Western Bulldogs V Essendon - Pre-Season 15/2/25 Whitten Oval 2.00pm

[Grantysghost]

What is your knock on Davidson? I thought he was great today.

Interesting I wasn't inspired DR.

I think he is very slow hand to foot and will get caught a lot at AFL level unless he speeds it up.

Don't think he's going to be a feature at AFL level from what I've seen today

But. It's just one game in shit weather.

[Eastdog]

A few photos I took today from the Whitten Oval:

Drove in and parked on Rupert Street in West Footscray and went for a bit of a walk.

https://postimg.cc/gallery/wMVktyZ

[GVGjr]

Had the hospitality offering today, lot left to be desired in terms of food. Really not worth the value, even though we had a nice day out.

Watched a half of the VFL. Brew ain't it - it's Crossley by mile IMO.

Hynes showed some good signs. Clever, calm, skilled - bit to work with here. Dolan showed enough too, very clean below his knees, quick decision making and hit targets. I expect nothing from them at senior level in 2025 but it's obvious they can play.

From the main game I thought Lobb was very good, it's astounding how well he's developed as a key back. Freijah BOG for mine - class above. Richards had some moments, Crossley was strong in the ruck contest but nothing around the ground, and we learn nothing new about the likes of Khamis, Cleary, etc.

No injuries which is about all that matters.

That was by far the worst catered function I've ever attended by the club. Lucky there was some decent guests in Darcy, Johnson and Wood.
They would have done better and just brought out some party pies and scones at half time.

[whythelongface]

What is your knock on Davidson? I thought he was great today.

I thought he was ok as well. Given we just drafted him seems a bit strange to question ‘why is he still on the list?’

didn’t think Poulter was too bad either.

[Grantysghost]

Tongue in cheek

[Grantysghost]

That was by far the worst catered function I've ever attended by the club. Lucky there was some decent guests in Darcy, Johnson and Wood.
They would have done better and just brought out some party pies and scones at half time.

Oh wow.

What did they dish up?

[ibonttobreakfree]

I was behind the dugouts for a while. Bevo was coaching from the sideline. Often wasn't watching the game, was spending time with players giving feedback/instructions. Wonder if he'll stay down there or go upstairs for AFL matches.

[Bornadog]

I guess firstly it was Feb and there was a chunk of talent missing.

Crossley - he gets the spot ahead of Brew. He at least has some AFL traits, he's a solid tap ruckman and certainly knows how to protect the drop. Brew, really I've seen nothing to inspire me.

Hard and fast critique of the fringe guys today :

Poulter : why is he still on the list?
McNeil : thankfully rested after half time, let's wrap him in cotton wool like the Bont.
Baker : i actually like him, why doesn't he play more?
Davidson : see Poulter.
Garcia : I really want him to be good. But....he isn't.
Sanders : Lets pretend that game didn't happen and remember how good he is against the Bulldogs.
Croft : Like. There's something there.
Hynes : Move over Lachie we've got a new man crush !
Brew : see Davidson but like, why is he even at training?
A.Jones : Kicked a nice goal, he teases but I don't know if I'm getting excited.
Busslinger : Not sure if he's an interceptor or a body to body type. Needs more time. Showed some ok things.
Gardner : Sign Crossley already.
Gallagher : See Brew.
Harmes : He looks fitter, was on a wing at times. Maybe there's something there from him this season. But....it's Harmes he's not going to be doing anything too amazing.
LVDM : You;ve changed your hair but we can still tell it's you. He was ok, he does work hard off the ball. I like him.

The others :

Freijah : time slows down for this guy what a star.
Lobb : man, he is actually good down back. For realsie.
Naughton : bring back the headband ffs. He looked off the pace as expected. Not sure why he tried to dodge 80 Essendon players, I'd demote him to the five players not in the leadership group for that.
English : Sign Crossley already. He really seemed like he was somewhere else this afternoon. But he's not had much training of late.
Richards : Solid, Ed's great.
M.Kennedy : Solid, but hard to tell in a half. Looks a good pick up.
Weightman : Nothing game, may have been injured.
JOD and Buku : Fighting it out for the, ah, crap ok we have to pick one of these guys spot.
Williams : Solid, he is one winger locked in.


Shit conditions. Not getting too downcast although i've just been researching the correct microwave setting for small plastic cards.

BTW Caddy is a freak, they've got a ripper there.

I had a good laugh with this, thanks GG.

