Review Round 1 Western Bulldogs

[MAAAATTDAAAAMON]

Thought it was one of Melks best games, is gonna be a star.

Hurley (pick 5), Melk (10) and Heppell (8). Wow, what 3 guns we've got there. Biased, and early days, but they could match pretty well with Carlton's Kreuzer (pick 1), Murphy (1) and Gibbs (1).

Shows how well we have drafted in recent years.

 

[Here_we_come]

however keep in mind essendon won by 55pts on knights coaching debut so need to keep perspective.

I initially thought this as well.

But after a while I realised you can't really compare the two. In Knights' debut Lloyd kicked 6 and Mcveigh was clear BOG. We had a couple of others who were exceptionally good that day - NLM by memory.

Sunday was different in that it was an unbelievable team effort, everyone played well and played their role. We even held the play in our half for nearly 10 mins at one stage I think. It seemed that the bulldogs just had no answers to our game style, which was great.

I feel much more confident about this season than 2008.

 

[Ben the Gooner]

We have people worried.

At footy training tonight about 15 people mentioned the Dons to me. Normally we're ignored, win or lose. The coach used Watson and Ryder as examples.

Even the comments like "that's a fluke", "dons are still shit" etc show they're worried about us.

 

[yaco55]

Think that Hooker is one player who has benefited from the change in game plan.

He understands that if the quick handball isn't on - he is to kick long down the line.

Hurley has probably been a bit down in form so far in 2011 - But he can still kick goals - Which is why i want to play him forward. Must say that Hurley has great awareness and is an excellent handballer.

It was great to see Watson play the third quarter as a forward - Besides being a dangerous forward - Regular breaks up forward will allow him to finish off the year better.

 

[rines]

Sorry BTG if I have misquoted you.. re jetta and dyson

As to gumby.. I really don't see him in the best 22 and yes he is injured again (which REALLY is the point always isn't it?!) so we can use that as an excuse but he is not in ink on the team sheet regardless.

I think crameri has gone past him and with the new sub rules etc we can't carry a guy who is injured more often than not.

I put my money on us making the 8 the moment Hird was appointed.. hope you did too cause our list was never the problem.

And I do like to self congratulate.. it hurts being right this often against you school boys..

 

[Blind Turn]

I really, really liked Lonergan's game

Cale Hooker had a really, really good game also, Hall only kicked two, but kept him to 5 touches whilst providing good rebound and third man up

Myers was very average to be honest. Indecisive again, kicking was ok, with the usual slip ups, missed some tackles also.

Probably the only disappointment of the game.

I respect your write-ups HFF but you're discrediting yourself with the constant bagging of Myers. I sorta get the idea that you don't rate him. It was a common theme of yours all through last year. I'm actually quite satisfied with his game. He is improving steadily and looks as if he feels more a part of the team. Patience might see him as a real weapon off half back with that penetrating kick. Did his job nicely on Sunday I thought.

One area I thought we could improve from my vantage point in the stands is our shepherding when we handball to a linking player. Against teams like Collingwood and others that are 'on' opponents will run straight past the handballer to pressure the receiver thereby limiting our efficiency. The Dogs were lethargic and lacked intensity. Our link up game could come to pieces under finals type pressure without more blocking/shepherding.

Special thumbs up to Heppell whose composure and decision making for a first-gamer was the best I can remember seeing in a Bomber guernsey on debut.

 

[lamaros]

I respect your write-ups HFF.

Gumby isn't injured. He played for Bendigo. Oh wait, it's rines...

 

[Blind Turn]

Gumby isn't injured. He played for Bendigo. Oh wait, it's rines...

 

[Bombermania]

Nothing to do with Hooker. He had no delivery and had to go further to find it.

True we dominated the mid-field but still Hooker did a good job on Hall

 

[Summer Nights]

Spike was excellent, certainly.

One criticism I have of him is that he overestimates his pace, gets caught and tries to break the tackle rather than disposing of it. Didn't detract from his game much, but it's a little thing I noticed.

I thought Myers was very good. Grant barely got a look in.

Noticed this too. Not an overall judgement, but an area for him to work on.

 

[banta]

just about everyone has improved since last year but i really like courtenay dempsey's change. a lot were calling for him to be dropped last year and ive always been a big fan, but this year it seems clear that his accountability, attack on the ball and the man has lifted. hope to see big things from him this year.

