Analysis All is not lost - The positivity thread

[Thunderoad]

Leaving aside his late season injury and non-selection in the elimination final for a moment, Riley West had a great season.

Took his game to another level and for most of the season, was one of the first on the team sheet.

Not sure what went on in the last four or so weeks of the season, hopefully it was just injury issues other than his jaw and he goes on with it in 2025.

 

[stefoid]

Not going to rant and rave, I will call the white elephant in the room.

I think Bev has done as much as he is capable with this list. Time for a clean out of coaching staff and some players who just aren’t at the level required

Im OK with Bev as the figurehead, lovey-dovey coach, but he has to be surrounded by people that understand how to roll out a decent gameplan, and even anticipate and innovate new developments. And he has to ****ing listen to them.

Mitchell has been brilliant, theres no doubt.

 

[_Mike_]

And he has to ****ing listen to them.

Fresh ideas, a revamp of the game tactics and some specialist coaches would go a long way with this list.

 

[Mr. Walker]

Plenty of positives. You’re an idiot if you’re off the coach again on one loss after being on him for 10-12 weeks.

But equally you have to be an idiot if you ignored the coaching effort in that last game. It was as complete a coaching pantsing as you will ever see.
Hopefully a positive to come out of it is that a real review is conducted and changes made. I am not talking about babies out with bath water . Hard conversations to identify the issue and real changes to improve the coaching performance.

 

[Foxman98]

We have a tall crop of Naught/Marra/Darcy/JOD/Buss/Croft all developing nicely and all under 25,

Get another 50-100 games into them and let them fill out and the rest will come outside players are easier to acquire via trade/draft

 

[adogsfan5]

But equally you have to be an idiot if you ignored the coaching effort in that last game. It was as complete a coaching pantsing as you will ever see.
Hopefully a positive to come out of it is that a real review is conducted and changes made. I am not talking about babies out with bath water . Hard conversations to identify the issue and real changes to improve the coaching performance.

Agreed mate. Coaching was poor, as was the effort from a lot of the players.

 

[Optimistic Dog]

Another positive is the Bailey Smith

6

Bailey Smith

Age

23

Ht

185cm

Wt

86kg

Pos.

M/F

Career

Season

Last 5

D

18.3

5star

K

8.5

3star

HB

9.8

5star

M

2.3

2star

T

3.8

5star

CL

2.7

4star

D

19.8

5star

K

9.6

4star

HB

10.2

5star

M

1.8

2star

T

3.2

4star

CL

3.2

4star

D

14.8

4star

K

7.6

3star

HB

7.2

5star

M

2.0

3star

T

3.4

5star

CL

1.6

4star

saga is over. Someone mentioned a private school boy promoting his image does not fit at the dogs. Well, it depends on the person it never worried Simon Beasley a private school stock broker from WA.

 

[dogwatch]

But equally you have to be an idiot if you ignored the coaching effort in that last game. It was as complete a coaching pantsing as you will ever see.
Hopefully a positive to come out of it is that a real review is conducted and changes made. I am not talking about babies out with bath water . Hard conversations to identify the issue and real changes to improve the coaching performance.

I'm certainly one who believes in reviews as long as they are properly conducted and not just a charade to shut up the fans, the shareholders or the media.

However we had two reviews last off-season and if there was any quality in them then we have already identified all the issues. That is to say, nothing new seems to have come up since then. And only a little of what was identified has been fixed.

Reviews are often used to kick the can down the road when there's a difficult set of decisions to be made or unpopular action to be taken. (That's what Royal Commissions are becoming in politics.)

So if I was KWW/Ameet my inclination now would be to say stuff having any more reviews. You know what's required, just bite the bullet and make the changes that are needed. That's what you have Presidents and CEOs for, after all.

It's not going to happen of course, but that's my 2 bob's worth.

 

[Doggy Dan]

In other positive news. After waiting 30 years for a decent KPF, we now have 3. Unfortunately, this has coincided with the advent of speedy, chaotic small ball becoming the optimal structure.

 

[Lex22]

Plenty of positives. You’re an idiot if you’re off the coach again on one loss after being on him for 10-12 weeks.

I think we are 1-2 fast and classy players away from a flag. Need to get games into Sanders, Gags, Buss and hopefully Lachie smith next season. Another pre season helps.
I still see something in Arty too.

We absolutely cannot continue with Libba, Macrae, Daniel, Harmes all in the same team at the same time.

Onwards and upwards hopefully.

This is pretty much how I see it. Some natural improvement with a few young guys and get speed/a touch more quality in role players and we’re right there.

The knock on 2022-2023 Dogs was their capabilities vs the best sides and their defence, hence the middling finishes. As frustrating as 2024 ended, those same question marks don’t really linger now.

Also, let’s get off to a good start for once with a settled 23 instead of chasing tail due to selection experiments.

Look at Geelong and Sydney, can manage players during the season and work back into form if the early wins are banked.

Imagine if we could manage Libba, Treloar, Duryea etc, instead of cooking them just trying to qualify.

 

[AJARWA]

Keep transitioning our midfield meaning less time for Libba and Treloar. Trade Daniel. Macrae plays VFL or injury depth. Draft a top ten mid who can kick (see ya Bailey).

Sanders, Garcia and West almost won us the game against a red hot Sydney mid year when thrown into the middle at three quarter time. When all looked lost with multiple injuries. Tough, fast, hate losing. Our team needs more of this type of player to win finals.

 

[maddog37]

We don’t have to watch Bailey Smith

6

Bailey Smith

Age

23

Ht

185cm

Wt

86kg

Pos.

