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Western Bulldogs season preview - Me? I Like Football
I thought you'd want to check out our new site's 2015 season preview for the Doggies.
Genuinely after the thoughts of Bulldog fans and interested in feedback, as well as what the realistic aims for the season from you guys are. After the rather tumultuous off-season, you must be looking forward to the season starting!
I've posted the whole thing here, sans images, and thanks to GVGjr for giving me the okay to post this here. I wrote this preview and want to respectively engage - if you want to see the preview on the site in all its glory you can to so by clicking here.
2015 season preview: Western Bulldogs
By Brett Collett
LAST CAMPAIGN
In 2013 the Western Bulldogs won eight games and were showing signs of growth under second-year coach Brendan McCartney. A young group, anchored by a handful of hardened veterans, looked ready to take the next step; expectations for 2014 were calibrated more towards challenging for a finals spot than a finish near the bottom of the ladder.
But no team hitting the halfway mark of the season with a 3-8 record can expect to make the finals, especially when those wins were over a then-lacklustre Richmond, the Giants and Melbourne. That round three victory over the Tigers would be the Dogs’ only one over a finalist in 2014.
And the slight improvement in winning four games in the second half of the season couldn’t shake the feeling that, with only seven victories, there was a regression on 2013’s efforts. That feeling was hammered home with only one win from their last six games, including a round 23 loss to Greater Western Sydney at Docklands which left a sour taste in the mouths of the faithful.
Diamonds in the rough were apparent for those keeping watch, with Tom Liberatore becoming one of the competition’s best inside midfielders, rookie Marcus Bontempelli unlucky not to win the Rising Star award and Jack Macrae blossoming into a damaging and influential ball-winner.
There was one piece of silver that found its way back to Whitten Oval last year: Footscray won the VFL premiership in its first season as a stand-alone team.
I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER
Essendon aside, there wasn’t an AFL club that suffered a more traumatic off-season than the Western Bulldogs. An argument could even be made that at least most of Essendon’s existing infrastructure survived the summer, which is certainly not the case at Whitten Oval.
There’s a new coach, a new captain, a new vice-captain and a continuing search for a new CEO. There’s a shiny new key forward and, heck, they’ve even got a new logo.
While there appeared to be minor discontent at first, no one realised just how deep the internal troubles ran. Star midfielder and first-year captain Ryan Griffen returned from his holiday unhappy with life as both a leader and a Bulldog, and publicly declared that he wanted out via a trade to Greater Western Sydney. After initially playing hardball, the Bulldogs caved in more than one way; first they sacked coach McCartney in the middle of trade week to stem the tide of internal discontent, and then ended up trading Griffen to the Giants anyway.
Their return on Griffen was Tom Boyd, the promising tall forward who the Giants picked with the first selection in the 2013 national draft. And while the Dogs had to package Griffen with pick 6 in the draft to land Boyd, it at least gave the Doggies faithful a silver lining to losing their reluctant skipper.
After hiring Luke Beveridge as the new senior coach, CEO and former Dogs player Simon Garlick left his role in what appeared to be less than mutual circumstances.
Griffen wasn’t the only significant on-field departure from the kennel, as Brownlow medallist Adam Cooney engineered a trade to Essendon, the oft-injured but talented Shaun Higgins left for North Melbourne under free agency, and the frustrating tall forward Liam Jones was traded to Carlton, which is where skilled speedster Jason Tutt also ended up. Grey-haired forward Daniel Giansiracusa retired to take up a coaching position at the club, while it was also the end of the road for unlucky tall Tom Williams and Christian Howard.
The Bulldogs defence has more options after landing Shane Biggs from Sydney in a trade and Joel Hamling from Geelong as a delisted free agent. Midfielder Lin Jong earned himself elevation from the club’s rookie list, as did tall forward Jack Redpath, who will probably have first dibs as Boyd’s forward partner after an impressive set of pre-season performances.
