Review Dogs 126 def Tigers 71

[Unorth]

West needs to remain in the team, no more floating in and out or as the sub. While not overly quick he’s a tackling maniac and has excellent hands that translates to him being a damaging score involvement player.

Time to fully back him in.

Related - it’s also time to phase Scott out. He’s extremely courageous but small yet not quick or skilled. West, AJ and Clarke are that future in that area for us, I’d love to see all three in the side vs west coast in a couple of weeks. AJ may have to have a couple more goes at sub, but I think that’s a good option for him until he gets another preseason in.

 

[Oliver G]

Is he leading our goal kicking?

Equal 2nd with Weightman, Naughton is 1st with 40.

JUH is ranked last for us in accuracy (minimum 30 shots).

 

[Oliver G]

You can't possibly think it was worse than the Thor kit or the Origin atrocity?

I'd take either any day of the week over the Diamond Dog. At least the Thor one has the hoops and we got some financial benefit from the Origin one. The Diamond Dog is plain ugly and is associated with one of the darkest eras of the club. 2 wins from the 12 games we wore it in 95-96.

 

[dergert]

Haven't had a key forward in our forward line rag doll a defender in about 30 years....

 

[Northernsoul74]

West needs to remain in the team, no more floating in and out or as the sub. While not overly quick he’s a tackling maniac and has excellent hands that translates to him being a damaging score involvement player.

Time to fully back him in.

Related - it’s also time to phase Scott out. He’s extremely courageous but small yet not quick or skilled. West, AJ and Clarke are that future in that area for us, I’d love to see all three in the side vs west coast in a couple of weeks. AJ may have to have a couple more goes at sub, but I think that’s a good option for him until he gets another preseason in.

He’s a natural footballer.

 

[Anja_Nees]

Haven't had a key forward in our forward line rag doll a defender in about 30 years....

Maybe a little more recently…

 

[Sentinel]

I'd take either any day of the week over the Diamond Dog. At least the Thor one has the hoops and we got some financial benefit from the Origin one. The Diamond Dog is plain ugly and is associated with one of the darkest eras of the club. 2 wins from the 12 games we wore it in 95-96.

I can't agree with that. The Diamond Dog kit at least had some one-off nostalgic purposes for retro round and used club colours and emblem. The Thor and Origin jumpers were simply not Bulldogs kits.

The kit being worn in a dark era to me is also irrelevant - that (and other similar eras) was and always will be a part of our history.

 

[Oliver G]

I can't agree with that. The Diamond Dog kit at least had some one-off nostalgic purposes for retro round and used club colours and emblem. The Thor and Origin jumpers were simply not Bulldogs kits.

The kit being worn in a dark era to me is also irrelevant - that (and other similar eras) was and always will be a part of our history.

I know I'm being unreasonable but I just hate the Diamond Dog with passion was brought up to hate it. As I've said I'm happy for it to be worn as a once off but people are seriously suggesting it should become a permanent home or clash jumper which is just insane to me when we have one of the great home jumpers.

 

[Sentinel]

I know I'm being unreasonable but I just hate the Diamond Dog with passion was brought up to hate it. As I've said I'm happy for it to be worn as a once off but people are seriously suggesting it should become a permanent home or clash jumper which is just insane to me when we have one of the great home jumpers.

Oh god no to the idea of Diamond Dog being a permanent kit (I will admit I want to see our regular 80s/early 90s jumper used as an away strip though).

 

[Werewolf]

I picked a good week to pop into Melbourne and watch a game

Depleted opposition, but good team effort and we got the job done

That was the most enjoyable Dogs performance since the 2021 prelim

 

[4Seasons]

Great win.
Keeps us in the 8 where we belong,
I will always laugh at those who think we have a “generational” list.
We are still in the hunt this year, very enjoyable

 

[Munnez]

Poulter was great tonight. Has more of an 'inside' game than I thought

Amazing what a bit of confidence can do for a player. He is becoming more acclimatised to our system, and where his team mates will go and what they will do. So he can react a bit more instinctively rather than trying to guess and is making better decisions for it.

 

[doggiesin08]

Best game since Brisbane.

JOD is a player. Can't believe we found him for nothing.

10 goals between our big key forwards. JUH is special.

Can’t believe we wasted a month playing him as a 4th tall forward / wing.

 

[Oliver G]

Oh god no to the idea of Diamond Dog being a permanent kit (I will admit I want to see our regular 80s/early 90s jumper used as an away strip though).

Agree, hoops as the home and the 70-90s jumper as clash would be good mix.

 

[Freshwater]

Hope we see the Diamond Dog in 25 years time. I don’t like it alt all too. But agree it’s part of our history. We have a great lineage of guernseys and full kits. I would love to see the 1944 navy get a run and the 1975 hoops with red shorts also get a run. Both these could be used to help with a clash. Eg both would work against West Coast and North Melbourne as both have less emphasis on the royal blue. Was the Diamond dog around the time we were hosting the Melbourne Monarch’s baseball team? It has both a very 90’s vibe and a baseball type feel.

