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

[Rusty12]

I thought Crossley was horrible.
He will need at least 6 months in an AFL system to get to below average and 12 months to average.
He had one or two decent hit outs, and apart from that, was a complete liability.
Love to know, what did others see to say he was good.

[Brody23]

Still hearing it’s Crossley, it’s effectively up to him to commit. If he wants the spot it’s his.
It’s very rare AFL is played in weather like that, I’ll save my full judgement for later.
I’m still concerned by our overuse by hands especially when we have Aerial power ahead of the footy, but as I said I’ll save full judgement for later.

[Stevo]

I have to hand it to Essendon because they looked pretty good especially up forward.
It wasn't a good game for us and a few players shat the bed in their first test.

I liked what saw from Davidson and Darcy could have ripped the game apart had he kicked straight.
Hynes looked okay, Gallagher had some solid moments.
Richards looked classy.
Garcia got a bit of the footy but his kicking lacked depth and from memory he even fluffed his first clean possession.
Sanders couldn't get into it.
The back line was disorganised. Busslinger was okay but he didn't show enough. Khamis missed too many spots
Gardner had a mare of a game in what I was told was his first game in defense.
McNeil and Vandermmer missed. I'm really unsure how Matt Kennedy performed.

And by the way, what is going on with the head bands? Wake up boys and do better

[Mofra]

Cench Footy have posted some stats from the game:

Freijah 29 touches and 6 marks
Sanders 28 touches, 2 tackles
Davidson 12 touches, 6 marks, 5 tackles (which matches the eyes - he covers the ground well and gets back)
Brew had 13 touches, 3 tackles and 3 inside 50s in a half
Busslinger had 10 touches, 5 tackles and 5 inside 50s in a half
Ed Richards had 17 touches, 2 tackles and a goal in the first half

[Go_Dogs]

Only caught the first half but liked enough of what I saw from Richards, Fridge, Darcy, Lobb.

Crossley is a long way off being able to contribute meaningfully at AFL level as he operates in a 5-8m bubble of influence at the moment (which he does ok) but the game requires more. There’s enough to persist with if we think he can develop the fitness to do more outside of that bubble but if he can’t or won’t commit to doing everything then we should pass.

[Jeanette54]

Sadly, I saw nobody new anywhere near good enough to justify a position on the list ahead of Caleb Daniel or Jack Macrae. Tell me I am wrong.

[kruder]

My biggest concern after yesterday is that Naughty,Cody and English looked well off the pace and no one really put their hand up to replace Treloar/Jones.

Do we lack class? Freijiah when he holds onto the ball stands out like a beacon of hope, we seem to have few players who can open up the game with an inside kick/speed to break from a stoppage.

[whythelongface]

Sadly, I saw nobody new anywhere near good enough to justify a position on the list ahead of Caleb Daniel or Jack Macrae. Tell me I am wrong.

One game is a small sample size. M Kennedy showed some promising signs - can lay tackles and took a few marks. Sure not as prolific as Jack was in terms of possessions but it is hard to gauge an impact of a player after one half of footy in pretty ordinary conditions. Hynes looks good from the younger brigade. Not sure what the expectations were.

[Scorlibo]

Agree with the majority here - was a bit of a nothing game, clearly just running through the paces. That said, these games always mean more to the young players or those on the fringes and it was good to get a first glimpse of the draftees. Freijah is going to be a good player for us as soon as this year. Luke Kennedy had one or two dodgy moments but put that down to nerves and he looks like he will be good in the contest. Dolan got involved. Davidson was quite impressive, moves well, wouldn't be surprised to see him in the Round 1 team. Hynes didn't have a lot of it but he catches the eye, he'll have a fair bit of power and aggressive forward movement in his game.

[whythelongface]

I thought Crossley was horrible.
He will need at least 6 months in an AFL system to get to below average and 12 months to average.
He had one or two decent hit outs, and apart from that, was a complete liability.
Love to know, what did others see to say he was good.

