Final v Hawks discussion thread

[BenF]

G'day fellow Doggies,

Its less than two weeks to what is arguably the biggest game for our club in the past decade. I thought it would be good to start talking about it, in particular our game plan and operation Buddy.

Hopefully Williams is back for the role.

Any thought and comments are welcome

 

[GoalSneak38]

G'day fellow Doggies,

Its less than two weeks to what is arguably the biggest game for our club in the past decade. I thought it would be good to start talking about it, in particular our game plan and operation Buddy.

Hopefully Williams is back for the role.

Any thought and comments are welcome

I think the focus needs to be more midfield rather than buddy

 

[Dogs Rule]

I think the focus needs to be more midfield rather than buddy

I agree. If we win the midfield battle, we cut off Buddy and Roughead's supply and we win the match.

Can't wait for this one.

 

[BenF]

I think the focus needs to be more midfield rather than buddy

That is true, but there is no denying Buddy will be a huge factor in whether we win or not.

What matchups for the midfield do we think?

 

[Nightwolf]

Franklin and Roughead kicked 10 odd goals between them last time when our midfeild was smashed. geez, id love to see it if our midfeild goes alright.

Also, Hodge doesnt mind the Dogs. Didnt play last time.

 

[inflames1919]

Both teams have a great midfield and will really depend on who wins it in the middle. The hawks back line might struggle against a lot of our forwards but then again if Buddy and Roughie are on song it might just be a shootout.

 

[Dogs Rule]

Franklin and Roughead kicked 10 odd goals between them last time when our midfeild was smashed. geez, id love to see it if our midfeild goes alright.

Also, Hodge doesnt mind the Dogs. Didnt play last time.

Where does all this confidence come from? Go back and have a look at the result from Round 10, and you'll find the Dogs won confortably.

I don't want to hear about your injuries or any other excuses either. The Hawks underestimate the Dogs at their own peril come two weeks from now.

 

[_STREET_]

shut buddy, roughead, and that hodge down, and we are set to win by 30+

 

[doggiesin08]

Also, Hodge doesnt mind the Dogs. Didnt play last time.

Unfortunately Hodge won't be tagged this time round by Sam Power like he was late last year when he kicked 5-6 goals and had 35-odd possies.

Scott Welsh will kick as many as Buddy playing on Gilham.

 

[GAMBLER]

Unfortunately Hodge won't be tagged this time round by Sam Power like he was late last year when he kicked 5-6 goals and had 35-odd possies.

Scott Welsh will kick as many as Buddy playing on Gilham.

But he won't have the same amount of shots on goal though

 

[doggiesin08]

But he won't have the same amount of shots on goal though

I'm happy for Buddy to have 50 shots on goal if Welsh kicks more goals than him. He'd probably get 15 goals, 10 behinds and 15 out on the full.

 

[The Boy From Brasil]

As strange as it may seem, the result may come down purely to how accruate Buddy is on the day. You would think he would have at least 10 shots at goal. Will it be a 2.8 or 7.3 day?

You know my worst nightmare? Buddy sprays them everywhere all during the year, and in the first final against us, he kicks 9.0 or something like that. What a disaster that would be.

Agree with the posters above regarding our midfield. It is vital that our midfield dominate for two reasons.

1)Our running and skilful midfield is our strength and main asset and the area where we have an advantage over Hawthorn.

2)Our defence is our weakest link, so by having our midfield dominate, we take our backs verus their forwards out of the equation to a certain extent.


I also think that whilst a lot will be said about our backline struggling to contain their explosive forward line(with good reason), the same can be said about our forward line versus their backline. Their backline is servicable but nothing spectacular. If we can get it in quickly, we can put their backline under pressure.

 

[Tempo]

I will watching with interest to see if Griif has more influence that Franklin.
If Griff delivers in the finals I and all that believe that we should have selected LF in front of Griff should crawl back unde rour rocks. If he doesnt then ... you know.

Williams ... If our strategy is based on his contribution after playing 14 or so games in 3 or is it 4 years and after another lay of with injury then we are in huge trouble as this is a sign of desperation rushing players back, especially unproven ones at that, does not give me great confidence

 

[BenF]

I will watching with interest to see if Griif has more influence that Franklin.
If Griff delivers in the finals I and all that believe that we should have selected LF in front of Griff should crawl back unde rour rocks. If he doesnt then ... you know.

