Autopsy Well, that happened vs Doggies

[Only Forwards]

We got opened up by a bulldogs VFL team, and had underdone players. We still couldn't get it done. We need some tough and hard leaders at our club, some true shinboners

It played out almost how I thought it would.

We played against a side that has a core of mature players that can go player in player out whereas we are still trying to learn how to football in a cohesive manner.

The only way out is through and there is more shit football to come.

I’m no where near as angry as I was at the start of the second when it appeared for all money that we were about to take a steaming dump on the jumper again.

Honourable losses aren’t enough. And we could have and perhaps should have won it but there is clearly a lack of mental fortitude to hit a game and push through all the way to the end against a side like that.

76 points turn around.

We’ve seen worse and we cannot be shit forever but as it stands today, we’re still shit.

 

[Aberration]

Thought the recruits were a bit disappointing.

Daniel wasn't exactly cutting them to ribbons with his kicking and Parker did some tough stuff but no real impact in the middle or forward.

Darling was probably the best of the 3.

 

[Horizons_00]

Sydney and Port alone both had more wins in 2024 than we've had in 5 years...

But hey i saw some improvements lol

Our only improvement we need is winning. Winning is a skill. What is the point of going out there and coasting.

The only way we fix all of this is bloody winning!

 

[FootySmartSimpson]

Every goal seemed to take 50% more effort than the dogs, who would waltz into the paddock at HB left by our defenders and ping them from every angle 45 out.

Zurhaar should be banned from drop punt set shots. It’s been bad for a while now. Considering the good work he does to get into that position, it hurts like a motherf*cker when he misses easy goals.

Curtis was good, and the mix of Kon and Hansen was a good blend. Excellent forward pressure.

Darling was excellent and did three times what his stats suggest. Huge effort.

I thought Kerch across HF removes his main weapon (line breaking speed) from the game. He doesn’t seem confident or well suited to the role. Not a great night for him.

Bailey was quiet and then was pretty instrumental as his fitness kept us in the game. I really like the blend of he and FOS on the wings with both sweeping back to help the defence and pushing forward with the ball. FOS was super impressive with nearly everything that he does.

In the telly, I thought that Parker was pretty disappointing and most dump-kicked.

Phillips had a few nice moments but looked out of his depth.

LDU had a good third but just took way too long for a player of his calibre to step up.

Sheezel got a log the ball but his touch wasn’t there at all (Dixon called this at numerous stages).

Powell got a bit of it but was ineffective, and during the first term, was a liability with his decision making. His work inside is not strong enough.

Jy faded in and out. I actually preferred when he went in the guts as it seemed our pressure seemed to correspond when he is in there.

Our centre>half back pressure was terrible with our defenders getting sucked up high for the dogs to kick long over the top. FFS, if we continuously find ourselves with the likes of Daniel or FOS plugging the FB hole in the coming weeks, then our players/coaches have rocks for brains.

Corr did well at times but his positioning was shit at other times.

Comben was all out at sea.

McDonald had two really good moments but was a liability for most of the match.

Tucker gives us nothing as the sub. Stupid choice.

The synergy between half and full back was putrid and we just did not cover our arses. It felt like 2013 again when we were glass cannons.

Logue was not noticeable which probably means he did well.

Xerri plugged away but didn’t stand out.

 

[amaz199]

Almost every inside 50 I reckon was a moment of how the backline were going to concede. Even the long bombs.

Mark and goal? Missed spoil? Lack of guarding space and/or your man?

I cant put this on the midfield because the midfield won the footy and competed as expected. The balls going into the Dogs forward line weren't slick all the time.

 

[DuckYeah]

Thought the recruits were a bit disappointing.

Daniel wasn't exactly cutting them to ribbons with his kicking and Parker did some tough stuff but no real impact in the middle or forward.

Darling was probably the best of the 3.

Daniel had an off game.. dogs know how to play him and I reckon his nerves would have been on edge. I’ll let him get away with that one

 

[shiraz]

That was terrible. Against that oppo, with those circumstances. Feels like we are going backward. Sorry Lukey I think you signed your own with that 50. Comben your chokes with ball in hand make no sense, but I'm not sure if you've got it in you to play to the other side of it. That was a 'mare. After Hayne the other night, I was a bit concerned how Parker and Darling would look in the real stuff but be honest, they put our home-grown panic-merchants to shame.

All signs point to a very long year. Again.

 

[Only Forwards]

Comben was all out at sea.

Right now if they are going to play him in defence it can be in the VFL and we should play Kalan Dawson.

 

[FootySmartSimpson]

Lack of 2 way running makes it so easy for them to pile of quick consecutive goals.

Our mids are so eager to push up and stream forward but no one wants to push back.

A bunch of cherry pickers with our defenders caught in no man’s land.

 

[Makeshift Park]

Defender Comben defenders in shambles rn

He’s fine as an intercepting defender when he doesn’t have a 208cm contested marking prodigy he’s supposed to make accountable.

He was never the answer for Darcy.

