2025 List Management Thread

[Grantysghost]

Good points Mantis

[Axe Man]

Did Bulldogs miss a trick not adding a defender in AFL trade period? They sure had a crack

Many have been left questioning why the Western Bulldogs didn’t add a gun key defender during the trade period.

Well, it’s not as though they didn’t try.

It’s a clear area of need for Luke Beveridge’s side the Dogs ultimately wasn’t able to address over the last fortnight.

But not without some swings.

They were firmly in the mix for Jack Silvagni before St Kilda pounced late on the free agent.

The Dogs then went hard after Cal Wilkie and effectively forced the Saints to renegotiate the contract of the star defender and likely their next skipper.

And it’s understood 2025 All-Australian squad member Mark Keane is another name the Dogs targeted after also holding interest in fellow Crow Jordon Butts.

Of course, Adelaide asked the question of Ryley Sanders, so you wonder if either Keane or Butts were tied into that enquiry.

Despite those attempts, nothing came to fruition in the end.

“There’s a lot going on behind the scenes, we did get into some pretty meaningful conversations with a few others,” Dogs player acquisition and strategy manager Michael Regan told AFL Trade Radio on Thursday.

“Callum (Wilkie) wasn’t the only player we approached. The reasons for why they didn’t happen are layered and multi faceted.

“But there’s also a longer term strategy in involved in both those approaches and how we’re looking at key back.

“Sometimes getting these things out hurts your ability to maybe look at them again in 12 months.”

The wording out of the Kennel all along was they were only going to move on a key back if it was a clear upgrade. Not get one for the sake of it to paper over the cracks.

But they in fact were aggressive in hunting that star defender to book-end their loaded forward line.

“Yes, we’ll explore SSP (Pre-Season Supplemental Selection Period) at some level. But we have to make sure whoever we bring in is going to make a meaningful impact for the football club,” Regan added.

“That will be the lens we look at that through and there’s a much longer term strategy at play. We may not see the fruits of that labour until next trade period or even the trade period after.

“We want to make sure we’re aggressive in looking at top-end talent.”

Steven May was another player linked to the Dogs, but there ultimately wasn’t much of a market for the Melbourne backman, who turns 34 next January, in the end.

Leek Aleer also didn’t suit their needs.

So who else was out there that’s actually attainable?

Tylar Young was the only traditional key back to move clubs during the exchange window, crossing from Richmond to West Coast.

The 192cm Jai Serong, who switched from Hawthorn to Sydney, is more of a hybrid.

The Dogs are more in need of a brute stopper to supplement interceptors Rory Lobb and James O’Donnell, so even Silvagni probably wouldn’t have addressed that.

They just weren’t able to find it. Or at least not for the right price.

Connor Budarick was the Dogs’ sole trade addition to effectively replace the retired Taylor Duryea’s old role as a small lockdown defender.

Meanwhile the club’s rocky Jamarra Ugle-Hagan marriage ended as it traded the former No. 1 pick to Gold Coast, but Buku Khamis wasn’t granted his wish to move to Carlton.

The Dogs’ key back stocks are further thinned with Liam Jones’ departure as the club look to bounce back from a brutal ninth-placed finish with 14 wins.

A quiet trade period at Whitten Oval comes ahead of a year the club will be targeting Port Adelaide superstar Zak Butters, who can become a free agent in 2026.

So preserving assets could help, particularly when you look at the steep price Charlie Curnow commanded and what Essendon was wanting for Zach Merrett.

While Butters looms large, you can also expect the Dogs to again be in the market for a key defender. But as per the plan, only if they think it will raise their ceiling.

[Mantis]

We couldn't beat a decent side this year, every time we needed to win we couldn't get close, we had a pretty healthy injury list too.

We lost every game by 4 goals and under... There were a couple of games in which the scoreboard flattered us, but we weren't far away.

For reference Bris lost 3 games by more than 6 goals, including a final.

Weightman and Treloar I have doubts whether they can get back to their best.

I'm not holding much hope for Treloar, especially on the role he can play with other like (slow) players around him, but Cody can make a positive contribution.... he was trending towards being a high-quality contributor.

Lobb to me struggled in defence.

Lobb was really solid in the 1st half of the year, but when we asked him to play in defence, take a stint in the ruck whilst still playing 100% game time he struggled... he was banged up by the end of the year, and we need to simplify his role moving forward.

Davidson I want to be good but I'm not sure where he is yet.

Huge tank, good size, 1yr in the system... he'll be a good contributor for us.

I think we balance the defence better bw runners and more defensive types (budarick instead of JJ for eg) and things might get better down back.

I was very strong on this in summarizing our season... JJ, Bramble and Dale all struggle to defend so that mix needs to change. Budarick is a good start to improving that area.

The competition doesn't stand still either so teams below will be better especially the Aints.

