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

[Anja_Nees]

An interesting analysis.

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For anyone who can’t be bothered watching, they were tracking clubs who put on 5 goals in 15 minutes, and we’re first having done it on 6 occasions this year.

We’re actually very good at scoring this year and a few outliers (ie the GWS game) make it look worse than it should. Second for percentage etc.

 

[Snarls Barkley]

An interesting analysis.

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For anyone who can’t be bothered watching, they were tracking clubs who put on 5 goals in 15 minutes, and were first having done it on 6 occasions this year.

We’re actually very good at scoring this year and a few outliers (ie the GWS game) make it look worse than it should. Second for percentage etc.

We've ran up some cricket scores against some pretty ordinary opposition (GC away, WC away, StK, half strength RICH) which probably inflate the numbers quite a bit. It doesn't count for nothing, other teams have had similar opportunities to run up big scores and haven't, but those games are probably not the most meaningful barometer. I think the Freo win has more merit and doesn't belong in with the above grouping.

 

[Norm De Guerre]

Watch. You won't regret it.

Id don't think its a stretch to extrapolate what goes on in with the fixture to our historical lack of success in this competition.

 

[dogwatch]

Watch. You won't regret it.

Id don't think its a stretch to extrapolate what goes on in with the fixture to our historical lack of success in this competition.

Good watch. It could easily have been a chapter out of The Boy's Club by Michael Warner. Except that Warner would also have unmasked the actual movers and shakers behind the scenes who make sure that the rich clubs keep getting the spoils.

There is no way that the AFL's internal number crunchers aren't 100% aware of these inequities and paradoxes. (If they aren't aware of them they are incompetent on top of all their other failings.) The fact that there are some easy fixes that would cause the AFL to lose nothing in net attendance (and may even gain) tells us that the narrator has not yet considered all the factors driving this unfair practice.

It is surely no coincidence that the inequities started creeping in just a few years after the newly created AFL Commission took away all control of the game from the individual clubs (Warner explains how this process took place, almost like a coup, although it wasn't quite overnight). The clubs are now captives of the AFL and hold very little real power other than what they can exert through their fans and allies in the media. But of course the AFL keeps a very tight rein on the media too.

There's a tiny amount of karma in noting that over the last 25 years those big three clubs have only won 3 flags (Essendon in 2000, Collingwood in 2010 & 2023). And that Essendon hasn't won a final for 20 years. And that Carlton who hadn't won a wooden spoon in over a 100 years of VFL/AFL have now won five of them since the start of this century.

 

[GoEaglesGoSGIO]

Article in todays paper over in the West from Emma O'Driscoll, Aidens sister.

She explains in it how Bulldogs have given Aiden a job with the community department at the club and are also helping him earn his coaching badges

Legendary stuff from the club really. Setting the standard and going this far for the young guy who didnt even play a game says alot about the strong culture the club has.

Sometimes its the off the field and little things that should make someone proud to support the club they do

 

[dogwatch]

Article in todays paper over in the West from Emma O'Driscoll, Aidens sister.

She explains in it how Bulldogs have given Aiden a job with the community department at the club and are also helping him earn his coaching badges

Legendary stuff from the club really. Setting the standard and going this far for the young guy who didnt even play a game says alot about the strong culture the club has.

Sometimes its the off the field and little things that should make someone proud to support the club they do

And they haven't tried to get any PR out of it either. At least not yet.
That tells you they are doing it for all the right reasons.

 

[Freshwater]

Watch. You won't regret it.

Id don't think its a stretch to extrapolate what goes on in with the fixture to our historical lack of success in this competition.

That was very well done. He articulated everything we knew with history and statistics. All but the big 3 or 4 have gotten a bad deal. We’ve been screwed for years so we need another intelligent Bulldog type president, and CEO too, to keep this at the forefront of the media and public.
We need to incentivise these blockbuster dates for all teams. I personally went to 2 ANZAC day games at the MCG, Richmond v Footscray in 1983 and Melbourne v Carlton in 1986.

 

[Cam1967]

Watch. You won't regret it.

Id don't think its a stretch to extrapolate what goes on in with the fixture to our historical lack of success in this competition.

Thanks NDG

As much as we know we are screwed, nothing will happen.
Saints seem to have been bent over more than us.

 

[Norm De Guerre]

That was very well done. He articulated everything we knew with history and statistics. All but the big 3 or 4 have gotten a bad deal. We’ve been screwed for years so we need another intelligent Bulldog type president, and CEO too, to keep this at the forefront of the media and public.
We need to incentivise these blockbuster dates for all teams. I personally went to 2 ANZAC day games at the MCG, Richmond v Footscray in 1983 and Melbourne v Carlton in 1986.

Thanks NDG

As much as we know we are screwed, nothing will happen.
Saints seem to have been bent over more than us.

He does excellent work. If you do the YouTube at all he's well worth the subscribe.

 

[Freshwater]

He does excellent work. If you do the YouTube at all he's well worth the subscribe.

I will subscribe because I recognised his style have watched some of his others which were good too. On footy jumpers and the Bulldogs run in 2016 etc.