 

[Summer Nights]

Very happy with the demolition of the doggies.

Just on Hooker, I rate him as a player if he's not tired. As long as his legs are fresh, he's quite good, otherwise he's a bit of a liability.

 

[Shane Hird]

I think the stats from this game give us a fair indication on what our game plan is shaping up to look like.

For a start we had 50 more kicks and 46 more handballs..we controlled the ball.

The marks are the one that brings a welcome smile to Essendon fans..46 more. But contested marks were equal with the Dogs.

We found space more.

Tackles...bout the same, only 6 more for us.

Spoils.....Robert Walls hightlighted this on OTC last night showing vision of Essendon defenders punching the ball to the boundry line around the Dogs F50 and on the wings, but we were actually 7 down in that dept...BUT... it's the blokes who are doing the spoiling that warms the heart.


Imagine if they all (the defenders) did every this every week with Pears playing as well..!!

Heppell-3
Hardingham-6
Hooker-5
Myers-2
Ryder-3
Fletcher-7

Backline guys are getting to the ball more when it's coming down from the sky-unlike last year.

In contrast..Dogs had Morris with 7 and Stack-6, Wood-4, Picken-3..but we must have picked up the ball more from those spoils.


1st disposal..my personal favourite stat...was 7 more to us.

Hocking had a day out with 10 (Boyd had 10 but not as effective-we tackled the reciever more)

Lonergan-4
Hille-3 out the ruck
Monfries-4
Winders-3
Jetta-2
Melksham-2

Clearences...

Hocking 11
Zaka-3
Watson-2
Hille-4
Winders-3
Monfries-3
Howlett-3

Dogs had Liberatore on 7 clearences ( we showed him no respect- 7 in each of the 1st and last qrts), Hudson-7 (and 9 1st disposals out of the ruck) and Cooney and Boyd 7 each..but thats about it for them.

We obviously had more of the ball but we made 20 more critical errors. We took more risks.

Walls said last night that Essendon's 'secret' training sessions have been played at a flat-out pace where the players are encouraged to get it going and not worry about mistakes too much. Match simulation training drills that are practiced at top 'game' pace. Combined with a brutal fitness program to get to a point where they can keep it up for 2 hrs.

Dogs had 7 more bounces than us, which suggests that they carried the ball a bit more but did nothing much with their disposals. We punched the ball out of their forwards hands alot..

So in short...we got the ball 1st with a bigger spread of MFs and we defended better with a bigger group of players getting involved.

And our goal kicking was good when easy shots were nailed.

17 pts kicked ..but this just means we collected the ball more often in our F50, found a team mate free and had more shots on goal.

A complete turn-around from last year when our defenders struggled to keep opposition forwards from marking the ball and our MFs struggled to get first hands on the ball around packs (except Watson).

Hudson did quite well in the ruck (21 hit-outs) compared to Hille(15) and Paddy (13) but we must have won the majority of his tap-outs.

Can't wait to see how the boys handle combatting Sydney's tight contested play. They will be more 'switched on' than the Dogs were..

 

[Dkid]

Just wondering whether anyone noticed, Heppell lead the team of the ground, after the group huddled after the game. Anybody have any insight into who started this?

If it's what i think it is, its going to wonders for his confidence

 

[Shane Hird]

Just wondering whether anyone noticed, Heppell lead the team of the ground, after the group huddled after the game. Anybody have any insight into who started this?

If it's what i think it is, its going to wonders for his confidence

Are they going to take the number 1 off Neagle and give it to Heppell?

 

[stander]

Are they going to take the number 1 off Neagle and give it to Heppell?

Come on, we all know Neagle is struggling, but in honour of Merv, let's not buy that tram ticket down Mt. Alex. Rd. to oblivion just yet.

 

[Yoda_]

I respect your write-ups HFF but you're discrediting yourself with the constant bagging of Myers. I sorta get the idea that you don't rate him. It was a common theme of yours all through last year. I'm actually quite satisfied with his game. He is improving steadily and looks as if he feels more a part of the team. Patience might see him as a real weapon off half back with that penetrating kick. Did his job nicely on Sunday I thought.

I did say he was alright later in the thread. Yes he had some bad moments but he was alright..

I can change, give me time but, still think Myers has a long way to go..

