What can we take from 2012?

[soupman]

Now that the season is officially over I think it would be suitable that we make a hopefully optimistic thread to counter the many negative ones we are sure to encounter. So just list one or two things you believe we can take from this year.

For starters, Roughead has shown he is capable of playing as a key defender against good forwards.

[G-Mo77]

Hard to take many positives out of it. I guess all the younger players have another season and preseason under their belts.

Cooney's final 2 games were a real positive. I'll try and think of some more soupaman. To tired right now. :o

[AndrewP6]

Luke D is going to be a star
JJ
Lin Jong
Clay Smith
... can all play.

[bornadog]

Now that the season is officially over I think it would be suitable that we make a hopefully optimistic thread to counter the many negative ones we are sure to encounter. So just list one or two things you believe we can take from this year.

For starters, Roughead has shown he is capable of playing as a key defender against good forwards.

Sorry to be negative, but Roughead is barely a backman, at this stage. Got thrashed today.

[w3design]

Lin Jong and JJ gave me hope. Wallis showed he will be a wonderful player for us.

[always right]

Two good things;
1. The season is over
2. We can't get worse this year

Two more things;
1. Uncovered some promising types in Smith, Talia, Jong and Johannisen
2. Higgins had a much improved year and Minson stepped up

[LostDoggy]

Dickson was a highlight for me, came out of nowhere to be our best fwd. JJ, and Jong look like they should be great players for us, as will Clay Smith. Cooney's last two games gave us hope he may be ok if managed properly. Lake finally showing some form after a dark year last year was also good to see. Mitch Wallis and Lukey D are going to be absolute stars.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Positive development from Wallis.
Roughead developing another string to his bow as a Key Defender
No second year blues from Dahlhaus
Minson puttin together a very good year as first ruck.
Some signs of hope for the future in Talia, Jong, Johannissen.
Dickson a good recruit, who should do even better once we have a functioning forward line for him to work in.

[soupman]

Sorry to be negative, but Roughead is barely a backman, at this stage. Got thrashed today.

To be fair though at least two of the goals Brown got were from lace out passes from Rich that nobody could have stopped, and Roughy did looks very good against Tomahawk and North.

Finding what seems to be a good user out of Defence in JJ is a definite positive, and Smith will be a beast in years to come.

[bornadog]

I really like Smith, played well tonight and he looks like a good find.

The most positive things are the games into the younger guys who will all be better for the run.

Dickson is a real find and Wallis and Libba are the future in the middle. Minson has come of age and Wood shows potential to be a real dasher off the back half. Higgins has finally been consistent and we should expect more from him next year.

[LostDoggy]

Good sign, the season is over and I won't get ribbed by peers about how much they sucked for at least six months.

Bad, next season got to go through it all again.

[The Bulldogs Bite]

I really like Smith, played well tonight and he looks like a good find.

The most positive things are the games into the younger guys who will all be better for the run.

Dickson is a real find and Wallis and Libba are the future in the middle. Minson has come of age and Wood shows potential to be a real dasher off the back half. Higgins has finally been consistent and we should expect more from him next year.

I'd put Wood in the bad category. He's been around a few years now but has he improved since 2009/2010? He's pretty disappointing for mine.

Dickson, Roughead and Smith are positives.

Only played a few games but I think JJ will be a player, too.

[LostDoggy]

Another Pre-Season into:
Mitch Wallis
Lukey D
Libba
Clay Smith
Michael Talia
Tom Campbell
JJ
Daniel Pearce
Jong

This side has huge upside, if these young players continue to improve and mature players like Higgins, Addison, Grant, Roughead click into gear we will have a solid season.
We should be a lot better next year, certainly more competitive over the course of the season, and hopefully we can convert that into a few more wins also.

[Remi Moses]

Positives- Dahlhaus( no second year blues)
Minson- best season of league football
Wallis - really stood up this year
Dickson- looks a real find
Smith - needs to work on that disposal
Roughead - good move finding a position( battled hard tonight)
You'd love Daniel Rich kicking the ball to you.

[LostDoggy]

Now that the season is officially over I think it would be suitable that we make a hopefully optimistic thread to counter the many negative ones we are sure to encounter. So just list one or two things you believe we can take from this year.

For starters, Roughead has shown he is capable of playing as a key defender against good forwards.

We can take DJ from 2012 and make sure we don't see him in 2013.

