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Western Bulldogs Football Club "Where it's cool to drool" -
Having a shot at best 22 for rd 1.
Duryea Jones Busslinger
Dale Lobb Bramble
Freijah Richards Williams
Davidson Naughton Weightman
West Ugle-Hagan Darcy
English Bontempelli Treloar
M.Kennedy Johnnisen Liberatore Garcia
sub .Sanders.
i will probably change my mind tomorrow but yeah 1st try.Comment
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Really like your efforts since you have come on board.
I think I would be pretty happy if this was the team we rolled out for round 1.
Last year we had started a mid at half back as a regular occurrence when we were really going well.
I wonder if that might be a way to get someone like Sanders involved.Life is to be Enjoyed not EnduredComment
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Im a big rap for sanders ball getter but kinda one paced would love him in the side but who do i leave out Garcia has been tearing the place up this pre season, Johnnisen I'm hopping will be cherry ripe come round one , but he really needs to go back to attacking the ball ( aka 2016) when he saw ball got ball and ran that's the key to his game run run run weather he can recapture that form again well the jury is still out ,but to me he is a key .
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Are there any leading candidates to be this seasons Macrae/Daniel? Absolute locks who surprisingly find themselves without a good role in the side?
The obvious possibilities are Jones and Libba.
Jones obviously started to look a bit shaky towards the end of the season, hopefully with Lobb is no longer the most crucial member of our back 6. The issue is the replacements are all non best 22 AFL guys.
Libba is the really interesting one. Doesnt cover the ground nearly as quickly or well as others, has an inability to play anywhere other than inside mid. He's awesome but I think becomes real vulnerable if his form drops off and if his pre season form isn't great does he miss out?
It would free up 70% CBA time, allow us to upgrade Richards from a 50% guy to 70% (something we ALL want to do), enables us to give the likes of Garcia/Sanders more time in their preferred role and means we have better spread across the ground.Last edited by soupman; 26-12-2024, 08:25 PM.I should leave it alone but you're not rightComment
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Libba should have been encouraged to retire, and if he wasn't then at the least should have had a conversation along the lines of "we will be prioritising youth if they are performing well, and there is a chance you will play VFL even if fit". I agree with the positives you have mentioned.
I don't think Treloar will get dropped, but he is also every chance to miss more games next year. I think last season was only the second time in his career that he played every game.Comment
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With the above in mind I'm gonna run with this 22, in the scenario where Libba isn't a clear best 4 mid guy at that point of pre season.
Backs. Basically the standard set. Except I'm not picking the third tall unless they really earn it. I'd rather go in undersized with more pace and quality than pick JOD because he is better suited to playing on North's third tall.
Jones, Lobb, Duryea, Freijah, Bramble, Dale, JJ
Mids. No Libba means a big slice of CBA gametime to share around.
Bont 70, Treloar 70, Richards 70, Garcia 50, Kennedy 20, Weightman 20
Gets more pace in there through Garcia and Weightman, Sanders next in line to replace Riley.
Wings Williams and Scott are my preferred choices. Both versatile, hold their space well, good mix of attributes and cover ground well. I like the idea of Davidson but think he is next in line. Would push Freijah up here if we wanted an extra tall back (and Scott out).
Forwards Jamarra, Darcy, Naughton, Weightman, Kennedy with McNeil and Vandermeer clearly our best two pacy options at this stage, despite their actions with ball in hand. They get those spots until pushed out. West also in there as the best crumbing option, with the smaller guys helping out on the wings (and as already stated mid rotations.
English ruck. Looks like this
29, 19, 15
31, 7, 27
34, 4, 28
30, 33, 23
3, 10, 2
44, 20, 1
39, 38, 8, 14
Sub the best performed of Davidson, Jones, Harmes (lol), Gallagher.
if we wanted the extra tall Scott to sub, and probably Khamis but very form dependant. Khamis at least is good at something, JOD is a bit meh all round at this stage, Buss unproven but happy to try.
I should leave it alone but you're not rightComment
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Overall mate this is such a great post. Clear explanations...genuinely loved it.
Not sure why you LOL Harmes as the sub though. Inexperienced players are terrible subs as they come on late and cant pick up the speed of the game in close contests and make COSTLY errors.
Harmes is (to me) the absolutely rolled gold perfect sub. Experienced. Knows it's a way 'IN'. Can run. And has shown he can kick goals.
Bloody great idea if you ask me.What should I tell her? She's going to ask.Comment
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Calling for Libba to be tapped on the shoulder seems quite premature and slightly disrespectful.
I'm not delusional, he's declining. No doubt about that. But he still led our club for clearances and tackles per game.
Heck, he was second to the bloke who broke the record for brownlow votes in a year in average clearances per game competition wide. If we are down by 5 points and need a clearance he's still my first picked to go into the centre square in 2025.
He was part of a midfield/team that got slaughtered by Hawthorn in the final. He's prior games before that he was quite good.
He's game time needs to reduce. He was around 80% most weeks, I believe that needs to dip to 65-70%. Allowing Richards to play a more prominent role and give opportunities to Sanders, Kennedy ect. He's also a prime candidate to be subbed out some weeks.
I'm still backing him in to have a really solid year and be easily best 23.Comment
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He's still got a lot to offer and he sets a great example on the training track. The concerns are the decline in form but more importantly the chance that concussion issues could be a problem at some point.
I wouldn't be writing him off but I get why some are concerned.Western Bulldogs Football Club "Where it's cool to drool"Comment
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First crack after reading through the training reports and how North will likely line up Round 1
Backs: I’m rolling with 2 talls so unfortunately Buss misses out. North will likely have Larkey, Darling and Dhursma. We can cover that with Jones, Lobb and Freijah.
Duryea Jones Bramble
Dale Lobb Freijah
Wings: This was the most difficult call, who to partner with Williams. In the end I’ve gone with Poulter. I like his size, running power and he is a true wingman. He put together some good form
last year, obviously plenty for him to work on but I like his upside and still developing. Gallagher was my 3rd option here.
inside mids: easiest line to pick for me, I’m rolling with Bont, Richards and Treloar with Libba on the bench. I think Bont will continue to drift forward and I can see us spinning more numbers through there in 2025 with a mix of Garcia, Weightman and possibly West.
English Bont Richards Treloar
Poulter and Williams on the Wings.
Forwards: I’m going with the traditional set up here 3 Talls and surrounding them with blokes who will play role. Darcy, Marra and Naughton and Weightman pick themselves.
The other 2 for me are Garcia and West.
Garcia Naughton West
Marra Darcy Weightman.
Sub: Harmes, like the post above mentions he can play multiple roles and is experienced and a good team mate.
interchange:
Sanders
Kennedy
JJ
Libba
Emergency:
Buss Gags McNeil VDM
It’s very likely this team won’t take the field due to injuries etc and of course Bevos bingo selection.
What worries me is pace still….so could be convinced to get Gags in for Poulter or VDM/Mcneil for Garcia.
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Yeh I'm not trying to shit on Libba, but he is 33 next season with a pretty significant injury history. The likelihood that he plays less than 15 games next year is pretty high. I'm okay with him being on the list but think his form didn't always warrant him being a walk up start, and realistically for our team to improve we need someone to be taking Libba's spot next year. The worst thing we can do is have him as a 70% CBA best 22 mid until the day he retires - it's time for succession planning.
Its great that he led us for tackles and clearances, but that was his role. If Garcia/West had been given his CBAs and opportunities, they probably would have led this stat.Comment
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