Toast Round 2 = Western Bulldogs 70-76 Collingwood

[Pistol Night]

If any modern day forward is a chance of kicking 100 in a season, it’s Sam Darcy

Reckon he might do it one day

No one will again. The way they all push up the ground now 75 is the new 100

 

[Pistol Night]

We won the free kicks. I'm willing to let that horrendous call go....

Never. Should be 40-10 our way to make their heads all explode.

 

[Drought Break]

You can't see everything from the stands, but at the ground we looked soft.


Thought Naicos, Schultz, Howe and Maynard were good and Sidebottom at the end.

Don't think I've seen a worse disposal game than that one from McStay. He was horrific. That kick at the end, to go back into the middle was absurd. And one thing I worry about is Mihocek plays on and makes us quicker. McStay slows us down too often if he is not kicking for goal.

You would be forgiven for thinking mcstay had a large bet on the dogs. He owes schultz a pint or 2 for that pull the trigger burner in last few minutes. Kicking to our smallest player in a 2 on 1 and Schultz saved his arse. Not to mention the other 3 or 4 goals he butchered.

 

[Kes1984]

Shoota.

Poor bloke needs some love!

 

[Kes1984]

Best game of his career at the Pies. Feel like he's now settling in, and his confidence is building. Great to see him hit the scoreboard, and lay another 7 tackles last night. He just runs himself into the ground each game with his defensive, high pressure efforts....

Fly loves him. His teammates do. They’ve always seen his value.

He’s been fantastic past two weeks. Hope fans start appreciating him too.

 

[Ugene41]

Credit to Darcy Moore for his second half efforts. Sam Darcy was taking mark‘s that even Matthew Scarlet wouldn’t have been able tostop.
When he kicked his third goal in the second quarter the commentator suggested that Darcy Moore sagged off a bit but if you look at the vision he had Naughton close to the Gold Square and Darcy in front of him and he was stuck between them both which is what can happen in a zone defence.
I thought Darcy Moore did an amazing job in the second half to keep Sam Darcy to only a small amount of posessions in the forward 50.
Sam Darcy is now a monster. He’s going to have some big days against a lot of sides who won’t be able to do a thing about it.

I think Sam Darcy is someone who needs a defender that constantly bodies him and blocks his runs etc. That's not Moore. With S Darcy's height and ability to mark the ball at the highest point, you'll never be able to out jump him.

I do think Moore made that change in the second half but it doesn't come naturally to him

 

[Cousin of Daicos]

You would be forgiven for thinking mcstay had a large bet on the dogs. He owes schultz a pint or 2 for that pull the trigger burner in last few minutes. Kicking to our smallest player in a 2 on 1 and Schultz saved his arse. Not to mention the other 3 or 4 goals he butchered.

Holy shit we said the same thing leaving the ground

“Have to wonder if a betting scandal will come out of this game discovering McStay had money on the Dogs”

He was really truly deplorable and I blame that miss just before half time for completely ruining every shred of his confidence

 

[Kes1984]

Holy shit we said the same thing leaving the ground

“Have to wonder if a betting scandal will come out of this game discovering McStay had money on the Dogs”

He was really truly deplorable and I blame that miss just before half time for completely ruining every shred of his confidence

I did a comment in the game day thread saying this too.

Said McStay has money in dogs and you can’t convince me otherwise. (Joking of course for those who can’t discern such things)

He had a shocker. Few brain fades. Nothing much went right for him.

 

[gouki88]

Holy shit we said the same thing leaving the ground

“Have to wonder if a betting scandal will come out of this game discovering McStay had money on the Dogs”

He was really truly deplorable and I blame that miss just before half time for completely ruining every shred of his confidence

He kicked poorly in general, but he still had 4 scoring shots, 14 disposals, 5 marks, 4 I50s (even if one was directly to WB) and 5 score involvements. If he kicks 3.1, which he should have, it’s a big game

 

[Piesinmyeyes]

I did a comment in the game day thread saying this too.

Said McStay has money in dogs and you can’t convince me otherwise. (Joking of course for those who can’t discern such things)

He had a shocker. Few brain fades. Nothing much went right for him.

It was frustrating.
Love his attack on the ball, though I don’t think he has the natural footy smarts like some other forwards.
Attitude was great, decision making questionable.

 

[stormskye]

He kicked poorly in general, but he still had 4 scoring shots, 14 disposals, 5 marks, 4 I50s (even if one was directly to WB) and 5 score involvements. If he kicks 3.1, which he should have, it’s a big game

Exactly. People are acting like he played like curnow. He was heavily involved, just had a mare with decision making and execution

 

[JuniorB]

This time last season we were 0-3 with a percentage of 74, so this is much better.
Backing up last week's smashing with a grinding win against a side with a lot to play for was great, despite not playing particularly well overall.
We've had back to back 6 day breaks, so running out last night's game was a good sign.
Next up, the scum in a couple of weeks.
Go Pies!!

