Best/Starting 23, Round 1 2024

[SquirrelGrip]

Re: Best/Starting 23, Round 1 2024

Our wings are what worries me. Williams is a lock, but I'm not sure Baker and Poulter are up to it, so do we go an untried Bedendo, Gallagher, Freijah, Jones or do we rotate a mid Macrae, Treloar, Sanders, Daniel, Harmes, Garcia? Or do we bring up a half back Dale, Johannisen, Richards, Coffield? Or something else?

Here are opposition wings (my best guess or if I couldn't guess, the Herald Sun's 2024 predicted Round 1 team), with the ones that concern me bolded.

Adelaide Carlton Essendon Geelong GWS Melbourne PA St Kilda WCE

Soligo/Hinge O Hollands / Acres X Duursma/Cox Holmes/Blicavs Kelly/Cumming Hunter/Langdon Drew/Wines Hill/Henry Gaff/Hunt

Brisbane Collingwood Freo GCS Hawthorn NM Richmond Sydney

McLuggage/Fletcher Sidebottom/J Daicos Aish/Young Anderson/Ellis Nash/Amon Scott/Stephens Ross/McIntosh Gulden/Florent

[Axe Man]

Re: Best/Starting 23, Round 1 2024

LOOKS GOOD ON PAPER: AN EARLY LOOK AT THE WESTERN BULLDOGS? BEST 22 IN 2024

The Western Bulldogs will enter 2024 with high expectations.

Many pundits believe they have one of the most talented lists on paper, a list which underachieved in 2023 to narrowly miss finals.

In defence, there are plenty of questions to be asked.

Does Sam Darcy start immediately? Is Ryan Gardner an integral part of the backline? Should Alex Keath play?

The Bulldogs fans we canvassed for this assignment were somewhat divided when it came to the Dogs? defence, with some opting for Darcy as a certain starter and others believing he should earn his spot in the team.

We feel, provided he puts on some size this off-season, that his raw ability and upside lands him a starting position.

Liam Jones is the clear No.1 key defender at The Kennel and James O?Donnell should be given time to develop in the seniors, with that pair ahead of Gardner and Keath.

Recruit Nick Coffield is expected to slide straight into the team, or at least make his way in early, while Bailey Dale and Ed Richards are absolute locks on the half-back flanks.

The midfield is basically set. Or is it?

Captain and superstar Marcus Bontempelli leads the way and is ably supported by Tom Liberatore.

Adam Treloar will be around the fringes while spending some time forward, Caleb Daniel could start forward but is equally as effective in defence or through the midfield.

Bailey Williams and Jason Johannisen could well hold down the wing slots, but there will likely be rotation through there.

The sticking point is Jack Macrae and where Luke Beveridge decides to play him. Most Doggies fans believe he is best suited in amongst the action as opposed to a periphery role across half-forward.

We feel the same way and believe Macrae is a genuine midfield starter.

Draftee Ryley Sanders is expected to have an immediate impact and Melbourne premiership player James Harmes should play plenty of senior footy.

Bailey Smith has not been considered due to the ACL injury that is expected to sideline him for the majority of next year.

The forward line looks in very good shape, led by multi-year money man Aaron Naughton and the enormously talented Jamarra Ugle-Hagan.

Periphery players like Treloar and Daniel can impact around 50, Rory Lobb is the third marking option and Cody Weightman is the small who can play taller.

The small forward depth comes in the form of Anthony Scott and Rhylee West who both will be banging down the door to start.

There are a number of positions that are still up for grabs across the 22 (plus the sub), with the likes of Taylor Duryea, Caleb Poulter, Dom Bedendo, Luke Cleary and Arthur Jones.

SEE THEIR BEST 22 BELOW

B: N.Coffield, L.Jones, J.O?Donnell
HB: B.Dale, S.Darcy, E.Richards
C: B.Williams, T.Liberatore, J.Johannisen
HF: A.Treloar, A.Naughton, C.Daniel
F: R.Lobb, J.Ugle-Hagan, C.Weightman
Fol: T.English, M.Bontempelli, J.Macrae
Int: A.Scott, R.Sanders, J.Harmes, R.West, O.Baker (sub)
EMG: T.Duryea, C.Poulter, R.Gardner, D.Bedendo

Overall thoughts: On paper, things stack up fairly well for the Bulldogs.

We?re not quite as bullish as Kane Cornes is when it comes to their list, but surely it?s good enough to play finals again.

It feels like there are some absolute locks but a lot of positions are well up for grabs.

Things have changed markedly off-field in terms of Beveridge?s coaching department which indicates there could potentially be an alteration in game plan.

