“this is now the best midfield in the competition”: Dal santo

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No team in the AFL has a better midfield than the Western Bulldogs heading into the 2021 season, according to Nick Dal Santo.

The Bulldogs added to their star-studded midfield mix by securing the signature of Adam Treloar in a blockbuster trade from Collingwood during last year’s trade period.

Given their embarrassment of riches through the midfield, Dal Santo says the Dogs should run opposition clubs off their feet throughout the upcoming campaign.

“I think this is now the best midfield in the competition,” he told SEN Summer Breakfast.

“(Adam) Treloar, (Marcus) Bontempelli, Jack Macrae, (Lachie) Hunter, (Bailey) Smith, (Josh) Dunkley and ‘Libba’ (Tom Liberatore).


“Obviously only three of four go through at a time and you throw in a couple of wingers, but you tell me a better midfield than that.

“I look at that midfield – exploit the opposition, use your strengths as much as you can, and you make the opposition adjust to you.

“You would love to be able to sit here in nine or 10 months’ time and say our midfield was dominated – we exposed the opposition for their inability to run with us for four quarters.”

The Bulldogs also bolstered their ruck stocks with Brisbane veteran Stefan Martin joining the club to support emerging big man Tim English.

“They’ve also brought in another ruckman in Stef Martin,” Dan Santo said.

“Tim English made some really good steps forward last year. I think his craft as a ruckman was superb.

“You’ve now got the ability to exploit the opposition. You look at Paddy Ryder and Rowan Marshall and the way they were able to work together and they were the team that beat the Bulldogs last year in the finals. They were able to work together and make it look seamless.

“You would love to sit here in 10 months’ time and say we’ve got a great duo, a great combination in the ruck.”

Martin, 34, joined the Dogs on a one-year deal.

Dal Santo was an idiot until I read this.

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Originally Posted by 1eyedog

Dal Santo was an idiot until I read this.

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He's very one dimensional and a poor commentator from my perspective.

Trade period every year
"I think the Hawks are up to something"

I listened to his recent analysis of Treloar coming to us and why Collingwood would trade him
"I think we will find out that Collingwood were up to something when they let Treloar go and they will sign someone else in the trade period"

He adds nothing and your initial reference is spot on

It will only be the best midfield in the competition if it shows up unconditionally week to week and runs both ways.

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Originally Posted by GVGjr

He's very one dimensional and a poor commentator from my perspective.

Trade period every year
"I think the Hawks are up to something"

I listened to his recent analysis of Treloar coming to us and why Collingwood would trade him
"I think we will find out that Collingwood were up to something when they let Treloar go and they will sign someone else in the trade period"

He adds nothing and your initial reference is spot on

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I’m just waiting around for Danjul to see the description of English’s ruck craft as “superb”.

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Originally Posted by jeemak

It will only be the best midfield in the competition if it shows up unconditionally week to week and runs both ways.

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Agree - I think the headline should be Potential Best. Let's face it, we haven't been in a position like this for a very long time.

The Grandfinal year, we rotated something like 9 players through the centre at times to compensate, plus the third man up helped us.

It's clearly the best midfield on paper. It's hard to believe we have somehow picked up Treloar and the number 1 pick the year after playing finals.

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Originally Posted by jeemak

It will only be the best midfield in the competition if it shows up unconditionally week to week and runs both ways.

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Is this really a thing? I mean we have two AA in there and Libba...
Not sure we are any different to others in this respect.

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Originally Posted by Grantysghost

Is this really a thing? I mean we have two AA in there and Libba...
Not sure we are any different to others in this respect.

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When we look our worst I think a lot of it has to do with how switched on our midfield is, their intent to tackle and position defencively and it seems to happen a bit.

You're probably right though, all midfields have lapses but I guess the truly elite ones have fewer of them.

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Originally Posted by jeemak

When we look our worst I think a lot of it has to do with how switched on our midfield is, their intent to tackle and position defencively and it seems to happen a bit.

You're probably right though, all midfields have lapses but I guess the truly elite ones have fewer of them.

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I'm with you I see the same things but I wonder more broadly if we as supporters are hyper vigilant or critical. We do have an amazing midfield :cool:

I’ve always said our mids are better on paper than on field. Too one dimensional, and very lacklustre in a defensive form. Will Treloar change this? Who knows...soon find out, but I wouldn’t say we had the best...yet.

Do they give out flags for the best midfield?

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Originally Posted by comrade

Do they give out flags for the best midfield?

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It's better than the worst midfield.

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Originally Posted by DOG GOD

I’ve always said our mids are better on paper than on field. Too one dimensional, and very lacklustre in a defensive form. Will Treloar change this? Who knows...soon find out, but I wouldn’t say we had the best...yet.

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I'm not sure I agree with you. My biggest gripe is foot skills. Jack, Lachie, Dunks are average kicks. Libba changes this. When he's in the mix you have Bont, Smith, Libba with sublime foot skills. Do they track back? How many A grade mids track back? Seriously it's not a thing. Let's celebrate what we have.

