Summer Loving - December 2006

Summer Loving

Well two drafts have been completed along with a few trades and delisting or two plus a retirement of a real champion Bulldog player.
The club has a new look about it with a number of young and exciting players being added to the squad and in the first times in years we now also have 4 rookie players.

The Bulldogs have welcomed the following players during the trade period:
Jason Akermanis via a trade with the Brisbane Lions for a late 2nd round draft pick. Aker is a champion footballer, a Brownlow medallist and more importantly for a team that hasn’t seen a premiership cup in over 50 years, he is also is a 3 time premiership player.

Andrew McDougall via a swap for 2nd and 3rd round draft selections with the West Coast Eagles. McDougall is an injury prone 197cm forward/ruckman that was starved for opportunities with the highly successful Eagles.
He is a fairly good contested mark but was behind in the pecking order at the powerful Eagles line-up.

The Bulldogs also selected the following players during the National and Rookie drafts:
Andrejs Everitt – A 194cm defender who the Bulldogs selected with the 1st round selection.
Brennan Stack – A 184cm smallish forward
Josh Hill – A 186cm utility
Malcolm Lynch – A 178cm speed machine
Paul O’Shea – A 192cm forward.
Gavin Hughes – A 181cm 20yo midfielder from SA.
Jarrod Harbrow – A 178cm small forward.
Marty Pask – A 191cm tall utility who played 8 senior games with the Lions in 2006.
Michael West – Redrafted back to the Dogs after being delisted.

I have to admit that I can’t get enough of football. So many people I know who are otherwise strong football lovers switch-off during the summer months but I never really have that luxury.
The summer months are actually a very enjoyable time for me in a footy sense. I often venture down to training to watch how the players are developing. This year has been particularly exciting. There has been a real buzz around the place probably mainly due to trading for Akermanis and the way that we finished off the season (not counting the flogging we got off West Coast)

Pre-season training has actually changed a fair bit over the years I have been watching it. Gone are the days of just getting the miles into the legs of the playing group and pumping iron. The players are now broken into specialised groups taking into account the individual programmes the fitness teams have assessed them at in conjunction with what the coach expects from each player.

Pure footballers have also been replaced with pure athletes which is one of the reasons why training has become far more sophisticated.
Players are put on programmes to add speed and to improve their core strength and skinfolds are frequently tested to ensure that footballers are maintaining their fitness base at all times. Any player that comes back from the off season below their target level will now expect merry hell from the coach. Everything is very professional nowadays and everyone, fans included, place a high demand on all the players.

Anyway as I was saying the summer months are a great time for a footy watcher like me and venturing down to the Whitten Oval, which is in pretty good condition all things considered, to have a look at our new additions to the squad is hardly a chore.

There are just three players from the Rookie and National Draft days that stand out to me as likely options to play senior football in 2007.

Gavin Hughes is probably the most exciting prospect. He has already been selected to play for the SANFL state team where unfortunately a heart ailment stopped him from playing. Fortunately this condition is easily treated and he can now focus on his football.
He is very quick and has great endurance, uses the ball well and while he is a bit light he has the right sort of frame that should fill out nicely over the next 12 months.
Hughes moves around the training track very well and just stands out as someone fully focused on making it to the senior level.
Given that we already have a plethora of running players some would think his chances of making it would be minimal however, in a team that rewards the hard workers and dedicated types I think he provides us with an almost ready made option if injuries or a lack of form to our midfielders curses the Dogs.

Marty Pask is an interesting story. Aker’s off season training partner couldn’t have come to us with a higher recommendation given Aker’s stamp of approval.
Having seen him on the training track he does cut an imposing figure. Listed at 191cm and around 95kg he adds plenty of options in a team that has been “short on talls” for years. He is not the quickest bloke on the list in fact he is probably one of the slower ones but he works very hard and gives us options as a key defender or forward and this is something we have badly required for a number of years. With the suspension of Harris for the first two weeks and injury concerns for a couple of talls, Pask might just be given his chance to press for senior honours.

Andrejs Everitt is a likely type. Very tall and probably pushing 195cm he is pencil thin at the moment but will fill in the next 12 months. He is very athletic and posses a long kick in fact it is one of the best kicks I have seen on someone so young. While I’m normally conservative with my expectations on someone so young and physically underdeveloped, I can see Everitt playing a few games on a half back flank or wing for us during the season. They could even slot him up forward.

All the other additions are long term prospects and from what I have seen, 2007 shapes as a development year for them.

I have huge expectations for us in the 2007 and the training sessions I have witnessed over the last few weeks just confirms that we are due for a big season.
I will keep you all posted during these summer months.

Billy Blogger

This one from a session I attended before the Xmas break

Training
On a very dry, dusty and warm morning the group hit the Western Oval for a 2 hour plus training session. By the way it was also very windy which made for very difficult training conditions. The session started out slowly with very light drill work and then the players split into a couple of groups where the focus was on fitness and conditioning. I also sensed that the team is being prepared for a long hard campaign with the aim of peaking at the business end. It?s no good starting off well if it isn?t sustainable throughout the season and I think the additional weight sessions and focus on core strength will set us up for the full season. Our fitness team has a real big job in improving what is generally regards as a very lean playing group.

There was some very positives signs throughout the session and given the conditions faced the worth ethic displayed was a very good sign. We obviously have a coach willing to test out the squad physically but equally we have a group willing to work through any conditions in their efforts to prepare themselves for a big 2007.

Throughout the session the main drill was now taking on an almost match like intensity with players starting to go harder and harder at each other. The physicality of the session was a real feature.

For what it is worth 3 players that most would regard as fringe players particularly impressed me.

Sam Power has obviously spent the off-season working hard in the gym and has really developed physically. His kicking throughout the session was a real feature and while Sam acquitted himself well as a forward in 2006 I can see him being used both as a forward and in defence in 2007.

Wayde Skipper who is often cast as the whipping boy by supporters looks in fantastic shape. No one should question Skippers commitment to becoming an AFL footballer and throughout this session his displayed a great work ethic and good skills. He often played with injuries last season because his team needed him and I think that is lost on the vast majority of our supporters. He never dropped a mark during the session and he used the ball well. All good signs.

Cameron Wight showed plenty in the latter part of the 2006 season and his work in the off season suggest that he has somehow found another level with his fitness. I think the club holds him in very high regard and he is sure to be in their calculations.

Some of the new recruits stood out as well. The indigenous boys form an exciting group and while they are all skinny types their skill level and pace is quite impressive. Everitt looks very poised but in some aspects the rookie list players in Pask, Hughes and Harbrow look more advanced that the draftees. O?Shea is very raw and will benefit from playing in the Werribee 2nds team.
Harbrow is an intriguing prospect and has plenty of pace and is vigorous in his approach.
Pask hasn?t put a foot wrong so far and looms as a possible key defender during the pre-season competition. Hughes is very quick and uses the ball well and should press for senior selection during the season.

Billy Blogger