KingDingAling

May.

Petracca

Viney

Fritsch

Spargo

Gawn

We aren’t playing very well, and should still be 6-7 goals up if not for poor umpiring. GWS really are hopeless. Without umpire assistance they’d probably be about 10 points.

Just now, Chook said:

Giants have made a game of it thanks to a slew of dubious free kicks. Lever looks a little proppy after tripping over his own feet. 

Yep and it’s bullsh*t too. I’ve about had it. 

Just now, Demon Disciple said:

Getting schooled in clearances. God help us if our back-line ever decided to take a day off

Pressure around the ground outside of clearance work - is better than usual today. We have definitely done our homework. I watched GWS last week against Freo. Seems I wasn’t the only one. We dissected that and went to work implementing a strategy. We are forcing them to bomb it in.

7 minutes ago, Clintosaurus said:

Saints still have too many players who struggle with basic skills. 

That’s expected when you have a dip at taking the game on. They will get better with this. Jack Steele demands his players implement the coaches game plan. Hell of a captain 

10 minutes ago, Kit Walker said:

Heeney is as good as Toby Greene but without the brain fades, and 10x as good as De Goey

Footballers like Heeney and McInerny must pull this hair out playing in that side. Majority of Sydney players just play for themselves. Very poorly coached side to be fair. If they make finals hopefully it’s the fourth spot and we meet them in the first final. 

7 minutes ago, Demon3 said:

In all seriousness though, i would hope we start hearing more regular positive news with Luke. I know people will say it will happen, but we dont want this going well into the last part of teh season and even finals and not have him signed up. I assume he will and have no real fear of him leaving, but getting confirmation will be nice.

Getting a flag this year would be nice. If we want Jackson then let’s play for him. Winning two flags in a row, and being a part of a young dynasty list, it’s hard to pass up. 

4 minutes ago, adonski said:

Wish someone pumped me up for doing nothing like people do with Smif 

Important to get some game time into him. I suspect he is a depth player, but it’s vital he has more experience to be ready if we need him to be (at any stage). Smith is still relatively inexperienced. We need to see what he’s got, is he improving? These are questions we need to answer, and we do so because we have had injuries. Hunt is in the same boat. We are going to need to play these guys throughout the year, whether it’s when we test players or whether they step in for someone injured. To my eye, Smith made a lot of sense while Lever was out, but equally, I also didn’t like what I seen on game day, where Smith opted to mark instead of punch, and wasn’t great by foot. Maybe he’ll be better with Lever in, or maybe we as a side will be better off without Smith. This is something worth persisting with till we know the answer. Clearly Smith is rated within the playing group. 

1 hour ago, jayceebee31 said:

I would consider resting Gawn this week due to Pruess being rubbed out, giving Daws a worthy surprise.Furthermore  BBB will come in for TMac, whilst Duncan deserves a run as well.

If Gawn was rested we’d probably go with 3 tall forwards instead, and have Weideman play a similar ruck role than he does in the VFL. 

Laurie wasn’t even nearly ready for VFL last year. This year is just a development year for him. To get the best out of himself he needs to be in physically able to cope with the loads placed on his body. He is explosive and nimble, it’s why we drafted him. Last year he looked soft in the body. This year he looks better, but still some way off. I suspect next year we will see the finished product. Injuries in his first year prevented us from seeing that this year. Once ready we will see all the attributes on display. He will be a great addition to our main side when ready.

I also think Bedford looks ready. He has worked very hard, and shown himself capable of massive improvement. Definitely up and about this year. I think he’ll get a game soon. Not sure his ceiling is that of a Laurie, but not much players would have that scope for improvement (that Laurie has). Bedford can improve to be an AFL level player, no doubt. He will just need to find a role. 

4 minutes ago, —coach— said:

I’ve never seen a team get 42 free kicks in a game before! Freo 42 versus 16.

must be some kind of answer the ultimate question or something…

A lot of vital ones came late. I suspect the umpires gambled on the game. They didn’t really need to do the late ones, but looked like they were making sure. GWS players pretty much just give up after some bad calls. But giving up doesn’t solve anything. 

1 minute ago, ANG13 said:

40 to 16 free kicks Fremantle’s way. Think the umpires think the Bulldogs are playing two game’s tonight. 

Yep. Umpiring was disgraceful and quite obviously bias to Fremantle. But GWS just dropped their head after the bad calls. And good clubs don’t do that. We get worse calls than anyone by the umpiring, we are consistently on the receiving end of terrible umpiring, yet we always wrestle back the momentum, as good teams do. GWS aren’t a good team. They look to me like a team with ridiculous talent, but no one has taught them to play to a structure. Their midfielders are out chasing kicks, and bombing it in the forward line without a care. I suspect Clarkson will take a good look at GWS and probably put his hand up for the job. The list is there.