 

[ScragCity]

I've got full blown AIDS

 

[Next Waiting]

I've got full blown AIDS

Phew. I thought I was the only one. All In Dogs (in) September is a terrible affliction affecting the central nervous system.

 

[Philthy1]

I've got full blown AIDS

Superb Scrag.

I have no idea how they keep banning you. No senese of humour at all.

 

[Hoges64]

Article in todays paper over in the West from Emma O'Driscoll, Aidens sister.

She explains in it how Bulldogs have given Aiden a job with the community department at the club and are also helping him earn his coaching badges

Legendary stuff from the club really. Setting the standard and going this far for the young guy who didnt even play a game says alot about the strong culture the club has.

Sometimes its the off the field and little things that should make someone proud to support the club they do

For those wanting to read...

Emma O’Driscoll determined to do it for Aiden as Fremantle AFLW star admits guilt over brother’s dashed dream​

Fremantle AFLW star Emma O’Driscoll admits she sometimes feels guilty about playing football knowing her younger brother Aiden can no longer do the same and says she will be thinking of him every time she runs out for the rest of her career.

At just 18, Aiden was forced into medical retirement earlier this year, only months after being drafted by the Western Bulldogs, and before even playing a single game.

The younger brother of Fremantle pair Emma and Nathan sustained a significant head injury during pre-season training and was later given the heart-breaking news by the independent medical concussion panel that his career was over before it had begun.

An AFLW gun for the Dockers, O’Driscoll didn’t start playing football until after she had left school. But her two brothers had grown up dreaming of playing the sport. And that makes the fact Aiden will never reach the highest level even harder to take.

“It’s really hard,” O’Driscoll told The West Australian in an emotional interview. “I say football was never my dream and I never grew up thinking that I was going to be an AFL footballer but I watched my brothers go through the ranks and it was going to be their job.

“So seeing them want to grow up and have that as their dream and then get it taken away from you without getting an opportunity to play I suppose is something that I’ve struggled to deal with, and I think with a bit of guilt knowing that actually I’m able to still play and he’s not.”

“But I think on the flip of that Aiden has handled the situation so incredibly well, his maturity in the last few years has just grown through the roof, from going to boarding school to then moving across the country and then being told this news he’s handled it incredibly well and I’m so so proud of him.”

Aiden ODriscoll has been drafted to the Western Bulldogs in the 2023 AFL draft. Pictured is Aiden with dad Brenden, mum Michelle and sister Emma.

It has compounded a difficult year for the family, with Nathan also sidelined by a “really random” knee injury that left him hospital-bound for three weeks.

“Both of my brothers have had shocking years to be honest, Nathan’s coming back from a really random knee injury — which was nothing hectic structurally — but was in hospital for about a three week period which was pretty scary dealing with an infection in his leg,” O’Driscoll said.

“So I think that on top of that Aiden finding out the news that he would never play contact sport again has definitely taken a toll on, not only myself, but Mum and Dad and all of us really.”

As Fremantle’s AFLW pre-season ramps up, Emma revealed how she plans to honour her younger brother.

“Every single rep that I don’t want to complete in the gym is going to be for Aiden because we know that he can’t do that anymore. I think it is a bit inspiring and empowering in a way, as much as it sucks for Aiden, we’re going to be going out there knowing that we are taking every opportunity that we get.”

Aiden has been employed by the Bulldogs in their community department, working with schools in the area — at least for the next couple of years.

Aiden O'Driscoll never got to suit up for the Western Bulldogs. 2023 Getty Images

“It’s actually really exciting, the Bulldogs have been so amazing with him and they’ve absolutely loved the way he’s gone about it,” Emma said.

“I just find that amazing from a sister’s perspective, but also my parents’ perspective, knowing that he’s actually set up to continue coaching, continue working in the football world.”

O’Driscoll said her brother’s quality of life was now their highest priority and that scans and monitoring of his brain would be ongoing.

 

[LondonBulldog]

Watch. You won't regret it.

Id don't think its a stretch to extrapolate what goes on in with the fixture to our historical lack of success in this competition.

Thanks Norm, enjoyed that. I've always stated that top 4 is more difficult for us to reach even when we are playing great footy compared to Richmond or Pies who are getting 16 to 17 games at the G and we are the travelling dogs. The fact the we play Geelong twice every years instead of historical losers (2000 to 2022) in Blues and Dons has been a determent to us.

Yet we as a club make mistakes as well. They took away our replacements games for Ballarat when they could have been marketed as the "MCG Marquee replacement" games against Melbourne / Pies / Richmond etc. We need more supporters going to games not less!!

 

[Dogs_R_Us]

This could be good news. In the Oz this morning.

Cornes’ future​

The future of Channel 9 AFL commentator and former Port Adelaide star Kane Cornes’ media career is causing plenty of rumblings within footy circles, with Diary being reliably informed his contract with the station is up at the end of the year.

So will he stay at Nine, where he fronts weekly programs including Footy Classified and the AFL Sunday Footy Show, alongside Matthew Lloyd, Damian Barrett, Nathan Brown and Tony Jones, or will he jump ship?

When Diary contacted Cornes to find out his plans, he fended us off with a “no comment”.

