Sharp Axes

[Sedat]

Re: Sharp Axes

A handful of posters have consistently questioned the decision to move Montgomery on.

We have definitely missed him and Graham Lowe.

Success has many fathers (2016) and failure is an orphan (2024)

[Happy Days]

Re: Sharp Axes

I actually think King and Hansen both bailing after 2021 is the one we haven’t recovered from. Hansen leaving in December was particularly brutal.

[GVGjr]

Re: Sharp Axes

I actually think King and Hansen both bailing after 2021 is the one we haven’t recovered from. Hansen leaving in December was particularly brutal.

That was an interesting decision. Having just been made senior assistant after Kings departure he wanted to take the same job at Carlton even though he had a contract with us.

I think you're right, the whole way the AFL put a cap on the Footy departments spending really squeezed us and it's taken a little while to get back a decent structure. We lost King, Hansen and Corey and had to shuffle Morris into a Coterie managers role.
Maple leaving and then not being replaced until Egan came on board this year was apparently also due to the footy spend.

[BornInDroopSt'54]

Re: Sharp Axes

A Peter Ryan article.
The Age contacted cubs to give their anonymous assessment of or team post last lost:
"Not a top-four team: How rival recruiters really rate the Bulldogs? list
Peter Ryan
ByPeter Ryan
May 7, 2024 ? 5.00am
The notion that the Western Bulldogs have a top four list is off the mark according to four of the five club list managers The Age asked to anonymously assess the Bulldogs? list following their upset loss to Hawthorn.

Such judgments of the list are at the heart of the many external assessments being made of Luke Beveridge?s performance as coach during 2024, as club president Kylie Watson-Wheeler told the ABC on Monday ?it was too early in the season to panic or make rash decisions?.

Marcus Bontempelli almost inspired his team to victory against the Hawks
Marcus Bontempelli almost inspired his team to victory against the HawksCREDIT:GETTY IMAGES

Four of the five club officials, speaking anonymously to make honest assessments of an opposition list, put the Bulldogs among the bracket of teams that could finish anywhere from fifth to 13th, depending on variables such as luck, injury management, coaching, motivation, team synergy, skill execution and leadership.

Collingwood, Sydney, the Giants, Geelong, the Brisbane Lions, Melbourne and Port Adelaide are considered the main top-four chances this season.

One recruiter described the Bulldogs? list profile as ?confusing?, while another said their defence was ?wobbly?. A third list manager said the Dogs? list indisputably carries top-end talent that is the envy of other clubs, but then it ?just drops away?.

The one list manager impressed with what is at the Bulldogs? disposal put their list ?in the top bracket because of the number of A-graders?.
The Western Bulldogs have Marcus Bontempelli, Aaron Naughton, Jamarra Ugle-Hagan, Bailey Smith, Tim English and, eventually, Sam Darcy in that category.

They have a second tier of players ? some premiership players, All-Australians, or both ? who, while still of AFL quality, are not at the peak of their careers. These players include Caleb Daniel, Jack Macrae, Jason Johannisen, Taylor Duryea, Bailey Dale and Tom Liberatore (who was outstanding before being concussed in round five) and players on the up such as Ed Richards, Cody Weightman and Rhylee West.
The has club re-signed Ugle-Hagan for two years and Naughton for nine, locking in a two-pronged attack that is yet to match the heights of Carlton?s forward duo Charlie Curnow and Harry McKay. Once Ugle-Hagan?s contract kicks in next season, that is the output they will be expected to meet as they will be on similar money.

Smith and English remain unsigned beyond this season, while Bontempelli?s and Darcy?s contracts finish at the end of 2025. Bontempelli offers more value than any contract he has ever signed, but there is an acknowledgment he needs others to share his burden while English, last year?s All-Australian ruckman, is holding up his end of the bargain. However, clubs constantly debate how much TPP money should be invested in ruckmen.

The Bulldogs know there are gaps, trading into the top 10 in last year?s draft to secure midfielder Ryley Sanders, having landed Ugle-Hagan and Darcy in consecutive years in 2020 and 2021 at pick one and pick two respectively as a Next Generation Academy graduate and a father-son recruit.

