Match thread: Swans v Bulldogs.

[crackedactor 01]

I could not believe in the first minute of the game Francis had front position and gave it back to Darcy for the first goal of the game. I believe it will be the last we see of Francis in the seniors. Apart from Richmond it was our worse performance of the year. Very few contested marks, contested possession not much better and how often they broke free of a Sydney tackle was a worry. An incredible 3rd quarter from Warner saves us. But saying all that we looked really tired in the last 10 minutes, when i thought the Bulldogs would be the team to fatigue first. A much needed break coming up.

[liz]

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[Sandridge]

No team I like beating more than the Dogs, don't have a single redeeming feature. Created some carnage to them as well.

A scrappy win but gives the coaches a lot to work with in their review in a weeks time. This is the kind of win that top sides pull off.

Third quarter is worth a re watch. Chad is starting to hurt Heeney's Brownlow chances. Big shout out to our supporters who turned up in big numbers it seemed (on TV) Take the win, have a break, move on. It's a long way to end of September.

Agree with all of this, 707! We were nowhere near our scintillating best but we prevailed and that's what good teams do! You're lucky you live in Crowland - the "brave Bulldogs" bit is getting very tiresome very quickly here in Melbourne!

[KSAS]

All the post match talk in media has been around that 50m penaly paid to McLean after he took CLEAN mark. It was technically correct but tough.

However in comparison heard little about the obvious HTB which was paid as high contact against Warner & then the 50m for diissent which rubbed salt into the wound Daisy Thomas should stick doing betting adds, as i was flabbergasted when he commented it was hard for him to decide whether tackle was high or not!!!

However Horse would not be happy how the Bulldogs finished the stronger, despite being 2 men down & coming off 5 day break, after we built 5 goal lead early in the last. Team may've switched off at that point thinking of 17 day break instead of going for the kill as we did previous week.

I think.there's still plenty of upside to come in 2nd half of season, with our key forwards going to another level & the returns of Mills, Parker & McCartin to come.

[Blood Fever]

Watched both coaches' post game press conferences. JL was typically measured in his comments, complimenting the Bulldogs and observing that we had a number of areas to work on for our game against the Cats after the bye. Luke Beveridge'e press conference resembled a love in with the Melbourne football press. He was spoon fed questions about the bad luck his team had suffered and there was not one syllable offered about the Swans. Quite extraordinary but not surprising.

[lwjoyner]

what was the free kick count

[Mel_C]

I think we got away with one there. Dogs arguably deserved the win - down two players, ton more scoring shots, dodgy fifty metre penalty to McLean to seal the result. But good teams win games without playing at their best, and there's no denying Gulden's class all night and Warner's manic third quarter.

It may be a sign of Warner's growing maturity that he passed off the chance of his fifth goal to Adams.

Yay the site is back and I can post!

I agree that we got away with one. They lost 2 important players that were having a real influence on the day, especially Richards.

They missed some very easy shots, but as the saying goes, Bad Kicking is Bad Football.

The McLean 50 was soft, however that cancels out the Warner Non High free and 50 metres.

I was proud that we held on for the win, because last year we would have been overrun and lost the game.

Chad was amazing in that third quarter and start of the 4th. We were constantly getting out of our seats in my area in celebration.

The pressure and tackling by Hayward was incredible. Watching him live and close up, you can really appreciate his efforts. Same with Wicks.

Shout out to Blakey with the number of spoils he made. Every time they kicked it in, it looked like it would be a Bulldogs mark. But then Blakey would leap and spoil the ball.

[Mel_C]

I was more irritated with the 50m penalty for dissent. They've allowed players to beseech umpires all year without paying dissent, and Chad wasn't aggressive with his protestations. I guess the Dogs might have kicked the goal even without the 50m penalty.

Yes agree they have not been paying dissent all season, even when the player has been really mouthing off at the umpire. At the time I wasn't sure what the 50 was for and assumed he swore at the umpire because of the @@@@ decision. I was listening to the radio and they said it was because he pointed at the screen, (seriously??). For the record, the commentators (on Triple M) could not believe it was paid high and said it was a perfect tackle that should have been HTB.

[dejavoodoo44]

Yes agree they have not been paying dissent all season, even when the player has been really mouthing off at the umpire. At the time I wasn't sure what the 50 was for and assumed he swore at the umpire because of the @@@@ decision. I was listening to the radio and they said it was because he pointed at the screen, (seriously??). For the record, the commentators (on Triple M) could not believe it was paid high and said it was a perfect tackle that should have been HTB.

Yes, it was definitely HTB, since the highest contact made was to the upper arm. The other high contact free that annoyed me, was when Heeney tackled Bontempelli and instead of trying to get rid of the ball when on the ground, Bontempelli asked nicely for a free. The umpire then had a quick think and decided to give him one. Heeney then had a quick think and decided not to give the umpire one.

[i'm-uninformed2]

Yes, it was definitely HTB, since the highest contact made was to the upper arm. The other high contact free that annoyed me, was when Heeney tackled Bontempelli and instead of trying to get rid of the ball when on the ground, Bontempelli asked nicely for a free. The umpire then had a quick think and decided to give him one. Heeney then had a quick think and decided not to give the umpire one.

That was outrageous. The ump only awarded it after Bont looked at him and motioned for the high.