[Sedat]

Picks 5 and 6

[Greystache]

Walls- Made huge progress and looks a long term player

Smith- Is a bull and will be a monster in a few years. If he can improve his kicking he could be an A grader.

Libba and Dahlhaus- No second year blues.

Dickson- Looks a class forward and a natural replacement for Gia.

Roughead- Showed a lot as a defender and has added another string to his bow.

The seaseon's over and we have picks 5 & 6

[Bulldog Revolution]

Ive taken a different tact to most by not choosing to focus on individuals here.

It brings me no joy to say it and I am not a pessimist by nature but we now have the worst list in the AFL

In the second half of the year we showed we are a mile off the pace.

Given the state of the list not much could of or should have been expected of BMac in 2012.

Like others I did not enjoy our play in 2012 but had no problem with Macca building the game from the inside out. And no problem at all if that meant a guy like Sherman couldn't get a game. Like others i believe Sherman can be a useful player but Macca is not the first coach to take objection to his game. If he isn't going to do what is asked then I see no reason why he should be given games.

Maybe our ball movement needed more work and Macca over emphasised cracking in, but our problems were not fixable in one season so I don't have a problem with Macca emphasising the non-negotiables. He is also a first year coach who would presumably be better for the years experiences.

Our list is in need of serious repair and is going to take multiple seasons to turn around

That said, it can turn quickly and there are always diamonds in the rough out there. This is a crucial draft period for us.

[Sockeye Salmon]

We are 1 year closer to sacking McDudney

[SlimPickens]

We are 1 year closer to sacking McDudney

Insightful.

[SlimPickens]

Walls- Made huge progress and looks a long term player

Smith- Is a bull and will be a monster in a few years. If he can improve his kicking he could be an A grader.

Libba and Dahlhaus- No second year blues.

Dickson- Looks a class forward and a natural replacement for Gia.

Roughead- Showed a lot as a defender and has added another string to his bow.

The seaseon's over and we have picks 5 & 6

Agree with much of this. We are a year down into a rebuild.

[Greystache]

We are 1 year closer to sacking McDudney


Insightful.

Ah I see what he did there, changed the spelling of the coach's name to infer that he's not very good. :cool:

[LostDoggy]

Games into kids, which unearthed some talent.
Great mature age find in Dicko
Picks 5 & 6

[G-Mo77]

Picks 5 and 6

This.

Terrible year to be a Bulldog fan, no one can argue that but two picks inside the top ten leaves me feeling a little excitement. We have got to get these picks right!

[LostDoggy]

Higgins had a much improved year

For a while now people (including me) had this guy marked as a future super star and he hasn't delivered. Hell Dickson out scored him in his first year.
Not saying he is all bad but starting to get a little overrated.
Improved I guess from him horror injury run though.

[soupman]

For a while now people (including me) had this guy marked as a future super star and he hasn't delivered. Hell Dickson out scored him in his first year.
Not saying he is all bad but starting to get a little overrated.
Improved I guess from him horror injury run though.

I would actually count him as a positive this year. It's been the first season in a long time where I feel he has genuinely contributed to the side on a consistent basis. I don't think he'll ever be the star we all hoped he could be, but I think he could be and has shown he can be as good as Gia was during the prelim years, except hopefully Higgins is a better finals performer.

[LostDoggy]

I would actually count him as a positive this year. It's been the first season in a long time where I feel he has genuinely contributed to the side on a consistent basis. I don't think he'll ever be the star we all hoped he could be, but I think he could be and has shown he can be as good as Gia was during the prelim years, except hopefully Higgins is a better finals performer.

Agree with some of this.
Positive that he put a lot of troubles behind him injury wise.
Did contribute, but can't agree with the "consistent" comment. I thought his start to the year wasn't great, put together a decent finish to the season.
Can't think of a game where he was BOG?

[LostDoggy]

What I'm trying to figure out is, Have we hit rock bottom yet?

I'm not narrow minded, i understand that a teams form ebbs and flows. You have your good years, you have your bad (rebuild, refresh) years. But as you porpoise through the seasons you obviously hit a low point before moving back up.
Now, coming off the 3 preliminary finals (sadly our high point this rotation). Are we still on the way down or is this the bottom out year? What scares me is the fact this year was an injury riddled season that should have saw us finish around 9th - 11th and it has veneered itself as our "bottom out season". Which would mean the worse is yet to come.

[LostDoggy]

Ah I see what he did there, changed the spelling of the coach's name to infer that he's not very good. :cool:

Yes he didn't need to infer that he isn't very good. It's pretty obvious.

