Why the Western Bulldogs are now destination club for Victorian players

[bornadog]

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IF you’re a Greater Western Sydney Giant or Gold Coast Sun who intends to come back to Victoria, or a disgruntled player from another Melbourne club, there is no destination that should be more appealing than the Western Bulldogs.


That’s assuming you want to play finals and have a serious tilt at a premiership over the next 3-5 years. If you merely want the best financial deal, the Bulldogs won’t be your club; they have too many quality players who need to be well paid.


There has never been a time in the previous half century when the Bulldogs have been a pre-eminent destination club. But in 2016, the club that John Elliott famously described as “tragic” has garnered sufficient talent, coaching acumen and momentum that it should be the club of choice in Victoria for players seeking success.


To be a destination club does not mean that you can always snare the best available recruits or homesick Vics playing interstate. What it means is that when a young or mature player is up for grabs — as GWS’s Caleb Marchbank might be — that you have a far better chance to a) convince that player to nominate your club, and b) to persuade him to accept a little less money.

To be a destination club has been — and remains — one of Hawthorn’s specific ambitions, and the Hawks apply to it coaches as much as players. By dint of their success and the reputation it forged, the Hawks have filled many a hole. Crucially, they’ve acquired recruits — witness James Frawley, Brian Lake and Ben McEvoy — at highly affordable rates.


Outside of an embarrassingly talent-laden GWS, the Bulldogs shape as the club most likely to compete for premierships within the next five years.


The Swans, Crows and Eagles, admittedly, have impressive credentials, but the Dogs are the Victorian stand out in terms of their playing list in the near future. It is a measure of how the worm turns that Melbourne — yep, that hitherto hopeless organisation — is probably next best placed among the Melbourne teams, based purely on talent.


Whether Michael Hibberd remains at Essendon or not, what was noteworthy about Melbourne’s advances on Hibberd was that the Demons have suddenly become a viable option for decent players; previously, the Dees could only land second stringers — eg Chris Dawes and Jake Melksham.




The Bulldogs are a logical home for Michael Hurley if he decides to leave the Bombers, and the same applies to Marchbank. The Dogs don’t really need midfielders, having accumulated a vast array via the draft, with a little help from the father-son rule.


Equalisation has bitten harder than Mike Tyson. None of the traditional powerhouses of Carlton, Collingwood, Essendon and Richmond will play finals this year and each of those ‘big four’ seems some distance from genuine flag contention. It says something about how the other three are faring that the Blues have won the most games to date of that less than fearsome foursome.


Geelong is the club of choice for anyone who grew up west of Werribee and east of Edenhope, as the recruitment of Dangerfield and company demonstrated. But if they can get every child born in Torquay and Ocean Grove, the Cats aren’t serious players in the Melbourne market.


The strength of Melbourne’s playing list is the star quality at the top end: Jesse Hogan, Christian Petracca, Clayton Oliver, Jack Viney and Angus Brayshaw — prime draft picks that the Dees (finally) nailed.


The Dogs have X factor and star quality in Marcus Bontempelli and Jake Stringer — game changers in the middle and the forward line respectively. Tom Liberatore, too, is an elite inside player, while Mitch Wallis is a kind of stealth star who’s crept up on the competition.


Lachie Hunter completes an imposing father-son trifecta. Jackson Macrae, Luke Dalhaus and Jason Johanissen are all entering their primes and Easton Wood, at 26, can continue to excel for a while yet.

But the stand out feature of the Bulldogs’ list is its depth and the sheer number of players who are pretty capable — and that a high proportion weren’t early draft picks. When the Bulldogs’ list management committee discusses which players are to be cut at season’s end, they won’t find it easy to find four names on the senior list.


Consider that Mitch Honeychurch, Nathan Hrovat, Lukas Webb and a few well-regarded youngsters struggle for a regular game. Given this depth, the Dogs are well placed to trade for need.


They could do with a key defender (hence the logical appeal of Hurley or Marchbank) to support Marcus Adams and that band of rebounding runners, and they don’t have imposing rucks. Tom Boyd, their most expensive acquisition, should eventually emerge as a key forward force, ably backed by Jack Redpath.


They’ll lose Bob Murphy, Dale Morris and Matthew Boyd in the next few years, but overall, this is a group that is performing like a three-year-old Cox Plate winner; they’re ahead of schedule.


Bulldogs fans are renowned for their — historically justified — pessimism. There will some among them who will it difficult to believe that they’ve truly arrived as a serial contender.


Success is never guaranteed in such an equalised competition with wafer thin margins. But, by dint of their drafting and the appointment of an innovative coach in Luke Beveridge, the former Footscray can become something they’ve never been: a player-magnet.

[bulldogsthru&thru]

nice feel good article.

"Bulldogs fans are renowned for their — historically justified — pessimism" - yeah thats me. I fully believe in this group, but that pessimism in me keeps reminding me how we fail at the final hurdle. If this group can't win it all, i can't imagine when we will.

[bornadog]

nice feel good article.

"Bulldogs fans are renowned for their — historically justified — pessimism" - yeah thats me. I fully believe in this group, but that pessimism in me keeps reminding me how we fail at the final hurdle. If this group can't win it all, i can't imagine when we will.

When we are 30 points up I still feel we are going to lose, not because the way we are playing, but that pessimism you talk about. When the opposition is up a few goals, we just fight it out and win. I think this group has said we don't care about the past, we are writing our own history.

[comrade]

Suckling, Boyd & Crameri are some decent names in the past 3 years. We're primed to pick up another big free agent in the next few years if we have the cap space.

[bornadog]

Suckling, Boyd & Crameri are some decent names in the past 3 years. We're primed to pick up another big free agent in the next few years if we have the cap space.

Glad Dawes said he prefers Melbourne

[comrade]

Glad Dawes said he prefers Melbourne

I'm glad Lobbe was on holidays and we couldn't work out a deal for our pick 11.

Also glad Melbourne played hard ball and demanded a high pick for Matthew Bate a few years back.

Geez JMac dodged some bullets.

[bornadog]

I'm glad Lobbe was on holidays and we couldn't work out a deal for our pick 11.

Also glad Melbourne played hard ball and demanded a high pick for Matthew Bate a few years back.

Geez JMac dodged some bullets.

Jmac or Simon?

[comrade]

Jmac or Simon?

Simon drafts them, JMac trades them in. He's been lucky some duds we've chased have inexplicably turned us down.

[Bulldog4life]

nice feel good article.

"Bulldogs fans are renowned for their — historically justified — pessimism" - yeah thats me. I fully believe in this group, but that pessimism in me keeps reminding me how we fail at the final hurdle. If this group can't win it all, i can't imagine when we will.

Actually I am the complete opposite.

[Ghost Dog]

Actually I am the complete opposite.

Me too. I think the wait will be worth it.