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Originally Posted by comrade

Do they give out flags for the best midfield?

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We also won trade period, so... there’s gotta be a trophy for that quinella?!

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Originally Posted by The Underdog

I’m just waiting around for Danjul to see the description of English’s ruck craft as “superb”.

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And Danjul and others should challenge Dal's comments.

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Originally Posted by Grantysghost

I'm not sure I agree with you. My biggest gripe is foot skills. Jack, Lachie, Dunks are average kicks. Libba changes this. When he's in the mix you have Bont, Smith, Libba with sublime foot skills. Do they track back? How many A grade mids track back? Seriously it's not a thing. Let's celebrate what we have.

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So is it a mindset of the mids, when they are expected to slaughter the mids of Carlton, GC and NM, but more often than not get beaten by the lesser types ?

I believe we have the potential to have a dominant midfield.

It is the responsibility of the coaching group to devise a game plan to exploit our advantages and the responsibility of the playing group to bring it on game day and execute the plans.

If we do that we should be right in it at the pointy end.

How many goals do we get out of those midfielders?!
Vs say the Tigers

Go Doggies!

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Originally Posted by GVGjr

And Danjul and others should challenge Dal's comments.

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It's not just that.

I still maintain the best midfields have BALANCE. The Lions had the fab 4 in Black, Voss, Lappin and Aker...but Hart was there as well playing a key role on the best opposition mid.

I think these discussions of the 'best midfield' are very focussed on ball-in-hand actions and not thinking about how to structure the side to win games of footy.

To me, we have too many inside mids, not enough outside mids and not enough small forwards (as in, we have none) to be a threat right now. It does sound cool to say we have 3x All-Aust (Bont, Macrae, Treloar) plus the best young mid in the comp (Smith) plus Dunks, Liber, Hunter etc but I wish we had some games so we could see them actually play together.

We've only got two AAs in Bont and Jacko.

Agree with the rest of the post.

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Originally Posted by mjp

It's not just that.

I still maintain the best midfields have BALANCE. The Lions had the fab 4 in Black, Voss, Lappin and Aker...but Hart was there as well playing a key role on the best opposition mid.

I think these discussions of the 'best midfield' are very focussed on ball-in-hand actions and not thinking about how to structure the side to win games of footy.

To me, we have too many inside mids, not enough outside mids and not enough small forwards (as in, we have none) to be a threat right now. It does sound cool to say we have 3x All-Aust (Bont, Macrae, Treloar) plus the best young mid in the comp (Smith) plus Dunks, Liber, Hunter etc but I wish we had some games so we could see them actually play together.

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Tend to agree but with Treloar we do have a bit more hurt factor than before. We will potentially need a couple of the players to modify their natural games though
I don't really care for the best midfield title as in reality we just need to be more effective and versatile than last year
If Smith improves and Treloar can somehow lift his game with the extra incentive to stick it up Collingwood plus having Martin assisting English we should have one of the better midfield's in the competition. Defending and scoring are more of the challenges for us

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Originally Posted by jeemak

We've only got two AAs in Bont and Jacko.

Agree with the rest of the post.

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Apologies - I had thought Treloar was AA in 2015 (his final year with GWS). Apparently not! :-)

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Originally Posted by mjp

Apologies - I had thought Treloar was AA in 2015 (his final year with GWS). Apparently not! :-)

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He was in the AA squad

I think our midfield most times are trying to read a losing ruck. If Timmy can square the ledger we may see more flair from the mids if they can go on the attack.
Martin may give some of that edge although I'm not expecting too much but if he can give us a similar thing to Rider this year it will go a fair way.
Timmy will grow into his role as time goes on but I would like to see Sweet carve out a spot because he looks a bigger and stronger unit to potentially take that number one rick role and let Timmy be a more mobile support.

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Originally Posted by mjp

Apologies - I had thought Treloar was AA in 2015 (his final year with GWS). Apparently not! :-)

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It wasn't until I checked his Wiki page after we recruited him that I did a double take and checked it out, as I'd assumed he'd made one final side.

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Originally Posted by bornadog

He was in the AA squad

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Yes, made the squad in 2019, 2017 and 2016.

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Originally Posted by mjp

It's not just that.

I still maintain the best midfields have BALANCE. The Lions had the fab 4 in Black, Voss, Lappin and Aker...but Hart was there as well playing a key role on the best opposition mid.

I think these discussions of the 'best midfield' are very focussed on ball-in-hand actions and not thinking about how to structure the side to win games of footy.

To me, we have too many inside mids, not enough outside mids and not enough small forwards (as in, we have none) to be a threat right now. It does sound cool to say we have 3x All-Aust (Bont, Macrae, Treloar) plus the best young mid in the comp (Smith) plus Dunks, Liber, Hunter etc but I wish we had some games so we could see them actually play together.

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I agree with this. We have to find the right balance.

Having the best midfield players can mean you can really get ahold of the weaker sides, but against the best sides we will need to get the balance spot on. I actually think Dunkley can play a key role here and be used not necessarily as a tagger, but as a more defensively minded mid some weeks, either he or Libba depending on the opposition.

