mdso said | November 23rd 2016 @ 9:53am | ! Report

Perhaps you didn’t read or missed what Peter Gordon said.

That should read Patrick Gordon, not Peter Gordon the WB Prez.
Patrick is Peter’s son IIRC.
Both are lawyers.

“Just a bit more quality ball into that forward 50 and it’s game over.” But that is the crux of their style! Forward/Mid field pressure through pressing up against the player with the ball, slowing them down. Teams score against dogs through half back turnovers but have to move the ball quickly and with precision. WCE were just too slow and Hawthorn have lost that precision and lost the game. Giants didn’t move it quickly enough often enough and were closed down. How many smothers has this team made in last 3 weeks? Must be close to some sort of record. Its all about full ground press, pressure and then perceived pressure. Makes opposition players want to play on and get ball moving without thinking through their options. In other words, Dogs take the opposition’s game plan away and they then have to improvise against a committed and organised TEAM. Once that happens in finals, that when “it’s game over”.

“the correlation between expectation and devastation”, could only be fully understood by a long time doggies supporter! The longing and the loss. I can’t go to finals matches anymore, due to the devastation felt from one too many losses. The dogs have made an art form of losing finals before this group came and started making their own history. Still, I just can’t attend or watch it on tv and will probably look for a score after the game has finished. And with each progression to the big one, it gets worse. That’s what 55 years of following the dogs has done to me. I’m broken and won’t be fixed until a GF win comes our way.

Round 3 Dogs V Hawks. Hawks held the ascendancy in first quarter and a half, with Dogs looking tentative early but making a comeback in latter half of 2nd quarter, Third quarter was possibly Dogs best quarter of footy for season, until finals. Leading by less than they should have at 3/4 time, due to inaccuracy, Dogs had to hold firm against a resurgent Hawks team that applied their pressure and experience and just knew how to get the business done with almost the last kick of the game. Dogs obviously learned a great lesson and took it to heart last weekend in a match that almost replicated the original game. Dogs started tentatively, caught up, let them get away a second time but cut lead by half time, Third quarter was all dogs attack on the ball and they were more ruthless early in the last quarter, putting the hawks away for good , this time around and finally took the chocolates.

The Footscray train is presently at a platform in Spencer St station, still a few stations short of Jolimont. We have a good head of steam but the journey has some way to go yet. We are, at least, going ‘direct via Flinders St’ this September. Last season we got onto the loop line and went straight back home. This year’s results have shown a steady improvement again.

We have a chance tomorrow night to make further progress; but regardless of the outcome ( barring an absolute shellacking) we have made that necessary incremental improvement from last year, Given the youth, depth (39 senior players) and inexperience of the team, we look to be positioning ourselves to be a force in the next couple of years. Very few teams arrive without notice, most show signs in advance and I think that is what the dogs have done the past two years. We are not a force yet though. To my mind, a run of consecutive victories in September(s) is the only valid method for labelling a team a ‘force’.

Oh dear! The correct wording in the title is “Uncharted”, unless you are talking about some AFL charter, setting the framework for a NSW based team’s future domination of the competition.

Momentum is a chimera. No one talks momentum come preliminary finals or when a team is on a roll and inevitably loses a game. Secondly, I want to see the best players or as many as possible, strutting their stuff on the big stages come September. Surely that’s the best outcome for footy supporters. The bye didn’t defeat WCE. They lost to dogs in round 11 when the dogs swarmed them and denied supply through their midfield pressure. WCE probably need to have a long hard look at themselves. Team selection, lack of speed, slow movement, no plan B, outcoached and outplayed by a less experienced but more determined team. It’s not rocket science.

The dogs have limped over the line into an elimination final yet again. Its been a great reward for old fashioned g &d as jack dyer would say back in the day. Unfortunately I can’t see them being competitive with or without the injured/underdone players. Can’t lose your CHF, CHB, captain, replacement captain, 3 of 4 best mids and have your best forward out of form come September. 2017 beckons but its time to sign off for 2016. Dogs, you have been very impressive and over achieved this year given the above. Look forward to getting everyone back including Crameri next season. A loss to Eagles tomorrow will hurt but there is steel in this group and I think we have a bright future. Go Dogs!