We beat the Saints by 11 goals in both games this year... are they going to catch up that difference with the changes they made? I'm not sure they will.

[Grantysghost]

Interesting sentences to have next to each other...a healthy list which had Weightman, Jones, Treloar and Jamarra (all top 10 for importance) essentially unavailable all year, and a couple of months without Bont and Darcy who are absolutely our matchwinners. The concern about not beating the top teams is valid.

I think 2026 is an easy one to see going either way.

If we get 20+ games from Bont and Darcy, more matches with stronger bodies from our 2024 draftees, continued improvement in young guns Freijah, Croft, JOD, Busslinger, a return to AFL for Weightman and Treloar, and most importantly a tightened up defensive structure - it's easy for me to see improvement there.

Injuries to any of the key guys with minimal depth (Bont, Darcy, Lobb, English, Dale, Richards all essentially irreplaceable on our list) will see us probably slide.

Last two years have been very good for injuries. I'm happy with that statement you're never getting a perfect season.

[jazzadogs]

Yep thats a view.

Not sure I share but well said.

We couldn't beat a decent side this year, every time we needed to win we couldn't get close, we had a pretty healthy injury list too.

Weightman and Treloar I have doubts whether they can get back to their best.

Lobb to me struggled in defence.

Davidson I want to be good but I'm not sure where he is yet.

There are positives for sure.

I think we balance the defence better bw runners and more defensive types (budarick instead of JJ for eg) and things might get better down back.

The competition doesn't stand still either so teams below will be better especially the Aints.

I think we will slide before rising but the 3 - 5 year plan if we get some decent A grade talent in is positive.

Interesting sentences to have next to each other...a healthy list which had Weightman, Jones, Treloar and Jamarra (all top 10 for importance) essentially unavailable all year, and a couple of months without Bont and Darcy who are absolutely our matchwinners. The concern about not beating the top teams is valid.

I think 2026 is an easy one to see going either way.

If we get 20+ games from Bont and Darcy, more matches with stronger bodies from our 2024 draftees, continued improvement in young guns Freijah, Croft, JOD, Busslinger, a return to AFL for Weightman and Treloar, and most importantly a tightened up defensive structure - it's easy for me to see improvement there.

Injuries to any of the key guys with minimal depth (Bont, Darcy, Lobb, English, Dale, Richards all essentially irreplaceable on our list) will see us probably slide.

[Pleather Sole]

He showed a lot of improvement in the 2nd half of the season.
Why I doubt he could be a defender is that he is just a tad slow with his movement, his kicking skills are average and he doesn't really have a vertical leap.
I know that sounds a tad harsh but I think he has some limitations.

On reflection, I wonder are we likely to keep him beyond 2026? Yes he has improved and he's young for a solid bodied ruck, is it unreasonable to expect that he'll improve to the extent that he would get games in 2027?
If English is injured or sick Darcy and Lobb fill in, but moving either from their key positions more than a game or two isn't sustainable. If Smith isn't a realistic option then we likely need another plan.

[Grantysghost]

How did our ladder position flatter us when we didn't lose a single game to a team below us?

We were clearly better than the bottom 9 and not quite as good as the top 8, with the exception of our orange bunnies.

We finished exactly where we deserved to finish.

Usually the teams below aren't collectively that shit.

[Axe Man]

I'm not I'm usually quite glass half full.

My belief is that our ladder position flattered us last season. We couldn't beat a good side.

There will be some improvement from the kids but I don't see that being enough of a bridge with our mid age talent being a weak spot.

Realistic not pessimistic. Still think we've got a good side. Just will slide a bit until we get the defence right.

How did our ladder position flatter us when we didn't lose a single game to a team below us?

We were clearly better than the bottom 9 and not quite as good as the top 8, with the exception of our orange bunnies.

We finished exactly where we deserved to finish.

[Grantysghost]

I can’t see how you would believe we’re on the slide…. I truly can’t.

We were a far more consistent team this year compared to 2024 and it wouldn’t be a stretch that if our best 2 players had played together for more than 1/4 in the first half of the season we would’ve found an extra 1-2 wins.

So where does the improvement come from? I would hope each of the following players can improve their output year on year:

Best 23 players:

- Darcy
- Freijah
- Cleary
- Davidson
- JOD
- Croft

Fringe players:

- Dolan
- Hynes
- Jaques
- Busslinger

Add in hopefully getting some output from Weightman and Treloar and a competent /much needed small defender (Budarick) and things are looking ok, especially with a core of likes of Bont, Ed, Naughton, English, Lobb, Dale, West, etc.

Yep thats a view.

Not sure I share but well said.

We couldn't beat a decent side this year, every time we needed to win we couldn't get close, we had a pretty healthy injury list too.

Weightman and Treloar I have doubts whether they can get back to their best.

Lobb to me struggled in defence.

Davidson I want to be good but I'm not sure where he is yet.

