Preview Collingwood v Bulldogs - Round 1, 2021 - Fri @7:50

[Virgin Dog]

Pretty worried Scott's papers will be stamped by this board tonight. There's every chance he'll be the anchor at the bottom of the stats sheet with his input. Just need to remember these players don't pick themselves.

It's guaranteed to happen if he plays poorly. We saw it happen with Gardner, and despite improving you still hear the same tired comments about him being the "worst player to ever pull on a Dogs jumper"

 

[VogonProsthetnic]

So, selection aside, there is a game tonight.

Keath > Cox
Mihochek < Gardner
Williams > Ruscoe
Dale = Henry
Duryea = Elliot
Scott < WHE
Daniel > Thomas

The Gardner matchup will be key. If he can perform above expectations and keep Mihochek to a goal everyone else just needs to meet their minimum and we should be fine. WHE and Thomas have not been threatening for a while, and Henry shouldn't do too much on debut. As always it only works if our midfield puts on pressure because there's no defending a clean pass from Pendlebury (and Noble/Daicos go alright). De Goey resting forward will be trouble but I reckon with the midfield minutes he won't have as much burst as usual.

Bruce < Roughead
Naughton = Moore
English > Madgen
Wallis = Howe
Hunter < Maynard
Vandermeer < Crisp
McNeil < Quaynor

Not great on paper. Still expecting Hunter to play forward and Smith/Lipinski to take most of the wing time but that could change. English is our greatest mismatch and if he can kick straight could be the difference. Naughton and Moore is a super even contest and could go either way. Wallis will do fine if it gets to ground but Howe could have a dozen intercepts with that matchup. Need our talls to make a good contest of it. Our greatest strength will be our glut of midfielders rotating through there. There will be players lost on the swapover and mismatches created, especially if Bont can find himself on a Quaynor or Crisp, but it all depends on what our midfield plan is. We certainly have the flexibility to try new things is plan A isn't working.

Yeah but Bont. >> than all of them.


Same with De Goey.

 

[Jeff 1975]

DeGoey playing mainly mid. Suits us well.

I'm hoping he stays outside 50

 

[Dogsman16]

I agree
English is the perfect marking option
The missing element

Lets say Mason Cox has a good first half and kicks a couple.

You are better off dropping English back because he has the additional reach in comparison to Naughton who is about 10cm shorter.

This is why I'm opposed to Naughton back (permanently). I don't think he solves anything regarding taking the massive forwards like Cox, Dixon, Daniher etc.

 

[Dogs_R_Us]

Is McNeil standing on a podium? Looks like he's got some height

Sent from my SM-G986B using Tapatalk

Bulldogs Media | Western Bulldogs

Watch the latest videos from the Western Bulldogs

www.westernbulldogs.com.au

Pity about the background noise

 

[The Slitherin' Snake]

Far more suited to the role than what West is.

West isn’t a defenders a-hole.

Not even sure why some are arguing this point.

No one is arguing that West is a defender.
But Dale isnt a defender's a hole either

 

[The Slitherin' Snake]

People in here befuddled by selections need to remember that the coaches and match committee have actually been to all the training sessions,scratch matches and understand the intricacies of each role in our game plan

Maybe some blokes have worked a bit harder and adapted to change better than others to be best 22 for this game at this point in time.

While this is 100% true, our selections in the past have cost us games and some have been complete failures even after the coaches had seen players in new positions (Wood forward).

I honestly believe less than 50% of the time we pick our best available 22

 

[Dogs 13]

I don't want to see English completely protected from Grundy either, we need to see how he's progressed.

 

[bullish23]

Williams has improved massively but I still think to be top grade, he needs to improve his one on one defending, particularly on the last line of defense. He can be a dear in headlights at times. I worry if he is one out with De Goey. That’s why I think Doc is also in.

Looking to see improvement in his game on this aspect.

 

[bresker]

DeGoey playing mainly mid. Suits us well.

Over on the Pies board they’re worried about where the goals are going to come from if DeGoey and Elliot play midfield minutes. They aren’t a team which scores heavily or has a star forward.


I’m guessing we’re going to flood the 50 and use our speed, fast hands & contested marking to beat them on the breakaway tonight. If we can suck Collingwood into the zone and turn them around we have the weapons to do the damage. It’s Bev’s favourite tactic, I can’t see him changing much, but now we have the players & maturity to make it work.

Can’t wait to see Jamarra in this mix, he’s probably the X factor to make our forward entries less predictable & more damaging.

 

[bullish23]

Hate the look of sponsors above the number, and very disappointing the we haven’t been able to secure a major sponsor on the back below the number replacing Mercedes.

 

[Charlie Bucket]

No one is arguing that West is a defender.
But Dale isnt a defender's a hole either

Playing as a defender is more than just defending an opposition player in a physical sense.

