Round 18 - Essendon v Footscray Bulldogs • Saturday 26 July 2025 • 1:05 PM

[doggies ftw]

First up you say he’s already our best small defender, defensively in response to my comment that he's a defender who doesn't really defend an opponent.
Now you acknowledge that he's not strictly a lock down player but you also think that translates into him being better match up on the GWS players than all of the other smaller defenders we play.
In Supercoach speak you have projected him as a D3 status in our team. That seems more than a bit optimistic.
Sellwood's a good player and around the selection mix of players but I'm not quite seeing the same level of excitement in what he has shown us so far.
I also can't see a clear match-up him against the Giants. Perhaps XOH or Brown.
I'm all for people getting excited about players so I hope you're right.

I think, from what I’ve seen, he defends better than the likes of JJ, Cleary, Bramble, Dale who are all beyond suspect against a decent small. Doesn’t have to be a lockdown player never said he was one, but he clearly has a defensive mindset to his game. Yes we’ll have to see how that translates to AFL level, it may or may not.

I didn’t say I see him as D3? Buss (or Jones) Lobb & JOD are the 3 talls. I see him playing a medium defender role along with Cleary, and they can match up on the best smalls/medium fwds or take a tall at a pinch and chopping out the talls in the air - I see him as a bigger version of Doc, and has abit more intercept in his game. Dale and Bramble the two smalls who provide the run & drive.

GWS at times last night ran all of Hogan, Cadman, Stringer, Brown & Riccardi through their forward line at times last night as well as Greene who is a strong marking target despite his height. Providing the 3 talls have their hands full I’m not sure who you’re playing on the others? Cleary will have to take one of them but you don’t want Dale, Bramble or Jj anywhere near them, and they’ve still got dangerous smalls like Jones which the likes of Bramble will need to mind. Sellwood is the best match up on our list for these types currently IMO.

Im by no means expecting him to be a star, I do think he’s shown enough to get a place in our extremely suspect backline, ie our worst line by a mile that is constantly under fire for how badly it’s been performing.

[Sedat]

I'm intrigued, which players has he done good defensive work on at the VFL? He's played just 4 games so that should be evident.
He's a very good interceptor given his size and he reads the ball well in the air and to top it off he's a solid mark
The majority of his possessions though are wide from opponents.

I haven't seen any of Sellwood but if he is by all accounts a good groundball defender and also is a good interceptor that's a better set of skills than JJ. We are the worst team in the competition for D50 ground balls and desperately need to improve this area.

Happy to be guided by those who have actually seen him play.

[Mofra]

I haven't seen any of Sellwood but if he is by all accounts a good groundball defender and also is a good interceptor that's a better set of skills than JJ. We are the worst team in the competition for D50 ground balls and desperately need to improve this area.

Happy to be guided by those who have actually seen him play.

JJ & Duryea being somewhat cooked probably means we tend to see Sellwood through rose coloured glasses.
He's a very different player to JJ though, he's not a guy who runs the ball out of defence (hi Bramble) he's more of that smaller intercepting "general" defender, and right now I have questions over his disposal under pressure.

[Bigdog]

I just can’t for the life of me work out why we haven’t just stuck Jaques on a back flank and let him settle. We have pretty limited coverage there in the 2s if we cop an injury.

Jacques, Dolan and Hynes are pretty exciting for next year. All 3 had interrupted pre seasons. A big off season building fitness and getting in the gym and I can see them all being first 23 players.

Good to see Croft is having more of an impact.

[lemmon]

I just can’t for the life of me work out why we haven’t just stuck Jaques on a back flank and let him settle. We have pretty limited coverage there in the 2s if we cop an injury.

Jacques, Dolan and Hynes are pretty exciting for next year. All 3 had interrupted pre seasons. A big off season building fitness and getting in the gym and I can see them all being first 23 players.

Good to see Croft is having more of an impact.

Yeah, I thought the same thing. I wasn't sure whether we were priming him for a debut on a wing? I kind of get it because he has the attributes to play the role, but I thought he did some really nice stuff on a back flank.

[GVGjr]

JJ & Duryea being somewhat cooked probably means we tend to see Sellwood through rose coloured glasses.
He's a very different player to JJ though, he's not a guy who runs the ball out of defence (hi Bramble) he's more of that smaller intercepting "general" defender, and right now I have questions over his disposal under pressure.

We have Dale and Bramble and to a lesser extent Cleary who can run the ball out of the back half.
JJ as the 7th defender can to a slightly lesser extent do that role as well.
This allows us to have the option like we did last night to play 3 taller guys.
Sellwood would match-up well on some players but do we need another creative and attacking defender right at this moment?
He has a unique skill set as you mentioned above, he's really solid in the air and his judgement for marking and when to peel off an opponent and create an extra option is noticeable.
I was excited when we picked him and he could become a regular senior player for us but the sample size is small.

[Warrnambulldog]

Sellwood seems to get a lot of white line fever, which I’m not sure if it’s in a good way. Hope it’s more Libba and less Vandermeer bravado. I see where both gvgjnr and doggies are coming from. Jury I think is still out one on one, he appears to play loose which is a worry but he does seem to compete well in the air and at ground level. Kicking does seem a bit shakey but as does a lot of our back 6. I would’ve played him this week. Against the Giants with season on the line would be quite the baptism, but as doggies points out, it might be worth the gamble match up wise

[BontlowSzn]

Sellwood looks like he will suit our system nicely. He doesn't need to be a brilliant one on one defender.

He's a good size to cover off, and be able to impact contests against most general and small forwards. Bramble, Cleary, JJ, Dale don't tend to be tasked with stopping one player. They chop and change and cover off where they can.

JJ in 2025 provides the odd good run and dash, but we arent missing much offensively swapping him with Sellwood. Where as the potential gain defensively is huge.

I'm more than happy to give more reliance on Bramble and Cleary to support Dale offensively. JOD can also be a very effective ball user when out in space.

[Bigdog]

Yeah, I thought the same thing. I wasn't sure whether we were priming him for a debut on a wing? I kind of get it because he has the attributes to play the role, but I thought he did some really nice stuff on a back flank.

I’ll be taking him at good odds to win the rising star next year. I reckon he plays every game.

[Stevo]

He definitely does defend, I’d go as far as saying he’s already our best small defender, defensively (says more about our list than him though). Hes rarely been beaten by an opponent since coming into the VFL side, strong in the contest aerially & at ground level mopping up (which is something we need drastically in the AFL)

Replaces JJ easily and is the best suited on our list for the likes of Greene and Riccardi, Brown when forward and the talls have their hands full with Hogan, Cadman & Stringer. Otherwise who goes to those guys?

Our best small defender seems to be a very inflated statement.

The wife and I went yesterday and we thought he was solid in windy conditions,
I was underwhelmed with Croft and Mitcha is right about Dolan. When it all clicks for him he will have a fantastic game.

Davidson, Khamis and Harmes should be considered for promotion.

[doggies ftw]

Our best small defender seems to be a very inflated statement.

The wife and I went yesterday and we thought he was solid in windy conditions,
I was underwhelmed with Croft and Mitcha is right about Dolan. When it all clicks for him he will have a fantastic game.

Davidson, Khamis and Harmes should be considered for promotion.

clearly Dale and co are better footballers I’m saying I think Sellwood might already be close to our best small defender, defensively.

Who defends better than him? JJ, Bramble, Dale nup, Doc not any more, Cleary maybe a similar level. Williams yes but I see him more on the wing now.

Its more an indictment on our list than any praise for Sellwood

[kruder]

Did anyone see anything in Walker? It's only early but I've watched him twice now I'm not quite sure what his one wood is?