Autopsy 2024 Rd 18 Blues fail to fire for their skipper

[Blue1980]

Best post of the night. They played well. They aren’t a bad side by any stretch. We weren’t terrible either. The competition is close. It doesn’t take much to end up on the wrong side of a result.

They are a decent side, and their best has been as good as anyone’s this year, just inconsistent.

They destroyed Freo at marvel a month ago by nearly 70 points. Also only injury and inaccuracy cost the v Swans and comfortably beat GWS away. Today had potential for them beating us if they were at their best and we were a bit off.

I know they had a few out but still had JUH, Bont, Libba, English and Dale etc running around. They aren’t a bunch of scrubbers.

 

[Blue1980]

Two losses in a row isn't good but we will most likely still be 2nd at the end of the round. We're in a great position.

With regards to the team selection it also hasn't been great but all the talk about arrogance and ego is over the top. Clearly they are trying a few things before they get into the last 4-6 rounds. I can't say I agree with many of what they are trying but better to do it now than in September. Voss isn't stubborn, he's not an idiot and he doesn't have "favourites".

Having said that Cottrell, who is a very good player, needs to find some form in the VFL.

As bad as the midfield has looked the last 2 games, and it's been really bad, I'm hopeful they will find their form in the coming weeks..... Well they better anyway.

Thing is we are tinkering with things like we were in Sydney’s position and miles clear on top.

Now basically no margin for error. Time will tell if this is just a blip or something more.

 

[jwint43]

Is Pittonet only in because TDK is sore? Thought it was very interesting that the combo of them has a losing record while TDK as solo ruck was a 10-5 record or something simiilar.

 

[windows1]

For me I don’t mind the odd experiment by the club. Try something. See if it works.

Only people who have no eyes think it’s worth going back to trying Pitto and TDK together. We are hopeless at defending stoppage clearance when Pitto is there. Absolutely hopeless. Teams just walk the ball out the front or side when they win first use.

Moreover TDK is totally taken out of the flow of the game.

But here’s the thing: we’ve tried both styles and it’s as clear as day we look better with just TDK. Clear as day.

Yet they try again. Baffling.

 

[windows1]

Credit to Kennedy and Cinc btw. I think we have find a nice little duo tagging combo through some experimentation this season. I’d like them to extend it further to have Cinc defend centre square exits.

 

[Sweet Seventeen]

Weren’t allowed to.


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The thing that stood out to me was the hole that McGov left in our defensive set-up was enormous.

Sad to say that it looks like Marchy is done and may have played his last senior game. He really was a total liability.

So many player's down, all because of workloads. Nah, I don't think so.

Just really feel for Crippa, he deserved a better effort from the rest of the group.

Charlie at least found the footy and moved a lot better than last week. Just needs to become a little less selfish.

Turning point for me was, Zac Williams getting injured. He was looking very dangerous and we really missed him after he went off.

 

[AB_Blue]

I love Cinc and we all know he can tag and also the scoreboard when needed, but I’d like to see him go back behind the ball…

We have lost some hardness and calmness down back.

Newman has been down & fumbly not his usual cool,calm self
Saad has been below his best.
Boyd has hit the skids and gone backwards.
Cowan just going at the moment.
Kemp, one step forward, three steps back and it’s all or nothing with Wieters……

Midfield being hammered doesn’t help at all….


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[gullie man]

Turning point for me was, Zac Williams getting injured. He was looking very dangerous and we really missed him after he went off.

Zac has been a revelation up forward, however, I just find he gets a little bit cute at times. Classic example was taking a mark 35 out on a fair angle, the little hand signal and giving off putting H under pressure and missing the goal. JUST GO BACK AND KICK IT!! Yes I have been stewing on that all night. Harry should have refused the ball and just pointed at the goals. I was at the game last week and noticed this trend last week as well when we were in front, not just Zac, but many were getting a bit fancy. Voss needs to make this team ruthless and leave the party tricks till the last 10 minutes of the game.