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Originally Posted by Ozza

I agree with this. We have to find the right balance.

Having the best midfield players can mean you can really get ahold of the weaker sides, but against the best sides we will need to get the balance spot on. I actually think Dunkley can play a key role here and be used not necessarily as a tagger, but as a more defensively minded mid some weeks, either he or Libba depending on the opposition.

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I lik that role for Dunkley, but given the narrative around his trade request was about being the alpha dog in the midfield, do you think he'd relish more of a defensive role? Beats rucking, I guess!

Y’all acting like Bev is some sort of normal coach and won’t have Treloar and Dunks coming off half back.

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Originally Posted by bulldogsthru&thru

Y’all acting like Bev is some sort of normal coach and won’t have Treloar and Dunks coming off half back.

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I see a lot to like about Treloar spending time at half back as a runner/kicker.

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Originally Posted by Ozza

I agree with this. We have to find the right balance.

Having the best midfield players can mean you can really get ahold of the weaker sides, but against the best sides we will need to get the balance spot on. I actually think Dunkley can play a key role here and be used not necessarily as a tagger, but as a more defensively minded mid some weeks, either he or Libba depending on the opposition.

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Bevo playing Dunks as a stopper for much of the season would be an interesting wrinkle in the unresolved 'trade-me' tale ...

Digressing, I'd add Jongy and his all-gas-no-brakes approach. Our mids are best in show when it's on their terms but we need to find alternate gears and looks for the inevitable phases when it isn't.

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Originally Posted by Rocket Science

Bevo playing Dunks as a stopper for much of the season would be an interesting wrinkle in the unresolved 'trade-me' tale ...

Digressing, I'd add Jongy and his all-gas-no-brakes approach. Our mids are best in show when it's on their terms but we need to find alternate gears and looks for the inevitable phases when it isn't.

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Yes Jongy is a great option for a stopper. Have we tried it before?

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Originally Posted by mjp

I see a lot to like about Treloar spending time at half back as a runner/kicker.

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Who makes way for him? JJ/Duryea/Crozier/Daniel/Wood/Williams?

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Originally Posted by bulldogsthru&thru

Who makes way for him? JJ/Duryea/Crozier/Daniel/Wood/Williams?

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There are spots in the back 7 available:

Locks: Duryea, Williams, Daniel, Keath.

That's it for me. JJ spends more and more time forward, Crozier's back end of the year was average at best, Wood played 1x good game all season...etc. Yes, the '7' needs another tall (Gardner? Young?) but also needs 2x runners. I think the Treloar to HB option makes more sense than the Treloar to outside mid option...I think he will play mostly inside but half back is certainly a viable option for 1-2 stints per half which also creates some mid time for the log-jam of inside mids we now have.

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Originally Posted by bulldogsthru&thru

Yes Jongy is a great option for a stopper. Have we tried it before?

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Given his luck with injury, not sure we've tried anything long enough with Jongy for it to constitute a pattern, he showed some handy signs last season though.

Not so much in a negating role necessarily but as someone who can step in and help alter the complexion of midfield battles, give opponents something to think about, and give us more than one club in the bag so to speak.

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Originally Posted by mjp

There are spots in the back 7 available:

Locks: Duryea, Williams, Daniel, Keath.

That's it for me. JJ spends more and more time forward, Crozier's back end of the year was average at best, Wood played 1x good game all season...etc. Yes, the '7' needs another tall (Gardner? Young?) but also needs 2x runners. I think the Treloar to HB option makes more sense than the Treloar to outside mid option...I think he will play mostly inside but half back is certainly a viable option for 1-2 stints per half which also creates some mid time for the log-jam of inside mids we now have.

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We also saw how much our rebound was stifled when Daniel was sat on. Not the worst suggestion ever.

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Originally Posted by Rocket Science

Bevo playing Dunks as a stopper for much of the season would be an interesting wrinkle in the unresolved 'trade-me' tale ...

Digressing, I'd add Jongy and his all-gas-no-brakes approach. Our mids are best in show when it's on their terms but we need to find alternate gears and looks for the inevitable phases when it isn't.

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I think Bevo needs to coach for 2021, and not think about what may make Dunks stay or go.

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Originally Posted by mjp

I see a lot to like about Treloar spending time at half back as a runner/kicker.

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I would say it is very likely to happen based on little things slipping out from training/press conferences and the skillset that Treloar brings. I don’t really see an alternate role for him outside the centre square and he needs one.

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Originally Posted by Rocket Science

Bevo playing Dunks as a stopper for much of the season would be an interesting wrinkle in the unresolved 'trade-me' tale ...

Digressing, I'd add Jongy and his all-gas-no-brakes approach. Our mids are best in show when it's on their terms but we need to find alternate gears and looks for the inevitable phases when it isn't.

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Spot on! Look amazing - AMAZING - when we’re skiing down hill, when the going gets tough we need to learn to neutralise, stem the bleeding and turn around momentum.