Possible line-up Dogs vs Cats

[Pugsta]

Line up, bend over, get the lube out and prepare yourselves for an all mighty rogering.

More of that confidence from The Kennel!

 

[scottydeewah]

I know the last two times we've played there we've really struggled to come back from 40 points down.

I mean, the last time it took us what, 15 minutes of football?

Just to clarify, i'm obviously talking about the last time we got "lost early on"

Last time we played at KP we did have an 80 point 3/4 time lead or something... In our worst season i've ever seen.

Line up, bend over, get the lube out and prepare yourselves for an all mighty rogering.

Was that last year clueball? No, okay then, read my post again (if you can read). You have won against the crows but keep in mind this is about as good as beating Richmond, who you couldnt beat. So just chill out dude

 

[Ipaidmy200in89]

Was that last year clueball? No, okay then, read my post again (if you can read). You have won against the crows but keep in mind this is about as good as beating Richmond, who you couldnt beat. So just chill out dude

You really need the CATS to win on Sunday Buddy. You will be very much a target if you don't. Your arrogance is not welcome here and surely your energy would be best suited to the Geelong Board.

Good luck Sunday.

 

[Derek Zoolander]

Was that last year clueball? No, okay then, read my post again (if you can read). You have won against the crows but keep in mind this is about as good as beating Richmond, who you couldnt beat. So just chill out dude

Where in my post do i say "last year"?

I said our last couple of times against you. History will show we didn't play you there last year, so i'm obviously not refering to that game.

It was more a response to the "we know how to play it well" and the "getting lost" comment.

But, you're clearly smarter than I, so you probably new that already.

 

[stefoid]

Massive game for us again.We have a shocking draw for the next few weeks and really need to win this.Not to sure how Eade is going to go about this.We usually play well on that ground probably because it is long and narrow which tends to straighten us up.

The cats would be close to the hardest midfield in the comp to completely lock down because they are so ridiculously even.When you look at them you just dont really know who to target and who is going to be running with who.They are all very honest and accountable and in the main very well rounded players.Even there flankers pretty much play as extra midfielders and in some ways Ablett,Chapman and Hunt are more dangerous than there midfielders.There is every chance that either West or Cross will go head to head with Ling.Ling and West have had some good battles in the past so it probably just depends on the wash up of the other match ups.I dont think either coach will be particularly worried about putting a hard tag on them.

We need to be very hard at the contest around the middle because Kelly,Bartel,Enright,Ling,Corey and those sort of guys will just keep coming all day.Fantastic test for Cooney to try and break them open.IMO our pace is probably the only thing we have over the cats who are not slow but dont have as many players with that real break away pace.If Cooney,Gilbee,Mcmahon,Murphy,Eagleton and co can get out and really take some risks and run with the ball then it might unsettle the cats especially if they are a little off the boil.

There backline is another strength although it hasn't been as punishing as it was last season.Scarlett has been down on last year and we are pushing ******** up hill if he can find form.Wouldn't mind getting him one out nice and early with Darcy or even Johnson (if he played on him) who has given him the run around before.Really have to put pressure on there defenders when the ball hits the ground because guys like Josh Hunt will hurt us.Eade will try and pull him deep but he isn't overly weak playing that sort of role.Expect to see plenty of guys like Murphy,Johnson and Cooney rotating deep because it is one area we could trouble them in.Those 3 guys are very clever forwards and I think we need to make Hunt and Milburn play on quality players or they will run off all day.

There forward line is interesting and not as weak as some believe.I reckon they will play 3 talls against us at most times with possibly Gardiner as another half tall.Kingsley is there main targte when they are moving the ball well and is a very good leading player.To be honest I think our best structure for this game would be if we brought in Morgan and played the extra tall.Ottens will push forward and Playfair was good last week and has genuine height meaning Hargrave would probably be undersized.Ottens body work was fantastic last week so for me if we can afford it we have to play Harris on him when he is forward.It means that if we dont play the extra tall then Hargrave will have to take Kingsley because IMO he and Harris are the only two talls who can cover him on the lead.That would leave one of Rawlings/Grant to mind Playfair with one of them to play forward.Bowden could be a wild card aswell.He wasn't required as a forward last week so Eade may throw him back.

Chapman and Ablett really need to be the two guys that we watch because to me they are pretty much the barometer for Geelong.Morris should and almost certainly will get one of them.They are about as dangerous as each other and work both ways aswell.I would probably throw him on Ablett as the priority just because he has that burst that could be harder to cover for someone else.Chapman still needs to be watched closely because he can kick goals from anywhere inside 60 metres.Unfortunately we cant afford to take to much dash out of the backline so one of our attacking defenders is going to have to play on one of these guys unless we play with a loose man.

excellent analysis

 

[Raw Toast]

Massive game for us again.We have a shocking draw for the next few weeks and really need to win this.Not to sure how Eade is going to go about this.We usually play well on that ground probably because it is long and narrow which tends to straighten us up...

Thanks for the great post Dog Town. I agree that Geelong are vulnerable to run from the backline which Melbourne did very well against them, but we really will have to be hard at it.

