Preseason progress - 2nd year players

[bornadog]

Ash Hansen must be getting a fair bit of running in this pre-season.
When I was last at training he was doing a running session with Josh Prudden, and the pictures show him doing the same with Jong.....any chance he can play Centre Half Forward?!!

Jong is looking good. Really impressed with this kid, he puts everything into training and also games. Throws himself into the contest and is all guts. If he can improve his kicking and decision making, he will be a very good player.

I am sure if he continues his progress he will be a permanent upgrade to the senior list.

[Ghost Dog]

Jong is looking good. Really impressed with this kid, he puts everything into training and also games. Throws himself into the contest and is all guts. If he can improve his kicking and decision making, he will be a very good player.

I am sure if he continues his progress he will be a permanent upgrade to the senior list.

Jong has no fear. Super impressed. I am actually a bit concerned at times by how he throws himself in.
There is guts and there is stupidity.

[Twodogs]

You're probably right, but I guess they have to say something and saying "he doesn't need to improve anything he's ready to explode" might put a bit too much pressure on him.

Disagree. I thnk we should set him some targets. 12 goals V Brisbane in round 1 sounds good.

[jeemak]

Bit harsh saying Dickson needs to work on his forward craft - I'd say he has that in spades.

Dickson's going to find it increasingly harder to be effective now the competition has had a chance to look at him, and knows how he likes to play. Each time he played against a club his opponents performance would be reviewed, and at the same time notes would be taken on how Dickson likes to play.

Improvements in fitness will help for sure, but he needs to keep adding to his bag of tricks to stay ahead.

[Happy Days]

You're probably right, but I guess they have to say something and saying "he doesn't need to improve anything he's ready to explode" might put a bit too much pressure on him.

Disagree. I thnk we should set him some targets. 12 goals V Brisbane in round 1 sounds good.

I missed the second half of the season and only had the stats to go off, which didn't seem all that overwhelming, so what is it exactly about Dickson that's made everyone mental for him?

[jeemak]

I missed the second half of the season and only had the stats to go off, which didn't seem all that overwhelming, so what is it exactly about Dickson that's made everyone mental for him?

His positioning, attack and ability to present with intent were standouts, as well as his finishing. After some extremely poor defenisve games (maybe due to fitness early on) at the start of the season he seemed to improve his pressure skills as the year progressed.

To have an impact he doesn't have to get his hands on the ball a lot. I think people see that with significant work put into his conditioning he'll be able to step up another level from a pretty good career start.

[Ghost Dog]

I missed the second half of the season and only had the stats to go off, which didn't seem all that overwhelming, so what is it exactly about Dickson that's made everyone mental for him?

Sat behind the goals V North last season and he kicked a few. Strong for his size and a very good set shot. Took some very good marks, smart mover, nice penetrating kick, accurate, able to nail them post high from 60m out.

Highlights from 1:45 onwards.



I dunno, I just like him. He's not the most exciting player maybe, but seems reliable, hard working and does the simple things well.

[EasternWest]

His positioning, attack and ability to present with intent were standouts, as well as his finishing. After some extremely poor defenisve games (maybe due to fitness early on) at the start of the season he seemed to improve his pressure skills as the year progressed.

To have an impact he doesn't have to get his hands on the ball a lot. I think people see that with significant work put into his conditioning he'll be able to step up another level from a pretty good career start.

This pretty much sums it up for me, his conditioning needs the work, not his smarts. His lak of defensive effort was not from not trying - he wouldn't last long under McCartney if that were the case.

As for being reviewed/assessed by other teams, well, smart players don't usually get dumber. Gia's been doing the same things all his career, still kicking goals, albeit his time's about up.

I dunno, I just like him.

Me too.

[bornadog]

Sat behind the goals V North last season and he kicked a few. Strong for his size and a very good set shot. Took some very good marks, smart mover, nice penetrating kick, accurate, able to nail them post high from 60m out.

Highlights from 1:45 onwards.



I dunno, I just like him. He's not the most exciting player maybe, but seems reliable, hard working and does the simple things well.

Watching those highlights makes you wonder what Roughead is doing in the backline.

[Ghost Dog]

Watching those highlights makes you wonder what Roughead is doing in the backline.

Gives you some confidence in Ayce Cordy as well. He has his knockers on here, but the video is fun to watch - he can play. Just needs a better kick and is a real chance to end our forward line woes.

[Greystache]

Pre-season progress - The draftees



On return from the Christmas break, Development Manager Chris Maple takes a look at how the Western Bulldogs first year recruits are progressing in their first AFL pre-season.

Jake Stringer: Jake is progressing well and is comfortably adapting to the AFL lifestyle and training. He is working hard on his fitness and his skills like most players and is beginning to see gains in both areas. His knowledge and education on nutrition, recovery and training methods has improved since starting at the Bulldogs and should put him in good stead for the year.

Jackson Macrae: Jackson has put on a lot of weight already off the back of his hard work in the gym. That’s probably his major area for improvement - to develop his body. He is training really well and is doing a modified program alongside all of the first year players. While they are being introduced to the AFL system and increased training workload, we modify their program based on how they recover from each session - for example they might miss one football drill and some of the 400m runs until they adjust.

Nathan Hrovat: Nathan is going really well. He came to the Bulldogs with an impressive training base, so he’s doing a little bit more work with the main group than the other draftees. He’s got a different body shape to the taller boys so he doesn’t need to spend as much time in the weights room, which means he’s getting more of an opportunity to do more running and skill work.

Lachie Hunter: Hunter is doing really well. Lachie’s running has improved over the Summer. He is just working on his contested ball work and his skills.

Josh Prudden: Josh has made inroads in his weights program and has made considerable gains in strength and size and is progressing well. He is working hard on his strength and core to prepare himself for playing against bigger bodies.

Brett Goodes: Goodesy trained the house down during the first six weeks and is starting to reap the rewards, having already reduced his skin folds. His fitness has really improved just from doing full time training program with the main group. We are looking forward to what he can do in the next few weeks before potentially getting in some NAB cup games.

Link

[GVGjr]

Ash Hansen must be getting a fair bit of running in this pre-season.
When I was last at training he was doing a running session with Josh Prudden, and the pictures show him doing the same with Jong.....any chance he can play Centre Half Forward?!!

He might play in the VFL in 2014.

[Ghost Dog]

He might play in the VFL in 2014.

With him and Prismall in the VFL, will make it a great afternoon down at Willy.

[F'scary]

I missed the second half of the season and only had the stats to go off, which didn't seem all that overwhelming, so what is it exactly about Dickson that's made everyone mental for him?

He has forward smarts including sneakiness.

He plays with goal hunger.

He is an accurate set shot for goal and is comfortable with 50m out shots.

Can take a contested mark.

[LostDoggy]

Jong has no fear. Super impressed. I am actually a bit concerned at times by how he throws himself in.
There is guts and there is stupidity.

Borderline suicidal?