Lipinski has played midfield in the VFL early this year.
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Lipinski has played midfield in the VFL early this year.
We were exactly 6.10 at half time in the Hawthorn game, and went on to kick 10.1 in the second half.
The belief of the team was unshakeable during the 2016 finals - the accuracy wouldn't have made a difference, we just had to be 'in touch' at half time and we would win.
Zaine Cordy is one of the most unco ordinated looking footballers around but he is very good, I love the way he can swing his arms and legs around to belt someone and make it look like it's just his awkwardness.
He has some smarts about him as well.
In the prelim he has a big hand in Clay Smith's opening goal. He goes up for a contest as a forward that he's never going to win, but manages to palm it to ground to his own advantage and get the handball off to Clay. It was brilliantly done.
Tonight seems like a Lipinski kind of night - smart positioning from a small forward in the wet will be vital.
We'll have a tall forward at all times now assuming Boyd & Roughy swap in the ruck.
Many question Bevo's switching of players roles, here's a move that appears to be paying off.
Why going backwards has helped young Western Bulldogs midfielder Pat Lipinski leap forwards
Pat Lipinski had just been dropped when Luke Beveridge made a suggestion that changed the course of his season.
The pair were sitting inside Beveridge’s office at Whitten Oval when the Western Bulldogs’ coach floated the idea of shifting the 20-year-old from a wing to an inside role.
The Bulldogs are stacked with classy outside types in the form of reigning best and fairest winner Lachie Hunter, Jason Johannisen, Taylor Duryea, Ed Richards and star midfielders Jack Macrae and Marcus Bontempelli can go inside and out.
If Lipinski was going to get a game, he had to add to his game.
It didn’t happen overnight, but over the course of six games in the VFL, where the Eltham product averaged 25 disposals and 4.7 tackles for Footscray, Lipinski added another string to his bow.
He replaced mature-age recruit Will Hayes for the clash against North Melbourne in Round 10 — Brad Scott’s last game in charge — and has played the type of football that shows why the Bulldogs used Pick 28 to pluck him out of the Northern Knights at the end of 2016.
After collecting 23 disposals in each of his first two games of the year, Lipinski gathered 29 disposals and kicked two goals against Carlton in Round 13, before amassing a career-high 32 disposals and a goal against Collingwood at Marvel Stadium on Sunday.
“All pre-season I was playing wing and then the first game of the JLT I was playing wing and didn’t have my best game and then got sent back to the VFL and I pretty much played inside mid for 10 weeks or so and just got to really improve on my craft,” Lipinski told foxsports.com.au after the Western Bulldogs lost to Collingwood on Sunday.
“I wouldn’t have had a chance to do that at AFL level, so that really helped me come into the AFL side and have more versatility to play forward, wing or mid.
“Coming back in and being confident (has been the catalyst behind form turnaround). Playing VFL you get to really work on your weaknesses.
“At the time, playing VFL can be a bit frustrating but it has definitely helped me because otherwise I wouldn’t get the opportunity to go in and play inside midfield at AFL level.”
While the Western Bulldogs remain inside the bottom four and two games outside the top eight after Sunday’s single digit loss, Lipinski has proven he can perform at the highest level by producing his two best performance at AFL level in consecutive weeks.
“I think it has just proven I belong at the level,” he said.
“I’m getting more confident with each game that I can stand up against the big bodies and really use my strengths with my running. It is a good confidence builder, but I really need to keep it up.”
Lipinski lives in Port Melbourne with Aaron Naughton and Tim English — two players who loom as crucial pieces in the Western Bulldogs’ next premiership pursuit — and has spent the past month playing alongside his housemates.
“I’ve been with them for 10 months. We never really fight or anything and have a good system with the washing and cooking,” he said.
“It is good that we get to play with each other now. We had one today where Timmy kicked it to me and I kicked it to Naughty so that’s the first time I’ve done that.
Although, the flashy flat screen television Naughton won after that breakout performance against Richmond in Round 7 is still yet to arrive.
Not that Lipinski is watching the Dogs play on the box anymore.
Another gem from Eltham. Took his opportunity and is now reaping the benefits.
Not a criticism but find it interesting that in the week of JLT2 we had the following players all have their positions redefined after an entire pre-season:
-Lipinski from outside mid to inside mid
-Naughton from key defender to key forward
-Trengove went from seeming as if he was competing for the ruck/resting forward position to becoming a ruck/key defender
-Williams went from midfield to playing as a lockdown defender
Weird week.
How good was Patrick yesterday, 27 disposals, 10 contested, 2 goals, 7 tackles and ran all day