But the playing personnel is largely the same, aside from a few recruits and draftees, and the fortunes of the club will rely on those who Beveridge selects each week.

There?s no doubting the talent at the Whitten Oval. They just need to put it all together so they can return to contending at the pointy end once again.

[Guest]

Re: Best/Starting 23, Round 1 2024

Pretty much in agreement with your thoughts on the best 22 Axeman with a couple of small changes for me. Would definitely have Taylor Duryea on the bench instead of Anthony Scott and as per previous post I am pretty keen on Dom Bedendo if he gets through the full pre-season unscathed from a injury perspective - he would be in before Oscar Baker for mine.

[Axe Man]

Re: Best/Starting 23, Round 1 2024

Pretty much in agreement with your thoughts on the best 22 Axeman with a couple of small changes for me. Would definitely have Taylor Duryea on the bench instead of Anthony Scott and as per previous post I am pretty keen on Dom Bedendo if he gets through the full pre-season unscathed from a injury perspective - he would be in before Oscar Baker for mine.

Not my thoughts Olddog, it's from SEN.

[mjp]

Re: Best/Starting 23, Round 1 2024

Baker is an interesting one. Most people tend to have Poulter, a regular mid or a bolter ahead of him. In fact I think this is the first team I've seen him in.

Aside from Scott who do you see rotating on the wing in this team?
Do you see Harmes and Daniel getting time in the middle?

I just think Baker (vs Poulter):
- Runs better
- Kicks it better
- Has the capacity to play at half-back

Additional wing support:
- OK. So in my world I would run a 2x Bench/8x on-field rotation (I am not including Scott).
- Bench: Sanders and Macrae.
- On-field: 3x IMIDS (Bont, Treloar, Liber), 2x OMIDS (Williams, Baker), 3x Forwards (Daniel, Weighman, Harmes).

Basically just run a rotate and replace system but:
- Macrae and Liber only play inside.
- Baker only plays wing.

So essentially from the starting line-up, if Liber comes and Sanders is next up, he rolls inside. Then if Daniel comes next, Macrae would go inside and push Bontempelli forward etc.

You simply can't have preset rotations in 2024...it's gotta be roll and go and let the S+C coaches call the numbers based on load. Clear mandate (of course) for who is on-field in the last 5 minutes of games.

[mjp]

Re: Best/Starting 23, Round 1 2024

SEE THEIR BEST 22 BELOW

B: N.Coffield, L.Jones, J.O?Donnell
HB: B.Dale, S.Darcy, E.Richards
C: B.Williams, T.Liberatore, J.Johannisen
HF: A.Treloar, A.Naughton, C.Daniel
F: R.Lobb, J.Ugle-Hagan, C.Weightman
Fol: T.English, M.Bontempelli, J.Macrae
Int: A.Scott, R.Sanders, J.Harmes, R.West, O.Baker (sub)
EMG: T.Duryea, C.Poulter, R.Gardner, D.Bedendo

Yeah - good one. We're playing Melbourne and need a matchup for Pickett.

Who's going to do that? Every oppo team has a dangerous small and we can't name a 'best 22' without one.

Sorry for including your name in the post Axe - I know it's not your team but for goodness sake, we need to have SOME structure.

[Bornadog]

Re: Best/Starting 23, Round 1 2024

Yeah - good one. We're playing Melbourne and need a matchup for Pickett.

Who's going to do that? Every oppo team has a dangerous small and we can't name a 'best 22' without one.

Sorry for including your name in the post Axe - I know it's not your team but for goodness sake, we need to have SOME structure.

Those guys highlighted are backline - 191cm, 199cm, 197cm - CHB Darcy 206cmn, and Ed and Dale 188cm and don't play small - Pickett will have a ball

[lemmon]

Re: Best/Starting 23, Round 1 2024

Yeah - good one. We're playing Melbourne and need a matchup for Pickett.

Who's going to do that? Every oppo team has a dangerous small and we can't name a 'best 22' without one.

Sorry for including your name in the post Axe - I know it's not your team but for goodness sake, we need to have SOME structure.

Who on the list is 'that guy' though? Duryea has been over his career, but looked borderline done last year. Does Richards have to do it? I hope not considering he's our best intercept player. I think JJ is not a bad defender but we lost a lot without his dash last year when he was out of the side so I can't see us asking him to be the accountable small back.

Completely agree that we need a first-choice small defender, but I look at our list and don't see one

[mjp]

Re: Best/Starting 23, Round 1 2024

Who on the list is 'that guy' though? Duryea has been over his career, but looked borderline done last year. Does Richards have to do it? I hope not considering he's our best intercept player. I think JJ is not a bad defender but we lost a lot without his dash last year when he was out of the side so I can't see us asking him to be the accountable small back.

