Rd 8 2007 North v Central

[dogs01]

No Motlop, No North.

If thats the case you better hope he makes a miraculous recovery. What a crock. I think you are selling the rest of your team short.

[Wedgie]

No Motlop, No North.

If thats the case you better hope he makes a miraculous recovery. What a crock. I think you are selling the rest of your team short.

If I was selling the rest of the team short we wouldn't have been outscored 69-33 in 1.5 quarters of footy.
Definately not something Im happy about, far from it, just a fact though, Im a realist.

[the joker]

how did nick gill go

[Wedgie]

how did nick gill go

When he was 1 on 1 he could take marks but couldn't beat 2 or 3 like he used to, mind you it was his first league game since the finals last year.
His kicking still sucks dogs balls.

[the joker]

oh ok. i hope he makes it AFL level. he takes hangers all the time

[Grahaml]

Ok, here's my rant from this afternoon's game.

Thought overall it showed just how powerful a team the bulldogs are yet again. Early it was hard going as North had their ruckman and Ben Hart both loose across half back. No doubt this was reciprocated at the other end, but I felt that since we were winning more of the ball through the midfield it was hurting us more than North. Our decision making in the first quarter was pretty poor and our guys were just a little slow to change tack when things were getting chopped off. North then mounted a small charge during a tight tussle in the second quarter. At half time I still felt like we would come out on top, but with errors and poor decisions we were losing ground rather quickly. Justin Westhoff started to get very dangerous up forward, while Lawry bobbed up and some of our runners got clear inside 50. The last seemed a mere formality, and once we kicked the first couple it was all over bar a couple of rooster crows courtesy of the soundman to provide the dogs fans with a bit of light entertainment since there was no contest to watch anymore.

Once again, our halfback line was magnificent. Schell dominated in the air, while Wilson just merrily walked out of trouble when it seemed he had nowhere to go. Symes looks too good for this comp, but hopefully Mark Williams keeps letting him languish in our defence. Grima was solid and did a good job while McKenzie and Giles did some good things in the ruck. Would have been beaten for the hitouts most of the time, but what they give us around the ground more than makes up for any lack of hitouts. Goodrem was pretty useless early, but in our third quarter run he provided a missing link through half forward that had been sorely missed through hard leading. The midfield looked a bit down for large patches of the game, but Richard Cochrane seemed to have turned the corner with his recent form slump. I know he turned the ball over a lot, but the way he won the ball and his endeavour were both great signs. O'Sullivan, Slade, Callinan, Slattery and Ware moved the ball well when given room to move. Havelberg looked super impressive up forward to me. Justin Westhoff was quiet early, but everything he did in the third quarter turned to gold. Massive hanger on the siren (which Wedgie no doubt wished he got a good shot of) was great. He even smothered the ball with his face, the ball ricocheted to Lawry who then set up the goal. Just needs consistency. Whoever said Lawry looks unconvincing needs to have their eyes checked, learn which number he is or show up at the right ground because he's doing a great job. One of only 3 KPP on the leading mark getter's list, 11 goals as our CHF for the season and works hard to win the ball. One of the real success stories of the season. Callinan now has 22 goals for the season by my count without too many misses.

For North, Hart presents a bit of a conundrem. Reads the play, marks cleanly, great skills but couldn't outrun Jars, and can barely kick the ball over the man on the mark. With him there, north with kill off attacks, but will become predictable very quickly. I too felt the momentum had changed already when Motlop went off the ground, but there's no doubt it wouldn't have helped North's cause. Too many passengers though. Without 18 blokes on the ground competitive they won't beat the best teams, and while their first dozen might come close to our best dozen our next tier of players are far better than their equivalent opponents today.

On Nick Gill, he looked dangerous on a few occasions but was too easily shut down. If North serve up that predictable garbage our big defenders will love it. Some of the other forwards need to get dangerous and/or the midfielders need to look for other options. Alleway needs to take more responsibility to demand the ball more. He's a big strong bloke but has the presence of Scott Bamford up there. Once he demands more delivery and more attention from the defense, Nick Gill will find he's not up against the best defender, plus the ruckmen drifting back and a defender who's peeled off. That's why he's outnumbered and Jarman has to do something to help him out.

Anyway, I had the following goalkickers, although I am prone to errors, particularly for the opposition.

Central: Callilan 4.0, Westhoff, Havelberg 3.1, Ware 3.0, Lawry, 1.1, O'Sullivan, Slattery 1.0
North: Younie 3.0, Ladhams 2.2, Alleway 2.0, Gill 1.2, Howard 1.1, Allen 1.0.

Final word on the umpiring. Absolute crap. Luckily it didn't seem to have any bearing on the game, but so many soft frees paid and just as many missed altogether. Memo to Shane Harris: DO SOMETHING SOON! Otherwise our game will become an absolute disgrace.

[Dog_ger]

I am an old fart.

I can't read all that.

When that young fella got carried off on that stretcher.

The game changed.....

Mrs_Dog_ger hates everything Centrals.

Despises everything Gowans.....