And just finished 4th in AFLCA voting for player of the year. Remarkable given he had an interrupted preseason with surgery and didn’t start running til January. Took about 5 games to get up to speed and since then has performed at a very high standard. Looking forward to watching him over the next decade. Hard to believe he is still only 20 years old. Has shown great maturity and continual development since his debut season. Selecting him as stand in captain at this stage in his career highlights he is and will be someone special at the club.

One 25 year old ” good honest footballer” as Jack Dyer would have said, with 2 knee recos, and who has got the absolute best out of himself. One 20 year old without a decent preseason so far due to injuries, but with obvious talent. These big blokes don’t come into their prime til 23 or so. Having 2 big forwards on your list is hardly an ‘excess’. Two 20 year olds behaving like 20 year olds on one night (not condoning whatever they did) hardly qualifies as”getting into late night incidents”. Lazy jump from singular to plural there. Boyd has been held back , not by Big Red, but by lack of stamina, injury and youth. Both players can play in the same team and in 4-5 years as Red departs, Boyd will be in his prime. Think Boyd has it all over Red in talent but will take normal amount of time to get there, Some of what you have written above has the feel of a certain ‘sliding doors’ journo in this town, who definitely has it in for the dogs, their coach and Tom Boyd. Some sage advice: Don’t model your writing on his pathetic approach to our great game.

Collins didn’t play a game last week. Presumably it comes down to Hamling or Zaine. Webb is definitely on the verge of selection, but not as a replacement for Adams. Looked a class above in the vfl game and could move into mids rotation without missing a beat. If Mclean needs a rest or Bailey Dale then you would think Lukas would be obvious choice to come in.

Gee I wouldn’t say they were poor in round 3 when they played the dogs. Top drawer quality game. Lets not rewrite history for the sake of an argument that Hawks are poor!

Richmond could/should have been a lot more adventurous at the drafting table over the last half decade. Unlike the Tiges, the Bulldogs ( who have been one season away from oblivion for decades due to their low membership) have thrived from the same compromised drafts by recruiting extremely astutely, getting some value from rookie system, looking beyond the usual system for players eg. Marcus Adams as well as trading for players. The father /son rule has also been kind. Their picks since 2010 were not all top 10 picks either (in reality mostly top 20 picks once GWS and GC had trawled through the best talent. Ricmond as a much much bigger club never really had to worry about losing their brand – they just took the easy path to mediocrity. At least now they won’t have to select from such a reduced draft talent pool that the Saints, Dees and Dogs have, over the last 5 years or so. Unfortunately for the Dogs, it looks like we will have a complete GWS team of 22 first round draft picks to compete against ,when our window opens over the coming seasons.

Re StKilda v WB. You mentioned that StK don’t have the experience or talent to mix it with top tier teams.Just for the record, Stk team was more experienced and older than WB team. StK av.95.5games V WB 82.7 games and older by about 8 mths 25, 3yrs V 24, 7yrs. 17 WB players had less than 100 games under their belt compared to 14 St K players. This is a young WB team that performing at a high level despite its age and experience. We shouldn’t be using this excuse of age and experience except where its valid. Ch 7 commentary had young Saints tiring in mid third term against the dogs. What a poor effort by the Ch7 team to not know the facts..

Major differences between PA and WB are dogs mids work much harder to get back and defend zone and 2) their depth is surprisingly good. Basically we have cover for any player in starting 22. Obviously you can’t replace a champion with a vfl player but they can and are all foot soldiers, who can step into the breach.Currently we have Dickson and Crameri not available (80+ goals between them in 2015) and have still managed to score well. Team defence relies on interchangeable parts and not so much reliance on a particular build for say a CHB or FB. Our defence requires players who are mobile, agile and prepared to attack the ball carrier knowing that the mids will have filled in the zone behind them. Go watch it live because you rarely see this picked up by the tv camera coverage and the commentators either don’t understand what is in front of them or more likely, just don’t care to explain why this team is so efficient at the moment. But the abysmal standard of most tv commentary is another topic entirely.