Skill by hand and foot, composure, decision making and footy iq contribute a lot to 3-4 of the roles out of the 6-7 spots down back.
Dale has most, if not all of those things. Not in spades, but has them.

West barely has any. That’s why arguing West in Dale out is bizarre!!

And yes, some, in what they were implying is that West would be a defender in tonight’s game.

 

[Bulldoge]

Williams has improved massively but I still think to be top grade, he needs to improve his one on one defending, particularly on the last line of defense. He can be a dear in headlights at times. I worry if he is one out with De Goey. That’s why I think Doc is also in.

Looking to see improvement in his game on this aspect.

I think Williams is one of our more composed defenders, he hardly ever looks rushed. I agree if he's one out with De Goey but most defenders would be worried in that situation

 

[Footscray54]

I am waiting to see Treloar to Bontempelli , goal!

 

[Jeff 1975]

Lets say Mason Cox has a good first half and kicks a couple.

You are better off dropping English back because he has the additional reach in comparison to Naughton who is about 10cm shorter.

This is why I'm opposed to Naughton back (permanently). I don't think he solves anything regarding taking the massive forwards like Cox, Dixon, Daniher etc.

Agree
Naughton hasn't played that many games and is a little on the short side, great jump though, hopefully he does over extend
If Naughton was to go back I would like to see he on the third forward so he could be a marking rebounding type
English is the best one to go back if needed at the moment
2 like English would be good

 

[Chicago1]

I'm confident about tonight, but then again think back to a year ago and remember what happened. I don't think that we'll be seeing a performance like that this time.

I'm looking forward to how English does tonight, not English the player, but English the language in the posts during the match.

As for my Lucky Meal... I'm going traditional and will be ordering a pizza - half capricciosa/half marinara.

 

[ScragCity]

Williams has improved massively but I still think to be top grade, he needs to improve his one on one defending, particularly on the last line of defense. He can be a dear in headlights at times. I worry if he is one out with De Goey. That’s why I think Doc is also in.

Looking to see improvement in his game on this aspect.

I find this to be a really strange take because I feel the exact opposite way. I'd trust Williams over anyone (except maybe Bont) in our side to win a genuine one-on-one with someone under 195cm. I'm pretty sure that statistically Williams is elite with how rarely he loses a one-on-one. Maybe Oliver Gigacz can shed some light on this.

 

[Mantis Toboggan]

It's guaranteed to happen if he plays poorly. We saw it happen with Gardner, and despite improving you still hear the same tired comments about him being the "worst player to ever pull on a Dogs jumper"

You keep pushing this narrative.

The fact is, if Gardner had a good game, people would say so. He started off atrociously, got more chances than he deserved and has shown he could become a below average AFL standard footballer if he hit his absolute ceiling.

I hope he comes good...but all evidence suggests he doesn’t have it in him.

 

[footscray1973]

Can't wait until the game is over and we've:
<won / lost>,
so I can
<praise / abuse>
Bevo for his
<brilliant / idiotic>
team selections and tactics, and acknowledge the efforts of everyone's
<favourite / most-despised>
player Josh Dunkley on his efforts as a
<bullocking mid / pinch-hitting ruck and half-forward>,
and the critical
<improved / unchanged>
accuracy in front of goal, which has triggered the BF
<upswing / meltdown>.

Vive le tricoleurs!

 

[Virgin Dog]

You keep pushing this narrative.

The fact is, if Gardner had a good game, people would say so. He started off atrociously, got more chances than he deserved and has shown he could become a below average AFL standard footballer if he hit his absolute ceiling.

I hope he comes good...but all evidence suggests he doesn’t have it in him.

He played objectively well multiple times towards the end of last season, and people continued to shit on him. So no, there are still people who refuse to acknowledge his good games because it's happened before

 

[doggies ftw]

He played objectively well multiple times towards the end of last season, and people continued to sh*t on him. So no, there are still people who refuse to acknowledge his good games because it's happened before

Well is a stretch, he played well relative to his earlier games which were very very bad. I still don’t believe he’s played a good game. Just an improvement on what he’s done in the past which is still not enough.

tbh I think you push the point that he’s played better than he has more than anyone else pushes the opposite

 

[Merlins Revenge]

Anyone know what time gates open tonight?

 

[random__hero]

Anyone know what time gates open tonight?

5.30

 

[Dogsman16]

For those who haven't read the VFL thread.

Jamarra has kicked 3.1 already. 5 mins into the 2nd qtr.

 

[doggies ftw]

For those who haven't read the VFL thread.

Jamarra has kicked 3.1 already. 5 mins into the 2nd qtr.

Can we drop Bruce and get him some game time at full back in the VFL instantly please