What They're Saying - The Bulldogs Media Thread - Part 4

[NBates]

Love these BS rankings. At the end of the day Bont is the best midfielder in the comp if he is firing. Comfortably better than Cripps and Neale, more damaging than Oliver. Maybe Petracca can get to his level.

Don't worry. Anyone who underestimates Bont is doing a dangerous thing....

 

[threenewpadlocks]

This is still true, but the changes to the game over the past decade have made leg speed more valuable than it was previously. With the game dominated by aggressive intercepting defences, rebound 50s and rabid pressure, a hacked kick out of congestion can be a death sentence. A player that can create some space with their run before disposing of the ball is invaluable.

Adam Saad has turned from a bit of a meme player "he's quick, but doesn't really offer much value" to Carlton identifying how exactly to utilise his speed balanced with ball/winning nice kicking half backs like Docherty and Newman, to become an All-Australian, for exactly this reason. Granted, he's improved, but part of the reason a player improves massively from age 25ish onward (past when you'd expect to see big increases in output) is because the game and tactics have changed around him.

 

[stefoid]

This is still true, but the changes to the game over the past decade have made leg speed more valuable than it was previously. With the game dominated by aggressive intercepting defences, rebound 50s and rabid pressure, a hacked kick out of congestion can be a death sentence. A player that can create some space with their run before disposing of the ball is invaluable.

Sure but you dont need leg speed to do that, you just need the intent to take on tacklers in congestion and get adequate support. Melbourne flips the ball around with handball and so do we, but they handball to players running past or forward of them while we handball to stationary targets.

 

[Norm De Guerre]

Sure but you dont need leg speed to do that, you just need the intent to take on tacklers in congestion and get adequate support. Melbourne flips the ball around with handball and so do we, but they handball to players running past or forward of them while we handball to stationary targets.

Having players in motion and in space is more important than leg speed.

One only needs to watch The Bont to understand this.

If speed was the be all and end all then Nathan jones would be considered one of the games greats. Not the luckiest guy to get sentimentally nursed to 300 games as reward for captaining one of the worst teams the game has ever seen.

 

[Bulldogs Legend]

Having players in motion and in space is more important than leg speed.

One only needs to watch The Bont to understand this.

If speed was the be all and end all then Nathan jones would be considered one of the games greats. Not the luckiest guy to get sentimentally nursed to 300 games as reward for captaining one of the worst teams the game has ever seen.

Really? Never thought of Nathan Jones as anything other than average speed wise

 

[Norm De Guerre]

Really? Never thought of Nathan Jones as anything other than average speed wise

My one abiding memory of Jones' career as a player is one of him running about and blindly booting the ball forward.

I'll take you word for it that his speed was actually average.

 

[Mantis Toboggan]

Really? Never thought of Nathan Jones as anything other than average speed wise

My one abiding memory of Jones' career as a player is one of him running about and blindly booting the ball forward.

I'll take you word for it that his speed was actually average.

Yeah I think he has always been pretty average in that regard. His brother is/was quick though.

 

[doggiesin08]

Really? Never thought of Nathan Jones as anything other than average speed wise

I remember him as nothing more than average at anything let alone speed. He’s to the 300 game club what Shaun Atley is to the 200 game club (granted >300 games more than me).

 

[Iamspock]

Really? Never thought of Nathan Jones as anything other than average speed wise

And staging.

 

[ossie_21]

Nathan Jones was outdated once Melbourne found another couple of players after the best part of 10 years that could win a hard ball

 

[The Buck]

Nathan Jones was outdated once Melbourne found another couple of players after the best part of 10 years that could win a hard ball

Just an aside, do you reckon Brendan McCartney had a hand in that ossie?
He was there as a development coach from 2015 to 2019, which coincided with Melbourne's progress.
It's often said that if McCartney left any positive legacy with us it was his ability to instill a hard-at-it toughness at the ball.

 

[ossie_21]

Just an aside, do you reckon Brendan McCartney had a hand in that ossie?
He was there as a development coach from 2015 to 2019, which coincided with Melbourne's progress.
It's often said that if McCartney left any positive legacy with us it was his ability to instill a hard-at-it toughness at the ball.

100%, awful man-manager but he instilled the same thing at Melbourne that he did with us

 

[Dogs_R_Us]

100%, awful man-manager but he instilled the same thing at Melbourne that he did with us

When BMac stsrted at the club in 2012 he said it would take us 5 years to contend. 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 20…..

 

[theAthenian]

and he said if we got the ball 'the goals would take care of themslves' which they evidently didnt

 

[Dogs_R_Us]

and he said if we got the ball 'the goals would take care of themslves' which they evidently didnt

They did eventually , five years later…

But the players wanted to win and they were being told that wasn’t important. Contesting the ball was. When Griffen won the B&F he paid tribute to Eade “who taught us to win”.
(Contesting the ball was important, but so was so much more, including keeping the players motivated.)

 

[Fossie 32]

Terry Wallace coming in 3AW soon

 

[Bulldogs85]

Article on the AFL site about Liam Jones

WHITTEN Oval looks immensely different to the last time Liam Jones parked his car at the Western Bulldogs' headquarters every day.

It's not just due to the $77 million redevelopment that has transformed the iconic suburban ground into a largescale worksite. The people have changed.

Marcus Bontempelli, Tom Liberatore and Jack Macrae are the only players still at the club since Jones departed for Carlton at the end of 2014, following 66 games across six seasons in Footscray.
Luke Beveridge, who signed a two-year contract extension late last year that locks him in at the kennel until the end of 2025, was still weeks away from joining the Western Bulldogs when Jones moved to Princes Park. He had just left Hawthorn and was yet to spend that single day as St Kilda's director of coaching.

