Yes extremely proud with her. Unfortunately they lost by 4 points in a semi final
Just reflect on the fact they’re paying their best player to play somewhere else, paying a million bucks to a kid who had less touches of the ball in his first year (9 games) than Aaron Henneman (8 games), and had to give away pick 6 for that honour.
And laugh.
They’ve got some good bits to work with, but that was an all-time, barrel scraping low of an off-season.
Ate some serious ■■■■.
Absolutely going nowhere.
Losing Cooney, Griffin and Gia is huge and possibly Morris and M.Boyd at the end of the year will see them bottom 2 for the next couple of years. Still have little KPF despite picking up the over-priced Boyd.
Roughead and Talia in defence aren’t bad, but can still see a lot of goals kicked against them due to inexperience.
Upside is their young midfield: Libba, Wallis, Bont, McCrae, Hrovat, Stevens and Clay Smith would be all be formidable very soon.
Prediction: 17th
Griffin was the third best player in the comp in 2013. Massive loss. Conversely, outside the expansion clubs they have the best young group of mids in the comp (no one tell Norf fans).
Getting Boyd was the right move, however overpriced he seems right now he has serious talent and could be the top KPF in the league sooner before later.
Will be s*** this year, but like most young sides I wouldn’t be surprised if they catch one or two clubs napping (probably us).
Bulldogs were disappointing in 2014, but I expect them to do better in 2015. Think they can be decent in 2015/2016 and win around 10 games but then will hit the wall. I expect they will lose 2 or 3 GOOD players in the next 2 years to pay for Boyd. This could go down as one of the worst decisions in history.
They’re rubbish.
A reply to: @yaco55 regarding QuoteLink
Bulldogs were disappointing in 2014, but I expect them to do better in 2015. Think they can be decent in 2015/2016 and win around 10 games but then will hit the wall. I expect they will lose 2 or 3 GOOD players in the next 2 years to pay for Boyd. This could go down as one of the worst decisions in history.
Curious who you think is taking the big money at the dogs. They will have salary cap to spare.
A reply to: @Allblack regarding QuoteLink
A reply to: @yaco55 regarding QuoteLinkBulldogs were disappointing in 2014, but I expect them to do better in 2015. Think they can be decent in 2015/2016 and win around 10 games but then will hit the wall. I expect they will lose 2 or 3 GOOD players in the next 2 years to pay for Boyd. This could go down as one of the worst decisions in history.Curious who you think is taking the big money at the dogs. They will have salary cap to spare.
I’m interested to know how they are going to win 10 games.
I’d say they are more likely to win the spoon than they are to win 10 games.
I reckon they are building one of the best, if not the best midfield in the comp. Liberatore, Macrae, Bontempelli, Wallis, Hrovat, Hunter and Smith have serious class. They paid overs for Boyd, but they were never going to get someone with such ability in the door without paying the price. The loss of Griffin, Cooney and Higgins will hurt short-term, but they are both past their best and won’t be around when the Bulldogs are a top four side. The biggest mistake they could have made was not going hard for a young power forward to complement their midfield group. The next decade would have likely been a repeat of the late 1990s and 2000s, when they made five prelims, but didn’t have the firepower to make a Grand Final or win a Premiership.
A reply to: @yaco55 regarding QuoteLinkBulldogs were disappointing in 2014, but I expect them to do better in 2015. Think they can be decent in 2015/2016 and win around 10 games but then will hit the wall. I expect they will lose 2 or 3 GOOD players in the next 2 years to pay for Boyd. This could go down as one of the worst decisions in history.Curious who you think is taking the big money at the dogs. They will have salary cap to spare.
You’d like to hope so - but they apparently don’t.
$1.2 or 1.3M between Griffen and TBoyd hurts a lot (more than 10% of your $10.07M cap effectively on a kid who’s just making his way).
Minson/Murphy/MBoyd would be earning pretty well - the 95% cap factor, where the highest paid blokes in the game are solid senior players at crap clubs (who still have to pay 95%), higher even than absolute guns at stronger clubs. Cuddles is on north of 4 as well - not extraordinary for him as a player but he’s the generation that’s caught in no-man’s land, not really a leader nor a guy developing for the future - see Cooney/Higgins.
