Fail

[whythelongface]

guys im still confident we can beat the cats in the finals.

our pressure in the first half had geelong worried and being run down and sloppy something i havent seen them be.
also the finals won't be at skilled stadium it will be at the g. the geelong players just knew where the ball was gonna drop in the forward line which exposed our backline big time. so that is one advantage they won't have.
also once they got about 2 goalsl up the crowd just got loud and well thats when they finally lifted and again another advantage they won't have come finals time.
williams just showed how important he is to our backline as mooney ran riot. i still have faith we can get glory this year.

I agree that our intensity, tackling and general hardness were a contributing factor to us being at level pegging at half time. The problem lies in the fact that we were not able to take advantage at this stage of the game and go into the half-time break with any advantage.

My concern is that we have to play like that the whole game against Geelong to be able to beat them. I don't think we can sustain that for a whole game - maybe against Hawthorn or Collingwood - but not against Geelong. They have too many individuals that can turn a game in a matter of minutes, as evidenced yesterday.

 

[Code_Nerd]

Did anyone else notice that things seemed to go pair shaped when that 50 was given against Johnno in our forward line?? I'm sure there was only a kick in it at that stage and then the Cats took the ball down and scored. (I'm not blaming that decision for the loss either) I think not long after poor little Harbrow kicked it straight to Harry Taylor who slotted another easy goal. I think a few goals were probably gifted to Geelong through errors by our players but ultimately we lost because we stopped doing the fundamental things that matter in footy.

Now that I've slept on it I can actually see some positives.

• We were level at half time because we showed we can put Geelong under sufficient pressure.

• We were level without a majority of our best players having much impact at all

• We were playing the Premiers at their home ground, which is never an easy assignment.

• We are still second on the ladder, which is certainly no fluke

The best thing now is that we have a learning tool (video of yesterday's game) that we can study to death over the next 7 weeks. If we had of won the game we may have thought that we were now elite and possibly overlooked many areas of potential improvement.

The key is to now get ourselves focused on Carlton and try and make our own statement. Sure some supporters of opposition clubs will revel in the fact that we got thumped and they will probably try and downplay any further victories we have. The key for us is to just plain ignore these people, not argue amongst ourselves, not crucify the players and try and look no further ahead than each weekend.

Thanks to all the Geelong supporters who have given genuine feedback and been very humble in victory. I'd say to supporters of all clubs, please don't be put off by sensitive dogs fans who are just gutted (as all dogs fans are) by Saturday's loss. We value any good contributions on our board as I'm sure most of you do as well.

Heads up Ladies and Gents

Well said mate, I totally agree with you..

 

[Before I Die]

I feel like I am in a time warp back to the pre-season.

"Oh woe is us". "We are crap". "We need Fev". "Half our team are hacks". "We will be crap in 2008". WRONG!!!

We got beaten on the weekend. Geelong are justifiably the outright favourites for the flag. Are we still good chance to make the Grand Final? Yes, and then it becomes a two horse race and favourites don't always win these. I want sustained success and I want a premiership and I don't care if we steal the latter rather than deserve it. Winning at Skilled Stadium did Port no favours last year, maybe a loss may turn out to be to our advantage.

And if we are not good enough this year, then what I don't want is a desperate splurge on a Fev or Hall or some other possible "saviour". That would be just a recipe for disaster, a one shot attempt followed by years back in the doldrums. If we are unsuccessful this year we recruit the best kids, we develop our youth, we improve our footbal department and we win it next year or the year after.

 

[doggy3]

mooneys perfect match up in williams wasnt playin

 

[Hobdog]

mooneys perfect match up in williams wasnt playin

Sorry not sure exactly what you're trying to say??

 

[ctrain07]

Backline smashed
Forward line smashed
Midfield smashed

Need a power forward to have a realistic chance of a Premiership.

Where the higest scoring team in the comp. Enough said!

 

[ReservoirDog]

[/B]

Where the higest scoring team in the comp. Enough said!

I know we've got 4 or 5 short people that have kicked 20+ goals but in finals type pressure you need a big forward target. Cam Mooney, Barry Hall, Jonathon Brown, Quentin Lynch. Enough said!

 

[RedWhite&Blue]

I think the problem is we went into that game thinking they are the best and so did they. It's all in the mindset.

 

[The_Bulldogs_Bite]

I know we've got 4 or 5 short people that have kicked 20+ goals but in finals type pressure you need a big forward target. Cam Mooney, Barry Hall, Jonathon Brown, Quentin Lynch. Enough said!

In the ideal world, yes.

It was working well though for most of the year, but lately Minson hasn't been contesting too well, and he's actually been getting burnt on the rebound.

 

[mighty seagulls]

mooneys perfect match up in williams wasnt playin

The two areas that i think Geelong killed us was Mooney leading up and the amount of disposals. If we had Williams in to play on Mooney and West in to help win some of the clearances may have helped. Not saying it would of changed the result and they had Ablett and Ling out, but the big stage is a whole different situations.