No doubt he is poor around the ground but his ruck craft is ok - he had a lot more than one or two decent hit outs - there were a number of occasions he used his body to advantage to enable a tap direct to one of our mids and when he didn't get a clear tap out at least he was able to negate the hit out to advantage from the opposition (in most instances). His fitness is a concern and also his general play around the ground - definitely not a player that Bevo would normally consider but given the need for a back up think he is a genuine chance to be placed on our list. Who knows how much he will improve under the guidance of Lade. Doesn't really hurt having him on the list to see what he can offer - not costing us much and we have the list spot available. What is the other option? Leave the list spot free (to me this doesn't make sense).

[Jackodog]

The other option is Brew..

[doggies ftw]

I think as average as Crossley is, and he’s VFL standard at best, the club is starting to realise how important a genuine ruckman is and English isn’t a ruckmans asshole.

[mighty_west]

Not overally fussed with the result, we did have a VFL teams with maybe 2 or 3 1sts players for the second half, to me it was more about the players getting through their first real hit out and as long as we didn't cop too many injuries, but was also good to see how the younger boys would go with the run.

Freijah was my BOG with Richards not far behind, Lobb the general down back and so important for the first have of the season with Liam having to miss a large chunk, he was excellent and along with Ed, two really inspired positional changes made last year, both will be better this year with a full pre-season in those positions under their belts.

Thought Busslinger looked ok and will probably be criticized for this but i reckon there is a bit of Weitering in him, and i think i'm trusting him over Buku now as next in, Khamis is a bit of a worry especially one on one, Sanders was certaintly busy and got a lot of it and i think with us missing Bont, Ads and Libba didn't help his cause as all, seemed to be jumped on as soon as he got it, will be a bit more judgmental next week v Hawks.

Didn't mind Gags in the backline and thought he played his best in that position yesterday, anywhere else and becomes a bit of a liability, Baker is a funny one, always seems to be able to find the ball and thought he played ok but to me is still a depth player who can play a role if needed, Buku, probably would have been better off finding another club.

McNeil is the new Wayde Skipper / Cam Wight, look like beasts in the pre-season and show so much promise but come round one, turning back from the Hulk to Bruce Banner, needs to do more offensively, Arty always looks lively but just needs to do more and like Garcia, skills can get messy, poor Gardy had a howler but not too fussed, has played ruck and forward for the past year or two, ten get's thrown back out of the blue.

Crossley showed us what we have been missing in the centre with Timmy rucking over the past few years, he nullified a lot of contests (something Tim struggles with) before running out of puff, i do hope we sign the big fella but think he get's put on a pre-season type of program to get himself in some kind of shape for the second half of the season at least, he's obviously not going to bring what Tim does around the ground but i don't care about that so much, what he can do is actually make our midfield better giving them more chances to get on top and take control with his body work and second efforts, always thought Sweet as not as good a footballer as Tim but far better tap ruckman which i believe is more important to the "team structure" than what Tim brings, Crossley if or when fit enough could be that, and with that fitness base should become more effective around the ground.

The newbies, liked Davidson, he just always knows where to run and just keeps going, didn't see too much of Dolan or LKennedy but Hynes showed a bit, likes to keep moving forward, Crofty could be the tallest winger in the history of the AFL, looks very adaptable to play in a few positions actually, think we'll like what we see in a few years with SOM.

[Scott2016]

Our biggest need is small crumbing forward who hits the scoreboard. Mcniel and VDM cannot do it. Arty runs past the footy and doesnt touch it enough. West plays 3 or 4 games where he hits the scoreboard and its not Cody's job to crumb like a small. We have tried Mitch Wallis Garcia Macrae JJ and many others who are not genuine forwards. We missed out on the Wizard by keeping Bailey Smith for another year and look how that decision turned out. With Darcy and Naughton and possibly Jamarra we need a person who can kick goals. If I had to pick one I am leaning to Harmes as his accuracy is good compared to others

[jeemak]

I think as average as Crossley is, and he’s VFL standard at best, the club is starting to realise how important a genuine ruckman is and English isn’t a ruckmans asshole.

This is ridiculous.

[doggies ftw]

This is ridiculous.

He’s a terrible ruckman let’s be honest now, I think Bevos finally starting to realise that, has only taken 8 years but better late than never

[Rusty12]

This is ridiculous.

Absolutely.
Not sure where to even start.