Autopsy Round 1, 2021 = Pies 53-69 Dogs

[Scritchyscroony]

Moore could dye his hair pink and I’d think it’s ok. Seriously, with the footballer he’s become, he can pretty much do anything and I’d be happy.

Young Dakes on the other hand, has fallen for the retro 80s look. It’s spreading with Covid-like speed through AFL ranks. I can’t see an end in sight.

I really don't get the mullet thing. It's not like it's quirky or retro or cute... it's just dirty and ugly and gives me nightmares about bullies from High School.

Moore looks dashing though. Big thumbs up from me.

 

[Silky23]

Grundy had 10 hit-outs directly sharked by the opposition.

He's our $1m man - yes our midfield is average, but he's the barometer. And was tonight again an unmitigated disaster.

Sharked by the opposition because our midfielders are second to the ball, simple as that. Grundy’s hit zones won’t differ much and won’t be far from the drop of the ball so I’m not sure why this is an alarming stat if you’re trying to rubbish Brodie Grundy. He can’t tell the mids where to stand or see where anyone is when his eyes are at the footy, all you hear is voices as a ruckman. You cannot say the disaster is a $1 million issue because it clearly is not. This has been happening for the best part of 3 years now.

 

[Tarkyn_24]

Disappointing to get jumped early and essentially lose by the margin we trailed by 4 minutes into the game. I could rant and rave and analyse why, but at the end of the day it looks as though we're set for more of the same in 2021. Our backline will continue to be the anchor of the side, while our forward line will ultimately be our downfall. Never gonna win a game of footy when you get comprehensively beaten in disposals, inside 50's and contested possessions. Here's how I saw it:

Darcy Moore - Outstanding. Without him tonight, we lose by 6-7 goals easily. I hope opposition supporters who have done nothing but give him sh*t finally pull their heads in.

Brayden Maynard - Always give it his all, can hold his head up tonight.

Scott Pendlebury - Good without being great. These are the sort of games I expect from Pendles to round out his career. It's time for someone to step up so we don't need to rely on him to get 30+ every week.

John Noble - Started off really well. Probably got a bit quiet through the middle patch but finished strong.

Jack Crisp - Sort of crept up on me stats wise. Solid contribution.

Jeremy Howe - Another who was good without being great. Hopefully builds into the season and continues to control the airways with Darcy.

Jack Madgen - Not a fan, but he wasn't our worst. 19 disposals is tidy, there's just something about him that doesn't get it done for me.

Brodie Grundy - I love Brodie, but he seems to have lost his fire. Doesn't seem to have that same aggression that saw him hit massive heights in 2018.

Jordan De Goey - Surprised a little bit by the sort of game he played. If he converted, he would've finished with 16 disposals and 3 goals, but that's still not maximising his full potential imo. I think we need to be aiming for him to have 25+ disposals as a mid every game because he makes things happen and he makes the opposition react. Just wish we had two of him.

Mason Cox - Think people need to get over hating him tbh. Probably gets man handled a little bit too much (eg. Bailey Williams is giving away 25cm and Coxy still isn't clunking them), but he's far from our biggest worry in that forward line.

Brodie Mihocek - Just works all day, up and down, left and right. Like Cox, definitely isn't our biggest worry up front.

Jordan Roughead - Roughy just does Roughy things. Like any good full back, he's no frills, and just goes about his business.

Isaac Quaynor - Still learning, wasn't terrible.

Jamie Elliott - Felt like he did more than he did. Seems lively in comparison to our other small forwards, but still sometimes leaves a bit to be desired.

Tyler Brown - Stats say he had 13 disposals, I barely noticed him and would've guess he had no more than 10.

Josh Thomas - Just strikes me as a guy who is so desperate to stay in the side that he's more interested in padding his stats. Had some pretty ordinary moments that cost goals against and sent opportunities begging.

Will Hoskin Elliott - Hasn't looked threatening since 2018. Got absolutely no answers and goes missing far too often.

Taylor Adams - Way under what we need from him. Given the Bulldogs plethora of star mids, it was always gonna be hard. Made even harder by the attention he copped.

Brayden Sier - Genuinely wonder if he's got the passion to make it at the level. I haven't given up hope yet, but time is running out.

