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We were in front in a bunch of stats but the key ones Scoreboard Scores we allowed from D50 stoppages Goal kicking accuracy Gawn is clutching at straws though. Listening to too many of Simon's press conferences BTW G Lyon and J Brown both said that the D50 stoppages are one of the easiest things to fix so lets hope they fix it pronto. Simon's last press conference:

players and coaches presenting in media will always sell positivity not negativity they're not demonland posters, after all!

You. Have. To. Be. Kidding I can barely remember a game umpired so poorly and so inconsistently. And i remember a lot of games where the umpiring has been woeful. It was 11-4 at half time. Our fourth free kick happened on our half back line with 5 seconds to go. So it was essentially 11-3. And as always, it was the frees missed that were significant than the ones given. Sure we lost the game, and that's on us, but there is absolutely no question a big factor in their 21 point lead at half time was the rubbish umpiring. Simply not good enough.

But it doesn’t have to be one or the other, right? It can be both at the same time, ie., atrocious umpiring AND not playing well. Therefore, you can have two reasons and not necessarily one excusing the other. BTW, feel free to tell me to STFU but I think I’m sorta making sense here. ?

Nothing nice ever happens to us

Surely we can’t be so lucky as to play them at Marvel in dry conditions. My MFCSS says we will play them in Horsham in a lightening storm and BB’s hair will catch on fire.

Well the Dees are doing one thing well. No whinging about fixture changes Inspite of the large financial losses. We are just get on with it. We are now living in an era never seen in modern times. The likes of Scott make me anger.

+80 this is an absolute [censored] outrage. I had know idea it was this high. #FML Get that [censored] trending on the socials Dee fanatics.

All demons fans who have written us off should not be able to celebrate the success thst will come this year. Joking. Not joking.

I didn't blame the umpires. I said they were terrible.

Are we not? A Queenslander would have know the word you were after is “they’re”.

I feel like it's time to try playing all of Brown, Mcdonald and Weideman in the same forward line. Jackson looks cooked and would benefit from having at least a couple of weeks rest and the inclusion of Weideman means he can play that second ruck role as well as be a much more potent option up forward where we are clearly lacking. I think with Mcdonald and Weideman being able to push up the ground provides an outlet kick target and also means there won't be too much crowding inside the forward 50. Weideman or Tmac copping the 3rd best defender would also be a nightmare for defenders deep inside our forward 50.

shades of the fittest corpse in the morgue

Don’t bring logic into the argument!! Everyone knows Dogs are umps favourites! What’s more umpire 22 hates us!

Great news which means VFL can now resume. Crucial now that we are heading to finals.

The only thing more predicable than NSW asking people to stay home everyday is Chris Scott having a self indulgent sook about something every week. Mate, just like the anti lockdown protestors, your complaints make no sense. Go home.

According to some of the pessimists its already happened.

Let's at least wait until we crash out of the finals before losing our shiz

So that we don't have to fly to Queensland and then fly again to WA? So that we can avoid playing against an opposition's home crowd? So that we can play at Marvel, where we're we've won 8 of our last 10? Plenty of reasons to think about, at least if you haven't already given up on the season.

Oh my lawd. Some people need some perspective.

I totally get what both of you are saying, and trust me when I say if it was up to me, they'd be in jail. However, if we start punishing people who break every rule severely, there is the very real risk that people who know they've done the wrong thing won't come forward to get tested and won't be fully honest with contact tracers. Those consequences are far more wide reaching than punishing individuals. So while I get how infuriating it is, and while I think anyone who knowingly and unlawfully puts the lives of others at risk by breaking clear rules should be put in jail for 14 days (and made to work in a Covid ward without PPE if they protest lockdowns and vaccinations), the government is stuck between a rock and a hard place. They don't want to deter people from telling the truth, even if that truth is ugly. Imagine if the family from Hume didn't disclose their movements. That is an entire chain of mystery cases that could turn into 100s of new infections. I rather they sit in the knowledge that their stupidity and selfishness infected their extended family/relatives, than cause a longer lockdown for the rest of us. We are lucky to live in a country where compliance is generally very high. There will always be absolute [censored] heads who ruin it for everyone else. But overall I think most people do their best to do the right thing in very difficult circumstances (lockdowns are exhausting!) and we need to support and encourage that as much as possible.

It is the same reason why we played finals and didn't play finals in 2019/20, one player we need to fire isn't at the moment and the start of the year he was. He makes us dangerous up forward and when full of confidence doesn't miss goals, when he plays well so do we are we are a different side. I have notice over the past 6-8 weeks we seems to spend a lot of time complaining to the umpires. To simplify our problems, we need T McDonald firing, he doesn't fire we struggle. Backline is strong, mids can't kick but get enough of the ball forward we need Tom working with Ben kicking his 2-3 goals a week

Could not believe it when I heard David King suggesting Kozzie could be in trouble for that. Kozzie went the body, Richards instigated the head clash. For me all the slippery head high contact ones they get (particularly with the likes of Caleb Daniel) are part of the game, it sucks and it’s a little sneaky but so be it. It’s the fact that they get tackled and then will blatantly drop the ball without an attempt to dispose of it properly, or they throw more than you would see at a Storm game, and that the umpires seem to call those free kicks against us but not them. That’s not even mentioning the amount of times Max, TMac, May, and others got blocked from jumping at the ball and yet some how Hannan gets a free for a push in the back when he does an unrealistic attempt at a speckie. It’s the inconsistencies that anger fans.

