Whats our bigger issue?

[Bumper Bulldogs]

Re: Not to mention the coach!

Markovic left on Kennedy after all those goals??? I thought that was unbelievable.

Yes I agree, but a lack of talls to help out down back, I thought that lynch is only a shadow of the player he was and maybe Shaggy could have been put on Kennedy or even Lake to have a stint.

Also I thought the 3rd quarter to have Higgins as a loose boy in defense was a very poor choice, I would rather swap Higgins with Murphy as Murphy would have been far better value running with no man.

[SonofScray]

Re: Whats our bigger issue?

A bit both ways. I think we lack fire power, our key guys don't seem to have a big bag of tricks, or just don't bring it with them. I wish we'd convert more opportunities in front of goal, especially from set shots. We need to take our chances.

Skills in general were poor. Wood just made a mess of everything and there were a lot of hurried, poor passes by hand which caused a turnover.

[Missing-Dog]

Re: Whats our bigger issue?

Really west coast has the best ruck combo so let's not get too caught up. Positives are smith looks like a good pick up for us! Let's see how we go over the next 3 weeks and give Sherman, tutt and dj a run before we start calling for players heads. We were very much in it until the last quarter and we still could have brought it back. Next week will see Griffen in the side aswell and markovic might have an easier opponent aswell as minno and roughead in the ruck. Should be a cracking game against Adelaide.

[Bornadog]

Re: Whats our bigger issue?

I was commenting Will's ruck work, true he was ok around the ground.

He was up against the best combination in the AFL.

Hitouts today were:

Cox: 22
Nik Nat: 23
Minno: 16
Roughead: 11

[Eastdog]

Re: Whats our bigger issue?

He was up against the best combination in the AFL.

Hitouts today were:

Cox: 22
Nik Nat: 23
Minno: 16
Roughead: 11

Also we played against a potential top 4 team.

[azabob]

Re: Whats our bigger issue?

Liberatore was a good pick wasnt he?!

Interestingly he was also father son but a second rounder. Well worth it though.

My concern surrounding the recruiting is we may and do pay overs for father son picks. I hope we are strong enough to say no, he's not worth X pick when the time comes and if we lose one or two so be it.

[anfo27]

Re: Whats our bigger issue?

I think our biggest problem is we lack quality/talent and hardness. Its no secret we have been the worst tackling team in the comp for a while now & although we did seem to have a harder edge to us in the first 2 & a half quarters we still have a long way to go. We don't have enough players that make right decisions most of the time or hit targets most of the time or just don't understand were that ball needs to go next.
We are going to have quite a few retirements within the next 3 years so thats going to be a lot of new kids coming in and we need to bring as much talent as we can in that time and hope macca has enough to work with. I like that macca has brought in harder players but its just going to take time & its going to get worse before it gets better.
Comrade is right, we have wasted so many first round picks over the years that its now coming back to haunt us. Heaven help us if we keep going down the same road with our drafting strike rate.

[anfo27]

Re: Whats our bigger issue?

He was up against the best combination in the AFL.

Hitouts today were:

Cox: 22
Nik Nat: 23
Minno: 16
Roughead: 11

You're right Will was up against the best in the comp and he won't be the only one that gets beaten by Nic Nat in centre bounces. I would like to see the centre bounce hit outs though cause poor minnow was trounced.

[The Underdog]

Re: Whats our bigger issue?

It's not just the guys that didn't make it with us (add Power, McMahon and Everitt as first rounders from the 2000s that ultimately played at other clubs) but guys like Williams, Higgins, Grant, Howard and Cordy that just haven't given us the output required from such valuable picks.

One poster said skills is our biggest issue and I agree but if you nail your first round picks in the draft, the team's overall skill level will increase significantly. Guaranteed.

It's because we've messed up our drafting for the last decade that our skills and decision making are so bad right now.

I walked out of today thinking we need to come bottom 5 just so we can maximise the 2 picks we have in the first round.

[anfo27]

Re: Whats our bigger issue?

I walked out of today thinking we need to come bottom 5 just so we can maximise the 2 picks we have in the first round.

i walked into today thinking that.

[LostDoggy]

Re: Whats our bigger issue?