 

[AB_Blue]

Zac has been a revelation up forward, however, I just find he gets a little bit cute at times. Classic example was taking a mark 35 out on a fair angle, the little hand signal and giving off putting H under pressure and missing the goal. JUST GO BACK AND KICK IT!! Yes I have been stewing on that all night. Harry should have refused the ball and just pointed at the goals. I was at the game last week and noticed this trend last week as well when we were in front, not just Zac, but many were getting a bit fancy. Voss needs to make this team ruthless and leave the party tricks till the last 10 minutes of the game.

100%……take the shot, use up the clock, give the rest of the side a chance to take a breath and reset structures…was very poor and I hated seeing it


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[Sweet Seventeen]

Zac has been a revelation up forward, however, I just find he gets a little bit cute at times. Classic example was taking a mark 35 out on a fair angle, the little hand signal and giving off putting H under pressure and missing the goal. JUST GO BACK AND KICK IT!! Yes I have been stewing on that all night. Harry should have refused the ball and just pointed at the goals. I was at the game last week and noticed this trend last week as well when we were in front, not just Zac, but many were getting a bit fancy. Voss needs to make this team ruthless and leave the party tricks till the last 10 minutes of the game.

Yep, good post. Zac would most likely have kicked that goal, had he just calmly gone back and taken the shot.

 

[gbatman]

They looked a lot faster than us. They out ran us. They played with more energy and effort. We are leaking too many goals.

Cripps - Carried the team, was our best player again.

Walsh - Was good again and is the token quick guy in the middle.

Acres - Is playing some really good footy at the moment.

Saad - Another who is playing really well.

Weitering - Was the difference between us not losing this by 6 or 7 goals.

Newman - Had a n absolute stinker. Mistakes and beaten in contests.

E Hollands - I thought he was pretty good. His ball use is good, he generally makes the right decisions.

DeKoning - Thought he was pretty good as well, in and out of the game a bit but he's playing second ruck again.

Cerra - Has done nothing this season, looks slow and sluggish. Have to be talking about whether he plays VFL or as the SUB in place of Hewett or another.

Kemp - Played terribly. Kicked it all over the place and fumbled.

O Hollands - Felt he didn't have much impact on the game. Being gifted games by a rigid coach.

Curnow - third game in a row where he as been a liability.

Boyd - Really stunk it up, hardly hit a target all night.

McKay - He is our form forward, thought he played alright.

Cincotta - Seems that he is starting to get beaten a bit more now.

Owies - Great start then missing.

Fogarty - He's the worst kick for goal I have ever seen and one of the worst kicks in general. Team mates ignore him when he's open. We are really going nowhere if he is best 22.

Cowan - Didn't really stand out, can't tell you what his man did.

Marchbank - Thought he was decent but far from his best. It's clear he's not overly fit but he defended his man.

Kennedy - Came on early and did absolutely nothing at all.

Cottrell - I have no idea why we rate him, he just runs up and down the ground and stays out of the way of the play.

Williams - started fairly well and then he was injured.

Pittonet - Two rucks, turn the oven off it's done.

 

[Ald Gardiner]

Zac has been a revelation up forward, however, I just find he gets a little bit cute at times. Classic example was taking a mark 35 out on a fair angle, the little hand signal and giving off putting H under pressure and missing the goal. JUST GO BACK AND KICK IT!! Yes I have been stewing on that all night. Harry should have refused the ball and just pointed at the goals. I was at the game last week and noticed this trend last week as well when we were in front, not just Zac, but many were getting a bit fancy. Voss needs to make this team ruthless and leave the party tricks till the last 10 minutes of the game.

And Harry was hardly in an ideal position to take the kick!!

 

[Kernafides]

Also can someone teach us to tackle by pinning the arms. They did it all night whereas we tackled leaving their arms free to dish off

 

[Ald Gardiner]

They looked a lot faster than us. They out ran us. They played with more energy and effort. We are leaking too many goals.

Cripps - Carried the team, was our best player again.

Walsh - Was good again and is the token quick guy in the middle.

Acres - Is playing some really good footy at the moment.

