Training 2024 Pre-season training

[TiAn_]

I remember watching the last game of of 2022 v Hawthorn. Roarke was clearly one of the best on. Got us into finals

More importantly, won me the Pieman

 

[BLACAE]

The ones we are looking at certainly won't be cheap.

Hunter??

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[Libba39]

You don’t rate Buku ahead of JOD atm ?
He plays like a CHB and whilst listed as 191cm, he plays much taller.
Has not put a foot wrong through pre season and I will be staggered and disappointed if he does not play round 1.

I think he'll play, but I wouldn't put Buku and JOD in the same category of player. Buku is a 190cm utility. He can't play key defender.

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[Bulldogs Legend]

I would think that it would be due to ground availability. Cricket finals go to mid/late march.

Yep certainly in the past but not now I wouldn’t have thought

 

[Munnez]

The fact we drafted Freijah and have trialled Gags there this pre-season suggests the MC hold a similar view.

Gags looks like he could develop well to the outside wing role. Like the pace that he showed, still a little under developed physically could probably use another preseason to harden to stick his tackles a little better. Believe there is a bit to work with there though.

 

[Bulldogs Legend]

I still want to see West get an extended run in the midfield.

He's one of the only players that can actually break a tackle.

Not quick enough to do it full time

 

[Bulldogs Legend]

So whats holding him back from being a midfield spot then? what areas does he need to work on?

Running speed and running defensively has been his issue. In close no issues.
He is aware of his weaknesses and had in last season’s preseason done additional running training with Bont but unfortunately got injured during preseason. Looks like he has continued to work on it

 

[Bulldogs Legend]

BEVO

Yeah nah

 

[Bulldogs Legend]

Is wanting to be mid a status thing or something else? Especially if you show talent in another position.

Reality is that every young player wants to be a mid or key position player as that will be where they made their name as a junior.
It’s why I find ridiculous the criticism often directed at coaches that they are playing players out of position. And I’m not just talking Bevo, you can go to any club forum to hear that criticism.
The art of good coaching is to find to player’s positions that best suit your list not simply playing a player in their favourite or even best position

 

[Mojorisin]

Reality is that every young player wants to be a mid or key position player as that will be where they made their name as a junior.
It’s why I find ridiculous the criticism often directed at coaches that they are playing players out of position. And I’m not just talking Bevo, you can go to any club forum to hear that criticism.
The art of good coaching is to find to player’s positions that best suit your list not simply playing a player in their favourite or even best position

Half the battle these days is to find players with the mental flexibility to play multiple positions, alot can't adapt Mid game to change of roles and alot won't swap from game to game due to ego.

 

[Libba39]

Not quick enough to do it full time

Correct. He ain't quick enough to chase in the open spaces. Would get slaughtered in a free-running game.

I think he's found his spot as a pressure fwd who can pinch-hit in the centre for a bounce or two.

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[Bulldogs Legend]

Microwaving is far too easy these days.

I still remember as a youngster my mates dad tearing up his membership (the old clip off ones like bus tickets) in front of Malthouse as he crossed the ground after a game from his wing coaches box.

I would have to digitally destroy mine I don’t even get the card anymore. Not that I would anyway

 

[Bulldogs Legend]

McNeil had an almost game but his two behinds were the wind dragging the ball into the post at the last second. Overall he was pretty solid and should be in line for round one.

Harmes was good, not spectacular but should stay in.

Vandermeer was poor and I don't think he played after half time.

Daniel was very good when he came on in the second half.

Gallagher does some nice stuff but he's too lightly built. Needs another season of physical development.

VDM was concussed

 

[Bulldogs Legend]

98% of people agree with you

According to the stats

 

[Bulldogs Legend]

It speaks volumes for how much of a mess our wings are that he and Poulter are serious candidates to fill one or both wing roles next week.

Ive seen nothing over the pre-season that suggests we are any closer to settling this issue than we were a year ago.

Its an indictment on the club that we are likely to see another season of musical chairs rotating a long list second stringers in search of a solution again this year.

During last weeks game when the Hawks went on a 5 goal spree in the second it was a direct result of how poor our wings were at stopping the hawks going directly through the wings. We only wrested control of that game in the second half because our mids lifted as the Hawks tired. The wings will be the achilles heal of our side all season and will probably be the difference between us making finals and wasting another season.

LOL what OTT nonsense
An indictment on the club seriously??? FFS all cubs have their weaknesses. What would you do trade Jammara for a couple Of wings?

 

[Bulldogs Legend]

Freijah and perhaps O’Driscoll are legitimate attempts to solve this problem. The club deserves credit for that even if it’s a couple of years too late.

