Best/Starting 23, Round 1 2024

[The Underdog]

Am I the only one who's extremely wary of the Darcy hype train?

Maybe I'm still suffering Ayceitis.

The injuries concern me at his size, but I have no doubts about his ability. He’s a much more natural athlete than Ayce ever was and he is a lovely mark and kick.

[FrediKanoute]

My Round 1 Team

B: Coffield, Jones, Richards
HB: Dale, Keath, JOD
C: Williams, The Bont, Poulter
HF: Smith, Naughton, Harmes
F: Lobb, JUH, Weightman
R: English, Treloar, Libba

Inter: West, Gardner, Macrae, JJ
Sub: Scott

[GVGjr]

My Round 1 Team

B: Coffield, Jones, Richards
HB: Dale, Keath, JOD
C: Williams, The Bont, Poulter
HF: Smith, Naughton, Harmes
F: Lobb, JUH, Weightman
R: English, Treloar, Libba

Inter: West, Gardner, Macrae, JJ
Sub: Scott

You're missing Caleb Fredi.

[hujsh]

My Round 1 Team

B: Coffield, Jones, Richards
HB: Dale, Keath, JOD
C: Williams, The Bont, Poulter
HF: Smith, Naughton, Harmes
F: Lobb, JUH, Weightman
R: English, Treloar, Libba

Inter: West, Gardner, Macrae, JJ
Sub: Scott

You're missing Caleb Fredi.

Can probably swap out one of Gardner or Keath for him. Don't need both if Jones and JOD are playing

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Fully fit:

My first version. I?m assuming Watson gets to us with Hawks getting Gini & Gunston so they could go another midfielder. I think he can play straight away in the role.

B: Dale L. Jones Coffield
HB: Richards JOD JJ
C: Williams Treloar Poulter
HF: Watson (?) Marra Weightman
F: Lobb Naughton Clarke
R: English Bont Libba
I: Smith Macrae Harmes Daniel
S: West
E: Darcy Buss Scott Arty

Rest: Cleary, Garcia, Gardner, Baker, Duryea (?), Gags, VDM, Khamis, Croft, Lual (?), spare ruck (?), recruits or other rookie upgrades.


Early rationale:

3 talls, 3 smalls up forward. With Bont & Adz to rest there. Darcy as the next tall forward in line. I prefer this but expect we will have a midfield capable HHF taking a spot, although I wouldn?t mind seeing Cody spend a few minutes on ball to add some burst speed and X factor to a similar midfield.

A more mobile defence. Unless the oppo is very tall. Coffield as the third tall type. Would prefer games into Buss over Gardner. Croft into the defence group. I?d consider moving Daniel back too, with Smith to get more time in the middle and perhaps Macrae and Harmes coming in and hopefully West stepping up, perhaps we move him back to where he won an AA jacket.

Mids to rotate more. I?m assuming Smith has been promised more mid time so I expect him in a bit more. I?m a bit concerned over where Macrae fits in, but hopefully he can get back to his best or close to it. I think Lobb should get a few more minutes every quarter and English can drift forward or play around d with him as a tall utility that floats where he thinks we need him during the game.

There still seems like plenty of talent on paper. But the game plan, CBA rotations, defence, tagging (Harmes ?), and I50 entries are going to hurt with missing easy goals. Hopefully some new assistants can help here.

WOW you've really got Clarke coming from the clouds to snag a spot in the starting 22!?
Did he finish the season off well with Footscray? I thought the consensus from VFL watchers was he had not had a very good first season, off the back of a very limited pre-season?

Have you see some things late in the year that have you really bullish on his early season prospects BT?

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Am I the only one who's extremely wary of the Darcy hype train?

Maybe I'm still suffering Ayceitis.

I'm not gonna lie, I've had a couple of moments where I just consider that he's yet to do 3 fifths of f-all yet and he's being feted as if he's a certain 200 gamer by some in the media.

I wonder if talls like Darcy come with more inherent risk than smaller guys? Its different using your height advantage like, Darcy, or a Tom Boyd at Under 18 level, where your lack of body strength can't really be targeted like it will at AFL level. His early injuries do conjure some memories of The Ayce of Cordy at times.

I don't think I"m extremely wary, just cognisant enough of the risk to warrant feeling great that we're getting Croft this year as cover; knowing full well the same risks apply to him.

[bulldogtragic]

WOW you've really got Clarke coming from the clouds to snag a spot in the starting 22!?
Did he finish the season off well with Footscray? I thought the consensus from VFL watchers was he had not had a very good first season, off the back of a very limited pre-season?

