Western Bulldogs vs Hawthorn - Practice Game 23/02/24

[merantau]

Re: Western Bulldogs vs Hawthorn - Practice Game 23/02/24

I read the entire thread. I'm in Indonesia atm. Mt take: we've picked up a fair number of new recruits and together with the usual suspects Woof is in for a great year. Welcome to all the new Woofers. Go Dogs!

[The Underdog]

Re: Western Bulldogs vs Hawthorn - Practice Game 23/02/24

Some observations / stupid questions.

*Darcy looks well ahead of where I thought he'd be as a ruckman. I always thought he could play as a key forward or back, but he looks like ruck #2 already. Excellent around the ground too.
*Really liked Cleary's game, maybe more than Coffield's.
*Yeah, so this Sanders kid could be ok. He and Libba together is a beautiful thing.
*In my mind I always think Oskar Baker is a player that should be squeezed out of our best 22 on talent, and then he plays and looks like he might be our best wingman. Not sure it's a good thing, but it's a thing.
*What's the difference between a practice match and match simulation? Does match simulation happen in multiple universes with multiple outcomes?
*It's Lachie McNeil time.
*Love a commentator who is amazed that a guy in his first year of AFL only turns 19 this week. Will wonders never cease?
*Lots of positives, and nothing means much, but some of our defensive positioning out of stoppage and broken plays seemed sub-optimal.
*Khamis as the 3rd tall could work.

[JanLorMill]

Re: Western Bulldogs vs Hawthorn - Practice Game 23/02/24

JJ looks in great nick and played well. Will be good to have him back in, hopefully injury free.

I thought his kicking was poor but I saw it on Kayo

[JanLorMill]

Re: Western Bulldogs vs Hawthorn - Practice Game 23/02/24

Darcy to Sanders is something I could get used to.

[ledge]

Re: Western Bulldogs vs Hawthorn - Practice Game 23/02/24

Darcy to Sanders is something I could get used to.

Or Sanders to Darcy up forward.

[Guest]

Re: Western Bulldogs vs Hawthorn - Practice Game 23/02/24

Finally watched the replay.

As everyone could see Sanders is a elite prospect and ready to roll. Cannot believe Maginess went on him in second half.

impressed with Khamis, Coffield, West and Darcy. If JOD is in doubt just play Jones, Khamis and Coff on the talls. West set ateast 5 scoring assists. McNeil got on the end of a couple and he played well but have West and Weightman ahead, he would be on my bench or sub.

If anything happen to TIm we are covered with Darcy and Lobb. By 2025 Darcy will be ready for a number q ruck role.

We do have depth in most lines now. Our backline looks good and thank god common sense took place and Khamis has gone back. We have depth now with Gards and Keath as backups and not in the best 22.

no excuses this year.

[josie]

Re: Western Bulldogs vs Hawthorn - Practice Game 23/02/24

I also thought Cleary was good.

I keep thinking of Matrix when they refer to match simulations. For us it would be do you want the red, white or blue pill.

[JanLorMill]

Re: Western Bulldogs vs Hawthorn - Practice Game 23/02/24

impressed with Khamis, Coffield, West and Darcy. If JOD is in doubt just play Jones, Khamis and Coff on the talls.

More worried about a possible Jones injury. Hawks had 1 tall and gunston, another one with only Khamis and Coff covering isn't gonna work.
Darcy could cover but not sure 3 talls ruck size works and he is better suited up forward.

[Dazza]

Re: Western Bulldogs vs Hawthorn - Practice Game 23/02/24

More worried about a possible Jones injury. Hawks had 1 tall and gunston, another one with only Khamis and Coff covering isn't gonna work.
Darcy could cover but not sure 3 talls ruck size works and he is better suited up forward.

I absolutely love Darcy as a player but I don't think defence suits him at all. Doesn't have the pace required against elite KPF's and doesn't have the strength yet either.

Ruck/KPF is 100% his role going forward IMO

[kruder]

Re: Western Bulldogs vs Hawthorn - Practice Game 23/02/24

It was a pleasure to get to watch Libba up close and personal yesterday, the way he attacks the ball is on another level and he is just so clean thought he was brilliant.He has some real size across his shoulders these days looks a real unit.

Naughty looked really athletic yesterday, he was moving as good as I've ever seen him that big deal doesn't look like it has done him any harm yet. Utilising him further from goal should help to create more space/separation in our three tall set up.

