Autopsy "The Flu Game" - Bulldogs dismantle Freo

[geoffjennings79]

As I pointed out in the Pieman thread its harder to defend against a side that has six serious goalscoring candidates. It's like whack-a-mole. Keep one quiet and somebody else has a productive day.

Those six average from 1.3 goals a game (West) up to over 2 goals a game. We are the second highest scoring side in the league. Swans average 104. Us 95.

Over the years the biggest (perhaps the only) knock on Bont's game has been his inability to hurt the opposition on the scoreboard. That has changed this year. He has averaged over 1.5 goals a game so far. In fact he's pushing up to almost a goal a game over his career now with 222 goals from 230 games. He is 18th on the Footscray/WB all time list.

Here's the list of players who have kicked 200 goals or more, sorted by average goals per game.
Naughton's going OK for a KPD. Take out his first season (when he did in fact play in defence) and he's averaging 1.82 goals a game.

View attachment 2020773

Great post dw.

Slightly off-topic, and agree with your post, but Morrison in particular played the latter part of his career in defence (after becoming the first Bulldog to kick double figures in a game), and I know you're aware of these and not relevant to your point (or trying to pick holes in it), but Sandilands and Whitten also played large chunks as youngsters in defence, and even Grant (and briefly Quinlan) played CHB. Norm Ware conversely almost exclusively rucked the early part of his career, then played forward later when Olliver took on that mantle. And Arthur himself had to plug holes everywhere as captain coach as well.
So commendable for all those guys to be so high in career goals, let alone averages per game.

I think it ultimately just shows that the cream always rises to the top!

 

[weltschmerz]

As I pointed out in the Pieman thread its harder to defend against a side that has six serious goalscoring candidates. It's like whack-a-mole. Keep one quiet and somebody else has a productive day.

Those six average from 1.3 goals a game (West) up to over 2 goals a game. We are the second highest scoring side in the league. Swans average 104. Us 95.

Over the years the biggest (perhaps the only) knock on Bont's game has been his inability to hurt the opposition on the scoreboard. That has changed this year. He has averaged over 1.5 goals a game so far. In fact he's pushing up to almost a goal a game over his career now with 222 goals from 230 games. He is 18th on the Footscray/WB all time list.

Here's the list of players who have kicked 200 goals or more, sorted by average goals per game.
Naughton's going OK for a KPD. Take out his first season (when he did in fact play in defence) and he's averaging 1.82 goals a game.

View attachment 2020773

Plus one thing about Naughton is he’s not the guy to kick a bag then be quiet for a couple of games then kick a bag then be quiet for a couple of games. He consistently scores a goal or two while also setting up teammates. Doesn’t really have weeks where he goes missing.

 

[Chicago1]

So this is how it feels the day after going to a win! Mahhhhvelous!



On SM-A135F using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[Dannnnnnnnnn]

Can we all chip in to buy Liam Jones

19

Liam Jones

Age

33

Ht

199cm

Wt

98kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

9.4

2star

K

6.5

3star

HB

2.9

3star

M

4.3

4star

T

2.0

4star

MG

134.5

2star

D

7.6

2star

K

6.1

3star

HB

1.4

1star

M

4.1

4star

T

1.4

2star

MG

116.3

2star

D

9.4

3star

K

7.4

3star

HB

2.0

2star

M

4.0

4star

T

2.2

4star

a new pair of boots with longer studs? I reckon him falling over has been directly responsible for 20 goals against this season. Two yesterday alone! Get the man some new boots

 

[MrChristo]

So here's an interesting table that illustrates something that may not be readily apparent

View attachment 2021063

Two of the biggest whipping boys on this site have at least one thing in common (on yesterday's stats anyway). 75% or more of their disposals are score involvements or part of a scoring chain. 3rd best is 64% and only 6 players exceed 50%.

If we're looking for indicators as to why some players continue to be selected this may be one of them.

That's not to say they can't improve in a number of areas, including volume possibly, but they seem to be part of our scoring.

Not arguing (I definitely don't see Gallagher as a whipping boy either btw...)
...but just 6 disposals, only 4 effective...with 3 Turnovers??

Are we sure those 5 SI's were all ours?

Can (at least) 2 of 3 TO's lead to scores? (And if so, can that be a good thing? Not exactly how it was drawn up, I suspect... )

 

[Dogs_R_Us]

Liam Jones is also critically underrated by the wider AFL community.

I don't think he is quite at AA level, but he is pretty close to it and gets no buzz from anywhere.

Commentators generally give him the praise he deserves.

 

[Next Waiting]

Not arguing (I definitely don't see Gallagher as a whipping boy either btw...)
...but just 6 disposals, only 4 effective...with 3 Turnovers??

Are we sure those 5 SI's were all ours?

Can (at least) 2 of 3 TO's lead to scores? (And if so, can that be a good thing? Not exactly how it was drawn up, I suspect... )

Gallagher is an interesting one. Intuitively I want to say that his turnovers are expensive. But when he's not turning it over, his contribution to our scoring is significant.