With their first round pick in western Sydney, the Bulldogs had to wait until the second round for their initial picks, where they invested in flanker Toby McLean and midfielder Lukas Webb. But it is perhaps the 168cm midfielder Caleb Daniel who, while picked at number 46, will be most likely to debut early this season.
THE CHALLENGE
The big challenge for the Bulldogs will be rebuilding a sense of meaningful direction following the off-season purges. The club seems to have embraced a theme of renewal, and new captain Bob Murphy is the right choice to sell hope to fans – a role he should have been given 12 months ago.
Wins aside, the best way the Doggies can keep the light on the hill aflame is by re-signing new vice-captain Jordan Roughead, second-generation Bulldog Mitch Wallis, Luke Dahlhaus and veteran defender Dale Morris.
THE COACH
After the off-field meltdown at Whitten Oval saw Brendan McCartney lose his job three years into the post-Rodney Eade rebuilding project, Luke Beveridge took over the top job fresh off back-to-back premierships at Hawthorn, where he was responsible for the defensive unit.
Despite being a former Bulldog (31 games in the mid ’90s before stints at Melbourne and St Kilda), Beveridge doesn’t feel like a choice of sentimentality and familiarity over substance; he beat out McCartney’s senior assistant and another former Dog Brett Montgomery for the position (Montgomery chose to stay on as Beveridge’s number two). Beveridge never won a premiership as a player, but he has had no issue guiding teams to glory from the coaches box. In addition to his latest success at Hawthorn, Beveridge’s three seasons as coach at St Bede’s in the VAFA saw him win three flags and he was an assistant when Collingwood won their 2010 premiership.
His overall record? Eight seasons, six premierships, one grand final loss and one preliminary final loss. That bodes well for the Doggies, but then again, if premiership success as an assistant coach was a true indicator of senior success, Brendan McCartney would still be at the helm.
There’s not much chance of the Bulldogs adding to that impressive tally in the immediate term, but Beveridge does have the opportunity to mould a group of talented youngsters, particularly the lively midfield group. While McCartney focused on winning the inside contests, there was a lack of certainty of what to do with the ball once it had been won. If Beveridge can formulate a game plan that promotes surer and cleaner ball usage, that will go a long way to developing both the midfield and forward young pups into a force in a few years’ time.
THE STAR
This should be where I wax lyrical about Tom Liberatore, but he will miss the entire season after rupturing his ACL during the Bulldogs’ NAB Challenge win over Richmond at Whitten Oval last month.
Instead it will be an old hand in Matthew Boyd who will be relied upon to provide the inside muscle and feed the likes of Jack Macrae, Marcus Bontempelli and Jake Stringer in midfield.
The former skipper was reported to have considered finishing up at the end of last season, but decided on another campaign. With Liberatore’s injury and the experience drain the club experienced in the off-season, the club and its fans must be thankful that Boyd decided to stick around.
Boyd is just 11 games shy of 250, and before Liberatore’s injury, was slated for a role rotating between half back and the midfield – similar to what Sam Mitchell has done to great effect at Hawthorn over the past two seasons. But with an average of 26 touches a game last season, and with the club’s premier midfielder out of commission, it’s going to be difficult to keep Boyd out of the middle when it counts most.
ONE TO WATCH
If the Rising Star was based on who showed the most talent rather than on who played best over the course of 2014, first-year Bulldog Marcus Bontempelli would have won in a canter.
His numbers – averaging nearly a goal and 16 disposals a game in 16 appearances – don’t tell the story as much as the visuals. A 192cm tough and skillful kid who never shied away from the big moment, as his scramble and snap to see off Melbourne in the final minutes attests.
How ‘The Bont’ develops will be fascinating. He could, like James Hird, Luke Hodge and Nat Fyfe before him, be unleashed at any part of the ground as the game situation dictates. Or he could, like Fremantle’s David Mundy, be a forceful big-bodied midfielder continually driving his team forward with equal amounts fervour and silk.
Whatever he becomes, he has committed to become it at the Bulldogs. Bontempelli was given a two-year extension early last year and is locked down until the end of 2017.