 

[stormskye]

A undermanned doggies at the G you’d expect a 5 goal + win. Aside from poor kicking we got that. They are a bloody good team and will only get better with the players missing. Full strength they are def top 4 material.

Two generational kids on display in nick and Darcy. Darcy is going to kick bags on anyone.

I can’t wait to watch the dogs smash the blues next week

 

[Knoxy]

I love our big games but maybe just on occasion if we couldn’t play clubs when they have something to play for that would be great

They're playing against us. They always have something to play for.

 

[caloschwaby]

100th anniversary might of had a little bit to do it it to but I agree teams definitely lift when they play us

Was the biggest crowd a Footscray/WB side has ever played in front of outside of finals, they had to rock up for an occasion like that

 

[barrackers]

Moore battled manfully, but it showed how much we miss Murphy. His closing speed to be the third man at the contest would have been damn handy against Darcy.

 

[Pleasedontfail11]

Moore battled manfully, but it showed how much we miss Murphy. His closing speed to be the third man at the contest would have been damn handy against Darcy.

A lot of Darcy's marks were a 209cm bloke with his arms out stretched jumping in the air. Murphy at 193cm wasn't going to bridge that 16cm gap, even 3rd man up.

 

[No SPIN]

So

Yeah the Pies kryptonite last few years was the rebound off the back that gets through Pies wall which usually leads to a two on one at the opponents inside 50.... Pies fixed that in the 2023 finals by moving back a bit and having quick defenders push back more.

This season, the weakness is now clearly running with the ball rather than kicking long from back 50. Literally opponents if they can breach the Pies wall between the forward 50 and centre square means a 40m run with little resistance due to lack of speed.... a fast team like Hawks would score 20 goals by half time if Pies don't adjust against them.

Ess and Carlton showed that pressuring the kicker stops the Hawks run. Pressure is our ONE Wood, so I think we’ll be fine.

 

[Piestid]

Howe last night made me realize he doesn't have an immediate replacement, especially with Reef out over a year. Howe's veteran calmness and poise under pressure is essential for a dependable backline. Howe is even more stable than Moore a lot of times.

It means Frampton comes back in, but one of the midsize youngsters may need to be bloodied as a defender to help with Howe taking rests and breaks.

The only times Darcy didn’t seem to mark everything was when Moore checked him to a degree and Howey spoiled. Howe had a great game. Jeez he’s still got a leap on him!

 

[Doc1763]

43 and 2 goals is par for Nick now

Still no contested marks though.........
.

 

[Anzacday]

one arm free was the reason - but it was tough

Sam Darcy actually wrapped his leg over Darcy’s leg so he couldn’t kick even if he tried!
Very harsh HTB in my opinion.

 

[JuniorB]

A lot of Darcy's marks were a 209cm bloke with his arms out stretched jumping in the air. Murphy at 193cm wasn't going to bridge that 16cm gap, even 3rd man up.

Sam Darcy is going to cause defenders plenty of headaches for a decade.
You can see why GWS bid on him rather than Nick, because they already had a strong midfield brigade.

 

[Doc1763]

Sam Darcy actually wrapped his leg over Darcy’s leg so he couldn’t kick even if he tried!
Very harsh HTB in my opinion.

There was no prior opportunity at all.

 

[PonsfordMagpie]

Big relief to win. Nearly kicked ourselves out of it with some of our poor kicking for goal. McStay in particular had a very poor night and looked rattled after the late second quarter miss.

Dogs were always going to perform for their 100th anniversary match, so we did well to absorb their early blows when they kicked the first three goals of the match.

Schultz was fantastic. He's been a whipping boy in the past 12 months, but last night he was excellent. Looks like he's finally starting to settle into the team and is growing in confidence.

Reef sustaining what's likely to be an ACL injury is a sour note of the night. Very unfortunate given he was starting to nail down a spot in defence. I think Frampton is his likely replacement.

Good opportunity to now regroup and refresh in the week off and comeback roaring against Carlton in Round 4.

 

[No SPIN]

Howe last night made me realize he doesn't have an immediate replacement, especially with Reef out over a year. Howe's veteran calmness and poise under pressure is essential for a dependable backline. Howe is even more stable than Moore a lot of times.

It means Frampton comes back in, but one of the midsize youngsters may need to be bloodied as a defender to help with Howe taking rests and breaks.

My pick is Ryan.