Game Day AFL Round 10 - Matchday Discussion Western Bulldogs@Collingwood(Etihad – 7:50PM)

[BoxMatrix]

Collingwood and the Western Bulldogs open the round with an important clash at Etihad Stadium. Both teams have been somewhat inconsistent this season, however, with a win at Etihad on Friday night, the winner can well and truly steer their season in the right direction.


Collingwood

It wasn’t pretty, but Collingwood got back into the winner’s circle last week with a win against St Kilda. The usual suspects in Howe and Pendlebury starred for Collingwood last week, but the true standout was Jordan De Goey. The controversial forward kicked six goals in a match winning performance. This in turn generated a huge amount of interest from other clubs in signing the out of contract rising star, but thankfully for the Magpies, De Goey has reaffirmed his commitment to the Magpies. While most of Saturday night was good news for the Magpies, Alex Fasolo most likely played his last game for the club, injuring his ankle, and pushing him out for the season.

The man to watch this week is Ben Reid. Reid is coming back into the side after an injury plagued start to the season. However, his form before his injury was most certainly sub-par to say the least. While the Magpies have assured Reid that he is an important part of the team, he will need to repay that faith with some improved performances.

Western Bulldogs

That famous September in 2016 for the Bulldogs seems like an eternity ago now, with the Bulldogs now in dire need of a win to ensure they can still push for a top eight spot. The 2018 season has been brutal for the Bulldogs, with solid wins clumped with deflating losses. The season has not really got going for the Bulldogs, with the side unable to get wins over top eight sides, which has hampered their campaign. However, if one thing is going right for the Bulldogs, is that they are beating teams they need to beat. Wins over bottom sides such as Carlton and Brisbane have allowed them to stay in touch with the top eight, and right now with their season on the ropes they need every win they can get. Therefore, it’s critical that the Bulldogs can get a win against Collingwood. The Bulldogs have had the wood on the Magpies in recent times, winning every clash between the two since 2013. The Bulldogs will be bolstered with Josh Schache making his Bulldogs debut. Many will be interested to see if Schache is able to live up to the high draft standards that were set for him prior to be drafted by Brisbane.

The man to look out for this week is Jackson Macrae. Despite being a poor season for the Bulldogs, Macrae has been nothing short of outstanding. As noted previously, Buckley is somewhat resistant to using the tag, as has been seen with players such as Mitchell and Zorko being able to run rampant. It will be interesting to see if Macrae is tagged, or if Buckley continues with his reluctance to tag.

Head to Head Odds
Bulldogs: $3.00

Collingwood: $1.40

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Tip

This will be closer than expected. The Bulldogs play Etihad well, and the Magpies always seem to struggle against the Bulldogs.

Collingwood by 15.

 

[unplugged]

The Dogs this year at Etihad so far:

Lost by 51 to WCE
Beat Essendon by 21
Lost by 7 to Sydney
Beat Carlton by 21
Beat Brisbane by 14

Not much form to go on given the teams they've beaten! Hopefully we can go about it the same way WCE did.

 

[Horaceg]

$3 on the Doggies looks reasonable value but a good feeling this will be four more points locked in.

Best way to stop the dog smell, give them a good bath, Pies by enough.

 

[adammania9]

Running with Greenwood and Mayne in midfield is a scary thought, coupled with the minimal pace down back due to Murray's omission, these have me worried. I think it could be another frustrating night - we'll have to work very hard to win.

I have a bad feeling.
Dogs by 27.

 

[aydo]

Meeting my dog supporter mates at a tequila bar before the game, so I'll be well liquored by the time the first whistle goes. We win, it's going to be loud and proud and if we lose I'm tipping tears. I'm thinking the former though, pies by 28.

 

[WalterBlaknWhte]

I can't pretend to hate the Bulldogs like Carlton and the other Melbourne-based teams. Kudos that they survived a push to merge and won a flag in an 18 team comp. And I respect Bevo's dedication to Frankston hair - how good is a bum head with flowing locks?

One thing, however, annoyed me a lot after they won their second flag. No, it wasn't Bambi Murphy selflessly mounting the victory dais. Nor seeing Luke Darcy happy (don't get me wrong I want him banned from all media). It was the commentary that the sleeping giant of the working class had awoken. Really? Think that giant woke in 1892 and has fifteen premierships.

Collingwood by 38 points

 

[nahnah]

I don’t like the team we have selected but the dogs have so many players out of form, Pies by 24.

 

[Frank Gallagher]

Had this game down as a loss pre season, we play like shit at Ethiad, not confident, win would be a massive bonus IMO.

 

[Temploar]

Is this our home game? Awesome! looks like im going to marvel stadium tomorrow.

 

[Tarkyn_24]

$3 are attractive odds but I still think we should get over the line if we’re to be taken seriously this year.

 

[Baird]

dogs are trash, we'll smash them

 

[Football God]

Just like last week these are the must win games against mid-lower table teams if we are to go into September. Should win, just depends on which Collingwood shows up.