IN THE GUN
It’s unfair that a 19-year-old who has not yet played a game for the club can be considered “in the gun”, but the pressure on new recruit Tom Boyd will be great, and how he deals with that could shape how he develops as the Bulldogs’ forward focus in the years to come.
There’s no doubt that the investment in Boyd by the Dogs is a large one: Ryan Griffen and pick 6 to get him, and a seven-year deal worth upwards of $6 million to lock him down for the foreseeable future.
With eight goals in nine games, this is a contract that pays for potential over performance more than any other deal we’ve seen in the AFL before. But what else was a besieged Western Bulldogs meant to do? How could a club that has been on the search for a legitimate key forward since Chris Grant hung up the boots say no to this opportunity?
They couldn’t, and that should not be Boyd’s burden. Let’s hope he doesn’t let it be.
BEST 22
B: Robert Murphy – Jordan Roughead – Dale Morris
HB: Easton Wood – Michael Talia – Shane Biggs
C: Jason Johannisen – Matthew Boyd – Jake Stringer
HF: Marcus Bontempelli – Tom Boyd – Luke Dahlhaus
F: Stewart Crameri – Jack Redpath – Tory Dickson
FOLL: Will Minson – Mitch Wallis – Jack Macrae
INT: Ayce Cordy – Nathan Hrovat – Clay Smith – Liam PickenNote: Tom Liberatore not considered due to season-ending knee injury
THE VERDICT
This will sadly be another one of those years for the sons of the ‘Scray, where how players develop and work to a coach’s game plan will be more important than wins.
One gets the feeling that with the young talent on the books, particularly in midfield, there will be a season coming up where it just clicks and the Doggies slingshot up the ladder and into September action. But that won’t be this year.
After losing so much experience over summer, if the club can match the seven wins from last season, it would be a good result. Being competitive against good teams and not fading out towards the end of the season should be the main KPIs Luke Beveridge and his charges are judged on.
OUR PREDICTIONWe have the Bulldogs finishing second-to-last, in 17th.
Genuinely after the thoughts of Bulldog fans and interested in feedback, as well as what the realistic aims for the season from you guys are. After the rather tumultuous off-season, you must be looking forward to the season starting!
I've posted the whole thing here, sans images, and thanks to GVGjr for giving me the okay to post this here. I wrote this preview and want to respectively engage - if you want to see the preview on the site in all its glory you can to so by clicking here.
2015 season preview: Western Bulldogs
By Brett Collett
LAST CAMPAIGN
In 2013 the Western Bulldogs won eight games and were showing signs of growth under second-year coach Brendan McCartney. A young group, anchored by a handful of hardened veterans, looked ready to take the next step; expectations for 2014 were calibrated more towards challenging for a finals spot than a finish near the bottom of the ladder.
But no team hitting the halfway mark of the season with a 3-8 record can expect to make the finals, especially when those wins were over a then-lacklustre Richmond, the Giants and Melbourne. That round three victory over the Tigers would be the Dogs’ only one over a finalist in 2014.
And the slight improvement in winning four games in the second half of the season couldn’t shake the feeling that, with only seven victories, there was a regression on 2013’s efforts. That feeling was hammered home with only one win from their last six games, including a round 23 loss to Greater Western Sydney at Docklands which left a sour taste in the mouths of the faithful.
Diamonds in the rough were apparent for those keeping watch, with Tom Liberatore becoming one of the competition’s best inside midfielders, rookie Marcus Bontempelli unlucky not to win the Rising Star award and Jack Macrae blossoming into a damaging and influential ball-winner.
There was one piece of silver that found its way back to Whitten Oval last year: Footscray won the VFL premiership in its first season as a stand-alone team.
I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER
Essendon aside, there wasn’t an AFL club that suffered a more traumatic off-season than the Western Bulldogs. An argument could even be made that at least most of Essendon’s existing infrastructure survived the summer, which is certainly not the case at Whitten Oval.
