Bulldogs Ballarat Practice Match.... Your thoughts.

[bornadog]

Full replay here

[AutoFill]

Thanks for all the contributions. I’m busting to get down to Ikon this weekend. Team selection is going to be heart breaker for some.

[Mofra]

Cleary could well be that one 'bolter' we have every year.
He uses it well, and seems to get his positioning right.

[Happy Days]

Bruce’s second half has ruined my whole weekend. He was looking so good before he actually had to start kicking it less than 40m.

[Happy Days]

Cleary could well be that one 'bolter' we have every year.
He uses it well, and seems to get his positioning right.

That Fritsch match up hypothetical really underscored how much we need a mid sized defender too.

[GVGjr]

Made the trip to Mars stadium.
I thought it was a quality hit out for us. A few players copped some injuries but it was a positive to get players like Baz, Treloar, Jones and Bruce through the game. I thought Cleary, Khamism Scott and Raak showed a bit.

Lets hope that some of the players that missed like Weightman, Hannan and Garcia can play against North.

[dog town]

Bruce’s second half has ruined my whole weekend. He was looking so good before he actually had to start kicking it less than 40m.

He really played the percentages in the first half and only but off little 15 metre kicks. I think the rain rattled him a bit.

[Grantysghost]

Made the trip to Mars stadium.
I thought it was a quality hit out for us. A few players copped some injuries but it was a positive to get players like Baz, Treloar, Jones and Bruce through the game. I thought Cleary, Khamism Scott and Raak showed a bit.

Lets hope that some of the players that missed like Weightman, Hannan and Garcia can play against North.

What’s a Khamism?

It sounds very zen G

[Grantysghost]

That Fritsch match up hypothetical really underscored how much we need a mid sized defender too.

Are there many good ones around HD? I'm trying to think of someone who plays that role at another team.
Sinclair (Aints), Maynard (Pies) maybe Stewart (Cats).

I like the look of Cleary. Lets hope he develops into that role.

[The Underdog]

What’s a Khamism?

It sounds very zen G

We’re all converting to Khamism. It’s the new way forward after Dunkism failed us.

[The Doctor]

Great to see the big guys play well and some of our prime movers get their hands on the ball in good numbers.

The glaring issue for me is the lack of quality small forwards. I know I sound like a broken record on this but it was so clearly evident throughout the day. None more so when Khamis swooped near the boundary then ran infield a bit to open up the goals. I was waiting for the snap across the body, bread & butter stuff for a small forward, but he booted 40m straight up in the air. Don't mean to sound like I'm picking on him because otherwise he had a fantastic game but it highlights the problem. I see other examples of it time and again.

It was great to see Arty Jones bob up in the forward line and snap an opportunistic goal. I liked the idea of playing him up forward and then on the wing. Don't think he plays round 1 but his rate of improvement is very pleasing and if he keeps it up a debut may not be too far away.

Hopefully Baker has a better game v North if chosen.

Really liked Anthony Scott's game. Have always felt he could be a good player at AFL level if he could get more involved.

The emergence of Khamis up forward could pose a few selection headaches. His aerial game is quite good and he's a nice kick on the set shot usually. If he can improve his ground level game I think he becomes a regular in the senior team.

As mentioned earlier in the thread Luke Goater caught my eye. He demonstrated some sharp skills a few times yesterday. Hopefully he continues to improve his game at Footscray, and become a candidate for the MSD.

[dog town]

Has anyone else noticed our defensive positioning behind the ball? When we press up to defend and the opposition forwards roll up to stand next to us we are standing back shoulder every time. So picture is having a forward 50 stoppage all of our backs behind the ball are standing on the inside and behind.

I watched every slow play, every stoppage yesterday and it was always back shoulder without exception. In the past the forward would be 5-10 metres goal side due to our assertive positioning when defending. Will watch this closely next week against actual opposition, it’s a clear change in philosophy.

[bornadog]

Has anyone else noticed our defensive positioning behind the ball? When we press up to defend and the opposition forwards roll up to stand next to us we are standing back shoulder every time. So picture is having a forward 50 stoppage all of our backs behind the ball are standing on the inside and behind.

I watched every slow play, every stoppage yesterday and it was always back shoulder without exception. In the past the forward would be 5-10 metres goal side due to our assertive positioning when defending. Will watch this closely next week against actual opposition, it’s a clear change in philosophy.

Good pickup

[dog town]

Great to see the big guys play well and some of our prime movers get their hands on the ball in good numbers.

The glaring issue for me is the lack of quality small forwards. I know I sound like a broken record on this but it was so clearly evident throughout the day. None more so when Khamis swooped near the boundary then ran infield a bit to open up the goals. I was waiting for the snap across the body, bread & butter stuff for a small forward, but he booted 40m straight up in the air. Don't mean to sound like I'm picking on him because otherwise he had a fantastic game but it highlights the problem. I see other examples of it time and again.

It was great to see Arty Jones bob up in the forward line and snap an opportunistic goal. I liked the idea of playing him up forward and then on the wing. Don't think he plays round 1 but his rate of improvement is very pleasing and if he keeps it up a debut may not be too far away.

Hopefully Baker has a better game v North if chosen.

Really liked Anthony Scott's game. Have always felt he could be a good player at AFL level if he could get more involved.

The emergence of Khamis up forward could pose a few selection headaches. His aerial game is quite good and he's a nice kick on the set shot usually. If he can improve his ground level game I think he becomes a regular in the senior team.

As mentioned earlier in the thread Luke Goater caught my eye. He demonstrated some sharp skills a few times yesterday. Hopefully he continues to improve his game at Footscray, and become a candidate for the MSD.

Scott has kicked goals from the wing in pretty much every bit of match sim I have seen this summer.

In regards to Goater he has come on really quickly. Will be getting well looked after at Deer Park so hopefully we can keep him playing at Footscray to monitor his progress.

[Happy Days]

Are there many good ones around HD? I'm trying to think of someone who plays that role at another team.
Sinclair (Aints), Maynard (Pies) maybe Stewart (Cats).

I like the look of Cleary. Lets hope he develops into that role.

I would add Sicily, Starcevich, Ridley, Vlastuin, Burton, Rampe to this list off the top of my head. I’m sure there’s a ton more if you go list by list.

Even if there is a lack of true medium defenders, a lot of teams can get by through the versatility of their key defenders, which with all due respect to Gardner, Keath and Jones isn’t really something I think is true of us.

With our current stocks we probably need Cleary or Khamis to come on and fill this role (or hope Buss turns into a superstar).