#AFL Round 4, Sydney Swans v Bulldogs, 4:35pm 14/04 Etihad @sydneyswans #AFLDogsSwans

[AnnieH]

I think JPK has fallen out of the "elite" category of midfielders now.

Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
No.

[wolftone57]

the match on the weekend can be easily summed up.

In the first quarter we didn't come prepared for a tough, hard, pressure cooker game. We were right off the boil. They took advantage of our dreadful disposal and fumbling, bumbling. In saying that they were very good. Mainly because our pressure was crap. We let them run free. We allowed them to play tempo footy and gave them heaps of space. In saying that I don't think it was all the players fault. Horse has to take responsibility for the zone he had in place. zoning 20 metres off an opponent is suicide against a side that is willing to play tempo footy and do it well. Because once they get the set ups right they then have runners and overlap. We had too many lazy players in the first half too but the set ups were all wrong against the Bullies.

In fact our players played some really lazy footy for most of the match. There were times when sloppy, lazy and hesitant footy almost lost us the game. See last quarter, Parker's failure to chase Daniels, two players fail to chase Daniels. Did they think he's so small he's inconsequential?

The game should not have been in our grasp at half time. Roos said we were not playing that badly. I'd hate to see us play badly if that was not that bad. Our disposal was terrible. We fumbled nearly everything and we can't blame the rain at Etihad. The second half started with horse going man on man. He filed the zone away in the deepest darkest recess he could find I hope. It's an old tactic that never worked against tempo footy. Then doggies put Redpath back as an extra and Horse took nearly 20 minutes to man him up. This almost lost us the game. But what was worse was in the last 6 minutes we gave up the ball so easily and didn't chse on so many occasions it is a wonder we are not lamenting a loss. the efforts of several players must be acknowledged;

Heeney; Sensational after he went to the middle after half time. His efforts late in the game were telling.

Rampe; Heroic back there.

Lloyd; Never gave up when players all around him were lagging off.

Ollie; For being young and brave. boy he would not have wanted to miss that shot. But sensational. the kid never gave up all day. He was tough in the contest and gave his teammates a chance by putting his body on the line all day. the kid may not have got huge numbers but he made them count and his in and under work was really good.

Towers; He kept trying all day. Never gave up a chase. Was very inventive and creative. Score assists tell a story.

Sinclair; Took the bulk of the rucks and did a fine job. Some good work against a very mobile and quick ruckman. I just want him to learn to hit out more to advantage and he'll be the real deal.

McVeigh; I forgot to put him in initially. Macca was good for most of the day except the first quarter when he fumbled like the rest. his composure late was telling.

In the end we get the points and the bag of lollies. But we need to start working to a much better rhythm otherwise the better sides will leave us behind. Our disposal has to improve at least 20% if we are going to look at a finals berth. The first game of the season was our best in disposal efficiency so far. In fact that was a good round for many of the clubs. They have mostly gone downhill since. Except Collingwood, it breaks my heart to say, have improved no end.

Where too from here?

Aliir; must stay in and battle away in the defence. He looked really out of place on the weekend.

Newman; Crap early but picked up as the game progressed. But let's face it he had plenty of mates who were crap too in the first half.

Jones; He was not his usual self and will need another two games to get back to his norm.

Next week against the Crows. I hope is pours here. I might just start a rain dance in my courtyard. With their tall forward line we can just run off them all night and they won't mark the ball anyway. If it is dry they will be dangerous on the SCG. I thought they went in very top heavy on a wet day. It doesn't look like rain unfortunately.

[Billericay]

In the first quarter we didn't come prepared for a tough, hard, pressure cooker game. We were right off the boil. They took advantage of our dreadful disposal and fumbling, bumbling. In saying that they were very good. Mainly because our pressure was crap. We let them run free. We allowed them to play tempo footy and gave them heaps of space. In saying that I don't think it was all the players fault. Horse has to take responsibility for the zone he had in place. zoning 20 metres off an opponent is suicide against a side that is willing to play tempo footy and do it well. Because once they get the set ups right they then have runners and overlap. We had too many lazy players in the first half too but the set ups were all wrong against the Bullies...

Next week against the Crows. I hope is pours here. I might just start a rain dance in my courtyard. With their tall forward line we can just run off them all night and they won't mark the ball anyway. If it is dry they will be dangerous on the SCG. I thought they went in very top heavy on a wet day. It doesn't look like rain unfortunately.

The uncontested style of play they used against us was similar to what they used the week before in destroying Essendon. So how could Horse not have prepared a structure to counter that ... why is Horse constantly surprised by Hawthorn playing that game against us? I didn't watch the Crows getting smashed by Collingwood, but I did Adelaide employing a short kicking uncontested game to great effect against Richmond. I really hope that Horse is ready for them tactically, rather than surprised at the obvious!

