Coaching Group - Under Pressure?

[The Bulldogs Bite]

Discuss.

Long list of questions since 2016 and whether you want to agree with them or acknowledge them, 2 goals in one game and then no goals in a whole second half under a roof paints an ugly picture for our football club.

The buck stops with the coaching group.

The ridiculous unnecessary changes since 2016, the match selections, the complete lack of spirit.....

Pressure should be knocking on their door.

[Sedat]

I'm still a Bevo believer but he is absolutely not above question. He can clearly coach and also motivate players - 2015 and 2016 don't just happen, and he got maximum output from players who weren't previously rated with a combination of inspired positional changes and game style changes to accentuate our list strengths.

I think all aspects of the club should be reviewed carefully and properly at the end of the season - list management and recruitment (do we beef up this area?), fitness and conditioning, assistant coaching. The last one in particular needs a shake-up - the same voices in the box for 3 years now, and fresh innovative thinkers need to come in. It will invigorate Bevo as well IMO.

[GVGjr]

I'm still a Bevo believer but he is absolutely not above question. He can clearly coach and also motivate players - 2015 and 2016 don't just happen, and he got maximum output from players who weren't previously rated with a combination of inspired positional changes and game style changes to accentuate our list strengths.

I think all aspects of the club should be reviewed carefully and properly at the end of the season - list management and recruitment (do we beef up this area?), fitness and conditioning, assistant coaching. The last one in particular needs a shake-up - the same voices in the box for 3 years now, and fresh innovative thinkers need to come in. It will invigorate Bevo as well IMO.

Like you I think Bevo is a very good coach but I think he either needs someone to play bad cop alongside of him or he has to start holding players and coaches to account himself. The good natured bloke that puts his arm around the players approach that worked in 2015/16 isn't quite working at the moment.
So the question is why have we fallen back so far given the strength of our list in 2015/16? Given the shitty performance of 2017 did we address the areas of concern in a professional manner at the end of 2017 or take the easy road to write it off as a gap year?

I think we took the easy option and this is supported by minimal player movement and zero changes to an under performing coaching group in 2017 so that has to fall hard on Bevo. Clearly he and others at the club rated our chances this year.

I'm not sure we have to make wholesale changes to the coaching team but it does need a decent shake up.

[Sedat]

So the question is why have we fallen back so far given the strength of our list in 2015/16? Given the shitty performance of 2017 did we address the areas of concern in a professional manner at the end of 2017 or take the easy road to write it off as a gap year?

I think we took the easy option and this is supported by minimal player movement and zero changes to an under performing coaching group in 2017 so that has to fall hard on Bevo. Clearly he and others at the club rated our chances this year.

I'm not sure we have to make wholesale changes to the coaching team but it does need a decent shake up.

The game has never been more reliant on midfield depth and running power and yet our list management strategy has been so lopsided in the last 3 years. Some examples:

Why get Greene if we already got Lipinski and Dunks previously?
Why get Young when we got Collins and re-contracted Fletcher?
Why keep Campbell when we already had Roughy, Boyd and just drafted English?
Why offer Redders a 2 year deal when we traded for Schache?
Why get NM-M when we already have Boyd and Redders?
Why keep Brad Lynch as a rookie for 4 years when we have a plethora of running half backs?
Why get Crozier for the same reason?
Why get Trengove when we have about 8 full backs (even though half of them are always injured)?

[GVGjr]

The game has never been more reliant on midfield depth and running power and yet our list management strategy has been so lopsided in the last 3 years. Some examples:

Why get Greene if we already got Lipinski and Dunks previously?
Why get Young when we got Collins and re-contracted Fletcher?

Our success in 2105 and especially in 2016 was around having about 8 players could could rotate through the midfield but instead of adding that strength we lost depth. Basically we out rotated opposition midfields in those years. Perplexing why we abandoned it

I've mentioned this a few times, we stuffed up at the 2016 trade and draft table. Greene was originally on our radar for a rookie spot, Young for our last pick but when we missed on players we positioned ourselves for we ended up taking Young then Greene earlier than expected. Lipinski was also selected a bit earlier than ideal because we missed out on that 2nd pick.
We have turned Young into a defender because of his quickness and athleticism as I think he played more as a forward for the SA U18 side.

Why keep Campbell when we already had Roughy, Boyd and just drafted English?
Why offer Redders a 2 year deal when we traded for Schache?

Boyd was a questionable starter this year and I didn't think English would come along as quickly as he had. Keeping Campbell seems OK until we traded for Schache and acquired Trengove
Redders should have been a one year deal but I think Richmond were sniffing around. Given the players have him in the leadership group perhaps 2 years was the right deal at the time.

Why keep Brad Lynch as a rookie for 4 years when we have a plethora of running half backs?
Why get Crozier for the same reason?
Why get Trengove when we have about 8 full backs (even though half of them are always injured)?

Yep a surplus of similar defenders makes it hard to justify except Lynch has better skills than most.
Trengove was always supposed to be more of a structure player who could fill in with some key position spots.

[Sedat]

I've mentioned this a few times, we stuffed up at the 2016 trade and draft table. Greene was originally on our radar for a rookie spot, Young for our last pick but when we missed on players we positioned ourselves for we ended up taking Young then Greene earlier than expected. Lipinski was also selected a bit earlier than ideal because we missed out on that 2nd pick.
We have turned Young into a defender because of his quickness and athleticism as I think he played more as a forward for the SA U18 side.

