2025 List Management Thread

[bulldogtragic]

There is no downside whatsoever in having Crossley train with us, whether it's just for a weekend or for the remainder of the pre-season supplemental period.

Exactly. What’s the worst thing, the coaches say they really can’t see any way of using him having seen him in our set up? Best case the coaches think he’s our second best ruck when needed for injury cover and our depth improves.

[josie]

Why did we recruit such a raw ruck in Smith?

Wouldn’t it have been wiser to recruit one ready to go at AFL, albeit likely limited in talent?

I’d even prefer Campbell or similar than Smith. We spent years developing Sweet and hardly played him & to my eye he had more going for him when we first recruited him than Smith does.

I just don’t see it with Smith. Hope he proves me wrong and is able to show massive improvement this season.

[jeemak]

If we could look under the bonnet of the clubs list management decisions I think we would find that we dawdled a bit before coming the conclusion that Marra was going to miss a large chunk of the season.
Then with Naughton taking a longer time to lift his training load and finally with an injury to English we've come to the conclusion we haven't got the balance right.
Is it Sam, Dom, Bevo, Egan or even that pesky Lade that has missed the signs I don't really care but I can recall some of the passionate discussions here during the trade period and 90% of us didn't think we needed another ruck man but shit happens and we are now having a rethink. I doubt we will pull the trigger but I also don't care that he is a bit shorter than most rucks or a bit older than the juniors or that he might carry a few KG's more than he should.

I'm a bit fifty fifty on that, but can live with it. Though given last year was the only year Darcy has put together an injury free season wouldn't we have needed that contingency for 2024? Anyway, I'm likely boring you to death with this by now.

My preference would be to ruck Lobb and have Gardner or Buku play back depending on who we're up against. At the same time I'm with you and that if there's been a rethink then it's being acted upon. I'm actually OK with people changing their minds, as long as they do something about it.

So whether it's just for match simulation, or whether it's a crack at being on the list I'm cool with Crossley being given a shot (don't think anyone isn't).

[mighty_west]

Why did we recruit such a raw ruck in Smith?

Wouldn’t it have been wiser to recruit one ready to go at AFL, albeit likely limited in talent?

I’d even prefer Campbell or similar than Smith. We spent years developing Sweet and hardly played him & to my eye he had more going for him when we first recruited him than Smith does.

I just don’t see it with Smith. Hope he proves me wrong and is able to show massive improvement this season.

To develop, we know many ruck's take quite a few years to get to a stage where they can be relied on at AFL level, heck he may be 24/25 when he's ready but in that time we have Tim English signed up long term, agreed we also need an extra ruck option who is ready for now just in case (Sweet was ideal), but ultimately he wanted more game time which is fair enough given his dominance at times in the VFL.

You see more of clubs these days bringing in more mature types who are game starved but ready to go (Crossly could be that) but i don't think there is anything wrong with also developing your own if you like what you see at under 18's level.

[Stevo]

Why did we recruit such a raw ruck in Smith?

Wouldn’t it have been wiser to recruit one ready to go at AFL, albeit likely limited in talent?

I’d even prefer Campbell or similar than Smith. We spent years developing Sweet and hardly played him & to my eye he had more going for him when we first recruited him than Smith does.

I just don’t see it with Smith. Hope he proves me wrong and is able to show massive improvement this season.

You have to get a balance of grow your own and short term fixes. Smith will take another 2 years.

[Bornadog]

Why did we recruit such a raw ruck in Smith?

Wouldn’t it have been wiser to recruit one ready to go at AFL, albeit likely limited in talent?

I’d even prefer Campbell or similar than Smith. We spent years developing Sweet and hardly played him & to my eye he had more going for him when we first recruited him than Smith does.

I just don’t see it with Smith. Hope he proves me wrong and is able to show massive improvement this season.

Smith is only 19 years old, we need to give him time.

For many years MJP has said, you should always have a developing ruck on your list. We should also have a mature ruck as well who doesn't mind playing VFL and being a backup in case of injury.

[soupman]

Why did we recruit such a raw ruck in Smith?

Wouldn’t it have been wiser to recruit one ready to go at AFL, albeit likely limited in talent?

I’d even prefer Campbell or similar than Smith. We spent years developing Sweet and hardly played him & to my eye he had more going for him when we first recruited him than Smith does.

I just don’t see it with Smith. Hope he proves me wrong and is able to show massive improvement this season.

I don't see the benefit of drafting 18 year old rucks. Unless they are a freak like Jackson let them develop on another clubs list or in the VFL.

You are basically committing a list spot to a 30% chance they make it, and while smalls probably succeed at the same percentage you don't have to wait 5 years with no output before you are in a position to make the call.

If we are looking at competent-good rucks across the comp Witts, Meek, Sweet, McInerney, Nankervis, Cameron, Soldo, Grundy and Pittonet were all recruited for not much from other clubs and/or drafted after a couple of years in state leagues. Sure the really cool ones all went in the draft but it's such a low percentage and high list spot cost play that I think you just try and grab one of the fringe guys and hope you can make him something better.