Cornes caused a fracas back in March when he put together a video clip mocking former Richmond champion Trent Cotchin’s mundane and emotionless analysis of the great game on rival network Seven.

 

[Bulldogs85]

WESTERN Bulldogs key forward Aaron Naughton is on track to face North Melbourne this Saturday at Marvel Stadium, creating a selection conundrum for Luke Beveridge.

Naughton has been sidelined for the past month after sustaining a moderate grade medial collateral ligament injury in the loss to Sydney in round 11.
The West Australian was expected to miss up to six weeks after escaping an anterior cruciate ligament tear, but has made strong progress and has this fixture circled.

Naughton completed a light session at the Whitten Oval on Monday, but will need to prove his fitness at Wednesday's main training before being given the green light to resume his season.
Young gun Sam Darcy is available after serving a two-game suspension prior to the bye for a late hit on Collingwood defender Brayden Maynard

4

Brayden Maynard

Age

28

Ht

189cm

Wt

93kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

17.4

4star

K

11.6

4star

HB

5.9

4star

M

3.9

4star

T

3.6

5star

MG

327.8

4star

D

20.7

5star

K

14.0

5star

HB

6.7

4star

M

3.9

4star

T

3.0

4star

MG

417.4

5star

D

13.8

4star

K

8.6

4star

HB

5.2

4star

M

2.8

3star

T

3.6

5star

MG

205.8

4star

in round 12.

The 20-year-old should come straight back in after kicking 22 goals from 11 games to start 2024, before losing his Telstra AFL Rising Star eligibility on the same weekend as 2023 pick No.1 Harley Reid.
Rory Lobb has spent more time playing for Footscray than the Western Bulldogs this year – seven games in the VFL, six at AFL level – but the former Giant and Docker produced his most complete performance last start since moving to Melbourne.

The 31-year-old, who is expected to request a trade in October despite having two years to run on his contract, finished with 19 disposals, 10 contested possessions, seven hitouts, six marks and three goals against Fremantle in the 67-point win.
Lobb started the season ahead of Darcy but was dropped after round one and has only played when Jamarra Ugle-Hagan missed earlier in the season, before replacing Naughton when he went down. Beveridge hasn't played all four in the same side this year.

Off-season signing Nick Coffield will also need to pass a fitness test on Wednesday to book his return from a shoulder reconstruction.
The former top-10 pick played in round one but then dislocated his shoulder against Gold Coast in round two, undergoing surgery in March.

A decision will then be made later in the week regarding whether he plays against North Melbourne at Arden Street in the VFL or at Marvel Stadium against Alastair Clarkson’s side.
Former Demon James Harmes could also be available to face the Kangaroos after being sidelined since straining his hamstring against the Magpies in round 12.

The Dogs reached the bye one game adrift of the eight at 7-7 after winning four of their previous six games ahead of the weekend off.

 

[BrisDog]

Clay Smith won a pro boxing fight tonight with a 30 second R1 knockout. He's now 3-0.

When asked if he had another opponent in mind he suggested Toby Greene!

What a legend.

Not Found | Fox Sports Videos

www.foxsports.com.au

 

[BrisDog]

Clay has a couple of straight rights but needs to fight some real fighters, has not had a decent punch to his chops yet - he would flog the regular footy Cornes/Browne crew no worries.

 

[Golden_6]

Fixture analysis: Blues get dream run, more pain for Tigers

Check out how your club's fixture so far compares, and what's ahead heading into the business end of the season

www.afl.com.au

To get an idea of how hard our draw has been. We’ve had the equal second hardest draw until now and have the third hardest draw over the next 5 round period. A slight reprieve for the final 4 rounds.

Compared that to teams like Essendon & Geelong who have been kissed on the dick with the teams they’ve had to play.

Essendon have had the 18th hardest draw all season and now don’t have to leave Victoria for the rest of the season. An incredible imbalance.

 

[Next Waiting]

Fixture analysis: Blues get dream run, more pain for Tigers

Check out how your club's fixture so far compares, and what's ahead heading into the business end of the season

www.afl.com.au

To get an idea of how hard our draw has been. We’ve had the equal second hardest draw until now and have the third hardest draw over the next 5 round period. A slight reprieve for the final 4 rounds.

Compared that to teams like Essendon & Geelong who have been kissed on the dick with the teams they’ve had to play.

Essendon have had the 18th hardest draw all season and now don’t have to leave Victoria for the rest of the season. An incredible imbalance.

It will just make ending their aspirations all the sweeter. In a way, I don't mind getting there the hard way, and then disposing of those who've travelled a privileged path. It really adds a another dimension to the joy of winning finals and so much more if we win the flag. Beating the odds .... always bet responsibly

 

[Dogs_R_Us]

Bont will be on AFL 360 tonight, apparently.

 

[JTCWBFC]

Bont will be on AFL 360 tonight, apparently.

Just turned it on but only see petracca and Neale

 

[Dogsfan1]

Just turned it on but only see petracca and Neale

He was on before at the start

 

[Lindsay_Gilbee]

I love Bont but he's been media trained within an inch of his life. Speaks well, but very boring.