Lets be honest. The Bulldogs are a very dangerous side and as much as we all roll our eyes at the "us v them" mentality, if it works for you, it works for you.

They have tremendous talent in the midfield, and in the Mullet and his young sidekick Cody Weightman and even of late, Mitch Hannan, they have dynamic forwards who are capable of breaking apart our defensive zone. And aerially, May can be troubled by the huge leap and sure hands of Naughton. He has already said that this is his hardest matchup in the AFL.

We should also be concerned if Schache does the same job on Lever as he did on Aliir Aliir, who he destroyed in their Prelim. That will seriously curtail our movement out of half back. They can also cut us up with that manic run backed up by seriously good foot skills.

The Bulldogs can absolutely win this game. They have hit peak form at the perfect time, have a fit list and their strengths can expose us if we are not 100% on for the ENTIRE game. 

I still believe we will win because of our system, but will not be surprised one iota if the Bulldogs get up.

19 hours ago, Demon Disciple said:

We were struggling for form back in round 19. 
Should be a good game, if the umps stay out of it, we should come out on top.

I would be MORE than happy if the umps from our PF game officiated in the GF I thought they let a lot go to the benefit of the game and its flow! Have they been selected as yet?

We know who their injuries are and the Umpires have been to measure classes along with head pulling and open hand ball flicking, which was invented by their patriarch anyway.

19 minutes ago, faultydet said:

Lets be honest. The Bulldogs are a very dangerous side and as much as we all roll our eyes at the "us v them" mentality, if it works for you, it works for you.

They have tremendous talent in the midfield, and in the Mullet and his young sidekick Cody Weightman and even of late, Mitch Hannan, they have dynamic forwards who are capable of breaking apart our defensive zone. And aerially, May can be troubled by the huge leap and sure hands of Naughton. He has already said that this is his hardest matchup in the AFL.

We should also be concerned if Schache does the same job on Lever as he did on Aliir Aliir, who he destroyed in their Prelim. That will seriously curtail our movement out of half back. They can also cut us up with that manic run backed up by seriously good foot skills.

The Bulldogs can absolutely win this game. They have hit peak form at the perfect time, have a fit list and their strengths can expose us if we are not 100% on for the ENTIRE game. 

I still believe we will win because of our system, but will not be surprised one iota if the Bulldogs get up.

They can certainly win if we allow them their fast paced, get the ball to the outside game, hopefully we will take that away from them with tackling pressure which they've probably forgotten about since they didn't get any last week. At our best we win.

42 minutes ago, loges said:

 At our best we win.

At our best we destroy them.

Edited September 18, 20213 yr by Fork 'em

I really need to ask the question. When was the last time Hannan played 2 good games in a row? I don’t think he even played 2 good quarters in a row when he played for us.

Hannan, Schache, Rorke Smith, Martin, Johannisen

A bottom end that isn't AFL quality 

1 hour ago, faultydet said:

Lets be honest. The Bulldogs are a very dangerous side and as much as we all roll our eyes at the "us v them" mentality, if it works for you, it works for you.

They have tremendous talent in the midfield, and in the Mullet and his young sidekick Cody Weightman and even of late, Mitch Hannan, they have dynamic forwards who are capable of breaking apart our defensive zone. And aerially, May can be troubled by the huge leap and sure hands of Naughton. He has already said that this is his hardest matchup in the AFL.

We should also be concerned if Schache does the same job on Lever as he did on Aliir Aliir, who he destroyed in their Prelim. That will seriously curtail our movement out of half back. They can also cut us up with that manic run backed up by seriously good foot skills.

The Bulldogs can absolutely win this game. They have hit peak form at the perfect time, have a fit list and their strengths can expose us if we are not 100% on for the ENTIRE game. 

I still believe we will win because of our system, but will not be surprised one iota if the Bulldogs get up.

They're definitely good enough to win. It's fitting that the season's best two sides are playing off.

Port relied far too much on Aliir against the Dogs. He had a blinder the match before and they thought he'd do it again automatically. They forgot they've got 5 other defenders, all of whom did bugger all. And they seemed to not realise that Bevo would pull some stunt in that area.

