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

[Mantis]

Going to premise this by saying I only saw parts of the 1st half due to other commitments, but a couple of thoughts:

- Crossley was a liability in everything other than ruck contests. He is miles off the pace in terms of the fitness level required to be an AFL player and I would be horrified if he is selected to play early in the season.
- Besides Darcy our forward line looked totally non-threatening. Have seen a number of threads raising concerns about team members, but where is the one about Cody? Just selected in the leadership group and seems lost. McNeil & VDM don't look like threatening the scoreboard consistently and that's not going to cut it.
- The backline is concerning... they looked like scoring every time the ball went down there.
- That was our first look at life without Bont and I don't like it.
- I think we can cover not having Treloar or Libba, but not both.

[Sedat]

Crossley and English aren't either/or options. Their respective skill sets compliment each other perfectly IMO, and have the potential to cause major problems for the opposition as the season progresses. English is an elite connector and has excellent skills by hand and foot, not to mention a massive tank. Crossley is old school 'People's Beard' style bash and crash stoppage ruckman - we all know this is not English's go and it actually blunts his strong assets by making him do too much energy-sapping stoppage ruck work.

Also, with JUH being unavailable in the early rounds (and there are genuine questions marks on him staying at the kennel longer-term), we are clearly going to need English deployed forward of centre more - he could cause absolute havoc if used in this capacity, in turn making Darcy and Naughton even more dangerous.

Crossley is coming from a long way back but I would back in our F&C staff (and Crossley himself) to get AFEL rock-hard fit. If he can (assuming we go with him over Brew), it could be fantastic for both players and the club. I keep reverting back to the first 6 rounds of 2021, where Stef Martin was doing most of the stoppage donkey work and English was incredibly dangerous free-ranging around the ground and going forward of centre. It is by far the best and most dynamic stretch of footy we've played under Bevo outside the 2016 finals series. Crossley is 25yo and not 35yo like Martin was (and it still nearly got us a flag).

I'm not concerned about February tune-ups if the long game will benefit the club.

[SquirrelGrip]

Crossley and English aren't either/or options. Their respective skill sets compliment each other perfectly IMO, and have the potential to cause major problems for the opposition as the season progresses. English is an elite connector and has excellent skills by hand and foot, not to mention a massive tank. Crossley is old school 'People's Beard' style bash and crash stoppage ruckman - we all know this is not English's go and it actually blunts his strong assets by making him do too much energy-sapping stoppage ruck work.

Also, with JUH being unavailable in the early rounds (and there are genuine questions marks on him staying at the kennel longer-term), we are clearly going to need English deployed forward of centre more - he could cause absolute havoc if used in this capacity, in turn making Darcy and Naughton even more dangerous.

Crossley is coming from a long way back but I would back in our F&C staff (and Crossley himself) to get AFEL rock-hard fit. If he can (assuming we go with him over Brew), it could be fantastic for both players and the club. I keep reverting back to the first 6 rounds of 2021, where Stef Martin was doing most of the stoppage donkey work and English was incredibly dangerous free-ranging around the ground and going forward of centre. It is by far the best and most dynamic stretch of footy we've played under Bevo outside the 2016 finals series. Crossley is 25yo and not 35yo like Martin was (and it still nearly got us a flag).

I'm not concerned about February tune-ups if the long game will benefit the club.

I agree about English and Crossley. They complement each other, and whilst Jamarra isn't playing, we can fit in a second ruck. I think Crossley will do whatever the F&C guys demand as this is probably his last chance to get back into the AFL.

[Grantysghost]

Crossley and English aren't either/or options. Their respective skill sets compliment each other perfectly IMO, and have the potential to cause major problems for the opposition as the season progresses. English is an elite connector and has excellent skills by hand and foot, not to mention a massive tank. Crossley is old school 'People's Beard' style bash and crash stoppage ruckman - we all know this is not English's go and it actually blunts his strong assets by making him do too much energy-sapping stoppage ruck work.

Also, with JUH being unavailable in the early rounds (and there are genuine questions marks on him staying at the kennel longer-term), we are clearly going to need English deployed forward of centre more - he could cause absolute havoc if used in this capacity, in turn making Darcy and Naughton even more dangerous.

Crossley is coming from a long way back but I would back in our F&C staff (and Crossley himself) to get AFEL rock-hard fit. If he can (assuming we go with him over Brew), it could be fantastic for both players and the club. I keep reverting back to the first 6 rounds of 2021, where Stef Martin was doing most of the stoppage donkey work and English was incredibly dangerous free-ranging around the ground and going forward of centre. It is by far the best and most dynamic stretch of footy we've played under Bevo outside the 2016 finals series. Crossley is 25yo and not 35yo like Martin was (and it still nearly got us a flag).

