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  1. #1
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    Gerard whateley delivers honest assessment of the bulldogs

    Whately's turn to swing the axe, even though he's sure to compliment Bevo at the end. I actually don't mind the criticism. We need it, maybe it will force us to think about some of the ways we go about things.

    https://www.sen.com.au/news/2020/10/...-the-bulldogs/

    Gerard Whateley has delivered his honest assessment of where the Western Bulldogs are at, saying they’ve got “one of the great midfields” but “nothing else”.

    The Dogs were bundled out of the finals in week one for the second consecutive season, going down to St Kilda by three points at the Gabba on Saturday.


    While the Dogs kicked four goals to one in the final term to close within touching distance of victory, Whateley believes the momentum shift was more to do with the opposition going into their shell rather them changing anything tactically.

    “The last quarter, I think, is a con,” he said on SEN’s Whateley.

    “St Kilda invited them back into the game and momentum was so heavily against, they went ultra conservative which is a crazy tactic but that’s what inexperienced finals teams will do.

    “If you judge the Bulldogs on the last quarter, you fall for the same thing that people keep falling for (with the Bulldogs). They are way more than two pieces short.

    “I’m going to borrow a phrase from someone I talk to, I think Luke Beveridge does a phenomenal job with what he’s got but I think he’s building a 1000-piece jigsaw (puzzle) with 920 pieces and convincing people that he’s got it under control because he’s such a good tactical and game day coach.

    “The fact that they can’t vaguely challenge for the top four and now they can’t win elimination finals, I actually think that tells you everything you need to know and I reckon they’re a long way from it.

    “They’re all midfield, I think they’ve got one of the great midfields and nothing else. Beveridge does all his work moving players to compensate for it and the most important result is the way he used Hayden Crozier (in the elimination final).

    “He’s brilliant with the way he manipulates what he doesn’t have.”
    But then again, I'm an Internet poster and Bevo is a premiership coach so draw your own conclusions.

  2. #2
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    Re: Gerard whateley delivers honest assessment of the bulldogs

    Sedat will not be happy again.

    Him and Gerard thinking along the same lines.
    More of an In Bruges guy?

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  4. #3
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    Re: Gerard whateley delivers honest assessment of the bulldogs

    Quote Originally Posted by azabob View Post
    Sedat will not be happy again.

    Him and Gerard thinking along the same lines.
    His cat doesn't know why it's been kicked on a Monday night!
    Nobody's looking for a puppeteer in today's wintry economic climate.

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    Re: Gerard whateley delivers honest assessment of the bulldogs

    It was an interesting discussion to listen to between him and Cornes.
    More of an In Bruges guy?

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    Re: Gerard whateley delivers honest assessment of the bulldogs

    Quote Originally Posted by azabob View Post
    Sedat will not be happy again.

    Him and Gerard thinking along the same lines.
    Even a broken clock is right twice a day
    "Look at me mate. Look at me. I'm flyin'"

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  9. #6
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    Re: Gerard whateley delivers honest assessment of the bulldogs

    It's a bit simplistic to say that and yet he's not entirely wrong.

    Outside of our midfield, who would concern opposition coaches? Naughton yes but his output in finals is below poor. JJ? I'm not really sure anymore, maybe they're aware and as such put plans in place to curb his influence but that works almost every time. Daniel would be the other obvious candidate.

    Outside of that we don't have big key defenders to worry opposition, we don't have an intercepting game to worry opposition, we don't have multiple goal kicking/dangerous forwards and we don't have high energy and pressuring forwards. We obviously don't have a dominant ruck.

    Maybe I've overrated our list again too. Then again, I still feel like with some tweaks and additions, we can challenge top 4.

    Our trading has been poor lately and we've simply brought in FAR too many half backs. Moving forward I don't think we should have Cordy OR Wood in our best side and I think we need to strongly reconsider how we use Daniel.

    Daniel isn't our best player but he's the architect and I'd argue we are desperate to see him creating play in the middle of the ground and forward of center.

    He's been very good in d50 but he can't move the ball 100m up the ground to the forwards and when he's having to dish it off to the likes of Dunkley, Macrae, Hunter etc to deliver inside 50, well, it should be the other way around.