Libba is easily their most important player for the future - best performed player by 22 & standout candidate for future captain. Don’t know when he signed but he’s starting to demand big coin. The question is how soon Stringer/Bontemp/Macrae/Dahlhaus/Roughead/Stevens/Jong (and Tom Boyd, LOL, the 54 kick man) follow him. Mismanage their cap (and the administration don’t inspire much confidence…) and have more than 3 or 4 of that group come up for biggish deals around the same time and they could easily lose players.
I was reasonably bullish about their long-term shape last year, despite thinking they’d go backwards in terms of wins and losses. This year I’m pessimistic about both.
I don’t think they’d have won near as many games without the form of Higgins, Cooney, Griffen and Gia. It’s hard to see all 4 being replaced & improved upon instantly and they were pretty blue collar to start with. Their inclusions this year have largely been (belated) talls, and they don’t actually have a heap of unseen 2nd-4th year smalls who you’d be looking at to ramp up - and no pick 6 either, which would’ve given them an even chance to find a kid who could have an impact this year.
Can’t see them getting above 16th.
Bulldogs Best 22
F Dickson Boyd Smith
HF Dalhaus Crameri Stringer
C Bontempelli Boyd Wallis
HB Murphy© Talia Biggs
B Darley Roughead Morris
R Minson Libba Macrae
Int Hrovat Stevens Picken
SubWood
Emg Hunter, Honeychurch Cordy
Really struggling picking emergencies…some injuries to their experience older blokes will mean they might get some floggings against good sides. i liked goodes in the team in 2013…but now a rookie they just have to hope like hell a lot of the younger kids develop.
as the guys outside their best 22 at the moment are just kids.
they could have used a hardingham in defence i believe.
A lot rests on the shoulders of Boyd.
Smith is a dud IMHO.
The outs are worth a lot more than the ins. New coach. Could be some very unhappy players over what happened in the off season. Some good talent but I’m struggling to see who will finish below them.
Could be a really ugly season for them. I’ll be generous and guess 16th.
A reply to: @yaco55 regarding QuoteLinkBulldogs were disappointing in 2014, but I expect them to do better in 2015. Think they can be decent in 2015/2016 and win around 10 games but then will hit the wall. I expect they will lose 2 or 3 GOOD players in the next 2 years to pay for Boyd. This could go down as one of the worst decisions in history.Curious who you think is taking the big money at the dogs. They will have salary cap to spare.
Well from 2015 you have an unproven player taking 1m from the cap. Clubs will go hard at their talented younf midfielders.
Bulldogs won 7 or 8 games. No reason to think they cant improve a bit in 2015. of course the draw will be a big factor.
A reply to: @yaco55 regarding QuoteLink
Quoted Postthat assumes that the club hasn't structured it in such a way to manage it going forward. I don't see Sydney struggling to keep their young players despite Tippett and Franklin taking a massive cut. Let's not also forget they lost Griffen, Cooney, Gia and Higgins. I know they are paying some of the Griffen wage but that also frees up a load of cash.A reply to: @yaco55 regarding QuoteLinkBulldogs were disappointing in 2014, but I expect them to do better in 2015. Think they can be decent in 2015/2016 and win around 10 games but then will hit the wall. I expect they will lose 2 or 3 GOOD players in the next 2 years to pay for Boyd. This could go down as one of the worst decisions in history.Curious who you think is taking the big money at the dogs. They will have salary cap to spare.
Well from 2015 you have an unproven player taking 1m from the cap. Clubs will go hard at their talented younf midfielders.
I world be surprised if they hadnt front loaded his contract.
In short I have given your comment too much attention. It is rubbish.
They may have front loaded Boyd’s contract, but it won’t be next year. Next year he’s still on the second year of the mandated draftee contract, clubs aren’t allowed to change that with contract extensions, etc.
Will finish bottom 4.
What few members they currently have will leave in droves.
Club will be bankrupt or based in Canberra by 2018.
A reply to: @SplitRound regarding QuoteLink
They may have front loaded Boyd's contract, but it won't be next year. Next year he's still on the second year of the mandated draftee contract, clubs aren't allowed to change that with contract extensions, etc.It's a mandated minimum, not a max. They can pay him however many trillions they want.
They are paying Boyd about $200k this coming season. He will be on ~$1M from 2016.