dullbogs craping themselves already....???

[stinger]

or just blowing smoke up our arses.....


"Big Saints a worry for Western Bulldogs

April 1, 2008 - 2:56PM

Having been badly hurt by St Kilda's big forwards in recent seasons, Western Bulldogs assistant coach Leon Cameron admits the club is concerned about countering them with a depleted defence on Friday night.

The two clubs will enter the Telstra Dome AFL clash among a group of just four undefeated teams after the opening two rounds.

But the Bulldogs have won just one of their past eight clashes with the Saints, as well as fighting out a draw in their most recent meeting, in round 18 last season.

"We've struggled with them in the past, I know we had that draw last year, but the previous couple of years they gave us a good couple of beltings," Cameron admitted.

He said the Saints' tall targets of Fraser Gehrig, Nick Riewoldt and Justin Koschitzke were a major reason for the lopsided record.

"We played them round three or four last year and lost by nine or 10 goals and Riewoldt and Koschitzke probably kicked five or six and their tall marking targets probably did hurt us a bit," Cameron said.

"It has been a concern over the last couple of years."

With the Bulldogs missing defenders Tom Williams and Andrejs Everitt through injury, he conceded they would be particularly stretched for match-up options.

"We've got (Brian) Harris obviously and Cam Wight, so no doubt we'll have to bring another tall in, (Andrew) McDougall maybe, or look to a (Ryan) Hargrave or a (Dale) Morris to probably play above their height," Cameron said.

"It's always a concern playing their talls, but again hopefully our midfield can get on top and prevent them going in there with ease."

Cameron said Nathan Eagleton was likely to return from an ankle injury.

He said starting the year with three wins in a row would provide a great foundation for the season.

"If you can get over such a good side like the Saints early in the year it's a massive bonus," he said.

New Bulldogs ruck recruit Ben Hudson is another player who will have a tough test, against new Saints ruck pairing Steven King and Michael Gardiner.

Interestingly, given the experience of all three, Hudson has never come up against King in a premiership season match and only once against Gardiner, when Hudson was playing for Adelaide and Gardiner for West Coast in 2005.

But Hudson said given both the Saints' big men are former All Australians, he and likely ruck partner Will Minson would be in for a challenge.

"They've got the form on the board in the past and they're in good form," Hudson said.

"Anyone looks forward to playing the best in the competition and they'd be up there amongst the best."



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....you be the judge.....

[esaint66]

Footballs has alot of mind games involved so i wouldnt be suprised if the were blowing smoke up our arses.

But then agains when was the last we didnt beat them? (not counting last years draw)

[iwantmeseats]

Yeah, different this time round though with 40 goals and 2 wins up in the first two rounds. This will be a real test while their confidence is up and their run is back.

[riccardo]

We can avenge the umpire assisted draw that kept us out of the Finals last year.

If we were coming up against a side with that kind of motivation, I'd be worried, too.

[Dan Warna]

the dogs will be a real challenge and win against them well earned.

still the AFL hate the dogs more than us, for not surrendering, so i can't see the umpires trying to influence this game

[El Wood]

We can avenge the umpire assisted draw that kept us out of the Finals last year.


The draw didn't keep us out of the finals, we needed another win.

[bigcarl]

i wouldn't take them lightly but i'd be very disappointed if we can't atone for the miserable draw we managed against them last year.

call me overconfident if you like but i don't see how they can hold us to a losing score if we bang it down quickly to our talented forward line as well as shut down a few of their playmakers

[aussiejones]

"if we bang it down quickly to our talented forward line"

Got to counter their pace .

We have the tallent to smash them ...but will probably win by 15- 20 points

[bigcarl]

Got to counter their pace

i know what you mean. they have pace; we have height and strength.

it is a question of making them play us at our game, rather than getting sucked in to playing them at theirs.

in other words play to our own strengths; not theirs.

imo bj and gram on opposing wings launching it long and direct to our tall forwards (or even kick a goal themselves). dal in the guts with instructions to get forward and have a shot whenever he can.

start kosi at chf, fraser ff and riewoldt where ever he likes in the front half and if it is not working then swap their roles around. each is interchangeable with the other imo.

milne, schneider, xavier, montagna etc to swoop on anything loose.

don't get too obsessed with the match-ups. shut down their main playmakers but otherwise let our guys play the bold and attacking football we all know they are capable of.

don't ask me who their playmakers are. i'll admit to being a student of st kilda but i'm not that flash on opposition teams. someone on here will know.

i'm not defensively-minded, but i am aware that you can also win a premiership that way. it's a balancing act, but i seem always to err on the side of attack

[Gilbert=Legend]

[quote="riccardo"]We can avenge the umpire assisted draw that kept us out of the Finals last year.[quote]

Even if we won, we would have missed out on finals anyway due to our hopeless percentage we gathered by playing rubbish footy