Sanders is the right pick at the right time considering we have an ageing midfield. He was running around looking like a Brownlow medalist I would suggest his first half was better than anything Baz and Macrae put out last year.

Cody was covering the ground so well, he really does have the ability to impact a game in the mould of Papley there is no doubt about it.

Fingers crossed Liam Jones can stay healthy, his positioning, closing speed is on another level you wouldn't know he was in the twilight of his career. While we are on defence, Buku's kicking was impressive while most of our defenders struggled by foot I thought. Hopefully it was the conditions and a bit of rust because its an area we struggled with last year while playing three talls in defence.

Mcsteal played his best game for the club there is no doubt about it, that's exactly how a fringe/role player should attack a preseason outing. He did the basics well, got front and centre a lot but I will hold judgment on him until he nails gettable goals when the whips are cracking. I think we all agree that we lack natural/specialist small forwards on the list fingers crossed Clarke can keep improving.

Harmes and Coffield are two really good role players the classic moneyball selections that can make that small percentage difference over the year in a really tight competition.

Who looked best? If Sanders looked like a Brownlow medalist, Bontempelli looked like he was from another planet.

Hopefully next year once the stand is done we can have an official practice match there, you just get to appreciate how good the players are from that kind of distance.

[Bornadog]

Re: Western Bulldogs vs Hawthorn - Practice Game 23/02/24

Thanks Kruder, nice update

[Guest]

Re: Western Bulldogs vs Hawthorn - Practice Game 23/02/24

Great to have the footy back! Watched the game sitting next to Libba snr too, he would have been very pleased as Tom run around and did his thing, as he always does.

Always a positive time of year and these games you just hope the guys get a run, the kids show a bit and no one gets hurt (hoping JOD's ankle is just a tweek)

The positives I took out of it;

- Riley Sanders, WOW we've certainly got one there. Zips around accumulating, great vision, V good disposal and does all the defensive stuff too. With an ageing midfield and uncertainty around Baz's future I'm wrapped they chose Sanders over Watson.

- Good day for the Rhylee's. Westy was fantastic and should be a lock for Round 1. Dominated across HF, particularly the first 1/4. Good link between mid and forward line.

- Talls - despite the wind, all the talls were dominant in the air. Naughts marked everything and looks great up the ground. Lobb took some strong contested marks up on the wing also. Darcy will be a wonderful forward/R2 for a long time. Not sure how that mix works come round 1. If all fit Darc may well start in the VFL, but won't be there for long.

- McNeil, played a good small forwards game and also probably played himself into Round 1 also.

- Clear plan and defined roles - Collectively there was a clear plan to at least try and move the ball forward at all times and quickly. There was very little going backwards and they seemed to get the balance right between the short/long ball movement. Under the roof at Marvel this quick ball movement will make the talls hard to stop.

The players also seemed to have far more defined roles and weren't thrown around and there didn't seem to be any Easton Wood forward, ridiculous role changes experimented with.

The squads were well organised to allow fringe players maximum time in their roles. Some examples were the pairing of Poulter/Baker on the wing in the first game, Bedendo/Freija in the 2nd. Lobb/Darcy and English/Smith. Pushing Bont and Treloar into the seconds game gave great exposure to Sanders and Gallagher in the midfield. The defined roles for all players, particularly the youngsters will go along way to helping them settle and thrive.

The second 1/4 fade out was a concern as oppo run ons was a huge problem last year, hopefully this area continues to improve.

Battle for Round 1 spots for me:

Defenders - I've still got JOD over Gardy (pending fitness) Buku and Coffield over Dureya and Cleary.

Wings - Williams, Poulter and Scott, over Baker and Bedendo.

Small forwards - Weightman, West and McNeil over Arty and Clarke

Unless they find room for both I've got Lobb just shading Darc for Round 1.

[Dazza]

Re: Western Bulldogs vs Hawthorn - Practice Game 23/02/24

Great to have the footy back! Watched the game sitting next to Libba snr too, he would have been very pleased as Tom run around and did his thing, as he always does.

Always a positive time of year and these games you just hope the guys get a run, the kids show a bit and no one gets hurt (hoping JOD's ankle is just a tweek)

The positives I took out of it;

- Riley Sanders, WOW we've certainly got one there. Zips around accumulating, great vision, V good disposal and does all the defensive stuff too. With an ageing midfield and uncertainty around Baz's future I'm wrapped they chose Sanders over Watson.

