Autopsy Positives and Negatives Vs Bulldogs

[Jiggyman]

+ Gaff led the stats column I didn't think he ever would. Game high for contested possessions. For both teams. What world are we living in.

He lifted as the game wore on, didn't expect to see those CP numbers either.

Easy to look at Gaff and say he hit his ceiling years ago, but at just 26 I reckon he'll keep working on the contested side. Might be feeling the need to lift with new runners coming through for us, and the prospect of earning a lucrative contract at the end of the year whether it's here or not.

 

[Obeanie1]

We won without Shuey, Gaff or Yeo needed to dominate.

We are currently 8th and Swans 9th and that wont change untill next week.

Edit: Unless the Cats win by less than 30

 

[bombard]

Will post my full thoughts later but thought that was a very average game. I was more impressed last week, today was a cripple fight.

What the hell has happened to the Dogs? By far the worst team in the league right now.

Look I agree to some extent - but we did really put them to the sword early on and Q2 was genuinely impressive. Second half was more a matter of do no harm.

There are some teams that will just drag you down to their level - Freo were the gold standard on this for many years. My tip is the doggies are the same this year.

Worth remembering that, with one game to go, we've kicked the highest score for the round with our key forward out.

Plenty of positives under the dross mate.

 

[Crimson King]

Another positive is two weeks in a row where we had no issue with supply. 50+ inside 50s. If this continues on, JK will be in heaven and our flat tracking against middling to poor sides at home will return. Expect us to kick some big scores this season, boys.

 

[Jiggyman]

What the hell has happened to the Dogs? By far the worst team in the league right now.

Tbf the advantage we had in the middle from our rucks against the wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tubeman (Tim English) was ridiculous.

They also don't have any spine at all atm.

So yeah.... they do suck haha.

 

[Biggie]

Another positive is two weeks in a row where we had no issue with supply. 50+ inside 50s. If this continues on, JK will be in heaven and our flat tracking against middling to poor sides at home will return. Expect us to kick some big scores this season, boys.

Can’t ****in wait

 

[Natho]

Its crazy how much DV looks/plays like Shuey. Loving Waterman. Kid can play.

 

[Double the Fist]

Will post my full thoughts later but thought that was a very average game. I was more impressed last week, today was a cripple fight.

What the hell has happened to the Dogs? By far the worst team in the league right now.

Was about to argue about the worst team bit, but the pies showed fight, hell even GCS are up and about. Brisbane and Norf probably well under the dogs. Maybe.

 

[tigger_ferret]

How good is this image. If Ryan spills it, Willie was basically cutting across the front without a man on him to take the crumbs for a goal.

 

[mehow2g]

Great two weeks so far, I kinda don't count Sydney as a loss just got murdered by Buddy.

I have a pretty good feeling about this year not thinking flags, this is the first time in over a decade where we haven't had to wait to develop our first year players and wait for them to perform, they are performing from debut... Rare scenes...


I don't believe we've shown our best.

Bulldogs are turd however when was the last time we have dominated a team regardless of quality over East?

Wait until we have Kennedy as number one forward target with 2-3 crumbers waiting for opportunities, we haven't had that in a very long time..

Comparing this teams mentality to years past I see a major difference, years past team seemed to do a training drill if said drill fails they went into their shells, this teams mentality will rise to a challenge.

 

[Jeeves]

Hurn was in beast mode early. So damaging. Set the tone and said "come with me, boys". At his absolute best.

Really liked how he put a few long kicks to advantage today. He didn't do it enough last year and hopefully this is a sign of things to come.

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[Jeeves]

The Dogs were in the mix for a quarter, but our structures and matchups destroyed them. One feels the Dogs might be in for a long season as they fell away so poorly in the middle of the game, but it's round 2 and a big win instills our squad with a lot of confidence, regardless. We made decent teams look slow and indecisive, in 2015...

Defence:

+ Hurn was on a mission to move the ball with purpose.
+ Barrass was huge, reads the play so well and often positioned himself to kill the contest or compete at the fall.
+ Gov was massive early and stunted the Dogs' assault. Holding such a lead late, we protected him and hopefully the shoulder is minor.
+ Nelson is proving a handy shutdown option. He can run and carry, but is lacking composure to take on a more attacking role.
+ Jetta giving us another option to leave the backline. This is his new home. Just needs to work on defensive efforts (that first Dogs goal was disgusting).
+ Shep quietly going at 100%. Played a superb game supporting the other backs and distributing effectively.

