What They're Saying - The Bulldogs Media Thread - Part 4

[doggies ftw]

I just think opponents are pressing up on our defenders much more aggressively because they know if they force a turnover we can't defend for s**t. We are letting a lot of front running happen and teams are capitalising.

I agree to an extent but I also think it goes the other way in that teams are happy to flood the front half of the ground against us more than other teams, because they know we’ll struggle to score with repeat entries and we’ll continue to push our defence so aggressively high it’s only a matter of time until they get one out the back where we’re slow and susceptible to the turnover and can’t defend going back the other way. Then when it goes back to the middle they’re definitely playing front running footy as you’ve mentioned, and we’re too soft to do anything about it.

We’re remarkably easy to coach against, all the good sides are trying to spread the field and keep their space whereas we’re trying to compact it as much as possible by pushing our forwards up to defensive half and defenders up to the forward half. It’s just not working for us

 

[dogwatch]

Another thought-provoking piece from the ABC. While not earth-shattering it shows there's always room for creativity in coaching and game strategy.

How the Crows have used the kick-in to surge into AFL finals contention

It's one of the simplest parts of footy — kicking the ball back in after a behind — but Adelaide's unique approach is one of the reasons the club has been one of 2023's biggest improvers, write Cody Atkinson and Sean Lawson.

www.abc.net.au

 

[Struggle]

Another thought-provoking piece from the ABC. While not earth-shattering it shows there's always room for creativity in coaching and game strategy.

How the Crows have used the kick-in to surge into AFL finals contention

It's one of the simplest parts of footy — kicking the ball back in after a behind — but Adelaide's unique approach is one of the reasons the club has been one of 2023's biggest improvers, write Cody Atkinson and Sean Lawson.

www.abc.net.au

So we go the shortest in the league on kick ins. That can't be good for ball movement and quick scoring chains

 

[Bulldogs85]

WESTERN Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge is urging Rory Lobb

7

Rory Lobb

Age

31

Ht

207cm

Wt

106kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

11.0

3star

K

6.7

3star

HB

4.4

3star

M

4.0

4star

T

2.4

4star

G

0.9

4star

D

11.3

3star

K

8.0

3star

HB

3.3

2star

M

4.6

4star

T

1.4

2star

G

1.0

4star

D

7.0

2star

K

4.0

2star

HB

3.0

3star

M

2.6

3star

T

2.8

5star

G

0.6

3star

to embrace the booing when the key forward confronts his former club in Friday night's clash with Fremantle in Perth.

Lobb's messy exit from Fremantle at the end of last season means he will be enemy No.1 at Optus Stadium on Friday.

A group of Dockers supporters have even gone so far as to launch a Lobb-inspired beer called 'Lobster Tears', described as having "a slightly salty raspberry sour" taste and sold in cans featuring a cartoon picture of a lobster holding a football and sporting the No.37, Lobb's jumper number at Freo.
"Rory's expecting it, and we'll help him deal with it and we'll help him play as well as he can," Beveridge said on Thursday.

"I don't think the booing of Rory Lobb

7

Rory Lobb

Age

31

Ht

207cm

Wt

106kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

11.0

3star

K

6.7

3star

HB

4.4

3star

M

4.0

4star

T

2.4

4star

G

0.9

4star

D

11.3

3star

K

8.0

3star

HB

3.3

2star

M

4.6

4star

T

1.4

2star

G

1.0

4star

D

7.0

2star

K

4.0

2star

HB

3.0

3star

M

2.6

3star

T

2.8

5star

G

0.6

3star

tomorrow night is going to be an issue."It's definitely topical when it comes to other players at different times, but we just need to welcome it and (welcome) the hostile environment we're going to walk into tomorrow night."
Just last week, Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley took issue at the booing of 19-year-old recruit Jason Horne-Francis, saying people should be embarrassed heckling such a young player.

Beveridge doesn't have an issue with booing, as long as it's done in the right context.

"Booing is ingrained in our game ... it's quite a natural phenomenon as far as I'm concerned," Beveridge said.
Just last week, Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley took issue at the booing of 19-year-old recruit Jason Horne-Francis, saying people should be embarrassed heckling such a young player.

Beveridge doesn't have an issue with booing, as long as it's done in the right context.

"Booing is ingrained in our game ... it's quite a natural phenomenon as far as I'm concerned," Beveridge said.
"From when we were all kids, at the footy, spectators have always tried to get the upper hand and help their team by booing opposition players.

"But if there's something sinister and nasty attached to it, then I don't think any of us condone it."

Two of the Bulldogs' most traumatic recent big-game losses have come at Optus Stadium.
They lost the 2021 Grand Final to Melbourne by 74 points and coughed up a 41-point lead in last year's 13-point elimination-final defeat to Fremantle.

But there have also been happy memories, most notably a 101-point win over West Coast last year.

Beveridge doesn't think the loss last year to Fremantle will haunt his players.
"It's not an issue. You've got to move on from episodes like that," he said.

"We've had a similarly traumatic ending to a year the year before that, on the same oval.

"But we've had some really good wins out here and the boys enjoy playing here."

