Perseverance pays off for young Dogs

[G-Mo77]

JORDAN Roughead, Ayce Cordy and Tory Dickson have endured challenging seasons in the Western Bulldogs' reshaped forward line, but the re-signed players are confident their experiences will help them become stronger long-term players.

Cordy, who has played 11 games this season after overcoming shoulder problems in his first three years at the club, said his self-belief had grown enormously in the past few months.

Like Roughead, who will play his 30th game on Sunday, Cordy has extended his contract by three years, with Dickson's promising debut earning him a two-year extension.

''While we're out on the ground there's certainly no one thinking about the bigger picture of the forward line. We want to be winning games … but we're getting some positive things out of the season,'' Cordy said.

''During the week we're reviewing everything about our game and when things haven't gone as well as you've wanted, that's when you get the chance to sit back and think, these are the things we need to learn from and work on.

''This year's been a big year for me in terms of self-belief and I've done some things now that I'm not sure people thought I could do.

''I still need to get physically bigger, and stronger. I'm still able to get thrown around by other blokes too easily and my work rate's something that needs to improve a lot. But it's been a real positive to figure those things out and know how big my next off-season needs to be.''

After a disrupted 2011, Roughead has played 12 games in his most productive season yet. By the end of his next contract, he said, he wanted to be spending more time in the ruck, and causing more damage when he went forward.

''That's the plan, but for the moment I'm just focused on my game and improving as much as I can,'' he said. ''It's been a tough year in terms of wins and losses but it's been an exciting year with the young group we've started to get coming through.

''It might not be evident in the amount of goals we're kicking and the number of times we're getting the ball inside 50, but I think we're all developing as the coaches want us to, and once we get better at implementing the game plan there's going to be some exciting times.''

Dickson has kicked two four-goal bags in his first 11 games, having been recruited from the Bendigo Bombers as a 24-year-old last November. Signed initially for one season, he said he felt he had scope for much more improvement and could sense the forward line's chemistry starting to improve.

''We've got a few new young guys in the forward line and it's going to take time for things to come together properly,'' he said. ''But there's a lot of guys down there who haven't even played 30 games yet, so the chemistry is only going to get better the more games that we play together.

''Ayce and Roughy I think have both shown that the more games they get into them, the better they'll be. There's been some really good glimpses of that this year when they've clunked the ball and taken some good marks.

''If they can get their work rate up a bit more and we can help them get to more contests, they're going to become really good players pretty quickly.''



Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-new...#ixzz21m8wNtVj

[bornadog]

Its a promising future with players like these three sticking with the Club. I have been very impressed by Dickson this season, considering his age and never playing AFL before. Cordy and Roughead have had valuable game time in them and they will be a real asset once they reach 50 plus games.

[Desipura]

Its a promising future with players like these three sticking with the Club. I have been very impressed by Dickson this season, considering his age and never playing AFL before. Cordy and Roughead have had valuable game time in them and they will be a real asset once they reach 50 plus games.

Some credit must go to the MC for playing the likes of Cordy & Roughy even when they should/could have been dropped. Hopefully, as a result, we will see the fruits of this sooner rather than later.

[The Pie Man]

Cordy gets 3 years.....well done Ayce, nicely scored.

Am I alone in wondering why we needed to give him 3 years?

[G-Mo77]

Some credit must go to the MC for playing the likes of Cordy & Roughy even when they should/could have been dropped. Hopefully, as a result, we will see the fruits of this sooner rather than later.

True, while frustrating there is a bigger picture we all tend to forget about some times.

Cordy gets 3 years.....well done Ayce, nicely scored.

Am I alone in wondering why we needed to give him 3 years?

Contracts are usually 2 or 3 years. I've got no problem with signing both the big guys up for a little longer with 3 year deals.

[SlimPickens]

True, while frustrating there is a bigger picture we all tend to forget about sometimes.

Sometimes? I think the big picture has been thrown out by some posters completely.

[G-Mo77]

Sometimes? I think the big picture has been thrown out by some posters completely.

Well personally sometimes I forget about the big picture. Does that sound better?

But agree with you on others around here.

[SlimPickens]

Well personally sometimes I forget about the big picture. Does that sound better?

But agree with you on others around here.

Much

[Mantis]

Am I alone in wondering why we needed to give him 3 years?

No your not.

I'm yet to see anything other than a small glimpse that Ayce will be a compotent AFL player in years to come... Yet another strange list management decision.

[LostDoggy]

3 years is enough time to make sure Zane Cordy wants to be drafted by us.

[Maddog37]

Seems like cynicism and negativity is trending strongly at present on WOOF.

[Dry Rot]

No your not.

I'm yet to see anything other than a small glimpse that Ayce will be a compotent AFL player in years to come... Yet another strange list management decision.

+1. There seems to be a blind perseverance that the tall forwards we are playing will make it, which may be reflected with our draft picks.

I still don't understand why we promoted Panos yet never play him. And I'd like to see Hill get a run before the end of the year.

[The Pie Man]

Seems like cynicism and negativity is trending strongly at present on WOOF.

Yeah maybe, and perhaps I'm guilty - though purely just on this bit of business, it's both good and concerning for me.

Roughead getting 3 years I'm reasonably ok with - he's shown a lot more so far than his fellow young big man...needs to play more.

Dickson getting 2 years is another solid call.

I know bigs need time - but the Corey McKernan-at-his-best-esque fluid movement I saw from Cordy in his junior highlights tapes have not been on display yet in the senior team, and I hold grave fears they ever will.

I personally think he's being played horribly out of position which only serves to highlight his deficiencies - 3 years is an awful long time if he doesn't come on.

[Desipura]

2 ruckman have been locked up on long term contracts. So that leaves Campbell and Minson without a contract at this stage.................

[Bulldog Joe]

2 ruckman have been locked up on long term contracts. So that leaves Campbell and Minson without a contract at this stage.................

I'm not sure the coach sees them as ruckmen.

I believe he is very keen on Campbell to be the one to eventually take on the main ruck role.

Roughead and Cordy are seen as key position players who can give ruck relief.