They also drafted tall defender Jedd Busslinger in the first round in 2022. He is yet to play a senior match but has been reasonable in the club?s undefeated VFL team.
With Rory Lobb and father-son Jordan Croft also on their list, one recruiter suggested the club trade out a quality tall, split the pick and add speed to what is ? although damaging when they get on top of the opposition ? a one-paced midfield.

Another recruiter agreed, saying many of the talls operate better ?when they are the main man? and wondered whether that was a reason why the big names weren?t That recruiter said he found the list ?confusing?, with the addition of Lachie Bramble and Oskar Baker as mature-aged players through the pre-season supplemental selection process making ?no sense?.

Even the recruiter who assessed the list as A-Grade admitted that the bottom six players selected in the team each week were not as strong as those who played for other contenders. as well as their fans expected.
One recruiter also said the loss of Josh Dunkley to Brisbane and Patrick Lipinski to Collingwood ? both of whom played in last year?s grand final ? was a misstep the club is yet to recover from, with Adam Treloar the only player traded in since 2020 who has had an impact.

The club-wide review that saw major changes made to the coaching set-up underneath Beveridge was followed by the Peter Jackson review, which backed the coach while recommending that the workload be shared among football department leaders with Matthew Egan being given an operational role as football manager.

But a bounce is yet to occur.

Having missed finals last season after losing eight of their final 11 matches, the club have won just three of their first eight games to sit in 11th spot. Seven of the 13 losses in that period have been by a margin of seven points or fewer.

Although they do not have a first-round pick this season, they would be likely to gain one if the injured Smith departs, with Geelong and Hawthorn among his suitors. Gaining an early pick would be handy, said one recruiter, as it could be split and used to draft talent in what recruiters say is shaping as an even and deep draft.

Watson-Wheeler said finals were the obvious ambition at the start of the season, with the Dogs having finished ninth the year before. They play Richmond this weekend before games against the Giants, Sydney and Collingwood.

?I think that we are in a bit of a phase of evolution within the team in determining how we make sure we deliver that high performance that we have the ability to do,? Watson-Wheeler said.

[bulldogtragic]

Re: Sharp Axes

Interesting read.

[Grantysghost]

Re: Sharp Axes

Lippa come back, you can blame it all on Bevo...we were wrong and we just can't live without you....

[Rocket Science]

Re: Sharp Axes

Interesting read.

Interesting as in revelatory?

Or simply interesting to hear qualified observers lay some of the most obvious list issues bare?

I felt it was pretty diplomatic tbh.

[bulldogtragic]

Re: Sharp Axes

Interesting as in revelatory?

Or simply interesting to hear qualified observers lay some of the most obvious list issues bare?

I felt it was pretty diplomatic tbh.

The latter. Very diplomatic.

[FrediKanoute]

Re: Sharp Axes

I don't buy the claim that the list isn't that good.

Bont - a generational player
Treloar - one of the game's top mid's
Libba - one of the game's top inside mid's
Naughton - one of the games best contested marks - back or forward
English - All Australian ruckman
L Jones - probably one of the best backmen in the game at the moment
B Dale - precision personified
E Richards - intercept marker/attacking backman
Flea - after Papley, the best mid sized forward going around
Macrae - the accumulator
JUH - a generational talent
Darcy - rising star

Sure we have or fair share of lesser lights, but we are not a team that should be sitting 3-5 and we are not a team that should be beaten by a mediocre Hawks team.

Something is wrong. Gameplan, motivation, skills, fitness, mental toughness........None of this is going to improve with Bevo remaining in charge.

[jeemak]

Re: Sharp Axes

I don't buy the claim that the list isn't that good.

Bont - a generational player
Treloar - one of the game's top mid's
Libba - one of the game's top inside mid's
Naughton - one of the games best contested marks - back or forward
English - All Australian ruckman
L Jones - probably one of the best backmen in the game at the moment
B Dale - precision personified
E Richards - intercept marker/attacking backman
Flea - after Papley, the best mid sized forward going around
Macrae - the accumulator
JUH - a generational talent
Darcy - rising star

Sure we have or fair share of lesser lights, but we are not a team that should be sitting 3-5 and we are not a team that should be beaten by a mediocre Hawks team.

