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50% of the so called experts have the Western Bulldogs as the team most likely to fall this year . Do you agree or disagree ?.
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Objectively if it was another side who had similar outs I would say yes. Obviously we are all a touch bias here. I think we start slow (hopefully 1-3 at least). Feeling like the strategy this year is to build into the year and follow Brisbane's model. Try and get to around 5-5 by round 10 and launch from there. Our last third of matches is full of home games and as of right now not full of elite teams. That's what I'm hoping for right now and I get why a lot are writing us of. It's just such a long season that really the first 8 weeks aren't that important as long as you are roughly around .500. So I guess what I'm trying to say is I disagree. Heart over mind maybe. -
The article on AFL website had every one of the journos listed picking us to slide. The highest any had us was 10th, lowest was 14th, averaging around 13th.
This is genuinely insane to me. We were a bees dick off 2nd place last year, with our best form coming in the second half of the year. I know we’ve had a lot of injuries so the early stages of the season will be tough, but we’ve also got a few winnable games there regardless - we should be beating North even with all our outs, we’ve got Carlton early who are nearly as injury-cooked as us, and should have majority of our players back by Gather Round.
I think given the injuries, we’ll likely start 2-3 or thereabouts, but quickly find form and end up well and truly top 8 by halfway through the seasonComment
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One of the guys on ESPN picked us as premiers.
One of the guys on A3 picked us to finish 2nd.
Both admitted to being nervous about the injuries having made their choices before Bont went down...the ESPN Footy cast dude said "As long as they can be 4-3 after the first 'block' I'll still back them...".
It's gonna be ok.What should I tell her? She's going to ask.Comment
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To add a seperate point, context matters with injuries. If they’re all concentrated in one area of the ground it can leave you exposed. As it stands, our guaranteed major outs for early season are spread all over the ground:
JUH (tall forward, though only our 3rd best)
Weightman (small forward)
JJ (half back, probably the easiest to cover)
Jones (tall back)
Bont (mid)
On paper, they’re some huge outs, but we could be adding Treloar, West, Dale and Richards back into the side that already looked quite solid against the Hawks in the preseason match. If McNeil can finally carry his preseason form into the regular season, and JOD plays as well as he did against the Hawks, we’ve already covered two massive outs.
I really don’t see how we’re not a finals quality side this year, even putting aside the usual Dogs supporter delusion.Comment
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I worry about our lack of goals and options to kick goals. JUH and Cody were in the top 5 last year and part of what made our transition from defence so effective.
Yes JUH is the third tall, but he was bloody effectiveComment
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Not only did they all tip us to miss finals, they all tipped Hawthorn to make finals with one even suggesting a Hawthorn premiership.
Obviously none of them watched the practice match. We still defeated Hawthorn with all of our injuries.
I know it is "just" a practice match but I am certainly encouraged about the year ahead.
Life is to be Enjoyed not EnduredComment
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Expert is an over used word especially when it comes to mediaFFC: 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.Comment
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Caroline Wilson tipped us to finish sixteenth. Ol' Ciggie Lips hasn't ever liked us, but even with our injuries I thought that was a bit much.TF is this?.........Obviously you're not a golfer.Comment
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Let’s show emComment
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Im betting she wouldnt put money on that ,but being only a bit optimistic , i think we win more games then North and West Coast combined . -
She has the bottom four as WCE, us, St Kilda and Richmond. North in 14th above WCE.
Four of thirteen "experts" at The Age have us finishing inside the eight, one of whom was Bob Murphy. Nobody had us higher than sixth. From what I can gather that's on the basis of injury and is a common theme across a lot of outlets for the same reason. Given that, it will be an act of extreme cognitive dissonance avoidance when all of the wolves come after Beveridge if we don't start the season in what they consider form sufficient to make finals.
As an aside, the media is pretty confident in itself at the moment. Apparently The Age has no less than 13 experts on its books right now, which I think seems like a big number of experts and an extremely unusual thing to occur given they're supposed to be elite in their chosen vocation of journalism as well. Kudos to The Age for assembling so many multi-skilled people elite in at least two vocations!
That coupled with the carry on and promotion over broadcasting line ups on all platforms you have to wonder when the saturation is going to genuinely work against the game if it isn't already.
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Here's the view of Ronny Lerner on Footyology - https://footyology.com.au/tale-of-the-tape-for-your-afl-team-bulldogs/?fbclid=IwY2xjawI6gZBleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHeZ9H3txQDlH9PExz8JOxd 8wpLvv1xNktffphO_MpajPi3xfo2AXqdb14w_aem_P5oW9x6r4pLZK6XIzlJ l9A
I'm not going to post the content given it's an independent news source/ page and the site deserves a visit.
The media favourite comment when it comes to describing our list over the years "stacked" appears, of course, when discussing our strengths. Firstly with respect to our midfield given it's elite talent in Bontempelli, Liberatore, English and Treloar, but also Richards which is a nice acknowledgement for how well he's adapted to his new role. Forwards in Naughton and Darcy are called out as guns (note JUH has been excluded from the analysis and best team given his current status) and Weightman and West (interesting as he wasn't a walk up start to the elimination final) identified as having enormous potential as a small pairing. In defence Lobb, Dale and Jones get a mention. There's some stats to support the prowess of each zone on the ground, which is fine.
As for weaknesses he starts out with our slow starts and our inability to position ourselves for top four (fair enough). Again, using the line of argument of our list being endowed with a wealth of talent for most of Beveridge's tenure laments our inability to win more elimination finals or finish top four - having to play catch up in the process. Then it's on to injuries, and after that our loss of depth with no mention of how we've tried to replace it. Finally, JUH's issues and his injured relationships with Beveridge, Lobb and Bontempelli round out the weaknesses.
You all might have picked up over time that I've struggled with the stacked narrative. Yep, we have had elite midfield talent but it hasn't always been diverse in capabilities or contrasting traits, meaning it's been a bit same same in pace and style. Literally last year was the first time we've had genuinely settled key position players forward and back (remember how cobbled together everything was in 2021 after losing Bruce and awaiting Martin's return, and since then as JUH and Darcy developed? Or before Lobb and Jones formed such a formidable combination?). But mostly what frustrates me with this type of analysis is the lack of acknowledgement of how important outside players across and forward of centre are in today's game, and how we lack quality in these areas. A quick comparison with what Brisbane puts out on the field or what Geelong has recently versus what we do/ have would provide an interesting talking point and I can't believe so called experts miss it.Last edited by jeemak; 10-03-2025, 02:34 AM.TF is this?.........Obviously you're not a golfer.Comment
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There's not too much less I care about than expert predictions.
Weren't West Coast an absolute lock to miss the finals in 2018?
In this list here, only one person (Dane Swan) picked them to play finals - he tipped them for 8th.
Western Bulldogs: 2016 PremiersComment
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