I don’t think they are conspiring to effect the results, but I think their biases do impact results. The AFL left behind the world of true equality sometime in about 1973 and since then we’ve been dealing in the much more lucrative world of ‘public opinion’. You only have to look at how the tribunal gets adjudicated to know that the league likes the ‘perception of fairness’ more than it’s ugly neighbour ‘the truth’. Or, as another example, everyone whinged about Joel Selwood for 10 years (and KB before him) and they literally changed the rules as a result. So, the more the AFL is aware of the fact they have a biase, the more they are inclined to fix it. I don’t need to make an argument to say the umpires favour the Bulldogs. The numbers are there in black and white. What we need is more awareness around it, as it has proven to be the solution.

They were allowed to throw the ball at will in 2016, Giants in PF and Swans in GF got killed by the umpires. Dogs definitely get favoured treatment, I couldn’t believe when one of their players got called for a double handed throw in the /2nd half, umpires normally never call a Dog throw! They should change name from Bulldogs to Throwdogs! Also very very rarely get done for holding the ball or incorrect disposal! 25-11 differential is almost like having an extra player, and the momentum the umpiring decisions kill, makes a big difference!

Surely about time we get #freekickbulldogs trending. It’s out of control now.

Example number 94123 of the MRP system being broken. An elbow to the head deemed serious enough to be a reportable offence is worthy of a fine, but a perfectly executed run-down tackle results in a two week ban, whilst contesting the football has the AFL sending you directly to the Tribunal. Utterly, completely, farcically, broken.

Love Gawny, but he goes to the same school of spin as Goody and it’s not a good look. We were clearly beaten in a lot of areas on the weekend and I would much rather hear our leader say something like, “we believe in each other, we need our fans to believe in us, but we know that what we did on the weekend and what we’ve produced lately isn’t good enough if we’re serious about challenging.” First step towards solving a problem is recognising you have one. Call a spade a spade, we’re in a slump.

So I saw. Same reasons I haven't been on here for a few weeks.

Could be, but how many of us expected a flag at the start of the season? Seems to me that expectations rose high due to being unexpectedly near the top of the ladder for so long and that has unreasonably increased the negativity some feel now. Let's hope that whatever happens from now is either a surprise return to form and a flag, or failing that, that we have something solid to build on for next year.

There's being positive and then there's gaslighting How about being honest. "We're out of form. All is not lost, we can fix this stuff and we're onto it." See, I didn't even mention learnings.

I think I have the solution. Not sure they have room for 52000 members, but surely at least Old Dee can live to see the lifting of the curse....

A big difference people seem to forget about these removalists, who I despise with every inch of my soul, is that they actually had a work permit to come across. They didn't break the rules coming into the state, and they were not aware that they were sick until they returned home and got tested. The only official rule they broke is not wearing a mask. Does that mean they don't deserve Karma to hit them like a bus? No it doesn't. But this guy broke very clear entry guidelines going into another state. He lied. He will cop a far bigger fine, just as the idiots from Melbourne who flew to Darwin for a wedding copped a fine of around $4k each. Or how the idiots who drove from Melbourne to QLD in the last lockdown did. Permitted workers who bend the rules will always cop a far smaller fine than those who come across without any permits whatsoever and break clear border laws.

This is how Ed Richards got concussion. Ed saw Kozzi coming at him and the coaching Ed has received told him to buckle at the knees so the tackle would go high... except the tackle was a rugby tackle. Point of the shoulder aimed for the sternum. Lights out Richards. If these players want an easy free, make them earn it.

Votes: 9 Marcus Bontempelli (WB) 8 Caleb Daniel (WB) 7 Clayton Oliver (MELB) 3 Jack Macrae (WB) 2 Lachie Hunter (WB) 1 Bailey Smith (WB) Coach Split: 5/4 Bontempelli 5/3 Daniel 4/3 Oliver 2/1 Macrae 2/0 Hunter 1/0 Smith Surprised Bontempelli didn't get 2 BOG. Top 4 voting by both coaches so consistent. Leader Board 94 Marcus Bontempelli WB 92 Clayton Oliver MELB 85 Touk Miller GCFC 83 Samuel Walsh CARL 83 Ollie Wines PORT 75 Jack Steele STK 70 Darcy Parish ESS 68 Zach Merrett ESS 61 Rory Laird ADEL 60 David Mundy FRE 59 Hugh McCluggage BL 59 Nic Naitanui WCE 57 Christian Petracca MELB 55 Max Gawn MELB 52 Jarryd Lyons BL 51 Jack Macrae WB 50 Tom Stewart GEEL 48 Jacob Hopper GWS 48 Tom Mitchell HAW Oliver second. Possibly a two horse race but any in the top 5 can win it. Hope Clarry can keep it up. 3 players in top 20.

yes, you are a mug these days to try and dispose of the ball. Odds are you may fail and get pinged. Far better to fall to the ground hugging the ball while pretending you are suffering an epileptic fit. (Even that is not consistently required - most of the time you need do nothing, but occasionally you will get pinged if you don't jerk about even if it is clearly futile to do so). If the AFL wants a free flowing game, then favour disposal attempts rather than incentivising a ball-up.

