Rating the 2022 Trade Period - After 7.30pm Wednesday Night

[Dancin' Douggy]

Re: Rating the 2022 Trade Period - After 7.30pm Wednesday Night

Don’t disagree just think the fact that he was seemingly made of tissue paper at the time would have impacted the decision.

That's true, and you can make a case for each individual player, but when you step back and see the pattern repeating and repeating and repeating, it points to a bigger problem.

[EasternWest]

Re: Rating the 2022 Trade Period - After 7.30pm Wednesday Night

Ok……… so my Z minus rating for our trading period may have been slightly hysterical. But it’s a score based on a larger despair, or milieu, threading through our recent trading periods all the way back to 2016.
There we were. Standing on the edge of glory. The beginning of a dynasty. The future was ours. Everything was perfect.

We had just won the flag with a very, very young team. One of the youngest flag winning teams ever. We had, in our colours, the most exciting young talent in the country. Bont, Stringer, Boyd, MaCrae. We had heart and soul father/sons like Libba, Wallis, Hunter and Cordy.
We had the greatest, most inspiring, most decent and admirable men leading the club. Bob, Easton Wood and Bevo. Bevo, who had weaved his magic up through the divisions winning flag after flag after flag. He seemed to have the Midas touch. Bob, the loveable scrawny speedster with the heart of an Irish poet and loyalty by the spadeful. And Easton, the dashingly handsome, intelligent, reliable rock of Gibraltar. He literally looked like a superhero.

We had a powerful, intelligent, wealthy but down to earth, loveable brawler as a president. He was outgoing and verbose, but was self-deprecating and humble. He had a deep love for the club and all its people. No one could push him, or us, around.

The Western oval was the happiest place in the world. We were the envy of the football community. EVERYONE loved us. (except some salty Sydney whiners)

Since then, I have been constantly bewildered and frustrated by the players we have let go, the players we have kept, and the weekly whacky lucky dip we have every Thursday night when the team is announced.

Why did we let Jordan Roughead go? It still pisses me off. We needed exactly HIM!!!. Ruck / defender. He was a heart and soul bulldog. Barracked for the dogs all his life and was a premiership hero. Next minute? Sorry Jordan, we don’t need you anymore. What the!?!? We replaced him with Trengove who we targeted as a free agent and then refused to play him. Bevo’s record with tall players, particularly defenders is shocking. It’s been a conga line of tall defenders dancing out the doors. And every year we say we need tall defenders. We (and the entire football media) have been screaming out for a proper back up ruckman. So, we got……………………Stefan Martin, who was already totally cooked before we picked him up. I would describe him now as semi digested. Sweet is clearly not up to it and I really don’t think Lobb (who is 30 anyway) is a proper ruckman.
I’m meant to believe that Tim English is TELLING Bevo where, when and how he should be played. Demanding to be the number 1, all day long ruckman. I can’t imagine this really happening at AFL level. I actually can’t believe a single player could hold the coach and recruiting staff to ransom like that. Specially not such an intelligent, well mannered young man like Tim. If it is true, it’s unacceptable. And what if English gets injured anyway? Ruckmen are swapping teams all around us year after year and we’re like “yeah, nah, don’t think so” (yeah…… I know you’re all gonna say…….. Lobb………but I’m not a fan, and Lobb is more a forward than a ruckman anyway)

If our culture was/ is so great, and I was totally convinced it was, why couldn’t we get Stringer, Dalhaus and whoever the other ‘trouble makers’ were to toe the line? Why can’t we help Hunter get his s*%t together. Why does Dunkley want out?

In regards the 2016 premiership team, we have had some really bad luck with certain players and injuries, Clay’s knees. Liam’s concussions. Tom’s depression. And of course there’s natural attrition. But to only have 5 players left from the premiership team is pretty incredible. We have just watched that team evaporate into thin air in front of our eyes.

So, to watch 3 more premiership players, two father / sons, walk out the door was just depressing. Yeah you can make a case for each individual player, but the pattern has been repeating since the flag. The bigger picture tells me something is wrong.