Josh Daicos - Now this one stunned me. Has a breakout year as a wingman, spends most of Round 1 wasting away in the forward line. I'm gonna put this down to Bucks identifying that our small forwards are witches hats and was hoping someone with Daics' talent might be able to spark something.

Trey Ruscoe - Not much to say really. I can't help but feel that this is a bit Rusling 2.0, minus the injury ravaged career.

Ollie Henry - I won't go after him, it's great for him to debut in Round 1 of his first season on a list, but we essentially played a man down by playing him. He looked out of his depth in the pre-season game, looked it again tonight.

Rusling was a very promising, proven and capable lead up forward with some traits that promised the potential for him to be an out and out gun. That Ruscoe comparison could not possibly be worse. That’s a huge insult to Sean

 

[loki04]

if it isnt it will be very soon

I reckon next year it will be in full swing. Club went into this year thinking its a genuine chance.

A proper rebuild will see a few faves gone and more kids get games where they likely wouldnt.

A bit like how pendles Thomas H.lumumba Dawes reid brown beams sidey Weller's etc all came in together over a couple seasons in batches etc

 

[danielnajdek]

Tonight
HO’s +27
Clearances -6
CP’s -25

2020 SF
HO’s +18
Clearances -13
CP’s -22

2019 PF
HO’s +62
Clearances -19
CP’s -16

2018 GF
HO’s +28
Clearances +5
CP’s +3

It’s a recurrent theme, I know I’ve hand picked these games but these are the most important 3 games we’ve played in each of the last 3 seasons and given the absolute HO dominance and ascendancy we’ve had look at the Clearance and CP’s numbers we bring up too. If Adams isn’t winning us a clearances, who the fu** is? We legit have nobody. It’s pathetic. We always blame our forwards, but honestly, if we can’t win it at the coal face and give our forwards a chance 1 on 1 then what’s the point in complaining when we pump it in there when teams have had time to flood back and help with numbers. Grundy was colossus in 2018/19 so I’m honestly asking you, yes he has a role to play but to constantly flag him as the million dollar issue is bullshit. Why not start having a crack at our midfield group as a whole. I cannot remember the last time we played a top team and won that wasn’t because of our defence. Our mids are reactive and soft as butter, they always play outside to their opponent and expect Grundy to hit it over the top. He hasn’t done that in years and he’s no NN so why do they continue to do it?

Stop making excused for Brodie. He was shit last year and has begun this year shit as well.

 

[Scritchyscroony]

You didn't see Rape of Nanjing either but can still conclude it wasn't much fun.

probably depends which side is telling the story

 

[Leviathan Pie]

Sharked by the opposition because our midfielders are second to the ball, simple as that. Grundy’s hit zones won’t differ much and won’t be far from the drop of the ball so I’m not sure why this is an alarming stat if you’re trying to rubbish Brodie Grundy. He can’t tell the mids where to stand or see where anyone is when his eyes are at the footy, all you hear is voices as a ruckman.

So Grundy is not even partly responsible?

Again, he's our $1m commodity. After years, and years, working with the same midfield. There needs to be better cohesion. Surely its not just midfield....

 

[Leviathan Pie]

Stop making excused for Brodie. He was sh*t last year and has begun this year sh*t as well.

This.

 

[The Magnificent Seven]

So because someone doesn't think thats racist, you call them an idiot.

My goodness the left is a self-fulfilling prophecy.

I’m apolitical but all for decency. And honesty.

So because someone doesn't think thats racist, you call them an idiot.

My goodness the left is a self-fulfilling prophecy.

So because someone doesn't think thats racist, you call them an idiot.

My goodness the left is a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Yeah I do. Because they have not considered that perhaps it was and that they weren’t there to consider the situation first hand before they came to a conclusion.

I don’t even care which side of politics you prefer, it’s just about basic human interaction not a dogmatic approach to government.

 

[loki04]

Sharked by the opposition because our midfielders are second to the ball, simple as that. Grundy’s hit zones won’t differ much and won’t be far from the drop of the ball so I’m not sure why this is an alarming stat if you’re trying to rubbish Brodie Grundy. He can’t tell the mids where to stand or see where anyone is when his eyes are at the footy, all you hear is voices as a ruckman.

He taps too much inside the phone box it makes it predictable to opposition and easy to set to rove him.

He should be aiming to tap into space in multiple directions backing himself to won and the linking mid to get there first ( knowing its going their as you communicate and practice it).

