7.5 from 9 games.

[BB1888]

Seriously guys, this is where we are at, everyone should just chillout Winston...

Its all good people, we are currently third, doing better than anyone would have expected at the start of the year and we will regroup and have a red hot crack at the Hawks next week.

We lost by less than a kick tonight against a team who came back at us and realistically we could have won it.

But we didn't.

Does that make us all of a sudden a side that deserves the vitriol that has been sprayed by some people on this board?

No.

If we beat the undefeated Hawks next week will we all of a sudden become September specials?

No.

Its a long, long year and there will be many more ups and downs along the way.

I for one am very happy with the way we are travelling.

A kick either way and we are losers against Adelaide, Richmond and Freo.

But we weren't.

Do we have weaknesses in our team?

Yes.

Have we improved out of sight compared to both last year AND 2006?

Yes.

We can all agree to disagree on certain things, but there is one undisputed fact that cannot be argued against.

There are 13 sides BELOW us who would love to swap places with the Doggies at the moment.

Lets all be proud of the endevour that our boys gave tonight, regardless of skill errors and misjudged actions.

Lets get behind the Doggies and support them as much as we can in this long season that we have ahead of us.

C'Mon the Scraggers!!!

 

[MrChristo]

Should be 8.5/9.

Simple as that.

We were poor today, and can't afford to lose games against inferior opposition.

Cut throat business this. Top 4 spot is just about required for success.

 

[Hot Spenny]

Should be 8.5/9.

Simple as that.

We were poor today, and can't afford to lose games against inferior opposition.

Cut throat business this. Top 4 spot is just about required for success.

Could have been 5 and 4. Gain some perspective on the current situation.

 

[BB1888]

Could have been 5 and 4. Gain some perspective on the current situation.

My point exactly.

 

[Fossie 32]

North are a good side; they put a heap of pressure on us and we lost by a kick. The glass is still 3/4 full.

 

[chromium]

All this settling for 2nd best is typical of the Bulldogs entire history.
7-1-1 is not great when we should have been 8-0-1 if not 9-0-0.
Winning the close games when playing poorly is what quality sides do, the Bulldogs did it last week but couldn't do it two weeks in a row.
The reality is they shouldn't have had to do it this week, the game should've been wrapped up much earlier. The same can be said of the Richmond game.

 

[Hot Spenny]

All this settling for 2nd best is typical of the Bulldogs entire history.
7-1-1 is not great when we should have been 8-0-1 if not 9-0-0.
Winning the close games when playing poorly is what quality sides do, the Bulldogs did it last week but couldn't do it two weeks in a row.
The reality is they shouldn't have had to do it this week, the game should've been wrapped up much earlier. The same can be said of the Richmond game.

All this getting worked up over a 3 point loss that was decided by a kick after the siren is typical of a stupid ____.

 

[Morris Major]

I'm just really worked up because we could've won it. The game was ours to win and we didn't win it.
I would be much more ok with this if we were thoroughly outplayed (like Geelong on friday night), but that wasn't the case.
Just simple mistakes that cost us the game.

 

[Fossie 32]

All this settling for 2nd best is typical of the Bulldogs entire history.
7-1-1 is not great when we should have been 8-0-1 if not 9-0-0.
Winning the close games when playing poorly is what quality sides do, the Bulldogs did it last week but couldn't do it two weeks in a row.
The reality is they shouldn't have had to do it this week, the game should've been wrapped up much earlier. The same can be said of the Richmond game.

So we would've been a quality side if Johnno kicked straight but now we aren't?

Just because people don't rant and rave and curse doesn't mean they are accepting second best.

 

[jazzadogs]

All this settling for 2nd best is typical of the Bulldogs entire history.
7-1-1 is not great when we should have been 8-0-1 if not 9-0-0.
Winning the close games when playing poorly is what quality sides do, the Bulldogs did it last week but couldn't do it two weeks in a row.
The reality is they shouldn't have had to do it this week, the game should've been wrapped up much earlier. The same can be said of the Richmond game.

Not settling for second best. Settling for an improved start to the season which gives us the platform for an exciting end to the year. Settling for an increase in contested ball and 1%-ers.

Admittedly we werent perfect today, or really at any point so far this year. But no side has been perfect...were only 2 points behind geelong, and 6 (?) behind the hawks, who were given a scare by MELBOURNE (!!!) today. One loss does not signal the end. It doesnt mean the entire team deserves to be ridiculed, captains slaughtered and youngsters ripped to shreds.

They are improving, and accepting a 7.5/9 start to the season is not accepting second best. It places us above 13 other teams, and with plenty of room for improvement still left.

