Brayshaw's kicking lacks penetration which would be a lot more forgivable if he was still a midfielder. That said he has the composure and bravery of a defender. We saw some awful ball use from more reliable guys tonight, too. Really liked some of our ball use inside 50 earlier in the game.

Weid and Melksham's leading and passing were assets, however in a pack Weid got outbodied far too easily on multiple occasions

 

We need some more consistency throughout the game by some of our younger players and those working to hold their spots.

How about JJ, played out the game on the wing when he was obviously hampered by his knee. Also copped that ball to the head and didn't flinch. Thought they could have subbed him off and brought Bedford on for a bit of pace.

We became very fumbley when the game had to be won.

Petty is a giant, also has a bit of mongrel about him.

What were May and Tracc thinking. Its not training.

We had them, let them off the hook and then allowed them a couple of 12 point plays. 

I feel we beat ourselves. Need the leaders to set the tempo and fix the need to kick to contested ball most of the time.

Loved the way bulldogs took it on with their grass cutter passes.

Some of our coast to coast and quick ball movement ending in goals was great.

I thought we had them.

Small moments decided this ones.

Plenty to work on and too many going missing during important stages. 

 

Edited July 23, 20222 yr by kev martin

5 minutes ago, layzie said:

Loading end party starts in one week time, I've already ordered the croissants.

Almond or regular? I’d prefer Almond if you can stick one aside.

Have not read any of this thread, so an unbiased view apart from the obvious.

I did only see 90% of the last quarter. We had a number of opportunities in the first part of that quarter that we did not make the most of, 

in the last 10 minutes I thought we looked very tired. No enthusiasm, whereas the dogs were the opposite. Even so we were within one straight kick with only seconds too go.
and we were on the end of a short week  compared to our opponents. 
 It is not the end of the world , but I am glad there was a dream last.night. Go Dees 

now a glass of two of Shiraz and I will read all the wrist cutting comments. The sky has not fallen.

9 minutes ago, Lord Nev said:

Hitouts - Dees 52, Dogs 23

Clearances - Dees 38, Dogs 45

Looked at it's worst in the last quarter too.

 

Hey Nev ! I see you deleted that post I marked as incomprehensible.

A bit weak - if you post it stand by it !

17 minutes ago, wizardinoz said:

The Bont non free was the icing on the cake for the maggots tonight. Pathetic non call of blatant incorrect disposal right in front of the umpire. 

Interesting that one field umpire signalled holding the ball with arm sweeping action but failed to blow whistle, then signalled play on. I guess it was Bont, after all

16 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

I'm not ready to write us off yet but next week is a must win game in my eyes. Last chance saloon if we want to make a run at it this year.

We aren't irredeemable yet.

Our most realistic scenario to jag another flag is to win 2 of the last 4.  15 and 7 SHOULD get us into the top 4. Then we need to reset before the finals campaign.

I just don't see us going into September this year with the type of momentum we had last year.

4 minutes ago, The heart beats true said:

6 Day Break - and another one next week. If we are loading and trying to mimic last years performance the footy gods aren’t smiling on us like last year.

Much tougher run with injuries this year. IMO that's hampering us a bit in terms of continuity of selection and cohesion, and even the ones that are still playing seem a lot more sore. I reckon there was an aspect of loading to the soreness and lack of run at one stage but I don't believe it's still that now. We're just a bit banged up and haven't had the luck we had last year. Still plenty of time, but  finishing top 4 will be crucial in that context.

Edited July 23, 20222 yr by Lord Nev

1 minute ago, Clayton spirit said:

Brayshaw's kicking lacks penetration which would be a lot more forgivable if he was still a midfielder. That said he has the composure and bravery of a defender. We saw some awful ball use from more reliable guys tonight, too. Really liked some of our ball use inside 50 earlier in the game.

Weid and Melksham's leading and passing were assets, however in a pack Weid got outbodied far too easily on multiple occasions

 

Brayshaw has always been a turnover merchant by hand or foot, particularly when there's pressure but often without.
And yes Weid was non-competitive in so many contests. We're all used to that now aren't we?

1 hour ago, Stiff Arm said:

He spent so much time on the bench after quarter time i was wondering the same myself. They even threw May forward in the last quarter, WTF?

Is that the case though? Once they hit the front, I thought the Dogs threw Naughton behind the ball, and May followed him.

57 minutes ago, Demon Dynasty said:

Terrible piece of play that should have resulted in a goal.  Hand ball would have done it.

Was that the one shortly before half time? Would've put us 27 points up instead they take it down the other end and kick a goal so we only had a 15 point lead at half time

1 minute ago, bing181 said:

Is that the case though? Once they hit the front, I thought the Dogs threw Naughton behind the ball, and May followed him.

Yes, Dazzle pointed that out after my post. Still don't understand why Weid spent so much time on the bench, particularly when Dogga was dreadfully quiet all game

6 minutes ago, 1964_2 said:

+11 clearances vs Bris
+ 5 clearances vs Adel

With no Max and losing the hit-outs both games

I love Max as much as anyone, but do wonder if he tries to do a bit too much, rather than playing the percentages and allowing our mids to do their thing. 
 