There’s a new coach, a new captain, a new vice-captain and a continuing search for a new CEO. There’s a shiny new key forward and, heck, they’ve even got a new logo.
While there appeared to be minor discontent at first, no one realised just how deep the internal troubles ran. Star midfielder and first-year captain Ryan Griffen returned from his holiday unhappy with life as both a leader and a Bulldog, and publicly declared that he wanted out via a trade to Greater Western Sydney. After initially playing hardball, the Bulldogs caved in more than one way; first they sacked coach McCartney in the middle of trade week to stem the tide of internal discontent, and then ended up trading Griffen to the Giants anyway.
Their return on Griffen was Tom Boyd, the promising tall forward who the Giants picked with the first selection in the 2013 national draft. And while the Dogs had to package Griffen with pick 6 in the draft to land Boyd, it at least gave the Doggies faithful a silver lining to losing their reluctant skipper.
After hiring Luke Beveridge as the new senior coach, CEO and former Dogs player Simon Garlick left his role in what appeared to be less than mutual circumstances.
Griffen wasn’t the only significant on-field departure from the kennel, as Brownlow medallist Adam Cooney engineered a trade to Essendon, the oft-injured but talented Shaun Higgins left for North Melbourne under free agency, and the frustrating tall forward Liam Jones was traded to Carlton, which is where skilled speedster Jason Tutt also ended up. Grey-haired forward Daniel Giansiracusa retired to take up a coaching position at the club, while it was also the end of the road for unlucky tall Tom Williams and Christian Howard.
The Bulldogs defence has more options after landing Shane Biggs from Sydney in a trade and Joel Hamling from Geelong as a delisted free agent. Midfielder Lin Jong earned himself elevation from the club’s rookie list, as did tall forward Jack Redpath, who will probably have first dibs as Boyd’s forward partner after an impressive set of pre-season performances.
With their first round pick in western Sydney, the Bulldogs had to wait until the second round for their initial picks, where they invested in flanker Toby McLean and midfielder Lukas Webb. But it is perhaps the 168cm midfielder Caleb Daniel who, while picked at number 46, will be most likely to debut early this season.
THE CHALLENGE
The big challenge for the Bulldogs will be rebuilding a sense of meaningful direction following the off-season purges. The club seems to have embraced a theme of renewal, and new captain Bob Murphy is the right choice to sell hope to fans – a role he should have been given 12 months ago.
Wins aside, the best way the Doggies can keep the light on the hill aflame is by re-signing new vice-captain Jordan Roughead, second-generation Bulldog Mitch Wallis, Luke Dahlhaus and veteran defender Dale Morris.
THE COACH
After the off-field meltdown at Whitten Oval saw Brendan McCartney lose his job three years into the post-Rodney Eade rebuilding project, Luke Beveridge took over the top job fresh off back-to-back premierships at Hawthorn, where he was responsible for the defensive unit.
Despite being a former Bulldog (31 games in the mid ’90s before stints at Melbourne and St Kilda), Beveridge doesn’t feel like a choice of sentimentality and familiarity over substance; he beat out McCartney’s senior assistant and another former Dog Brett Montgomery for the position (Montgomery chose to stay on as Beveridge’s number two). Beveridge never won a premiership as a player, but he has had no issue guiding teams to glory from the coaches box. In addition to his latest success at Hawthorn, Beveridge’s three seasons as coach at St Bede’s in the VAFA saw him win three flags and he was an assistant when Collingwood won their 2010 premiership.
His overall record? Eight seasons, six premierships, one grand final loss and one preliminary final loss. That bodes well for the Doggies, but then again, if premiership success as an assistant coach was a true indicator of senior success, Brendan McCartney would still be at the helm.
There’s not much chance of the Bulldogs adding to that impressive tally in the immediate term, but Beveridge does have the opportunity to mould a group of talented youngsters, particularly the lively midfield group. While McCartney focused on winning the inside contests, there was a lack of certainty of what to do with the ball once it had been won. If Beveridge can formulate a game plan that promotes surer and cleaner ball usage, that will go a long way to developing both the midfield and forward young pups into a force in a few years’ time.
