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I read this article From The Top Deck, and it tickled my fancy. Sorry if its a bit on the longish side.
Thought it would be interesting to hear/read thoughts from the forum. I pretty much agree with most of it = I'm sure most of us do to some extent.
ANyway here it is
After the disaster of the first two weeks, the Dogs? past three games have given no reason to panic. Two grind-it-out wins against good-ish sides and an ugly but understandable close-ish loss to a team around their level.The problem isn?t with the record, or even with the lousy percentage. It?s not the inconsistent forward line or the patchwork key-back collection. The problem is that they?re not very good at anything anymore.
We (I) spent most of 2022 holding them to (hoping for) the standard of 2021, and they never got there. But there was at least the hope that the midfield could get a hold of teams and dominate possession and territory. That?s not there right now.
It?s easy to point to Josh Dunkley?s departure, and that certainly hasn?t helped. It?s deeper though.
Marcus Bontempelli is arguably the best player in the league and playing great, Tim English would be the All-Australian ruck right now, after that it gets dicey.
Tom Liberatore has been good but down on 2022 which was down on 2021, Jack Macrae is a shadow of the player he was 12 months ago, Lachie Hunter is missed, Bailey Smith hasn?t taken the next step ? and is now injured.
Adam Treloar has been one of the Dogs? best players this season, but he?s become a grunt, instead of the line-breaking inside-out player of his best.
The powerful, deep midfield is no more. It?s still good, just not good enough to raise the ceiling any higher than mid-table.
Then there?s the issue of age.
It?s OK to be old. Most old teams are good. For the most part players don?t stick around into their 30s unless they?re good. Mature players are more consistent and reliable; coaches trust them more.
That?s all well and good, having a chunk of mature players tends to raise a team?s floor. In the case of the Dogs, though, it?s lowering their ceiling.
We know who Mitch Hannan (29), Tim O?Brien (29) and Anthony Scott (28) are. They?re OK as depth, they?re OK as players 21-23 in a great team that?s humming, they?re not raising the level of this Dogs team.
Liam Jones (32) has been good, Rory Lobb (30) has been worse than disappointing.
Taylor Duryea (32, and one of my favourites) looks like he?s been tapped on the shoulder by Father Time, Toby McLean (27) is looking like a player who had two knee reconstructions in as many years.
The season is longer than ever, and it?s still young. Knock off the Dockers in a very winnable game and they?re well placed after a testing first six weeks.
I don?t think this is a bad team, but for them to be good they need a lot of players to step up ? and they desperately need to figure out whatever the hell is going on with their transition defending, or lack of.
Some other thoughts
Thought it would be interesting to hear/read thoughts from the forum. I pretty much agree with most of it = I'm sure most of us do to some extent.
ANyway here it is
After the disaster of the first two weeks, the Dogs? past three games have given no reason to panic. Two grind-it-out wins against good-ish sides and an ugly but understandable close-ish loss to a team around their level.The problem isn?t with the record, or even with the lousy percentage. It?s not the inconsistent forward line or the patchwork key-back collection. The problem is that they?re not very good at anything anymore.
We (I) spent most of 2022 holding them to (hoping for) the standard of 2021, and they never got there. But there was at least the hope that the midfield could get a hold of teams and dominate possession and territory. That?s not there right now.
It?s easy to point to Josh Dunkley?s departure, and that certainly hasn?t helped. It?s deeper though.
Marcus Bontempelli is arguably the best player in the league and playing great, Tim English would be the All-Australian ruck right now, after that it gets dicey.
Tom Liberatore has been good but down on 2022 which was down on 2021, Jack Macrae is a shadow of the player he was 12 months ago, Lachie Hunter is missed, Bailey Smith hasn?t taken the next step ? and is now injured.
Adam Treloar has been one of the Dogs? best players this season, but he?s become a grunt, instead of the line-breaking inside-out player of his best.
The powerful, deep midfield is no more. It?s still good, just not good enough to raise the ceiling any higher than mid-table.
Then there?s the issue of age.
It?s OK to be old. Most old teams are good. For the most part players don?t stick around into their 30s unless they?re good. Mature players are more consistent and reliable; coaches trust them more.
That?s all well and good, having a chunk of mature players tends to raise a team?s floor. In the case of the Dogs, though, it?s lowering their ceiling.
We know who Mitch Hannan (29), Tim O?Brien (29) and Anthony Scott (28) are. They?re OK as depth, they?re OK as players 21-23 in a great team that?s humming, they?re not raising the level of this Dogs team.
Liam Jones (32) has been good, Rory Lobb (30) has been worse than disappointing.
Taylor Duryea (32, and one of my favourites) looks like he?s been tapped on the shoulder by Father Time, Toby McLean (27) is looking like a player who had two knee reconstructions in as many years.
The season is longer than ever, and it?s still young. Knock off the Dockers in a very winnable game and they?re well placed after a testing first six weeks.
I don?t think this is a bad team, but for them to be good they need a lot of players to step up ? and they desperately need to figure out whatever the hell is going on with their transition defending, or lack of.
Some other thoughts
- The skipper didn?t attend a centre bounce after the 11-minute mark of the last term against Port. If he was knackered, they need to find a way to conserve his energy; if it was strategy, they need a better one.
- I?m all in on Arthur Jones, but he probably needs to find a goal soon or head back to the twos for some touch. That?s fine, he?s young and his energy is great.
- Has Caleb Daniel hit a target on his left so far this season?
- Didn?t concede a score from opponent D50 chains in round five, but the weather saved them a couple of times when the Power moved it pretty easily the length of the field and then couldn?t cap it off. Something is still very wrong there.
- So good to have Weightman back, not just the marking and the energy but it?s bloody nice to trust a player in front of goal. Having him, Naughton and Jamarra working together should make life much easier for struggling Lobb ? should.
- Have been pleasantly surprised by how well Johannisen has slotted into his old role in defence. He?s defended well and been solid with his disposals and decisions while still providing dash. Nice one, Bevo.
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