Season 2021 - Western Bulldogs

Football Discussion Non Essendon Stuff
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Top 5 Best and Fairest

  1. Caleb Daniel
  2. Bont
  3. Tom Liberatore
  4. Jack Macrae
  5. Bailey Williams

2020 Rising Star Noms

Nil

Ins – Jamarra Ugle-Hagan, Dominic Bedendo, Lachlan McNeil, Mitch Hannan, Stef Martin, Adam Treloar

Outs – Tory Dickson, Billy Gowers, Fergus Greene, Sam Lloyd, Brad Lynch, Callum Porter, Matt Suckling, Jackson Trengove, Lachie Young

My Prediction

Pretty good off season for the Dogs with gaining Treloar, keeping Dunkley and also finding some ruck support in Martin. After the last few seasons of underperformance the pressure was probably relieved slightly by making the finals last year despite minimal impact. They have a list that should be making an impact in the finals and it this season expectations should be raised.

The backline is probably their main area of weakness. I don’t buy Keath as a key position backman, I think he is more of a third tall. Cordy has reached his ability level and Crozier whilst having been solid since coming over lacks accountability. Daniel had a career best season and JJ showed signs of increased impact in games although he still seems to easily removed from games by being held accountable.

The midfield is freakishly strong this year. Adding Treloar to Bont, Hunter, Dunkley, Macrae and Libba gives any other team a lot to thing about. They have a good mix of size and pace as well as good foot skills. You could question the ability to work defensively as a possible weak spot but in all likelihood, they are going to need stopping more often than they will need to be the stoppers.

The forward line is interesting, I suspect JUH comes straight in and I think he could even have an impact pretty quickly as well. Partnering him with Naughton and you have a couple of handy young talls. Bruce attracting the third defender with Wallis, Smith and maybe Hannan crumbing looks like a very handy front half.

The ruck will be an interesting one with English only being 10-15 kilograms away from being a dominant presence, the recruitment of Stef Martin looks a very clever move and should support their strong midfield very well. I don’t know how top rate Beveridge, if he hadn’t won a premiership, I don’t know if they would still be backing him in, I think there are cracks appearing and this is an important year for him.

There were times last season when the Dogs looked the best team in the competition. The problem is that when you were ready to start believing, they would fail to turn up for extended periods. Their game plan looks stale and relies heavily on individuals dragging them over the line. This year they have traded in more talent and set themselves for a genuine shot and should be a top four team. I think somewhere from 3-5 for the Dogs.

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Yuck.

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I reckon they’re duds.

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Failscray

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They’re not perfect but that side should really be finishing top 6. Much less than this and they have to have serious discussions regarding whether Beveridge is the right man going forward.

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Sh-t club, no fans, fk em.

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They should be top 6. If JUH can prove to be an instant star that will solve their issues in attack and ease the burden with Naughton. How Beveridge manages the midfield is fascinating given that Dunkley requested a move away citing a lack of midfield playing time, and they added an extra midfielder to the mix in Treloar. I dare say one of their mids will be picked off by a rival club by the end of next year. It may not necessarily be Dunkley, but someone won’t be happy with being stuck on a forward flank or not being selected constantly.

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i hope they play Dunkley in the ruck and he comes to us at the end of the year.

Otherwise, I dont care what they do.

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Isn’t he contracted for 2022? Given that a deal couldn’t get done last year, not sure how much difference 12 months will make. I’m probably miles off, but I think we’ve got more chance of hitting the draft again next year and looking at him as FA.

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Yes, at the end of this year he will have just the one remaining year contracted to the DOG’s. I am hoping that it might be easier to prise him out with just one year to run

I may be optimistic!

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It’s all fun and games until we actually land Dunkley.

Then watch everyone turn when they realise he cant kick for ■■■■ and is about the 4th or 5th best mid at the dogs.

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Like you, l expect Ugle to make an impact early, and Naughton as a high ceiling. If Bruce gets games this season, it means their forward line is not that good, he is a spud truck (spud + truck).

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They arsed it for a month in 2016 to win a flag, and good on them, wish it could happen to us, but apart from that month they’ve been slightly less mediocre than us while under Beverige.

Have finished 6th, 7th, 10th, 13th, 7th, 7th.

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I hope they fold along with Saints and North minnow clubs that are only in the he league due to Essendon,Pies,Tigers making money

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top 4

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best 22

B: Wood Cordy Crozier.
HB: Johannisen Keath Daniel.
C: Macrae Treloar Hunter.
HF: Ugle-Hagan Bruce Weightman.
F: Hannan Naughton Wallis
R: English Bontempelli Smith
Int: Liberatore, Dunkley, Martin, Williams,

Emg: Lipsinki, Dale, Vandermeer

Dogs should make finals position 3-8.

will they play 2 rucks or rest English every few games and give Martin a game?
Look good on paper, have been inconsistent in the past. Key tall posts lack quality, but they have added Jamarra and he should play early this season as a third tall for them IMO.

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It is interesting, even with the premiership year the Doggies have not finished higher than 6th after the H&A season in over a decade. They had an exceptionally good finals series which netted them a flag, but outside of that have been mostly middle-table or below. Which, considering they’ve had amongst the best midfield units in the league since the premiership, raises doubts on whether midfield alone is actually sufficient.

Its possible Beveridge might be seen like Boyd in a few years time … not generally good enough, but forever thanked for a great 2016.

If Lipinski is out of contract, we should be all over him. Or Smith. Someone is going to have less game time.

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Dunkley or Bontempelli which one do we want this year?

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With their practice match today, the Doggies did a bit of a press conference. Said that Jamarra Ugle-Hagan won’t be playing round 1, they’ll be easing him into it.

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