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

[AJARWA]

The talent of the 2016 team was nowhere near the current list but it was full of competitive, hard nosed, resilient footballers.

Absolutely agree. I almost added this to my post before sending. Hawthorn are proving a balanced, well coached, competitive team is better than one stacked with high rollers.

 

[Next Waiting]

I think leaving Sicily unmanned was the gamble that didn't pay off. The gamble was not so much Sicily, but he plays for them so that's what it ended up being, the gamble was that an extra to the stoppages would allow one of our mids to break free.

But that never happened. The Hawks were up to defending it and we were well down in that area. Not a single winner in the engine room. We're not quick enough to go man on man and cover the exits at stoppages if Treloar is hampered, and even then, barely so.

So that was the gamble. None of Bont, Richards or Treloar were able to take advantage of the outnumber at stoppage and break. It's worked more times than it hasn't since Richards came in but Port and the Hawks have still been able to beat it. English's lack of impact in both cases has also been a significant factor.

We can't generate additional midfield speed and a more robust ruck within the season but we can address it to some degree in the off season. If we can do that, we may be able to dispense with the extra to the stoppage and leave no defender free.

 

[dogwatch]

Couldn't agree more. We are classic front runners. This is the softest dogs team I can remember. Might win us games during the season and get us to finals or thereabouts. But just doesn't have the competitive edge to meet the higher intensity level of finals football. Especially when the game isn't being played on our terms.

Front Runners. That’s the term that has been running through my mind as well.

Not enough resolve and mental toughness when the going gets tough.

 

[Libbaaaa]

I think leaving Sicily unmanned was the gamble that didn't pay off. The gamble was not so much Sicily, but he plays for them so that's what it ended up being, the gamble was that an extra to the stoppages would allow one of our mids to break free.

But that never happened. The Hawks were up to defending it and we were well down in that area. Not a single winner in the engine room. We're not quick enough to go man on man and cover the exits at stoppages if Treloar is hampered, and even then, barely so.

So that was the gamble. None of Bont, Richards or Treloar were able to take advantage of the outnumber at stoppage and break. It's worked more times than it hasn't since Richards came in but Port and the Hawks have still been able to beat it. English's lack of impact in both cases has also been a significant factor.

We can't generate additional midfield speed and a more robust ruck within the season but we can address it to some degree in the off season. If we can do that, we may be able to dispense with the extra to the stoppage and leave no defender free.

What's more mystifying is Sicily needs a shoulder reco at the end of the year, he would have so much tape underneath the long sleeve jumper Chris Judd would be jealous. Yet we allowed him to just cruise unattended all night. I'm not saying we should have Mal Michael/Riewoldt'd him, but make him compete, he is so compromised.

 

[BulldogMuscle]

What's more mystifying is Sicily needs a shoulder reco at the end of the year, he would have so much tape underneath the long sleeve jumper Chris Judd would be jealous. Yet we allowed him to just cruise unattended all night. I'm not saying we should have Mal Michael/Riewoldt'd him, but make him compete, he is so compromised.

Not the Bevo-Bulldog way mate.
We're too nice.

 

[Freshwater]

I think leaving Sicily unmanned was the gamble that didn't pay off. The gamble was not so much Sicily, but he plays for them so that's what it ended up being, the gamble was that an extra to the stoppages would allow one of our mids to break free.

But that never happened. The Hawks were up to defending it and we were well down in that area. Not a single winner in the engine room. We're not quick enough to go man on man and cover the exits at stoppages if Treloar is hampered, and even then, barely so.

So that was the gamble. None of Bont, Richards or Treloar were able to take advantage of the outnumber at stoppage and break. It's worked more times than it hasn't since Richards came in but Port and the Hawks have still been able to beat it. English's lack of impact in both cases has also been a significant factor.

We can't generate additional midfield speed and a more robust ruck within the season but we can address it to some degree in the off season. If we can do that, we may be able to dispense with the extra to the stoppage and leave no defender free.

You gamble on winning a final. Especially when we were the higher placed team. You do your homework and nullify their winners, and free up your winners and then you win. None of this, gambling nonsense, pulling surprise selections, dropping players that have played all season.

 

[Next Waiting]

You gamble on winning a final. Especially when we were the higher placed team. You do your homework and nullify their winners, and free up your winners and then you win. None of this, gambling nonsense, pulling surprise selections, dropping players that have played all season.

Was there a surprise selection?

Sometimes you're just not good enough. And weren't good enough with English, Libba, Bont, Treloar and Richards. I don't think you have to look too far outside that quintet to find the reason we didn't win.

 

[Freshwater]

Was there a surprise selection?

Sometimes you're just not good enough. And weren't good enough with English, Libba, Bont, Treloar and Richards. I don't think you have to look too far outside that quintet to find the reason we didn't win.