Under 11 level style of footy from both sides today. This hack it on your boot style of football is evident this year in all levels (men and women). Pretty poor coaching really. People are quick to pot Tayla Harris, but I can’t imagine Id have great body language if the ball kept coming in high and I had 3 defenders on me. Nevertheless, my observations on the game is that McNamara was/is in a league of her own in contested footy, stood out evidently, just looked far superior when she went near the footy - just wasn’t near it enough. Daisy plays clean and neat, but doesn’t get utilized as a second or third chain because of our sloppy game style of pressure and effort, which is what I used to tell the kids in under 11. Hopefully we evolve from this, perhaps getting some help from our senior side. Pretty surprised to see such a poor level. And lastly, Bannon. Now, I don’t watch much of this AFLW, and after today I see why, it hasn’t improved much, sadly the girls are let down by poor coaching, but this Bannon, looked really sharp. She’s good with her hands, has great football instincts, and looks to have a lot of ability. Probably one of the more capable players I’ve seen. Could even bring me back to watch another game.

2 minutes ago, DaveyJones'sLocker said:

Hated it to be honest. yes 4 points and no injuries.

so much to dislike 

forward entry’s and structure 

Pickett undisciplined 

slow boring football not good great in prime time slot 

Yeah I thought we were poor leading into tonight, but it was a slow grind tonight, and I think we’re probably on the up now. The majority of last year our forward entries weren’t great, but we were winning. It was only in the last few games of the season we got it right and didn’t look back. I think we’ll get it right earlier this year. We are coming good now. 

I must be a pessimist because I’ve actually backed Port to win at the $3.50 mark. I don’t think we are playing good footy. I think Essendon are a legit VFL level side, and we struggled with them for much of last week. I also think we carried many passengers from the week before into that game. Also, it’s in Adelaide. The umpiring will be next level. How much longer can we keep wrestling against momentum in matches where umpiring dictates the flow of the game. At some point a team gets tired. We are constantly umpired out of games we somehow wrestle back momentum and win. Due for a loss.

1 hour ago, Skuit said:

May has struggled a bit with one-on-ones on the lead without Lever. Tomlinson has his limitations without Lever and May as a combo, as would probably Petty. Our defence is a unit. I don't think it's an issue of head-to-head between Tomlinson and Petty in the current environment, but who can best play the role as a third tall in our ideal set-up. They both performed in that role last year, and were difficult to split. Should we sustain a long-term injury to one of our top two KPDs, they are auditioning to step up into one of those two roles. I'm not sure who gets the gig.   

Lever and Petty compliment May to perfection. He struggles with tall athletic type forwards, and Lever and Petty cater for that. Petty can take them on his own, but having Lever come third man up makes it tough for forwards. Having those two back in will ease the burden for May a lot. We will be a far better side for their inclusions. We’ve had to contend with Norton and Wright having their way with us so far this year. We shouldn’t have to deal with that happening again.

3 minutes ago, Rab D Nesbitt said:

Can North to go any further south?

They are screwed.

I’d drop Spargo and give Chandler a chance. Lever comes in for Smith, who hasn’t done too much wrong, just needs to work on his marking, and can do that in the VFL until a spot becomes available. TMAC goes out for Brown, no brainer, Stewart absolutely toweled him last night. It was a bad game for us. Multiple changes need to be made when we struggled with an undermanned Essendon outfit, who really are no better than a good VFL side at present.

Just now, Demon Disciple said:

Umpiring of Bulldogs games is atrociously biased. It’s actually extremely off-putting and offensive.

Someone needs to risk a heavy fine and call out the umpires and AFL. You want supporters to respect this drivel put up on a weekly basis? Good luck with that.

That’s why I’m hoping the bulldogs lose tonight. I don’t want to meet them in the finals because they play with 19 out there. Momentum is everything in finals and we can’t afford to have it constantly taken away due to bias umpiring towards our opposition. I’ve never seen anything like the consistently favorable calls the bulldogs get week in week out. 

If Oliver plays all games I think he wins the next few brownlows. Never seen anything like him. Best midfielder I’ve ever watched.

38 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Two things from this game.

1. Umpiring is genuinely horrific. 

2. Our VFL listed players really aren't much chop. They're the ones butchering the ball easily. Bryce Milford is the only one worth keeping an eye out as a potential AFL spot.

 

Woey looks good. Milford hasn’t done much.

How hard is it to get a decent umpire these days this is terrible 

He will sign. West Coast are rebuilding and would hardly tempt him. Freo I’m not sure they are kind of irrelevant.

IN: Dunstan, Hibberd, Chandler 

OUT: Sparrow, Hunt, Spargo

Good to get the win. GC are a good side. Miller and Rowell kept grinding they are both hard at it, and Anderson kept kicking crucial goals. Really happy with the win. A few liabilities tonight though. Sparrow, Spargo, Hunt, and probably Rivers all performed poorly. Sparrow I thought was terrible.