RSS: Forward scout: Western Bulldogs

[ScottH]

The hard-running Dogs will look to run their Swans off their legs

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(This post was automatically generated from news items on www.sydneyswans.com.au )

[Go Swannies]

A question - we always seem to get these insights into the opposition on the Swans site. Do I have to go to the Dog's site for a preview of the Swans game - or are we regarded as purely reactive?

[Go Swannies]

After reading that review, I don't think the reviewer has seen the Dogs much this year. I went to Melbourne for Easter and our Tigers game. The following day, I took up a friend's invitation to see the Dogs host the Crows at the G.

At the end of the weekend, the Tigers looked to have much more potential this year than the Dogs. The Crows, who possibly play the game most similar to the Swans - lock down and rebound fast out of defence - looked as if they played in a different division from the Dogs. McLeod had a stellar game but he wasn't the only one - the Dogs spent most of the game flat footed watching the Crows run past.

If, and it's a big if, we play like last week this should be a much easier game than last week. Maybe he meant flat footed not fleet-footed because the "slow" Crows looked pretty quick against the dazed Dogs? Roos has outcoached Eade for a few years now - and I don't think it's merely the ground that makes the difference. Of course, the Swans may go back to the crap they dished out a few weeks ago - but then we'd be in trouble against anyone, including the Blues, Dees and Tigers.

I normally watch the Dogs games because it's fun to watch how they play but suggesting the only way we'll win is to shut them down in dour defence is facile. Like the Crows - and the Swans last week - the best way to beat them is to go man on man as we have the past few years, deny them possession by winning it ourselves and storm forward when we have it.

[NMWBloods]

Yes - I think we don't need to totally lock the game down to win. We just have to be careful to manage the balance between defensive and attacking. If the Bulldogs get going they do have the potential to run us off our feet on a very big ground. Last week against Collingwood they really started to get their run going, which had been missing for much of this year so far.

[liz]

Last week against Collingwood they really started to get their run going, which had been missing for much of this year so far.

Collingwood have been playing a pretty loose, attacking kind of football this year - partly a by-product of blooding so many inexperienced and slight kids. This is exactly the kind of style the Dogs like and they're better at it than most. But they've traditionally struggled against the more disciplined, tough bodies of Adelaide, Sydney and the Toasters (who can play tough and close or fast and fancy free and who had an off-day when the Dogs beat them in the H&A last year).

I've rewatched last weekend's game a couple of times now and it really was a superb TEAM performance by the Swans. I still find it hard to pinpoint any players who individually had a particularly noteworthy game, but as a unit they were as good as I've seen them in any game over the past few seasons. If they come with that mentality this weekend and don't squander too many scoring chances - the one real blot from the Port game - they should be too strong, too experienced and just too good for the Dogs. I expect it will be reasonably close - ie not much more than 30 points or so - and there will be a few periods when the Dogs get a bit of a run on, but I think our boys ought to be able to control most of the game.

If the St Kilda version game turns up however...