I think Harris is our best match up for Ottens when he comes forward, and that Hargrave can hopefully take Kingsley, which leaves Grant, Rawlings or Bowden for Playfair - I'd prefer Grant, then Bowden, because both are good spoilers, while Rawlings seems confused as to when to try outmark and when to spoil atm. Smith has a good record running of the hb flank at Kardinia park, so I think that might be an option, even though I don't like his loose marking.

I fear Scarlett may match up well against Darcy - Tredrea seemed to have a step on Scarlett in most contests last week, but I'm not sure if Darcy will be able to manage that. I think Harley is looking very vulnerable, especially when taken back to the goal-line by someone with a quick first few steps, which means a small chf line might be worth a try.

I rate Geelong highly, so will be thrilled if we get over the line.

 

[Raw Toast]

btw I liked that Cooney was given the job on Ricciuto as part of his general development and think he might be given a crack at Ling (or maybe Corey)...

 

[Poptart]

Into the squad this week:

Birss, Hahn, Robbins.

No out's as yet.

 

[stefoid]

what about grant playing loose defender, but matching up on ottens if he drifts/plays forward? he is probably the strongest (muscles) defender we have, and ottens isnt that quick across the ground. grant will kill him at ground level if the ball hits the deck.

 

[Dog Town]

what about grant playing loose defender, but matching up on ottens if he drifts/plays forward? he is probably the strongest (muscles) defender we have, and ottens isnt that quick across the ground. grant will kill him at ground level if the ball hits the deck.

We might have to consider something like that because I reckon Kingsley is a worry on the lead.He is never going to win you a flag off his own boot but he generally gets his 5-8 shots at goal per game and is fairly consistent and is the type of player who can trouble our defenders.Its very hard to say how Eade will go but I would put money on either Hargrave or Harris taking Kingsley because the other 2 couldnt go with him on the lead.Ottens used his body beautifully last week which is the concern I have with playing Rawlings on him.Might end up with all 3 of Harris,Rawlings and Grant having to play back which isn't ideal for us.Also have to consider that Mooney will be back this week and King is also a chance.The cats will be pretty tall and we havent named an extra tall.

 

[Dog Town]

Given that Darcy is destined to play more in the forward line, it is a must that B Murphy lines up alongside him as he is the only genuine goalsneak in the Club.

Front and centre - that's him. Then when he has the ball he knows where to find the goals rather than spraying it anywhere.

I was thinking about this the other day.When your looking at successful teams through the years almost all of them have atleast one and usually two very good crumbers up forward who are genuine opportunists and sit themselves front and square all day long.Even our last top 4 sides had Hudson and Kolyniuk and the decline of our side from 99 to now probably coincided with losing those two to age and form.For some reason specialist goal sneaks are always looked at as the poor cousin when compared with players who play other positions but I think we need to start paying more respect to this position and start putting players aside to develop there.We need to treat it just like any other position and not just think a failed midfielder will suddenly fall into the position and make it his own.

With Darcy playing forward more it is the perfect time to really give someone an extended chance there and although I think Murphy will be forced out this week I hope once he or Faulkner gets back in we can really settle them in there.Players who can kick 40-50 goals from a pocket can be the difference in close games and therefore the difference between making finals and missing finals.

 

[Dog Town]

I want to have his babies.

Let us hope there are not to many of them floating around that I dont know about.

 

[The Doctor]

Here is the line up

WESTERN BULLDOGS
B: McMahon, Harris, Hargrave
HB: Morris, Grant, Gilbee
C: Griffen, West, Power
HF: R.Murphy, Johnson, Giansiracusa
F: Smith, Darcy, Hahn
FOLL: Minson, Cross, Cooney
I/C: Birss, Bowden, Boyd, Eagleton, B.Murphy, Rawlings, Robbins
IN: Birss, Hahn, Robbins
OUT:

my bench would be

Rawlings, B.Murphy, Eagleton, Robbins

 

[whythelongface]

I didn't get to see the game last week - can you tell me how Griffen went as i haven't seen any posts about how he went. How much game time did he get?

 

[C.E.Lovett]

Do we play well at Kardinia Park!

I remember going there as a 13 year old. I would catch the Geelong Flyer. I don't think I have ever seen us win there. We went for 22 games straight at Kardinia Park without winning.

Would that have been one of the the worst losing streaks in VFL history?

Got Doug Wade reported though. When he smacked Greenwood across the chops. If me and my mate hadn't been yelling out "Report him, report him." to the umpire, I'm sure he wouldn't have gotten his little book out. He he he, Wade got a week.

Anyhow, how many years has it been now since we lost a game there? It been five years!

Another 17 years of victories in a row to catch up to the long period of outs. .. that's if the statistics behave themselves.

