Training Preseason 22-23

[Optimistic Dog]

We need you to stay down and crumb ok Cody?

OK

is the snap for the mark or the babe in the background?

 

[ScragCity]

It’s going hard to assess the tall defenders in the first two rounds coming up against currently the weakest two sets of tall forwards in the league.


On iPhone using BigFooty.com mobile app

If Schache kicks 5 that will tell us a lot

 

[dogwatch]

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Love all your pics B85 but especially these two.
1. Darcy taking a mark - how will they stop a bloke who is 209cm and has got three arms?
2. Bont breaking clear - has so much time that he can stop and do the chicken dance as he glides through the pack. Now that’s the sign of a true champion. How often do you see blokes streaming out of the centre with the footy and doing the chicken dance? Not bloody often, I can tell you!

 

[TiAn_]

Other than humans...

Hello……..human!

If humans are apex predators it isn’t because we can take the shoelace express and bang out a steady 5km. It’s because we’re smarter than the dumb animals we kill. Liam Jones is the exception, as although indeed human he is equally an explosive animal. And he reigns with the strength, power and wetness of an Orca coupled with the reflexes of a Panther on amphetamines.

 

[Bulldogs Legend]

Clearly.

I knew we would agree eventually

Now you can return to painting the harbour bridge and escaping from Stalag 13

 

[Bulldogs Legend]

We spent lots of time at training over the last 10 years and from what I observed Dunkley was a great clubman.
Friendly often spoke to us and played with the kids after training so we were absolutely shocked all I can put it down to is the mighty $$$$$$.

I think he is fairly shallow but knows how to play the game with fans

 

[Bulldogs Legend]

What exactly has Dunkley said that has sent you all into a frenzy?

1) the Dogs don't do as much running

Who cares? I think this was common knowledge anyway. We spend more time on match sim and drills than running compared to other clubs. We still train as much and as hard as other clubs.

2) the Lions have a better midfield

Of course he's going to say that. Stef Martin, when he came to the Bulldogs, said that ours was the best midfield he had ever played with. They all say this stuff. For what it's worth, I still think that we have the better midfield, but Dunkley leaving us to go to them makes it closer than it was.

He didnt need to say either. He could have simply said their training was different and that the Lions have a great midfield. Drawing direct comparisons was petty unnecessary and stupid.
Dunkleys problem is he is so self absorbed he can’t perceive how others would react

 

[Bulldogs Legend]

Yeah total storm in a tea cup. Dunks even responded saying it's he has zero issues with Dogs and it's just people trying to dramatise

Yeah people routinely brush off criticism when they are called out. He actually said his comment were taken out of context which is funny given it was a Lions media

 

[Bulldogs Legend]

Stuff Dunkleys comments. You have to be pretty soft to be triggered by something as trivial as "Lions run more" I'm a very emotional person and even I disregarded his comments as nothing.

Also F Brisbane, we don't play them until round three. Talk should be focused on the Demons first.

That being said, I think we are having a little break post camp before resuming preseason again? Anyone know when we hit the training track again? Esp keen for ITK reports on players. Already deserves the WB BF Poster of the year at this rate. Only six weeks until our first game. Coming up so quickly.

You would have to be pretty soft to ignore an ex clubman claiming his new team’s midfield was better than the Dogs

 

[Bulldogs Legend]

The difference in the contract was approximately $80K a year...
After tax the difference is about $45K
He just wanted out of the club - plain and simple - and because of this we should all want him out of the club as well. No need to hold grudges against him as he is dead to us now... he's totally irrelevant.

Nah never forgive the grub and he would have left for $5 more

 

[X_box_X]

2. Bont breaking clear - has so much time that he can stop and do the chicken dance as he glides through the pack.

Two things stopping him from being up there with GAJ and Dusty as the best player of the past decade are his goal kicking inaccuracy and the opposite of what you just said.

He doesn't always have a lot of time. He has led the team in holding the ball in three of the last four years. It's somewhat annoying that our best player isn't able to get himself out of a jam often enough. Dusty never gets tackled. Bont always does.

 

[Bulldogs Legend]

I know what you're saying but we have West, Garcia and now McLean likely to be played out of position due to the midfields strength.

Obviously I'd prefer them on our list than not.

