stevethemanjordan

Excuses? Mate, everyone has a little more penetration on the run. But a set shot is not an on the run kick and Hogan has always lacked penetration. He can kick 50 if he runs around on a slight arc but you minimise your chances of making sweet contact if you do that which is why sometimes he doesn't get the distance. But in general, he is not a booming kick. How can you say he doesn't feel comfortable with that routine if it's the one he's had since coming to the club? Do you mean to say that you don't feel comfortable with it? That would make more sense.

People continuously overlook the fact that he is left-hand dominant, (Tasks/activities with his left hand. Eg; Playing tennis, writing, drinking tea, shaking hands etc). However, weirdly enough he is right-foot dominant. That is a [censored] up of hemispheres and I'm sure this makes it extremely difficult for the brain to make his set-shot routine look 'smooth'. If people knew that, they wouldn't bang on about it. And I wish commentators would get the mail on this too because it's becoming infuriating. His run up is what it is and if he feels most comfortable kicking this way, then he should be left to it. Especially given the uniqueness of having two opposing limbs that are dominant. We all know he lacks penetration. But that's always been the case and I don't think he'll ever change that significantly.

Zone defence requires smart and disciplined individuals. Garland, Dunn and Tom McDonald are all very limited in this capacity which is evidenced by their regular brain-fades and incredible inconsistency in performance. Whilst I agree we lack 'height' and 'size' in our defence, I think what is most evident is that we lack defenders with football smarts, composure and direction. It's detrimental to our entire defensive unit. I see no confidence whatsoever between anyone back there and even the dogs yesterday who were without Murphy, JJ, Adams and Suckling still looked just as solid without those guys. We'll continue to struggle back there until that area is addressed. Equally as important however is the speed at which the ball comes into our defensive half and that is obviously to do with the midfield. As much as I'm excited by our young midfield brigade, I have always been concerned that we've been too 'contested ball' conscious and really I think that is to do with the type of midfielders we've drafted. Pretty much all of them have the same first instinct which is 'see ball/get ball' which means they naturally gravitate to the contest, leaving smarter opposition players on the outside who are then able to move the ball forward with speed, potency and little pressure. It happened a lot yesterday. The doggies just have a better balance to their midfielders. Players like Dahlhaus, Bont, Hunter etc have a better balance of inside/outside attributes and know when to hold space and when to impact a contest. Most of them use the ball better too. I'm not worrying yet, as I'm sure the coaches identify these things and I'm hoping that next year we will add yet another layer to our list and game. It's obvious we need some line-breaking, smart and skilled users injected into our midfield mix because we're being shown up by those very players from opposition sides. Merrett, Dahlhaus, Zorko, Kelly, Steven etc always kill us and it's because we have a very one-dimensional mix of mids. Happy with the effort and intent and clearly those non-negotiables are in fact now, non-negotiables for our club. But the next layer for 2017 onwards is to bring in some class, speed and smarts into the midfield mix as well as an experienced KP defender with a football brain. Onto Brisbane next week for what should hopefully be a solid win at the G.

I don't wish to complain about Garland anymore. My mind was made up a while ago and unfortunately nothing has changed. I wasn't able to see any of today's game so I can't comment on individual performance etc. But what I can say from viewing comments on today's game and from my own eyes throughout this season is this: The fact that Garland and Dunn have been in and out of the team, the leadership group and form in general has been the catalyst for the completely dysfunctional back-line we see today. Of that, I'm certain.

Can't defend him but you just did in a roundabout way. Nice.

We have a next to non-existent injury list and we've finally been picking up quality young players who are being developed really well.

That guy is the best.

He'd be an upgrade and offer more versatility than Pedo who he'd likely replace in a hypothetical. And given we've only offered Spencer a one-year deal, it suggests to me we're keeping our 'options' open in regards to players like this. The importance of keeping Gawn fit and on the park cannot be underestimated considering the advantage he gives our mids and side in general. And I think that will be the thinking here. Gawn needs support. Goldstein and Nic Nat both have better support which allows them more breaks both forward and on the pine. Gawn needs to be managed carefully, he is like gold to us. To me, most of the top sides have 'ruckmen height' talls in their forward-line who provide solid relief for their side's number one ruckman. Pedo has provided admirable support at times but I'd be very surprised if supporters would prefer him to a 200cm forward/ruckman who'd potentially provide further relief for Hogan as well as offering better assistance when in the ruck due to his height. But like others, what's hard to envisage is a future forward-line of: Jenkins/Gawn Weideman Garlett Watts Hogan Kent Seems to be too top heavy.... But at the same time it looks awfully difficult to match up on.

http://www.melbournefc.com.au/video/2016-05-13/bernie-vince-interview Bernie's face @ 5-7 seconds in...

Sounds Dutch. I like it.

They're years away.

Mate. This is the Dees you're talking about. No amount of opposition players missing will influence a result for us. In fact, if anything we're worse off, such is our history against undermanned sides.

My take on the extension. One year. The FD clearly see him as important insurance as others have suggested. But clearly only that by the length of the contract. He is 27 and has never really 'come-on' in any sort of capacity but I appreciate he is now a mature body who will compete if Gawn happens to go down. The fact that it's one year also suggests we may be looking at bringing in someone who can compliment Gawn at years end. And by that I mean a Jenkins type. Just a guess.

I might contradict myself. But at least I don't contradict myself.

Matt Jones duh... Obviously has a delightful head of hair. Bulldog supporters... Lol

Perhaps Salem could take Kent's role this week? Dangerous around goal with his left foot and allows for our defence to stay settled. Mixes things up... We're going to miss Kent's pace though. Doggies are quick.

Who is Dan? Or did predictive txt just have its way?

I pity the fool that thinks in this manner. He's contracted until the end of 2017. It's a waste of time and energy.

If all of the pointless threads, from all of the football forums, formed their own forum - OF POINTLESS THREADS - In that forum, this would be the most pointless thread.

I think this is our biggest test so far this year aside from the GWS game. The game against North was after our loss to Essendon and I always consider those type of games 'response' games. We've come off a really solid win to an injury riddled Gold Coast and we play an inform Bulldogs side at OUR home ground. A loss of about 20 points is what I expect given how unpredictable we are. But if all things go to plan for us, I think we're a sneaky chance.

I think our form has been 'good' or 'positive' throughout certain games this year for sure but my 'obv' line was tongue-in-cheek and was just a response based on the info the article provides. (Which is silly info as others have pointed out). I don't necessarily think our draw has been the 'easiest'. It has only looked that way because a we've played Richmond, Collingwood and Gold Coast who were all out of form and injury hit and I don't think anyone would have predicted them to be where they are on the ladder right now. That's not to say that we didn't play well in those games, which I think we absolutely did. Regardless, the second half of the year will undoubtedly be more difficult for us and one thing we've got going for us is having next to no injuries which you'd think will change at some point and start having an effect on games. I'm just happy we're 4-3, sitting 9th on the ladder and that the young players are really gelling and are playing with some confidence. It's exciting.

Obv.

I'd say the overwhelming majority of supporters from opposition clubs would have Brown over Hansen. For reasons that are obvious I would have thought. By 'bloke who can't get a run for Collingwood', I assume you mean he's been dropped once which was last week and is now injured?

How can you be warm to the idea of bringing in a fringe NQR key defender in Hansen and agree that he has 'good' attributes but be completely against bringing in a premiership defender in Nathan Brown who is a similar age but far more runs on the board?

I don't dispute any of that, I just see him as an important cog in our midfield at present and I want him playing on Sunday. I saw vision of him jogging from today and he clearly looked uncomfortable. Thanks for the update though.