But while plenty has changed, both on and off the field, some things inside the club haven't. Mark Kimpton is still the facility manager, still organising carpark passes among a myriad of daily tasks that keeps the club running smoothly. And Anissa Groves is still the beloved head trainer, still strapping Jones' ankles at 31 years of age, just like she was when he was a 17-year-old schoolboy.

The people matter to Jones.After more than 12 months away from the game, the star defender is back from a season playing for Palm Beach Currumbin in the QAFL, back from the brink of being lost to the game, and back in the No.19 he wore in his first stint at the club.Cody Weightman has moved to the iconic No.3, worn by club greats Ted Whitten, Arthur Olliver, Chris Grant and most recently Mitch Wallis. It didn't take the livewire forward long to approach Jones in the gym and suggest the defender wears his old number again.
"It is something that never crossed my mind because Cody is such a good player and has played so many good games in the No.19 – I didn't think it would be available," Jones told AFL.com.au.

"I would have been happy to wear any number, I just wanted the opportunity to play at the highest level again.

"To get the tap on the shoulder from Cody to say he was moving to No.3 and No.19 had opened back up. It's pretty cool to continue my footy here in the jumper I started in.

"To get back in it and potentially play 100 games in the jumper, and continue my career at the Bulldogs in the same jumper is pretty cool."

Beveridge also wore No.19 during his three-season, 31-game stint in the red, white and blue in the early 90s. The 2016 premiership winning coach has helped Jones transition back into life at the Western Bulldogs, life back in a full-time environment.

"He has been great through the whole process. Even before I signed here, he was very open and we started to build our relationship then," Jones said.
"It's more just been connecting, chatting and getting to know each other. I'm sure when training starts there will be a lot of learning, getting back into the system, he has been a great influence so far."

Jones' AFL career looked like it might be over when he chose not to comply with the AFL's vaccine mandate at the end of 2021, walking away from a lucrative deal and prominent role in Michael Voss' project at Carlton.

The intercept defender headed north to the Gold Coast and looked set to sail off into the sunset, before the AFL changed course and dropped the mandate midway through the year.
Now he has returned to where it all started, choosing the Dogs over several other suitors to sign a three-year deal as an unrestricted free agent in October.

"It is funny how things work out. I'm just super grateful the club is putting its trust in me to give the opportunity," he said.

"It's always been my dream to play AFL football so to continue that dream where it started is really special to me. I don't want to leave any stone unturned.

"I feel like every year since I moved to defence I've improved every year and I’ll continue wanting to improve. I'm nowhere near a finished product."After struggling for multiple options in the key posts at either end in 2022, the Western Bulldogs now have depth that will cause selection headaches next year if everyone is available for selection.
While Alex Keath found himself out of the best 22 at times in the second half of the season, the former Crow has been reliable in defence, Ryan Gardner produced a career best campaign and Sam Darcy showed he is the future.

Despite a year out of the game, and the fact he will turn 32 before the 2023 season starts, Jones feels like he has quickly adjusted to the speed of training, laying the foundations the year with an impressive block ahead of Christmas.
"I feel really great. I thought the tempo and intensity of training (might take some time to adjust to), but in saying that I feel like I've stayed in really good shape, kept myself really fit," he said.

"I touched base with the weights coach and running coach here, so prior to pre-season training starting I was going for about three months. I feel like I'm in as good as shape as I’ve ever been in."

Jones is back at the Western Bulldogs, back in the No.19 and back to finish what he started as a teenager in 2008.

 

[GetDimmaBack]

Terry Wallace coming in 3AW soon

What did he say, Fos?

 

[Fossie 32]

What did he say, Fos?

Not that much about football. It was part of a theme about getting rid of stuff you don't use and he got rid of his tanning station which he hadn't used in 2 years . But he is keeping his leather pants and crocodile skin shoes in case of an 80s fancy dress party.
He said he had a strong bond with the Dogs still, though similar with Hawthorn and Richmond.

 

[D Mitchell]

Not that much about football. It was part of a theme about getting rid of stuff you don't use and he got rid of his tanning station which he hadn't used in 2 years . But he is keeping his leather pants and crocodile skin shoes in case of an 80s fancy dress party.
He said he had a strong bond with the Dogs still, though similar with Hawthorn and Richmond.

Thankyou GDB and F32. Plough's tanning station, leather pants and crocodile skin shoes, the most idiosyncratic coach in the Club's history.
(a) parachute jump;
(b) bums on seats;
(c) we expect to win;
(d) uber flood;
(e) on ground pre game warm ups.
I still haven't worked whether he knew what he was doing or not.

 

[NagoyaDog]

Thankyou GDB and F32. Plough's tanning station, leather pants and crocodile skin shoes, the most idiosyncratic coach in the Club's history.
(a) parachute jump;
(b) bums on seats;
(c) we expect to win;
(d) uber flood;
(e) on ground pre game warm ups.
I still haven't worked whether he knew what he was doing or not.

Wasn't the parachute jump under Terry Wheeler's tenure?

 

[Prince Imperial]

Wasn't the parachute jump under Terry Wheeler's tenure?

Yes. Dougie has often spoken about how terrified he was.

 

[D Mitchell]

Wasn't the parachute jump under Terry Wheeler's tenure?

...and who do you reckon gave Wheels the idea ?

 

[NagoyaDog]

...and who do you reckon gave Wheels the idea ?

So you think Wheels wasn't innovative enough to suggest the idea?

 

[D Mitchell]

So you think Wheels wasn't innovative enough to suggest the idea?

Humour bypass ?