 

[always right]

In the ideal world, yes.

It was working well though for most of the year, but lately Minson hasn't been contesting too well, and he's actually been getting burnt on the rebound.

One thing we learned in the Geelong match is that we can't go in with the same structure as we have against other teams. The idea of Minson playing at FF has been reasonably successful but against the cats he becomes a liability as they run the ball out of defence.

When we next play them, I think you'll find Minson on the bench with a more mobile forwardline put in place. Even someone like Everitt could find himself playing a more defensive role up forward on Scarlett or Milburn. We have to play forwards who have the pace and run to put pressure on the cat's defense.

 

[Dogs_r_barking]

I was disappointed with the loss, I didn't really expect to win, but I thought we would have lost by a lot closer margin.

However, I took a lot of positives out of the game:

• We had them rattled for the first half, feedback from the Geelong supporters were they were very (uncharacteristically) worried.
• Geelong were buckling under the pressure and were undisciplined - giving away 50 metre penalty's and backchatting the umpires (where is the comittment to the team there)
• We didn't play our best in that 2nd half, we know it, the players know it - Geelong don't!
• We will analyse that game and work out where it went wrong, the same as we analysed the loses against Sydney, St Kilda, Adelaide, Melbourne and West Coast after last year's fade out (and let's not forget we have beaten them all 15 rounds later.
• It is a psychological advantage to us - Geelong won't see us as a threat the next time we play them - could be a % advantage.
• We have some very handy players out - not big noted stars like Ablett and Ling - but that's fine - they can continue to go under the radar. Bring on Tommy, Callan and hopefully Higgins and West.
• Geelong have never played against Tommy so that is an advantage - they have no idea how good he is.
• We played some players who have had only a dozen games experience and still took it up to the 2007 premiers for a good three quarters.
• We won't be playing at that drafty, badly lit stadium in finals - so that takes away the Geelong advantage, and we will have a lot more supporters there to neutralise the vocal crowd (who didn't get vocal until the fourth quarter anyway).
• We had no injuries (ala Darcy).
• We are still second - and still don't know the final 8 layout - i.e. Collingwood in fourth spot to play Geelong first week of the finals.
• Eade is a good coach and hasn't shown all his little tricks to Bomber - have faith people this is not the end it is only the begining.

 

[mighty seagulls]

I was disappointed with the loss, I didn't really expect to win, but I thought we would have lost by a lot closer margin.


However, I took a lot of positives out of the game:

• We had them rattled for the first half, feedback from the Geelong supporters were they were very (uncharacteristically) worried.
• Geelong were buckling under the pressure and were undisciplined - giving away 50 metre penalty's and backchatting the umpires (where is the comittment to the team there)
• We didn't play our best in that 2nd half, we know it, the players know it - Geelong don't!
• We will analyse that game and work out where it went wrong, the same as we analysed the loses against Sydney, St Kilda, Adelaide, Melbourne and West Coast after last year's fade out (and let's not forget we have beaten them all 15 rounds later.
• It is a psychological advantage to us - Geelong won't see us as a threat the next time we play them - could be a % advantage.
• We have some very handy players out - not big noted stars like Ablett and Ling - but that's fine - they can continue to go under the radar. Bring on Tommy, Callan and hopefully Higgins and West.
• Geelong have never played against Tommy so that is an advantage - they have no idea how good he is.
• We played some players who have had only a dozen games experience and still took it up to the 2007 premiers for a good three quarters.
• We won't be playing at that drafty, badly lit stadium in finals - so that takes away the Geelong advantage, and we will have a lot more supporters there to neutralise the vocal crowd (who didn't get vocal until the fourth quarter anyway).
• We had no injuries (ala Darcy).
• We are still second - and still don't know the final 8 layout - i.e. Collingwood in fourth spot to play Geelong first week of the finals.
• Eade is a good coach and hasn't shown all his little tricks to Bomber - have faith people this is not the end it is only the begining.

Great Post. Agree with everything and i believe there was still as many positives to come out of that match than there was negitives.

 

[therook]

Did we have any injuries or reports today?
I don't think so, well at least I hope not. Then it's not a total disaster.
If all that happened today was a loss, a bad one at that, well then we live to fight another day. Don't forget it was played at Skilled Stadium, with crowd support about 99% for Geelong.
I am sure we will learn from this and it will make us stronger. Williams, West, Callan and Higgins all possibly due back over the next few weeks. We must now focus on the road ahead and on the Blues next week, as they are no longer easy-beats.
Go Doggies!

Johnno, your forgetting that Geelong doesn't just win at Skilled, they win everywhere. Don't use the old " It was at their home ground ' thats just looking for excuses, Geelong were to big to strong and to fast in the end and you have to play for 4 quarters not 2 and a bit to be a serious threat for the flag. You have named 4 players to come back into your side but are they the better than Ablett, Ling and Wojcinski , I think not.

