Welcome to the Bulldogs: Laitham Vandermeer

[GVGjr]

His strengths are physical and attitudinal: he is pacy and goes in hard for the ball, including chasing and tackling.

But...his disposal by hand and foot needs heaps of work, including kicking for goal. Does not seem to have much natural vision for spotting up team mates quickly or picking the best option. Can find it hard to rack up possessions. Then there are the repeated hamstring injuries...

I want him to improve so that he becomes decent depth or even solid 22 because we have invested several years in him by the end of next season. At the moment, there are too many skill problems with his game.

He's a rusher who panics a bit when he has the ball which impacts his kicking. If someone can get him to slow down just a fraction when he has the ball his stats could improve by a fair bit.

[Swoop]

I don't mind if he doesn't get high possessions, on average Weightman accumulates one possession per kilometre covered. The issue is that he needs to make his possessions count moreso due to his role. It's ok to add pressure which is his strength and the reason he is in the side, but he either adds another string to his bow by being more lethal with the ball, or he gets replaced with others who can.

He's behind too many to go back now, he either makes it as a small forward/wingman or will slowly be pushed out. He needs a huge preseason to lay the foundation because he can't afford another injury riddled season.

He's competing against Garcia, JJ, and West who all have different strengths but at this point I wouldn't have him at the front of that queue.

[Mofra]

He's competing against Garcia, JJ, and West who all have different strengths but at this point I wouldn't have him at the front of that queue.

JJ is a quality finisher though. Garcia and West might be better comparisons, although West hits the scoreboard more.
VDMs forte is pressure. He is arguably the best in the side at F50 pressure (McNeill damn close) but he's not really a threat inside 50.

Does he play? TBH that depends on other players and how we structure up. If we're playing other forwards who 'score first, defend second' he absolutely does.
Given Naughton and Marra are very good with defensive pressure and Weightman generally good too, that probably means we can carry an extra scorer rather than pure pressure type. That's bad news for Laith.
If Bailey Smith plays high forward... well Bailey doesn't defend with intent. Then we do need a pure pressure type.

[EasternWest]

Has anyone said delist? Because I have him on the delist pile.

[Sedat]

Has anyone said delist? Because I have him on the delist pile.

Agree. He just doesn't have any weapons in hs game that are unleashed with any consistency. I will forever be grateful for his quick thinking to cleverly scuff through a point in the last minute against Brisbane in the 2021 SF - over time, that will become one of the great finals wins in our club history.

[soupman]

He has some good attributes, and one I think that is underrated by us supporters is his ability to work hard and too position. It's obvious he isn't contributing enough if you take out the pressure side, so he must be doing everything asked of him by the coaches in the other aspects.

I really want us to make a shift to playing actual small forwards in our small forward spots. Atm we are shoehorning quick guys in who can apply pressure like Vandermeer, West, McNeill and Garcia but none of them are natural goalkickers (which isn't to say they can't more that they aren't dangerous like that). I'm hoping we can get a few onto the list and start transitioning roles, which will mean these guys have to go elsewhere. Seeing as our wings are no existent and it is the easiest position to place a bunch of undersized quick guys then I think Vandermeer has to be given a chance there.

I don't watch much of Melbourne but could Vandemeer aim to be something like Langdon? He is quick and covers the ground well, the extra space might help his disposal and while his kicking can be ineffective it isn't bad and has better range than someone like McNeill.

[F'scary]

Would these attibutse best suit a wing? Or a different position?

Maybe a low possession but high impact, line breaking role on the wing where he can keep it simple and kick the ball long to Laughton/Lobb deep forward one out would suit him best?

When not on a fast break we don't pressure him to be involved and maybe he sits back a bit to help out on the turnover?

Interchange/Wing role maybe

[F'scary]

Is he that bad? I thought Hunter was the worst, not sure who takes the mantle now he and Dunks are gone.

no Hunter was Tory Dickson compared to VDM, what the goals and behinds stats dont show you is how many failed to make the distance or were recorded as rushed or were OOF.

[F'scary]

Has anyone said delist? Because I have him on the delist pile.

I have discussed him in view of the fact he has a 2023 contract, EW.

[F'scary]

He's a rusher who panics a bit when he has the ball which impacts his kicking. If someone can get him to slow down just a fraction when he has the ball his stats could improve by a fair bit.

The rush thing is the best part of his game, that is his weapon: running flat out at the opposition. What can you do to stop the panic disposal? I have an idea and I think it is legal: prescribed beta blockers. [edit]: sorry but otherwise just work on some trustworthy disposal strategies.

[hujsh]

no Hunter was Tory Dickson compared to VDM, what the goals and behinds stats dont show you is how many failed to make the distance or were recorded as rushed or were OOF.

Actually I'm pretty sure the AFL ones I posted do take that into account as the numbers aren't the same as the Goal/Behind ratio

[FrediKanoute]

He's a rusher who panics a bit when he has the ball which impacts his kicking. If someone can get him to slow down just a fraction when he has the ball his stats could improve by a fair bit.

THat's always been my impression of VdM. What I will say though is that he has been cruelled a little the last 2 years with soft tissue problems. This year we did him no favours in rushing him back, and this contrubuted to his overall poor performances. His Elimination Final was one he wont want to be reminded of too often.

Where is he at? I think he is best 25. His pace and attack on the footy is 1st rate. Needs to produce from a possession perspective. A move to the wing may not be a bad option.

[FrediKanoute]

JJ is a quality finisher though. Garcia and West might be better comparisons, although West hits the scoreboard more.
VDMs forte is pressure. He is arguably the best in the side at F50 pressure (McNeill damn close) but he's not really a threat inside 50.

Does he play? TBH that depends on other players and how we structure up. If we're playing other forwards who 'score first, defend second' he absolutely does.
Given Naughton and Marra are very good with defensive pressure and Weightman generally good too, that probably means we can carry an extra scorer rather than pure pressure type. That's bad news for Laith.
If Bailey Smith plays high forward... well Bailey doesn't defend with intent. Then we do need a pure pressure type.

The forward pressure argument only works though if you then have guys who can feed off this and I don't think we really benefitted in 2022. Certainly West had VdM covered for a balanced pressure/output/score involvement perspective.

[Testekill]

no Hunter was Tory Dickson compared to VDM, what the goals and behinds stats dont show you is how many failed to make the distance or were recorded as rushed or were OOF.

Yeah VDM would have had a lot of shots where no score was recorded, he doesn't have much penetration on his kicks and when he does try to kick the cover of it he'll spray it.

[Axe Man]

no Hunter was Tory Dickson compared to VDM, what the goals and behinds stats dont show you is how many failed to make the distance or were recorded as rushed or were OOF.

Actually I'm pretty sure the AFL ones I posted do take that into account as the numbers aren't the same as the Goal/Behind ratio

This. I even posted the goals/points/number of shots on goal.

Hunter has an awful career record as well, not just last year. 73.84 from 192 shots @ 38%.

Vandermeer 19.20 from 45 shots @ 42%.