Saad - Another who is playing really well.

Weitering - Was the difference between us not losing this by 6 or 7 goals.

Newman - Had a n absolute stinker. Mistakes and beaten in contests.

E Hollands - I thought he was pretty good. His ball use is good, he generally makes the right decisions.

DeKoning - Thought he was pretty good as well, in and out of the game a bit but he's playing second ruck again.

Cerra - Has done nothing this season, looks slow and sluggish. Have to be talking about whether he plays VFL or as the SUB in place of Hewett or another.

Kemp - Played terribly. Kicked it all over the place and fumbled.

O Hollands - Felt he didn't have much impact on the game. Being gifted games by a rigid coach.

Curnow - third game in a row where he as been a liability.

Boyd - Really stunk it up, hardly hit a target all night.

McKay - He is our form forward, thought he played alright.

Cincotta - Seems that he is starting to get beaten a bit more now.

Owies - Great start then missing.

Fogarty - He's the worst kick for goal I have ever seen and one of the worst kicks in general. Team mates ignore him when he's open. We are really going nowhere if he is best 22.

Cowan - Didn't really stand out, can't tell you what his man did.

Marchbank - Thought he was decent but far from his best. It's clear he's not overly fit but he defended his man.

Kennedy - Came on early and did absolutely nothing at all.

Cottrell - I have no idea why we rate him, he just runs up and down the ground and stays out of the way of the play.

Williams - started fairly well and then he was injured.

Pittonet - Two rucks, turn the oven off it's done.

Re Cotts, he’s handy and because he came to footy a little late there maybe some upside the MC sees, but he was in the team when the likes of Zac, Cincotta, Elijah and Fog were either unavailable or playing in different positions. He’s not best 22 otherwise. Astounded he came straight back in.

Bit harsh on Fog though Gbat, his footy smarts and tackling compensate for his kicking limitations

 

[Graffy4242]

Our transition from kick-ins must be close to the worst in the league at the moment. We ALWAYS go to the same wing. Every ****ing time. It's so obvious.

The Bulldogs cleverly shut off the 20m kick to the pocket, which meant we had to kick long down the wing directly from the kick in. If we didn't take the ensuing mark it meant the ball was generally won by the Dogs and came in MUCH deeper. This resulted with us in exactly the same situation again or a D50 stoppage (from which the Dogs seemed to score goals at will).

We sorely missed Gov taking the kick-ins.

 

[charred_fate]

That was extremely disappointing.

How a bunch of professionals can sit around a table and select that team is beyond me. Still, the 22 should have been good enough.

Only Cripps, Saad and Weiters played well for mine.

Walsh and Charlie are doing my head in. Charlie has been all year.

Do you reckon anyone went out and told him that he’s getting too close to the man on the mark? Every set shot where he took a straight run-up. It’s the little things that make a big difference - he did it 3 friggin times.

Why did we play like the hunted all game? We should have changed our mindset and become the hunters bc they were torching us around the contest.

Hope to see Cunners, Martin and Motts back for a bit more zip. George or MK need to start. We’ve had Cripps for 11 years - how have we not built the best midfield in the comp around him in all that time?!

Pitto, Kemp, Owies or Fog, Ollie the first I’d be looking to change.

It’s not panic stations yet, but aside from a couple of short periods, we’ve been pretty average since the game against the Cats.

 

[Juddernaut08]

bad loss. hopefully this ended the 2 ruck theory.

should be obvious even to the most stubborn observer

 

[Benga]

So you would go Cripps/Hewett/Kennedy as your primary three on ballers?

I don’t mind having that set up on occasion. I hate having Walsh in the centre. Much prefer him on a wing or starting at half fwd. Cerra is fine when he’s in good form, but it seems to take him a month after returning to get there. I’d also have him spend more time on a wing.
Cripps is a permanent fixture. I’d have Cincotta full time in there. 2 rucks I’m hugely against two rucks for our mids. They’re all too slow for that.

 

[Accidental genius]

Cerra right now is really costing us. He isn't quick but isn't a physical presence. Isn't using the ball well.