There are positives for sure.

I think we balance the defence better bw runners and more defensive types (budarick instead of JJ for eg) and things might get better down back.

The competition doesn't stand still either so teams below will be better especially the Aints.

I think we will slide before rising but the 3 - 5 year plan if we get some decent A grade talent in is positive.

[Grantysghost]

GG that is very pessimistic. We won the same number of games in 25 as we did in 2024 - so hardly a slide, but yeah not an improvement.

We will have natural improvement from the young guns in the team - Darcy, Sanders, Freijah, Buss, JOD etc. We kicked a shit load of goals for the year and lost a few games due to lapse of concentration in one quarter.

Agree, we need to improve our defence and go back to what we did in 2024 when we were the number one defensive team.

I am bullish for the future (I always am ) and with a few tweaks we will be a better team.

I'm not I'm usually quite glass half full.

My belief is that our ladder position flattered us last season. We couldn't beat a good side.

There will be some improvement from the kids but I don't see that being enough of a bridge with our mid age talent being a weak spot.

Realistic not pessimistic. Still think we've got a good side. Just will slide a bit until we get the defence right.

[Mantis]

How do we expect to improve out of interest.

I'm feeling the opposite view. We've been on the slide for a bit just hanging in there.

Budarick is a good get, and hopefully we get improvement from Dolan, Jaques etc but the jury is out on Buss and the defence is still a disaster along with our one paced midfield.

We didn't beat anyone of note sadly.

Love the optimism but my reality is we slide down some more.

I can’t see how you would believe we’re on the slide…. I truly can’t.

We were a far more consistent team this year compared to 2024 and it wouldn’t be a stretch that if our best 2 players had played together for more than 1/4 in the first half of the season we would’ve found an extra 1-2 wins.

So where does the improvement come from? I would hope each of the following players can improve their output year on year:

Best 23 players:

- Darcy
- Freijah
- Cleary
- Davidson
- JOD
- Croft
- Sanders

Fringe players:

- Dolan
- Hynes
- Jaques
- Busslinger

Add in hopefully getting some output from Weightman and Treloar and a competent /much needed small defender (Budarick) and things are looking ok, especially with a core of likes of Bont, Ed, Naughton, English, Lobb, Dale, West, etc.

[Bornadog]

How do we expect to improve out of interest.

I'm feeling the opposite view. We've been on the slide for a bit just hanging in there.

Budarick is a good get, and hopefully we get improvement from Dolan, Jaques etc but the jury is out on Buss and the defence is still a disaster along with our one paced midfield.

We didn't beat anyone of note sadly.

Love the optimism but my reality is we slide down some more.

GG that is very pessimistic. We won the same number of games in 25 as we did in 2024 - so hardly a slide, but yeah not an improvement.

We will have natural improvement from the young guns in the team - Darcy, Sanders, Freijah, Buss, JOD etc. We kicked a shit load of goals for the year and lost a few games due to lapse of concentration in one quarter.

Agree, we need to improve our defence and go back to what we did in 2024 when we were the number one defensive team.

I am bullish for the future (I always am ) and with a few tweaks we will be a better team.

[Grantysghost]

Who kicks more goals in finals? Was it Morris/Gallop or was it Bailey/Lohmann/Rayner/Cameron who destroyed Geelong in the GF? Buderick is an underrated pick-up, and IMO our needs there were every bit as urgent as our needs for the KPD magnet.

Yep he's a good get but really there's not a lot of exposed form. So fingers crossed, and he couldn't push Noble out who is just an ok flanker imo. (Different roles maybe lock v run)

It's the overall plan I am concerned about. Like, what is it? (Defence)

[Sedat]

How do we expect to improve out of interest.

I'm feeling the opposite view. We've been on the slide for a bit just hanging in there.

Budarick is a good get, and hopefully we get improvement from Dolan, Jaques etc but the jury is out on Buss and the defence is still a disaster along with our one paced midfield.

We didn't beat anyone of note sadly.

Love the optimism but my reality is we slide down some more.

Who kicks more goals in finals? Was it Morris/Gallop or was it Bailey/Lohmann/Rayner/Cameron who destroyed Geelong in the GF? Buderick is an underrated pick-up, and IMO our needs there were every bit as urgent as our needs for the KPD magnet.

[Grantysghost]

There bloody well should be a big expectation that we improve on our performances from the past 2 years when we’ve been close to being a really good team, but haven’t quite got there.

We’ve backed in Beveridge by giving him a 2yr contract extension… he needs to deliver.

How do we expect to improve out of interest.

I'm feeling the opposite view. We've been on the slide for a bit just hanging in there.

Budarick is a good get, and hopefully we get improvement from Dolan, Jaques etc but the jury is out on Buss and the defence is still a disaster along with our one paced midfield.

We didn't beat anyone of note sadly.

Love the optimism but my reality is we slide down some more.