Bulldogs Gameday Thread

[ernie koala]

Sadly the % issue is much more likely to be a function of how often you get to play Gold Coast than your accuracy during the season.

Don't think Brisbane or Port would agree.

[giant]

Goodes got the ABC Man of the match but he frustrated me today with some of his decision making. Am I being too harsh on Adam???

with you on Goodes - some of his little touches - lookaway handball to nowhere, screwy banana pass thru the centre of the ground - were not what we were looking for from our leaders. That said, he stood tall at other moments (tho nowhere near BOG for mine).

[giant]

Don't think Brisbane or Port would agree.

Doubting they'll be in the mix for places 3-12!

[stellation]

Happy to be back in the winner's circle, but sheeeeeeeesh the forward line is still a shamozzle. I wonder at what stage the coaching staff look at themselves or at the delivery from the midfield?

Considering I was dissapointed that he was rushed straight back into the seniors (which was more fear of "coach's pet looming" than anything), I thought that AJ was very good for a guy playing his third game. Well done!

Nathan Gordon was also good for a guy on debut, didn't seem overawed at all and presented well through the day.

[magic.merkin]

My thoughts have generally been said. Pyke continued to stick it up his doubters.

Did they all miss the memo that Benny M is 5 foot nothing? Stop kicking over his head, and high to him on 1 vs 1's...

Jetta to the 2's (much better defensive efforts though).

[ScottH]

I know Jetta wasn't best afield by any means but he was the 4th highest in metres gained in the game, and had 8 I50, so he wasn't that bad, and he held his own in a few one on one contests.
I don't see a need to drop him.

Even though Pyke kicked a few goals I'm still not convinced he has the footy nous to make it.
His attack on the ball isn't what I'd expect from such a big bloke.

[S120]

Jetta's last quarter was really good IMO. His first half was poor in terms of his disposal but his last quarter in particular he gave us run and carry that nobody else was capable of given how tired every other player seemed to be. Despite his disposal still being poor, just him running the ball away and pumping it out of the Dogs forward half was what we needed at the time and he provided. Thought his defensive efforts all game were pretty good too.

I'd be shocked if he was dropped this week. Has had much worse games this year.

[Auntie.Gerald]

I think it is fair to say that our Coaching dept has blooded and persisted with a few newbies etc for a couple of reasons

i) Seniors coming back from injury recently therefore necessity

ii) With full knowledge that yest and the next 5 weeks they are generally easier games so lets persist and get Senior footy into our emerging talent whether they make mistakes or not as we can cover a few errors from each and be ready for the bigger games

before I go into that though.............how good is it having Kennelly back.......that kick to himself was magic and we simply look better with his talk and direct passes and confidence.......PLUS and Shaw picked up when needed in the backs ie when Murphy pushed upfield. When Shawy left his roles up front tagging etc Reece must have had all 15 disposals in the last qtr and part of the 3rd.

Bevo and White were dropped rightfully and no doubt Moore will be also. But for the type of opposition we had first few rds they were needed i still believe

Everrit - I can see why we are hanging in with him.......Everrit has some strong tactical advantages for us and will become better. He grew a little in confidence yest and strong straight kicker of the ball

AJ - definitely a real find. Brilliant recruitment choice and will go in leaps and bounds. I am so happy to have a genuine back who has the tenacity to replace the likes of Mattner, Kennelly etc. I actually think that Shaw or Smithy will move updfield to keep AJ in the team if LRT comes back

Jetta - almost there............in some squads he would be dropped but we need to persist until Gary is back

Pyke - Mike is doing what is needed for now and may creep up on us like LRT did all those years ago.

ROK - actually really had me worried for a few weeks. His disposal choices were terrible and he couldnt keep up in the midfield let alone in other roles some of the weeks. Part of me almost feels though that he should be subbed for an impact player..........I know that sounds harsh but when he went on Judd last qtr he was left in Judds wake..........now I know that is a harsh example but if I was an opposition coach I would certainly expose ROK in the last qtr with a faster opponent minimum !