Here is another question, if Pears is fit who does he replace in the 22?

Special thumbs up to Heppell whose composure and decision making for a first-gamer was the best I can remember seeing in a Bomber guernsey on debut.

Adam Ramanauskas on debut was pretty freaking good, even Zaharakis was good!

 

[mayhem20202]

Thought it was one of Melks best games, is gonna be a star.

Hurley (pick 5), Melk (10) and Heppell (8). Wow, what 3 guns we've got there. Biased, and early days, but they could match pretty well with Carlton's Kreuzer (pick 1), Murphy (1) and Gibbs (1).

Shows how well we have drafted in recent years.

In all seriousness mate, there is no handicapping system in place in the AFL which weights player's performance dependant upon where they were drafted. Lets just forget where everyone was drafted once they are at the club, and let them be players! I couldn't care less if our number 1 pick is an average battler, and our 5 time b&f is pick 3,000,000. The players themselves did not ask to be picked in those positions, so it is unfair to expect them to live up to any "pick number 3" expectations.

 

[Mad Bomber Sean]

I did say he was alright later in the thread. Yes he had some bad moments but he was alright..

I can change, give me time but, still think Myers has a long way to go..

Here is another question, if Pears is fit who does he replace in the 22?

Pears hasnt played since r13 last year. he should play a few praccy games first, but then I reckon that he would take Myers place.

Our back line is better with Pears Hooker & Fletcher than Myers, Hooker Fletcher.

 

[Blind Turn]

I did say he was alright later in the thread. Yes he had some bad moments but he was alright..

I can change, give me time but, still think Myers has a long way to go..

Here is another question, if Pears is fit who does he replace in the 22?




Adam Ramanauskas on debut was pretty freaking good, even Zaharakis was good!

I agree, the above had great debuts, which emphasises just how impressed I was with him.

I'll give you some slack on the Myers thing. I'll return to the topic when he is captain of the club in 5 years time.

Pears would replace any one of 11 players because in my opinion he is in our 10 most important players. More specifically, from the weekend's game, I'd say that Hardingham would need to play consistently as well as he did Sunday (I gave him a vote) to keep Pears out and obviously Myers will be under pressure. Fortunately, all of these players have the ability to play elsewhere on the ground. Myers NLM Hardy all good options for sub spot in best 22 unless they cement a spot on the ground in next 6 weeks. Our depth looks much better at the moment, don't it?

 

[ant555]

I did say he was alright later in the thread. Yes he had some bad moments but he was alright..

I can change, give me time but, still think Myers has a long way to go..

Here is another question, if Pears is fit who does he replace in the 22?

Pears is not fit so there is no point having a discussion about it.

I thought Myers played well, made no more mistakes with the ball than any number of players in the side.
What was his worst moment ?

You need to take the blinkers off IMO , Myers is going along ok and should get a good run over the next 10 weeks or so.

The problem is you use the word "hate", way too strong of an emotion if you want to end up good at rating players.
I never rated Jetta or Zaka before we drafted them but you have to learn to watch without bias and know when your original call may be wrong.

 

[Slattery_20]

Fletch's first two kicks were turnovers IIRC.

 

[Childish Gambino]

Stantons first two were smothered.

Players will make mistakes.

 

[Shane Hird]

Pears is not fit so there is no point having a discussion about it.

I thought Myers played well, made no more mistakes with the ball than any number of players in the side.
What was his worst moment ?

You need to take the blinkers off IMO , Myers is going along ok and should get a good run over the next 10 weeks or so.

The problem is you use the word "hate", way too strong of an emotion if you want to end up good at rating players.

I never rated Jetta or Zaka before we drafted them but you have to learn to watch without bias and know when your original call may be wrong.

Mate, I know you mean well, but now it looks like you're informing people on the ways of how to be a good judge of a draft pick...?

And btw, how could you see Jetta play and rate him when he was playing his pre-draft season in the WAFL...in W.A..?

Highlights packages don't always tell the true story.

 

[Blind Turn]

Mate, I know you mean well, but now it looks like you're informing people on the ways of how to be a good judge of a draft pick...?

And btw, how could you see Jetta play and rate him when he was playing his pre-draft season in the WAFL...in W.A..?

Highlights packages don't always tell the true story.

I have to say it came across as being a bit sanctimonious Ant.