However neither could be expected to be ready to play senior football early in their first season out of juniors. Hence the ongoing merry go round of mature age hopefuls like Baker, Poulter etc. With a bit of luck one of those might make the grade.

There’s also Bedendo who might have made a winger by now (if not a HFF/HBF) but has had a wretched run with injuries.

So it’s not as if the club hasn’t tried.

It’s an indictment on anyone who hasn’t seen the club is trying to address its issues

 

[Mofra]

I think he'll play, but I wouldn't put Buku and JOD in the same category of player. Buku is a 190cm utility. He can't play key defender.

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If you're very very very good at that height you can get away with it: e.g. 188cm Dane Rampe.

If JOD is fit I'm not sure Buku plays. TBH I wouldn't rush JOD back for round 1 as it's a long season and Buks seems to have improved quite a bit over the pre-season. No way he could handle 90%+ TOG in past years, as he did against the Hawks.
I imagine if Coffield misses games or drops form during the year Buks is the logical choice to come in for him too.

 

[Bulldogs Legend]

The ones we are looking at certainly won't be cheap.

No club will pay shitloads for specialist wings as there isn’t many out there that will significantly improve your side

 

[Bulldogs Legend]

Smith, Macrae and JJ aren't wingmen and haven't played there in years though. They don't have the positional requirements to start on the wing at a typical centre bounce, hold their positionally, etc.

The fact that Williams - who is not even playing his best or natural position in his defence - is our best wingman and "can find a niche" is proving the very point about our weakness in the position. He would barely be touching top 20 in the position.

By definition as a mid-table team, we should have about the 10th and 30th best wingers in the league

But please tell me which of these wing players you would rather have Williams over:
J. Daicos, M. Wood, N. Martin, S. Sidebottom, B. Acres, B. Ellis, L. Hunter, B. Scott, J. Ross, J. Berry, C. Jones, J. Aish, J. Soligo, Z. Tuohy, L. Henry, E. Langdon, A. Gaff, J. McInerney, S. Durham, B. Campbell, J. Fletcher.

This isn't even counting some players that are fringe wing/inside midfielders such as J. Crisp, M. Holmes, S. Docherty, J. Ward, F. Callaghan, B. Fiorini.

Maybe some of them aren't true wing players - I am going off Champion Data listed midfielders who have very limited centre bounce attendances - but you get the point. I've juste listed 28 players who are arguably "wings" and would also arguably be better than Williams and be our best wing player. In an 18-team competition, that shows you the utter weakness we have in the position.

LOL everyone’s a wingman

 

[Bulldogs Legend]

Sorry I just can't fathom the negativity on here. Its like we're finally looking good in most positions and all the nancies have decided that the season lives or dies on our wings....

#woethewings

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It’s given me a laugh as I eat my pizza shapes on an another hot Mildura morning.
I get we all have opinions but sometimes I feel like some are happier complaining about shit for the sake of it

 

[Bulldogs Legend]

At the end of the day our big salary investments over the last 6-7 years for that we didn't draft and develop ourselves have almost exclusively been talls (Schache, Trengove, Bruce, Keath, O'Brien, Lobb, Jones).

Arguably Treloar and maybe Crozier and Duryea were the only players in this window that this didn't apply to that we paid any amount to, until Harmes. But still that's far more "talls" than "smalls" we recruited from other clubs paying more than a minimum amount on a multi-year salary in the post-2016 flag era.

I don't think it's coincidence - clearly this is a deliberate strategy by the club in how they assess how best to spend the currency of list management resources building a balanced list into the medium/long term.

So given that there's a direct cause an effect of lack of list management capitcal invesmtent into certain positions and those positions being weak, and such a weakness being obvious last year and it not being corrected tihsyear, discussing whether that was the right strategy is an entirely fair one.

Discussing it yes. OTT criticism not supported by any rational alternatives no.
And all before a serious game has even begun

 

[GetDimmaBack]

According to the stats

According to Stan the Statistician

 

[maddog37]

It’s given me a laugh as I eat my pizza shapes on an another hot Mildura morning.
I get we all have opinions but sometimes I feel like some are happier complaining about s**t for the sake of it

Pizza shapes are underrated. Cheese and bacon currently top choice here though.

 

[House_of_Dahl]

What the **** am I reading here...BBQ original clearly...

 

[ScragCity]

Pizza shapes are underrated. Cheese and bacon currently top choice here though.

S tier: Pizza
Top tier: Cheese and bacon
Mid tier: BBQ, Nacho cheese, cheddar
Shit tier: Savoury, chicken crimpy