So, this year, we did the best we could I guess with Dunkley. But surely I’m allowed to be pissed off that they traded pick 15 away belligerently in front of us. No one at the bulldog’s fault, but it’s still crap behaviour. Still allowed to be pissed off. I’m Pissed off we didn’t chase a proper ruckman or a younger key defender. We’re just lucky that Jones (31 I believe?) fell back into our arms.

I’m sick of Bevo’s army of mini-me’s. The honest battlers, the little guys who came up through the ranks the hard way. Van de Meer, McComb, Scott, McNeill, Hannan, Garcia. Keep 2 of them. Not ALL of them.

Trading out L. Young and trading in Tim O’Brien??? How does that help us? How does that improve our list?
Just another example of a bewildering trade decision.

I know we played in a grand final last year, but who knows, with a serious key defender, and a proper, young and fit second ruckman we might have won it. And we might have won some other finals too. We’ll never know.

So I guess my Z rating really comes at the end of a long run of frustrating trade periods. Sam Power did the best he could I guess, but sometimes I wonder about what’s happening behind the scenes. I love the dogs. Been a member for about 30 years. Just feeling a bit flat about our list management and trading atm. Sorry if I’m being too much of a downer.

I don't agree with all of this but I love the effort gone into it and I am here for that.

[1eyedog]

Re: Rating the 2022 Trade Period - After 7.30pm Wednesday Night

I don't agree with all of this but I love the effort gone into it and I am here for that.

Yeah 100% kudos.

[1eyedog]

Re: Rating the 2022 Trade Period - After 7.30pm Wednesday Night

Ok……… so my Z minus rating for our trading period may have been slightly hysterical. But it’s a score based on a larger despair, or milieu, threading through our recent trading periods all the way back to 2016.
There we were. Standing on the edge of glory. The beginning of a dynasty. The future was ours. Everything was perfect.

We had just won the flag with a very, very young team. One of the youngest flag winning teams ever. We had, in our colours, the most exciting young talent in the country. Bont, Stringer, Boyd, MaCrae. We had heart and soul father/sons like Libba, Wallis, Hunter and Cordy.
We had the greatest, most inspiring, most decent and admirable men leading the club. Bob, Easton Wood and Bevo. Bevo, who had weaved his magic up through the divisions winning flag after flag after flag. He seemed to have the Midas touch. Bob, the loveable scrawny speedster with the heart of an Irish poet and loyalty by the spadeful. And Easton, the dashingly handsome, intelligent, reliable rock of Gibraltar. He literally looked like a superhero.

We had a powerful, intelligent, wealthy but down to earth, loveable brawler as a president. He was outgoing and verbose, but was self-deprecating and humble. He had a deep love for the club and all its people. No one could push him, or us, around.

The Western oval was the happiest place in the world. We were the envy of the football community. EVERYONE loved us. (except some salty Sydney whiners)

Since then, I have been constantly bewildered and frustrated by the players we have let go, the players we have kept, and the weekly whacky lucky dip we have every Thursday night when the team is announced.

Why did we let Jordan Roughead go? It still pisses me off. We needed exactly HIM!!!. Ruck / defender. He was a heart and soul bulldog. Barracked for the dogs all his life and was a premiership hero. Next minute? Sorry Jordan, we don’t need you anymore. What the!?!? We replaced him with Trengove who we targeted as a free agent and then refused to play him. Bevo’s record with tall players, particularly defenders is shocking. It’s been a conga line of tall defenders dancing out the doors. And every year we say we need tall defenders. We (and the entire football media) have been screaming out for a proper back up ruckman. So, we got……………………Stefan Martin, who was already totally cooked before we picked him up. I would describe him now as semi digested. Sweet is clearly not up to it and I really don’t think Lobb (who is 30 anyway) is a proper ruckman.
I’m meant to believe that Tim English is TELLING Bevo where, when and how he should be played. Demanding to be the number 1, all day long ruckman. I can’t imagine this really happening at AFL level. I actually can’t believe a single player could hold the coach and recruiting staff to ransom like that. Specially not such an intelligent, well mannered young man like Tim. If it is true, it’s unacceptable. And what if English gets injured anyway? Ruckmen are swapping teams all around us year after year and we’re like “yeah, nah, don’t think so” (yeah…… I know you’re all gonna say…….. Lobb………but I’m not a fan, and Lobb is more a forward than a ruckman anyway)

If our culture was/ is so great, and I was totally convinced it was, why couldn’t we get Stringer, Dalhaus and whoever the other ‘trouble makers’ were to toe the line? Why can’t we help Hunter get his s*%t together. Why does Dunkley want out?