Flash Gordon - a little like Gary Rohan ie he is random in his decision making but he has potential and I would actually give him the spot for Moore as a minimum. Nipper can certainly get up for a mark and with his added height and run has more potential for this year and beyond then sticking with Moore.

[BSA5]

I know Jetta wasn't best afield by any means but he was the 4th highest in metres gained in the game, and had 8 I50, so he wasn't that bad, and he held his own in a few one on one contests.
I don't see a need to drop him.

Even though Pyke kicked a few goals I'm still not convinced he has the footy nous to make it.
His attack on the ball isn't what I'd expect from such a big bloke.

I agree on Jetta. He's still in pretty bad form, but his intensity at the contest was much better, he found space a bit more. It was a step in the right direction.

On Pyke, I don't think his footy nous is a problem. He's getting better every game in that regard. He's not quite there yet, but he's still learning, and there's no reason to believe he will stop. If you compare his smarts to last year or the year before, he's come on in leaps and bounds.

One thing I have noticed is that when he's running at an opposition player, he runs straight at them. This sometimes works, but it allows players to turn him inside out quite easily. Pyke lost his feet several times trying to change direction rapidly when an opponent did this to him. He needs to learn to predict which way a player is likely to be moving when they collect the ball and run slightly more in that direction to cover them. He's too linear with his thinking, he still hasn't totally grasped the 360 degree nature of the game. I have no doubt this will improve with experience, in fact it already has compared to when he started, but it is still currently a limiting factor.

[Red]

if goal kicking is not a focus at training this week, it bloody well should be...Cost us against the Cats, blues and nearly cost us today...Scoreboard pressure is something we desperately lack..% is going to be vitally important in the make up of the 8....Bar Collingwood & Geelong spots 3-12 will be up for grabs. You only have to look at the Tigers demolition of the Dockers today to see that.

+1

For mine the reason we won was 90% due to the sterling efforts of Ted, Grundy & Smith. Forward delivery & conversion is often appalling.

I was happy to see Nipper get a run, but I'd love to see Lewis Johnston get a chance to see if he can bring some skill & composure to our forward line.

[liz]

IOn Pyke, I don't think his footy nous is a problem. He's getting better every game in that regard. He's not quite there yet, but he's still learning, and there's no reason to believe he will stop. If you compare his smarts to last year or the year before, he's come on in leaps and bounds.

Completely agree. People need to remember he still has barely over 20 AFL games under his belt and this was only his second game at senior level for the year (after a game in very tough conditions for a big bloke last week). He noticeably improved last year when he got a run of games under his belt, and I'll back him in to improve his game further if he gets an extended run this season. The biggest shame about his game was that he didn't realise he had more time to get a proper shot away when his opportunity for a third goal arose.

As for his agility, most big blokes aren't overly agile, and there was something about the surface yesterday that was causing many players to lose their feet when they shouldn't. It looked to be a perfect surface but it played very slippery in both of the two matches.

[Auntie.Gerald]

It looked to be a perfect surface but it played very slippery in both of the two matches.

hence the Kennelly kick to himself

too much fun !

[neilfws]

His attack on the ball isn't what I'd expect from such a big bloke.

I'd say the same about White. And I'd say that Pyke's is consistently better.

[giant]

Nathan Gordon was also good for a guy on debut, didn't seem overawed at all and presented well through the day.

Well, at least not until someone shoved a microphone in front of him anyway...

[giant]

Jetta's last quarter was really good IMO. His first half was poor in terms of his disposal but his last quarter in particular he gave us run and carry that nobody else was capable of given how tired every other player seemed to be. Despite his disposal still being poor, just him running the ball away and pumping it out of the Dogs forward half was what we needed at the time and he provided. Thought his defensive efforts all game were pretty good too.

I'd be shocked if he was dropped this week. Has had much worse games this year.

Agree, I felt he was important in the last qr, as was Dan. We'd pretty much stopped to a walk (poor old Ted looked like he was running in treacle at one point) but these fellas kept giving us some run. Maybe he frustrates us at times, but Jetta brings a very important dimension to our game few others are capable of doing.