- Happy to give him the benefit, but Duggan was all over the shop. The open nature of the game probably didn't do many favours for his style, and other rebounding options took the spotlight.
- Still concerned with our tendancy to run off the man when the opposition has momentum. Barrass definitely stood up this week, but against a more potent forward-line we may have issues.

Midfield:

+ Rucks utterly dominant and gave us the ability to score quickly. Sorely missed in 2017.
+ Slyce had a great game, really lifted in the contest and gave us clearance dominance even when Nic was off the ground. Marred by a couple of skill errors.
+ Shuey had 18 touches and yet we smashed them around the ground. CPs: Gaff (13), Lycett (11), Sheed (10), Yeo (8), Shuey (8), Nic (7) all contributed at the coalface.
+ Delivery inside 50 was scintilating at times. Makes a difference when we waltz through the middle under little pressure, but it looked like our mids were trying to take the smartest options when moving the ball.
+ Liked Masten's game. Probably gets exposed against a harder side, though.
+ Didn't think Redden was bad, and it seemed he was out of position on the wing quite often to utilise his tank. Still like to see him spend the best part of a game on-ball. However, if we suddenly have a bunch of reasonable contested players, maybe it's a good idea to spread them and thus ensure we have ball-winners everywhere?

- Buuuut I would like to see more from him. And we still trail behind most squads for overall midfield quality.

Attack:

+ Most encouraging signs of the day. Lead well, made space, linked up and pressured hard.
+ JD was awesome.
+ Watching Willie catch Dahlhaus htb when another couple of our mids were standing by corraling, highlights just how damn important this facet of the game is. I hope some of our senior players can take a few lessons away.
+ Cripps worked extremely hard, as usual.
+ Ryan
+ Ryan
+ DV
+ DV
Can I list them a 3rd time?
+ Aquaman. Just killing it atm.
+ LeCras flourishing with other options.

- Finishing was poor. Ryan in particular has a laconic set shot action. Leans back on it and gets too much lift. Will be working on it, you suspect!

TL;DR - struggling to contain excitement for watching how this squad develops in 2018.

73 goals last year shows that he is very capable of scoring. Probably still suffering some nerves playing on the big stage.

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[kerr87]

You guys have covered it pretty well, the most enjoyable thing for me was how happy and excited the 4 rookies were for each other when they did something well. Waterman and Rioli pumping the air and high fiving Ryan after his mark before he'd even had his kick was classic.

Fav moment of the game. Everyone a round Ryan was so pumped. It felt like the type of celebration after you win a game lol!

 

[Dark Sharks]

Waterman seems like a really great clubman.

Obviously he's been tied to the club in one way or another for his entire life, but he just seems genuinely keen and happy to be out there learning.

I don't want him going back to shitty EP.

 

[astro1212]

I'd just like to say this

Gaff lead the Contested disposal count today with 13.

Andrew. Gaff.

Stop it you!

 

[Astro7]

Many good signs for the future on show today, not that it will always be so easy - with the dogs unsettled as a club and injuries to key players.
Great to see the young ones on show.
The Eagles should be quite a force with JK's return, and AhChee (?)
Almost hard to imagine them being the sliders they've been tipped by many to be.?
Curious to see how they go against the Cats midfield.
The next 2 games at OS will be big towards getting us on the board
If we win the next away game (Blues), we would begin to lay that 'away' handicap to rest..might have turned a corner.
Then Freo and Port at OS, with JK and AhChee(?), to really show us where we're at!
Maybe this game helped quieten some of the haters and head-kickers ..even J. Graham
came under fire before the first bounce...

 

[dajesmac]

Look I agree to some extent - but we did really put them to the sword early on and Q2 was genuinely impressive. Second half was more a matter of do no harm.

There are some teams that will just drag you down to their level - Freo were the gold standard on this for many years. My tip is the doggies are the same this year.

Worth remembering that, with one game to go, we've kicked the highest score for the round with our key forward out.

Plenty of positives under the dross mate.

Yeah fair enough. I guess I had slightly higher expectations than most going into the game and fully expected the Dogs to be as shit as they were. I felt like we could have won by more.

