Can we catch the Cats in 2008?

[Dry Rot]

Totally agree. People get too caught up in body size. Winning contested ball is a skill just like anything else and there are things you can do to increase your chances of winning them. Work rate, positioning and courage all play just as big a part as body size.

Yes, that little bloke Kerr goes OK.

[Mofra]

Well, why not list what we would need?

We need to increase our clearance rate, which means better functioning midfield group.

Hudson rucked well & managed a heap of clearances. Tick.
Ablett = star with a former allication problem. Cooney? Tick.
Bartel - gun midfielder from junior days. Griffen? Tick.
Ling - heaps of ticker, run with player, never drops his head. Cross? Tick.
Corey - hates being beaten, can run forward and snag a goal. Boyd? Tick.

Now it gets interesting here. The forward set up.
Mooney was a former ruck, aggressive, turned forward. Both Minson & Skipper have the size & aggression, the timing of leads concerns me.
Extremely tentitive maybe possible hopeful type tick. Perhaps they can both be in the side, as back-up ruckman to Hudson with 1 forward at all times?

Nathan Ablett - I don't rate him as highly as many other. Young, skinny developing tall who has a go. Tiller. Tick.
Chapman - we have no obvious replacement. He is an absolute gun who is impossible to tackle. Hahn can do his inside work.
Steve Johnson - freak who creates goals from nothing. Aker next year? Half tick.
In our favour, we have the best Johnson in the league. Big Tick.
Small forward. Harbrow runs & chases, as a defensive HF player. Good. Gia was our no 1 assist player. Injury free he is an asset to any side. Carrying an injury, he is an average player in an average side. Up to the injury gods.
Rob Murphy - brilliat Forward workhorse. Tick to us.

Backline? Harris can match Scarlett in most areas. Scarlett is getting older. Tick.
CHB? Williams may not be in Egan's class yet, but we have Doogs as a back-up, Hargrave can play undersized if need be, and Morris would tackle King Kong if Eade told him too. We struggle with a BP type, however an Addison or Call might work).

On paper, there is much that need to go right for us to match Geelong. Hower, it is worth noting at the end of 06/start of 07:
- Bomber was named with Connolly the most likely to be sacked mid season
- Geelong had "underperformed on paper"
- Mental strength was questioned; Johnson being stood down for 6 weeks didn't help them
- A big name trade was "underperforming" in the eyes of the AFL community
- They had missed the finals when widely tipped to make it

Fools panic, wise men plan.

[hargs37]

Who was Matthew Egan before this year. Exactly where big tom is now! I reckon we have an awsome backline to build on. Add Gillbee down back, and I think we should move Bob back there, as Higgo and Aker can play that leading small role, yet probably dont have the defensive capabilities as murph. Another tick for the back. The onballers need to find that right mix of flair and run, yet the grunt and toughness to be able to lock down opponents when required. Griffen and Cross are great at that.(Althouh you mentioned Cross as a strong body comparing to Ling, but i think he probably lacks that genuine ability to break a tackle. Too Light) West has to worry about getting the ball, as usual. Boyd showed he has class and poise, as well as a defensive side to his game. One bloke who was given an opportunity half way through the year that I found enlightening was Sam Power. Given a few jobs on some big names and certainly impressed me. Managed to do a few things with the nut when he got it as well. I had him on the scrap heap end of last year, but seems to have a reasonable motor. Could be a find. Eagle and Ray, well seemed totread water. ? marks over them in future. The forwards ,well who knows. Not me so i wont even try on this thread!

[The Bulldogs Bite]

The biggest problem our group has is what Geelong managed to find this season. That undeniable desire to win, and win big. The way they hunted in packs, chased, tackled and worked as a team this year was incredible. When they had an opponent on the ropes, they made sure they buried them. The determination and the grit they showed is admirable and I hope more than anything we are able to discover this. Can you imagine if our side played with the same intensity as Geelong did? Players like Cooney, Griffen & even Akermanis would be mouth watering to watch.

