Season 2018 - Western Bulldogs

Football Discussion Non Essendon Stuff
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Footscray

Coach – Luke Beveridge

2017 –
Points For – 15th
Points Against – 8th

Top 5 Best and Fairest

  1. Marcus Bontempelli
  2. Jason Johannisen
  3. Jack Macrae
  4. Easton Wood
  5. Caleb Daniel

2017 Rising Star Noms

Nil

Ins – Jackson Trangove, Hayden Crozier, Josh Schache, Aaron Naughton, Ed Richards, Callum Porter, Billy Gowers,

Outs – Matthew Boyd, Bob Murphy, Josh Prudden, Declan Hamilton, Tristan Tweedie, Travis Cloke, Stewart Crameri, Jake Stringer

My Prediction

The Bulldogs last year set the way for just how deep a premiership hangover can go. They never really looked a threat last year. They still have some quality on their list but will be interesting to see who the real bulldogs are.

The backline was probably around the mark last year. The big impact last year I guess was Johannisen who despite finishing well in the best and fairest, was found out last year. The minute they make him accountable, he goes missing. It will be interesting to watch how he fights that this year. From a KP perspective they look light on. They are susceptible to being opened up by a team with good tall forwards.

The midfield is strong in theory but last year a lot of their bigger names didnt play up to potential. Libba was miles down on his best, Wallis had injuries and struggles. Even the Bont seemed down on his best, he played some great games and really good patches. It will be interesting to see how they lift. They will be looking for more spark from their midfield group this year.

The forward line was diabolical last year. They just couldnt kick winning scores often enough. They have brought in Trengove as a marking target. Cloke was an unmitigated disaster and losing Boyd for such large patches of the season really hurt. Bringing in Schache is a move towards the future but the question marks over him are huge. I think Dunkley’s injury had a real impact as well. They will improve this year as long as they can keep the team on the field. They will miss Stringer, he was a real x-factor in their forward line and they lack excitement.

They missed Roughead last year in the ruck. Campbell and Boyd had to carry a lot of the ruck. They need a big season from Roughead this year if they are to hit the eight.

From a coaching perspective, he did a great job of bringing a team together in their premiership year, especially in that final 4-6 weeks. Last year he didnt seem to have answers. They honeymoon ended and he couldnt turn that around. He has enough coaching goodwill for a couple of seasons but it won’t last forever.

This year is an interesting one. Even in their premiership year the Dogs didnt look a threat until halfway through the final series. Last year they never looked like it. I think they would need a lot to go right for them to challenge again. They have lost some serious talent and excitement but a decent run with injury and keeping their best 22 on the park and they will challenge for the eight. I think in all likelihood somewhere from 8-10 is going to be about the mark.

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The massively contested , manic attack on the ball integral to the Dogs/Richmond game style is not sustainable year after year. IMO.
Multiple premiership teams over the last 18 years were over stacked with uber talented players, and in the case of the most recent, Hawthorn, they won 3 in a row with very very good precision uncontested play.
Agree 9-10th . maybe sneak into the 8

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7th or 8th.

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Although Essendon and Port were rightly lauded for their trade periods I think that in time people will also think that the Bulldogs smashed this one.

Stringer out is a loss, but it was necessary for culture.

Trengove is a gun defender and fills a big hole for them. He is a strong leader and can play on bigs and smalls and can also relieve in the ruck. Not sure what happened at Port because he was highly regarded and at one stage destined for captaincy. He’ll be a lynchpin down back for them as a true tall defender and will provide leadership around the club.

Schache is a huge get. #2 pick two years ago, clearly disenfranchised at Brisbane and having some mental challenges with the game, but 6’7" blokes who can run, take marks, and kick straight don’t grow on trees. He performed well in his first year and I reckon with some decent service which he will get plenty of at the bulldogs we could see 30-40 goals from him next year and a long career at full forward. The only question is whether you can carry two somewhat fragile big guys in Boyd and Schache long term.

Crozier is another that will slot pretty much straight into the 22, he’s versatile, athletic and has good skills. Has played his best footy off half back and will be a neat replacement for Murphy in that distributor role.