Correct, those guys were beaten. But West should’ve played, and played on Sicily too. That was the shock selection.
Personally I would have had Garcia in all season. It wasn’t a shock he didn’t play, for some reason beyond my understanding, Bevo prefers VDM over Garcia?

 

[Next Waiting]

Correct, those guys were beaten. But West should’ve played, and played on Sicily too. That was the shock selection.
Personally I would have had Garcia in all season. It wasn’t a shock he didn’t play, for some reason beyond my understanding, Bevo prefers VDM over Garcia?

I don't think we can be that definitive on West playing. He was recovering from a fractured jaw, didn't set the world on fire in the VFL preamble and his form had dropped a little in his last few outings at senior level.

Whatever deck chairs you want to rearrange on the Titanic, the bottom line was our ruck and every one of our midfielders was beaten. You're not winning a final when that happens.

 

[ossie_21]

Was there a surprise selection?

Sometimes you're just not good enough. And weren't good enough with English, Libba, Bont, Treloar and Richards. I don't think you have to look too far outside that quintet to find the reason we didn't win.

Harmes back in after 6/7 weeks for a hammy, in a season he’s been a yo-yo in & out of the side a few times.

Hindsight is awesome, but would much rather have had West & Garcia in the side as they would have hit some bodies. I don’t think anyone got close enough to Newcombe to see what he felt like.

 

[dogwatch]

I don't think we can be that definitive on West playing. He was recovering from a fractured jaw, didn't set the world on fire in the VFL preamble and his form had dropped a little in his last few outings at senior level.

Whatever deck chairs you want to rearrange on the Titanic, the bottom line was our ruck and every one of our midfielders was beaten. You're not winning a final when that happens.

Could also be that we gambled on Treloar playing (and lost) and there have been rumours that we went in with a crook Bont too, though that hasn't been confirmed.

Gambles on unwell/unfit players rarely work in finals. West might have been one gamble too many if he was still feeling the effects of the broken jaw. I wouldn't be surprised if his game in the VFL last week was not because he had fully recovered but to see how he'd go in a full game in the hope of playing him against Hawthorn. And he didn't go as well as hoped.

 

[X_box_X]

I've deliberately escaped the media but what I can't escape is the finals chat.

Colleagues talking footy.
Walk into a cafe, talking footy.
Social events, footy talk.
School drop off, people talking footy.

I can't escape it and it's bloody depressing.

 

[Next Waiting]

Could also be that we gambled on Treloar playing (and lost) and there have been rumours that we went in with a crook Bont too, though that hasn't been confirmed.

Gambles on unwell/unfit players rarely work in finals. West might have been one gamble too many if he was still feeling the effects of the broken jaw. I wouldn't be surprised if his game in the VFL last week was not because he had fully recovered but to see how he'd go in a full game in the hope of playing him against Hawthorn. And he didn't go as well as hoped.

This seems plausible. Their respective performances were incredibly underwhelming and we needed both at their best to win. They weren't and we didn't. It was the game really. Even with an out number at stoppages we were still well beaten there and Meek destroyed English too. He may well inherit the earth .....

We cannot win these games without at least gaining parity in that area and in many cases dominating. We needed to dominate the Hawks in that area to win and we got nowhere near it. As much as I'm disappointed, I have to admire the hawks on ball brigade for their effort. They knew how we would/could win and they stopped it in its tracks.

Sicily's game was a symptom of the malaise in my view, not the cause.

 

[geoffjennings79]

What's more mystifying is Sicily needs a shoulder reco at the end of the year, he would have so much tape underneath the long sleeve jumper Chris Judd would be jealous. Yet we allowed him to just cruise unattended all night. I'm not saying we should have Mal Michael/Riewoldt'd him, but make him compete, he is so compromised.

Sicily grabbed at it and grimaced during Q1. Not that they could hear me on level 4, but I kept yelling in frustration "target his shoulder at every contest". Like you I didn't mean make a beeline for him, but should have been dumped in every/any tackle. Not sure we actually did tackle him at all though...? Just watched him take uncontested/3rd man in marks all night.

 

[Mofra]

What's more mystifying is Sicily needs a shoulder reco at the end of the year, he would have so much tape underneath the long sleeve jumper Chris Judd would be jealous. Yet we allowed him to just cruise unattended all night. I'm not saying we should have Mal Michael/Riewoldt'd him, but make him compete, he is so compromised.

I really thought that's why Harmes was selected - to go to him and sick with him.
Mystifying why the one guy who always cuts us up was left without an opponent. Even if we were smashed in the middle at the same time.

 

[Substance]

I've deliberately escaped the media but what I can't escape is the finals chat.

Colleagues talking footy.
Walk into a cafe, talking footy.
Social events, footy talk.
School drop off, people talking footy.

I can't escape it and it's bloody depressing.

Try bringing up 2016 finals whenever they talk about footy. just bring the convo back to that by comparing stuff to it. they will stop talking around you soon

 

[geoffjennings79]

Couldn't agree more. We are classic front runners. This is the softest dogs team I can remember. Might win us games during the season and get us to finals or thereabouts. But just doesn't have the competitive edge to meet the higher intensity level of finals football. Especially when the game isn't being played on our terms.