Going to be an interesting year to see how Beveridge balances our current midfield set up with West and Garcia needing minutes imo.

Reality is that many players come into the system as mids but need to find their positions elsewhere as they are not the best mids at the club. That happens at all clubs

 

[Bulldogs Legend]

West came 2nd in 2019 with 17 votes behind the winner polled 25 votes. Big Tommy Campbell came third. Still a good effort.

And it wasn’t as a full time mid

 

[Bulldogs Legend]

Five weeks before the season starts, would be nice to get an update from one of the coaches as to how players are tracking. Would like to hear especially how the new players are going and expectations of them. I suppose we have to wait for a pre season game before any of them speak.

Webb was extensively quoted in a recent report I can’t recall where

 

[Bulldogs Legend]

Let’s compare midfielders one on one with Brisbane - I am unashamedly one eyed but I reckon we Pip them.

Neale v Bont - at that level each can claim to be top of their class - DRAW

Macrae v Dunkley- Mac has a port end of season but remember his streak of 30 plus possession - over the journey Macrae has been a better player. Points to Bulldogs

McCluggage - Smith - I think both teams would prefer there player but McCluggage may just Pip him? Not much in it. Points to Brisbane.

Lyons v Libba - Lyons is a good player (only elite in kicks) but Libba is considerably better. points to Bulldogs.

Berry v Trelor - despite injuries Trelor is well ahead at this stage. Very different. points to Bulldogs.

Bailey v McLean - on pure stats McLean has him (17 v 22 is a big difference but Bailey has been resilient. Points to Bulldogs.

Zorko v Daniel - Zorko has the track record, Daniel has the talent. Points to Brisbane

Matheson v McComb - both are just hard nuts that can’t guarantee and spot in the best 22. DRAW

Deven Robertson v Williams - Deven is below average in about everything - don’t get the hype. Points to Bulldogs.

Depth - Roarke has a few of Brisbane covered and I don’t think McNeil and Scott would be far off. Bedendo and Baker are unproven but have potential. Brisbane have Ah Chee and Thomas Berry. Points to Bulldogs on depth.

Kids: Ashcroft, Fletcher v West, García -> Brisbane has on reputation but Bulldogs have more experience. Brisbane would believe that have us but we don’t know until we see how they play. Ashcroft already looks special but West has already had top shelf games and García looms very good. Probably points to Bulldogs at this stage but could be a big advantage of Brisbane if they deliver to their potential.

Bont easily over Neale, Macrae and Neale would be a closer match

 

[Dogs_R_Us]

He didnt need to say either. He could have simply said their training was different and that the Lions have a great midfield. Drawing direct comparisons was petty unnecessary and stupid.
Dunkleys problem is he is so self absorbed he can’t perceive how others would react

Journos routinely steer the interview towards controversy, means more clicks and conversations like this one. Then they cherry-pick the answers they want and give them a slight tweak. Not saying this happened to Dunkley but the fact that he followed up the article with another statement saying that wasn’t his intent tells us something of the sort occurred.

 

[Pugz89]

Journos routinely steer the interview towards controversy, means more clicks and conversations like this one. Then they cherry-pick the answers they want and give them a slight tweak. Not saying this happened to Dunkley but the fact that he followed up the article with another statement saying that wasn’t his intent tells us something of the sort occurred.

Or he didn't consider how his answer could be interpreted by people other than Lions fans, and wanted to try and mitigate the damage?

 

[Bulldogs Legend]

Journos routinely steer the interview towards controversy, means more clicks and conversations like this one. Then they cherry-pick the answers they want and give them a slight tweak. Not saying this happened to Dunkley but the fact that he followed up the article with another statement saying that wasn’t his intent tells us something of the sort occurred.

it was the lions media team was it not? Can’t see how you could use that as an excuse when it was your own club that asked the questions and watching it the comment seemed unprompted

 

[Bulldogs Legend]

I really do like Scott, his shown enough for me to consider him on a wing starting.. Hannan and VDM on the other hand, yes, bring speed, but really not much else.

I'd prefer West's hard nut in the midfield and Garcia and mid/hhf role.

Not much else other than great tackling and both pretty decent overhead

 

[Dogs_R_Us]

2. Bont breaking clear - has so much time that he can stop and do the chicken dance as he glides through the pack. Now that’s the sign of a true champion. How often do you see blokes streaming out of the centre with the footy and doing the chicken dance? Not bloody often, I can tell you!