[Greystache]

Yes he didn't need to infer that he isn't very good. It's pretty obvious.

He's got 283 more games to not win a premiership before he can claim the title of longest serving coach in history from Eade and Northey. I wait in anticipation if he can manage it.

[immortalmike]

He's got 283 more games to not win a premiership before he can claim the title of longest serving coach in history from Eade and Northey. I wait in anticipation if he can manage it.

It's funny how they seem to have a problem with the blame the coach mindset of last year and in order to combat that they...blame the...coach?:confused:

[FrediKanoute]

Sorry to be negative, but Roughead is barely a backman, at this stage. Got thrashed today.

Got thrashed by Brown. No disgrace there. In any case, given how his mates up field gave it up, we should take his thrashing in context. I think we have a good player.

[LostDoggy]

He's got 283 more games to not win a premiership before he can claim the title of longest serving coach in history from Eade and Northey. I wait in anticipation if he can manage it.

Why do you think this is about Eade?
If this coach is no good what's Eade got to with it?

[Desipura]

[QUOTE=Greystache;288621]Ah I see what he did there, changed the spelling of the coach's name to infer that he's not very good. :A Bf type comment

[bornadog]

Bf type comment

Is that the standard answer now for negative comments:D

[LostDoggy]

He's got 283 more games to not win a premiership before he can claim the title of longest serving coach in history from Eade and Northey. I wait in anticipation if he can manage it.

As do I but not with the Western Bulldogs.

[LostDoggy]

We are 1 year closer to sacking McDudney

Agreed....that 12 months can't come quick enough, can take his team of merry men with him.

[ledge]

Agreed....that 12 months can't come quick enough, can take his team of merry men with him.

Interesting thoughts and if we improve and show we are on the way up will you claim he is the messiah?
Makes me want a person succeed even more to stick it up you blokes

[The Underdog]

We are 1 year closer to sacking McDudney

Every club is always one year closer to sacking their coach. It happens to nearly all of them.

[whythelongface]

We are 1 year closer to sacking McDudney

What is the ultimate goal for our club? To win a premiership something that hasn't been achieved in 58 years. I don't know whether or not McCartney will achieve this, probably like all his predecessors more than likely not, however I would like to see him given the opportunity to implement his ideas to see if they do work. This is something that cannot occur in 1 season and may need a few more years to deliver, but what we are looking for is sustained success.

Do you think McCartney's successor (whomever you think that may be) will deliver the ultimate prize? Eade had 7 years but couldn't succeed and that was with some top notch players at his disposal. McCartney has one, maybe two of these. He needs to be given time.

There are bigger issues at stake with the club then the Head Coach.

[LostDoggy]

Interesting thoughts and if we improve and show we are on the way up will you claim he is the messiah?
Makes me want a person succeed even more to stick it up you blokes

And I will be the first bloke on here to say I was wrong...promise... all read it and print it, but if we are right, hope you can also say you were wrong.

[Go_Dogs]

The positives are the first and second year players who look like types we can build a side around.

Cooney perhaps able to play a meaningful role into the future. Griffen is a star. If we have 2 A grade inside/outside mids we look a lot better.

When we hunt in numbers we can be competitive, we have massive scope for improvement with our ball movement and spread, both offensively and defensively.

[ledge]

And I will be the first bloke on here to say I was wrong...promise... all read it and print it, but if we are right, hope you can also say you were wrong.

My personal thoughts are wait and see I haven't made my mind up either way ima bit more patient I suppose.

[Ozza]

Geeze, even the 'positive' threads get flooded with the sack the coach, he's a dud etc comments.

Not very fun to read.

There's no patience in footy is there? It doesn't seem like that long ago that the footy world (and particularly Hawthorn supporters) were perplexed at what the hell Alistair Clarkson was doing - they couldn't move the ball, they couldn't defend...turned around pretty quickly from 2005 to 2008.

Mark Thompson was on the cusp of being sacked, he had no stars on his list, no leaders - that turned around pretty quick.

John Worsfold was no good - the Eagles are down the bottom, the club is a rabble - and within a couple of years there's a strong West Coast out there.

I've hated this year as much as anyone - but as slimpickens said - we're 1 year down in a rebuild - and it takes time to turn a footy team around and build up young players. Most have been along to realise that - but plenty would prefer to throw the toys out of the cot.

