Preview Round 8, 2024 : Bulldogs v Hawks, 4pm 5th May, Marvel Stadium

[Bedi]

Never been surer of a Hawthorn loss, so the way my tipping is going, Hawks by 11.

 

[Bedi]

It must be so disheartening to be a half back or a midfielder and look up under pressure and see no aerial presence. The team crying out for a bloke to compete in the air, take a mark, bring the ball to ground or at a minimum force a stoppage.

Forst has been our best performed down the spine, Scrimshaw has been solid punching above his weight. Meek is competing and getting better.

Surley the best runner at the club (Weddle) or the best mark (Sicily) could be used on a wing. If you are not prepared to play them forward while we have a pleathea of options injured.

Throw Nash 197cm down back if you have to release someone.

If we didn't have any KPD replacement I wouldn't mind Sicily on the wing as a short term linking solution

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

Kind of irrelevant but Connor MacDonald has played every possible game so far in his career. Never been dropped, never been injured, never been suspended. 48/48.

Amazing alternative fact.

 

[Strebi3]

You’d like to think we are going to have a very unique gameplan based on selection. Dogs are going to smash us in the air so when we have ball in hand we must find link up handballs and scrub it into our smalls because I just don’t see how we are meant to compete otherwise.

 

[Nugett]

Pretty sure someone in here said that he was okay but IMO if he's not tagging someone (which is obviously his strength) then he shouldn't play. Pretty sure Libba who's a clearance / hardball get master shakes a tag pretty well and with Bont splitting his time mid / fwd a tagger might not be needed. A late change for Ramma would be ideal and would balance out the team better than what it is atm.

I thought Finn played reasonably well as a defensive forward in the Suns game. Kicked 4 goals, was presenting well and took some strong marks.

His game was one of the few highlights from that match. I would like to see some more of Finn in the forward half, to see if he can play that role consistently. Where he can apply pressure to the opposition backs, while also presenting as a target.

 

[FB19]

Amazing alternative fact.

He’s right though. Cmac has played every game he has been selected in, 48/48!

 

[mustang]

The Doggies backline:
199cm - Jones
197cm - O'Donnell
191cm - Khamis

Our forward line:
195cm - Dear
193cm - Gunston
189cm - Maginess (assuming he plays there)

Their forward line:
208cm - Darcy
197cm - JUH
196cm - Naughton

Our backline:
194cm - Frost
194cm - Scrimshaw
191cm - Weddle
188cm - Sicily

Probably lucky they dropped Lobb, who has feasted on our backline previously. We don't have the height to match them either forward or back.

Weddle probably has to play on JUH, which could be a good battle. But I'd have liked to see Phillips picked, so we could maybe play Weddle up forward.

Darcy is going to to kick a bag

 

[Siri]

You’d like to think we are going to have a very unique gameplan based on selection. Dogs are going to smash us in the air so when we have ball in hand we must find link up handballs and scrub it into our smalls because I just don’t see how we are meant to compete otherwise.

Herein lies the dilemma. Our skills have been deplorable all year & we haven't been able to execute Mitchell's Plan A. We've also shown no evidence that we have a Plan B when teams get a run on. Leaves me with zero confidence that they'll deliver a Plan C.

 

[Sixpence]

He’s right though. Cmac has played every game he has been selected in, 48/48!

To be fair, that's more than can be said for Connor Downie!

 

[Billyc]

Can’t believe they dropped Lobb. Playing Hawthorn once or twice a year is the reason he has stayed in the system for 10 years.

 

[Franko Armani]

Good luck to the young kids on Sunday. Looking at the team though it’s just a 22 of average to poor really isn’t it . Coach can’t be mad though after we’ve been absolutely belted.

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

Herein lies the dilemma. Our skills have been deplorable all year & we haven't been able to execute Mitchell's Plan A. We've also shown no evidence that we have a Plan B when teams get a run on. Leaves me with zero confidence that they'll deliver a Plan C.

Of course we have plan B & C, its execution and consistency that is the issue.

As an example it’s quite literally why Sam tore into Scrim last week, as he’d not followed the plan for late in the first quarter.

 

[Yardie]

Good luck to the young kids on Sunday. Looking at the team though it’s just a 22 of average to poor really isn’t it . Coach can’t be mad though after we’ve been absolutely belted.

Just to be clear, you are saying that no player taking the field this week, at the moment, is better than average........