I know we were angling for Long and Hannan with the Lipinski & Young picks but they wouldn't help with our midfield depth either. My problem is that we identified all of these non-mids to begin with, meanwhile as an example a contested bull like Jack Graham slips through to pick 53. Our draft and trade targets were completely in the wrong areas, especially considering we also threw the kitchen sink at Hurley late in 2016.

None of the above examples are necessarily wrong in isolation, but as a collective how can we have been so negligent in not continuing to invest heavily in cultivating and growing our midfield stocks, and over a 3 year period which is an eternity in list management? There are natural ball winners like Tim Kelly running around all over Australia - what are our guys looking at and what do they think the game is going to evolve into with reduced interchange rotations?

[Go_Dogs]

We need an independent review into the entire football department, because at the moment there are concerns relating to the following areas:-

1. List management (yes, we've hired Sam Power who remains untried)
2. Following on from that, draft philosophy and strategy
3. Physical conditioning
4. Injury management
5. All layers of the coaching staff
6. Opposition analysis
7. The continuous rumours of discontent at senior levels also needs to be urgently addressed.

Someone who isn't involved in the club and with no vested interest in the outcome needs to chair this process and engage whoever they require to assist in providing findings.

Tonight I remembered what it's like to be a Bulldogs supporter as the Collingwood ferals got louder and louder....after coming so far in such a short space of time we've regressed at an alarming rate.

We still have quality people and players at the club, so I'm not necessarily advocating wholesale changes, however there are a number of deficiencies and moving parts which aren't aligned which need to be addressed.

I know things are never as good or as bad as they seem, but we need a review and some better governance.

[bulldogtragic]

They got the plaudits after October 1, 2016.

A mere 32 games later, we've kicked 2 goals in 6 of the last 8 quarters and now we are headed a finish in the bottom 5 with many to most of the same list.

32 games. Possibly one the quickest fall from the summit ever. The question must be asked why. Questioning the coaches must be done from those high up in the club.

[G-Mo77]

They got the plaudits after October 1, 2016.

A mere 32 games later, we've kicked 2 goals in 6 of the last 8 quarters and now we are headed a finish in the bottom 5 with many to most of the same list.

32 games. Possibly one the quickest fall from the summit ever. The question must be asked why. Questioning the coaches must be done from those high up in the club.

It's a shame we won 3 in a row. If we're going to be this shithouse I want a top 3 pick!

[SonofScray]

I think the blowtorch has to be turned on the coaching panel. No cohesion across phases of the game and no visible amendments to how we play based on who is out there. It still isn't immediately tangible what we are trying to do. Except for not scoring goals, it's clear we don't think goals matter.

The inky concession I will make in the coach's favour is the number of games lost to injury, plus minutes lost to injury in game between 2015-2018 has been staggering. We have a lot of players hobbled and rarely finish a game with 4 fit on the bench. That puts a lot of stress in the system and the players trying to cover. Coming home to roost after plunging into our depth in 15/16.

[bulldogtragic]

It's a shame we won 3 in a row. If we're going to be this shithouse I want a top 3 pick!

There was a small part of me wanting that. And to be fair, if Brisbane or GCS were just only a little better, we wouldn't have won those. We need to nail what looks like pick 5. And have a game plan from the coaches that reflects our poor skills. There's no point having a gameplan that requires precise kicking, or one where the players are 4 goals down and then go about icing the clock in the last quarter.

I think we need to turn the list refresh into a rebuild. We need to turn the coaching panel from refresh into rebuild too.

[G-Mo77]

Every assitant gets the flick and start a whole new coaching group in 2019. Our list is such a mess it's going to take years to balance we need to at least fix what we can ASAP. Who is our tactical guru down there?

[bulldogtragic]

Every assitant gets the flick and start a whole new coaching group in 2019. Our list is such a mess it's going to take years to balance we need to at least fix what we can ASAP. Who is our tactical guru down there?

Bevo won't allow it. He shuffled them because he wanted. He's left them there because he wanted. He wanted Honeychurch, so Cloke who had a contract was forced out. He wanted Smith to stay despite him doing nothing. He overrode the rookie draft selection. He won't play rucks when we need them, mainly Campbell. He's stuffing up Boyd's forward development by rucking him. Bains & Gordon will have to impose themselves to see by change. Sam Power is going to have to be strong not to buckle. It's not so much being anti-Bevo, because we all are not, but we are pro-change and that's going to be very hard. I just can't believe we've gone from premiership to cellar dwellers who can't score for a full game or half a game within 32 games. It breath takingly stonishing.

We don't have a tactical guru. Or a goal kicking coach.

[azabob]

Every assitant gets the flick and start a whole new coaching group in 2019. Our list is such a mess it's going to take years to balance we need to at least fix what we can ASAP. Who is our tactical guru down there?

Brett Montgomery was our tactical guru and bad cop and he hasn’t been replaced.

I think the actual decision making on assistant coaches has to be taken away from Beveridge. He has input but not the final say.

He is extremely loyal and just as stubborn - Can he make that tough call?

Is Chris Grant the right person to be footy manager as who ultimately rubber stamped our list management strategy.

It appears that having both Graham Lowe and Brett Montgomery leaving our club within 6 months of each other may have a had a much bigger impact than we previously thought.

[G-Mo77]

Brett Montgomery was our tactical guru and bad cop and he hasn’t been replaced.

Wasn't there some guy Melbourne poached from us after 2016?