- Good day for the Rhylee's. Westy was fantastic and should be a lock for Round 1. Dominated across HF, particularly the first 1/4. Good link between mid and forward line.

- Talls - despite the wind, all the talls were dominant in the air. Naughts marked everything and looks great up the ground. Lobb took some strong contested marks up on the wing also. Darcy will be a wonderful forward/R2 for a long time. Not sure how that mix works come round 1. If all fit Darc may well start in the VFL, but won't be there for long.

- McNeil, played a good small forwards game and also probably played himself into Round 1 also.

- Clear plan and defined roles - Collectively there was a clear plan to at least try and move the ball forward at all times and quickly. There was very little going backwards and they seemed to get the balance right between the short/long ball movement. Under the roof at Marvel this quick ball movement will make the talls hard to stop.

The players also seemed to have far more defined roles and weren't thrown around and there didn't seem to be any Easton Wood forward, ridiculous role changes experimented with.

The squads were well organised to allow fringe players maximum time in their roles. Some examples were the pairing of Poulter/Baker on the wing in the first game, Bedendo/Freija in the 2nd. Lobb/Darcy and English/Smith. Pushing Bont and Treloar into the seconds game gave great exposure to Sanders and Gallagher in the midfield. The defined roles for all players, particularly the youngsters will go along way to helping them settle and thrive.

The second 1/4 fade out was a concern as oppo run ons was a huge problem last year, hopefully this area continues to improve.

Battle for Round 1 spots for me:

Defenders - I've still got JOD over Gardy (pending fitness) Buku and Coffield over Dureya and Cleary.

Wings - Williams, Poulter and Scott, over Baker and Bedendo.

Small forwards - Weightman, West and McNeil over Arty and Clarke

Unless they find room for both I've got Lobb just shading Darc for Round 1.

I love Wests attack on the ball. You'd back him to win the pill in most 50/50 situations. He often will win it 2v1.

[doggies ftw]

Re: Western Bulldogs vs Hawthorn - Practice Game 23/02/24

It was a pleasure to get to watch Libba up close and personal yesterday, the way he attacks the ball is on another level and he is just so clean thought he was brilliant.He has some real size across his shoulders these days looks a real unit.

Naughty looked really athletic yesterday, he was moving as good as I've ever seen him that big deal doesn't look like it has done him any harm yet. Utilising him further from goal should help to create more space/separation in our three tall set up.

Sanders is the right pick at the right time considering we have an ageing midfield. He was running around looking like a Brownlow medalist I would suggest his first half was better than anything Baz and Macrae put out last year.

Cody was covering the ground so well, he really does have the ability to impact a game in the mould of Papley there is no doubt about it.

Fingers crossed Liam Jones can stay healthy, his positioning, closing speed is on another level you wouldn't know he was in the twilight of his career. While we are on defence, Buku's kicking was impressive while most of our defenders struggled by foot I thought. Hopefully it was the conditions and a bit of rust because its an area we struggled with last year while playing three talls in defence.

Mcsteal played his best game for the club there is no doubt about it, that's exactly how a fringe/role player should attack a preseason outing. He did the basics well, got front and centre a lot but I will hold judgment on him until he nails gettable goals when the whips are cracking. I think we all agree that we lack natural/specialist small forwards on the list fingers crossed Clarke can keep improving.

Harmes and Coffield are two really good role players the classic moneyball selections that can make that small percentage difference over the year in a really tight competition.

Who looked best? If Sanders looked like a Brownlow medalist, Bontempelli looked like he was from another planet.

Hopefully next year once the stand is done we can have an official practice match there, you just get to appreciate how good the players are from that kind of distance.

Agree the kicking out of defence was poor but think that?ll improve with probably our two best ball users in Red & Dale to come back and take some load off the other guys.

Great write up 👍

[jeemak]

Re: Western Bulldogs vs Hawthorn - Practice Game 23/02/24

Some of the malaise in the second quarter coming out of defence was exacerbated by wanting to bring the ball grandstand side rather than the defensive side. This made it easier for the Hawks to set up, increase pressure and score.

You'd hope that in an actual game of footy more of the ball coming out of defence would be directed via the Hawkins wing.