In regards the 2016 premiership team, we have had some really bad luck with certain players and injuries, Clay’s knees. Liam’s concussions. Tom’s depression. And of course there’s natural attrition. But to only have 5 players left from the premiership team is pretty incredible. We have just watched that team evaporate into thin air in front of our eyes.

So, to watch 3 more premiership players, two father / sons, walk out the door was just depressing. Yeah you can make a case for each individual player, but the pattern has been repeating since the flag. The bigger picture tells me something is wrong.

So, this year, we did the best we could I guess with Dunkley. But surely I’m allowed to be pissed off that they traded pick 15 away belligerently in front of us. No one at the bulldog’s fault, but it’s still crap behaviour. Still allowed to be pissed off. I’m Pissed off we didn’t chase a proper ruckman or a younger key defender. We’re just lucky that Jones (31 I believe?) fell back into our arms.

I’m sick of Bevo’s army of mini-me’s. The honest battlers, the little guys who came up through the ranks the hard way. Van de Meer, McComb, Scott, McNeill, Hannan, Garcia. Keep 2 of them. Not ALL of them.

Trading out L. Young and trading in Tim O’Brien??? How does that help us? How does that improve our list?
Just another example of a bewildering trade decision.

I know we played in a grand final last year, but who knows, with a serious key defender, and a proper, young and fit second ruckman we might have won it. And we might have won some other finals too. We’ll never know.

So I guess my Z rating really comes at the end of a long run of frustrating trade periods. Sam Power did the best he could I guess, but sometimes I wonder about what’s happening behind the scenes. I love the dogs. Been a member for about 30 years. Just feeling a bit flat about our list management and trading atm. Sorry if I’m being too much of a downer.

I read 30% of your post and felt so good about those memories and the way that you vividly brought them back to life that I didn't even need to read on!

We had that. It was amazing.

[GVGjr]

Re: Rating the 2022 Trade Period - After 7.30pm Wednesday Night

Thanks for the post Dancin Douggy.

I have some mixed feeling about how we have handled things since the flag in 2016.
Clearly things weren't right in 2017 and yet we didn't do a lot about it. How Stringer wasn't stood down for some of his antics is a real reflection that our coaching and leaders coasted through the season and we waited until it was over before Bevo went public about his how he rated Stringer. Getting rid of him didn't help though because it didn't change the attitude of some of the players and we had to move more players on at the end of 2018 particularly a complacent Dahlhaus. This was a reflection on our coaches and leaders managed the team.
Most of us have heard the rumors of the conduct of many players in 2020 but we tended to write it off as a Covid year and at the end of the season Dunkley looked to break a contract and move to Essendon of all clubs.
We had a huge step forward in 2021 and fell back with a thud this year.

Something isn't quite right.
Is it because we draft players with clear limitations and player them over talented but laconic types?
Does the coaching team accept poor behavior and it festers through the playing group.
I really don't know but we can't keep accepting these yo-yo type efforts.

2023 is a contract year for Bevo and it's time for he and the footy department to start to deliver improvement and consistency from this playing list. With a beefed up footy department they have to start delivering.

[EasternWest]

Re: Rating the 2022 Trade Period - After 7.30pm Wednesday Night

Thanks for the post Dancin Douggy.

I have some mixed feeling about how we have handled things since the flag in 2016.
Clearly things weren't right in 2017 and yet we didn't do a lot about it. How Stringer wasn't stood down for some of his antics is a real reflection that our coaching and leaders coasted through the season and we waited until it was over before Bevo went public about his how he rated Stringer. Getting rid of him didn't help though because it didn't change the attitude of some of the players and we had to move more players on at the end of 2018 particularly a complacent Dahlhaus. This was a reflection on our coaches and leaders managed the team.
Most of us have heard the rumors of the conduct of many players in 2020 but we tended to write it off as a Covid year and at the end of the season Dunkley looked to break a contract and move to Essendon of all clubs.
We had a huge step forward in 2021 and fell back with a thud this year.

