The ‘powerful’ 21yo beast that can lead the Western Bulldogs to a flag

[jeemak]

Re: The ‘powerful’ 21yo beast that can lead the Western Bulldogs to a flag

I definitely wanted Scharenberg at the time and saw Marcus as more a long-term athletic type. The slight on Marcus was that he was going to take some time, and Scharenberg was touted as ready made and I wanted the short term return option.

Well, Bont was ready pretty much immediately and Scharenberg went straight to the Pies injury list.

The other slight was pace. Just look at him be a predator for the footy and you realise pace is one thing, intent and positioning to get the footy is the other.

I wanted Billings, and would definitely still have him if he was available. We could do wonders with that lad in our system.

[macca]

Re: The ‘powerful’ 21yo beast that can lead the Western Bulldogs to a flag

The other slight was pace. Just look at him be a predator for the footy and you realise pace is one thing, intent and positioning to get the footy is the other.

I wanted Billings, and would definitely still have him if he was available. We could do wonders with that lad in our system.

Maybe Josh Bruce can whisper in his ear "do you want to play finals? Possibly even a GF next year ....? "

Not sure where we can fit him in though if our list stays injury free.

[azabob]

Re: The ‘powerful’ 21yo beast that can lead the Western Bulldogs to a flag

James Aish had some fans as a ready to go type too from memory.

Is this the closet you have come to admitting on woof you were wrong?

[azabob]

Re: The ‘powerful’ 21yo beast that can lead the Western Bulldogs to a flag

The other slight was pace. Just look at him be a predator for the footy and you realise pace is one thing, intent and positioning to get the footy is the other.

I wanted Billings, and would definitely still have him if he was available. We could do wonders with that lad in our system.

Is Billings a poor mans Hunter?

[1eyedog]

Re: The ‘powerful’ 21yo beast that can lead the Western Bulldogs to a flag

Maybe Josh Bruce can whisper in his ear "do you want to play finals? Possibly even a GF next year ....? "

Not sure where we can fit him in though if our list stays injury free.

I'd play Billings as a permanent half forward. We ned that type of creativity in the forward half, but he's also vey adept further up the ground.

Billings and Hunter is an interesting comparison because while they're vastly different players St.Kilda have used Billings extensively on a wing. Billings is a better one on one player with a better sense for goal and Hunter is a gut running natural wingman who outruns his opponents to generate space. Billings has x-factor and pace, Hunter has smarts. Different types playing similar roles in their respective teams.

[1eyedog]

Re: The ‘powerful’ 21yo beast that can lead the Western Bulldogs to a flag

James Aish had some fans as a ready to go type too from memory.

Yeah he'd played a season or two in the SANFL if I remember correctly. Reached his ceiling very early.

[Mofra]

Re: The ‘powerful’ 21yo beast that can lead the Western Bulldogs to a flag

Yeah. I wanted Billings in 2013. And I remember not being thrilled with Naughts selection. Thought it was a vanilla selection. Boy I was wrong.

IIRC There was a standout 3 players, and Bontempelli was a late bolter after Aish and Scharenberg were in the frame for pick four.
Buckanara aside (who said he had him at pick 1), only Collingwood had him in the top 10.

A lot of the talk here was how could we trade up to pick 1 to get Tom Boyd! If we didn't trade so heavily for Boyd the Saints probably take Petracca instead of McCartin - we spooked them by making the market for KPFs momentarily boom.

I think the article above is a bit unfair calling Hunter Clark a flanker - he was projected to be a mid at AFL level, just like a HFFer we took (Macrae).

[Bulldog4life]

Re: The ‘powerful’ 21yo beast that can lead the Western Bulldogs to a flag

Thank you Saints.

Makes a beautiful read.

[comrade]

Re: The ‘powerful’ 21yo beast that can lead the Western Bulldogs to a flag

Makes a beautiful read.

If they took Bont instead of Billings, we'd still be waiting for flag #2. Letting us take Naughton is just gravy.

I wish we could take the direct pick after the Saints every year.

[Twodogs]

Re: The ‘powerful’ 21yo beast that can lead the Western Bulldogs to a flag

Is this the closet you have come to admitting on woof you were wrong?

I'm happy to admit I'm wrong. It just hasn't happened yet.

[Missing Dog]

Re: The ‘powerful’ 21yo beast that can lead the Western Bulldogs to a flag

Is this the closet you have come to admitting on woof you were wrong?

I'm happy to admit I'm wrong. It just hasn't happened yet.

Does that make you in our out of the closet, Twodogs?

[Twodogs]

Re: The ‘powerful’ 21yo beast that can lead the Western Bulldogs to a flag

Does that make you in our out of the closet, Twodogs?

A bit from column A...

[Bornadog]

Re: The ‘powerful’ 21yo beast that can lead the Western Bulldogs to a flag

[AshMac]

Re: The ‘powerful’ 21yo beast that can lead the Western Bulldogs to a flag

He’s still strangely gettable one-on-one. May and Weitering have more or less blanketed him by keeping body contact with him, and even Henry had some success when accommodated by less than friendly delivery.

I think that we’re getting better at putting the ball in the space in front of Naughton rather than on his head though, which is what we should do every entry. It doesn’t really matter how the defenders are set up in front of him because if he gets any room to run and jump 95% of the time he will catch it.

i think you're spot on. He isnt a contested beast like hawkins in a standing 1 on 1 but cant think of a player i'd prefer to get a run at it

He's also added serious bulk this year, so good to see him so mobile still.

[Testekill]

Re: The ‘powerful’ 21yo beast that can lead the Western Bulldogs to a flag

As long as we can kick it into space then Naughton is unbeatable. Put it onto his head or under a high ball then he's gettable. As long as we kick smart then he'll tear games apart