Trade Dunkley

[Grantysghost]

If there is any truth to this, I find myself speculating that Josh and the club may have different ideas around where he is most valuable. We seem to have gone out of our way since the start of 2019 to play him anywhere but midfield.

[Mofra]

If there is any truth to this, I find myself speculating that Josh and the club may have different ideas around where he is most valuable. We seem to have gone out of our way since the start of 2019 to play him anywhere but midfield.

Libba's form is the major reason behind that. He was fantastic this year and earned his spot as a starting rotation mid.
Next year with longer quarters Dunkley will spend more time in the centre.

[Grantysghost]

Libba's form is the major reason behind that. He was fantastic this year and earned his spot as a starting rotation mid.
Next year with longer quarters Dunkley will spend more time in the centre.

I agree in part, but think back to the start of 2019 and we certainly had conjured plans to play Josh forward. Was no surprise our form improved with his move back to midfield. Notably the fightback tribute game at Marvel comes to mind in which he was superb.

Edit : Just checking back Libba missing 2018 and playing 2019 fits the that theory I think you're on the right track there. Be interesting to see what happens with quarter length. Reading the tea leaves we will be around 18 minutes / qtr.

[Axe Man]

If there is any truth to this, I find myself speculating that Josh and the club may have different ideas around where he is most valuable. We seem to have gone out of our way since the start of 2019 to play him anywhere but midfield.

Why? The only thing that had been reported is an interest from Essendon, I really don't understand all the angst. There has been nothing even speculated from the Dogs or Josh's side. Clubs would make enquires about all sorts of players and mostly nothing would come of it.

[Mofra]

I agree in part, but think back to the start of 2019 and we certainly had conjured plans to play Josh forward. Was no surprise our form improved with his. Notably the fightback tribute game at Marvel comes to mind in which he was superb.

Edit : Just checking back Libba missing 2018 and playing 2019 fits the that theory I think you're on the right track there. Be interesting to see what happens with quarter length. Reading the tea leaves we will be around 18 minutes / qtr.

In practice - Dunkley gets 8 minutes per game more time in the centre plus the time we manage our other starting mids, and that's only if Libba plays every game which I think we can't bank on. He's had two ACLs and I think we will be cautious in managing him during a regular season.

Dunkley by reputation is one of the most solid-citizens on our list. There are many, many players I'd let go before Dunkley.

[bulldogsthru&thru]

Why? The only thing that had been reported is an interest from Essendon, I really don't understand all the angst. There has been nothing even speculated from the Dogs or Josh's side. Clubs would make enquires about all sorts of players and mostly nothing would come of it.

I know it probably isn’t factual but Tom Browne said on MMM this morning there was some level of interest from Josh’s side. It could just be him trying to drum up his own story.

[Grantysghost]

Why? The only thing that had been reported is an interest from Essendon, I really don't understand all the angst. There has been nothing even speculated from the Dogs or Josh's side. Clubs would make enquires about all sorts of players and mostly nothing would come of it.

Agree with you, I'm in the keep camp, he's not the type I'd be looking at trading. It's pure speculation on my behalf that if there's any truth to it that may be the case. Considering source it's registering low on my worry meter.

[Grantysghost]

In practice - Dunkley gets 8 minutes per game more time in the centre plus the time we manage our other starting mids, and that's only if Libba plays every game which I think we can't bank on. He's had two ACLs and I think we will be cautious in managing him during a regular season.

Dunkley by reputation is one of the most solid-citizens on our list. There are many, many players I'd let go before Dunkley.

Agree. Sounds right to me.

[hujsh]

I know it probably isn’t factual but Tom Browne said on MMM this morning there was some level of interest from Josh’s side. It could just be him trying to drum up his own story.

Josh's "side" is probably going to be interested in boosting his position for a new contract.

[Nuggety Back Pocket]

We can ill afford to lose another outstanding Premiership player. Dunkley was poorly used as a back up ruck man to English which meant we were losing his fine midfield presence as a support to Bont and Libba. I am not sure why he would want to go to a Club like Essendon which still hasn't recovered from its drugs saga and continues to struggle both on and off the field.