Have you see some things late in the year that have you really bullish on his early season prospects BT?

Yeah, he’s my bolter for next year. I think his interrupted preseason had him on the back foot. So I’m hoping a full preseason and a year in our system has him understanding what we need. I recall Cody had a fair bit of doubt in him in his season too from some. I thought he warmed into the end of the season well, (it’s a shit metric) but his points ranking went up significantly and he kicked 4 goals in his two finals. What I especially like his he seems a team first player, almost to a fault. If he can find a better option he seems to want to take it and not blaze away every time, even though more goals would’ve helped promotion rather than score involvements or goal assists.

So whether it’s evidence based or wishful thinking, he’s my bolter. If we can get him humming with Cody and potentially Watson there’s going to be some exciting energy under the excitement of the feet of the big boys. The kind of energy and excitement that can hopefully change the feel around the place with young confidence. So I guess we see!

[hujsh]

Yeah, he’s my bolter for next year. I think his interrupted preseason had him on the back foot. So I’m hoping a full preseason and a year in our system has him understanding what we need. I recall Cody had a fair bit of doubt in him in his season too from some. I thought he warmed into the end of the season well, (it’s a shit metric) but his points ranking went up significantly and he kicked 4 goals in his two finals. What I especially like his he seems a team first player, almost to a fault. If he can find a better option he seems to want to take it and not blaze away every time, even though more goals would’ve helped promotion rather than score involvements or goal assists.

So whether it’s evidence based or wishful thinking, he’s my bolter. If we can get him humming with Cody and potentially Watson there’s going to be some exciting energy under the excitement of the feet of the big boys. The kind of energy and excitement that can hopefully change the feel around the place with young confidence. So I guess we see!

Yeah a lot on here (probably me too to be fair I just might not have said it) were really wondering what Weightman brought to the table. Didn't seem to be particularly good at anything though there was also the small issue of there not being VFL his first year.

[Scorlibo]

B	O'Donnell	Jones	Coffield
HB	Dale	Naughton	Richards
C	Smith	Liberatore	Poulter
HF	Daniel	Ugle-Hagan	West
F	Lobb	Darcy	Weightman
Foll	English	Bontempelli	Macrae
Int	Johannisen	Harmes	Treloar	Watson
Sub	Gallagher
Emg	Cleary	Khamis	Williams

Good fun playing with the new toys, and presuming Watson to be one of those.

Down back, I think Coffield plays round 1 if fit, he could bring some much needed intercept marking ability, good kicking skills and hardness. Probably shuts the door on Duryea's tenure in the side. Personally I think Keath is past his best footy and Gardner is only a depth player, so Naughton should make the shift over the preseason if we're serious about challenging next year. Our intercept game, so poor this year, could really pick up with the addition of Naughton and Coffield.

Through the midfield, I'd like to see us go with a rotating fixture with Liberatore being the one constant at the centre bounce, and the rest sharing the duties. Harmes provides a lockdown defensive option but can be used as a utility. To my mind this puts pressure on Williams' position in the side. I thought Poulter showed a lot in his stint in the AFL side this season. His clean hands and penetration made us better, so he gets the nod as the dedicated wingman over Baker, Williams and Scott.

Up forward I'm hoping that Darcy can get an injury free run. If he does, he's best 22 and will straight away be a big presence at full forward. Daniel in my view played his best footy this year as a high half forward, with his smarts around the fifty giving us good looks. West had another fantastic end to the season, hopefully this coming year he can back it up with a great start as well. His contested work in the forward fifty can create a lot of space, he's like a smaller Mitch Hahn. Watson is exactly the type we need providing speed at the feet of the big guys. Should improve our forward fifty ground ball game significantly if we can nab him in the draft as expected.

Gallagher impressed me in the VFL this season with his 400m burst running, he could be the perfect sub to start the season.

[Go_Dogs]

What I’d like to see:

B: Coffield, Jones, Richards
HB: Dale, JOD, JJ
C: Daniel, Smith, Poulter
HF: Treloar, Naughton, Weightman
F: Lobb, Jamarra, Watson
R: English, Bont, Libba
IC: Darcy, Harmes, Macrae, West
Sub: Williams

I’m hoping our back 6 can get some continuity. We’ve got run, intercept ability, kicking skill. We should be able to cover most sides. I have Darcy on the bench as our big who can play multiple roles. Massive ask of the kid, but plugging gaps back or being part of the four headed monster up front gives us a few looks.