 

[ManOfClay]

85.8%

Eh, I thought there were some real shockers in terms of calls and non calls in the first half by the umps, but it didn't feel at all like they had an influence on the momentum of the game, and frankly that's about the best you can hope for.

There were a few both ways.

North got a free for Caleb throwing the ball to a dogs player at a stoppage on your forward 50. Ump called it time wasting by dogs.

And Larkey’s mark on 3qt was very dubious

 

[tricknologist]

Blaming the umpires is cope. We lost that game because we were bad.

 

[big_e]

Last year it took until June for us to get within 19 points of an opponent. That's something, I guess.

 

[FootySmartSimpson]

Ninth Melbourne is back baybee!

I think 100% who barrack for or are employed by North would have finishing 9th an A+ season for us.

 

[Devington]

By the end of this year, he’ll be cooked as well.

I'm not as pessimistic as you, and some others, I just fear that the weight of number (with regard to successive years of failure) is bearing down on us and salivating. The risks are real and obvious.

The good news is that I think that for the first game of the season, this was a pretty good showing. We have no form to build on, no trusted system to rely on, no real synergy to speak of between players because we move so many on and have so many fresh faces. We also took the piss when it came to really putting in effort in the pre season games.

Yet we were pulling forward chains out of our ass at will for half of the game. Did we **** too many of them up? Yeah. But most of those chains did 80%+ of things right to get us to where a goal or opportunity for goal was the next step. That was new, and good. Fact is if we tidied those chains up better and actually got the goals then we would have gone through so much less defensive transition hell. While it was a massive issue, it's also something that could/should be mitigated by simply not getting our asses caught out so much.

tl;dr I can see a pathway forward after that game. Most of the last 5 years I couldn't.

 

[R00StaR]

on the bright side only half my face is red from face palms.

 

[justroyal]

Sheezel and McKercher to the half back that last quarter/ half would have made changed the dynamic of that insipid movement.

 

[Fish Sticks]

Whilst there was some good signs from a handful of players, that was extremely disappointing!!
6 of the dogs best 10 players out & we still couldn’t beat them. I’m not sure we ever will…
Another veeerrrry long year ahead unless we see some sharp improvements in the skills department.
Just the same dumb football we’ve been watching for years.
I’m so over it

 

[LB2Snake]

Just back from the game so prob still seething……that backline is horrific. Did we take a defensive 50 mark ?
Corr - shithouse …….do not rate this bloke at all.
Comben - has anyone shown this bloke HOW to actually defend? Headless chook out there.
Darcy Tucker - please. Mr Invisible. Just coasts out there. Use your big body FFS. Ineffectual and rubbish. We were better off with Will out there.
Archer - I really want him to work , but his skill set is sub par.
FOS - at least tried, gunna be a player, but not in defence. Sublime skills though, exciting future.
Colby - Hmmmmmm. Gunna hold fire. But soft comes to mind a little..
LMAc probably our best defender, which is a massive red flag.
Daniel - uses ball well, but by god is he susceptible
Logue - another who just doesn’t intercept the ball.

 

[Spud11]

A lot of melts here and in the game day threads, but I'm cautiously optimistic after that game.

Guys like Sheezel and McKercher, who we know are usually elite users of the footy, had shockers tonight in terms of their disposal and decision making.

The Bulldogs were absolutely gifted several goals by the umpires, and that ended up the literal score difference really. On the flipside, felt like we got zero assistance from the umpires.

We had plenty of opportunities but missed gettable goals, burned inside 50s, and looked a bit too lazy in terms of defensive intensity. All of these things are fixable.

Yeah, that loss hurts and I'm not suggesting otherwise. But seeing some of the melts here tonight has me scratching my head a bit.

Scratching your head, we fielded our best side against a Dogs seconds. Our seniors skill level is not up to it and the effort only came after quarter time. The disappointment isn’t that hard to comprehend, surely?

 

[rm3504]

Good full strength teams will destroy that defence
Midfield can win clearances but can’t keep possession and are awful the other way and throw a sub standard defence to the wolves
awful first 5 min of last qu with game and season trajectory on the line
FOS looks a player, RHJ has improved
Liked the ex Syd small fwd pressure
Thought darling was fantastic
Still so many holes in the team to fill after all these years
How did the hawks do it so fast?

 

[archereleven]

How do you overcome Chom playing as a 1v1 defender, Jy kicking i50 and Zurhaar kicking for goal??

The 3 of them cost us 7 odd goals tonight. All experienced, all on long term contracts.

Midfield out rebuild is a dead set fail.



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[StazMob]

Should have won that

 

[Only Forwards]

Blaming the umpires is cope.

Yep.

Free kick counts won’t matter we are never getting the run of the green.

The only way we win is without them.

Blaming them for anything is nonsense they’re shit, they’ll always be shit. We need to take it out of their hands.

 

[justroyal]

Scratching your head, we fielded our best side against a Dogs seconds. Our seniors skill level is not up to it and the effort only came after quarter time. The disappointment isn’t that hard to comprehend, surely?

**** good point. I didn’t think of that .
And our first ****ing gamer looked years ahead of our seniors