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  1. #46
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    Re: Grant Thomas has one last dig

    Quote Originally Posted by Greystache View Post
    It'll be interesting to see what he looks like come the NAB cup, hopefully he'll be pushing 90kgs. If he is I think 40 goals is pretty realistic.

    Despite what the club had continually told the media, I've been told he was anything but a hard trainer and his attitude was pretty poor, that was until he got a few games in the early part of this season, now he's apparently busting a gut at training. I wouldn't be surprised to see him bulk up considerably this preseason, I actually think once he started giving it a crack he put on some muscle through out the course of the season.
    He needs to balance bulking up and retaining his great speed. We also forget that he is 192cm, so I expect that he will take more contested marks in the future.
    FFC: Established 1883

    Premierships: AFL 1954, 2016 VFA - 1898,99,1900, 1908, 1913, 1919-20, 1923-24, VFL: 2014, 2016 . Champions of Victoria 1924. AFLW - 2018.

  2. #47
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    Re: Grant Thomas has one last dig

    Quote Originally Posted by bornadog View Post
    He needs to balance bulking up and retaining his great speed. We also forget that he is 192cm, so I expect that he will take more contested marks in the future.
    I don't think he will bulk up much anyway - he may attain Bob Murphy's build but not much more.
    His speed and timing of his hands are fantatstic assets and I would hope the club protect that aspect of his game at all costs.
    Western Bulldogs: 2016 Premiers

  3. #48
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    Re: Grant Thomas has one last dig

    It's been great to watch older opponents try to burn him off only to be chased down by Granty.
    You don't develop courage by being happy in your relationships every day. You develop it by surviving difficult times and challenging adversity. ― Epicurus

  4. #49
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    Re: Grant Thomas has one last dig

    Quote Originally Posted by Before I Die View Post
    You don't suppose that the improvement in our defence may have had an impact on our scoring. Less free wheeling means less scoring opportunities.
    Sp what are you saying: if you tighten up the defense you automatically lessen your scoring opportunities? This season, we WERE too one dimensional going forward. Maybe that was due to injuries to key forwards from the previous season (IMO both Aker and Johnno played one season too many, and we missed their goal scoring when their older bodies predictably broke down). Maybe. But I reckon it was a change in the players mindset with Hall now in the forward line.

    Now let me get this straight. Grant's article says we didn't win because we weren't good enough. I am not too sure there are many supporters who don't accept that.
    I reckon we have supporters who first look at WHO is saying what about us, instead of WHAT it is they are saying and why.

    As for his explanation for why we were not good enough, he may be right or wrong. Last year it was because we didn't have a power forward. This year it is supposedly because we played too many veterans and didn't tackle enough. And if we go close next year, it will be something else. It is so easy to be an expert when all you are doing is describing the past. If Grant is so knowledgable why couldn't he win a flag with a team which (if memory serves me right) won 13 games in a row under his tutelage.
    Thomas may not have a very endearing personality, but the guy coached one of the lesser AFL clubs and made it two straight prelims and three finals series. More than most of us (indeed more than most AFL coaches) will will ever achieve in football. He's right: We DID play the season with too many veterans. The senior players DIDN'T lead by example with applying tackling pressure in the finals. All valid points he makes. If this came from one of our own, we'd nod and agree.

    People have already contrasted the way Malthouse left out established players who weren't performing. We need to be THAT ruthless to take the next step. That means casting a critical eye over the club and players. And if we don't do it, outsiders like Thomas will. Instead we got Eade sounding not too disappointed.

    BTW Stefcep, I am happy to hear your opinions on anything Western Bulldogs, but I am not interested in hearing others criticised because they may not share those opinions.
    I didn't criticise anyone in particular. Just a point about a culture in many of our supporters-and even the club-that we dismiss outside criticism(and making the hard call)-even when its accurate.

  5. #50
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    Re: Grant Thomas has one last dig

    Wow, hammered the “Multipost” button…

    Quote Originally Posted by HairyMidget View Post
    Getting a bit sick of this.

    Since round 10 (Akers last game for the Dogs) to when the "Flu" hit in round 19:
    Lost 2 games by an average of 6 pts
    Won 6 games by an average of 63 pts.
    "Compounded" my arse!
    It was the "Flu" that "Compounded" us.
    Round 11: Collingwood
    Round 12: Brisbane
    Round 13: West Coast (though this one, on a personal note for me, was pretty sweet )
    Round 14: Hawthorn
    Round 15: Carlton
    Round 16: Port Adelaide
    Round 17: Fremantle
    Round 18: North Melbourne
    Round 19: Adelaide

    From those games, we lost to Collingwood and Hawthorn — the Hawks game we were just unlucky, I'll concede. But the only games I'd be happy about in terms of the team progress were the Fremantle game where we showed some pride in the club, and the Adelaide game when we fought it out sick. The rest were against the cellar-dwellers of 2010. Nothing to brag about, really. None of those games improved our perception as finals contenders.