[GVGjr]

Mick McGauane has been going through all the clubs and comparing the mids, defenders and forward lines.
He's ranked the quality of our forward line as 6th in the competition

Forwards
Sam Darcy (21 games in 2024, 79 Average SuperCoach points in 2024), Aaron Naughton (20, 69), Cody Weightman (17, 67), Rhylee West (21, 65), Jamarra Ugle-Hagan (22, 64), Riley Garcia (12, 63), Lachlan McNeil (12, 61), Laitham Vandermeer (24, 49), Arthur Jones (1, 40), Jordan Croft (0, 0), Sam Davidson (0, 0), Josh Dolan (0, 0), Cooper Hynes (0, 0)

I’ve dropped the Bulldogs down a spot or two due to the uncertainty around Jamarra Ugle-Hagan. The former No. 1 draft pick was the club’s leading goalkicker with 43 majors last year, with the future having looked bright. But there are a lot of unanswered questions about Ugle-Hagan right now, after time spent away from the club over summer. When will he be back on the field? And is he living like a high-performance athlete should be? Will we ever see him again in Bulldogs colours? Do his teammates want him back? It’s a massive concern. But even if Ugle-Hagan is not there to start the season, the Bulldogs still have two talented talls in Aaron Naughton and Sam Darcy.
Naughton only kicked 35 goals by playing further up the ground last year, but could be used closer to goal if Ugle-Hagan is absent. Entering his fourth season, Darcy is beginning to fill out and would relish any extra responsibility that comes his way. In the smalls department, Cody Weightman is a regular goalkicker and Rhylee West will be hungry to further prove to himself that belongs in this team after surprisingly being dropped for last year’s elimination final. Captain Marcus Bontempelli can always be relied upon to take a mark and kick a goal when pushed forward.

[GVGjr]

Back line
He's ranked the quality of our defence as 3rd in the comp

Bailey Dale (24 games in 2024, 97 Average SuperCoach points in 2024), Jason Johannisen (9, 79), Lachlan Bramble (24, 72), Rory Lobb (16, 72), Joel Freijah (13, 69), Liam Jones (21, 68), Taylor Duryea (22, 60), James O’Donnell (14, 52), Buku Khamis (17, 50), Luke Cleary (2, 46), Nick Coffield (8, 40), Jedd Busslinger (0, 0), Ryan Gardner 0, 0), Lachie Jaques (0, 0)

Coach Luke Beveridge cops a lot of external criticism at times, but one thing you can’t question about the Bulldogs is their defensive profile. They ranked No. 1 for points against last season, conceding just 75.5 points per game. They also ranked second for restricting opposition ball movement from defensive 50 to inside 50, fourth for points against from turnovers and fifth for points against from stoppages.
It all comes down to a good system, combined with some very capable personnel. Rory Lobb’s shift to defence last season was an overwhelming success, Liam Jones remains a reliable interceptor and Buku Khamis has elevated his game. Importantly, all three back themselves in the air to take marks from opposition kicks, which I love. Bailey Dale is their distributor and the recruitment of midfielder Matt Kennedy could see Ed Richards return to halfback to provide even more run and bounce out of that area at times.

[GVGjr]

Midfield - He's assessed our midfield as the 4th best in the comp.

Midfielders: Marcus Bontempelli (24 games in 2024, 124 Average SuperCoach points in 2024), Adam Treloar (23, 116), Tom Liberatore (18, 103), Ed Richards (21, 97), Bailey Williams (24, 76), Matthew Kennedy (24, 75), James Harmes (9, 68), Ryley Sanders (14, 63), Caleb Poulter (7, 58), Oskar Baker (6, 53), Harvey Gallagher (20, 45), Anthony Scott (2, 28), Luke Kennedy (0, 0)
Rucks: Tim English (23, 107), Lachlan Smith (0, 0)

Marcus Bontempelli might be the best player in the competition and he’s developed into more than just a ball-winner in the middle. In addition to leading the Bulldogs’ clearance count and laying more tackles than any other teammate, the skipper put his forward craft on show with an elite 32 majors last season.
Ed Richards was a revelation after being injected into the midfield last year, while Adam Treloar and Tom Liberatore remain workhorses. But with Treloar and Liberatore both set to enter this season aged 32, some further evolution must take place. It’s time to get more midfield minutes into the likes of promising youngsters Ryley Sanders and Harvey Gallagher. Ruck Tim English has all the physical attributes to become one of the best impactful ruckman in the competition but must improve his consistency with his aerial work. Look out if he does!

[Mofra]

Very generous with the backline assessment - so much rests on Liam Jones staying fit.

[Bornadog]

Very generous with the backline assessment - so much rests on Liam Jones staying fit.

Tell you the truth, I am worried Liam won't last the season. We need to be really clever in the way we handle him and plan to have him not play every game and be ready for finals.

[NAUGHTY100]

Tell you the truth, I am worried Liam won't last the season. We need to be really clever in the way we handle him and plan to have him not play every game and be ready for finals.

I get your point Bornadog , but his last 3 seasons of AFL football the guy has played 19 , 18, and 21 games , and keeps himself in tip top condition , Now that he has Lobb to help cover the bigger guys , i see no reason why he can't keep that strike rate up for this year at least .

[GVGjr]

I get your point Bornadog , but his last 3 seasons of AFL football the guy has played 19 , 18, and 21 games , and keeps himself in tip top condition , Now that he has Lobb to help cover the bigger guys , i see no reason why he can't keep that strike rate up for this year at least .

And to be fair, one of those injuries was when a player stepped on his arm. That isn't something that can be attributed to his age or poor management in terms of giving him a spell.
He's been remarkably resilient and there is nothing I've seen in the preseason that suggests he can't play a sizeable chunk of footy this year.

[Virgin-Dog]

Very generous with the backline assessment - so much rests on Liam Jones staying fit.

Most clubs would be jealous of the running power we've got coming out of defence - Dale, Freijah, Bramble and JJ is 4 genuinely good running defenders (Dale arguably best in the comp). With Lobb's surprising effort as a KPD, our talls actually look reasonable for the first time in a while.

But geez, so much relies on Duryea and Jones being fully fit. Pull either (or both) out and things look shaky, especially without Jones. Though I imagine you could make similar argument for a lot of other sides if they lost crucial players.

We conceded the least points of any side last year, while simultaneously criticising our midfield's ability to defend effectively. So the credit has to go somewhere - it's pretty typical for us Bulldogs supporters to be overly-pessimistic about our side