 

[burner1]

You’d like to think we are going to have a very unique gameplan based on selection. Dogs are going to smash us in the air so when we have ball in hand we must find link up handballs and scrub it into our smalls because I just don’t see how we are meant to compete otherwise.

Let’s see what we put out tomorrow (and if it works) but does feel at times like we may be trying too many things for a relatively young and inexperienced group.

 

[barbster]

Of course we have plan B & C, its execution and consistency that is the issue.

As an example it’s quite literally why Sam tore into Scrim last week, as he’d not followed the plan for late in the first quarter.

What was Scrim to do? Kick it backwards, like the Melbourne game plan. Or just bomb it up the wing like Impey had a few seconds earlier, hoping this time a Sydney player would not end up with it.
Scrim’s kick was near on perfection to Ginnivan who dropped the mark, even then Amon was at his feet and got the crumb but unfortunately was unable to dispose of the ball.
If Mitchell was to go off at any one player it should have been Chol for the reversal of the goal.

 

[Siri]

Of course we have plan B & C, its execution and consistency that is the issue.

As an example it’s quite literally why Sam tore into Scrim last week, as he’d not followed the plan for late in the first quarter.

Fair point. You can have plans A .... Z, but they're like **** on a bull if you can't execute them. Which we haven't thus far. Perhaps that's my point, I doubt we'll have the execution & consistency to abide by a plan catered for a small forward line.

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

What was Scrim to do? Kick it backwards, like the Melbourne game plan. Or just bomb it up the wing like Impey had a few seconds earlier, hoping this time a Sydney player would not end up with it.
Scrim’s kick was near on perfection to Ginnivan who dropped the mark, even then Amon was at his feet and got the crumb but unfortunately was unable to dispose of the ball.
If Mitchell was to go off at any one player it should have been Chol for the reversal of the goal.

It wasn’t near perfection, he centered the ball to a 50/50 contest.

The direction was clearly to play safe up the boundary line in red time, and Scrim did the opposite.

 

[barbster]

Just to be clear, you are saying that no player taking the field this week, at the moment, is better than average........

Which players are having a better than average season? We are 1-6

 

[Judd2Sewell]

Which players are having a better than average season? We are 1-6

Scrimshaw, Moore, Frost, Ginnivan, Mitchell, and Meek have all been better than expected.

You could possibly add Impey to that list and Mackenzie and Weddle are improving too.

Obviously this is nowhere near enough though.

 

[Yardie]

Which players are having a better than average season? We are 1-6

I think the implication is that the list is no better than average.

But to your point I'd say Frost and Scrimshaw are playing better than average. I'm sure there are more.

 

[barbster]

Scrimshaw, Moore, Frost, Ginnivan, Mitchell, and Meek have all been better than expected.

You could possibly add Impey to that list and Mackenzie and Weddle are improving too.

Obviously this is nowhere near enough though.

Average in comparison to all AFL teams not to their usual performance. Out of those players, probably only Moore and possible Scrimshaw would get a game with the top teams.

 

[HoldingThe Ball]

If anyone is coming in from the West - no Sunbury / Watergardens trains running.

V-Line or catch the Werribee line at Footscray.

Buses running instead of Metro trains.

 

[Suntory Boss Coffee]

Buses replace trains between Ringwood and Burnley too.

Living on the Lilydale line will end me

 

[perrdan86]

What was Scrim to do? Kick it backwards, like the Melbourne game plan. Or just bomb it up the wing like Impey had a few seconds earlier, hoping this time a Sydney player would not end up with it.
Scrim’s kick was near on perfection to Ginnivan who dropped the mark, even then Amon was at his feet and got the crumb but unfortunately was unable to dispose of the ball.
If Mitchell was to go off at any one player it should have been Chol for the reversal of the goal.

Long down the line force the ball over the line for a throw in, or kill the ball for a ball up... Not a kick to a 50/50 contest in the corridor where the ball can be quickly rebounded back into the fwd line...

 

[Noel Gallagher]

Of course we have plan B & C, its execution and consistency that is the issue.

As an example it’s quite literally why Sam tore into Scrim last week, as he’d not followed the plan for late in the first quarter.

I still find the Scrimshaw spray last week astonishing. One of the few players who has stood up this year yet in the same game, dumbass Chol gives away a stupid free which cost Hardwick a goal and a week on the side lines. If anyone deserved a public spray it was Chol not Scrimshaw

Mitchell has a long way to go to prove he is the right coach to take us through this rebuild

Last weeks spray, several questionable starting sub decisions, and team that is playing soft as butter has him on shaky ground, needs to do better