Bulldogs Debate Page

[Hounddog]

There was a lot of emotion in last weeks game against with 1995 Grand Final and all that might have contributed a bit to the loss today as well you never know. but I remember in 19 95 team was getting pumped until the side just clicked in and went all the way never know this could be an omen.

The comp is pretty open this season the team that peaks in the finals has the best chance of winning.

The Dogs have a history of doing that, but often we built slowly during the season. This season we have been good all year.

Tracey playing most of the season means that no other player has experience in that position. I was hoping that Cochrane or Wilson would be the back up.

Our best chance is still finishing in the top 2 and earning home semis. We need to win most of our games i think 4 out of 5 to finish top 2, but if we are lucky 3 out of 5 might do it.

 

[Hounddog]

I also think that our small pack of forwards and attack based on a lot of passing can be a problem in the wet.

To win we need high completions, good kicking game and good defence. Players need to adapt their passing.

Cirro pointed out that we lost the play the ball. Small pack and slow play the ball, don't try to go wide, try to play through the opposition or just try to hit it up and try to win a quick PTB.

Perhaps we can gamble on playing our current style and not getting rain during the semis. It is a season that often has low rainfall.

Against the Tigers we struggled with execution and sometimes tried to force the play. On another day, we catch those passes and the result might have been different. But our current style in the wet can be a spin of the roulette wheel.

If is also a problem in defence, because we play a rushing aggressive defence and players scramble to cover for those that overcommit. If the wet it is harder to scramble and change course. Overcommitted defence is punished.

In attack and defence we need to dial it back a bit in the wet and play the percentages.

Even with a small pack in the wet 80 minutes of high completions, good kicking and good defence in the wet can wear a bigger side down.

 

[Hounddog]

Anyway the coach and players want to win even more than we do, they have put a lot into this season and still think that we are a chance of winning a premiership.

They also know more about what went wrong against the Tigers, it was mostly self-inflicted. While the Tigers played well, they also made a few errors. We made 4 linebreaks to 3, and we practically gifted them their 2 long-range trys.

The pass for their last try was probably forward, and Critter only kicked one out of 3 conversions.

Not that the opposition will be any easier any other game, but if we are contenders, we will play better.

The media always exaggerate the good and the bad.

We shouldn't get too carried away about the win over Manly. It merely shows what we can do against weak defence in dry conditions.

We also shouldn't be too disappointed about the loss to the Tigers, a lot of it was simply a bad day at the office and a lack of patience.

Our win over the Dragons is more of an estimate of where we are at.

Dragons, Tigers, Titans and Eels all well capable of winning a few more games. Cows, Bunnies are probably shot.

The win over us might kick off a sequence of wins for the Tigers which will be a relief for their long suffering fans.

Souths can still win a few and and give the Cows the spoon. Old man Bennett can still coach, he just needs enough NRL standard players.

 

[Zoz2025]

Not sure if is good news or bad but Galvin out due to hand injury, Having Sexton back could be like a home coming to the team .
Warriors will be tough and there is already rain forecast . Cirro will have to
prepare the team for wet weather football . There is no guarantee that September will be dry ..

 

[Hounddog]

We lost games in the wet before we had Galvin in the side.

Perhaps DSF should have played, only because it might have changed the team mentality.

Woods is the other possibility if the club thinks is ready.

It is never the halfback's fault when other team members drop balls, force low percentage plays, make bad decisions in defence and miss tackles.

Sexton is a better defender, but the defensive problems were on the left. Burto, Kiks and Xerri, usually Xerri covers up defensive misses from Burto and Kiks.

We need the right mix of defence and attack. If Cirro thought our attack was good enough, he would not have dropped Sexton.

The other elephant in the room is we missed Tracey.

If it is raining and Galvin is out. I would play DSF and perhaps Woods.
Shift Kiraz back to right wing and find another fullback
.
Cirro had Wodds and DSF in final 19 for the Tigers.

If it is raining, we can expect a physical battle in the forwards against the Warriors. Kicking game is important and that is one reason to consider playing Woods.

 

[Hounddog]

Tia, Sexton, Spinks and Morrin good in reserve grade.

If Sexton comes back in the side, he might be an improved player.

For a forwards battle, Morrin has the right mentality.

Winning a forwards battle in the wet would be a massive leap forward for our side. One key to that is, don't drop the ball.

 

[Hounddog]

Kiraz still at fullback, Galvin still at 7,

Wilson, Sexton, Woods, DSF and Morrin in the extended squad.

We have all of the right players in the mix.