 

[Munnez]

Need to have two defenders become the norm unless playing team 2 or 3 genuine tall like Blues or Cats. Keath, gards and buss should all be competing for that tactical change.

The extra runner was important to the way we were able to move the ball. Much harder to close down with 4 genuine defenders with toe who can distribute the ball. Allowed us to get some speed on the ball which gave the forwards a decent opportunity to compete 1v 1 rather than pack mark situations all the time.

Which made for better scoring opportunities which we were able to convert. And the match was effectively done at quarter time

 

[Munnez]

Was it even the recruiting team or one of the fitness guys who found him?

Yes was Matt Inness who was Bowling coach at Essendon District cricket team. JOD mentioned to him that he was thinking about trying his luck again with footy. Took him to speak to Stewart Edge the VFL coach. And the rest as we say is history

 

[Munnez]

Most impressive part of his game tonight was his kicking inside 50.
Probably our best field kick other than Bontempelli.

The goal kicking continues to frustrate me. Not sure how he cant kick 40m set shots. But alas his improvement is significant and we have a star on our hands.

I think a lot of that is fitness related, because he works so hard up and back I think the fatigue factor is impacting the ability on the longer shots another preseason or two to continue his aerobic capacity should see that issue resolved

 

[The Inbetweener]

Don’t wish injury on anyone but can Daicos get some hammy awareness and miss a few weeks to give Bont a shot at the Brownlow? Daicos now $1.8 and Bont $4.

 

[ScragCity]

What the hell happened last night? Did Bevo show some humility and concede that we we've wasted the season on a shit gameplan, and decide to throw caution to the wind? There was clearly an attitude last night of just moving the ball aggressively and accepting the risk. At times we looked uncomfortable and awkward doing it because we aren't practiced in that style. But the outcome was a great win and an enjoyable spectacle.

At the end of the first quarter I still felt like the game was 50/50 given our recent history of great starts leading to disappointing losses. But we didn't go into our shells like we normally do once the momentum swings, and we just kept attacking and the lead stayed healthy all night.

 

[Next Waiting]

As crap as last week was, imagine Richards and Jones in for McLeary and Bruce.

The Sydney, GWS and GC losses were some of the most frustrating I can remember and this could have been a top four year.

On the other hand, I think we’ve improved a bit on last year.

Some real positives tonight. Poulter was good, Naughton and JUH had good nights (though JUH sprayed some good opportunities late) and I though O’Donnell looked very composed with the ball.

Lacklustre opposition but a better performance and every game is winnable from here.

Hairy McLeary?

 

[Dazb86]

What the hell happened last night? Did Bevo show some humility and concede that we we've wasted the season on a s**t gameplan, and decide to throw caution to the wind? There was clearly an attitude last night of just moving the ball aggressively and accepting the risk. At times we looked uncomfortable and awkward doing it because we aren't practiced in that style. But the outcome was a great win and an enjoyable spectacle.

At the end of the first quarter I still felt like the game was 50/50 given our recent history of great starts leading to disappointing losses. But we didn't go into our shells like we normally do once the momentum swings, and we just kept attacking and the lead stayed healthy all night.

We kicked way more 'out the back' goals than we normally do. Was great to watch

 

[Maverick Dog]

Best win all season even against a depleted Tigers.

ball movement was great. Bont and Libba just amazing.

this is the backline I want. Play 2 key defenders and surround them with speed.

Ed can play as the third, and run off his opponent. maybe swap Keath with JOD but JOD does not panic like Gards and Keath.

first time for a while I was comfortable when ball went down there.

This is the blueprint for success for the rest of the season. I just hope Bevo does not mess with it.

 

[Chalky White]

It was enjoyable for the fact that we attacked with purpose.
I'm pretty sure Richmond has put cue in the rack though. First half was witches hats with no name players.
Good easy kill. JOD, Poulter were good. Still concerned with Baz's form. Jones back is huge for us.

 

[TiAn_]

Happy with the way we played, a lot more dare and direct ball movement than we’ve shown most of this year. Unsurprising Naughts, Marra and Lobb kicked 10 when given the chance to beat just their man.

But as fun as thumping woeful Bomber & short handed Tigers @ Marvel is, I won’t get my hopes up until after I see what we deliver in Geelong in Rd 24. Giving the benefit of the doubt that we don’t drop the ball next week. Keep this up for another three weeks and there’s genuine cause for optimism.

- Can’t head into finals with just Jones/JOD as our tall defenders. Jones/Keath/JOD is the best mix for this year, for better or worse.

- 40, 30 and 30 goals for Naughts, Marra and Cody. 100 up between them. Finally not relying on Bont to be our third best goal kicker.