 

[Dry Rot]

Here is the line up

WESTERN BULLDOGS
B: McMahon, Harris, Hargrave
HB: Morris, Grant, Gilbee
C: Griffen, West, Power
HF: R.Murphy, Johnson, Giansiracusa
F: Smith, Darcy, Hahn
FOLL: Minson, Cross, Cooney
I/C: Birss, Bowden, Boyd, Eagleton, B.Murphy, Rawlings, Robbins
IN: Birss, Hahn, Robbins
OUT:

my bench would be

Rawlings, B.Murphy, Eagleton, Robbins

Does Eagleton usually get named on the bench?

 

[Dogs 13]

I reckon Kingsley is a worry on the lead.He is never going to win you a flag off his own boot but he generally gets his 5-8 shots at goal per game and is fairly consistent and is the type of player who can trouble our defenders.

I reckon we should try Kingsey Hunter on him and when that doesn't work move Crofty onto him.

We could do with a Croft or Kritter in this game.

 

[touchwood27]

What bout this line up, any thoughts?

In- Robbins, Hahn
Out- Eagleton, B.Murphy (hate to do it but need stronger bodies against a physical geelong side)


B. Ryan Hargrave (Steve Johnson)
Brian Harris (Brad Ottens)
Jade Rawlings (Kent Kingsley)

HB. Jordan McMahon (Gary Ablett jnr)
Chris Grant (Henry Playfair)
Lindsay Gilbee (Paul Chapman)

C. Daniel Cross (Peter Riccardi)
Scott West (James Kelly)
Daniel Giansiracusa (James Bartel)

HF. Rohan Smith (Corey Enright)
Patrick Bowden (Tom Harley)
Robert Murphy (Darren Milburn)

F. Mitchell Hahn (Josh Hunt)
Luke Darcy (Matthew Scarlett)
Brad Johnson (Jarrod Rooke)

FOLL. Will Minson (Steven King)
Adam Cooney (Joel Corey)
Dale Morris (Cameron Ling)

INTER. Matthew Robbins, Sam Power, Ryan Griffen, Matthew Boyd
Geelong- Cam Mooney, Shannon Byrnes, Charlie Gardiner, Kane Tenace

 

[Shemp54]

I didn't get to see the game last week - can you tell me how Griffen went as i haven't seen any posts about how he went. How much game time did he get?

Looked classy again - time on ground 81 mins for 6 kicks, 8 handballs, 1 tackle and 1 point. Good disposal and helped set up at least one goal I think.

 

[Dogs 13]

I didn't get to see the game last week - can you tell me how Griffen went as i haven't seen any posts about how he went. How much game time did he get?

Didn't do a real lot, but he just looks so classy. Everything about him makes me think "born footballer"/ "football brain".

 

[Dog Town]

There was a goal late in the game on Saturday which highlighted Griffens class.We had the ball in the pocket and someone (cant remember which player) fired a handpass to the loose Griffen but the handpass was lightning quick and at Griffens bootlaces.Griffen picked it up off his boots with out breaking stride and handpassed over the top for Johnson to goal.Didn't really stand out but for a man of his size to be able to do that just shows how clean a handler of the ball he is.Make no mistake Griffen is a massive man for his age and wil end up being close to key position dimensions so it is pretty impressive that he can do some of the things e can.

 

[Pugsta]

There was a goal late in the game on Saturday which highlighted Griffens class.We had the ball in the pocket and someone (cant remember which player) fired a handpass to the loose Griffen but the handpass was lightning quick and at Griffens bootlaces.Griffen picked it up off his boots with out breaking stride and handpassed over the top for Johnson to goal.Didn't really stand out but for a man of his size to be able to do that just shows how clean a handler of the ball he is.Make no mistake Griffen is a massive man for his age and wil end up being close to key position dimensions so it is pretty impressive that he can do some of the things e can.

This passage of play was also impressive because Griffen could have kicked the goal himself, but saw Johno was right in front of goal and did the team thing by passing to him.

 

[alwaysadog]

Not sure who we would drop but perhaps Bowden needs a spell.
If Hahn is available should we bring him straight in?

Very good get.
I thought Bowden looked the least impressive of our players last week, but I didn't think he would go out unless another tall came in and that seemed unlikely after such an impressive win.

 

[OldSchool]

Not sure who we would drop but perhaps Bowden needs a spell.
If Hahn is available should we bring him straight in?

Very good get.
I thought Bowden looked the least impressive of our players last week, but I didn't think he would go out unless another tall came in and that seemed unlikely after such an impressive win.

I would have liked to have seen another tall added to the list but on form that was the most likely change.

Given we seem to be selecting a smaller line-up each week I won't be holding my breath to see either Morgan or Walsh added to the senior team for a little while yet despite what we might hear.

 

[alwaysadog]

I would have liked to have seen another tall added to the list but on form that was the most likely change.

Given we seem to be selecting a smaller line-up each week I won't be holding my breath to see either Morgan or Walsh added to the senior team for a little while yet despite what we might hear.

I read or hear Rocket quite often mentioning that Walsh is due for a game sooner rather than later, and even Wight but unless I have missed it Morgan appears to not have been included in calculations. Unless of course the coach is just talking about players yet to make a senior appearance.

I have no idea how Morgan is travelling. I was quite impressed by what I saw last year. Seemed like one of those slow developing bigmen who reward patience.