One positive though is the backline. Although it's still very much developing, it's finally starting to come together and look a lot better than it has for years. For as long as I can remember we've never had a seriously good backline, especially in the last few years, where we've generally had a decent forward mix and a good midfield, but always lacked down back. Sides like Geelong have had good backlines for years. However, Harris had a pretty good season in a very poor year for the club. He'll only improve if he doesn't have to contest ball after ball. Williams coming on is a huge positive too. He's a quick learner and he has all the tools to be a cornerstone of the backline. Gilbee is fantastic; what I love about him is his ability to be defensive when it counts. He's actually very good at jumping and spoiling the ball. He positions himself well in these scenarios too. Morris is the perfect lockdown player whilst Hargrave playing on the third tall can do damage offensively. Griffen when down there is a class act as we all know, and if we are able to find another hard nosed defender (Callan?) then it's looking much better again, as we're able to release McMahon to a wing where IMO he plays much better football.


Hypothetically;

Morris - Harris - Callan
Hargrave - Williams - Gilbee


To me that would seem a fairly decent backline IF Callan is capable of playing a hard nosed role similiar to that of Morris'. That would mean we have 2 tough, hard at it and tight fitting small-medium defenders, a 'general' & possible AA in Harris, an ever improving and young CHB, an AA HBF & a third tall that would finally be allowed to play on oppsitions third best forward. Hargrave could carve them up both ways IMO.

And as we all know, Premierships are won with the back six. If you then tinker with the midfield, making sure they're regularly giving the back six a chop out then we should start to see rapid improvement in our side.

[dog town]

Who was Matthew Egan before this year. Exactly where big tom is now! !

He was well ahead of where Williams is now. I tipped Matty Egan to be an AA 2 years ago.I like Williams but Egan was rated very highly prior to this season by anyone who has watched a him.

[hargs37]

He was well ahead of where Williams is now. I tipped Matty Egan to be an AA 2 years ago.I like Williams but Egan was rated very highly prior to this season by anyone who has watched a him.

Of course you did!

[dog town]

Of course you did!

Not sure why I need to justify this but anyway read post 13 of the thread below.

http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/showth...highlight=egan

Not quite 2 years ago but 2 footy seasons.

[LostDoggy]

Lier! April 2006 is not 2 years or 2 full seasons ago

Great get anyway

[GVGjr]

Lier! April 2006 is not 2 years or 2 full seasons ago

Great get anyway

He has a terrific eye for talent and calling things early so I never doubted it. I still recall him saying Gilbee would be a 200 game player and at that stage I don't think he had played more than 6 senior games.

[dog town]

If I say it about enough players I am bound to get some right

On the down side I am pretty sure that the year Kingsley Hunter got moved to FB I thought he could be one of the top backmen in the comp. Oops!

[LostDoggy]

If I say it about enough players I am bound to get some right

On the down side I am pretty sure that the year Kingsley Hunter got moved to FB I thought he could be one of the top backmen in the comp. Oops!

I know a couple of brothers that still believe that.

[Mofra]

We can't catch the Cats if we take there seconds players and put them in our firsts can we.

You'll need to read a little more into it than that. Coaching issues & VFL B&F in the team that won both AFL & VFL premierships.
Do we have a small BP better than Callan?

Hint: the answer is no.

[LostDoggy]

Do we have a small BP better than Callan?

I'm all for getting Callan cheaply, he'll add depth to the list. But we do have better smalls. Well, better back pockets anyway. Not until Callan was mentioned on the bulldogs board was Tim ever a back pocket. He's a midfielder that some times drifts back. Like Boydy used to do.

[GVGjr]

I'm all for getting Callan cheaply, he'll add depth to the list. But we do have better smalls. Well, better back pockets anyway. Not until Callan was mentioned on the bulldogs board was Tim ever a back pocket. He's a midfielder that some times drifts back. Like Boydy used to do.

A Cats supporter mate of mine who is know as being very critical of his own players really rates his as a hard nosed defender. He said the one thing for sure is that Callan will give you everything he has.

[The Underdog]

A Cats supporter mate of mine who is know as being very critical of his own players really rates his as a hard nosed defender. He said the one thing for sure is that Callan will give you everything he has.

God knows we don't need a player like that