The kids were very positive. Duggan is very concerning though. Is probably on a par with Nelson but cops none of the flack.

 

[Quinz]

The leaders seem like they've got a new desire in that forward line with the rookies floating about, both LeCras and Darling were excelleg today. And Hurn in defence started it all, great captains game.

 

[bUCKET__]

+
Plenty of improvement yet from Nicnat and Lycett combo. Both monsters in the contest. Not getting the connection yet with the midfielders, but damn they will be hard to beat. Just getting first hand to the ball will improve us so much over last year, when we were always playing reactive footy. As they build fitness they'll add more potency to the forward line. Good game from both, but this was a baseline performance on what they can do when they're on.

Two brilliant games in a row for Lecca. Gave some off, tackled like he hasn't in years. Looks like a great mentor for the young forward line. Nowhere near enough praise considering the condemnation he's received. I was definitely wrong about how he'd start the year and hope he keeps it up.

Masto played well. Nelson good defensively. Graham coaching at 100% win rate. Whipping boys everywhere rejoice.

-
Tackling still needs work across the board.

Duggan and Sheed not stepping up just yet as midfielders. Interesting that Venables had more TOG than Sheed - know they're filling different roles, but still would expect more time on ground and more of an impact from Dom. Like everyone I cringe when Duggan is taking a shot on goal. Still early days, maybe have some unrealistic expectations about their ceilings still.

Interesting: only Redden had more handballs than kicks. Tells you a bit about the lack of pressure when we had the ball I think. As good as the kicking was from a lot of players, you gotta mark a lot of that down to the giant holes we were running into all night.

edit: + oh and Yeo good game just goes under the radar a bit now. He was everywhere and closed down space really well. His consistency is improving. Actually looks more at home as a mid this year, good signs.

 

[Reminiscence]

+ Enjoyed Waterman's game. Was cooked late in the game when he could of clunked and marked for his 3rd goal; but worked hard. Will go back to WAFL when Kennedy comes back but he's gained valuable experience out there.
+ Ryan/Rioli excitement machines. Both ooze X-factor and silky smooth skills.
+ I like DV's approach to take the game on. Doesn't have the size or strength to push off all these bodies just yet and sold himself into trouble a few times; but I like his approach to back himself and take the game on. Another two pre-seasons should give him the size to give the don't argue.
+ Defense was terrific. Barrass; Shep; Hurn; McGovern. All 4 absolutely shone this game and it showed.
+ Darling was tremendous. Seems to shine when he's the main man and walks taller. Hasn't put a foot wrong these past 2 games.
+ Lycett's game was tremendous. Was viewed as a ruckman similar to Cox when he was drafted; good to see him out on the park injury free. Should hopefully play another 100 games for us now he's at his peak.
+ 4th Quarter
+ NN's taps to our midfielders when they are on the move. Typically only used extensively for Shuey; NN had some beautiful taps to guys like Sheed; Shuey & Gaff.

- 3rd Quarter
- Redden needs to go up another level
- WCE need to stop with Gaff at center clearances. From eyetest it doesn't seem to be working at all.

 

[FKASC]

The leaders seem like they've got a new desire in that forward line with the rookies floating about, both LeCras and Darling were excelleg today. And Hurn in defence started it all, great captains game.

Happens every time new kids come in and play with energy and dare - it really boosts the senior guys.

 

[Eaglemaniac]

Lecca was immense today. Some of his tackling saved our arse.

Ryan was fantastic for a second gamer, Venables decent as well.

 

[bombard]

Yeah fair enough. I guess I had slightly higher expectations than most going into the game and fully expected the Dogs to be as shit as they were. I felt like we could have won by more.

The kids were very positive. Duggan is very concerning though. Is probably on a par with Nelson but cops none of the flack.

I agree 100% re Duggan. Only other player-specific thought I had was I wish upon wish that Redden could put some bloody muscle on. He's like a poodle that thinks he's a bulldog.

 

[Dark Sharks]

Happened in 2011 when Gaff and Darling joined the team playing from the get go.

Happened a little bit with Duggan and Nelson in 2015.

And now in 2018 our young players are lifting those around them again.

 

[lewigie]

Cause I know how hard it can get
But you gotta lift
You gotta lift
And sometimes that's how it is
But I know you're stronger
Stronger than this
You gotta lift
You gotta lift