 

[Dogs_R_Us]

We’ve put in some dreadful performances to start the season in recent years (excluding 2021).

For the 2020, 2022 & 2023 seasons in rounds 1 & 2, we’ve started off 0-6 with some absolutely terrible losses in there. Why do we start generally start seasons so poorly? We then spend the whole season making up ground and putting ourselves in a poor finals position.

Especially when preseason always seems to go so well, raising our expectations.

 

[Claudonious]

And it could well happen again. Earlier this year in the practice game against North Ed Richards played an excellent first quarter. He hurt his knee and was taken off for the rest of the match. In the words of the club “ he would have played on if it was a real game. The injury was slight and we only took him off as a precaution “.
If Ed Richards misses out on the B&F by a couple of votes it will highlight the foolishness of counting practice games. Either your B&F means something or it doesn’t.

Bizarre - I simply cannot see the point of a practice match counting….


On iPhone using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[DognBones]

Especially when preseason always seems to go so well, raising our expectations.

I think we've all learned the wisdom of completely ignoring the superlatives used to describe our pre-season preparations. A used to be famous identity would have labelled it "fake news".

 

[D Mitchell]

King's stats and observations are alarming. My observations from rounds 1-4 are that the 'dogs move the ball slowly and cautiously out of defence, lateral passes the first option chosen, hug the boundary, then bomb it into the forward 50 in preference to looking for specific forward targets who don't present options nor show energy anyway. The result is lower scoring opportunities and the ball comes back out quickly, opposition players under minimal pressure, much the same as last year, what's changed ? It's all very well to sneer at critics like King, Cornes and Barrett and accuse them of stupidity/bias/hatred of the 'dogs etc but analysing footy is their bread and butter. They make far more sense than the nonsense served up by know it alls in these threads. Watching St Kilda, Melbourne and how C'wood go about it suggest that footy has moved past how we play.

 

[glenashley]

Fair enough with the wet games, but the dry games also felt like we were drilling it laces out to the opposition for half the game.

 

[Dogs 13]

King's stats and observations are alarming. My observations from rounds 1-4 are that the 'dogs move the ball slowly and cautiously out of defence, lateral passes the first option chosen, hug the boundary, then bomb it into the forward 50 in preference to looking for specific forward targets who don't present options nor show energy anyway. The result is lower scoring opportunities and the ball comes back out quickly, opposition players under minimal pressure, much the same as last year, what's changed ? It's all very well to sneer at critics like King, Cornes and Barrett and accuse them of stupidity/bias/hatred of the 'dogs etc but analysing footy is their bread and butter. They make far more sense than the nonsense served up by know it alls in these threads. Watching St Kilda, Melbourne and how C'wood go about it suggest that footy has moved past how we play.

Cornes & Barrett analysing footy

Click bait and shock jock is their modus operandi.

 

[D Mitchell]

Cornes & Barrett analysing footy

Click bait and shock jock is their modus operandi.

This is a perfect example of the mindless sneering at journalists who make a living out of analysis. If you think so little of Cornes' and Barrett's analysis, why not try and show where they are wrong, even where you disagree ?

 

[Dogs 13]

This is a perfect example of the mindless sneering at journalists who make a living out of analysis. If you think so little of Cornes' and Barrett's analysis, why not try and show where they are wrong, even where you disagree ?

They analyse nothing, just give opinions, the more controversial the better.

 

[NBates]

Sorry for this. I just need another flag before the cremation

Ain't gonna happen. Window is closing as we speak....hope I'm wrong. Very dissappointing.

 

[NBates]

WESTERN Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge is urging Rory Lobb to embrace the booing when the key forward confronts his former club in Friday night's clash with Fremantle in Perth.

Lobb's messy exit from Fremantle at the end of last season means he will be enemy No.1 at Optus Stadium on Friday.

A group of Dockers supporters have even gone so far as to launch a Lobb-inspired beer called 'Lobster Tears', described as having "a slightly salty raspberry sour" taste and sold in cans featuring a cartoon picture of a lobster holding a football and sporting the No.37, Lobb's jumper number at Freo.
"Rory's expecting it, and we'll help him deal with it and we'll help him play as well as he can," Beveridge said on Thursday.

"I don't think the booing of Rory Lobb tomorrow night is going to be an issue."It's definitely topical when it comes to other players at different times, but we just need to welcome it and (welcome) the hostile environment we're going to walk into tomorrow night."
Just last week, Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley took issue at the booing of 19-year-old recruit Jason Horne-Francis, saying people should be embarrassed heckling such a young player.

Beveridge doesn't have an issue with booing, as long as it's done in the right context.

"Booing is ingrained in our game ... it's quite a natural phenomenon as far as I'm concerned," Beveridge said.
Just last week, Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley took issue at the booing of 19-year-old recruit Jason Horne-Francis, saying people should be embarrassed heckling such a young player.

Beveridge doesn't have an issue with booing, as long as it's done in the right context.

"Booing is ingrained in our game ... it's quite a natural phenomenon as far as I'm concerned," Beveridge said.
"From when we were all kids, at the footy, spectators have always tried to get the upper hand and help their team by booing opposition players.