Something isn't quite right.
Is it because we draft players with clear limitations and player them over talented but laconic types?
Does the coaching team accept poor behavior and it festers through the playing group.
I really don't know but we can't keep accepting these yo-yo type efforts.

2023 is a contract year for Bevo and it's time for he and the footy department to start to deliver improvement and consistency from this playing list. With a beefed up footy department they have to start delivering.

Um excuse me that was a motovated Dahlhaus.

[GVGjr]

Re: Rating the 2022 Trade Period - After 7.30pm Wednesday Night

I'm glad we got rid of Hunter and Cordy, and kind of wish we'd lost JJ too. A little sad given they are two more premiership players, and Hunter when in form was pretty brilliant, but neither had really become what we needed in senior players, and Hunter's off-field issues were by all accounts a pretty massive distraction. They weren't "dead wood" but they were past their prime and take some pressure off list spots and salary cap.

I think letting go of Schache was important to our list balance and I doubt he'll flourish at Melbourne, though he might have a few good games and look scary from time to time. Their structure will suit him better - especially Brown, Fristch and Pickett - but he'll never be a great player.

Lobb is a good acquisition for mine - I remember when he was third tall to Patton and Cameron in GWS he was real scary. I think he'll be even better in our forward lien than Freo's. The 3-year contract is a risk because of his age.

I'm equivocal on Jones. The deal has a whiff of the Cloke trade a few years back. A Hail Mary pass. If it works, great, but I think we should prepare for the worst.

Our defence remains a gap you could drive a truck through. It's a huge problem, because you can always score more goals, but you can't un-score an opponent's goal. Defence isn't as flashy as the other two lines but you ignore it at your peril. I'm sick to death of the way we keep unbalancing the list. First it was chasing midfielders when we had more than enough. Then it was chasing forwards even after we had a glut, and continually moving defenders into permanent forward rotation. We need to pick one of our marking talls and have him play back, permanently. I think it should be Darcy, because he's played forward the least. I'm no longer dazzled by the potential of goals, I won't get FOMO about lost potential MOTYs in the forward 50. I will get FOMO about lost grand finals.

I never really follow the draft as I don't have en eye for it or the time, and draft prospects seem to routinely be three years away from good, and we should be trying to bolster this list for 2023, not 2025 or 2026. So I sort of don't care?

In isolation, it's an OK haul. The problem is that Geelong, Brisbane and Melbourne made out like bandits. We've gone backwards. It sucks and I'm not terribly excited about 2023.

Good summary Boots, we've got some work to do but we've clear some space off our list and must some options within our salary cap to attract a player or two.

Having 2 first rounders next year is a positive sign as well.

The footy department have to find a way of fast tracking the development of some of our younger players.
The likes of West and McLean must see some opportunities to move into the midfield and Garcia needs to work his arse off to grab a spot in what should be a competitive forward line. If Marra can build on the step forward he took this year that will also be a huge positive for us.

[The Bulldogs Bite]

Re: Rating the 2022 Trade Period - After 7.30pm Wednesday Night

Thanks for the post Dancin Douggy.

I have some mixed feeling about how we have handled things since the flag in 2016.
Clearly things weren't right in 2017 and yet we didn't do a lot about it. How Stringer wasn't stood down for some of his antics is a real reflection that our coaching and leaders coasted through the season and we waited until it was over before Bevo went public about his how he rated Stringer. Getting rid of him didn't help though because it didn't change the attitude of some of the players and we had to move more players on at the end of 2018 particularly a complacent Dahlhaus. This was a reflection on our coaches and leaders managed the team.
Most of us have heard the rumors of the conduct of many players in 2020 but we tended to write it off as a Covid year and at the end of the season Dunkley looked to break a contract and move to Essendon of all clubs.
We had a huge step forward in 2021 and fell back with a thud this year.