Williams ... If our strategy is based on his contribution after playing 14 or so games in 3 or is it 4 years and after another lay of with injury then we are in huge trouble as this is a sign of desperation rushing players back, especially unproven ones at that, does not give me great confidence

He did play on Franklin in his second game back in Round 10. I think Buddy kicked 5, but it was 5 straight, so his influence was limited. As much as you can limit Buddy

 

[Borgsta]

I will watching with interest to see if Griif has more influence that Franklin.
If Griff delivers in the finals I and all that believe that we should have selected LF in front of Griff should crawl back unde rour rocks. If he doesnt then ... you know.

Yep should definitely be based on 1 game in the finals. Lets hope Griff beats Franklin

 

[Redlegs2011]

The talent is there. Just the application is needed.

 

[#1 Dogs Fan]

Based on current form It doesn't look to be a very exciting game which should poll 80,000+ people to the MCG but. When finals actually start and we all wake up and get out of this shell we are in at the moment im fairly confident both teams will come to play and try secure a preliminary final and a good weeks rest.

From a Western Bulldogs point of view im hoping Williams pulls up 100% and takes on that freak Franklin. I hope Ray plays like he did in that game against the Pies in 06 but in all honesty this game will come down to who has the better midfield on the day. I rate Hawthorns midfield just a little better then ours but that doesn't mean they are actually better or perform better then what we will.

Our main men for this game in my opinion are Williams, Aker & Cooney

 

[Red.White and Blue]

Bloody cant wait. Massive crowd at the G watching 2nd and 3rd go at it.

Stopping Franklin is an obvious must but as said by others we need to win the midfied battle.

Will Williams be fit next week cos if so we will obviously play him and I reckon he can do a good job on Buddy.

Aker is gonna be our X Factor. Big game player and im expecting him to tear it up.

GO DOGS

 

[#1 Dogs Fan]

While we are on this subject.

This game will be played at the MCG correct ?

Last time we played their in a final was against the Pies in 06 which had about 85,000 - 90,000 people that day.

How many supporters do you think will be at this game and will it be a complete sell out ?

 

[Doggies05']

Williams needs to get Buddy. Perfect Matchup. Buddy cant kick more then 5.

Lake needs to get Roughead - Must have his best game of the season Lakey. Seems like perfect matchup but he needs to be 100% switched on. Must keep roughead to 3 goals or less.

Morris to get Williams. Almost seems like a waste of Morris but Williams can be very dangerous and needs to be contained. Morris needs to make himself dangerous and attacking. He also needs to push back and help out on Buddy.

Callan on Rioli.

- Hodge and Boyd to go head to head. I trust Boydy with this job. Great matchup.
- Crossy and Mitchell head to head.
- Sewell will tag Cooney.
- Ray to run with Bateman. Both fitness freaks and Bateman was their no.1 midfielder when we played them last time. This matchup should suit us and give Ray a job to do.

They'll be very very tight on Aker.

IMO - Murph and Aker are the key players for us. It seems that every time these two are up and running. Aker getting the footy near the Forward 50 and Murph is leading up taking 10-12 marks and kicking 2-4 goals.

Expect Croad to play on Minson and and Gilham on Murphy.

 

[RevDog]

While we are on this subject.

This game will be played at the MCG correct ?

Last time we played their in a final was against the Pies in 06 which had about 85,000 - 90,000 people that day.

How many supporters do you think will be at this game and will it be a complete sell out ?

I think it was on 'The Fifth Quarter' last night, but they said this final will most likely be a Friday Night Game, so that might just get a few more people there.

 

[doggiesin08]

Expect Croad to play on Minson and and Gilham on Murphy.

I'd be rapt if Croad went to Minson and Gilham to Murphy. I'd back Murphy to get on his bike and still have a massive influence over Gilham and that would leave Campbell Brown (provided he plays back) to take one of Welsh or Hahn. Whoever he doesn't take should become our 'go to guy'.

 

[acker]

While we are on this subject.

This game will be played at the MCG correct ?

Last time we played their in a final was against the Pies in 06 which had about 85,000 - 90,000 people that day.

How many supporters do you think will be at this game and will it be a complete sell out ?

Gerrard Healy has just said on the Fox pre-match commentary of the Eagles v Hawks game that the Hawks v Dogs Qualifying final will be played

Friday Night 5th September 2008 at the MCG

 

[Mofra]

Apart from 1 or 2 midfield match ups, I'm not sure the gameplan makes meaningful midfield match-ups particularly relevent.

The equation is fairly simple. If we go in hard at the ball, take lots of risks with quick ball movement & our skill level is at least adequate, we will win. If we start taking the safe option, the rolling Hawk zone will kill us on rebound.

 

[.M a t t.]

Sam Mitchell may be in trouble at the MRP after a hit in the Eagles game. Could be 2. Does he have a record?