Front Runners. That’s the term that has been running through my mind as well.

Not enough resolve and mental toughness when the going gets tough.

The Joyce, Wallace and Eade years (and 92 under Wheeler) we were good enough to usually lose week 1, win week 2, lose week 3. (Throw 85 under Malthouse in there too.) Prelim wins were always a bridge too far.

Beveridge surpassed that hurdle in both 2016 and 2021.

But every other finals year under Beveridge has been on a par with the 74 and 76 elim finals. We made it, and that was about the extent of our intensity and resolve, as you've both pointed out.

Walking to the G on Friday night, kids excited as we got amongst the crowd streaming in, walking past the Leigh Matthews statue, I thought "at least this wont be like qual final in 85, hopefully like the 2016 semi..." Ended up somewhere in between. Not spanked like deer in the headlights in 85, but not good enough to repeat our 2016 effort against the Hawks.

Funnily enough, in week 1 1985, Malthouse outsmarted himself by starting our only 2 experienced finals players Maylin and Buhagiar on the bench. This year Beveridge did the same with JUH. Both decisions, 49 years apart, equally as bizarre.

It's more often than not the Bulldogs way...

 

[Ash1337]

‘Got six years in this briefcase’: Eagles pitch that could lure Bevo as ‘tricky’ standoff looms

‘Got six years in this briefcase’: Eagles pitch that could lure Bevo as ‘tricky’ standoff looms

www.foxsports.com.au

 

[TheScriptorWL]

‘Got six years in this briefcase’: Eagles pitch that could lure Bevo as ‘tricky’ standoff looms

‘Got six years in this briefcase’: Eagles pitch that could lure Bevo as ‘tricky’ standoff looms

www.foxsports.com.au

Bevo is NOT a bad coach for a rebuilding side. He backs his players and doesn't take shit from the media. Which will undoubtedly occur again with the state of the Eagles side at the moment. However, he doesn't fit our club anymore, we need something different, a new style that Bevo is unable or unwilling to provide.

Let him see out his contract with dignity. After all he gave us a Premiership to remember and a relatively great period in our history.

But this panic extension stuff drives me crazy. It's not like we have exited from a Prelim or a Semi with hope in our hearts. This was another Elimination that we fumbled badly and got wrong all across the ground. If we are serious, the only scenario that should be saving Beveridge after next year is a Grand Final Appearance/Premiership.

 

[Freshwater]

You’ve got to feel for our media/marketing department. After not turning up to our biggest game in Victoria in 8 years, then a bright young star announces he is leaving. Poor Buku, a player that couldn’t even get a game in that rabble on Friday, signs an extension and they (media/marketing department have to rouse the members and supporters with this news?

 

[Chicago1]

Walking to the G on Friday night, kids excited as we got amongst the crowd streaming in, walking past the Leigh Matthews statue, I thought "at least this wont be like qual final in 85, hopefully like the 2016 semi..." Ended up somewhere in between. Not spanked like deer in the headlights in 85, but not good enough to repeat our 2016 effort against the Hawks.

Funnily enough, in week 1 1985, Malthouse outsmarted himself by starting our only 2 experienced finals players Maylin and Buhagiar on the bench. This year Beveridge did the same with JUH. Both decisions, 49 years apart, equally as bizarre.

It's more often than not the Bulldogs way...

That first Final in 85 was the first one I had seen us play in. I was so proud and excited. And then the game began. I was so disappointed at the end. However, the next week against North was great, and I travelled to VFL Park with high hopes the following week that we'd win, and I'd see us play in a Grand Final. Oh, well. I got used to finals disappointment from that season... until 2016.

On SM-A135F using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[Dogs 13]

That first Final in 85 was the first one I had seen us play in. I was so proud and excited. And then the game began. I was so disappointed at the end. However, the next week against North was great, and I travelled to VFL Park with high hopes the following week that we'd win, and I'd see us play in a Grand Final. Oh, well. I got used to finals disappointment from that season... until 2016.

On SM-A135F using BigFooty.com mobile app

Complete stage fright in that first final in 85.

 

[Chicago1]

Complete stage fright in that first final in 85.

Do you mean me or the players?

On SM-A135F using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[Dogs 13]

Do you mean me or the players?

On SM-A135F using BigFooty.com mobile app

Both, somehow my wife managed to go to sleep during the game.
The next week she said don’t get me a ticket and never went again

 

[X_box_X]

Funnily enough, in week 1 1985, Malthouse outsmarted himself by starting our only 2 experienced finals players Maylin and Buhagiar on the bench. This year Beveridge did the same with JUH. Both decisions, 49 years apart, equally as bizarre.

It's more often than not the Bulldogs way...

Gees you just scared the bejesus out of me by adding ten years to my age.