    Interesting 12 months ahead for this club in many ways. We've really put ourselves in this position, we need to climb out of mid table.

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  11. #7
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    Re: Gerard whateley delivers honest assessment of the bulldogs

    It’s funny, my saints mate was very confident last week. He said he was VERY happy to be facing dogs than any other team in the 8. I asked him why he was so confident? I said was it because of their win in round 2? Because this is a FINAL!!!

    And his response was simply along these lines....

    “Ryder/Marshall will destroy English. Your Slow mids don’t run both ways. I’m very confident Membrey and King will have no worries with the dogs backline.”

    Blind Freddy could see what was going to happen in the ruck. I wouldn’t say it 100% cost us the game, but it sure had a massive say in our loss. Not Tim’s fault. He’s just not a #1 ruckman. Lack of pace has been an issue all year and that why Vanda’s injury hurt a lot. And finally our defence. Cordy/Gardner with Keath is not gunna bring fear to any fwd line. All they had to do was kick it on their heads and our lack lustre defence would do the rest.
    I will never see #16 the same!!

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    Re: Gerard whateley delivers honest assessment of the bulldogs

    Quote Originally Posted by DOG GOD View Post
    It’s funny, my saints mate was very confident last week. He said he was VERY happy to be facing dogs than any other team in the 8. I asked him why he was so confident? I said was it because of their win in round 2? Because this is a FINAL!!!

    And his response was simply along these lines....

    “Ryder/Marshall will destroy English. Your Slow mids don’t run both ways. I’m very confident Membrey and King will have no worries with the dogs backline.”

    Blind Freddy could see what was going to happen in the ruck. I wouldn’t say it 100% cost us the game, but it sure had a massive say in our loss. Not Tim’s fault. He’s just not a #1 ruckman. Lack of pace has been an issue all year and that why Vanda’s injury hurt a lot. And finally our defence. Cordy/Gardner with Keath is not gunna bring fear to any fwd line. All they had to do was kick it on their heads and our lack lustre defence would do the rest.
    Lack of pace. We are too one paced, Libba, Macrae, the Bont, Lippa, all good smart footballers, but none have pace. Bailey Smith has pace (quick feet and good accelleration), but we need more and we definitely need more if it in the forward line.

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  14. #9
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    Re: Gerard whateley delivers honest assessment of the bulldogs

    I don't actually recall anyone within the four walls of the club openly suggesting we're anywhere near the finished product. Why do the media keep either overrating us or not consider that we went into the season with clear deficiencies and still have much to develop within our younger players?

    Listen closely to the coach over time and he's stated clearly we're developing and wanting to get better as quickly as we can. What would we be saying about the capability of our list profile if we didn't win a flag four years ago, with a drastically different team?

    In honesty after the Cats game I thought we should have been a week two or at best three proposition this year, and we fell short of the former disappointingly. But we played crap on the weekend and didn't really learn anything new about ourselves and almost still snuck home.

    Finally, you can't suggest that one side gets to have an off portion of the game but another doesn't. St Kilda may have been off the boil for one quarter, but we were off the boil for three and almost did them. A bit of balance goes a long way to earning credibility.
    Nobody's looking for a puppeteer in today's wintry economic climate.

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    Re: Gerard whateley delivers honest assessment of the bulldogs

    It’s a different angle and it gives food for thought. He’s right in that we dont have guns in every line. We don’t have key defenders or a fwd line that would scare anyone.

    I wonder how much development of the likes of West and Weightman have been limited this year with no VFL, and how much more important exposed form is now for a trade in? I mean, this year could have thrown the development of the entire list out (less training as a team, fewer coaches etc) so do we need to be expecting slower or less development in players for a year or two? And thus trades in are more important/worth pursuing?

  17. #11
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    Re: Gerard whateley delivers honest assessment of the bulldogs

    Whatetley thinks he is an expert in every sport
    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.

  18. #12
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    Re: Gerard whateley delivers honest assessment of the bulldogs

    It’s funny to see the media catching up only now on what some of us have been saying for months.

    Whately’s lionising of Bevo is weird though, as if the personnel he’s playing isn’t his choice.