Have a defensive mid and a mid who runs in close for loss or draws.

 

[danielnajdek]

This.

He brings up the HO to advantage stat but Brodie has been shit at that even when we made the GF. He taps to either no one or the opposition.

Also just saw footage where he was just walking around instead of running back in the D50. The guy was lazy tonight.

 

[Silky23]

So Grundy is not even partly responsible?

Again, he's our $1m commodity. After years, and years, working with the same midfield. There needs to be better cohesion. Surely its not just midfield....

Absolutely he is responsible. But everyone is acting as if this is only recent, this type of midfield shit gets coughed up every week and has for years. It’s only getting the light of day now and shone on Grundy because his individual performances are down but the product of that is not all his fault which some people are claiming to be. Grundy has and always will be a physical ruck, he’s not a super athletic type that will jump over guys. He will over time grind and wear an opponent down, tonight he came up against a tough two headed monster. Doesn’t help his own form when his two best mid mates tonight were absolute dog shit.

 

[nahnah]

I reckon next year it will be in full swing. Club went into this year thinking its a genuine chance.

A proper rebuild will see a few faves gone and more kids get games where they likely wouldnt.

A bit like how pendles Thomas H.lumumba Dawes reid brown beams sidey Weller's etc all came in together over a couple seasons in batches etc

personally to me getting rid of 12 senior players and replacing them all with draft picks indicates rebuild and I do hope we fully commit that route because we are well and truly on the slide regardless. Whether we have enough talented kids to actually give games to atm is another question though. Unless the salary cap increases a lot the Grundy contract is going to be a long term issue.

 

[The Magnificent Seven]

You didn't see Rape of Nanjing either but can still conclude it wasn't much fun.

Oh so you’re essentially saying you take me at my word then? Good for you

 

[Leviathan Pie]

He brings up the HO to advantage stat but Brodie has been sh*t at that even when we made the GF. He taps to either no one or the opposition.

Also just saw footage where he was just walking around instead of running back in the D50. The guy was lazy tonight.

His contract is going to be a killer. Not even close to being commensurate value.

 

[danielnajdek]

His contract is going to be a killer. Not even close to being commensurate value.

I hated his contract when it was announced.

You never give anyone a 7 year contract. The million dollars is the nail in the coffin.

 

[swoop42]

Our forward line has to be close to the worst in the competition when it comes to defensive pressure, laying tackles and causing repeated stoppages inside our f50.

It killed us last year and on the evidence of tonight will do so again.

Thomas one of the biggest offenders again with zero credited tackles and a number of selfish moments.

 

[Silky23]

He brings up the HO to advantage stat but Brodie has been sh*t at that even when we made the GF. He taps to either no one or the opposition.

Also just saw footage where he was just walking around instead of running back in the D50. The guy was lazy tonight.

This is where I find some comments on this forum bewildering.
Is Brodie meant to have eyes all around his head telling him where to hit the ball precisely, and is he then meant to jump into the legs of his teammates to saddle into the position they’re required to be in? You do realise Grundy can only have eyes for the ball when it’s bounced at a CB or thrown in from a throw in? LOL
It’s purely our inability as a midfield to read where the ball is coming off his palm. That’s a skill in itself and the only guy it comes natural to in our whole team is Taylor Adams. Apart from that we may have accumulators and guys who try hard but none are naturally gifted at it. Watch Fyfe, or Cripps. They are fantastic and they know exactly where the ball is going at all times. To say Grundy is at fault for hitting it to ‘nobody’ is just ridiculous lmao

 

[Visions]

10 of Grundy's hit outs went to Bulldogs players.

10.

TEN!

He should try tapping it to opposition players on purpose. Will have more chance of hitting our players then.

Similar to most of the players when they try to so call pass the ball and hit up a team mate. Aiming for the opposition will remedy their shocking foot skills, will be more of a chance of hitting the proper targets.

Bucks gameplan of controlling the ball failed dismally today yet we still played a boring stale game. So much to look forward to for the rest of the year!

A few more performances like this and we will have no fans watching us play, and this time it will be by choice.

Was hopeful for a win against Carlton next week and finally overtaking them in the overall head to head clashes after decades of lagging behind. Looks like I will be waiting a while longer based on tonight.