I'm not concerned about February tune-ups if the long game will benefit the club.

Not sure if you were at the game Sedat, but.... he would fit in nicely in the WRFL div 3. How we expect him to get to AFL level is beyond me tbh. Other rucks will destroy him around the ground. He literally can not jump!

The more I think about it the more I just can't see it happening.

[Sedat]

Not sure if you were at the game Sedat, but.... he would fit in nicely in the WRFL div 3. How we expect him to get to AFL level is beyond me tbh. Other rucks will destroy him around the ground. He literally can not jump!

The more I think about it the more I just can't see it happening.

Wasn't at the game and only saw bits and pieces on the day on TV.

I'll just say that Stewie Dew was about 130kgs when Hawthorn drafted him at the end of 2007, and he was a premiership hero 10 months later - without his absolutely critical cameo in the 3rd qtr, they arguably may not have even won that flag.

Players can get very fit and very quickly when they are in an elite training environment. We have a pressing need on the list for stoppage ruck support/depth, much more so than inside mids who are not elite ball-users and not super quick. We have one spot open on the list and I know which of the 2 contending players I would be selecting.

[Pedro Sanchez]

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.

I actually thought he was really effective - going head to head with two Bombers bigs who are strong and well established and he held his own in the ruck contests. Doesnt offer much around the ground, but his tap work with good and with time, he'll give our best players first use of the ball from the source. Think there is a lot to like about what he offers.

[Pedro Sanchez]

To get back to a positive, I thought Dolan showed some traits of a good small forward.
VDM and MCneil need to be careful, not sure they are too far ahead of him.
Something about him.

I agree, even though he didnt do heaps on the day - highlight was probably his pressure tackle in the fwd 50 - he surprised me with how well he moved and read the game. I really like the look of him and think with time, he could be quite electric up fwd.

[Grantysghost]

Wasn't at the game and only saw bits and pieces on the day on TV.

I'll just say that Stewie Dew was about 130kgs when Hawthorn drafted him at the end of 2007, and he was a premiership hero 10 months later - without his absolutely critical cameo in the 3rd qtr, they arguably may not have even won that flag.

Players can get very fit and very quickly when they are in an elite training environment. We have a pressing need on the list for stoppage ruck support/depth, much more so than inside mids who are not elite ball-users and not super quick. We have one spot open on the list and I know which of the 2 contending players I would be selecting.

That was a loooong time ago the game is very different now.

You make reasonable points, but the IF is a massive IF (he can get fit).
I'd say he's not going to play for the first quarter of the season just due to fitness. That's expecting no injuries or setbacks.

The other thing nobody mentions is he was banned for cocaine. Doesnt seem like a Bevo no dick head type.

[doggies ftw]

Anyone know if theres a replay online of the VFL game to watch?

[Before I Die]

I don't get the Crossley support at all, he clearly wasn't targeted by our recruiting team based on what they had seen previously. He only got called in for the Queensland intraclub game at the last minute because English was unavailable and he happened to be living locally. In his two hitouts with the club he has shown he is an unfit big body who is hard to move off the ball in ruck contests and contributes absolutely nothing anywhere else. Most of his praise seems to be based purely on the fact his name isn't Tim English. If we really want a back-up ruckman, I would much rather we leave the list spot open and do our homework leading into the mid-season draft. If Crossley really wants the spot, then he has the chance to get fit and show the Club what he can do.

[chef]

The other thing nobody mentions is he was banned for cocaine. Doesnt seem like a Bevo no dick head type.

Everyone deserves a second chance. And if we are not touching guys who have done coke we'd struggle to put a team out there.

[GVGjr]

Anyone know if theres a replay online of the VFL game to watch?

I'f it's not on the AFL site I doubt it.

[Grantysghost]

Everyone deserves a second chance. And if we are not touching guys who have done coke we'd struggle to put a team out there.

Agree. Just in context of recent events it's interesting it's not been raised at all with him.

[JanLorMill]

The other thing nobody mentions is he was banned for cocaine. Doesnt seem like a Bevo no dick head type.

This no dick head policy is a load of crap anyway. It takes all types.
We would have had no Libba and few others in 2016 if it was true.

[Axe Man]

Agree. Just in context of recent events it's interesting it's not been raised at all with him.

How so? It's been mentioned numerous times in all the Crossley discussions on here. I think it's an absolute non factor.

His apparent inability to influence the game outside a 5 metre radius of the contest is a far bigger concern for mine.