THE STAR
This should be where I wax lyrical about Tom Liberatore, but he will miss the entire season after rupturing his ACL during the Bulldogs’ NAB Challenge win over Richmond at Whitten Oval last month.
Instead it will be an old hand in Matthew Boyd who will be relied upon to provide the inside muscle and feed the likes of Jack Macrae, Marcus Bontempelli and Jake Stringer in midfield.
The former skipper was reported to have considered finishing up at the end of last season, but decided on another campaign. With Liberatore’s injury and the experience drain the club experienced in the off-season, the club and its fans must be thankful that Boyd decided to stick around.
Boyd is just 11 games shy of 250, and before Liberatore’s injury, was slated for a role rotating between half back and the midfield – similar to what Sam Mitchell has done to great effect at Hawthorn over the past two seasons. But with an average of 26 touches a game last season, and with the club’s premier midfielder out of commission, it’s going to be difficult to keep Boyd out of the middle when it counts most.
ONE TO WATCH
If the Rising Star was based on who showed the most talent rather than on who played best over the course of 2014, first-year Bulldog Marcus Bontempelli would have won in a canter.
His numbers – averaging nearly a goal and 16 disposals a game in 16 appearances – don’t tell the story as much as the visuals. A 192cm tough and skillful kid who never shied away from the big moment, as his scramble and snap to see off Melbourne in the final minutes attests.
How ‘The Bont’ develops will be fascinating. He could, like James Hird, Luke Hodge and Nat Fyfe before him, be unleashed at any part of the ground as the game situation dictates. Or he could, like Fremantle’s David Mundy, be a forceful big-bodied midfielder continually driving his team forward with equal amounts fervour and silk.
Whatever he becomes, he has committed to become it at the Bulldogs. Bontempelli was given a two-year extension early last year and is locked down until the end of 2017.
IN THE GUN
It’s unfair that a 19-year-old who has not yet played a game for the club can be considered “in the gun”, but the pressure on new recruit Tom Boyd will be great, and how he deals with that could shape how he develops as the Bulldogs’ forward focus in the years to come.
There’s no doubt that the investment in Boyd by the Dogs is a large one: Ryan Griffen and pick 6 to get him, and a seven-year deal worth upwards of $6 million to lock him down for the foreseeable future.
With eight goals in nine games, this is a contract that pays for potential over performance more than any other deal we’ve seen in the AFL before. But what else was a besieged Western Bulldogs meant to do? How could a club that has been on the search for a legitimate key forward since Chris Grant hung up the boots say no to this opportunity?
They couldn’t, and that should not be Boyd’s burden. Let’s hope he doesn’t let it be.
BEST 22
B: Robert Murphy – Jordan Roughead – Dale Morris
HB: Easton Wood – Michael Talia – Shane Biggs
C: Jason Johannisen – Matthew Boyd – Jake Stringer
HF: Marcus Bontempelli – Tom Boyd – Luke Dahlhaus
F: Stewart Crameri – Jack Redpath – Tory Dickson
FOLL: Will Minson – Mitch Wallis – Jack Macrae
INT: Ayce Cordy – Nathan Hrovat – Clay Smith – Liam PickenNote: Tom Liberatore not considered due to season-ending knee injury
THE VERDICT
This will sadly be another one of those years for the sons of the ‘Scray, where how players develop and work to a coach’s game plan will be more important than wins.
One gets the feeling that with the young talent on the books, particularly in midfield, there will be a season coming up where it just clicks and the Doggies slingshot up the ladder and into September action. But that won’t be this year.
After losing so much experience over summer, if the club can match the seven wins from last season, it would be a good result. Being competitive against good teams and not fading out towards the end of the season should be the main KPIs Luke Beveridge and his charges are judged on.
OUR PREDICTIONWe have the Bulldogs finishing second-to-last, in 17th.
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