2025 VFL Games.

[liz]

McVeigh would be pulling his hair out over some of what his charges are dishing up. Really dumb 50m penalties given away. Pinpoint passes when we get rare forward entries - pinpoint that hit a Bulldogs player on the chest for an uncontested mark in acres of space.

[dejavoodoo44]

Certainly seem to be missing the drive of Cleary and the target provided by Buller. I could do without the 21-11 free kick count in favour of the Dogs. Don't really see us staging a 40 point comeback like last week.

[dejavoodoo44]

Will Green: a strong contender for largely accidental goal of the year.

[dejavoodoo44]

Not sure if ruckmen are really supposed to take advantage like that, but hey, good work, Pete.

[dejavoodoo44]

I hope that's just cramp for Shipley, but I suspect that he's done his hamstring.

[MattW]

Nice late mark on the behind line by Dattoli, with a consummate finish on his left from an acute angle.

[MattW]

Nice late mark on the behind line by Dattoli, with a consummate finish on his left from an acute angle.

Followed by a sharp mark inside 50, coming from behind the defender with late speed. He pushed his set shot across the face.

[MattW]

McVeigh would be pulling his hair out over some of what his charges are dishing up. Really dumb 50m penalties given away. Pinpoint passes when we get rare forward entries - pinpoint that hit a Bulldogs player on the chest for an uncontested mark in acres of space.

Jarrad would be grasping at thin air, wouldn't he?

Better second half.

Ladhams was the Swans best. Bice looked classier than most after some early errors. Kirk was pretty good; Warner stood out but missed opportunities to impose himself. Riak was good with spoils from behind, but looked a little fumbly at ground level and missed some narks. Dattoli shone late.

[dejavoodoo44]

Jarrad would be grasping at thin air, wouldn't he?

Better second half.

Ladhams was the Swans best. Bice looked classier than most after some early errors. Kirk was pretty good; Warner stood out but missed opportunities to impose himself. Riak was good with spoils from behind, but looked a little fumbly at ground level and missed some narks. Dattoli shone late.

Yes, I also thought Ladhams was our best. I'm finally starting to warm to him. He no longer engages in random acts of violence, or anything particularly stupid. I like the look of Riak. He has good closing speed, seems to see the game well and looks to be a pretty accurate kick. I think Dattoli is going to kick a bag of four or five, in the not too distant future.

[MattW]

Yes, I also thought Ladhams was our best. I'm finally starting to warm to him. He no longer engages in random acts of violence, or anything particularly stupid. I like the look of Riak. He has good closing speed, seems to see the game well and looks to be a pretty accurate kick. I think Dattoli is going to kick a bag of four or five, in the not too distant future.

Dattoli plays with self assuredness but not arrogance. Ten of his thirteen possessions today were contested. He's not ready for AFL yet, clearly, but I'm confident he'll be up for it when it comes.

[liz]

Ladhams and Shipley best for us.

Someone commented last week (or the week before) that Shipley's disposal lets him down (and you could say that about everyone in our VFL team) but I think that was after a week where he'd been worse than usual. His disposal was much better today and created many of our opportunities.

The biggest frustration with this team is that they pick and choose when they play with intensity. In the second half today, the intensity was many times greater than in the first half. We still didn't have anything like the class of the Dogs (or the dodgy free kicks) but we were even on the scoreboard. Had we not missed some very gettable shots, the final margin could have been close (though the Dogs also missed some easy chances late). Alternatively, had we played from the first siren and not given up four goals in barely as many minutes early in the first quarter, the final scoreline would have been close. And that's despite the line-ups having a big gulf in class and experience (spread-out experience).

[BFG]

Ladhams surely has to be superior in the seniors to McLean? The latter has been really poor this year and Ladhams has lifted his rating.

Another of those strange senior selections that we casual observers can't figure out, still happening this season even though Horse has gone

[dejavoodoo44]

The team for the game against the Northern Bullants, which takes place at Blacktown at 1.05pm on Saturday. I think it was originally scheduled for Tramway? Anyway, it seems that Mitchell and Bice are both out injured, after not being on the most recent injury list.

B: C. MacDonald (59), P. Snell (41), B. Leidler (32)
HB: M. Geddes (61), R. Andrew (20), B. Paton (25)
C: N. Shipley (52), C. Cleary (33), I. Kirk (31)
HF: T. Hanily (40), B. Edwards (50), N. Bowman (23)
F: P. Ladhams (19), J. Kluske (47), J. Dattoli (18)
R: W. Green (45), O. Florent (13), C. Warner (37)
INT: J. Hose (66), A. Hanrahan (53), W. Smit (60), O. Davis (63), M. Lloyd (51)
23rd Player: J. Hose (66)
EMG: J. Tidemann (64), T. Ryan (67), T. Hitchens (56)

IN: C. Cleary, O. Florent, C. MacDonald, B. Paton, W. Smit
OUT: J. Hamling (AFL), R. Bice (injured), C. Mitchell (injured), T. Ryan, J. Tidemann (omitted)

[dejavoodoo44]

And by the way, we should feel confident going into this one, since the Bullants have lost all their games this season and have a percentage of 39.1.

[liz]

And by the way, we should feel confident going into this one, since the Bullants have lost all their games this season and have a percentage of 39.1.

I don’t think it’s ever possible to feel confident about a win with this team. We’ve lost to everyone this far (usually convincingly) except last year’s two grand finalists. Go figure.

i also recall a game out at BISP two or three years ago where we were thrashed by the bottom team. Can’t recall if that was the Bullants. To be fair, I think we lost three players by half time, including everyone with any height. IIRC, Barry O’Connor was moved into our forward line, and provided almost all of the team’s highlights that afternoon.