New Dogs, old tricks?

It felt like yesterday that these two teams met but in fact it was about three months ago, in round two, and plenty has changed since that Friday night under the roof at Etihad.

Just look at the team. There were people at Tullamarine on Thursday morning whose job it was to report back who was missing and who wasn’t from the Bulldogs’ travelling party.

What they probably saw was a group heading to Sydney that looked very different than the one that rocked up to Etihad back in March.

If you think a week is a long time in football, then ten rounds is an eternity.

Swan hunters

The SCG has been a happy hunting ground for the Bulldogs in recent times, at least since Luke Beveridge took over as coach, with the Dogs having won their last two games at the venue, and the last four straight overall.

The first time the two sides faced off at the Moore Park ground was way back in July of 1982, which the freshly christened Sydney Swans won by 13 points.

Incidentally, in the 27 times that the two sides have faced off at the SCG since, only twice has the margin been under two goals; the last two, in which the Dogs won each by four points.

So what does it all mean? Probably not a great deal, but there’s a bit here that might help you win the odd bet in the front bar tomorrow night.

You’re welcome.

Linsanity

Do you have to be a Bulldogs person to know how adored Jongy is amongst the faithful?

When the powerful midfielder went down with a shoulder injury early in last season’s finals series, Channel 7 cameras caught the 24-year-old in a pretty emotional state on the bench.

It had plenty wondering, was he in pain, or was this way of him telling us that it was to be his last game in a Bulldogs jumper, off to join a rival club at the end of his contract?

Either way, it was a probably a good reflection of the reaction of Dogs fans if he’d left. Anyway, he didn’t and this week he plays his 50^th game.

Here’s to many, many more. Go well, Jongy.

Cancel your plans

It’ll be sixth vs sixteenth on Thursday night. 

Not usually the sort of thing that would have you cancelling your dinner plans, but you don’t have to be David King to know that there’s a fair bit more to this one than ladder positions.

Firstly, this season is extraordinarily tight, so the gap isn’t really accurate of where the teams are at. Secondly, both sides are neck and neck form wise, at least as far as win/loss ratios would have it – the Dogs have won two of the last five, Sydney, three of the last five, although the Dogs probably had their best win of the season before break.

Lastly, the Swans are the Swans, and they’ll fight tooth and nail for the four points.  It’ll be game on, no doubt about that.

Is it 7:20 yet?