Completely agree that we need a first-choice small defender, but I look at our list and don't see one

JJ was making a good fist of it last year. He simply HAS to do it...otherwise we need to:

1/. Play Duryea.
2/. Abandon thoughts of Gallagher as a mid and play him there.

I'm not sure there's a 3.

[SquirrelGrip]

Re: Best/Starting 23, Round 1 2024

I just think Baker (vs Poulter):
- Runs better
- Kicks it better
- Has the capacity to play at half-back

Additional wing support:
- OK. So in my world I would run a 2x Bench/8x on-field rotation (I am not including Scott).
- Bench: Sanders and Macrae.
- On-field: 3x IMIDS (Bont, Treloar, Liber), 2x OMIDS (Williams, Baker), 3x Forwards (Daniel, Weighman, Harmes).

Basically just run a rotate and replace system but:
- Macrae and Liber only play inside.
- Baker only plays wing.

So essentially from the starting line-up, if Liber comes and Sanders is next up, he rolls inside. Then if Daniel comes next, Macrae would go inside and push Bontempelli forward etc.

You simply can't have preset rotations in 2024...it's gotta be roll and go and let the S+C coaches call the numbers based on load. Clear mandate (of course) for who is on-field in the last 5 minutes of games.

Great to read some in depth analysis of our wings, as it is a weakness. Those rotations make sense and increased rotations are probably what we missed last year. I'm still not convinced about Baker. I'm not sure he kicks it better unless you are measuring height as a qualitative measure.

Also do you assume we continue with the half-forward rolling up as an extra mid as we have all through Bevo's tenure? Anyone at the match sims notice if we are making any structural changes there?

[Bornadog]

Re: Best/Starting 23, Round 1 2024

Great to read some in depth analysis of our wings, as it is a weakness. Those rotations make sense and increased rotations are probably what we missed last year. I'm still not convinced about Baker. I'm not sure he kicks it better unless you are measuring height as a qualitative measure.

Also do you assume we continue with the half-forward rolling up as an extra mid as we have all through Bevo's tenure? Anyone at the match sims notice if we are making any structural changes there?

Nice take by Baker over Poulter

https://twitter.com/westernbulldogs/status/1737715521976455327

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Re: Best/Starting 23, Round 1 2024

I just think Baker (vs Poulter):
- Runs better
- Kicks it better
- Has the capacity to play at half-back

Additional wing support:
- OK. So in my world I would run a 2x Bench/8x on-field rotation (I am not including Scott).
- Bench: Sanders and Macrae.
- On-field: 3x IMIDS (Bont, Treloar, Liber), 2x OMIDS (Williams, Baker), 3x Forwards (Daniel, Weighman, Harmes).

Basically just run a rotate and replace system but:
- Macrae and Liber only play inside.
- Baker only plays wing.

So essentially from the starting line-up, if Liber comes and Sanders is next up, he rolls inside. Then if Daniel comes next, Macrae would go inside and push Bontempelli forward etc.

You simply can't have preset rotations in 2024...it's gotta be roll and go and let the S+C coaches call the numbers based on load. Clear mandate (of course) for who is on-field in the last 5 minutes of games.

Love the detail in this MJP.
I don't have any footy tactical nous,so can't add or debate, but I love reading this type of tactical related discussion from those, like yourself Mike, who are.

[Bulldog Joe]

Re: Best/Starting 23, Round 1 2024

JJ was making a good fist of it last year. He simply HAS to do it...otherwise we need to:

1/. Play Duryea.
2/. Abandon thoughts of Gallagher as a mid and play him there.

I'm not sure there's a 3.

I agree on JJ as the best option and felt his defending had improved a lot prior to injury.

I think he should be the Duryea replacement we talk about at least for 2024.

Has the pace to go with the dangerous smalls and the added ability to provide run and be dangerous to the opposition.

[GVGjr]

Re: Best/Starting 23, Round 1 2024

JJ was making a good fist of it last year. He simply HAS to do it...otherwise we need to:

1/. Play Duryea.
2/. Abandon thoughts of Gallagher as a mid and play him there.

I'm not sure there's a 3.

Perhaps Bramble could be that option.

[mjp]

Re: Best/Starting 23, Round 1 2024

Perhaps Bramble could be that option.

So - I thought about that. I mean, the club got Bramble in to PLAY (that tends to be the plan with mature age recruits from other clubs) and I figured it would be as a back.

The challenge I had with selecting Bramble for that role is I was getting Starcevich vs Hill GF 2023 vibes when I thought about Bramble vs Pickett/Cameron/Ryan etc...

Honestly mate I don't know enough about Bramble to picture him in that role.