Yeah,  don't know if it's on the rucks, mids, or both tbh.

Thought Maxy was poor in the last quarter, but he was really banged up and sore by then, someone mentioned Jackson was limping? Would have to be the only reason he didn't ruck more in the 4th.

55 minutes ago, binman said:

Yes

But that was the last of it.

I'll give it to you, you've stuck to your guns and said we may lose this one but we will be primed next week against Freo. If we run all over them and regain some form you can let everyone know how right you were. I hope you are but I have some doubts.

7 minutes ago, Bitter but optimistic said:

Hey Nev ! I see you deleted that post I marked as incomprehensible.

A bit weak - if you post it stand by it !

Look mate, I'm sure you're a top bloke in real life, but for whatever reason it started we just get on each others nerves on here, so let's just agree to have each other on block and not rile each other up from now on yeah? Better for everybody. Cheers.

They were very lucky in the first half. Everything went through for them and we were sloppy despite dominating. We hung on and defended well on the second half despite them throwing absolutely everything at us. A few missed opportunities, a few bad decisions and some skill errors in the last. Honestly, May doesn't have that turnover and we win against a team that when they're on (they were on tonight) is one of the best.

 Port showed they're no joke tonight against Geelong. 
 

The main issue for me has been the same thing all year, and that's our cleanliness once we get first possession in the contest. We almost always get hands on the footy first and give our worst turnovers when it looks like we have the clearance, everyone runs forwards and then the first handball is sloppy or we're a little slow and pressure comes. Everyone is out of position. 

Reading the thread and thinking

there were a couple of things up forward that we  failed to complete. And a couple of very poor decisions in the back half that cost goals that if we were “ serious” and in a game that really would not have happened. 

And why bother worrying about what a number 1 pick might do.  Maybe Spargo or Bowey could have stuck with him,

need to win next week, 

Unfortunately the same issues come up week after week - that have been around for well over a decade.

- No power forwards. 

- Horrible inside 50's (Spargo is excused)

- Woeful kicking skills/turnovers. 

On top of that, we also look slow as hell at the moment.  Tomlinson, JJ, Brayshaw, we're carrying a few too many plodders at once.

We can't win a final with Tomlinson and JJ in our team, they are just so far off AFL pace and intensity.  And Brayshaw getting it more these days just highlights his poor disposal efficiency. He's 50/50 at best, always been a bit NQR at the worst times.

Embarrasingly outcoached tonight.  The Bulldogs just chipped sideways until we all sagged deep up the ground.. so even if we intercepted we would never have anything to kick to except a wall of Bulldogs.  Instead of trying to run it, we just politely kicked it long straight back to them.

Can't think of one player that has improved this year.  Not enjoyable to watch.

Edited July 23, 20222 yr by Buzzy

18 minutes ago, The heart beats true said:

Almond or regular? I’d prefer Almond if you can stick one aside.

We'll make sure there are plenty of almond available THBT!

1 hour ago, wizardinoz said:

That goal he gifted them turned out to be the difference between us winning or losing the game.

Yep. Gotta watch out for those 10 point goals.

42 minutes ago, Graeme Yeats' Mullet said:

Relevant discussion point. He's been sub par

Bowey back I agree, but reckon Salem up the ground?

I thought Salem was ok tonight. Was under pressure most times he disposed of it but tended to find a teammate or put it to our advantage.

1 minute ago, Lord Nev said:

Look mate, I'm sure you're a top bloke in real life, but for whatever reason it started we just get on each others nerves on here, so let's just agree to have each other on block and not rile each other up from now on yeah? Better for everybody. Cheers.

Hahaha! Come on "Nev" we go back a long way.  

You had the first crack... you had to post that stats thing that you subsequently deleted ... now you're whimping out - that's fine.

Just don't try to sugarcoat it as some sort of magnanimous gesture

We can look at all facets of the game, but let’s call a spade a spade. Kozzy missed from directly in front and it goes the other end and Steven May has the brain fart of the year with a kick across goal. It’s a 12 point turnaround and the game was done.

39 minutes ago, Lord Nev said:

Get where you're coming from, but would suggest the 0 tackles inside 50 will be talked about by the coaches this week.

Will need to watch the replay but I wonder if that was a  contributing factor to the oddly high score we gave up.

I agree but 13 marks inside 50 may have contributed to that. That seems pretty high for us so less chances for our small forwards to apply that pressure on the ground ball. Still would like to see some tackles inside 50 though obviously.

1 minute ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

I thought Salem was ok tonight. Was under pressure most times he disposed of it but tended to find a teammate or put it to our advantage.

I  think we're losing a bit by having Gus as our loose defender but a poor kick, Salem playing in tight and not being our 'quarterback'  anymore, and JJ on the wing where his defensive skills sometimes hurt us.

Bowey back in. Gus to the wing. Use Salem more. JJ to the bench  to be more a utility type.