Just seems lost out there.

Apart from cripps we dont have any other mids with power/strength/pace to make an impact around congested situations.

Its either Cripps or nothing in terms of in and under and even when trying to bull/burst your way out of congestion.

Last night I would have preferred Kennedy over cerra.

 

[TENACIOUS]

Think I need a week or two off going to the footy…

Felt like ripping the empty seat out in front of me and clocking all the flog dogs supporters WWE style…

(PS: they were only supporting their team. Cheering half their teams ducking frees and throwing the ball)

(PPS: Weightman ducks more than Ginivan)

 

[Accidental genius]

The thing that stood out to me was the hole that McGov left in our defensive set-up was enormous.

I see what you're saying and I agree to an extent but dogs had naughton, jones and another player (?) missing - they are much bigger losses than us having only gov out.

I dont know what it is but im starting to think our midfield apart from cripps are just not good enough when it counts.

 

[Santo the king]

A couple of observations

We are trying to take too many marks in our backline, but with mcgovern out, it led to ground balls that the bull dogs cleaned up. At least 2-3 goals given up when a punch was more prudent.
Marchbank was avg but its his first game back in a long time and historically he doesnt adjust to the pace first game back.

In midfield it looked like we tried to play shoot out footy, both teams playing lots of players forward of the ball. They were more efficient when they got it and it cost us the game. We can play slow contested footy, but chose to play too aggressive.

Forward we couldn't trap the ball in enough and the bulldog backs exited too easy and exposed our forward press.

 

[JustaBattler]

It wasn't fun watching the clearances go so much the doggies' way.
It was less fun watching Charlie kick 3-7 and in doing so ignore a couple of team mates a couple of of times too often

Inability to mount any score board pressure on them - just fed their confidence. I hate Marvel Stadium like teh SCG - allows for too many quick easy goals on the fly- those first three goals by teh dopggies in Q2 changed the whole game that and losing the contested game ( again) for too long is a worry.

This game was do or die for the doggies and Cripp's 200th - they wanted it more.
Too many players were out hustled and pressured into basic ground ball and execution errors - as Voss said in his post game presser - Carlton was chasing tail all night.

and yet the more dangerous team in forward 50 was Carlton - just couldn't get it in there often enough to pressure them enough.

As long as the side has to carry some lightweights on the flanks the between the arcs game forward and back is going to look flaky at times...

Looking at Cuningham/Martin to get match fit and allow for some options- O Hollands despite his willingness is a only a developing player and I dont know what Cottrell is being asked to do.

Good to see Acres back to great form - I thought he played a blinder. Carrying Marchbank was a task too much for Weitering in the end - maybe carrying Marchbank/Cuningham/Martin/Williams and McGovern all on teh books has weighed heavily on the Club and list for too long.

 

[Meddy43]

Cant add more to what hasn't already been said.

Lost this at MC.

Our latest additions need to back to the twos and find some form. Get Hewett back in. Asap.

Will this happen though? It seems like almost all supporters see it and feel the same, but I can just see the MC persisting with the out of form/under performing players.
Sending Cerra to the VFL, aside from it being the right thing to do, would be somewhat of a “statement”. But his name is Cerra and we paid a lot of money for him to be out there so he walks in every time. Get George back in and let Cez find some form.
I’m not as articulate about the game as many on here, but whatever we were doing before last week, let’s go back to doing that

Also can someone explain how a training block would make us underperform? Is it because the boys are working harder on the track so are knackered by game day?

 

[4flagsin5yrs]

In both this game and the GWS one last week, we had a glorious opportunity to solidify and reinforce our position in the top two.

That opportunity has been blown and we now have the rest of the pack firmly breathing down our necks.

On the evidence of the last two games we won't be winning the flag unless there is some huge improvement.

All credit to the Bulldogs, but with all the changes to the team our own complacency and arrogance contributed a lot to our downfall.

it was readily apparent the Doggies wanted it more.

Every contest they had more numbers around the ball.

Our guys looked tired....odd.

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