Sharp Axes

[bulldogsthru&thru]

A list is as good as the system it plays in and the players ability to perform their role in that system.

There have been plenty of examples over the years where you'd probably not rate a list one year. Then the team gets a new coach, new gameplan etc and suddenly looks pretty good. Collingwood is probably the most recent example. We were one such example in 2015.

[Grantysghost]

A list is as good as the system it plays in and the players ability to perform their role in that system.

There have been plenty of examples over the years where you'd probably not rate a list one year. Then the team gets a new coach, new gameplan etc and suddenly looks pretty good. Collingwood is probably the most recent example. We were one such example in 2015.

You can get that new coach bounce, not sure how sustainable it is sometimes. Collingwood is a great example though (so far).

I think we've all said it many times, he needs new assistants from good systems.
Lade is a great start and it's probably no coincidence English had one of his better ruck games on the weekend.
Back Bevo, get him some fresh ideas in there.

Webb I've heard is good on here, I'm yet to see evidence of it however.

[jeemak]

Or the team shows up, gels and commits like it did for twenty odd weeks in 2021.

Perhaps we're not keeping it fresh enough to stimulate the players, the delicate things they are. That boring old team defence and two hours of committed effort and concentration each week may not be enough to get them out of bed.

[GVGjr]

Or the team shows up, gels and commits like it did for twenty odd weeks in 2021.

Perhaps we're not keeping it fresh enough to stimulate the players, the delicate things they are. That boring old team defence and two hours of committed effort and concentration each week may not be enough to get them out of bed.

At times we looked awesome in 21, getting on a roll is vital

[josie]

At times we looked awesome in 21, getting on a roll is vital

Agree our best in ‘21 was good. And we rolled over like puppy dogs wanting a tummy rub in some later games that cost us a top 4 finish.

[GVGjr]

Do you really think so?

I just don't think the list is that good. Don't take this for me saying that we don't have talent - we do - but (and use last week as an example - and even the Freo final);

Forward: Small forwards - nothing. Weightman played vs Freo and was a non-factor. Hannan is a 'never was' and pretty much 100% of JJ's positive games have come down the other end.

Tall forwards - Naughton - absolutely A-grade. Jamarra and Darcy are kids and they can't provide consistent effort from moment to moment let alone week-to-week. I agree, Lobb 'shoulda' been better BUT if you look at his history.

Mids - Outside: Baker and Scott are making their way.
Inside: Bont, Macrae, Liber, Treloar and Smith are all amazing obviously...but we have zero 'balance' in that group and each of them could quite comfortably be the '#1' player in an AFL midfield...my issues with this are well documented.

Backs - Tall: Well, Jones is 18-months out and got injured...I'm still concerned he's old and wont be consistent but acknowledge I'm in the minority. Bruce is coming off 10-years as a forward and an ACL repair. Keath seriously appeared to have 'forgotten how to football' last year.
Running: Dale and Daniel are elite but don't defend that much - what they do is awesome tho.
General: Richards, Duryea: Richards is going awesome and been great since mid-season last year, Duryea (to me) is a step off his best...but he's getting older now and needs support.

English: What he does he does well but again - he's at his best in ball movement, running etc...basically, he's the ruck equivalent of our midfield group. I'm probably not explaining this well but if we wanted a strong, competitive presence amongst the mids then neither our starting mids nor our rucks are programmed that way.

Outside of that? Well, we have a heap of unproven kids (McNeil, Garcia, West etc) and a couple of other veterans (TOB, Crozier) who seem to be 'break glass in emergency' type players...

If our mids start working together and really focussing on the RWB getting the footy forward effectively rather than every individual having 30+, well...I suspect we could still win the flag. But I don't think we have so much talent that a new coach could just come in and ride them to victory...

I've been pushing for more list changes than we do for years but our recruiting and our trading most years indicates as a club we either really rate the playing list as finals quality or we are trying and hoping we can stay up so as to not impact memberships.
Even Bevo's prompt reappointment indicates the clubs regards us as being in the 'window'.

I think the top up approach with state level type players that can come in and add a bit of depth but more often than not means their ceiling is somewhat limited is where we might have too many similar types.