Something isn't quite right.
Is it because we draft players with clear limitations and player them over talented but laconic types?
Does the coaching team accept poor behavior and it festers through the playing group.
I really don't know but we can't keep accepting these yo-yo type efforts.

2023 is a contract year for Bevo and it's time for he and the footy department to start to deliver improvement and consistency from this playing list. With a beefed up footy department they have to start delivering.

The yo-yo as you alluded to reminds me of Melbourne in the 2000's. Didn't they do something like top 4, miss out, top 4, miss out?

2023 is a massive year for the club. We seem to continually keep putting ourselves under pressure, and THEN deliver. We can't sustain concentration or motivation and that has to come back to the leaders both on and off the field.

[Dancin' Douggy]

Re: Rating the 2022 Trade Period - After 7.30pm Wednesday Night

I read 30% of your post and felt so good about those memories and the way that you vividly brought them back to life that I didn't even need to read on!

We had that. It was amazing.

we sure did.

[Grantysghost]

Re: Rating the 2022 Trade Period - After 7.30pm Wednesday Night

Ok……… so my Z minus rating for our trading period may have been slightly hysterical. But it’s a score based on a larger despair, or milieu, threading through our recent trading periods all the way back to 2016.
There we were. Standing on the edge of glory. The beginning of a dynasty. The future was ours. Everything was perfect.

We had just won the flag with a very, very young team. One of the youngest flag winning teams ever. We had, in our colours, the most exciting young talent in the country. Bont, Stringer, Boyd, MaCrae. We had heart and soul father/sons like Libba, Wallis, Hunter and Cordy.
We had the greatest, most inspiring, most decent and admirable men leading the club. Bob, Easton Wood and Bevo. Bevo, who had weaved his magic up through the divisions winning flag after flag after flag. He seemed to have the Midas touch. Bob, the loveable scrawny speedster with the heart of an Irish poet and loyalty by the spadeful. And Easton, the dashingly handsome, intelligent, reliable rock of Gibraltar. He literally looked like a superhero.

We had a powerful, intelligent, wealthy but down to earth, loveable brawler as a president. He was outgoing and verbose, but was self-deprecating and humble. He had a deep love for the club and all its people. No one could push him, or us, around.

The Western oval was the happiest place in the world. We were the envy of the football community. EVERYONE loved us. (except some salty Sydney whiners)

Since then, I have been constantly bewildered and frustrated by the players we have let go, the players we have kept, and the weekly whacky lucky dip we have every Thursday night when the team is announced.

Why did we let Jordan Roughead go? It still pisses me off. We needed exactly HIM!!!. Ruck / defender. He was a heart and soul bulldog. Barracked for the dogs all his life and was a premiership hero. Next minute? Sorry Jordan, we don’t need you anymore. What the!?!? We replaced him with Trengove who we targeted as a free agent and then refused to play him. Bevo’s record with tall players, particularly defenders is shocking. It’s been a conga line of tall defenders dancing out the doors. And every year we say we need tall defenders. We (and the entire football media) have been screaming out for a proper back up ruckman. So, we got……………………Stefan Martin, who was already totally cooked before we picked him up. I would describe him now as semi digested. Sweet is clearly not up to it and I really don’t think Lobb (who is 30 anyway) is a proper ruckman.
I’m meant to believe that Tim English is TELLING Bevo where, when and how he should be played. Demanding to be the number 1, all day long ruckman. I can’t imagine this really happening at AFL level. I actually can’t believe a single player could hold the coach and recruiting staff to ransom like that. Specially not such an intelligent, well mannered young man like Tim. If it is true, it’s unacceptable. And what if English gets injured anyway? Ruckmen are swapping teams all around us year after year and we’re like “yeah, nah, don’t think so” (yeah…… I know you’re all gonna say…….. Lobb………but I’m not a fan, and Lobb is more a forward than a ruckman anyway)

If our culture was/ is so great, and I was totally convinced it was, why couldn’t we get Stringer, Dalhaus and whoever the other ‘trouble makers’ were to toe the line? Why can’t we help Hunter get his s*%t together. Why does Dunkley want out?

