always kick to the advantage of the forwards.

Kennedy's a good player, but he's not a great player. The ball use is so, so good that it makes him look a lot better than he is. He leads to the right spots. 

Mate hes a star. To say that hes not a great player is simply laughable and silly.

His workrate is up there with one of the best in the competition and one on one hes elite. 

Since 2013 hes kicked over 60 goals every season since. Not a great player.. Sorry Adam but not one of your finest here.

Just turned on the TV and saw the Hawks immediately kick a goal. Unbidden, a discernable rush of anger pulsated through my brain.

My god I hate that footy club.

This game is rank.