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Former Western Bulldogs captain Bob Murphy has highlighted the player at the centre of renewed hope at the club this year.
The Dogs fell off the pace in 2017 and 2018, finishing 10th and 13th respectively, in the wake of their remarkable premiership win in 2016.
Ahead of the new 2019 season, Murphy senses some buoyancy down at The Kennel and pinpointed a certain youngster who has helped create such anticipation.
“There’s a renewed optimism down there,” Murphy said on SEN Breakfast.
“That’s what I’ve gathered from them (the players). It always is with the little asterisk that everyone is on top of the ladder now.
“The top 22 haven’t been picked so everyone’s happy, no one’s fallen out with anyone yet.
“They are saying that training is fast. Across the board, everything is fast.
“Tim English has been one of the stars of the summer, up forward.
“Disappointing news with Tommy Boyd (being injured) but maybe it fast tracks Tim English.”
Garry Lyon poised the questions: Can English become the next Max Gawn? Can the Bulldogs in two years’ time say they’ve got one of the best two ruckmen in the competition?
To which Murphy replied: “He’s over two metres tall.
“He would do things right from the start where the experienced players would kind of step back and all look at each other and say, ‘did you see that?’
“(He’s great) below his knees, but it’s the way he jumps at the ball as a forward. We know he is really light in the upper body, but his legs aren’t.
“He’s got these big strong legs, so when he jumps into a pack, he’s not the spindly, two-metre Jarrad Grant.
“I said off-air last year to Anthony Hudson that when he (English) jumps at the ball as a forward and when he goes for his marks, he looks like Simon Madden.
“So Huddo says, ‘Bob Murphy thinks he’s going to be Simon Madden’. No, that’s not what I said.
“But having now tiptoed around it, I’m pumping him (up), he’s mine.”
The Bulldogs take on the Gold Coast Suns in Mackay in their first JLT Community Series match on Sunday before they meet St Kilda in Ballarat on March 10.
Their 2019 season proper opens against Sydney at Marvel Stadium on Saturday night, March 23.
The Dogs fell off the pace in 2017 and 2018, finishing 10th and 13th respectively, in the wake of their remarkable premiership win in 2016.
Ahead of the new 2019 season, Murphy senses some buoyancy down at The Kennel and pinpointed a certain youngster who has helped create such anticipation.
“There’s a renewed optimism down there,” Murphy said on SEN Breakfast.
“That’s what I’ve gathered from them (the players). It always is with the little asterisk that everyone is on top of the ladder now.
“The top 22 haven’t been picked so everyone’s happy, no one’s fallen out with anyone yet.
“They are saying that training is fast. Across the board, everything is fast.
“Tim English has been one of the stars of the summer, up forward.
“Disappointing news with Tommy Boyd (being injured) but maybe it fast tracks Tim English.”
Garry Lyon poised the questions: Can English become the next Max Gawn? Can the Bulldogs in two years’ time say they’ve got one of the best two ruckmen in the competition?
To which Murphy replied: “He’s over two metres tall.
“He would do things right from the start where the experienced players would kind of step back and all look at each other and say, ‘did you see that?’
“(He’s great) below his knees, but it’s the way he jumps at the ball as a forward. We know he is really light in the upper body, but his legs aren’t.
“He’s got these big strong legs, so when he jumps into a pack, he’s not the spindly, two-metre Jarrad Grant.
“I said off-air last year to Anthony Hudson that when he (English) jumps at the ball as a forward and when he goes for his marks, he looks like Simon Madden.
“So Huddo says, ‘Bob Murphy thinks he’s going to be Simon Madden’. No, that’s not what I said.
“But having now tiptoed around it, I’m pumping him (up), he’s mine.”
The Bulldogs take on the Gold Coast Suns in Mackay in their first JLT Community Series match on Sunday before they meet St Kilda in Ballarat on March 10.
Their 2019 season proper opens against Sydney at Marvel Stadium on Saturday night, March 23.
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