Welcome to the Western Bulldogs Marcus Adams

[Twodogs]

Ditto - was worried about his turnovers but if he counters that by being another genuine intercept marking option in defence I'll happily about-face

That's the big attraction isn't it? Developing that intercept marking ability and having two Easton Woods across half back is such a beautiful prospect. Some teams just won't score against us at all. Dad will get bored down in the opposition goal square with the ball not making it all the way down to full back.

[LostDoggy]

I think what he is getting better at is decision making. He is not a terrible kick per se, but he was taking bad options in the scratch match and NAB1. As he adjusts to the pace and systems, I'm sure his disposal efficiency will improve.

[Mantis]

That's the big attraction isn't it? Developing that intercept marking ability and having two Easton Woods across half back is such a beautiful prospect. Some teams just won't score against us at all. Dad will get bored down in the opposition goal square with the ball not making it all the way down to full back.

Really?

Our forwards and mids need to smarten up their defensive transistion skills a bit for that to be the case... Defensive positioning also needs to get better.

[The Bulldogs Bite]

Really?

Our forwards and mids need to smarten up their defensive transistion skills a bit for that to be the case... Defensive positioning also needs to get better.

Yep, we are still miles off the pace where we need to be defensively from what I've seen thus far over pre-season.

[ReLoad]

He's got a heck of a lot of upside to him, but as others above have suggested our defence is very leaky and susceptible to being torn apart in a 10 minute burst.

[comrade]

I'd expect to have some big scores kicked against us this year. The team is still generally young and inexperienced, and Bevo has only had 2 pre seasons to hone his plan.

I hope we can get plenty of games into Collins, Adams, Hamling & Cordy while they have the support of the old stagers in the backline.

[LostDoggy]

Whilst our systems seem high risk and can look awful when teams get in behind, it should be noted that Bevo had one brief preseason and an inexperienced key defence group to work with last year and took us from a team that conceded 2177 points to a team that conceded 1825 points (avg 82.9 points per game) - the 2nd lowest since the 1980s (only 2010 was lower).

This year he's had more time to develop his strategies and a deeper pool to work with. I'm excited to see what we can produce. Besides it doesn't really matter what the opposition kicks, as long as we kick more

[Mofra]

Whilst our systems seem high risk and can look awful when teams get in behind, it should be noted that Bevo had one brief preseason and an inexperienced key defence group to work with last year and took us from a team that conceded 2177 points to a team that conceded 1825 points (avg 82.9 points per game) - the 2nd lowest since the 1980s (only 2010 was lower).

This year he's had more time to develop his strategies and a deeper pool to work with. I'm excited to see what we can produce. Besides it doesn't really matter what the opposition kicks, as long as we kick more

All true - but he also had more experienced KPDs to work with.
Talia & Fletcher Roberts had some games under their belt, this season we could feasibly have two debutants, Hamling and Zordy making the biggest contributions. We'll need experienced heads around them to shore up their positioning (Wood, Murphy, Morris & Boyd must be regular fixtures in our defensive rotations)

[LostDoggy]

All true - but he also had more experienced KPDs to work with.
Talia & Fletcher Roberts had some games under their belt, this season we could feasibly have two debutants, Hamling and Zordy making the biggest contributions. We'll need experienced heads around them to shore up their positioning (Wood, Murphy, Morris & Boyd must be regular fixtures in our defensive rotations)

All those players except Talia are still there and a year more experienced. Our position is much better this year.

[Cyberdoggie]

I think we will be one of the highest scoring teams and also have a reasonable score against us. We may beat up on some teams but others will challenge us in shootouts like the final last year. If our attack gets shut down I don't think we can hold off an opposition for too long.

[Twodogs]

Really?

Our forwards and mids need to smarten up their defensive transistion skills a bit for that to be the case... Defensive positioning also needs to get better.

Not really, no.

[Ghost Dog]

One would have to allow for opponents countering our strategy last year. First year honeymoon for the coach is over.

[Bulldog4life]

Whilst our systems seem high risk and can look awful when teams get in behind, it should be noted that Bevo had one brief preseason and an inexperienced key defence group to work with last year and took us from a team that conceded 2177 points to a team that conceded 1825 points (avg 82.9 points per game) - the 2nd lowest since the 1980s (only 2010 was lower).

This year he's had more time to develop his strategies and a deeper pool to work with. I'm excited to see what we can produce. Besides it doesn't really matter what the opposition kicks, as long as we kick more

Great post PP. Thanks for the figures.

[bornadog]

Good luck on debut to Marcus.

Nice interview here on Today Tonight in Perth. Watch the great goal towards the end of the video

[bulldogtragic]

I think we can now all see why Bevo was chasing Adams so hard. Add in Collins when he's ready and Hamling & Roberts to fight hard for the spots, Zaine as a tall 3rd, and our defence gets taller and better. Fair debut by The Specimen.