And all of this was achieved in an era of compromised drafts, no priority picks and by a financial minnow of the competition.

How this young and relatively inexperienced team handle injuries and a long wearing season will probably determine their eventual position. Their depth is the best I’ve seen in 50 years of following them and Beveridge has given most of them a taste of senior footy. Its the “foot soldier” system and it has worked well. What has been overlooked by most commentators is that our improvement has foundations made from1) elite recruitment choices over 4 or so years of players who are archetypal modern footballers eg Bont and Macrae 190cm+ mids 2) McCartney’s tenure as coach insisted on good citizen/ team oriented players who were then well schooled in applying defensive pressure and 3) the introduction of a stand alone VFL team where all listed players get to learn the Dogs system and the required adaptabiliy; 4) a new coach with a strategy,system and style of play that utilizes the strengths/skill set of the players and has been embraced and employed to good effect by these young and remaining older players. Finally the new interchange rules seem to benefit the Dogs who have players that can basically play at the least 2 roles eg mid/back/forward in rotation. Other lesser factors have been the father/son rule, Peter Gordon’s role in rejuvenating the club, good assistant coaches and a huge turnover in players, so that the list is now composed of young men who look like writing a new chapter in our history over the coming years. Whether it happens this year, who can say after 2 rounds. But it will happen I believe in the next 3 years. As the superannuation ads say “Previous results are no guarantee of future returns”.

She was a mad keen dogs supporter. My grandpa would go stand on the wing between the players races at Western Oval (while she stood near the old cowshed at Barkly St) rather than put up with her loud barracking. Had a special hatred for Collingwood supporters, her umbrella was a weapon to be reckoned with. Hardly missed a game for decades, including down to Geelong where we never won back in the 60s and 70s

That was when I just turned off the commentary. Ridiculous comment. As my old granma would have said ” if you can’t say something good, shut the fu## up and let the action on the field speak for itself

Channel 7 commentary seemingly just can’t adapt to the facts or change a predetermined narrative. If t’s not calling a very good player a ‘superstar’ (Bont) after a couple of seasons, but not deserving that moniker just yet, they persist in calling a team the Young Saints repeatedly.

Facts: Dogs were younger and less experienced than Saints on Saturday. 17 of 22 WB players with <100 games cf. STK 14. WB av games 82.5 cf STK 95.5. Its pretty simple to press a few buttons and get the facts Ch7.

Almost choked on my wheaties moment. “Jordan Roughead’s injury is possibly the most damaging in the AFL”. Jordan Roughead serious injury? Please let it not be so! Not after he dominated for the dogs in the ruck on Sunday. But then I realized we were talking about the other Hawks Roughead.

But winning against WCE in Perth on the way to winning your fourth in a row would be one for the ages. The premier position of this current Hawthorn dynasty in the history of the AFL, would be unassailable. Would love to see it happen, if my team can’t take the chocolates this year.

Every time I read these predictions, reference is made to clubs putting more work into dogs this year. What were clubs strategists doing last year? Asleep at the wheel? All clubs change style of play depending on players abilities/physical build /coach preference. Who’s to say club will have same format this year? I see dogs going on with the business based on talent, physical development with another preseason, Libba returning and growing self confidence. Draw is not much harder than last year and we should be looking for 4th spot with a second chance in the finals. Lots of competition though so they can’t afford to lose easy games like last year to Melb and Saints.

Minson is a big in for dogs. Usually gets fired up against Crows. Will hopefully wears down influence of Jacobs and applies some real physical pressure in the ruck contests. Whatever the outcome, Saturday night will be a great experience for young dogs going forward. Think they can rise to the occasion. Should be a great game to watch. Go dogs!

Don’t overlook Marcus Bontempelli. Still 19 yo and finished #13 on AFL player stats. By far the youngest player to reach top 20 AFL players (after Libba jnr IIRC). Future is very bright out west.