This is a big year for us and by the end of it we will know if the top up approach actually works or not.

[Virgin-Dog]

I've been pushing for more list changes than we do for years but our recruiting and our trading most years indicates as a club we either really rate the playing list as finals quality or we are trying and hoping we can stay up so as to not impact memberships.
Even Bevo's prompt reappointment indicates the clubs regards us as being in the 'window'.

I think the top up approach with state level type players that can come in and add a bit of depth but more often than not means their ceiling is somewhat limited is where we might have too many similar types.

This is a big year for us and by the end of it we will know if the top up approach actually works or not.

I think we’ve been carrying certain speculative types and depth talls a little too long. Way too many short talls that aren’t best 22. What is the scope for Raak, Khamis, Bedendo, O’Brien, Cleary and Hannan to play meaningful roles in our seniors? Hannan’s ongoing selection is baffling at the best of times, but I’d much rather retain maybe 2 or 3 of these guys from next year onwards, and open the list spots for players with higher upside. If it were up to me, I’d easily keep Khamis and Cleary, and consider Bedendo (dependent on his improvement and fitness this year) but move the others on. Replacing those list spots with a small pressure forward, a developing ruck and a key defender instantly makes our long term prospects look better.

[GVGjr]

I think we’ve been carrying certain speculative types and depth talls a little too long. Way too many short talls that aren’t best 22. What is the scope for Raak, Khamis, Bedendo, O’Brien, Cleary and Hannan to play meaningful roles in our seniors? Hannan’s ongoing selection is baffling at the best of times, but I’d much rather retain maybe 2 or 3 of these guys from next year onwards, and open the list spots for players with higher upside. If it were up to me, I’d easily keep Khamis and Cleary, and consider Bedendo (dependent on his improvement and fitness this year) but move the others on. Replacing those list spots with a small pressure forward, a developing ruck and a key defender instantly makes our long term prospects look better.

Sounds like a reasonable plan. I think we are two emerging players light on in a small and or pressure forward roles. If we address that the list will look far better balanced. I'm not 100% sure why but to me Cleary, Khamis and Raak might all make it but this year is very important to them.

[bornadog]

Sounds like a reasonable plan. I think we are two emerging players light on in a small and or pressure forward roles. If we address that the list will look far better balanced. I'm not 100% sure why but to me Cleary, Khamis and Raak might all make it but this year is very important to them.

Also, you have to have soldiers and backup players.

[FrediKanoute]

That is the frustrating part. You can't be a long term Dogs supporter and not be able to accept losses and deal with the fact we might not be good enough but what we were known for and built a reputation on over a number of years was our fighting spirit.

It's the lack of spirit, not the quality of the playing list, that I'm starting to worry about.

This is an interesting point. In the AFL at on a weekend only a max of 9 teams can win every week; at the end of the season only one team can win; In sport generally, teams and individuals fail more often than they succeed.

If you watch the Ashes doco Khawaja makes this point that as a batsmen if you measure success in hundreds scored then ultimately as a batsman he fails much more than he succeeds and he has learnt to celebrate the successes. Same is true in all sports.

Its the way you lose that is key

[westbulldog]

This club /players / coaches in particular have nfi how to predict an opposition run on and even less idea how to stop it.

[SonofScray]

This is an interesting point. In the AFL at on a weekend only a max of 9 teams can win every week; at the end of the season only one team can win; In sport generally, teams and individuals fail more often than they succeed.

If you watch the Ashes doco Khawaja makes this point that as a batsmen if you measure success in hundreds scored then ultimately as a batsman he fails much more than he succeeds and he has learnt to celebrate the successes. Same is true in all sports.

Its the way you lose that is key

That’s the thing I am feeling really sensitive about, the rote, familiar manner of our losses and the incongruity of what we see in those games compared to what our best football looks like.

[JanLorMill]

It’s time. Officially cooked

[bulldogtragic]

Leaving aside the overarching theme. Are the players listening to him? Surely this isn’t what he’s telling them.

[The Bulldogs Bite]

Leaving aside the overarching theme. Are the players listening to him? Surely this isn’t what he’s telling them.

I don't think so, but at some point the answer to that question is irrelevant.