 

[Doggy]

yet again we are comfortably younger and less experienced than our opponents .. doesn't mean we are "trash".

 

[Cousin of Daicos]

Not sure how to feel about tonight.

I feel we've screwed up selection again despite finally selecting Daicos.

I mean, we dropped a defender and didn't replace him with a defender?

 

[Stoods]

I might be the minority here but i think selection was good this week.

Greenwood is our shut down player and i think North have shown how important it is to have one. Whilst he may not beat Macrae he might slow him down a bit.

Reid is important to our structure in my opinion, Cox on his own im not sure it works well, when we had that good patch over 3-4 weeks Reid was in that side.

Daicos has earnt his chance, been playing well. I would of thought Sier has been better but obviously the club has thought we need more outside over inside.

Murray i had a feeling would get dropped. Hasn't been as good as he has in the opening 5-6 games recently. He hesitates a fair bit and hasn't been taking the game on and gets beaten 1 on 1 a bit unfortunately. I'm not worried at all though, his first year of playing and played under 10 games he will be fine.

Dogs at etihad wont be easy and i am sure we aren't taking them lightly either, i hate this shit how we have to play our home games at etihad, i guess we know how Geelong feel now lol.

I think if both teams play their best we are a better side so on that il go with Collingwood by 20 points.

 

[Unknown Identity]

Not sure how to feel about tonight.

I feel we've screwed up selection again despite finally selecting Daicos.

I mean, we dropped a defender and didn't replace him with a defender?

Moved Varcoe to defence which i don't mind, was useless last week and i believe Trav has played some of his best games off half back for us.

In saying that..

Murray out was a mistake imo despite his poor disposal.
Just needed to be directed to kick long to a contest instead of drilling a short pass straight to the opposition, the metres gained is such an advantage.

 

[The Magnificent Seven]

Would have loved to have Swannie running around in his Spidey suit at Marvel Stadium.

 

[Kirby]

I think we've erred with selecting Greenwood over Murray. I don't think Greenwood will be fit enough to have any success in tagging Macrae (or Bont for that matter). We look a bit slow.

I still think we'll win but this could be a messy game.

 

[Soaring Magpie]

The next three weeks are huge for our season, must win at least 2 of them.
It starts tonight, must come out and stamp some authority early and the dogs will roll over if we can.
Some good changes, not sure about greenwood though. We need run and carry and he gives none of that.

 

[blackwhite2010]

I think this is going to be very close in the end with both teams having momentum swings .

Not sure who is winning.
Either team under 10

 

[Horaceg]

I might be the minority here but i think selection was good this week.

Greenwood is our shut down player and i think North have shown how important it is to have one. Whilst he may not beat Macrae he might slow him down a bit.

Reid is important to our structure in my opinion, Cox on his own im not sure it works well, when we had that good patch over 3-4 weeks Reid was in that side.

Daicos has earnt his chance, been playing well. I would of thought Sier has been better but obviously the club has thought we need more outside over inside.

Murray i had a feeling would get dropped. Hasn't been as good as he has in the opening 5-6 games recently. He hesitates a fair bit and hasn't been taking the game on and gets beaten 1 on 1 a bit unfortunately. I'm not worried at all though, his first year of playing and played under 10 games he will be fine.

Dogs at etihad wont be easy and i am sure we aren't taking them lightly either, i hate this shit how we have to play our home games at etihad, i guess we know how Geelong feel now lol.

I think if both teams play their best we are a better side so on that il go with Collingwood by 20 points.

I am too then, I was happy for either Daicos or Sier and no offence to Sier love having the Daicos name so for me gets the nod. We are better with Reid in the side and having a quality shut down player in Greenwood who can also go forward and get a few himself, I think we are in a good position from a selection perspective.

I am not a hater of Mayne but there are guys like Daicos, Sier, Wills and Wells that have much higher ceilings and more scope to their games.

Murray still has a few things to work on and definitely not the last we see of him, he has been a great find.

 

[Vicky Park]

Bambi Murphy

Extra likes for this, he’s the king of smug.

 

[Timmy from Thomastown]

Omen. On the week that the stadium gets a new sponsor, the son of our own Macedonian marvel gets a recall.

 

[iGNITER]

Happy with who we brought in but would have preferred we left out Appleby rather than Murray. Like his pace coming off half back.
I noticed Varcoe listed off half back on the team sheet so maybe he will play down there in his place?
Wrapt to see Daicos in and like having Reid back in to work in tandem with Cox.
Greenwood could play a tagging role or a defensive role on one of the Dogs hard running half backs...

How I would like to see us line up:

B - Langdon Dunn Howe
HB - Varcoe Sharenberg Crisp
C - Phillips Pendlebury Sidebottom
HF - WHE Reid DeGoey
F - Thomas Cox Stephenson
R - Grundy Adams Treloar
INT - Greenwood Daicos Mayne Appleby

 

[Horaceg]

Omen. On the week that the stadium gets a new sponsor, the son of our own Macedonian marvel gets a recall.

Amen