Probably a few on our list who might be more H&A players at this stage - Dale probably at the top of this category. Agree he needs to add a hardened edge to cope with pressure.
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The Kid
Needs to massively improve his defensive pressure.
He was really good in 2017 Bailey. Hopefully he can recapture that type of form for us going forward. We would certainly worry a lot of opposition defences if all our forwards in 2020 consistently are firing on all cylinders.
Dale attacking 2020 with confidence
Bailey Dale's finish to the 2019 season have given him confidence he can deliver consistently at AFL level.
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Confidence can make a huge impact in footy.
And for Western Bulldogs forward Bailey Dale, the last six weeks of the 2019 home-and-away season have given him confidence he can deliver consistently at AFL level.
The 23-year-old slotted 20 goals in that period as the Bulldogs stormed home to snatch a finals berth.
Dale inked a new three-year deal in September and a big pre-season has him primed for 2020.
“If you’re feeling confident and feeling good about yourself and your team, it comes out on game day.
“To have that little six-week patch last year has given me a really good block to start this year… I feel like I’m ready to go for the Marsh Series coming up and hopefully I can push for round one selection.”
He hopes he can echo his form line from the back of 2019 through this year, and is looking to build on his forward game.
“There’s obviously a bit of a blueprint there for me going into this season,” Dale said.
“I’ve been really trying to work on my craft as a forward this pre-season, getting into dangerous spots to have as many opportunities on goal as possible.
“I’m really trying to work on my pressure as well, to keep the ball in my area and create more opportunities for myself and the team.”
A dangerous forward mix is building at the Bulldogs, with Josh Bruce joining Aaron Naughton and Josh Schache as the key pillars, surrounded by the likes of Dale, 2019 leading goal-kicker Sam Lloyd, and premiership duo Tory Dickson and Toby McLean.
“Having Brucey, Naughty and Schache down there, it’s a new look for us,” Dale said.
“We’ve got so many different avenues to goal this year, which we probably haven’t had in previous years.
“To have the three talls down there… for guys like myself, Lloydy, Toby, Dicko, for us to crumb off them and for them to create a contest and bring it to ground, there’s more opportunity for us.
“And if we can lock it in there, I’m sure those guys will kick goals.”
Dale was a terrific success story from last year and I hope he goes on with it this year. He won't fly under the radar this year and will be well scouted by the opposition. This will be a great test for him
Just bobs up and does enough. Will be dangerous again this year based on last night but perhaps won't be required to score as many goals as was asked of him late last year given additional options we have.
Application to defence and being a 'forward interceptor' will add more strings to his bow.
Needs to go harder at the ball, a couple of times he was very wary of getting crunched and took shorter steps. If he can be more consistent and not disappear for a quarter or two, he will be a handful roaming in the F50