Something is wrong. Gameplan, motivation, skills, fitness, mental toughness........None of this is going to improve with Bevo remaining in charge.

What about the rest?

This is Cornes stuff where you look at the good to reasonably good and discount the bad.

[FrediKanoute]

Re: Sharp Axes

What about the rest?

This is Cornes stuff where you look at the good to reasonably good and discount the bad.

The rest isn't that bad - West, Williams, Daniel, could easily be added to the list. So too JJ, Doc. Throw in Sanders, Gallagher, a developing JOD and KHamis and you have a strong core group. If you ask who is bad and probably not up to it.....that's a harder question.

Maybe it's not good enough to win a flag, but it should be good enough to beat the 2nd bottom team. It's easy to ignore Cornes because of the hyperbole that he creates, but he is right. This team has under performed and a different coach would probably have made more than 2 GF's and probably won more than 1 flag.

[jeemak]

Re: Sharp Axes

The rest isn't that bad - West, Williams, Daniel, could easily be added to the list. So too JJ, Doc. Throw in Sanders, Gallagher, a developing JOD and KHamis and you have a strong core group. If you ask who is bad and probably not up to it.....that's a harder question.

Maybe it's not good enough to win a flag, but it should be good enough to beat the 2nd bottom team. It's easy to ignore Cornes because of the hyperbole that he creates, but he is right. This team has under performed and a different coach would probably have made more than 2 GF's and probably won more than 1 flag.

We had almost thirty back half turnovers. For plus fifty against. That ain?t coaching or whatever, it?s shit execution.

At some point you need to accept that even if things go OK other teams are better than you.

[FrediKanoute]

Re: Sharp Axes

We had almost thirty back half turnovers. For plus fifty against. That ain?t coaching or whatever, it?s shit execution.

At some point you need to accept that even if things go OK other teams are better than you.

Disagree, shit execution starts somewhere. To have that many in a game and have that much scored against suggests the Hawks did their homework and pressured the ball handlers or the first kick receivers into a mistake. Yes we have some dodgy kickers. We also have some of the best kickers of a football.

There is something off about the way we play - some say unaccountable, some say an unwillingness to work hard when things aren't going right. That starts somewhere. Are we not committed enough at training? Do we go back to the comments Dunks made about not taking it seriously enough?

Seems to me that somewhere along the way a level of mediocrity was accepted and tolerated - I mean why would you not review a GF loss? I'd maybe understand if it as a heartbeaking loss (like the 97 Prelim), but this was a capitulation from the middle of the 3rd quarter onwards. That decision is a coaching decision. To me it sends the message to the playing group that they don't need to own that loss/fallure. Compare that to the 2019 Headingly Test where Justin Langer made the Aussie team sit through ball by ball the English 2nd innings analysing and owning the mistakes that they made. One team goes on to win the T20 WC, the ODI WC, the World Test Champs and retain the Ashes in Australia and England. The other.......

[Bullies]

Re: Sharp Axes

We had almost thirty back half turnovers. For plus fifty against. That ain?t coaching or whatever, it?s shit execution.

At some point you need to accept that even if things go OK other teams are better than you.

Sides know we turn it over when pressured. Watching the last 2 weeks against Freo and Hawks they don't allow the easy kick out down back. They give us no outlets and put doubts in the kickers mind. Guys like Bramble are good kicks generally when by themsleves but under pressure not so. We need to roll the dice from the backline and move it quick. Part of the reason Daniel is not in the back line is that he held the ball up and ran in circles stopping any fast movement.

[Grantysghost]

Re: Sharp Axes

We had almost thirty back half turnovers. For plus fifty against. That ain?t coaching or whatever, it?s shit execution.

At some point you need to accept that even if things go OK other teams are better than you.

The Hawks played pretty well their pressure was brilliant.
You won't win any games with that many back half turnovers.
It CAN be partly coaching though if the structure is failing and the outlets aren't there.
You'd need to go through each one.