Our midfield needs Smith to transition in. Let’s back him. Daniel and Poulter as my wings, a bit of everything but players who can use the ball (one short one long) and both capable of helping back / creating forward.

Treloar moves to the high half forward role where I think he’s most effective out of everyone we’ve tried there. Watson straight in and our other forwards select themselves.

Our bench has players with versatility who can chop in multiple roles and Williams as the sun, just squeezed out.

[BornInDroopSt'54]

The no. 4 pick should debut during the season but not expecting him first round first game.
My ego is less interested in me wanting X or Y player.
The core is there.
My interest is in the players and coach being well supported by staff.
No supporter selections relevant in that.
I predict Brian Lade to have a big year. My intuition says so.

[GVGjr]

Fox AFL has gone with

WESTERN BULLDOGS

B: Nick Coffield, Liam Jones, Bailey Dale

HB: Ed Richards, James O’Donnell, Jason Johannisen

C: Caleb Poulter, Marcus Bontempelli, Bailey Williams

HF: Caleb Daniel, Aaron Naughton, Bailey Smith

F: Cody Weightman, Jamarra Ugle-Hagan, Rory Lobb

FOLL: Tim English, Adam Treloar, Tom Liberatore

I/C: Sam Darcy, Jack Macrae, James Harmes, Taylor Duryea, Laitham Vandermeer (sub)

Key off-season ins: Nick Coffield, James Harmes

Key off-season outs: Josh Bruce, Tim O’Brien, Mitch Hannan, Toby McLean, Jordon Sweet

WE SAY: The Dogs should again be bullish about their prospects and climbing back into the top eight, with a list as talented as any in the competition. The club only made small tweaks during the trade period, adding Nick Coffield and James Harmes to round out its depth, with both players featuring in the above 23. Coffield in particular, after a terrible run with injury, could really help the back six - much in the way Bailey Williams did when he was on his tremendous run of form (which has since dropped off). The key defensive stocks still feel a little thin despite the club’s plethora of running backs, given how James O’Donnell was raw in his first year and Alex Keath clearly fell out of favour. We’ve included both Rory Lobb and Sam Darcy, but you sense there’s only room for one of them in the same team, unless Darcy plays back. It’ll meanwhile be fascinating how Luke Beveridge runs his midfield rotation this year, with Harmes and Bailey Smith likely to feature more prominently. But at the expense of who? Surely Jack Macrae can recover from his down year. The club also has Pick 5, which it’s likely to use on Nick Watson, Colby McKercher or Ryley Sanders, who should all compete for a spot.

[dukedog]

B: Coffield, Jones, Richards
HB: Dale, The Bont, JOD
C: Williams, The Bont, Poulter
HF: Smith, Naughton, The Bont
F: Treloar, JUH, Weightman
R: English, , Libba, The Bont

Inter: West, The Bont, Macrae, JJ

[SquirrelGrip]

B: Coffield, Jones, Richards
HB: Dale, The Bont, JOD
C: Williams, The Bont, Poulter
HF: Smith, Naughton, The Bont
F: Treloar, JUH, Weightman
R: English, , Libba, The Bont

Inter: West, The Bont, Macrae, JJ

I like your thinking. Some minor tweaks from me...

B: Coffield, Jones, Richards
HB: Dale, Naughton, The Bont
C: Caleb, The Bont, Treloar
HF: Smith, Naughton, The Bont
F: English, JUH, Weightman
R: English, Libba, The Bont

Inter: JOD, The Bont, Macrae, JJ

[Rocco Jones]

A big concern for mine is what we do with Macrae, Baz and Adz trio when the aren't playing as inside mids/having CBAs.

Bont av 81% CBAs and Libba 78%. So that's more than half the time taken up. If looking at it from a time point of view, there's 140% TOG to divvy up.

Adz av. 78% w Baz and Macrae in the 30s%. Whatever way you split it, we need at least one of them to play majority of time outside of inside mid and another one to at least split the time.

Thus far in other roles, what we have seen from the trio:
- Adz: great offence off HBF but struggling with the defensive side of it. If not HBF or inside mid, really struggles to get into the game and looks really low on confidence.
- Baz: in the limited time I have seen him on the wing, I think he gets lost. Especially when it comes to tracking his opponent. Despite his physical attributes suiting the role, his footy IQ seems suited either to ball winning mid or a harder tag than we usually are up for. As a HFF, he was barely worth a spot in a side struggling to 22, especially in said role.
- Macrae performed better off a HFF than Baz just through a bit more application, but again, not too much above earning a spot in the side.

Billy Beane would not be a fan of the sum of this trio.