In regards the 2016 premiership team, we have had some really bad luck with certain players and injuries, Clay’s knees. Liam’s concussions. Tom’s depression. And of course there’s natural attrition. But to only have 5 players left from the premiership team is pretty incredible. We have just watched that team evaporate into thin air in front of our eyes.

So, to watch 3 more premiership players, two father / sons, walk out the door was just depressing. Yeah you can make a case for each individual player, but the pattern has been repeating since the flag. The bigger picture tells me something is wrong.

So, this year, we did the best we could I guess with Dunkley. But surely I’m allowed to be pissed off that they traded pick 15 away belligerently in front of us. No one at the bulldog’s fault, but it’s still crap behaviour. Still allowed to be pissed off. I’m Pissed off we didn’t chase a proper ruckman or a younger key defender. We’re just lucky that Jones (31 I believe?) fell back into our arms.

I’m sick of Bevo’s army of mini-me’s. The honest battlers, the little guys who came up through the ranks the hard way. Van de Meer, McComb, Scott, McNeill, Hannan, Garcia. Keep 2 of them. Not ALL of them.

Trading out L. Young and trading in Tim O’Brien??? How does that help us? How does that improve our list?
Just another example of a bewildering trade decision.

I know we played in a grand final last year, but who knows, with a serious key defender, and a proper, young and fit second ruckman we might have won it. And we might have won some other finals too. We’ll never know.

So I guess my Z rating really comes at the end of a long run of frustrating trade periods. Sam Power did the best he could I guess, but sometimes I wonder about what’s happening behind the scenes. I love the dogs. Been a member for about 30 years. Just feeling a bit flat about our list management and trading atm. Sorry if I’m being too much of a downer.

Awesome post made me think thanks.

[Grantysghost]

Re: Rating the 2022 Trade Period - After 7.30pm Wednesday Night

I'm glad we got rid of Hunter and Cordy, and kind of wish we'd lost JJ too. A little sad given they are two more premiership players, and Hunter when in form was pretty brilliant, but neither had really become what we needed in senior players, and Hunter's off-field issues were by all accounts a pretty massive distraction. They weren't "dead wood" but they were past their prime and take some pressure off list spots and salary cap.

I think letting go of Schache was important to our list balance and I doubt he'll flourish at Melbourne, though he might have a few good games and look scary from time to time. Their structure will suit him better - especially Brown, Fristch and Pickett - but he'll never be a great player.

Lobb is a good acquisition for mine - I remember when he was third tall to Patton and Cameron in GWS he was real scary. I think he'll be even better in our forward lien than Freo's. The 3-year contract is a risk because of his age.

I'm equivocal on Jones. The deal has a whiff of the Cloke trade a few years back. A Hail Mary pass. If it works, great, but I think we should prepare for the worst.

Our defence remains a gap you could drive a truck through. It's a huge problem, because you can always score more goals, but you can't un-score an opponent's goal. Defence isn't as flashy as the other two lines but you ignore it at your peril. I'm sick to death of the way we keep unbalancing the list. First it was chasing midfielders when we had more than enough. Then it was chasing forwards even after we had a glut, and continually moving defenders into permanent forward rotation. We need to pick one of our marking talls and have him play back, permanently. I think it should be Darcy, because he's played forward the least. I'm no longer dazzled by the potential of goals, I won't get FOMO about lost potential MOTYs in the forward 50. I will get FOMO about lost grand finals.

I never really follow the draft as I don't have en eye for it or the time, and draft prospects seem to routinely be three years away from good, and we should be trying to bolster this list for 2023, not 2025 or 2026. So I sort of don't care?

In isolation, it's an OK haul. The problem is that Geelong, Brisbane and Melbourne made out like bandits. We've gone backwards. It sucks and I'm not terribly excited about 2023.

Awesome post mate.

I don’t think we’ve gone backwards.

Dunkley wanted out that sucks of course but the others were fringe, even Hunter and to have his salary off the books may open up a launch at a free agent next year.

We’ve plugged two holes in defence and second ruck and probably now just lack a good crumbing forward dependant on some bodies holding up (Keath).

I’m pretty excited to be honest.

