Using our resources.

[GVGjr]

I'd be giving Keath a burst of six games with JOD and Jones next to him, and encouraging him to peel off and play the intercept game.

We brought him across after a year in the role at Adelaide and I think he could still offer us something. What I've seen of Khamis is fine, and there's something to work with but I fear his confidence is going to be cooked after that and a month or so at the lower level will do him good.

My only concern with Keath is his mobility and if it's going to be exposed more at the senior level but he is a good option to have.
I'd also consider Gardner who's now fit enough to play and of course we could take a chance and debut Busslinger although I don't think he's done quite enough just yet.

It's going to be a very interesting week with our selections.

[Mofra]

My only concern with Keath is his mobility and if it's going to be exposed more at the senior level but he is a good option to have.
I'd also consider Gardner who's now fit enough to play and of course we could take a chance and debut Busslinger although I don't think he's done quite enough just yet.

It's going to be a very interesting week with our selections.

Keath still looks pretty mobile from the VFL footage I've seen.
I'm not sure Buks gets dropped off one bad game.

[Countrydog5]

Watching, Freo got back in massive numbers...the Saints were a bit off last week (they're way better than they showed).

It's easy to say 'just kick through the zone' but they were really teasing the kicker on any attempt to change the lane and it would not have been easy...to be fair, we did the same and they also had trouble scoring.

Again - to me if we just have Jones deep at all times and kick straight in q3, we win. Even that mark Buku 'nearly' took in q4...that just 'felt' like a 'KILL' moment (as in, kill this, get it out of there). And I get that taking the mark is the 'ultimate' kill (and he 'nearly' took it) but as soon as it hit the deck it was a goal and that was a BIG MOMENT.

Again - on feel - he and JOD just aren't up to the moments we are trying to get them to play YET. Draper (Freo) is also not up to those moments...he was subbed out with a hamstring. I know this meant Luke Ryan had to fight out of his weight division but I would have actually preferred to see Richards trying to fight out of his weight class vs - say - Treacy - and Garcia in the mids than Buku and JOD in the last line. BUT - how are they going to learn if they never do it?

On the other hand, if Liber plays do Fyfe and Serong kill us at the stop like that??

I found myself shouting KILL at the TV at least once, but I can't recall if that was the moment or not. There was also an instance where I think JJ? was pressured inside the 9 and instead of rushing it for a behind he attempted to clear on his opposite foot and kicked it out on the full, leading to a shot on goal. It's moments like those where I can see we're not smart enough in a number of areas with just common sense footy stuff that relieves pressure and allows us to set up across the ground. Unfortunately that can only really be a coaching issue, as players need to have that stuff drilled into them repeatedly so we know what to do in those situations that help relieve pressure, set up defensively, hold it in our half of the ground etc. Frustrating to watch as a lover of the fundamentals.

[Bullies]

Keath still looks pretty mobile from the VFL footage I've seen.
I'm not sure Buks gets dropped off one bad game.

I agree on Keath. I'm just not sure we can afford to play Buku when we come up against the top teams when they have more than one good forward. He just gets turned inside out by opponents. No perception or touch as to where they are. When he had a few minutes against Jeremy Cameron the other week he had no idea and although he is not the only that has happened to on Jeremy I am just not sure we can persist until he learns the art of defending.

[Ozza]

We're full of almost opportunities they've been happening for 6 years. We never execute in clutch moments, we never seem to come from behind and take the game and we never seem ro win the close ones or 'hang tough'.

It's the sum of our parts and an accumulative affect over years.

I'd be fine if it was just one game, or 6 games or one season but it's not.

You're right. Late in the game on Saturday night, EVERY bulldog supporter knew we were going to continue to bang the ball in to an overcrowded forward line repeatedly until such time as a turnover led to an end to end goal where the opposition get us out the back.

We've been watching this garbage happen forever.

In terms of the positional discussion - regardless of whether Naughton is suited deep forward, high forward - whatever - we currently have a huge issue in defence.

Currently we are absolutely no chance in the air in D50 unless our 33 year old fullback gets there to spoil. No chance. So if Jones gets injured, and when he retires - answer me this - what is our plan then? Because the ball is not going to stop coming in there. It generally comes in pretty easily after our 3-4 tall forwards all contest for the same ball and then its run out.

[bornadog]

Currently we are absolutely no chance in the air in D50 unless our 33 year old fullback gets there to spoil. No chance. So if Jones gets injured, and when he retires - answer me this - what is our plan then? Because the ball is not going to stop coming in there. It generally comes in pretty easily after our 3-4 tall forwards all contest for the same ball and then it’s run out.

Don’t agree. Jones is 2nd for intercept marks and Buku 10th in AFL. Buku a shocker on Saturday but he has been pretty good to date

[Ozza]

Don’t agree. Jones is 2nd for intercept marks and Buku 10th in AFL. Buku a shocker on Saturday but he has been pretty good to date

So my post is pretty clear that Jones is outstanding. The question was also clear that it was a matter of who can help Jones and who can replace him given he is 33 years old.

In relation to Buku, he can intercept - but can't defend - and he shouldn't have to be 'Jones like' - he should be able to play 'Easton Wood-like' and not play on a big.

O'Donnell doesn't have the experience or strength to be on a quality big right now.

[bornadog]

So my post is pretty clear that Jones is outstanding. The question was also clear that it was a matter of who can help Jones and who can replace him given he is 33 years old.

In relation to Buku, he can intercept - but can't defend - and he shouldn't have to be 'Jones like' - he should be able to play 'Easton Wood-like' and not play on a big.

O'Donnell doesn't have the experience or strength to be on a quality big right now.