And just another reason to ask the coach why he didnt put a hard tag on Daniels at the start when it is obvious to all that he starts the ball rolling from half back.

I'm of the school that says most "conspiracy" is better explained by "incompetence". I do wonder, given the outrageousness of what the Dogs get away with, the general lacksadaisical attitude of the AFL admin to umpiring overall, and the AFL admin's attitude to "speeding up the game" ... is if the AFL admin may have decreed from on high that the Dogs' style of play is the model for what they want to see out on the ground, in all matches. Fast ball movement, no nasty rugby mauls. Goals!! And the umps have been given the directive to encourage this style of play. So what if a few latte-sipping purists have a knot in their undies about -- ha ha! -- adherence to rules, integrity of the game, a fair contest/even playing field, and other trivialities. If the AFL ever re-discovers its integrity department, or hires an umpires director who is not pre-conditioned to the AFL admin's general corrupt attitude, then we might get somewhere. Until then, the Dogs have free reign to degenerate the game of Aussie Rules football.

And Libba blocking Oliver with his back to the ball.

Not only has Richmond become irrelevant to the season, but Hardwick has lost his title as the whingiest coach to Scott.

And where's the ump looking? At the ball. Good one, ump. What's happening up there? A seagull dropping a chip having had prior opportunity? (Not that you'd pay it anyway.)

True. Big benefit though is not having to travel to Qld and then onto Perth for the WCE game. Reduces a lot of travel for us.

I’d like to see this too if anyone has it, particularly for umpire #26. Has to be a Dogs supporter.

He was on early……

Goalkicking accuracy is an overrated measure. Obviously you'd rather convert than miss because it banks an extra five points, but the overall stat is as simplistic as saying 'if they'd kicked 5.0 instead of 1.4' they'd have won. After the first miss of a quarter, all the situations that cause subsequent misses only exist because you missed the first one. Otherwise the ball goes back to the middle and the game is played out differently. You could concede the next nine and be behind 1.0 to 9.0. I'd rather look at a stat that shows how many goals are missed from a position where any player should be expected to kick them, and how many misses lead to easy exits from defence and/or opposition scoring chances.

That is worth a Royal Commission “you cannot touch them Tony….”

I'll lead off with that my belief is that it is impossible to sustain 22 week's of form (be it as a team, or an individual) and then get into the 'real' season and maintain it. Thus, I'm not in favour of the notion that the players were down or not up yesterday - they made errors, [censored] it, so did the Dogs, they just converted. Whilst some folk find Goodwin 'expressionless' in his conferences, the clue for us all is how he frames things. Irrespective of a win (he down plays it) or a loss (he also down plays it) because it's always about 'resetting for the week ahead'. For all of those in the ecosystem that is the AFL industry - it does not help to get emotional about the wins and losses... and that fact [censored] supporters to tears. He isn't about pumping up players, or jumping on them, because if you teach players that you can only win when you feel good or confident, what happens to performance when you are not feeling good or confident, or fatigued? You move away from games plans, you play more insular (sure weve seen it from individuals this year) and it impedes performance. And...how on earth would you feel on Grand Final Day in front of 100k... not sure about you... but I'd have a squeeky little bum.} It's a time of high anxiety and high stress... and Goodwin drives the team (as do most coaches) from a position of knowing that this is the emotional landscape of football. Having to front up to it, is exhausting. But it stands to reason that this has been our most consistent season in almost living memory. Some of the players are 5 years under his tutelage, others are 1, or 2 or 3. They're on a journey of psychological and physiological development. As supporters we can find the language too corporate, too naff, too disconnected from what we traditionally want to hear (give em a rev up etc etc), but he is speaking the language of the eco-system of the club... well not just our club, its all clubs. I'd argue its not about getting the players up , they know what their game plan is, they'll get themselves up...they weren't down yesterday either... They were up against the Dogs, as it were... but if you count WINS as the only indicator of being 'up', then you're missing the bigger picture....and also being unrealistic and unfair on the playing group. Loading, periodisation, whatever you want to call it, is real and it impacts on performance outcomes in the here and now, for the planning of the future.

For a team that plays as taxing a game style as us I think there's probably something to this. The whole game plan relies on pressure which means bringing the same effort every bloody week. It's not just one or two many players look gassed.