[The bulldog tragician]

Re: Rating the 2022 Trade Period - After 7.30pm Wednesday Night

Ok……… so my Z minus rating for our trading period may have been slightly hysterical. But it’s a score based on a larger despair, or milieu, threading through our recent trading periods all the way back to 2016.
There we were. Standing on the edge of glory. The beginning of a dynasty. The future was ours. Everything was perfect.

We had just won the flag with a very, very young team. One of the youngest flag winning teams ever. We had, in our colours, the most exciting young talent in the country. Bont, Stringer, Boyd, MaCrae. We had heart and soul father/sons like Libba, Wallis, Hunter and Cordy.
We had the greatest, most inspiring, most decent and admirable men leading the club. Bob, Easton Wood and Bevo. Bevo, who had weaved his magic up through the divisions winning flag after flag after flag. He seemed to have the Midas touch. Bob, the loveable scrawny speedster with the heart of an Irish poet and loyalty by the spadeful. And Easton, the dashingly handsome, intelligent, reliable rock of Gibraltar. He literally looked like a superhero.

We had a powerful, intelligent, wealthy but down to earth, loveable brawler as a president. He was outgoing and verbose, but was self-deprecating and humble. He had a deep love for the club and all its people. No one could push him, or us, around.

The Western oval was the happiest place in the world. We were the envy of the football community. EVERYONE loved us. (except some salty Sydney whiners)

Since then, I have been constantly bewildered and frustrated by the players we have let go, the players we have kept, and the weekly whacky lucky dip we have every Thursday night when the team is announced.

Why did we let Jordan Roughead go? It still pisses me off. We needed exactly HIM!!!. Ruck / defender. He was a heart and soul bulldog. Barracked for the dogs all his life and was a premiership hero. Next minute? Sorry Jordan, we don’t need you anymore. What the!?!? We replaced him with Trengove who we targeted as a free agent and then refused to play him. Bevo’s record with tall players, particularly defenders is shocking. It’s been a conga line of tall defenders dancing out the doors. And every year we say we need tall defenders. We (and the entire football media) have been screaming out for a proper back up ruckman. So, we got……………………Stefan Martin, who was already totally cooked before we picked him up. I would describe him now as semi digested. Sweet is clearly not up to it and I really don’t think Lobb (who is 30 anyway) is a proper ruckman.
I’m meant to believe that Tim English is TELLING Bevo where, when and how he should be played. Demanding to be the number 1, all day long ruckman. I can’t imagine this really happening at AFL level. I actually can’t believe a single player could hold the coach and recruiting staff to ransom like that. Specially not such an intelligent, well mannered young man like Tim. If it is true, it’s unacceptable. And what if English gets injured anyway? Ruckmen are swapping teams all around us year after year and we’re like “yeah, nah, don’t think so” (yeah…… I know you’re all gonna say…….. Lobb………but I’m not a fan, and Lobb is more a forward than a ruckman anyway)

If our culture was/ is so great, and I was totally convinced it was, why couldn’t we get Stringer, Dalhaus and whoever the other ‘trouble makers’ were to toe the line? Why can’t we help Hunter get his s*%t together. Why does Dunkley want out?

In regards the 2016 premiership team, we have had some really bad luck with certain players and injuries, Clay’s knees. Liam’s concussions. Tom’s depression. And of course there’s natural attrition. But to only have 5 players left from the premiership team is pretty incredible. We have just watched that team evaporate into thin air in front of our eyes.

So, to watch 3 more premiership players, two father / sons, walk out the door was just depressing. Yeah you can make a case for each individual player, but the pattern has been repeating since the flag. The bigger picture tells me something is wrong.

So, this year, we did the best we could I guess with Dunkley. But surely I’m allowed to be pissed off that they traded pick 15 away belligerently in front of us. No one at the bulldog’s fault, but it’s still crap behaviour. Still allowed to be pissed off. I’m Pissed off we didn’t chase a proper ruckman or a younger key defender. We’re just lucky that Jones (31 I believe?) fell back into our arms.

I’m sick of Bevo’s army of mini-me’s. The honest battlers, the little guys who came up through the ranks the hard way. Van de Meer, McComb, Scott, McNeill, Hannan, Garcia. Keep 2 of them. Not ALL of them.