-Johnno has been playing injured/not at his best
- something is up with gilbee. not sure what, but he has been unusuably errant with disposal and decision making this year.
- young players like wight, everitt, williams, ray, higgins still improving. Dont say theyre not young. None of them would have played over 50 games of football (except maybe ray, but doubtful), and they should be given a chance to grow into their roles before being shot down
- Lake has not had a great last couple of weeks
- innacurate disposal can be fixed. Past weeks have shown that the talent is there, today was obviously just not a good day.
- Will has played a part, but is slowly improving in his role as a key forward. Strong mark in the opening minutes today was pleasing.
- West isnt playing. Im not praising him as a saviour, partly because at the moment a saviour isnt required, but his experience will always be appreciated.

And im sure there are more improvements to look forward to. People need to look at this side of things, the glass half full side of things. Our glass is actually 83.33% full at the moment, even with all these areas which can be improved. And on top of these thigns, there is the excellent form of Aker, Coon, Griff, Murph, Hahn.

One bad game, some bad decisions and the pre-season vitriol is back.

I am a 100% faithful Dogs fan, and i always will be. I am absolutely gut-wrenched by tonights loss, and my little brother was almost in tears when Johnno lost. But please, have some perspective people. There is a much bigger upside to this team than is being posted about on this board atm.

Have hope and, while addressing the negatives, focus on the positives.

Go Dogs!

 

[the dog catcher]

It was plain to see we were stuffed after the trip to WA. We played well just get within a kick. When you reel in your last few games there is no time to take it easy and play out the game like we did against Melbourne.

 

[.M a t t.]

Have to win the games you're expected to win to become top 4 and to be considered a good side.

 

[BB1888]

Have to win the games you're expected to win to become top 4 and to be considered a good side.

Ok then Matt, maybe were aren't a good side then?

 

[Go_Dogs]

Good to see some have a grasp on the reality of the situation. No panic yet, we're still well positioned, and who really expected us to win every game this year? We've beaten Sydney in Sydney, a fired up Freo out West, and now have the Hawks and Saints. It's a tough block of matches, but if we walk away with 3 out of 5, we'll be sitting very nicely for the final half of the year.

 

[MrChristo]

Could have been 5 and 4. Gain some perspective on the current situation.

The current situation is, and has always been, we need to finish in the top 4 to have a realistic shot this year...
...clearly no-one expected to go through undefeated, but we simply cannot lose games like that and expect to make an impact late in September.

Hawthorn, St. Kilda, Brisbane playing as well as anyone, Collingwood just knocked off Geelong, Port Adelaide in Darwin, Geelong down there, Sydney in Canberra, Brisbane up there, Adelaide @ AAMI...and Kangaroos again...

...all to come. Realistically only Melbourne, Essendon and Carlton can be considered 'wins' in that lot.

I don't care what we could have been...I know where we should have been after playing a 4-4 Kangaroos team who'd only topped 90 points 3 times this season.

Frustrating as hell.

We've had threads all week about lack of respect in the media, lack of attention compared to other teams, and we serve that up...

jazzadogs...can't have those excuses I'm afraid. Other teams have injury concerns too...In fact, off the top of my head I think we've used the least players of any team!

 

[BB1888]

The current situation is, and has always been, we need to finish in the top 4 to have a realistic shot this year...
...clearly no-one expected to go through undefeated, but we simply cannot lose games like that and expect to make an impact late in September.

Hawthorn, St. Kilda, Brisbane playing as well as anyone, Collingwood just knocked off Geelong, Port Adelaide in Darwin, Geelong down there, Sydney in Canberra, Brisbane up there, Adelaide @ AAMI...and Kangaroos again...

...all to come. Realistically only Melbourne, Essendon and Carlton can be considered 'wins' in that lot.

I don't care what we could have been...I know where we should have been after playing a 4-4 Kangaroos team who'd only topped 90 points 3 times this season.

Frustrating as hell.

We've had threads all week about lack of respect in the media, lack of attention compared to other teams, and we serve that up...

jazzadogs...can't have those excuses I'm afraid. Other teams have injury concerns too...In fact, off the top of my head I think we've used the least players of any team!

At the present time, WE ARE IN THE TOP FOUR!

Geelong got absolutely BELTED agaianst Collingwood, are their supporters turning on their team and over reacting the way some people have on this board? I would doubt it.

The sky hasn't fallen in and we are not all of a sudden a bad team because of one loss.

Its not September yet guys, we will win and lose more as the year goes on.

Get some perspective and have some faith in your team.

 

[jazzadogs]

jazzadogs...can't have those excuses I'm afraid. Other teams have injury concerns too...In fact, off the top of my head I think we've used the least players of any team!

i didnt blame it on injuries. I wasnt even blaming anything, because there is nothing much that has gone wrong so far this year.

We have used equal least number of players (27 with port), but the areas I showed were areas of improvement, of which only Johnno and West are related to injury.

Im not being complacent, or accepting mediocrity. This team has had the best start to the year of a Bulldogs team in a long time/ever. One loss does not equal disaster. one loss just shows we are not invincible, which no-one thought we were anyway.