Both will be there when we renew our vows........

A up-coming Devorse.......

No-Doubt......

[heater31]

I am an old fart.

I can't read all that.

When that young fella got carried off on that stretcher.

The game changed.....

Mrs_Dog_ger hates everything Centrals.

Despises everything Gowans.....

Both will be there when we renew our vows........

A up-coming Devorse.......

No-Doubt......

I guess you are in the dog kennel tonight then dog_ger and possibly for the rest of the week

[Dog_ger]

Heater31

I was the only Centrals Member, hoping for a Rooster win........

[Wedgie]

GrahamL, excellent report (and IM envious of people like you and Macca that can do such great reports of games), I agree on everything you say except for Alleway, I think he's the most underrated CHF in the comp and North would be well and truly stuffed without him.

Once again, great report though.

[doggod]

Graham - you are spot on about Lawrie. The bloke has ben a super find at CHF - fantastic. His kicking for goal can let him down at times but overall he has been great. Smac (??) you are dead set wrong on that one buddy. Heater would be the best CHF in the comp right now and is a major reason for our success to date this year and the reason Schell can work his magic at CHB. Whilst on Schell - it was interesting to watch the AFL listed Gill vs the AFL de-listed Schell go one on one for a mark on the wing at one stage. I thought Schell would go the spoil but instead just completely out-bodied Gill and took a great mark. The bloke is on fire at CHB and has not been beaten all year (did Alleway get a touch today?). The funniest thing I heard all day was the North supporter who early on in that game called Callinan a 'dud'in front of all the Dogs supporters. Everytime Callinan got another goal this goose was reminded of his 'dud' call by large numbers of CDFC supporters. He didn't say another word all day. If you're gonna call a player a 'dud' make sure you don't pick one of the top 5 in the comp.

[twosheds]

I totally agree re. Lawry, he is exactly the type of player we need at CHF ie. strong and brave enough to crash packs and open the way for our new "mosquito fleet" . His workrate is exemplary and in Sponges absence we need him to stand up all year especially if Westhoff ever gets a call up.

[SnappyTom]

No Motlop, No North.

If thats the case you better hope he makes a miraculous recovery. What a crock. I think you are selling the rest of your team short.

If I was selling the rest of the team short we wouldn't have been outscored 69-33 in 1.5 quarters of footy.
Definately not something Im happy about, far from it, just a fact though, Im a realist.

69-22, but let's not get picky!
I agree with both Dogs01 and Wedgeman - Motlop off came 'as the game was turning' - whether it would have been that much of a difference remains unknown. But his absence created a chasm that North could not fill.
Schell has shown amazing versatility - amazing... If defenders gor Magarey votes he'd be right up there this year, such a dominant force.

North will be there later this year - hopefully with Motlop back and Gill firing with a bit more confidence. Missing Flash though, eh! Like South are missing Davey...

[Dogwatcher]

For North, Hart presents a bit of a conundrem.

Interesting recruiting over the summer, the Dogs got a Goodrem, while North got a conundrem.

[Dogwatcher]

PS Good to see North's reserves in fine form today comfortably beating the Dogs, looks like we're back on track for a threepeat!

Sooooo, already looking to celebrate a reserve's flag with expectations of a league one down Wedgie?

[Kahuna]

If you're gonna call a player a 'dud' make sure you don't pick one of the top 5 in the comp.

I had a quick read of the "Sportsbeat" magazine in the pub yesterday.One "expert" whose name escapes me selected his best 25 in the SANFL.Callinan was not on the list.Ben Hart was number 3!

[smac]

Nothing wrong with my eyes Graham, I just remain unconvinced about Lawry. He takes some good marks but also gets led to the ball too often and his attack on the ball is not what I would expect from a CHF. His best is no doubt outstanding - we just don't see enough of it yet.

[topsywaldron]

The funniest thing I heard all day was the North supporter who early on in that game called Callinan a 'dud'in front of all the Dogs supporters.

At the Norwood Centrals game Callinan kicked an absolutely fantastic goal on his left foot running towards the pocket. Some grumpy, bitter old man seated very near me yelled out 'at least you're worth the eighty grand they're paying you Ian'. At which point Gerry from the SANFL memorabilia shop turned around, laughed and said 'you can add about twenty grand to that figure'.

$100, 000. Not bad for a season's work.

[Wedgie]

Inspired journalism as usual in the Sunday Mail.
Openeing sentence in the North v Central game summary:
"North Adelaide remains without a top four victim"

Well FFS aren't Sturt 3rd?
And how can we beat ourselves or Port if we haven't played them yet?

Do these journos just guess and hope things are true or something?

[BPBRB]

Inspired journalism as usual in the Sunday Mail.
Openeing sentence in the North v Central game summary:
"North Adelaide remains without a top four victim"

Well FFS aren't Sturt 3rd?
And how can we beat ourselves or Port if we haven't played them yet?

Do these journos just guess and hope things are true or something?

We have lost 2 games to one club - Centrals. So what is the suprise or shock there or has that reporter been in a coma for the last 10 years???