Nic Nat and JUH - If West Coast can manage it, why can't we??

[bulldogsthru&thru]

OK. To be fair my first post said 'anyone but Naughton'. I have (from there) focussed in on Bruce for two reasons:

1/. Saying he has kicked 33 goals this year is a great PR exercise. Forget the North Melbourne witches hats - he kicked 2 in the final quarter against Melbourne which really (really) agitated me for some reason. He seemed most energetic when the game was OVER.

2/. Saying 'what has last year got to do with this year'...well, at some point you have to look at a players body of work. I just wonder exactly what we are hoping to get from Bruce against the better teams in the comp and we only have 18-months of history to look at...those 18-months are pretty darned dismal. My take is he is a big, strong mature body who can beat up on younger defenders (who are in the bottom teams) or if he gets an occasional 'good matchup' against a good team...but that second one quite literally NEVER seems to happen. Or maybe it has but I missed it??

I look at our list for alternatives and we have two high draft picks sitting there - one tried, one untried.

I don't think anyone is suggesting we should play Schache over Bruce, but I would suggest you could mount an argument that - given a similar number of chances - he would deliver a similar outcome. Then of course there is Jamarra.

I suppose I am surprised that more people are not pushing for us to find out what the kid has got. We have NO HISTORY with this player - sure, we can watch his VFL performances and suggest he isn't ready...but truthfully no-one really knows what is going to happen when he gets a chance. It might be 'fish to water' or it might be 'fish to dinner plate'...but why wouldn't we try to find out?

Back to my original post, if West Coast can operate their MOST IMPORTANT player on a minutes cap and stick too it, surely we can do the same with someone who would be player #22 in the side??

Bruce's history against quality sides wasn't exactly great during his time at the saints either. I get what you're saying but I still think he's been more than OK this year. I can't think of a forward in the competition who would have had an impact playing for us on Friday night. The entries were woeful. Our entire team goes missing in crunch games. That needs fixing above all else.

I agree that we need to see JUH this year. We need to see what he's got. Some players just rise to the occasion at AFL level. But for a team that is pushing for top 4, we can't experiment by dropping our leading goal kicker. We might get away with it against North or the Hawks so perhaps he should debut then. Unfortunately COVID and concussion are not helping his cause.

[Mofra]

We have a leading goalkicker curse anyway so Bruce will win our goalkicking award this year then suffer some incredible misfortune before the start of the 2022 season.

[bulldogsthru&thru]

We have a leading goalkicker curse anyway so Bruce will win our goalkicking award this year then suffer some incredible misfortune before the start of the 2022 season.

You mean Billy Gowers' sweet stuff will run out?

[Happy Days]

You mean Billy Gowers' sweet stuff will run out?

Bruce went past Bill's 2018 season total in the Carlton game. Gowers' "leading goalkicker" winner status was the falsest of flags and just showed how impotent our attack was at the time.

[mjp]

I get what you're saying but I still think he's been more than OK this year.

The KC Chiefs went deep into the playoffs and still sacked Alex Smith (pre- leg break) to insert Patrick Mahomes.

[Mofra]

Bruce went past Bill's 2018 season total in the Carlton game. Gowers' "leading goalkicker" winner status was the falsest of flags and just showed how impotent our attack was at the time.

Sam Lloyd
Mitch Wallis

It's a curse. Bruce is in the firing line

[bulldogtragic]

Sam Lloyd
Mitch Wallis

It's a curse. Bruce is in the firing line

So Naughton shouldn’t kick more goals than Bruce in the next 11 games ?!?!?!?!?

[comrade]

So Naughton shouldn’t kick more goals than Bruce in the next 11 games ?!?!?!?!?

Another good reason to send him back to CHB

[SquirrelGrip]

Listening to Barkly Street podcast last week, I felt JUH sounded remarkably comfortable with the situation, talking about how he trusts Bevo with what he is doing. This wasn't a guy frustrated by lack of opportunities - this was a young man who has had clear communication about what is going on, what he needs to do, and what the plans of the team are.

Even with his head knock, he has been doing extra running and training. Gut-running, speed and defensive pressure are all key attributes for our forwards (unfortunately for Wally), so if JUH can build his base for these, I have no doubt he will around the mark finals-time. So many first year players reach a wall during the season. My gut feel is that we are trying to avoid that for JUH so he is in peak form at the right time of the year.

[Mofra]

TBH one other reason I don't want to rush him is because of the Hannan situation - he looked underdone in his last VFL game before playing in the seniors and his first two games at AFL level weren't great. He seemed to be rushed in.
That is a 27 year old senior player. JUH as a kid would arguably fare worse.

[hujsh]

Spot on. I don't know what last year has got to do with any ones form.

I can't believe a guy kicks 33 goals in 11 games in the RWB and we aren't satisfied? Wow.

This time two years ago we looked like missing finals for the third year in a row and now we're 9-2 having lost to the reigning premiers on their turf and the ladder leaders in an empty stadium and (some) people are FAR from impressed with the team.

I say try to enjoy the good times while they last. We're playing good, entertaining and competitive football most weeks and have shown enough to indicate we should be playing at least 2 finals this year. If you can't enjoy a start to the year like this then I don't really get what enjoyment you get from the game. Even if the last loss was disappointing.

Bruce is a bit of a microcosm of that I guess where our second forward (Naughts is clearly number 1 and the guy with the ability to turn a game on it's head) is close to the Coleman and we're not happy.

Bruce for the most part hasn't been a big player in big games I suppose (how many have there been? How many have the club performed well in?) but he has absolutely kicked key goals at key moments in games we could have lost and may well have if he was performing to 2020 standards.

[The Doctor]

I love the idea of Jamarra coming in. During the Melbourne game while Lever and May were so difficult to beat I was wondering whether Jamarra might have made a difference. I think it could work for sure. How would they be able to counter all of Naughton, Bruce, English & Jamarra if we play our cards right in terms of structure.

[Axe Man]

All key forwards are going to have games where they struggle to get involved, whether through a lack of supply, a good opponent or simply having an off night. In such games surely all you can ask is they make the most of their limited opportunities, which is exactly what Bruce did on Friday.

[mjp]

All key forwards are going to have games where they struggle to get involved, whether through a lack of supply, a good opponent or simply having an off night. In such games surely all you can ask is they make the most of their limited opportunities, which is exactly what Bruce did on Friday.

Well, we had 52x i50's - more than Melbourne.

Josh had 0 contested marks and I think 4-possessions. I'm not sure in what world that is making the most of his opportunities.

[comrade]

Well, we had 52x i50's - more than Melbourne.

Josh had 0 contested marks and I think 4-possessions. I'm not sure in what world that is making the most of his opportunities.

Bruce was also up against a far superior defensive group than Melbourne was and their forwards also got plenty of clean looks due to unforced turnovers. Our guys were leading, waiting, leading, backing up etc while we played switcheroo across the ground.

I thought Bruce was a lot worse against Richmond where he did have good chances and muffed them.