So the challenge with and for him is to eliminate the turnovers and increase disposal efficiency. Hard to know how the net effect works out at this point with points contributed to and points (via turnover) contributed against but there's something to work with at the very least.

I also noted that in the tracker, he was Top 3 across all players for Distance Covered at High Speed, Maximum Speed and Average Speed ...... Top 4 for Total Sprints and ...... Top 5 for Attacking Workrate.

He featured in the top 5 of 5 out of the 8 categories that they measure.

 

[Testekill]

Has anyone mentioned Cody? What a spark he gives the team. Everyone sits forward when he's near the ball, expecting something good to happen. He's into everything with his persistence and determination, a real crowd favourite. Reminds me of the early days of Dahlhaus.

Even an underdone Cody is still good for at least a goal a game, he's a player that provides so much x factor out there and the opposition defenders are always having to stay aware of him.

 

[_Mike_]

Bont has to be in contention for a charlie this year.

 

[_Mike_]

Can we all chip in to buy Liam Jones a new pair of boots with longer studs? I reckon him falling over has been directly responsible for 20 goals against this season. Two yesterday alone! Get the man some new boots

Without Jones the backline would be a disaster. Unfortunately Keathy is injury plagued, Khamis isnt there yet & neither are O'Donnell, Gardner and Buss (because he isnt getting selected)

 

[ScragCity]

A lot of Gallagher's kicks seem to be hacking it forward from a contest so it's no surprise half or more of those end up in opposition hands. I don't think that's a bad thing though, per se. Maybe if he handballs all of those to an under-pressure team mate, his Disposal Efficiency looks better but his net impact on the team is worse.

 

[BrisDog]

Bont has to be in contention for a charlie this year.

Hopefully the team can win enough games for him so he can indulge on 3 votes rather than the obligatory 2 votes in a losing team.

 

[Golden_6]

Bont has to be in contention for a charlie this year.

We’ve seen that it only takes one other player to take it away from him.

Heeney has been unbelievable. The only hope is that Warner’s recent form is enough for them to split the votes and give Bont a chance.

 

[Next Waiting]

A lot of Gallagher's kicks seem to be hacking it forward from a contest so it's no surprise half or more of those end up in opposition hands. I don't think that's a bad thing though, per se. Maybe if he handballs all of those to an under-pressure team mate, his Disposal Efficiency looks better but his net impact on the team is worse.

Likely a valid point. Especially if he's kicking to a contest in fwd 50 and we're locking it in rather than dishing off a handball to a team mate in midfield who then gets tackled and/or dispossessed.

His kick to handball ratio yesterday was 5:1. The median was 2:1. Only Jones (7) and JOD (6.5) had a higher ratio.

 

[JTCWBFC]

Just watched the replay.

On closer watch, biggest different for me was the shorter, low kicks going inside 50.

Not sure if this is a by product of only playing JUH & Lobb rather than JUH, Naughton & Darcy but it looked way better.

 

[DexterTan]

Is SackofBalls still active? Bont's freak goal deserves the Octocall treatment.

 

[grassman75]

Bontella?

Sounds like a chocolate spread

 

[King Harold]

Hope they sit Tim down and make him watch the first half.
His ruck work at times is literally uncompetitive.
He just has to be more combative, but I fear it’s just not in him.

 

[Angak]

Hope they sit Tim down and make him watch the first half.
His ruck work at times is literally uncompetitive.
He just has to be more combative, but I fear it’s just not in him.

It's just him. Not going to change at this stage.

 

[ScragCity]

It's just him. Not going to change at this stage.

No; I think one conversation, in which a coach tells him that he needs to go harder, will change his entire personality and play style overnight.

 

[Munnez]

I wonder what Buss isnt doing at VFL level for them to play Buku ahead of him. Buku is completely lost down back at AFL level. his intercept marking is his only trick, doesnt use his athleticism at all when ball hits the ground

If he doesn't play in the Norf game can only presume the Club knows that Buss is gone. And don't wish to compromise his trade value if he gets touched up at the level. A witches hat wouldn't have been much worse than Buku's last performance

 

[King Harold]

It's just him. Not going to change at this stage.

Watching the replay , you see it close up and it’s not pretty.
Makes it tough for our very talented midfield.

 

[Lindsay_Gilbee]

OK after a few celebratory drinks I am going on a limb here. But I have to say the following. Nobody has mentioned Freijah on this thread to date. But at 18 years of age, the way he plays in defence, he looks great. So I am going to say that he will be the next Dale Morris. He was great today. I hope I am right!!!

This is a massive call, but he moves and defends like Corey Enright. Hopefully he’s half as good.

 

[Munnez]

Even an underdone Cody is still good for at least a goal a game, he's a player that provides so much x factor out there and the opposition defenders are always having to stay aware of him.

Has the capability to bang on goals quickly if you don't mind him closely. Drags a defender away which helps to open up space in the Forward 50

 

[Iamspock]

Bont has to be in contention for a charlie this year.

Well apparently, you only need to get about 7 possessions to get 3 votes, so he should be a monty for it