Bevo is a crafty coach who will undoubtedly have some tricks prepared for us. But the tricks aren't guaranteed to work. When Richmond were winning flags, everyone knew how they played and what to expect. Didn't matter what stunts were pulled against them ... when they executed properly, they won.

Our way of playing reminds me of recent Richmond at their best. Teams look downfield ... nothing on. Wait for a lead .... nothing .... switch play ... still nothing on ... switch back. Still nothing. Stalemate. Kick long and hope ... contest, Demons ball. Swarm all over it driving the ball forward. Goal.

Execute our style of play and we win.

There is a massive difference between finals footy and home and away footy and this is the first time they'll play a top 4 standard team who plays a finals brand of footy, in a big final. it'll be interesting how they stack up. 

in the last 3 games we've played we've beaten Geelong twice (they couldn't beat them at full strength) and Brisbane who were in form, confident and on a streak. 

they beat Essendon, got helped by umpires over Brisbane, Brisbane deserved to win, and Port who didn't show up and have struggled against good teams all year. 

their form coming in isn't anything like what ours is, and i suspect they'll realise the contest they're in very early in the game. 

Christ, everywhere I look in the media I'm seeing this lazy narrative of the Dogs' fairytale. The only reason they have "got here the hard way" is because they thoroughly [censored] the bed at the business end of the H&A season. 

20 minutes ago, Mazer Rackham said:

 When Richmond were winning flags, everyone knew how they played and what to expect. Didn't matter what stunts were pulled against them ... when they executed properly, they won.

Our way of playing reminds me of recent Richmond at their best. Teams look downfield ... nothing on. Wait for a lead .... nothing .... switch play ... still nothing on ... switch back. Still nothing. Stalemate. Kick long and hope ... contest, Demons ball. Swarm all over it driving the ball forward. Goal.

Execute our style of play and we win.

Reminds me of an American Football coach Vince Lombardi.
The Norm Smith of the Green Bay Packers if you will.

The Packers only used about 3 plays, 1 in particular repeatedly.
The whole competition knew what they were.
But they had to stop them from executing them.
Which they couldn't.

Good teams don't need tricks or plan Bs.
They just need to consistently execute Plan A.

 

Edited September 18, 20213 yr by Fork 'em

18 minutes ago, gs77 said:

Christ, everywhere I look in the media I'm seeing this lazy narrative of the Dogs' fairytale. The only reason they have "got here the hard way" is because they thoroughly [censored] the bed at the business end of the H&A season. 

I remember back in '88 and 2000.
Media talked us up like we had a chance as well.
Playing 2 of the most dominant sides of those eras.
None of it matters when the ball gets bounced.

 

Edited September 18, 20213 yr by Fork 'em

1 hour ago, adonski said:

Hannan, Schache, Rorke Smith, Martin, Johannisen

A bottom end that isn't AFL quality 

Johannisen won a Norm Smith don’t forget.

1 hour ago, adonski said:

Hannan, Schache, Rorke Smith, Martin, Johannisen

A bottom end that isn't AFL quality 

Botton six players can have a remarkable effect on a grand final. And ours are much superior to theirs. 

Back to the thread title:

"In terms of Jackson, he doesn’t have a huge tank. Only spent 68% time on ground against the Lions. When English comes up against him in the ruck when Martin needs a rest, we can gain an advantage here.
Martin being in is absolutely enormous for us. From a planning perspective, it just throws the Dees off, as will our Dunks and Treloar inclusions. You can see them play on TV all you want, it’s not the same as playing against them in person as a collective. Melbourne hasn’t."

"They've got a number of flaky players.. it's all good & well to look amazing when you win by 14 goals, but their entire forward-line is just as likely to stink as opposed to look amazing."

Dogs booted an average of 0.6 goals per game more than us.

"Schache/English/Weightman will take mark after mark on Hibberd/Petty."

"If they win, they beat that team that copped a raw deal.
These guys have surprised me this year with their new found mettle; I'm waiting for the real Demons to appear."

