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"Look at me mate. Look at me. I'm flyin'" -
Re: Sharp Axes
THE THREE CONCERNING ASPECTS FOR THE BULLDOGS AND THE MAN WHO COULD FIX THEIR CULTURE
The Western Bulldogs continue to struggle across key aspects of the game, according to Champion Data.
Over the last seven seasons, since the Bulldogs won the 2016 premiership, they have been below the top echelon of club in three specific areas.
Champion Data analyst Daniel Hoyne believes that under Luke Beveridge the Dogs have been below the best with their ability to deny opposition ball movement, denying inside 50 entries and scores, then winning the ball back off the opposition in defence.
“There’s been a really consistent theme in three critical aspects of the game,” Hoyne said on SEN’s Sportsday.
“Their inability to deny ball movement of the opposition from one end of the ground to the other. Only once in seven years have they ranked in the top seven teams in the competition. This year they’re eighth.
“It’s not disastrous but they’re just not in the top echelon.
“In seven of seven seasons since winning the flag, they have not ranked top six at conceding scores per entry (denying entries, then denying scores after the entry). Again this year they are outside that bracket, only marginally but again they’re outside that bracket.
“In terms of winning the ball back off the opposition close to goal, they have not been top six in any of their seasons since 2015. This year they’re 11th.”
The Dogs remain in the finals hunt in that they must beat Geelong this weekend and hope Carlton defeats GWS.
But if they do want to go deep in September they’ll have to fix these woes quickly and that starts with the side’s lesser name players stepping up and chopping out for the stars, says Hoyne.
“Everyone talks about the list, everyone talks about ‘Bont’ (Marcus Bontempelli), ‘Libba’ (Tom Liberatore), (Tim) English, the list can go on,” he added.
“I think it’s those role players on the periphery (that are important).
“The wingers play such a vital role to facilitate the absolute stars to let them do what they need to do and then these guys come in and do the dirty work.”
The Dogs have been criticised for underperforming under Beveridge in recent times.
Kane Cornes believes they own the best list in the AFL yet find themselves in the middle of the ladder and battling for a spot in the top eight.
There have been some murmurings of potential culture issues at The Kennel and in a bid to fix those, Cornes has the perfect person in mind.
Enter former Dogs captain Bob Murphy who is currently the head of footy at Fremantle.
“With the Bulldogs adamant they will stick with their coach Luke Beveridge, there is obviously going to be significant changes around him,” Cornes said.
“One person they should consider trying to poach back is the former captain Bob Murphy.
“If the culture, if the relationship between players and the coach - which is starting to come out publicly - is an issue, Bob Murphy is the perfect person to solve that.
“He is the ideal culture guy, leadership facilitator, assistant coach, all round good club person and they love him. Get him back in.
“I’ll be interested to ask Brad Johnson about that, if the Dogs could get Bob Murphy back from Fremantle and whether that would be a good addition to the football department staff.”
Murphy has been with the Dockers since late 2021 following a stint on SEN alongside Andy Maher.
The Doggies, on the back of their disappointing loss to West Coast, take on the Cats at GMHBA Stadium on Saturday night and anything less than a victory will end their season prematurely.
A win and then they’ll be closely watching the Blues v Giants clash on Sunday night.Comment
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Re: Sharp Axes
I think getting good people at the club is a great idea but it's all about Bevo's willingness to change. I don't see it.Comment
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Re: Sharp Axes
We have brought in 3 new assistant coaches over the past couple of seasons (Lade, Webb & Spangher) and there’s been no real change, other than personnel to the way we play.
So now do we just change the assistant coaches again and expect a different result?Comment
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Re: Sharp Axes
We need a bad cop type asssitant , someone who calls it as it is, challenges the state of play and be upfront om some of th sh$#@???t coaching decisions
1. No tagger
2. Emphasis on good kicking
3. Teaching players to keep their balance and their feet. I see cody fall over too often
4. Get them to play with some aggressionComment
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Rocket Science: the epitaph for the Beveridge era - whenever it ends - reading 'Here lies a team that could beat anyone on its day, but seldom did when it mattered most'. 15/7/2023Comment
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Re: Sharp Axes
How do you stop or reduce the fumbles?
Is it hand positioning ?
Is it getting players to see it earlier or look ahead ? I am not sure if that can be taught. Is it just instinct or nervousness ?
Are some players just so clean with the pickup and disposal ?
For some reason i think of Jong, he was clean with football which made him solid player when he was fit
I have confidence in West as he naturally has it. His goal lask week was brilliant and also his assit
Would love to hear some coaching insights into this.Comment
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Re: Sharp Axes
10. Drop the plus one in midfield if the opposition are utilising the extra in defence (see Quaynor v pies)BT COME BACK!
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