Pendlebury. But don’t forget, he’s got a basketball background.

 

[Bulldogs Legend]

We need you to stay down and crumb ok Cody?

OK

Cody is like my Jack Russell when I give him treats. He has to leap at my hands from 10 meters away even though I am putting the treat on the ground in front of him

 

[Bulldogs Legend]

Dees will test our defenders with their mountain of f50 entries. Our talls absolutely have to be involved in our transition game on the offensive side. They also need to intercept well and help us create transfers. Round 1 will tell us a lot.

We survived the test late in the season with a worst defence than now, I am confident for R1

 

[adogsfan5]

 

[Inside The Kennel]

"He's had a pre-season out of the box...he has ripped them apart."

Listen to Dougie, Paul and I discuss which players have impressed over the summer and the ONE who has turned the most heads with an explosive pre-season.

Tune in from 11min 25 second mark to find out who! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbnDxpbtVVs​

 

[goodcop badcop]

Didn't plan on doing it, but had a break down early yesterday morning and had plenty of time to drop into training before heading home so I thought I'd share my thoughts.

To explain the Mark Stevens

Mark Stevens

Age

49

Ht

194cm

Wt

95kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

11.4

3star

K

7.1

3star

HB

4.3

3star

M

3.5

4star

T

1.3

3star

G

1.0

4star

No current season stats available

D

5.8

2star

K

3.6

2star

HB

2.2

2star

M

2.0

3star

T

0.4

3star

G

2.0

5star

stuff bit better, the initial starting backline was indeed Gardner, Jones and Darcy who were on the white team. The white team was clearly the better side with Bont, Libba, Macrae, Naughton, Weightman, English, Lobb, Jamarra, Richards, Dale, Daniel, McLean, Williams, Duryea, Vandermeer, Hannan, Scott, Baker in that side at least intially. But after two qtrs, Keath and Darcy switched sides as did quite a few others (like Bont) to even up the contest. It was Naughton, Lobb, Jamarra vs Jones, Gardner, Keath by the end of the game.

On to individual players

Defenders

Jones - He's fast going to become an important player for us. Gave Khamis a bit of a lesson and was good at providing support when necessary. I feel a bit more confident now when a high ball comes in

Keath - Looking a lot leaner as pointed out and a million times better compared to last year. I thought he was our 2nd best tall defender behind Jones on the day and spent a lot of his time on Naughton. He held him pretty well defensively particularly with the amount of ball coming into him being on the weaker team. Started to get into a few more attacking positions when partnered with Jones and Gardner and I thought the back line looked a bit more organised with him in it as both Jones and Keath were able to intercept.

Gardner - Solid overall, much the same from him. Wasn't the best with his disposal but did a good job on all his matchups.

Darcy - Didn't really have much impact in the back line and looked pretty lost when matched up on smaller opponents. Was switched into the forward line and in the ruck where he had much more of an impact.

Bruce - It's good to see him out there moving well and he's clearly slimmed down. He did a few nice things including reading the play and cutting off attacks. The main issue I see is his disposal where he had one pretty bad moment and another nervous moment. It also wasn't great seeing him outmarked a couple times as well. He was switched forward later in the game. The switch to the back line doesn't appear to be working out.

Richards - Picked up where he left off from last year and was one of our best players today. Won a lot of ball from intercepts and in general play.

Dale - Looking good and ready for a big year.

Cleary - Seems very much like a competitor and had a good battle against Jamarra for much of the game. Took some of the kick ins and it was a solid game from him overall without many mistakes. Still needs to fill out a lot more, but will be pushing for games this year.

Duryea - Poor performance. Wasn't paying close attention to him, but did come across as a tad slower to my eye.

Gallagher - Spent a bit of time on Weightman and struggled a bit. He was more of an attacking player at junior level, so I'd imagine they are trying to build a defensive side to his game.