"I'd roll the dice on Jackson as I don't think he has the hurt factor I50.
He averages less than 1 mark I50 per match and 0.5 goals per game so I'd be happy for Williams to play on him and try and be an offensive weapon for us.. if it isn't working we have other options."

"Dees are predictable. We know who is playing and how they play. They only have one game plan and we will rip it apart like we did in round 19."

Love this:

"If it isn't on their terms they have a few backs who cough it up and also start finger pointing. Have been protected all year"

 

 

 

Edited September 18, 20213 yr by M_9

58 minutes ago, ProperDee said:

Johannisen won a Norm Smith don’t forget.

Worst choice, he butchered it all game long. Did not deserve it.

1 hour ago, gs77 said:

Christ, everywhere I look in the media I'm seeing this lazy narrative of the Dogs' fairytale. The only reason they have "got here the hard way" is because they thoroughly [censored] the bed at the business end of the H&A season. 

and got a huge amount of assistance from the umpires, otherwise they wouldn't have even got past Brisbane, Umpires even swung the momentum in the elimination final

3 hours ago, faultydet said:

Lets be honest. The Bulldogs are a very dangerous side and as much as we all roll our eyes at the "us v them" mentality, if it works for you, it works for you.

They have tremendous talent in the midfield, and in the Mullet and his young sidekick Cody Weightman and even of late, Mitch Hannan, they have dynamic forwards who are capable of breaking apart our defensive zone. And aerially, May can be troubled by the huge leap and sure hands of Naughton. He has already said that this is his hardest matchup in the AFL.

We should also be concerned if Schache does the same job on Lever as he did on Aliir Aliir, who he destroyed in their Prelim. That will seriously curtail our movement out of half back. They can also cut us up with that manic run backed up by seriously good foot skills.

The Bulldogs can absolutely win this game. They have hit peak form at the perfect time, have a fit list and their strengths can expose us if we are not 100% on for the ENTIRE game. 

I still believe we will win because of our system, but will not be surprised one iota if the Bulldogs get up.

I see their 2AAs and raise them 5AAs.
Noughton might take a hanger.
But he won't take 5.
We know what Hannan brings but Weightman needs controlling.

If the Bulldogs do get up we played poorly.
If we do what we've done all year.
We win.
Kick straight ... We kill 'em.

 

Edited September 18, 20213 yr by Fork 'em

1 hour ago, Queanbeyan Demon said:

Botton six players can have a remarkable effect on a grand final. And ours are much superior to theirs. 

Absolutely. We have the best bottom six in the league. 

3 hours ago, loges said:

They can certainly win if we allow them their fast paced, get the ball to the outside game, hopefully we will take that away from them with tackling pressure which they've probably forgotten about since they didn't get any last week. At our best we win.

Indeed.

And the Bulldogs have shown if they don't win clearance or contested possession they struggle to remain in games.

Providing we take our chances and it's not too wet, we should win.

6 minutes ago, A F said:

Indeed.

And the Bulldogs have shown if they don't win clearance or contested possession they struggle to remain in games.

Providing we take our chances and it's not too wet, we should win.

Just checked the weather for perth this week.

 

2 hours ago, ProperDee said:

Johannisen won a Norm Smith don’t forget.

Tom Boyd should have won it

This is ultimate nuff material ans so ironic. Happy to be ‘that team’ in 2016, but it’s now a pity party for us.

10 hours ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Just checked the weather for perth this week.

 

Dry weather and a firm deck takes us from potentially being an 8 goal team to a 20 goal team.

14 hours ago, Fork 'em said:

Reminds me of an American Football coach Vince Lombardi.
The Norm Smith of the Green Bay Packers if you will.

The Packers only used about 3 plays, 1 in particular repeatedly.
The whole competition knew what they were.
But they had to stop them from executing them.
Which they couldn't.

Good teams don't need tricks or plan Bs.
They just need to consistently execute Plan A.

 

When Tom Hafey coached the Tigers his game plan was to kick it to Royce Hart.

When asked about his plan B he replied "Kick it to Royce Hart".