Second Elimination Final, Footscray Bulldogs (6th) vs. Casey Demons (7th) - Saturday, September 2, 2023

[MrMahatma]

Re: Second Elimination Final, Footscray Bulldogs (6th) vs. Casey Demons (7th) - Saturday, September 2, 2023

Very slow, in the days of quick and agile defenders he certainly seems to have some work to do there.

This does not bode well

[GVGjr]

Re: Second Elimination Final, Footscray Bulldogs (6th) vs. Casey Demons (7th) - Saturday, September 2, 2023

This does not bode well

It's a concern but he did make a lot of progress during the year and he was always going to be a longer term prospect given his injured shoulder. Lets see how he is going with another pre-season behind him.

[azabob]

Re: Second Elimination Final, Footscray Bulldogs (6th) vs. Casey Demons (7th) - Saturday, September 2, 2023

Opportunistic rather than showing heaps of forward craft, thats not to say he doesn?t have what it takes to make a good small forward though, moreso possibly how the game was played today - Casey?s backs couldn?t cope with our fast, multiple entries into F50. What I liked about him today was his team play, unselfish handballs that led directly to goals, rather than selfishly having a ping. Seen this a few times in other games too.

The biggest upside with Clarke is getting a full pre season under his belt, something he didn?t get in his first year.

[bulldogsthru&thru]

Re: Second Elimination Final, Footscray Bulldogs (6th) vs. Casey Demons (7th) - Saturday, September 2, 2023

It's a concern but he did make a lot of progress during the year and he was always going to be a longer term prospect given his injured shoulder. Lets see how he is going with another pre-season behind him.

What kind of slowness are we talking about here? Because there's slowness that can't be fixed. Hope he's not another Kieran Collins.

[GVGjr]

Re: Second Elimination Final, Footscray Bulldogs (6th) vs. Casey Demons (7th) - Saturday, September 2, 2023

What kind of slowness are we talking about here? Because there's slowness that can't be fixed. Hope he's not another Kieran Collins.

Hard to say until he has another pre-season but he seems to conserves his running effort perhaps because on concerns on his ability to run out games and this makes him look slow.

[Bigdog]

Re: Second Elimination Final, Footscray Bulldogs (6th) vs. Casey Demons (7th) - Saturday, September 2, 2023

His agility and speed worry me. If we play a 3 tall defensive system it?s likely he will have to play on mid-size/smaller player when we play teams with a smaller forward line ie - Collingwood. We could get exposed in this scenario.

Also not a knock on Buss, but as of 2022-2023 slower defenders are not a good fit for our defensive system given the pace the footy comes in and the space we leave. A good defensive system helps less athletic players ie - Roughead when he was playing fullback at the pies.

Despite my concerns he improved a lot throughout the year. He is generally a smart footy player, composed and a good ball user.

I also have concerns about every player taking the next step from vfl to afl given gap in quality between the competitions. We will know more when we see him at the next level.

[Nuggety Back Pocket]

Re: Second Elimination Final, Footscray Bulldogs (6th) vs. Casey Demons (7th) - Saturday, September 2, 2023

The major problem with a Busslinger is he now joins a huge number of similar taller players on our list at the expense of small quick
players which we lack. Busslinger joins the likes of Gardner Keath O’Brien English Lobb Ugle Hagen Naughton O’Donnell Sweet and potentially Croft. Our quicker players by comparison are Treloar JJ Richards and Dale, which when compared to the likes of Collingwood and Brisbane just isn’t enough if we are going to getting back to being a top 4 AFL team

[BornInDroopSt'54]

Re: Second Elimination Final, Footscray Bulldogs (6th) vs. Casey Demons (7th) - Saturday, September 2, 2023

Not sure how many Woofers were there, and also not sure if my view will be shared...but I was really disappointed in the lack of senior players attending the game today.

I'd say our top 5 highest paid players, including most of the leadership group, were not there. No Bont, no Macrae, no Libba, no Naughton, no Marra, no Treloar...if they were hiding in one of the grandstands then I apologise, but I don't think they were.

I understand that it's off season for the guys who aren't qualified for vfl, but if this was an AFL final you bet that Charlie Clarke would be expected to attend.

I think not having a club expectation of attendance is poor, and reflective of where our culture is at right now.

Embarassed if not embarassied?
Players and coaches may feel so after our season was lost post Rohan Smith's departure.
Human but unprofesssional ultimately.
Let the club down I fear.

[BornInDroopSt'54]

Re: Second Elimination Final, Footscray Bulldogs (6th) vs. Casey Demons (7th) - Saturday, September 2, 2023

What kind of slowness are we talking about here? Because there's slowness that can't be fixed. Hope he's not another Kieran Collins.

Quickness of mind is a great AFL asset and makes up for leg slowness.
Anticipation too.
Fletcher Roberts had it but...could kick a goal after siren in VFL final, on the bell from 60m, bless him.

[jazzadogs]

Re: Second Elimination Final, Footscray Bulldogs (6th) vs. Casey Demons (7th) - Saturday, September 2, 2023

Embarassed if not embarassied?
Players and coaches may feel so after our season was lost post Rohan Smith's departure.
Human but unprofesssional ultimately.
Let the club down I fear.

I should say since posting that I saw pictures of Bont and Treloar at the first final, and Marra & Libba were both at the VFL yesterday. I also don't have an issue with the players choosing not to attend - my issue is with the club not making it an expectation, at least for those in Melbourne.

[Bornadog]

Re: Second Elimination Final, Footscray Bulldogs (6th) vs. Casey Demons (7th) - Saturday, September 2, 2023

I should say since posting that I saw pictures of Bont and Treloar at the first final, and Marra & Libba were both at the VFL yesterday. I also don't have an issue with the players choosing not to attend - my issue is with the club not making it an expectation, at least for those in Melbourne.

Lobb, Libba and Caleb also there yesterday

[Mofra]

Re: Second Elimination Final, Footscray Bulldogs (6th) vs. Casey Demons (7th) - Saturday, September 2, 2023

Opportunistic rather than showing heaps of forward craft, thats not to say he doesn?t have what it takes to make a good small forward though, moreso possibly how the game was played today - Casey?s backs couldn?t cope with our fast, multiple entries into F50. What I liked about him today was his team play, unselfish handballs that led directly to goals, rather than selfishly having a ping. Seen this a few times in other games too.

He just has 'moments' that seem AFL quality.
His goal created out of nothing in tandem with Gallagher was possibly our best play of the day.

Both Clarke & Gallagher seem really promising. I also liked some aspects of Garcia's game - his ability to gather and handball off quickly is AFL speed. Conversely, McComb & Sullivan are clearly very good VFL players but their game just doesn't scream AFL to me.

I like McPherson too but he just has to put it all together to put himself in AFL frame.

[Hotdog60]

Re: Second Elimination Final, Footscray Bulldogs (6th) vs. Casey Demons (7th) - Saturday, September 2, 2023

McPherson has the traits our side is lacking in aggression but his skill level isn't there. If that could improve being full time I wonder and he might have been a better pick than McComb.