Big on guts, small on execution

[OneEyedEagle]

Seeing Noddy getting pushed around and face slapped was one of the game's highlights.

And for that I applaud you MB. I generally don't talk about players that I dislike but I just loath the likes of Kimmorely, Mason and I couldn't stand Ray Price from the slime.

 

[Kiwi Eagle]

The Dogs scrambling D was amazing. Our passing wasn't sharp, but after the match I sat there thinking that against most sides in the comp we would have rattled 40-50 up last night

Orford's game was up and down, but if we get that performance for 300k a year, I have no problem with that at all, when the match was on the line, he stepped up. I also like seeing him running again, he is so dangerous. Probably the thing I like most about his game is the clean up work, he seems to know where to be to dive on a loose ball, or to clean up a grubber like the one he returned 40m last night

 

[Matabele]

I thought this would be a thread about Nate Myles and his so-called stomach complaint over the weekend.

 

[DSM5]

What riled me as well as the poor refereeing was the fact that the dogs player playing the ball, got up and then took a step forward , making the marker step back and thus lose that ability to follow the ball carrier.  Very annoying.  I really noticed that sly rolling and then standing around the ruck too.  Archer was very poor last night.  I'd like to know why the refs are so bad this year. 

 

[chrisos]

Dogs defended very well,but we did look disorganised for a while there when we had about 4 sets in a row on their line.A good thing was the play before our first try when ballin was promoting the ball,and it ended up with t rex nearly scoring in the corner,a set move that was very close to being perfectly executed,hope des can come up with some more good set plays like this one.

 

[Nutzcraw]

I actually thought the referring was quite good.

They let the game flow and didn't blow stupid penalties cuz someone got a bit of a whack on the chin.

I give the refs so much crap but I gotta give them a pat on the back when I think they do a good job. No diabolical video ref decisions either!!

Was anyone else wishing patten had of caught ben farrar before he went over the line??

 

[DSM5]

That point was mentioned by the Fox commentators.  Weird really

 

[Brookvale]

It was a great game and like Dessie had a great gameplan for Melb last year at least we have something to work on with the Dogs.

I believe the dogs are the benchmark and with set plays and 3 months till GF day we have time to come up with set plays to destroy that brilliant defnece of theirs.

If you get to watch the replay of the 78th minute, have a look at Ennis just standing around like a dead beat while the hulking Perry makes his 25m burst to the white line fever!!

I prefer Ennis over Farah, but the Queenslanders play for the 80 mins they will find him out.

 

[Jatz Crackers]

I thought this would be a thread about Nate Myles and his so-called stomach complaint over the weekend.

Except he wasnt small on execution.

 

[Biscuits]

i was screaming for farrar to get tackled.
With the ball we had in their teritory we would have scored at least 4 more tries had stewart been in the team. His pace, positioning and the focus he would generate from the defense freeing up blokes like his brother and lyon would have destroyed those last ditch dog tackles on the line. Add to that orford allways kicks better when he has stewart as a target.

 

[Jethro]

I'd like to know why the refs are so bad this year. 

Probably because there are two of them on the field now they don't think that they have to be as vigilant and they just think that if they miss something the other ref will pick it up and let them know.

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

I'm not worried about the 'small on execution' aspect, my impression is that Manly dominated that game in many ways. There were very few times where Dogs were pressuring our line. Mostly we controlled the territory and had them on the back foot a lot of the time.

I think that, similarly to last year, the fine-tuning of the attack will be the icing on the cake and that will be carefully mixed and lovingly applied over the next couple of months. The cake itself looks delicious. I predict the icing will set in September and us Manly fans will have a feast watching our team mount a strong defence of its crown.

 

[ads]

I thought a lot of it was down to the Bulldogs awesome defence. What pleased me is that we didn't attack for ten minutes and give up like a lot of teams do. We just kept coming and kept patient and we got their in the end!

 

[Arko-admirer]

I agree with SeaEagleRock8. The Dogs hung on but that's all they were doing. Our power game is rolling again and there is no opposing side that I think we can't keep on the back foot.

Our execution can certainly improve but I don't see as much improvement from the Dogs, even with Hannant and Idris back. And Brett Stewart back would be the sprinkles on SeaEagleRock8's premiership cake icing.

A couple of other thoughts from the game:

Matai has gone from being a bit of supporter-heart-in-mouth rush-of-blood backline defender to one that is nearly all hit and rarely miss. Much credit to Dessie's ironing out of bad habits. In fact Matai is sometimes cleaning up for Williams, who is sometimes still a bit sus defensively but better than Bani.  

Kite looked a bit better I thought but hardly the imposing pack leader of the last two years. Probably our fourth ranked prop on form.

And who would have thought with the game hanging on clutch sideline goal kicks Orford would kick it and El Masri miss? Orford can be awfully frustrating but sometimes he is just champion.

Also as some have noted Orford's running is reminding me of how elusive he was early in his career. Has been making 1-3 linebreaks a match recently. The one from the scrum late in the second half was vital in putting the Dogs on their heels.

 

[Bradza]

Great comments above.

The Bulldogs missed 49 tackles, which is crap, however their scrambling defence was outstanding. While the commentators were gushing about their defence and the fact we had so many tackles in the bulldog’s 20, they were ignoring the reason why.

The completion rates of both sides were in the 78-80% range and the penalty count was relatively low. The overall possession was 50/50%. This meant that Manly had to earn their field position advantage rather than receiving a free ride down field. This was done through excellent go forward and solid defence. We didn’t get enough recognition for that but what’s new there.

I like the cake analogy although you’d better not mention that to big Georgie. On that topic, how about the fat brigade in the bulldog’s pack?! With Eastwood, Hickey and Gordon it looked like a sea lion colony had lobbed at Brookie.

I was waiting for that greenie Kirsch to pop up and try to save them! It could give her an excuse to stop games being played.

 

[Spuds Bodyguard]

They kept on flashing up the stat about tackles in opposition 20. I tink at one stage in the second half it was about 30+ for Manly to 1 for the Dogs. They were trying to use it to show how good the Dogs defence was, but failed to highlight that it was Manly that were keeping them from entering out 20 meters.

I would imagine the stats would show most of the dogs possession struggled to make it past our 40 meter line.

 

[Dan]

They kept on flashing up the stat about tackles in opposition 20. I tink at one stage in the second half it was about 30+ for Manly to 1 for the Dogs. They were trying to use it to show how good the Dogs defence was, but failed to highlight that it was Manly that were keeping them from entering out 20 meters.

I would imagine the stats would show most of the dogs possession struggled to make it past our 40 meter line.

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