I expect them to bounce back this year strongly. They’ve had some cultural issues which they’ve started to address and they’ve recruited strongly. They will miss Murphy, Boyd and Stringer, but the core group that won a flag two years ago is still there and the hunger should be back.

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Is Tom Boyd not playing this year? Is he still on their list?

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Matthew Boyd has retired

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How the ■■■■ did Johannisen come #2 in their B&F? He was putrid after the Swans bashed him

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Sydney have been consistently playing this way (high stoppages/tackles/contested ball) for about a decade.

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OK, Sydney have not backed up in the year following their flag years 2005 and 2008. Its a moot point. The case of Sydney doesn’t necessarily refute my assertion, and may support it.

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  1. They lost the 2006 GF by a point. It wasn’t exactly a spectacular premiership hangover.
  2. They didn’t win in 2008, that was Hawthorn.
  3. Sydney have kind of been recognised across the AFL as a benchmark for consistency over the last decade.
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I’m not really sure how they will go.

If you believe the Libba is back focussed news then he is massive for the midfield. If he continues to drive the party bus for the team he will continue to be irrelevant. With him firing they are a different side, without him they are in trouble. The quality in the midfield is still there, Bont, McRae Dal, Daniel, Wallis are a good first string mid group. But when the games on the line, Libba makes the contest go their way. He is massive to them.

Stringer is a bigger loss than they calculated, Boyd, Schache, Resting rucks are all the same, big lumbering players. Redpaths is coming back from another major knee. So in the air they may do ok, but when it hits the ground half their forward line will be useless.

The backline will look better, Trengrove, Crozier and a move of Cordy to the backline will improve them heaps. JJ and Biggs give them run and their kids out a pile of pressure on to make their job easier.

At a guess, with Libba fully fit - top 8, without him 9-12.

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Finish your premiership celebrations from two years ago and ■■■■ off.

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interested to see if Schache will actually do anything this year

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No forward line…question marks still surrounding the commitment of the party boys…I expect them to miss the 8.

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At first glance they look to be sliding. But I think that is deceptive. Their deficiencies in KP’s is largely due to injuries/illness gone by. They have two new KP’s (Schache/Trengrove), Redpath, Boyd & Roughhead coming back.
Though they may plateau if things go badly, I feel they have far more up side than down.
Will make the 8 - maybe 4th-6th.

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Don’t see where their goals are going to come from. 10th.

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OK Berba, you win.

But we all know Sydney is a special case. They are to the AFL as General Motors is to the US Government. Too important to fail.
Yet again they have been rated as having the best list in the competition. But someone forgot to tell Geelong that, because they walloped Sydney by close to 10 goals in the semi final last year.

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Yet, they thrashed us.
And we beat Geelong.
Hmmm. Math doesn’t add up.

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Totally agree, I was a long time critic of COLA and I’ve zero doubt whatsoever that it contributed significantly to Sydney’s consistent record of excellence over the last 15 or so years. I expect them to mean revert within the next few seasons now that COLA is gone, weighed down by the Franklin deal, albeit my personal view is that the AFL is quite likely to let them off the hook somehow if the back end of the Franklin contract really starts to strangle them.

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Best 22

B: Morris Adams Wood
HB: Johannisen Trengove Suckling
C: Macrae Liberatore Wallis
HF: McLean Boyd Dickson
F: Dahlhaus Schache Redpath
R: Roughead Bontempelli Hunter
INT: Picken Cordy Daniel Crozier
EMG Dale Dunkley Lin-Jong

Players they would hope develop this year
Tim English, Kieran Collins, Josh schache, Josh Dunkley

looking at dogs list, it seems they ahve quite good depth so loss of stringer may give more blokes opportunities. But he will be hard to replace.
Im taking a hunch on dogs playing 3 talls and Boyd, Schache and Redpath all getting on the park.
Looks a youthful side. if they get on a run could make the 8. but I can see them losing the close ones with an inexperinced side and just missing the 8.
Need Libba and Bont to turn back the clock.
Prediction 8-13 If everything goes right they could make the finals.