    Anyway, good to see some heat applied. I doubt it will be the catalyst for any major changes or breakthroughs but we can dream.
    Our 1954 premiership players are our heroes, and it has to be said that Charlie was their hero.

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    Re: Gerard whateley delivers honest assessment of the bulldogs

    Quote Originally Posted by comrade View Post
    It’s funny to see the media catching up only now on what some of us have been saying for months.

    Whately’s lionising of Bevo is weird though, as if the personnel he’s playing isn’t his choice.
    As a club we've been chasing players outside of the midfield for years.
    We picked up Lloyd, Crozier, Bruce and Keath at the trade table with varying degrees of success.

    We've previously chased Hurley & Howard as KPDs and Martin and Wingard as forwards with class, we also chased Lobbe and Martin as rucks. I don't think we're stubborn and the club is simply happy with the list. We're always looking to improve.
    Western Bulldogs: 2016 Premiers

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  21. #14
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    Re: Gerard whateley delivers honest assessment of the bulldogs

    Quote Originally Posted by The Bulldogs Bite View Post
    It's a bit simplistic to say that and yet he's not entirely wrong.

    Outside of our midfield, who would concern opposition coaches? Naughton yes but his output in finals is below poor. JJ? I'm not really sure anymore, maybe they're aware and as such put plans in place to curb his influence but that works almost every time. Daniel would be the other obvious candidate.

    Outside of that we don't have big key defenders to worry opposition, we don't have an intercepting game to worry opposition, we don't have multiple goal kicking/dangerous forwards and we don't have high energy and pressuring forwards. We obviously don't have a dominant ruck.

    Maybe I've overrated our list again too. Then again, I still feel like with some tweaks and additions, we can challenge top 4.

    Our trading has been poor lately and we've simply brought in FAR too many half backs. Moving forward I don't think we should have Cordy OR Wood in our best side and I think we need to strongly reconsider how we use Daniel.

    Daniel isn't our best player but he's the architect and I'd argue we are desperate to see him creating play in the middle of the ground and forward of center.

    He's been very good in d50 but he can't move the ball 100m up the ground to the forwards and when he's having to dish it off to the likes of Dunkley, Macrae, Hunter etc to deliver inside 50, well, it should be the other way around.

    Interesting 12 months ahead for this club in many ways. We've really put ourselves in this position, we need to climb out of mid table.
    I like your post in the main but I think it is too soon for this narrative on Naughton to take hold. He injured his knee in his first final, where the midfield were totally obliterated, and the fractured cheekbone was probably a big concern on Saturday - again our midfield were beaten, delivery was shocking and Bruce just could not keep out of his way!
    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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  23. #15
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    Re: Gerard whateley delivers honest assessment of the bulldogs

    Quote Originally Posted by The Bulldogs Bite View Post
    It's a bit simplistic to say that and yet he's not entirely wrong.

    Outside of our midfield, who would concern opposition coaches? Naughton yes but his output in finals is below poor. JJ? I'm not really sure anymore, maybe they're aware and as such put plans in place to curb his influence but that works almost every time. Daniel would be the other obvious candidate.

    Outside of that we don't have big key defenders to worry opposition, we don't have an intercepting game to worry opposition, we don't have multiple goal kicking/dangerous forwards and we don't have high energy and pressuring forwards. We obviously don't have a dominant ruck.

    Maybe I've overrated our list again too. Then again, I still feel like with some tweaks and additions, we can challenge top 4.

    Our trading has been poor lately and we've simply brought in FAR too many half backs. Moving forward I don't think we should have Cordy OR Wood in our best side and I think we need to strongly reconsider how we use Daniel.

    Daniel isn't our best player but he's the architect and I'd argue we are desperate to see him creating play in the middle of the ground and forward of center.

    He's been very good in d50 but he can't move the ball 100m up the ground to the forwards and when he's having to dish it off to the likes of Dunkley, Macrae, Hunter etc to deliver inside 50, well, it should be the other way around.


    Interesting 12 months ahead for this club in many ways. We've really put ourselves in this position, we need to climb out of mid table.

    Agree entirely with this TBB. I am hoping Caleb trains with the mid field/forwards over the summer.

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