The big question mark still hovering over the bulldogs

[Hotdog60]

Matthew Lloyd still has reservations about the Bulldogs’ premiership prospects, despite a potent display against fellow finals fancies Melbourne in their AAMI Community Series meeting on Monday afternoon.

Luke Beveridge’s side kicked six goals to one in the third quarter to set up a 39-point win over the Dees, with Marcus Bontempelli and fringe midfielder Patrick Lipinski driving the result.


“The talent is all across one area, in my opinion. At either end…” Lloyd pondered on Sportsday.

“I’ve still got big questions on (Ryan) Gardner as a key defender. Alex Keath to me is a good player but he’s not to the level of some key defenders at top four teams.

“Down the other end, you’ve got (Aaron) Naughton who is very injury-prone and a 50 game player who has hardly kicked any goals at AFL level.”

Naughton started in imperious form, hauling down a contested mark on the wing, but failed to resurface after the long break with a corked arm.

“The pre-season mail out of there is that he’s flying, but still today he got himself injured,” Lloyd lamented.

“Then you’ve got Josh Bruce who has been hopelessly out of form since he’s been there.”

A slimmer Bruce snaffled six marks and kicked two goals, and appears set to feature regularly with a long-term approach favoured for No. 1 selection Jamarra Ugle-Hagan.

Lloyd acknowledged the depth of the Dogs’ midfield rotation, but said his key position concerns manifested across their practice matches.

“In defence, Hawthorn picked them apart in a practice match last week, and (Jake) Lever and (Steven) May marked everything (on Monday),” he explained.

“That’s their big query.”

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[bornadog]

Crap article.

[jeemak]

It's the same vulnerabilities we've all identified many times. We're a developing team and hopefully we can put together a more consistent season and give ourselves a chance for top four.

He's potted us because May and Lever marked everything, though failed mention we still generated plenty of scoring opportunities anyway because of the way we played across the ground. Yep we got opened up by Hawthorn which was disappointing, but as we've discussed largely since it was the attitude of the group that stood out as being poor more so than anything structural in our first hit out.

We're going to have good weeks and bad weeks this year, like every team. Hopefully in games we can minimise the poor things we know we're capable of and capitalise on the good more often than not. To stay sane I'm going to steer clear of much of the media talk because it doesn't add anything new or insightful win lose or draw.

[soupman]

To stay sane I'm going to steer clear of much of the media talk because it doesn't add anything new or insightful win lose or draw.

Tbh I have not really seen much value in the media coverage of us (nor football) in general since the early 2010's. It often lacks insight, perspective or just devolves into the "just a bunch of the boys sitting around the bar" shit that the commercial tv stations, radio and newspapers seem to love.

I find the discussion on here much more interesting and nuanced, even if it can be a bit reactive or over the top (including myself obviously), and I've found the Mongrel Punt website a really nice resource for a well reasoned take that still gets excited about the actual football as my media outlet (and even then they often get it wrong or focus on stuff i don't care about, but more than any other media I feel their heart is in the right place).

[jeemak]

Tbh I have not really seen much value in the media coverage of us (nor football) in general since the early 2010's. It often lacks insight, perspective or just devolves into the "just a bunch of the boys sitting around the bar" shit that the commercial tv stations, radio and newspapers seem to love.

I find the discussion on here much more interesting and nuanced, even if it can be a bit reactive or over the top (including myself obviously), and I've found the Mongrel Punt website a really nice resource for a well reasoned take that still gets excited about the actual football as my media outlet (and even then they often get it wrong or focus on stuff i don't care about, but more than any other media I feel their heart is in the right place).

I had to switch off footy media about twelve years ago, around the time we got shafted in the 2009 preliminary final and everyone in the media pretended Nick Reiwoldt wasn't a massive arsehat for diving and thought the Saints were amazing because of it.

You're spot on, the boys around the bar circle jerk coupled with the syndicated appearances of said boys across the platforms makes for dull and repetitive reading, with little time for actual insight given said circle jerking.

The Mongrel Punt is a good independent effort, and I did enjoy posts from the last year or so with higher level analytical content that was posted by a valued member whose name escapes me.........

[bornadog]

I had to switch off footy media about twelve years ago, around the time we got shafted in the 2009 preliminary final and everyone in the media pretended Nick Reiwoldt wasn't a massive arsehat for diving and thought the Saints were amazing because of it.

You're spot on, the boys around the bar circle jerk coupled with the syndicated appearances of said boys across the platforms makes for dull and repetitive reading, with little time for actual insight given said circle jerking.

The Mongrel Punt is a good independent effort, and I did enjoy posts from the last year or so with higher level analytical content that was posted by a valued member whose name escapes me.........

I think you summed up my comment perfectly

[Happy Days]

ABC’s footy coverage has been really thoughtful and in-depth for the last couple of seasons too.

Meanwhile Channel 7’s only effort at footy discussion is literally 3 citizens sitting at a bar drinking beers.

[westbulldog]

“I’ve still got big questions on (Ryan) Gardner as a key defender. Alex Keath to me is a good player but he’s not to the level of some key defenders at top four teams.
I agree with this comment by LLoyd.

[comrade]

“I’ve still got big questions on (Ryan) Gardner as a key defender. Alex Keath to me is a good player but he’s not to the level of some key defenders at top four teams.
I agree with this comment by LLoyd.

Yeah, he's just repeating what every Bulldogs supporters has said for the last 12 months.