M/F

Career

Season

Last 5

D

18.3

5star

K

8.5

3star

HB

9.8

5star

M

2.3

2star

T

3.8

5star

CL

2.7

4star

D

19.8

5star

K

9.6

4star

HB

10.2

5star

M

1.8

2star

T

3.2

4star

CL

3.2

4star

D

14.8

4star

K

7.6

3star

HB

7.2

5star

M

2.0

3star

T

3.4

5star

CL

1.6

4star

ponce around every week or wait expectantly for his next stupid social media stunt to hit the club.

 

[Dogs54]

Keep transitioning our midfield meaning less time for Libba and Treloar. Trade Daniel. Macrae plays VFL or injury depth. Draft a top ten mid who can kick (see ya Bailey).

Sanders, Garcia and West almost won us the game against a red hot Sydney mid year when thrown into the middle at three quarter time. When all looked lost with multiple injuries. Tough, fast, hate losing. Our team needs more of this type of player to win finals.

I don't disagree with your comments but after the Sydney game how many games did Garcia, Sanders and West play midfield in the AFL? The answer is the problem that has to be solved.

 

[Dogs_R_Us]

Another positive is the Bailey Smith saga is over. Someone mentioned a private school boy promoting his image does not fit at the dogs. Well, it depends on the person it never worried Simon Beasley a private school stock broker from WA.

Our players and staff are from a variety of backgrounds, like all present-day clubs. Do we really need class envy?

 

[maddog37]

Looking forward to seeing what another preseason under the new fitness team can produce.

 

[Bazzas Lovechild]

Given our list…,season was horrible. We need coaching changed but nothing will happen and this time next year we will be in exactly the same position…bookmark it. But in line with the thread…..

Positives.

1. We smashed Geelong down there.
2. Smashed Sydney up there.
3. Comfortably beat Carlton.

That’s it.

 

[Munnez]

In other positive news. After waiting 30 years for a decent KPF, we now have 3. Unfortunately, this has coincided with the advent of speedy, chaotic small ball becoming the optimal structure.

Ideal structure changes every year, it depends on the quality of the side. We need a quality high speed classy hf and a wing with speed and great disposal.
Shouldn't be too hard to find

 

[Dazb86]

Looking forward to seeing Busslinger debut next year.

 

[Pencil case]

Looking forward to seeing Busslinger debut next year.

Hopefully R1

 

[DiamondDogs8]

Hopefully R1

Bramble Lobb Dale
Duryea LJizz Buss
Freijah

Hoping to see this backline in R1, with a new recruit pushing for selection across half back.

Freijah will move into the midfield quicker than we anticipate. Huge positive to take from this year.

 

[Freshwater]

Hopefully R1

Not necessarily. Bevo has gifted round one spots to guys who have trained well all preseason. Unfortunately that is not necessarily our best team due to multiple factors. And as a consequence we haven’t been ready and have been torn apart and got off to terrible starts. This cost us no end of pain at the tail end of the last 3 seasons. We saw with Port Adelaide on Friday how important being in the top 4 at the end of the home and away season is, you can bounce back after a poor first final.
Playing Louis Butler a few seasons back before he was ready cost both him and the club. I vaguely remember the strange selections in round one 2023 as well? Coupled with not being able to cope with rule changes early means we are exhausting ourselves playing catch up all season, unlike Geelong, very professional who are ready to go from the start.

 

[Pencil case]

Bramble Lobb Dale
Duryea LJizz Buss
Freijah

Hoping to see this backline in R1, with a new recruit pushing for selection across half back.

Freijah will move into the midfield quicker than we anticipate. Huge positive to take from this year.

I’d prefer JOD over Jones. JOD is a special talent and needs to be getting games.

 

[DiamondDogs8]

I’d prefer JOD over Jones. JOD is a special talent and needs to be getting games.

I think in time JOD will be a good player. He has shown promising signs especially for effectively a freebie, particularly his sweeping left foot kicking which will be a real weapon in the future.

Sadly I think he struggled this year at times physically even against third-tall types. His body will take time to develop, but in 2 years time I suspect he will be a walk-up in our best 22.

 

[geoffjennings79]

Ideal structure changes every year, it depends on the quality of the side. We need a quality high speed classy hf and a wing with speed and great disposal.
Shouldn't be too hard to find

We might find them, but convincing them to move (to us) will be problematic. Unless you mean draftees, who could take several seasons to get to the level required?

 

[Proffessor]

Not necessarily. Bevo has gifted round one spots to guys who have trained well all preseason. Unfortunately that is not necessarily our best team due to multiple factors. And as a consequence we haven’t been ready and have been torn apart and got off to terrible starts. This cost us no end of pain at the tail end of the last 3 seasons. We saw with Port Adelaide on Friday how important being in the top 4 at the end of the home and away season is, you can bounce back after a poor first final.
Playing Louis Butler a few seasons back before he was ready cost both him and the club. I vaguely remember the strange selections in round one 2023 as well? Coupled with not being able to cope with rule changes early means we are exhausting ourselves playing catch up all season, unlike Geelong, very professional who are ready to go from the start.

Like you Freshwater, I think Bevo has been a bit too generous in rewarding preseason\training form.
I also agree that it has likely cost us some early season games.

However, there is obviously some method to his madness. As a result of this approach, players learn not to slack off in preseason. The young players also get given something to aim for, to get opportunities that may often seem miles out of reach during the season. Plus some of the senior guys who may miss a few early games might even be a bit fresher at the business end to the season, assuming they don't crack the 'sads'.

I think he could\should moderate his approach, but it does have some underlying merit.

It could even be one of the reasons that we are still competitive whilst teams like Richmond are now a shadow of what they were a just few short years ago.