[comrade]

I know it probably isn’t factual but Tom Browne said on MMM this morning there was some level of interest from Josh’s side. It could just be him trying to drum up his own story.

I may be projecting, but I'm really hoping this trade conjecture puts a stop to our BS use of Dunks in the ruck.

If Essendon were really serious, they'd bring in Kyle Dunkley as a DFA and publicly state that Dunks would be their number 1 midfielder and would never spend another second in the ruck. That would set the cat amongst the pigeons.

[Doc26]

Given Dunks is a contracted player, I would like the Club and Dunks to come out and knock this on the head if there is nothing in it. The fact that Darcy, who sits on our Board, didn't refute it on MMM other than to say that a trade would have to be compelling does make me wonder if something may be there.

[cinder]

Would like the Club and Dunks to come out and knock this on the head if there is nothing in it. The fact that Darcy, who sits on our Board, didn't refute it on MMM other than to say that a trade would have to be compelling does make me wonder if something may be there.

Likewise. A bit worried about the deafening silence ...

[The Bulldogs Bite]

Trading Dunkley - in my opinion - just doesn't really make sense. He's a big, hard at it mid who wins his own ball and would have to be in the top 5 mids in the game aerially, which is why we use him as a forward target so often. He's also a very good leader and best mates with Bont. I love what Josh brings to our club and I get that Libba's resurgence maybe impacted Dunks, but how many years has Lib even got left? Besides that, Dunkley is AA quality.

BUT.

For arguments sake if Essendon came with a hail mary offer and he wanted to go, what is his worth and how could we make it work for us?

The truth is that big inside mids aren't the hardest type of player in the world to find. Granted, not many are Dunks' quality on and off the field, but typically they're easier to find and we have a pretty good core of ball winning mids.

Draft picks would seem unlikely to cut it given anything we receive would be swallowed up by JUH, unless we could package picks to move higher up the order. Seems next to impossible. So, it comes down to either future picks and/or players. Besides Merrett I don't see a lot of appeal on Essendon's list, but for arguments sake if we got Merrett and something else, would that make us a better balanced side? I'd pick Dunkley all day every day over Merrett, but can a case be made that Merrett makes us a better side?

Food for thought. I hope we don't lose Dunkley, seeing a young premiership player about to hit his prime leave for Essendon would really 'top off' these last 4 years.

[Bulldog4life]

Given Dunks is a contracted player, I would like the Club and Dunks to come out and knock this on the head if there is nothing in it. The fact that Darcy, who sits on our Board, didn't refute it on MMM other than to say that a trade would have to be compelling does make me wonder if something may be there.

Western Bulldogs director Luke Darcy has watered down rumours that star midfielder Josh Dunkley could leave the club and join Essendon on a big-money deal.

With the Bombers set to lose Joe Daniher, Adam Saad and Orazio Fantasia this summer, the club is flush with salary cap space and has been rumoured with landing a big fish.

According to AFL reporter Tom Browne, the Bombers have expressed interest in the 23-year-old Bulldogs star who is under contract at the Whitten Oval through 2022.

However, when news of Essendon's reported interest in Dunkley was put to Darcy, the Bulldogs great immediately shot down the speculation.


Essendon is reportedly interested in adding Bulldogs star Josh Dunkley to its midfield group (AAP)
"I've got a creeping assumption he's going to stay exactly where he is," Darcy told Triple M's The Hot Breakfast.

"Everyone gazes everywhere this time of the year and you want to get every player to your club, whether you can do it or not is another thing.

"That would be a great surprise if he was anywhere other than the Bulldogs."

After being drafted 25th overall in the 2015 draft, Dunkley has been a prolific ball-winner for the Dogs, but had a down year in 2020, averaging just 18.2 disposals per game.

https://wwos.nine.com.au/afl/josh-du...b-6eb39a4bfbb6