[Grantysghost]

I was behind the dugouts for a while. Bevo was coaching from the sideline. Often wasn't watching the game, was spending time with players giving feedback/instructions. Wonder if he'll stay down there or go upstairs for AFL matches.

He was there for the VFL game too.

[Eastdog]

That was by far the worst catered function I've ever attended by the club. Lucky there was some decent guests in Darcy, Johnson and Wood.
They would have done better and just brought out some party pies and scones at half time.

I just got myself a hot chips and drink from Alfa Bakehouse at the Whitten Oval lobby.

[GVGjr]

Oh wow.

What did they dish up?

The best food was the packs of Mission chips. Very sparse food offering otherwise.
A couple of people I know then headed to the first floor and had a better feast

[Countrydog5]

Watched from the fence on the Hawkins wing, so up close and personal but not in a great position to see full ground structure. Thoughts were it was just a scratch match, poor conditions, players happy to just get a kick and hit a body that wasn't a team mates. Not sure I'm taking anything from it positive or negative.

A few notes from my position, and not doubling up on previous posts:
- Feijah best on. Had a magnet on him today with a few balls falling in his lap, but he's composed and strong in the contest.
- Richards was great as well, will have another strong season.
- Lobb solid down back.
- Crossley impressive in his ruck craft, giving our mids first use and protecting the drop. Get him fit and he'll be a perfect backup to Tim.
- M. Kennedy tackled strongly.
- Was impressed with Busslinger when he came on, didn't lose a contest and disposed of it pretty cleanly. I think he'll be ok.
- Darcy is gonna have 80 shots on goal this year, I just hope 3/4 of them make it through the big sticks.

Everyone else not mentioned will just be better for the run. Happy to answer ny other questions regarding specific players.

Felt pretty ironic that the boys had been training in 35 degree dry weather for months, just to have it pi55 rain and blow a gale first proper match. The magic of whitten oval

[Geejay]

Well, we are definitely taking crossley over brew.3 weeks before our first game and we run the guy for 4qtrs from the middle.somebody has finally realised English just doesn’t have 100% commitment and aggression required to inspire the team around him at centre bounces and boundary throw ins.we had to change something , been happening for a few seasons and it is really not improving.English can be great around the ground and dangerous when forward , always going to be in the side..Now crossleys performance today wasn’t really inspiring..Doesn’t get off the ground and tap outs lacked direction but he contests fiercely a bit like Ben Hudson did for us.should have had him training with us before Christmas.a big oversight from someone.Today again highlighted we cannot run Darcy too much on the ball, he is just so dangerous when deep in the forward line.

[soupman]

Missed the game, any thoughts on the following:

-Did McNeil add to an impressive pre-season?
-Gallagher in defence. Any good signs?
-Arthur Jones on the wing, did it help his case or largely unsighted?
-Did Sanders, Garcia, Kennedy spend much time forward where they will be playing once our midfield returns?

[GVGjr]

Missed the game, any thoughts on the following:

-Did McNeil add to an impressive pre-season?
-Gallagher in defence. Any good signs?
-Arthur Jones on the wing, did it help his case or largely unsighted?
-Did Sanders, Garcia, Kennedy spend much time forward where they will be playing once our midfield returns?

McNeil didn't do a lot. Disappointing based on his preseason form.
Gallagher put in a solid effort. Adds to our back line mix.
Jones caught the eye a few times but not on a wing that much and got the footy a few times up forward.
Sanders, Garcia and M.Kennedy all mainly midfield. It's not really clear to me how we can use them when they're not in the middle.

[Scott2016]

Mcniel only plays well when the opposition are his team mates.

[BiteNibbleChomp]

I'm not even going to try to analyse the games - too many players coming in and out for me to keep track of (and I'm a pretty lazy footy analyst at the best of times - look at the stats and hope the numbers are big haha). The AFL one was ugly with a lot of players screwing stuff up, although the conditions no doubt played a big part in that. I managed to get a dry spot at the back of the new stand, and personally didn't mind it being quite cold (rare opinion I'm sure, but I'll take 12C over 32C any day).

One thing I did notice is that we left a lot of our best players either out entirely, or had them barely play after quarter time or so, so we really began fielding our B team and by the end of the day had progressed a few more letters down the alphabet. I don't know enough about Essendon's list to fairly compare the two, but if our B, C, D or E team is only losing to a proper AFL side by three goals or so, surely there's something encouraging to be taken from that?

VFL game was a fun watch at least, winning probably helped a lot there

- BNC