It's not just the guys that didn't make it with us (add Power, McMahon and Everitt as first rounders from the 2000s that ultimately played at other clubs) but guys like Williams, Higgins, Grant, Howard and Cordy that just haven't given us the output required from such valuable picks.

One poster said skills is our biggest issue and I agree but if you nail your first round picks in the draft, the team's overall skill level will increase significantly. Guaranteed.

It's because we've messed up our drafting for the last decade that our skills and decision making are so bad right now.

This.

Have said it many, many times, but the first round simply can't be used on speculative picks, and we've tried to be too clever a few too many times. All of Williams, Higgins, Everitt, Grant and Howard were taken at picks above what they were rated. I expressed significant disappointment when EVERY SINGLE ONE of those players was drafted with the various picks we had in the first round (as I was with Smith).

Now I know that sometimes you have to reach to fill needs, and Smith looks like an over-reach that may pay off (early days yet), but in every single one of those drafts there were at least 3-4 players left that were locks to be VERY good quality AFL players (and have gone on to prove that), but we went for those we thought had more upside (like Williams) or X-factor (like Everitt, Howard and Grant). First round picks simply have to be blue-chip locks, not high-potential penny stocks. That's what the later picks/rookie draft is for (which we have admittedly done brilliantly in).

[Mofra]

Re: Whats our bigger issue?

Have said it many, many times, but the first round simply can't be used on speculative picks, and we've tried to be too clever a few too many times. All of Williams, Higgins, Everitt, Grant and Howard were taken at picks above what they were rated. .

Everitt absolutely, Howard perhaps (although at least one other team rated him highly) but disagree on the others.

Williams: Rated a potential top ten for months pre-draft
Higgins: Rated very highly, Marc Murphysaid he was his best opponent in the TAC
Grant: Was touted as our pick very early, highest goal per game ave in his TAC year (from memory, need to confirm)

Even Sam Power was very highly rated as a junior, and there was the Farren Ray vs Brock McLean debate pre-draft that, really, had no winners as it turned out.

It rarely gets a mention, but our record with second rounders is quite poor too compared to other teams and this has put us right back (2008 excepted). Faulkner, Addison, that spud from Tassie (don't mention his name), and then there are the trades - Aker & Street. Will is ok but has taken 10 years to get to where he is, that's a hell of a long lead in for a high secnd rounder.

[Evel]

Re: Whats our bigger issue?

Bigger issue is midfield. As has been mentioned we lack some real class and polish in finishing. I'm not going to say our forward problems are solved, but we had 10 goals on the board early in second so it did function in patches. It's just going to need time to develop. Another injection of draft talent is required for a year or two, but I didn't leave the game devastated today. If the year is spent filtering the list then so be it.

[The Bulldogs Bite]

Re: Whats our bigger issue?

I'm talking about our multitude of first round picks that just haven't produced. No club gets it right every time but our track record is just about the worst in the league. It's where you pick up the real cream. When you miss out year on year, you end up with a team of grunters, which is exactly what we are.

I never said those players weren't good (though it's still very early days for Smith) and I'm not saying we have NO good players. We just don't have enough.

This is precisely what was going through my head as I was watching the game unfold.

I'm not upset or disappointed about the result, because I thought the effort was good. We got tired in the last quarter and a half, but for the most part, our spirit and effort was pretty solid.

But our lack of genuine quality is really, really telling.

We simply need an injection of 4 'A Grade' players -- but that's only easy in theory.

[anfo27]

Re: Whats our bigger issue?

This.

Have said it many, many times, but the first round simply can't be used on speculative picks, and we've tried to be too clever a few too many times. All of Williams, Higgins, Everitt, Grant and Howard were taken at picks above what they were rated. I expressed significant disappointment when EVERY SINGLE ONE of those players was drafted with the various picks we had in the first round (as I was with Smith).

Now I know that sometimes you have to reach to fill needs, and Smith looks like an over-reach that may pay off (early days yet), but in every single one of those drafts there were at least 3-4 players left that were locks to be VERY good quality AFL players (and have gone on to prove that), but we went for those we thought had more upside (like Williams) or X-factor (like Everitt, Howard and Grant). First round picks simply have to be blue-chip locks, not high-potential penny stocks. That's what the later picks/rookie draft is for (which we have admittedly done brilliantly in).

can't believe we took Everitt over Riewoldt & Frawley.