    Quote Originally Posted by 2PotScreamer View Post
    I have read many posts in this forum where people have said words along the line of 'attack the ball and not the man'. Dismissing Thomas as irrelevant or having a grudge is in my opinion missing the point.
    Ok, the Ward and Roughead comments are wide of the mark, but its hard not to agree with some of his criticisms of us. Too many on here are quick to defend us with an almost blind faith. I hate Grant Thomas as much as anyone because he has had a penchant for taking pot shots at our club over the last few years, but... he has got some valid points.
    I too was unhappy with Eade's upbeat manner in the post match presser. Ross Lyon gave his team an absolute serve at their B&F last year after they lost the GF. We are too nice as a club and our MC (as most would agree on other threads) have shirked taking the hard decisions time and time again... If Josh Fraser played for us, he'd be up to 210 games...
    Ghost Dog, although I agree a current team can not be responsible for the history of a club's under performance, it can however adopt an entrenched culture and carry on a cycle of behaviors and expectations, which I believe is what we have done over a long time. The entrenched culture within our club is that we become overly enamored and centered on individuals/personalities rather than the team; we are not harsh enough critics of our own performances; The club is predisposed to take the positive/encouraging line than take a clinical/critical approach. I believe it is these entrenched cultural characteristics that have stunted our ability to truly realise our potential as a club.
    I agree 100%. Those who don't learn from history, see it repeated. I don't agree with taking history across that white line come game day, but if the club doesn't pull itself out of that culture we'll never see the light of day, no matter how well we do off-field. Never. Not in a hundred years. It doesn't matter how much we improve on where we were, we need to improve on where the other 15 (and soon 16 and 17) teams are, and be better than them in everything we do.

    The motto at the Dogs needs to be: You are here to win. You are here for the team. If you can't hack that, leave.

    That said, I do believe the Dogs are getting there, and are on the road to fixing this issue. Unfortunately the best way to fix any corporate culture is led from the top, and perhaps the top guys are just too ingrained to push much harder. Perhaps some new board leadership is needed (I'm talking about a gradual turnover, not an outing of the board) to drive that improvement even further?

    The way we dealt with Akermanis, although criticised by external parties, does show that improvement in culture and I take it as a good sign and will retain the faith we're making progress in this area.

    Quote Originally Posted by Bulldog4life View Post
    And his Club has! One premiership at the time of his writing...yes just like the Bulldogs.
    Before we get all cocky and dig at the Saints for only having one premiership same as us, stop for a minute and compare these two teams. The Saints are at the same level, perhaps even better across the team in general, as last year. They certainly haven't fallen away.

    Now compare last Saturday night to 2009's prelim. Yeah — we've dropped away. No other way to look at it. If it's injuries, fine, but we can't see a drop in results as acceptable if we want to be successful.

    Quote Originally Posted by Bulldog4life View Post
    You can dress it up any way you like. When it comes to the ultimate prize St.Kilda and the Western Bulldogs are neck & neck.
    No, we're not. They're playing for the ultimate prize tomorrow, as they did last year. We haven't since ’61.

    Quote Originally Posted by Stefcep View Post
    So what? LAst season we scored more than anyone, we had a spread of goal kickers, and some semblance of system going in to the forward 50. Now we ignore our forwards and just bomb to Barry. The balance is out of kilter: I'd rather Barry kick 50 with the other forwards getting their 2.5 goals per game with the midfielders looking to hit them on the chest like we did 1-2 years ago.

    BTW Grant is more or less on the money. I'm sick of us being too precious as supporters to take the cold hard truth.
    Hear, Hear! 100% on the money!

    We need to strike that balance between faith and support. Have faith they'll get better, support your team, but make damned sure you keep the bastards honest and let them know we expect our faith to be repaid.

    If you give your faith away for nothing, what does that say about you?

  6. #51
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    Re: Grant Thomas has one last dig

    Quote Originally Posted by BornAScragger View Post

    If you give your faith away for nothing, what does that say about you?
    You're Christian?



    Jokes aside, good post.
    Our 1954 premiership players are our heroes, and it has to be said that Charlie was their hero.

  7. #52
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    Re: Grant Thomas has one last dig

    Quote Originally Posted by comrade View Post
    You're Christian?



    Jokes aside, good post.
    Hahahaha.

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