[ugg]

MRP

Dan Hannebery can accept $1500 sanction, instigator a melee.
Lachlan Hunter can accept 1 game, rough conduct on T Papley.

[barry]

Four games. Jeez.

He's still very good, but in the top 5 midfielders in the comp? (my definition of elite), not so sure.

[ugg]

Coaches' votes


8 Heeney
5 Macrae
4 Naughton, Parker
3 Rampe
2 Franklin, McLean
1 Suckling, Williams


Breakdown is straightforward to work out and once you do it's very strange as Heeney is the only player that received votes from both coaches.

• Suckling, Williams 1-0
• Franklin, McLean 2-0
• Rampe 3-0
• Naughton, Parker 4-0
• Macrae 5-0
• Heeney 5-3

[liz]

Coaches' votes


8 Heeney
5 Macrae
4 Naughton, Parker
3 Rampe
2 Franklin, McLean
1 Suckling, Williams


Breakdown is straightforward to work out and once you do it's very strange as Heeney is the only player that received votes from both coaches.

• Suckling, Williams 1-0
• Franklin, McLean 2-0
• Rampe 3-0
• Naughton, Parker 4-0
• Macrae 5-0
• Heeney 5-3

Very bizarre. I thought that Macrae was clearly the Dogs' best, and it's odd that one coach had him BOG and the other not in the best five. And almost as surprising that only one of them rated Parker's game. I also can't see Longmire having voted for Buddy given that the most he could have given him last week against the Giants, in a far more influential role, was one vote. And Naughton????

[ugg]

See all this time we thought Aliir looked ineffective and lost at CHF because of his inexperience when in fact it was the brilliant defence of Naughton that limited Aliir?s game.

[707]

MRP

Dan Hannebery can accept $1500 sanction, instigator a melee.
Lachlan Hunter can accept 1 game, rough conduct on T Papley.

Hunter is a much disliked player by most fans, constantly playing for high contact and the umps get sucked in too often. This latest ugly act just adds to the loathing for him.

[Ludwig]

See all this time we thought Aliir looked ineffective and lost at CHF because of his inexperience when in fact it was the brilliant defence of Naughton that limited Aliir?s game.

Good point! It must have been Beveridge who gave 4 votes to Naughton, since it vindicates his choice of putting their best tall defender on the dangerous Aliir, while leaving others to worry about the middling Franklin.

BTW, I think Naughton has been the pick of the draft so far and I would have him in front for the Rising Star.

[crackedactor]

MRP

Dan Hannebery can accept $1500 sanction, instigator a melee.
Lachlan Hunter can accept 1 game, rough conduct on T Papley.

Just on Dan Hannebery. Article in today's Herald Sun suggesting he is past his best and is lucky to get a game. Combined with JPKs demise, it looks like we need to get a couple of new mid-fielders.


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[SeanM]

Just on Dan Hannebery. Article in today's Herald Sun suggesting he is past his best and is lucky to get a game. Combined with JPKs demise, it looks like we need to get a couple of new mid-fielders.

That is a shame to hear. If that is the case we might need to plan a gradual rebuild of the midfield and take a look at some of the younger players earlier than expected. We need to be prepared in case we suddenly lose several top midfielders.

[neilfws]

Article in today's Herald Sun suggesting he is past his best and is lucky to get a game

Most of his key stats improved year on year up to 2016 and have declined since. So technically, he may be "past his best". Not sure about lucky to get a game though.

[O'Reilly Boy]

He has barely had a preseason. He was still getting around the ground and turning up in the right places, which was always the best part of his game. Happy to give him a few weeks.

[MattW]

Very bizarre. I thought that Macrae was clearly the Dogs' best, and it's odd that one coach had him BOG and the other not in the best five. And almost as surprising that only one of them rated Parker's game. I also can't see Longmire having voted for Buddy given that the most he could have given him last week against the Giants, in a far more influential role, was one vote. And Naughton????

I agree, I'm very surprised only one coach voted for Macrae (especially) and Parker.

I agree with Ludwig that it must have been Beveridge who nominated Naughton. Noting that, he can't have given the top 2 votes to players from his own team! I reckon that resolves 5-3 from both. I'm not sure re the two votes, although Buddy was a little down on recent weeks. Suckling made some errors; don't reckon his own coach would vote for him.

So, I'm going to go out on a limb:

Beveridge:
5 Heeney
4 Naughton
3 Rampe
2 Franklin
1 Williams

Longmire:
5 Macrae
4 Parker
3 Heeney
2 McLean
1 Suckling