Match Day Thread Rnd 5 V Western Bulldogs.

[Industrial Fan]

Here's a chart of his game averages. Go here and hover over "abbreviations key" for the abbreviations.

He does kick less goals and more behinds post-2012, but then he plays less forward these days. "Effectiveness" is not really captured in these stats but I'd say he's pretty consistent and still above career average in most areas.

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Gee his GM is well down in 2015.

So far.

[AnnieH]

His BO isn't too good either.

[Gary]

Impressive data ... confirms my concern re goal kicking and one might ask why he is not getting into these positions as much?
Does this data touch on effective disposals because my sense is that it has dropped off ... I love the guy but sense there is slippage in this key area.

[Primmy]

Gifting them 3 goals from Shaw, Grundy/Shaw and Jetta didn't help the cause.

Right above them for all of it.....which is why I am not posting. I am still sulking. And the @@@@fight that took place amongst the backs at one stage didn't help - they need a big dose of Kirky.

I watched Rohan practice goal kicking before warm up. I think he got one in ten..... at that point I thought to myself oh gollygosh me thinks it might get a bit schtum out there.
And I was right.

[Hotpotato]

Well apparently , we have gifted the Dogs their biggest thrill in football since time began . So that's a relief .

[MattW]

Right above them for all of it.....which is why I am not posting. I am still sulking. And the @@@@fight that took place amongst the backs at one stage didn't help - they need a big dose of Kirky.

I watched Rohan practice goal kicking before warm up. I think he got one in ten..... at that point I thought to myself oh gollygosh me thinks it might get a bit schtum out there.
And I was right.

Although his shot from 53m never looked liked missing. He was one of the best.

[sfan]

My problem with Rampe is that while his kicks look great they hang too long in the air unlike McVeigh who never misses a target. If you want to,play Rampe as a loose defender then he needs kick like McVeigh which he can't do.

[Meg]

Right above them for all of it.....which is why I am not posting. I am still sulking. And the @@@@fight that took place amongst the backs at one stage didn't help.

I didn't see that (although I did see them coming together as a group after a couple of the Bulldogs goals). That's even more of a worry if they are arguing and blame-shifting amongst themselves.
The coaches need to sort this out - and quickly. According to the Swans website John Blakey is the Defence coach (although the words on the Swans site are out-of-date, referring to 2014). I hope Mattner is involved as a wise, experienced and calm influence.

[111431]

Fully agree reRampe

[Melbourne_Blood]

Rampe couldn't put a foot wrong the first few rounds. He's had a couple of bad weeks, big deal, so has most of the side. It's just more obvious with Rampe because he's normally so bloody good! Towers looked very average but in those conditions it was never going to be his day. I actually though Jetta tried his guts out in the second half too. Hanners is having some kind of year, pity his teammates aren't following his lead. It's odd, we are in a better position than we were in last year at this stage, yet I just can't see this side doing any damage at this point in time. You can't butcher the ball as frequently, and concede big momentum/swings / head starts like we do and be a serious side. We've got a lot of work to do to even be a chance for top 4.

[Meg]

We had no hope of winning on Saturday - a spy had ingratiated himself into the team.
2015 K Jack.jpeg

[Ludwig]

And they said he was out with a

[Conor_Dillon]

Come on Ludwig you're better than that!

[Doctor]

I have refrained from posting so far as I needed time. I agree with Longmire though that we lost it in the first quarter. We were absolutely smashing them and missed chance after chance. To compound that, we gifted them 2 or 3 in a row to get them going from dismal defensive errors. That gave them momentum and belief and from there they were good enough to hang on, and full credit to them for that. I had initially been down on the umps, but in retrospect, other than their refusal to pay some clear deliberate out of bounds from the Dogs in the 4th, it was reasonably fair. Certainly far fairer than the week earlier in Perth.

We clearly missed Reid, which shows you what he does for us even when you don't notice him. Heeney is a great young kid but his absence isn't why we lost. I do agree that our forward line is different now, and that our mids don't ghost forward as much as they used to. That may be to help create space for Franklin, but it makes us too predictable if that's all we have.

I wouldn't be making wholesale changes as you have to look at what the player coming in can offer that the guy going out can't. At the moment Reid is a must if fit, and Towers is the obvious one to go out. Heeney is a probable and Harry would more than likely be the one for him.

Lastly, Goodes should stay. He has a sound record on the MCG and he did enough to keep his spot. I'm looking for improvement but some of the posts earlier in this thread casting him aside like expired milk were seriously disrespectful. Questioning is fine, turfing him dismissively is not.

Rant over.

[mcs]

Lastly, Goodes should stay. He has a sound record on the MCG and he did enough to keep his spot. I'm looking for improvement but some of the posts earlier in this thread casting him aside like expired milk were seriously disrespectful. Questioning is fine, turfing him dismissively is not.

I'd argue its fair enough for people to have come to the conclusion that he isn't in the best 22, and therefore shouldn't be selected - I don't see how that is being disrespectful. Its not like his decline has happened overnight - its been obvious both last season and this season that time has caught up with one of the greats of our sport. I expect he will get till the mid season break (maybe missing the Hawks game) to prove himself - but I'm happy to say that, if I was picking the 22 (lucky for us we aren't as I'm sure I wouldn't be a very good coach), I don't think he would be in my best 22. I'm more than happy to see him prove me wrong.

On your point about making wholesale changes, I don't think anyone is really stating to throw the whole lot out with the bath water. But I wish we would seek to emulate the Hawks in some ways (not the arrogance of their fan base) - in particular in the way that, even as the dominant team of the last couple of years, they've still found ways to consistently expose younger players to games. It helps create a much broader depth for the club - you only have to look at last week. Both Frawley and Lake out, but they hardly missed a beat in defence against North. Would we be the same if Grundy and Teddy were missing, or say Grundy and Rampe? We just don't have the depth across the ground - and a lot of that comes to the fact that younger guys on the fringes of the team find it exceptionally difficult to get game time. That is in part due to the great success we've had in recent years, but as the Hawks have shown, you can integrate younger players as well. That's why its been good to see Heeney go straight into the 1st 22. Hopefully if Mills is as good as we are told, he will see a similar treatment next year (assuming a good pre-season etc).