 

[danielnajdek]

This is where I find some comments on this forum bewildering.
Is Brodie meant to have eyes all around his head telling him where to hit the ball precisely, and is he then meant to jump into the legs of his teammates to saddle into the position they’re required to be in?
It’s purely our inability as a midfield to read where the ball is coming off his palm. That’s a skill in itself and the only guy it comes natural to in our whole team is Taylor Adams. Apart from that we may have accumulators and guys who try hard but none are naturally gifted at it. Watch Fyfe, or Cripps. They are fantastic and they know exactly where the ball is going at all times. To say Grundy is at fault for hitting it to ‘nobody’ is just ridiculous lmao

When you have Pendles and Adams in the middle maybe just maybe tap it down their throat.

Is that too much to ask for?

 

[loki04]

I’m apolitical but all for decency. And honesty.


Yeah I do. Because they have not considered that perhaps it was and that they weren’t there to consider the situation first hand before they came to a conclusion.

I don’t even care which side of politics you prefer, it’s just about basic human interaction not a dogmatic approach to government.

Yes i did my first response before he posted more information was this,

Mate don't let a few w***ers ruin it for you, you are a top bloke and great to have on the boards id have a beer and watch the game with you anytime. Cheers legend.

Yeah went in really hard.

Maybe read the whole thing instead of coming in half cock3d.

 

[Tarkyn_24]

As terrible as our forwardline aside from Checkers, Cox and Elliott was, we were down 27 to 51 inside 50s when the little graphic popped up. Don’t know where we ended but the connection from half back forward of the ground is non-existent, and we’re going on three years now of it being like that.

That said, WHE is a disgrace. I’m completely and utterly done watching him in our jumper. I hate to pot a kid but I don’t see much in Ruscoe. Will admit the kid found himself in the right spot last year a fair bit more than expected but it just doesn’t really seem to be by design, and he offers nothing defensively to justify persisting if he doesn’t get the cheapies.

 

[Silky23]

When you have Pendles and Adams in the middle maybe just maybe tap it down their throat.

Is that too much to ask for?

Adams had 8 clearances tonight so not sure where your issue lies there, apart from that he was absolutely woeful (7 clangers)
He was double our next highest. As I said, he is the only guy who played tonight who is a good stoppage mid for us, nobody else it comes naturally to.
Dogs had Libba who is a great stoppage mid with 7, Bont had 5, Treloar had 5 as well.
In terms of CP’s numbers, only Pendles was in double figures. Dogs had 6 guys (Smith, Libba, Bont, Treloar, Dunkley and Stef) and that is where we ultimately lost the game LOL

 

[Tarkyn_24]

This is where I find some comments on this forum bewildering.
Is Brodie meant to have eyes all around his head telling him where to hit the ball precisely, and is he then meant to jump into the legs of his teammates to saddle into the position they’re required to be in? You do realise Grundy can only have eyes for the ball when it’s bounced at a CB or thrown in from a throw in? LOL
It’s purely our inability as a midfield to read where the ball is coming off his palm. That’s a skill in itself and the only guy it comes natural to in our whole team is Taylor Adams. Apart from that we may have accumulators and guys who try hard but none are naturally gifted at it. Watch Fyfe, or Cripps. They are fantastic and they know exactly where the ball is going at all times. To say Grundy is at fault for hitting it to ‘nobody’ is just ridiculous lmao

Anecdotal, but Cox doesn’t seem to have the same disconnect with the midfield that Grundy does, which is ludicrous when only one of the two is the full timer in the ruck.

That to me indicates that for all of our midfield’s structural flaws, it’s not them alone to be held accountable for how absolutely deplorable we are at converting Grundy hitout wins to meaningful advantage. Brodie definitely has to shoulder a lot of that blame.

 

[Silky23]

He taps too much inside the phone box it makes it predictable to opposition and easy to set to rove him.

He should be aiming to tap into space in multiple directions backing himself to won and the linking mid to get there first ( knowing its going their as you communicate and practice it).

Have a defensive mid and a mid who runs in close for loss or draws.

Knowing Buckley, wouldn’t put it past him to say to our mids to play it safe and not be expansive on hit zones as he doesn’t want us opened defensively if we were to lose a stoppage like that, hence the ball is constantly in the phone box area. Problem with that is unless Adams is at the coal face distributing out we are in trouble because we are second to the footy and we aren’t smart enough or talented enough around the ball to work out where it’s going next.