Strong Warriors side, time for Kiks to terrorise Tanah Boyd, a refresher is always good.

Tigers very smart putting Douelhi up against Kiks.

Warriors halves could swap sides. But I think that is unlikely.

Bugger Taffee out another 3 weeks by the time he gets back Tracey will be back. I really rated him before he got here, but a few errors early in his career at the Dogs has really cost him. Nice guy doesn't look like we are keeping him. I would be happy enough if we extended him.

Cochrane is also apparently indigenous, makes sense. When you see a guy with speed skill and an instinct for the game indigenous is no surprise.

 

[Beretta]

what an over reaction by the media about the hand gestures aimed at the Bulldogs fans. lol

it's a bit of banter, move on.

games gone soft.

 

[Hounddog]

I now think finishing anywhere from 1-6 is fine as long as the team is good shape.

That shape is physical and mental, losing too many games might dent our confidence. So we want to try to win games and when we don't win, learn from the mistakes.

It is important to practice the right style and experiment with a few things that we might want to try in the semis.

If we need to rest a player to ensure that he is right for the semis, I am always resting that guy regardless.

If we do drop a few games our fans will have a meltdown and come up with lots of wild conspiracy theories. The clowns in the media and opposition fans will spin their narratives.

I am ignoring all of that noise, top priority is having the squad in the right shape for the semis.

He who laughs last laughs best, and only the last laugh counts.

 

[Hounddog]

what an over reaction by the media about the hand gestures aimed at the Bulldogs fans. lol

it's a bit of banter, move on.

games gone soft.

I agree our fans dish out plenty, and seeing them cop a bit back is funny.

On the other hand, fans pay to be there and pay for the chance to sledge the opposition players.

Players are paid to be there and not engaging with the fans is more professional.

The NRL just needs to quietly suggest that players not plan to do that and perhaps next season have modest fines if a group of players do it together.

A individual player reacting to sledging and dishing a bit back is perfectly fine and a natural human response. No issue with that no fine or comment necessary.

 

[Zoz2025]

I think the players should show a bit more humility. Yes the fans might give it to them.but the players should respond in a different way They knew it was going to cause issues particularly with a certain ethnic group of the crowd on Sunday .
The Bulldogs fans have been superb this year. The media for over the years have always scrutinise the fans and how many times in the past NRL has even threatened the club to take points off because of fans behaviour. I wonder if they will do the same with the Tigers now.
Would been great if someone had a giant wooden spoon to show back to them

 

[Hounddog]

I think the players should show a bit more humility. Yes the fans might give it to them.but the players should respond in a different way They knew it was going to cause issues particularly with a certain ethnic group of the crowd on Sunday .
The Bulldogs fans have been superb this year. The media for over the years have always scrutinise the fans and how many times in the past NRL has even threatened the club to take points off because of fans behaviour. I wonder if they will do the same with the Tigers now.
Would been great if someone had a giant wooden spoon to show back to them

I think that our fans do get over excited and can go overboard on sledging, but that is part of the character of the club and the unique atmosphere at our games.

What I have heard is our fans are often friendly and polite to opposition fans. That is the red line for me, our fans need to treat opposition fans with respect.

Players that get wound up by the fans probably should be paying more attention to doing their job on the field.

The Galvin thing will die down, apart from perhaps giving Tigers players a bit more motivation, it had no impact on the result of the match. And if the players need something like that to get motivated and perform it says plenty.

I don’t see the Tigers as rivals, our rivals are Parra, Dragons, Roosters and occasionally Souths and the Broncos.

Ultimately losing that game might be a good thing for us. There are perhaps lessons in that game for the coach and players that we have been slow to learn.

One lesson is a coach can always trust a player who stands up in a game like that. Kurt Mann is the obvious player who stood up and stood out. This week a few get a chance to add their names to the list.

 

[Hounddog]

Players who impressed me against the Tigers in order-
Mann, Critter, Hayward, King

Gus has a theory that both the Dogs and Manly were flat after after an intense game the week before.

Mann and Hayward may have benefited from playing fewer minutes against Manly.

IMO time to start Hayward at hooker and shuffle Marhoney back to the bench,

Marhoney might still come on after 20 mins and play out the game.

I just think that we need the energy from Hayward at the start. His energy seems to lift the team energy levels.

We were on top against the Tigers from the moment Hayward came on the field and he wasn't offside just fast off the line.

Perhaps the Tigers had front loaded and were dying on their run.

The weird part of the game was when we were well on top, they were going nowhere in posession and we still couldn't score any points.