Still, the highlight for me was either the Chad giving it to the Bont after he’d slacked off and failed to follow Warner into the marking contest where he took his hanger, or the Dogs fans losing their minds at a couple of late umpiring decisions. Joy!

Anyhoo, nice to win a game where we played average at best. All kudos to the obvious vote winners, but I thought a couple of others deserve a mention:

- particularly early on when we were a bit all over the shop, McInerney was one of the few playing clean, direct footy and it helped get us back on track.
- Hayward was awesome. From the smother that led to the Chad goal at the start of the fourth, to his run down and goal on the Bont, and particularly a late exit 50 mark he took when we were right under the pump, he was excellent in all the little things.
- I thought Logan had a total stinker of a first half, but worked back into it very well. It was a good lesson for him.

Anyway, the media will keep bleating on about our draw, or some other inanity. Meanwhile, enjoy being well clear on the top of the ladder.

PS: Welcome back RWO. Hope the recovery from concussion continues.

[Sandridge]

Yes, it was definitely HTB, since the highest contact made was to the upper arm. The other high contact free that annoyed me, was when Heeney tackled Bontempelli and instead of trying to get rid of the ball when on the ground, Bontempelli asked nicely for a free. The umpire then had a quick think and decided to give him one. Heeney then had a quick think and decided not to give the umpire one.

And I reckon that if the umpires had pinged Bontempelli for dropping the ball/holding the ball/incorrect disposal when he was tackled by Isaac in the second quarter, Naughton wouldn't have been injured in the tackle that happened straight afterwards.

[dejavoodoo44]

That was outrageous. The ump only awarded it after Bont looked at him and motioned for the high.

Still, the highlight for me was either the Chad giving it to the Bont after he’d slacked off and failed to follow Warner into the marking contest where he took his hanger, or the Dogs fans losing their minds at a couple of late umpiring decisions. Joy!

Anyhoo, nice to win a game where we played average at best. All kudos to the obvious vote winners, but I thought a couple of others deserve a mention:

- particularly early on when we were a bit all over the shop, McInerney was one of the few playing clean, direct footy and it helped get us back on track.
- Hayward was awesome. From the smother that led to the Chad goal at the start of the fourth, to his run down and goal on the Bont, and particularly a late exit 50 mark he took when we were right under the pump, he was excellent in all the little things.
- I thought Logan had a total stinker of a first half, but worked back into it very well. It was a good lesson for him.

Anyway, the media will keep bleating on about our draw, or some other inanity. Meanwhile, enjoy being well clear on the top of the ladder.

PS: Welcome back RWO. Hope the recovery from concussion continues.

Yes, that Bontempelli decision actually made me miss Ray Chamberlain a little bit, as he almost certainly would have looked at it and thought, "nah, stuff you, holding the ball". I can't recall seeing him for a while, is he still umpiring?

And I've also been really liking McInerney of late. Especially last week, when after Fox got injured, he was largely playing half back flank and did it really well.

I've also been liking Wicks as well. I'm getting increasingly confident, that if the ball's in his area, he'll either win the contest, or at the very least, make his opponent feel like they've been in a contest. And his area seems to have expanded a bit, as well.

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And I reckon that if the umpires had pinged Bontempelli for dropping the ball/holding the ball/incorrect disposal when he was tackled by Isaac in the second quarter, Naughton wouldn't have been injured in the tackle that happened straight afterwards.

Definitely.

[i'm-uninformed2]

And I've also been really liking McInerney of late. Especially last week, when after Fox got injured, he was largely playing half back flank and did it really well.

I’ve always been a fan, but he’s locked in on a consistently high level this year.

A bit like Ollie, not at the level of the big three in the midfield, but the next tier below and an essential part of our success and delivering week in week out. He’s gone mainly off a wing, but mixed around some centre square stuff with half forward and half back. We sometimes roll him the middle when we want to slide Chad or Heeney forward for five minutes. His versatility and disposal efficiency are real assets. Horse must love having that at his disposal. He’s had a sneaky good season.

[Daisi]

I got thrown out of the thread during the game- I hope that's because the site is just overwhelmingly popular? As soon as Bont told the umpire to give that decision, I just gave up on the game. I'm not convinced with our backline (McCartin is a huge loss) and I think Logan is struggling. We need a break, hopefully we'll come back firing-

Happy to be where we are on the ladder.

[Auntie.Gerald]

Hey Dasi,

What a night hey !

I must admit I feel a little different re our talls up front and how we are structuring our attack.

They are young and very youthful re games played our tall forwards.

So it has made sense not to give the “Pagan’s Paddock” to our emerging young talls up front like u might with a Wayne Carey or a Tom Hawkins etc

We have actually reversed this strategy and played them as more posting at the 50 / 60 and 70m out range minimum to be a “marking” target for our fast moving backline. While sneaking our Hayward, Paps, Wicks and Warner into the wide open space of our forward line.

For me this makes a lot of sense.

Paps, Hayward, Warner, Heeney are fairly accurate kicks and can kick a goal in many different ways.

Our young tall forwards then have less pressure, can loop back around for a 40m mark if we got held up and the opportunity awaits.

I’m liking this flexibility up so many goal scorers in many different ways. It creates chaos for very good defending teams with strong talls like Melbourne and GWS etc who can be very hard to break down tall on tall.