Crozier - Appears to still be struggling form wise

Wings

Williams - Was matched up against Roarke Smith

37

Roarke Smith

Age

28

Ht

184cm

Wt

82kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

11.7

3star

K

5.6

2star

HB

6.1

4star

M

2.4

3star

T

1.7

4star

CL

0.4

2star

No current season stats available

D

12.0

3star

K

5.8

3star

HB

6.2

4star

M

3.0

3star

T

1.6

4star

CL

0.2

2star

and Williams was too good for him. Far too strong for him in the air and was able to sneak forward. With Dunkley moving on, I'd expect us to target him a bit more as he is very strong overhead. I didn't think much of his disposal last year, thought it looked better today. Good signs of improvement.

R Smith - He struggled as mentioned above.

Scott - Was looking good until Smith slung him in a tackle. Seemed ok, as he was running around with some of the rehab guys. His long kicking can be a real asset.

McNeil - Like Smith, he really struggled. Was switched forward and I hardly noticed him

Baker - Played a bit as a forward as well as wing. His speed is noticeable and was involved in a fair bit of play. I expect him to play a fair bit.

Onballers

Bont - Looking in great shape and I like the beard. Kicked a couple goals and looks like the best player in the AFL again

Libba - Looks set for a big year.

Macrae - Took a good contested mark against Bruce and looked his usual self racking them up.

McLean - Spent a fair bit of time as a half forward as well as change up in the middle and was one of the better players on the day. His attack on the ball was very good and he's clearly moving a lot better compared to last year. Good to see.

Garcia - Spent a lot time as one of the main onballers on the weaker side and didn't have a lot of impact. Think he would benefit from having a few more bigger bodies on his side as he does look a bit too small matching up against guys like Bont.

B Smith - Sounds like he's missed a fair bit of footy after being in rehab and it showed as he looked pretty puffed by the end of the game. Was used mostly as a main onballer and was still pretty decent. He was certainly running pretty hard and running well. He did have his work cut out for him being on the weaker side.

West - Looked very good around the contest and matched it against Bont, Libba etc. Just not completely convinced on his outside game once it moves away from the contest. Will be interesting to see how he progresses and how the coaches play this. Even with Dunkley gone, it looks awfully hard to break into this midfield.

McComb - Wasn't paying a lot of attention to him, but seemed to be playing as a half forward and onballer for the weaker team. Didn't notice him much.

Rucks

English - Looks a bit bigger and got his hands to more of the taps then normal. Seemed to get a fair bit of it around the grounds, but wasn't dominant.

Sweet - Got a bit more of the ball then what I've normally seen. Possibly got himself a bit fitter? English had the better of him, but not by a whole heap. Snuck forward and kicked a goal even. Looks to have improved.

Forwards

Naughton - He was beaten in the air and only really had one good mark that I can think of which probably tells you more about the improvement in our key backs. Looked more dangerous at ground level with his agility and was moving really well.

Lobb - Kicked two goals, including one from outside 50. Was able to find space well with smart timing of his leads. Switched into the ruck for a bit.

Jamarra - Got himself very fit over the summer as he was working up the ground and was pushing back into the forward line very hard. Apart from one easy chest mark drop, his marking was very good including a good contested mark opposed to Bruce. He really should have ended up with a couple goals but fluffed them. He's getting plenty of the ball just needs to polish it up a bit.

Weightman - Was the best forward on the day plus he had a few stints on ball where he looked ok. Looks set for a big year

Vandermeer - Started forward on the white team where his defensive pressure was good, but didn't have a lot of impact apart from that. Moved to defence on Weightman who was killing it and he shut him down. His disposal continues to be a problem though and he probably needs to keep it very simple.

Hannan - Like Vandermeer he was on the stronger white team. Kicked a goal, but nothing really significant to report.

Khamis - Was often used deep forward and didn't really do much. Was tough for him as he didn't see a lot of good ball come into him being on the weaker team.

Raak - Showing a bit more improvement and kicked a goal today. Still looks very skinny and a fair war off AFL footy though at the moment.

A Jones - Improved a lot from where I last saw him in the VFL. Was pretty clean with his ball handling which was pretty shocking at times last year. Moved through traffic pretty well at times and made some smart decisions. Still has along way to got still, but there's much better signs.

Daniel - Mostly played around half forward, pushing up skirting the packs playing as an extra midfielder. He was very damaging at times in this role and kicked a goal. Spent some time back as well.

Busslinger, Clarke, Bedendo, O'Brien and Treloar look to be in the rehab group. Don't think JJ was there at all.

Don't think I've missed anyone.

Happy to answer any other questions.