Trading out L. Young and trading in Tim O’Brien??? How does that help us? How does that improve our list?
Just another example of a bewildering trade decision.

I know we played in a grand final last year, but who knows, with a serious key defender, and a proper, young and fit second ruckman we might have won it. And we might have won some other finals too. We’ll never know.

So I guess my Z rating really comes at the end of a long run of frustrating trade periods. Sam Power did the best he could I guess, but sometimes I wonder about what’s happening behind the scenes. I love the dogs. Been a member for about 30 years. Just feeling a bit flat about our list management and trading atm. Sorry if I’m being too much of a downer.

Perfectly encapsulates my thoughts, thank you, except Roughead WANTED to leave and made comments about how he would have retired if he hadn’t got to Collingwood and had lost the passion, felt ill even driving to WO. How could things have come to that for a guy of his calibre? It also hurts to see other clubs build on their break thru success. Richmond sustained 4 great years, even Dees had a creditable year and you’d think will be thereabouts. We should have had much more success out of the talent we had.

[Hotdog60]

Re: Rating the 2022 Trade Period - After 7.30pm Wednesday Night

Thanks for the post Dancin Douggy.

I have some mixed feeling about how we have handled things since the flag in 2016.
Clearly things weren't right in 2017 and yet we didn't do a lot about it. How Stringer wasn't stood down for some of his antics is a real reflection that our coaching and leaders coasted through the season and we waited until it was over before Bevo went public about his how he rated Stringer. Getting rid of him didn't help though because it didn't change the attitude of some of the players and we had to move more players on at the end of 2018 particularly a complacent Dahlhaus. This was a reflection on our coaches and leaders managed the team.
Most of us have heard the rumors of the conduct of many players in 2020 but we tended to write it off as a Covid year and at the end of the season Dunkley looked to break a contract and move to Essendon of all clubs.
We had a huge step forward in 2021 and fell back with a thud this year.

Something isn't quite right.
Is it because we draft players with clear limitations and player them over talented but laconic types?
Does the coaching team accept poor behavior and it festers through the playing group.
I really don't know but we can't keep accepting these yo-yo type efforts.

2023 is a contract year for Bevo and it's time for he and the footy department to start to deliver improvement and consistency from this playing list. With a beefed up footy department they have to start delivering.

Maybe having M.Boyd finishing up put a dent in that leadership group.

[Dancin' Douggy]

Re: Rating the 2022 Trade Period - After 7.30pm Wednesday Night

Perfectly encapsulates my thoughts, thank you, except Roughead WANTED to leave and made comments about how he would have retired if he hadn’t got to Collingwood and had lost the passion, felt ill even driving to WO. How could things have come to that for a guy of his calibre? It also hurts to see other clubs build on their break thru success. Richmond sustained 4 great years, even Dees had a creditable year and you’d think will be thereabouts. We should have had much more success out of the talent we had.

thanks for your feedback. But it does beggar the question. Why did Roughead WANT to leave. Why did he feel ill driving to the Whitten oval? What went wrong? Are the same problems still there?

[Doc26]

Re: Rating the 2022 Trade Period - After 7.30pm Wednesday Night

Overall I’m largely pleased with the trade period result. It provides an opportunity to move forward from players who too often were the cause of much frustration for us supporters seeing them fall short of achieving their potential, or being unable to cover their shortcomings i.e Cordy, Hunter and Schache, and for mine the positive with Dunkley’s departure is the Club no longer needs to be on tenterhooks due to his level of self entitlement, possibly stemming from his father’s experience, a character flaw that the best leaders of Clubs like a Selwood, Boak, Cotchin or even a Bont simply don’t display. So with these outs it provides a perfect opportunity for replenishment and even redemption ala Wallis and O’Brien.

So for 2023 I’m really looking forward to Cleary, Bedendo coming on, and even the possibility of a redemptive opportunity for Mitch Wallis to fill the breach. Mitch has his shortcomings but so did Dunkley. For the off season at least I’m going glass have full that Mitch might in the coaching group’s wisdom be given an opportunity to fill the hole that Dunkley has left, he’s indeed made of the right stuff, and from better stock.