I wonder what Cirro is thinking about Hayward/ Marhoney because I am definitely thinking that Hayward should start.

 

[Micko]

Players who impressed me against the Tigers in order-
Mann, Critter, Hayward, King

Gus has a theory that both the Dogs and Manly were flat after after an intense game the week before.

Mann and Hayward may have benefited from playing fewer minutes against Manly.

IMO time to start Hayward at hooker and shuffle Marhoney back to the bench,

Marhoney might still come on after 20 mins and play out the game.

I just think that we need the energy from Hayward at the start. His energy seems to lift the team energy levels.

We were on top against the Tigers from the moment Hayward came on the field and he wasn't offside just fast off the line.

Perhaps the Tigers had front loaded and were dying on their run.

The weird part of the game was when we were well on top, they were going nowhere in posession and we still couldn't score any points.

I wonder what Cirro is thinking about Hayward/ Marhoney because I am definitely thinking that Hayward should start.

Cirro won’t change too much from what I have seen. He needs better players to go to the next level. With our current roster he can only do so much.

We still can win the comp. But Melbourne are so ridiculously strong all over the park. We can beat Warriors and Raiders. But Penrith or Brisbane could be almost impossible. Cirro needs to find a new plan for wet weather. But this year I think we fall one game short.

The loss to the Tigpies exposed us. And every team understands what it takes now. And most can beat us like they did in the wet. Hopefully we have some bright blue skies for the finals.

Melbourne to win the minor premiership.

 

[Hounddog]

Storm and Broncos both impressive in this game.

Best result for us this week is Manly beat Canberra and we beat the Warriors.

Storm minor premiership and us finishing second is ideal.

Our side has a few weaknesses this season, the squad is probably going to be a lot stronger next season.

But we are in good shape with injuries at this stage of the season, and that doesn't always happen.

I hope that we can somehow avoid playing the Storm, Panthers, or Broncos in the semis before the GF.

So a lucky run with the right match ups in the semis might be our best chance.

While some parts of the game against the Tigers were bad, it is only one game. We need to change our style and add a bit more size in the wet.

Overall the players are putting in each week and the coaches have improved the team and got the most out of them. Many other sides have more talent and experience.

 

[Zoz2025]

A top 4 will be a success this yesr. We may get bundled out but at least win one finals game . If we somehow can win the first one and go straight into the grand final qualifier then I reckon it'll be a really good success. I'm just not sure if we can go all the way this year. It's going to take us one or two years to win the Comp.

 

[Hounddog]

Cirro said that the wet should suit our side.

It suits our defence and kicking game but only if we adjust.

The way we normally attack isn't suited to the wet. We need a style adapted to the wet. Completions, kicking game, run hard, good ball security, angled runs and footwork.

If it is wet, will DSF come in this week?

In the wet and in general, our side needs one more big body.

Out of Marhoney, Hayward, Salmon and Mann we should only be playing 3 of them. Mann is a certainty in everyone's team, Hayward is a certainty in mine.

IMO it comes down to Marhoney or Salmon, Marhoney's kicking game from dummy-half is a big plus. Marhoney's occasional lapses in discipline are a negative.

Salmon blends into the background, he doesn't stand out in a positive or negative way, but gets though a lot of work.

Marhoney's discipline has improved a lot but when he concedes a dumb totally unnecessary penalty, it stands out.

Sexton back in reserve grade DSF is in or is 18th man.

 

[Hounddog]

More generally, any of the top 8, plus the Roosters can still win the comp.

Roosters are a long shot but they have the talent,

Any of the current top 4 including us are the most likely candidates.

But if I am honest, Raiders, Storm and Panthers have an edge on us in talent and experience.

That experience gap is players and coach.

However, we will be gaining experience from week 1 of the semis. Each week we just need to gain the experience and confidence to win the next game.

No longer being one of the favourites should help us.

 

[Zoz2025]

More generally, any of the top 8, plus the Roosters can still win the comp.

Roosters are a long shot but they have the talent,

Any of the current top 4 including us are the most likely candidates.

But if I am honest, Raiders, Storm and Panthers have an edge on us in talent and experience.

That experience gap is players and coach.

However, we will be gaining experience from week 1 of the semis. Each week we just need to gain the experience and confidence to win the next game.

No longer being one of the favourites should help us.

What a flogging Roosters will give it if teams are off their game .

 

[Hounddog]

Happy with that half, Hayward starting and a much smarter game plan made a difference.

Just need more of the same in the second half, we have taken some juice out of them,

Scoreboard pressure is on our side.

40/20 from Burto was special.