Well looks like we need to have Gardner back in, because the cupboard is bare. Keath was cooked two years ago

[comrade]

You're right. Late in the game on Saturday night, EVERY bulldog supporter knew we were going to continue to bang the ball in to an overcrowded forward line repeatedly until such time as a turnover led to an end to end goal where the opposition get us out the back.

We've been watching this garbage happen forever.

In terms of the positional discussion - regardless of whether Naughton is suited deep forward, high forward - whatever - we currently have a huge issue in defence.

Currently we are absolutely no chance in the air in D50 unless our 33 year old fullback gets there to spoil. No chance. So if Jones gets injured, and when he retires - answer me this - what is our plan then? Because the ball is not going to stop coming in there. It generally comes in pretty easily after our 3-4 tall forwards all contest for the same ball and then its run out.

It?s ridiculous we are so overloaded with talls forward of centre, yet devoid of height in defence. Play Naughton back ffs, it solves multiple problems and should have been done years ago.

[lemmon]

So my post is pretty clear that Jones is outstanding. The question was also clear that it was a matter of who can help Jones and who can replace him given he is 33 years old.

In relation to Buku, he can intercept - but can't defend - and he shouldn't have to be 'Jones like' - he should be able to play 'Easton Wood-like' and not play on a big.

O'Donnell doesn't have the experience or strength to be on a quality big right now.

I think you're right and Freo really exposed that.

I love what O'Donnell could be in that he kicks the ball beautifully (despite a few errors on Saturday) and is a great combination of size and mobility, but he looked all at sea when Jackson had him isolated deep.

In some ways I'd be more inclined to persist with JOD over Buku because I think he has the higher ceiling, but Buku has been pretty good before Saturday and deserves another crack with some more mature support around him.

[Ozza]

Well looks like we need to have Gardner back in, because the cupboard is bare. Keath was cooked two years ago

Thats a solution for a week. Fills a gap. But its not what is putting us on a path to a premiership.

The misuse of resources is atrocious.

To go and recruit Lobb, knowing Darcy and Jamarra are there - and not address the defensive end of the ground is staggering.

Meanwhile, Buku should be 12-18 months advanced in his development as an intercept defender - but despite the above, we inexplicably played him as a fwd/ruck in the VFL for a year and a half.

[Sedat]

We're full of almost opportunities they've been happening for 6 years. We never execute in clutch moments, we never seem to come from behind and take the game and we never seem ro win the close ones or 'hang tough'.

It's the sum of our parts and an accumulative affect over years.

I'd be fine if it was just one game, or 6 games or one season but it's not.

Yep. Despite all the head-scratching week-to-week selections and funky player development we have undertaken since the start of 2022 (which Bevo deserves to be strongly critiqued for), we have been deep in as many games as Collingwood in that time. Not being able to close the deal has been an endemic issue for us, one that we are still grappling with finding a solution to.

It's not about losing to Freo in isolation this weekend - they are a good team, especially at home - it is about reinforcing the obvious trend of a team who cannot cash in fully when we have momentum in game, and at the same time being unable to curb opposition momentum when it is their turn. It's so far beyond the frustrating phase that it has now moved to acceptance.

Is changing the senior coach going to automatically change this? It might, it might not. The time to do this was 12 months ago IMO. To his credit this year, Bevo is searching for a better way and not reverting to the status quo, be it player personnel or tactical alterations. It's probably going to hurt him but it's the right thing to do - yes I know he still could do more and doesn't always pull the right reins in game. Ultimately the buck stops with the senor coach, there's no debate about that.

At some stage though, the spotlight will have to fall onto the senior core of players, who Bevo has shown incredible faith and trust in. Bevo will get sacked if we miss finals this year and the players who have continued to let us down in big moments will have nowhere to hide. My suspicion is that they have been permanently psychologically damaged from the 16.4.100 to 1.1.7 disintegration in the last 40 mins of the 2021 GF - quite possibly the senior coach (and maybe even the club as a whole) has been damaged by that as well.

[Mofra]

I think you're right and Freo really exposed that.

I love what O'Donnell could be in that he kicks the ball beautifully (despite a few errors on Saturday) and is a great combination of size and mobility, but he looked all at sea when Jackson had him isolated deep.

In some ways I'd be more inclined to persist with JOD over Buku because I think he has the higher ceiling, but Buku has been pretty good before Saturday and deserves another crack with some more mature support around him.

JOD has played 15 games in his career and he plays like a promising kid who has played 15 games in his career.
The question is do we keep him in or go to Keath? Right now I think most of us are happy to wear the positioning/holding errors now because the reward down the track will be worth it, so JOD gets the nod.
Keath isn't as bad as he seems to be portrayed on here and he's first in if Jones misses.

Buks is what he is - an intercepting defender who isn't going to win one on ones against genuine KPFs who are substantially bigger and stronger than him. If he gets to play to 'what he is', he's top 10 in the AFL for intercept marks. If teams isolate him and play through him with a CHF, he's going to get beaten. To me that's a system issue and not a player issue.

[mighty_west]

Well looks like we need to have Gardner back in, because the cupboard is bare. Keath was cooked two years ago

I'm more than happy to get Gardner back in being our poor mans Dale Morris to simply lock down and spoil, always works his butt off, really like what Buku has shown so far but we need a key defensive tagger in which Gardy brings, problem with Keath is that he's just too slow and too indecisive with ball in hand, get's himself in a pickle most times, think he's also a decent option as that spoiler too but just use his first option with ball at all costs, i see him as break glass option but if the younger blokes aren't working out yet then why not.

[JanLorMill]

We want a 3rd tall defender to replace a young developing Khamis then why we looking at Gardner or Keath?
Busslinger or Cleary are like for like replacements.