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  1. #1
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    Beveridge won't drop misfiring key forwards

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    Luke Beveridge has defended his key forward duo of Aaron Naughton and Josh Bruce as the pair endure a lean goal kicking period.


    Bruce kicked six goals against North Melbourne in round five but outside of that has booted only six in 12 games. Naughton kicked six against Adelaide in round 12, but only another five in seven other games.

    Medium-sized forward Mitch Wallis has been the Bulldogs' chief scoreboard threat with 20 goals in his 14 games.

    Beveridge said Bruce and Naughton were not at risk of losing their places in the side because they were doing an excellent job at bringing the ball to ground and neutralising opposition defenders.

    The 2016 premiership coach said it was rare that an opposition backline got a hold of his forward line aerially this season, pointing to the fact Geelong only took one intercept mark against them and West Coast were not able to play their usual defensive marking game last round.

    "Remember a lot of these games played at night are quite damp," Beveridge said. "It is a hard and challenging situation for many of the key forwards

    "We've been over the moon with the contest our bigger forwards have given us.

    "We haven't always had fluency with our ball movement there. The chemistry side of it and leading patterns, queueing ball carries into where we want the footy – that's a huge work in progress and it will always be, especially with a revolving door with the personnel.

    "We are happy with how hard our key forwards are working and the opportunities they're providing for others."

    The Dogs face Hawthorn on Sunday as one of the teams vying for a spot in the top eight.

    Luckless winger Lin Jong has gone home from the Bulldogs' Queensland hub and won't play again this season. He played three games this year but suffered a syndesmosis injury in round five.

    Easton Wood (hamstring) will miss again through injury.

    Meanwhile, Beveridge said if the AFL wanted to play more games next season to make up for lost revenue they would have to wind back cuts to the soft cap and think twice about cutting list sizes.

    He said many of his staff were currently "cooked" given the condensed season.

    "You can't just add games on that suits the revenue and the broadcast," he said. "You have to consider the people in the game as much as the players … otherwise we won't be in it for very long.

    "You couldn't bring it
    [list sizes] down much if you were going to go to a season where there were many more games played."

    He said his players had dealt reasonably well with 2020's two fixture crunch periods and that he believed the games being shorter wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

    "We managed it [condensed period] OK … We were able to get through it relatively seamlessly from an injury point of view," he said.

    "The most disconcerting thing for everyone has been the lack of stability in the rules and interpretation, that's something we'll need to stabilise next year."
    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.

  2. #2
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    Re: Beveridge won't drop misfiring key forwards

    This just shows that what the coach is looking for, and what we see, can be quite different, also interesting points about the damp conditions which, not being there, we probably underestimate
    www.bulldogtragician.com A blog about being a lifelong fan of the Dogs and our quixotic attempt to replicate 1954. AND WE DID
    Author of "The Mighty West: the Bulldogs journey from daydream believers to premiership heroes"
    Twitter @bulldogstragic

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  4. #3
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    Re: Beveridge won't drop misfiring key forwards

    Agree with Bevo’s thoughts on rule interpretation changing - from game to game let alone week to week. A blight on the game.

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  6. #4
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    Re: Beveridge won't drop misfiring key forwards

    Lazy reporting to include Naughton. This article is purely about Bruce

  7. #5
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    Re: Beveridge won't drop misfiring key forwards

    Even if it might be true, it's not tactful or beneficial to announce to all and sundry that some of our staff are 'cooked'.
    Especially two weeks out from a potential finals campaign.
    Weird.

  8. #6
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    Re: Beveridge won't drop misfiring key forwards

    What standards are set for Schache and Lewis Young?

    If we're paying Bruce upwards of $600K to bring the ball to ground, well, great.

  9. #7
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    Re: Beveridge won't drop misfiring key forwards

    Well it looks like Bevo is working on the long term partnership to be our Lowe and Lockett so it could be a case of short term pain.
    Don't piss off old people
    The older we get the less "LIFE IN PRISON" is a deterrent...

  10. #8
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    Re: Beveridge won't drop misfiring key forwards

    Quote Originally Posted by The Bulldogs Bite View Post
    What standards are set for Schache and Lewis Young?

    If we're paying Bruce upwards of $600K to bring the ball to ground, well, great.
    While they both have contracts, Young to the end of 2021 and Schache to 2022, I wonder if they might inquire about a potential to move to other clubs

    Young has played just 15 games in 4 seasons with us and 7 of those were in his first season. Surely Adelaide or even Port might be interested in getting him to return home to SA.
    Schache played 27 games with Brisbane in his two seasons there and then 27 games in the next two with us but has only played 2 games this year. Could Collingwood or maybe a Daniher less Essendon be interested?

    This is the season we might be interested in trading away some players
    Western Bulldogs Football Club "Where it's cool to drool"

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