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  1. #1
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    Bailey Dale in 2020

    Dale is an interesting player.

    He showed glimpses in 2017 but didn't carry on with it the following year with injury and form both playing a part. Halfway through 2019 and it wasn't unusual to see his name touted as a possible delisting.

    He worked his way back into the senior side Round 10 and had a great end to the year, finishing with 21.11. Unfortunately like many he struggled in the EF but halfway through this coming season he will turn 24 and can no longer be considered a kid.

    He's got height, forward craft, decent ball handling skills, an ability to jump and very good footskills.

    How good can he be?
    What should our expectation of him be in 2020?

    He's only played over 10 games in a season once (2017) so it's important he has a good preseason and can string early performances together.

    Can he be our version of Jack Gunston?

    Big year ahead for Dale.

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  3. #2
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    Re: Bailey Dale in 2020

    He's one of the harder players to judge for this season. A player who can impact the score in a hurry but can also go quiet for a while

    Given his encouraging season in 2019 I hope he is prepared to work even harder this year and establish himself as a genuine forward threat.

    He will get some more attention by opposition sides but they might also have trouble covering all of our forward threats

    He needs to kick about 35 goals this year to really make his mark
    Western Bulldogs Football Club "Where it's cool to drool"

  4. #3
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    Re: Bailey Dale in 2020

    Could really light it up this year with our forward line . I see him as the half forward/ wing who can drift in and take those front of the pack marks, also proved he can play in a forward pocket and lead out, can be elusive at times and once on the lead is hard to catch and punch the ball away from, on his day I think he could tear a team apart in a quarter.
    I know he doesn’t have the Stringer look but he can do that little bit of magic at times.

    I think we all rate him he just needs to find his Niche with the game plan and players.
    Bring back the biff

  5. #4
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    Re: Bailey Dale in 2020

    He's now a senior player and accordingly should be judged on his performance in the side over 2020. I expect him to play 20+ games on the basis injuries don't derail him and expect him to be a solid contributor.

    He has skills we need, kicks goals and is still under the radar enough to catch sides off guard. 30+ goals would be a great result.

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  7. #5
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    Re: Bailey Dale in 2020

    I want consistency and effort for every game he plays and agree he should be able to kick at least 35 goals.

    I was one that thought he should be delisted, but he showed glimpses again in the second half, but the jury is still out. Hopefully if he stays injury free he will be handful in the forward pocket.
    Last edited by bornadog; 11-01-2020 at 01:24 PM. Reason: typo
    FFC: Established 1883

    Premierships: AFL 1954, 2016 VFA - 1898,99,1900, 1908, 1913, 1919-20, 1923-24, VFL: 2014, 2016 . Champions of Victoria 1924. AFLW - 2018.

  8. #6
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    Re: Bailey Dale in 2020

    I think he's showed that he clearly has the ability. The most important thing for Bailey is to get an injury free run. If he can get a decent run at it from that perspective then he's best 22. He certainly gave our forward line a different look in the second half of the season, which not coincidentally was when we finally started looking dangerous in the forward half. Plus he kicks straight.....

  9. #7
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    Re: Bailey Dale in 2020

    Will adding a 3rd tall into the forward line potentially limit Dale? He's good at leading into the space and holding his marks but the bigger blokes might be more of a target for the mids
    Western Bulldogs Football Club "Where it's cool to drool"

  10. #8
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    Re: Bailey Dale in 2020

    Quote Originally Posted by GVGjr View Post
    Will adding a 3rd tall into the forward line potentially limit Dale? He's good at leading into the space and holding his marks but the bigger blokes might be more of a target for the mids
    I think the issue is the potential crossover between Dale, Lloyd and Schache, all of whom despite size differences are similar style lead up forwards who are ok with pressure acts at best. Dale has a few more tricks, Schache has some size, but doesn't really use it. Lloyd is a one trick player at the moment (still 30-40 goal small forward is a pretty good trick). Dickson is along these lines but behind the others at this point, I'd imagine.
    It's going to be interesting to see how the mix works. It could either be super dangerous or become a massive cluster*!*!*!*!. Or somebody is going to miss out.

  11. #9
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    Re: Bailey Dale in 2020

    I feel like it wouldn't surprise to see Dale really kick in and have a 35-40 goal year or revert back to playing a couple good ones, getting injured and playing 8-12 games.

    He has the potential to be one of the better mid forwards in the game and I think the addition of Bruce only helps Dale, who can crumb/get to the right spot to impact the play.

    I'd like to see Dale use his pace to be much more aggressive on the defensive side of his game as this might help elevate him above Schache, Lloyd, Dickson, Greene etc.

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  13. #10
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    Re: Bailey Dale in 2020

    So Dale showed a lot last year when he was out of contract, after not having shown anything since the last time he was out of contract. That’s an absolutely wild coincidence!

    He’s clearly got ability but I don’t trust him.
    - I'm a visionary - Only here to confirm my biases -

  14. #11
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    Re: Bailey Dale in 2020

    Quote Originally Posted by Happy Days View Post
    So Dale showed a lot last year when he was out of contract, after not having shown anything since the last time he was out of contract. That’s an absolutely wild coincidence!

    He’s clearly got ability but I don’t trust him.
    This to the nth degree. To my mind he's just as likely to be playing VFL by the mid way point as is he is to be one of our top three goalkickers.

    He absolutely can have an impact, he's shown it. But will he ...
    BORDERLINE FLYING

  15. #12
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    Re: Bailey Dale in 2020

    Quote Originally Posted by Happy Days View Post
    So Dale showed a lot last year when he was out of contract, after not having shown anything since the last time he was out of contract. That’s an absolutely wild coincidence!

    He’s clearly got ability but I don’t trust him.
    I get the caution. He's showed ability at a time when it was critical for him to do so given his contract situation. If he loses even just a bit of the drive he had last year he will struggle to hold his spot.
    I think most of us agree he has the ability and it's really up to him to go on with it
    Western Bulldogs Football Club "Where it's cool to drool"

  16. #13
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    Re: Bailey Dale in 2020

    First of all he needs to learn to grow some facial hair. He still looks like he's 12 years old

    I have never been a huge fan of Dale and I think it was because of his inconsistency. But the second half of last year was like hello, what's going on here. I was excited of what he was doing and also confident when he got the ball. He had some sort of a purple patch.

    The challenge for him is to reproduce that form and cement himself in our forward line. He has shown he has what it takes, now show us he can do it on a regular basis.

    It will be interesting to see how our plethora of forwards will gel together this next season. For me Dale is an important part of our forward line that gives us a bit of X factor or flair for a better word. Naughton is probably our X factor.
    They've done studies you know, 60% of the time, it works every time!
    Brian Fantana.

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  18. #14
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    Re: Bailey Dale in 2020

    Reminds me a little of spindleshanks - able to lift around contact extension time and that’s all to date.

    For me he competes w Schache at his current form despite the height difference, great kick, decent lead up mark but falls away under any pressure. Limited in how many of them we can have. Agree w other comments - he needs to add another string to his bow in 2020 if he cements himself as an outright best 22

  19. #15
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    Re: Bailey Dale in 2020

    He has a lot of natural talent but needs to become consistent and add some hardness to his game.

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