The Scout Report | Round 2 V Western Bulldogs

Written by Dan Williams

Western Bulldogs

Many people’s pick for the flag winners this year. But it has started rusty for last years runners up! 

They showed signs of their usually progressive game style versus the Demons, however the method in which they become unstuck was their to see. The dogs for all their strength love too keep the ball in motion and look to outgun quickly from the centre too rack up pressure not just on the scoreboard but also around the ground.

If you can find a way to break transition against the Doggies, you are halfway there. Last year they ranked exclusively top 4 for all major forward half stats, building a game plan on effectively winning territory and locking away in defensive 50, then scoring and winning the centre and locking you away again. 

Although the Demons never set the world alight in this game (similar numbers to Carlton’s fixture in preseason), they showed the blueprint to putting away the Doggies. 

Locking You In D-50

Two stages of threat exist from the Bulldogs.

One, they use Naughton almost in a isolation (NBA) style. They clear out the space so he is one-on-one with the opposition Key Defender (often 2 as the third will naturally gravitate to him in hopes of an intercept) 

This causes 2 phases: 1) the ability to bring the ball to the deck, or 2) a mark and kick for Goal

Often you will see this is a decoy, and the ball is chipped short. The Bulldogs have the most inside 50 possessions of any side, and look to chip it around, and move the ball, or look to cause chaos, very similar to the method Richmond have made famous.

In the above example the ball goes to a 4 on 2 situation. Now watch what happens when the ball hits the deck.

Within a matter of moments, the Doggies pound and flood the area with players. They look to stop any form of ball movement to prevent transition. Often you have 2 options play the handball like in this example to avoid a holding the ball, or boom it to a packed outside 50 line of defence.

The Dogs read these situations better than most, as they often have 2 roaming players behind the contest too aide extraction and suddenly have one outs in D50 to walk into the goals

Locking You In D-50 – The Cure

Carlton utilised and showcased in the Round 1 fixture, a willingness to play the ball first, over bomb it out. They often deployed Newman and Williams as a man who would be a stopper to alleviate the numbers around the contest.

This is a break in tradition as usually you would see your McDonalds and Weiterings as the enforcers in D50. 

From here Carlton were calm and looked to play multiple balls until the option was there for a kick in the corridor or a handball over the top down the wing. 

One real delight here for Carlton, was as the midfield pressure was so high, the amount of numbers being able to be committed to a forward entry were negated due to the dominance and pressure coming from higher up. The short sharp movement and using many tools caused what is a traditional forward pressure to become more zonal to cover the multiple threats we posed on transition. McGovern (Kicking) Saad (Run and Carry) Doc and Williams (Kicking and Handballs). This will have to again be on show, as the above example, created multiple options for the heavy deep press Richmond laid allowing Carlton to transition in 4 touches from D50 too inside 50.

Centre Clearance Dominance 

Unlike the Tigers, the Dogs play a territory-based first mentality from the stoppages and centre bounce. They were the leading side at generating scores, but also winning these areas in the AFL in 2021.

Naughton plays a pivotal role here, often being the outlet in the 6-6-6 rule, as they look to use Macrae’s booming foot too get to the 50 arc and either spoil it down to his waiting half forwards or a punch backwards to a bombarding midfield brigade.

This is where the pressure is so important, as it’s a constant bombardment, a war of attrition that requires patience, and good set up to not allow the Dogs to have this kick. If you pressure too much though, they are one of the leading sides at handballing from tackled positions and they simply look to run and carry.

Their hallmark is their ability to run in numbers for each other but also create major separation in their leading and running patterns.

Centre Clearance Dominance – The Cure  

In this passage, like many throughout the pre-season, every pass is met with contact, shorting the time the ball carrier has to set transition up in a pattern, and forcing the user too get rid of the ball quicker.

This caused Melbourne to exit to the safe part of the ground. For Carlton fans we only know this way, as manic pressure causes safe outlets

As we see, the pressure of the 3rd wall we talked about comes into effect, With the backs pushing high up the ground, and resulting in a Carlton gain of possession and thus a repeat inside 50. 

Throughout the game we saw Carlton have repeat entries, resulting in a sliding door moment throughout the game. Against Richmond this is a must, as their bread and butter is these pockets of space in and around their defensive 50

Centre Clearances

Richmond ranked last in centre clearances for the last term, and this is a staple of their game plan. They are tough to play against as they play to their strengths. One of the key notes of Dimma’s plan is they recycle the ball from the centre. They look to create clean use or create another stoppage. 

In this example, Prestia will drift defensive side of the ball, looking to stop any exit, Cotchin will follow the ball and look to off load the ball too a waiting Prestia or lay a tackle and stop the offload, while Edwards will look to stop the play, or sheppard his man to allow an exit by run and carry. 

In this event Richmond created a stoppage, against a Strong part of GWS gameplan, They are very clever around stoppages as they can commit more players around the contest with no 6-6-6 rule and also it opens the game up too their shorter quicker game style with the ball.

Centre Clearances -  The Cure

In the Richmond game, you would see Pitto or TDK almost just contest the bounce and then act as a auxillary midfielder. English is similar to Nank who looks to tap it down to his mids. 

Often we found Cripps like in this example, looking to get in front of the ruck and avoid him getting to the fall of the ball first, Hewett lagged behind in front of the play to stop any kick (spoil here) and Kennedy applied the pressure forcing a rushed kick

From here Carlton often looked to move the ball with 3 handballs, with Cripps hanging out the back of the contest 1-on-1 with the ruckman, beating them for pace and strength and looking for a 4th handball too a runner (Cerra last week, Walsh this week)

This allowed Carlton to have open space and thus have 48% of i50 resulting in scores (top 2 in AFL 2021)

Small Defence

Bulldogs are often talked about being small in the defensive half. Ranking low for contested marks, Like most smaller backlines, they aim to have a blocker and then a swingman come through to take the intercept mark, This is usually Keath’s role, but as he’s one of the taller guys, he has to come off his man like Jones did for us in 2021.

This causes contests, and often as English is deployed as the spare down the back, can create congestion as repeat entries cause the smalls to collect in the hot zone.

Often sides have snuck out the back with ease (Melbourne Grand Final)

Small Defence - The Exploit

As we see here, Carlton often Set their talls deep in the square, with the target being short of them, to play to the strengths of Curnow and McKay being exceptionally quick and athletic for their position. 

This is a polar opposite to the Demons, Richmond and other sides, as it creates a pocket of space for the Blues to exploit. Time and Time again we saw Carlton look to shark it from the pack and work in behind the congestion for marks. 

Using this cluster, Durdin and Owies time and again found themselves with areas too work in, If we bring in a Motlop, I expect to see Fisher be the guy looking for the feed of the ball and too play it into these pockets, while Durdin and Motlop go too work and Owies looks too be the shark around the fall of the ball.

Conclusion

Based on the previous games played, Marking is KING in this game as is the ability to exploit the lack of contested marks from the Dogs. The Bulldogs require ball in motion and ball being moved into target territories. Pressure has to be high without the ball, and Carlton need to expect to concede goals in batches, The key to stop this will come from that pressure around the ball and allowing yourself to lock it in their forward 50.

Transition is a place Carlton can really exploit them. Last week the midfield chains generated the majority of our scores. With the addition of Walsh over Cerra due to covid, this allows Carlton to have the same type of gut runner user in the middle, and I expect the key to this battle will be McGovern finding him from the intercept opportunities that the Bulldogs throw up.