Don't get me wrong, the Doggies are a excellent side and if Geelong don't win the flag i hope your blokes do, but dont go done the road of it was their home ground.

Rook

 

[always right]

Johnno, your forgetting that Geelong doesn't just win at Skilled, they win everywhere. Don't use the old " It was at their home ground ' thats just looking for excuses, Geelong were to big to strong and to fast in the end and you have to play for 4 quarters not 2 and a bit to be a serious threat for the flag. You have named 4 players to come back into your side but are they the better than Ablett, Ling and Wojcinski , I think not.

Don't get me wrong, the Doggies are a excellent side and if Geelong don't win the flag i hope your blokes do, but dont go done the road of it was their home ground.

Rook

Was the home ground a factor? Yes
Would we have been slaughtered anyway? Yes

the reality is Geelong are clearly the best side going around. The home ground advantage simply adds yet another layer to the Geelong package.

I take some comfort in the fact we won't play you there again this year. I also take some comfort in the fact that we were level at half time with you yet had just one player who was on top in their position (Gilbee). To have so many of our stars play so poorly is amazing. It's very possible of course that they were poor entirely because of the superiority of their oppponents however I'll take the more optimistic view that they couldn't play that bad again and Geelong will see a very different bulldogs outfit (and structure) than the one they saw on Saturday.

With Gary Ablett back in your side and playing at your best, no-one will challenge you. If we are at our best and you are off the boil for any reason.....well who knows?

 

[LardDog]

Those looking at the bright side, that we were level at half time, you're wrong. We were 3 goals down. We got 3 goals gifted from 50m penalties. We'd only really managed to kick 4 goals to half time, we were completely outplayed, couldn't get clear posession all day and it was only luck the scoreboard wasn't worse at 3qtr time.

Also did anyone notice Lake as full forward at the start of the last quarter? Fair enuff Rocket was trying to mix things up, but taking out best defender out and creating a weak backline was a terrible idea!

 

[always right]

Those looking at the bright side, that we were level at half time, you're wrong. We were 3 goals down. We got 3 goals gifted from 50m penalties. We'd only really managed to kick 4 goals to half time, we were completely outplayed, couldn't get clear posession all day and it was only luck the scoreboard wasn't worse at 3qtr time.

Also did anyone notice Lake as full forward at the start of the last quarter? Fair enuff Rocket was trying to mix things up, but taking out best defender out and creating a weak backline was a terrible idea!

What were the three goals? I only recall two.

As for Lake, the last time I checked he was getting his arse kicked in defence. Happy with Eade trying something different.

 

[kookadog]

I don't know about Fail, maybe a Terminating Pass.

We finish second we can avoid playing them till the GF. As long as they pump the hawks and we beat the blues comfortably I don't think any serious damage has been done.

 

[mcglee]

One thing we learned in the Geelong match is that we can't go in with the same structure as we have against other teams. The idea of Minson playing at FF has been reasonably successful but against the cats he becomes a liability as they run the ball out of defence.

When we next play them, I think you'll find Minson on the bench with a more mobile forwardline put in place. Even someone like Everitt could find himself playing a more defensive role up forward on Scarlett or Milburn. We have to play forwards who have the pace and run to put pressure on the cat's defense.

Excellent point. Harbrow was too small to be a threat to any of their defenders and Will was too slow. On top of that, Hahn had the worst game of his career and offered none of his defensive pressure that he has been famous for this year and Murphy wasn't much better. Next time we play if Hahn can apply his tackles on Milburn and Scarlett, Welsh applies the pressure he is capable of , Murphy gets it right against Harley and Aker can break the Geelong Curse, we won't see Milburn and Scarlett get 64 possessions betweeen them.

If we let Scarlett and Milburn run free like that again, it will be the same result.

 

[stefoid]

Johnno, your forgetting that Geelong doesn't just win at Skilled, they win everywhere. Don't use the old " It was at their home ground ' thats just looking for excuses, Geelong were to big to strong and to fast in the end and you have to play for 4 quarters not 2 and a bit to be a serious threat for the flag. You have named 4 players to come back into your side but are they the better than Ablett, Ling and Wojcinski , I think not.

Don't get me wrong, the Doggies are a excellent side and if Geelong don't win the flag i hope your blokes do, but dont go done the road of it was their home ground.

Rook

disagree - you were the beatter team.

 

[StringyDog]

Those looking at the bright side, that we were level at half time, you're wrong. We were 3 goals down. We got 3 goals gifted from 50m penalties. We'd only really managed to kick 4 goals to half time, we were completely outplayed, couldn't get clear posession all day and it was only luck the scoreboard wasn't worse at 3qtr time.

Also did anyone notice Lake as full forward at the start of the last quarter? Fair enuff Rocket was trying to mix things up, but taking out best defender out and creating a weak backline was a terrible idea!

Lake was getting absolutely smashed by Mooney and was directly causing goals through terrible decisions. A move had to be made, didn't work out as the ball never got down there, but happy to see trying something different as it was not working.