"But if there's something sinister and nasty attached to it, then I don't think any of us condone it."

Two of the Bulldogs' most traumatic recent big-game losses have come at Optus Stadium.
They lost the 2021 Grand Final to Melbourne by 74 points and coughed up a 41-point lead in last year's 13-point elimination-final defeat to Fremantle.

But there have also been happy memories, most notably a 101-point win over West Coast last year.

Beveridge doesn't think the loss last year to Fremantle will haunt his players.
"It's not an issue. You've got to move on from episodes like that," he said.

"We've had a similarly traumatic ending to a year the year before that, on the same oval.

"But we've had some really good wins out here and the boys enjoy playing here."

 

[NBates]

Surely we're on Foxtel if not 7? Why are the club texting me about watching on Kayo? V annoying.

 

[Dogs_R_Us]

Surely we're on Foxtel if not 7? Why are the club texting me about watching on Kayo? V annoying.

On Fox in Qld….

 

[Libbaaaa]

Cody somehow won the mark of the year nomination for round 5 over Harry Himmelberg.

 

[ossie_21]

Cody somehow won the mark of the year nomination for round 5 over Harry Himmelberg.

Even though them winning won me a bit over $500 across two responsibly gambled bets, I hate that pissant plastic club and all that they stand for, but that mark was epic and should have shat it in

 

[Sentinel]

Cody somehow won the mark of the year nomination for round 5 over Harry Himmelberg.

Mark and Goal of the Week are dumb popularity awards. Lucky for Cody his main competition was against the league's least supported club.

 

[ScragCity]

Let me tell you something folks, nobody knows more about footy than me. Believe me, I'm a tremendous expert when it comes to the game. And let me tell you, the Western Bulldogs are playing some incredible footy right now, just tremendous. Their style of play is absolutely amazing, and I'm not just saying that because I'm a huge fan of the game, but because it's the truth.
But you know what, the so-called "experts" and "journalists" out there don't seem to agree with me. They keep saying that the Bulldogs aren't playing well, that they're making too many mistakes, that their game plan is all wrong. Well, let me tell you folks, those people are just flat out wrong. They don't know what they're talking about. It's fake news, it's a hoax.
I mean, have they even watched the Bulldogs play? Have they seen the way they move the ball around the ground, the way they work together as a team, the way they create scoring opportunities? It's a thing of beauty, folks. And yet these so-called "experts" just keep harping on about how the Bulldogs are playing poorly. It's a disgrace, it's disgusting.
So let me be clear: the Western Bulldogs are playing some of the best footy I've ever seen, and anyone who says otherwise is just plain wrong. We need to start listening to the real experts, the people who actually know what they're talking about. And let me tell you, folks, I'm one of those people. I know more about footy than anyone, and I can tell you with absolute certainty that the Bulldogs are playing some amazing footy right now.

 

[The Inbetweener]

Of course

 

[Dogs_R_Us]

Of course

Oh no!



Probably the least of our worries.

 

[Golden_6]

Of course

If we're worried about the near worst team in the comp regaining a player for his first game off a partially torn ACL...well I think we have bigger problems.

 

[hutchy31]

Re. the footy media "experts" going on about the dogs being poor, there are obviously some that you can ignore (Cornes, Barrett and many others). King says some stupid things, and regularly gets his predictions wrong, but the analysis he presents appears to be based on relevant stats/evidence prepared by someone else at Fox, Champion Data or wherever. If we're 18th in any metric, it's not great - particularly one that relates to using and moving the footy.

We can also rail against a lot of it, but is it different to the eye test? Dale's kicking has looked borderline horrific most of the time I've watched him, at least in comparison to recent years, and many of us have been tearing our hair out for a while at Daniel's decision making and execution. Weather-affected games in the last fortnight provides an excuse of sorts, and maybe our game plan and the way teams are defending us are having an outsized impact, but these media beat-ups are not manifestly different to a bunch of our own autopsy threads - just framed differently.

Tbf, we've had a fairly difficult start to the fixture, played a couple of tough games in the wet, and got dudded by the Port away game in gather round and a trip to Perth off the back of that. On the flipside, Bont and English are locks for AA at this stage with the latter playing the best footy of his career, and we haven't had any important players miss with injury (Weightman excepted) when other teams above us are dealing with injuries to multiple key players. Even with that when we've won it's been a grind, and there have been some worrying patches of play - 2nd quarter v Richmond the most alarming.

Tonight will be enlightening against a team that has to win at home. 2-4 isn't a death knell for our season given we've likely played 4-5 top eight teams and potentially a couple of top four teams, and we have a decent run home with most games at Marvel/in Victoria. But it would mark us as a similar team to last year - might win the odd game against a decent team, but typically lose to the top eight teams and beat the bottom 8-10, might sneak into finals but no threat for the flag. If we're going to subvert those expectations, a good win tonight followed by a couple of dominant displays in the next couple of weeks will be required. Personally I'm not sure this team is in a position to deliver those, but I'd be happy if proven wrong.

 

[Dogs_r_barking]

I just want to watch a good game. I don’t want to spend the two hours watching this game feeling frustrated. Can we please see some good football.