McCartney might not end up being our second premiership coach - but at this stage he hasn't had long enough for anyone to catergorically say that he won't be. Players he has coached - past and present - speak tremendously highly of him, and these are the guys with the most informed view at this stage.

So i'll be patient until we've seen a fair bit more.

[AndrewP6]

He's got 283 more games to not win a premiership before he can claim the title of longest serving coach in history from Eade and Northey. I wait in anticipation if he can manage it.

I don't think he'll trouble that record, not in the AFL anyway.

[Sockeye Salmon]

He's got 283 more games to not win a premiership before he can claim the title of longest serving coach in history from Eade and Northey. I wait in anticipation if he can manage it.

I'm fairly confident he'll never get outcoached in a final

[Maddog37]

I'm fairly confident he'll never get outcoached in a final

It is interesting you have written off the coach SS but reading your sig makes me think it may not be all his fault.

[bornadog]

Geeze, even the 'positive' threads get flooded with the sack the coach, he's a dud etc comments.

Not very fun to read.

There's no patience in footy is there? It doesn't seem like that long ago that the footy world (and particularly Hawthorn supporters) were perplexed at what the hell Alistair Clarkson was doing - they couldn't move the ball, they couldn't defend...turned around pretty quickly from 2005 to 2008.

Mark Thompson was on the cusp of being sacked, he had no stars on his list, no leaders - that turned around pretty quick.

John Worsfold was no good - the Eagles are down the bottom, the club is a rabble - and within a couple of years there's a strong West Coast out there.

I've hated this year as much as anyone - but as slimpickens said - we're 1 year down in a rebuild - and it takes time to turn a footy team around and build up young players. Most have been along to realise that - but plenty would prefer to throw the toys out of the cot.

McCartney might not end up being our second premiership coach - but at this stage he hasn't had long enough for anyone to catergorically say that he won't be. Players he has coached - past and present - speak tremendously highly of him, and these are the guys with the most informed view at this stage.

So i'll be patient until we've seen a fair bit more.

The Hawks, the Eagles, the Geelongs feature in grand finals on a regular basis. We haven't seen our team in the GF let alone a premiership, so if we want to vent out spleen why can't we.

[G-Mo77]

The Hawks, the Eagles, the Geelongs feature in grand finals on a regular basis. We haven't seen our team in the GF let alone a premiership, so if we want to vent out spleen why can't we.

At what point did Ozza say you can't? :confused:

[1eyedog]

I like the revamped traditional jumper. I hope it stays, big positive for me.

I liked what we did against Geelong and Collingwood earlier this year when we were in both games with 5 minutes left. This coming in a rebuild year is a good sign.

[KT31]

Two good things;
1. The season is over
2. We can't get worse this year

Two more things;
1. Uncovered some promising types in Smith, Talia, Jong and Johannisen
2. Higgins had a much improved year and Minson stepped up

Not always, but this time Yes.;)

[Hotdog60]

GC and GWS are in the comp and Melbourne didn't win their last game or we would have the paddle stick.

[Ozza]

The Hawks, the Eagles, the Geelongs feature in grand finals on a regular basis. We haven't seen our team in the GF let alone a premiership, so if we want to vent out spleen why can't we.

I believe the thread was started in order to speak about what we can take from the year - the silver lining on a poor year. So the excessive venting of spleens and pot shots at the coach could probably be reserved for one of the many many other threads.

This aside, my positives to take out of the year;

- Wallis, given a good opportunity to sink his teeth in this year in the midfield. Looks a leader and a 200 game player. Will benefit from pretty much a full year on ball, and another pre-season ahead.

- Shaun Higgins turned his footy around half way through this year, won more footy and improved his contribution to the side. Hopefully he continues on the upward curve.

- Johannisen, Talia, Smith, Jong, Roberts, Dickson, Pearce and Campbell debuted - and have at least a few games each to build on for next year.

- We know enough now about a few players who were on their last contracted year, to cull them at the end of this year.

- We have a stack of 1st and 2nd round picks next year.

[Ozza]

Sorry to be negative, but Roughead is barely a backman, at this stage. Got thrashed today.

I thought Roughy did well in all of the one on one's with Brown. Brown simply got on the end of some good passes and never missed from 50. We're talking about a bloke who has 250 games of forward craft under his belt and has been an A Grader for 10 years - against a bloke playing his 3rd or 4th game as a defender.

Roughead has at least shown at the end of the year that he is capable of playing down back when required, and he will have learnt some things for when he is next playing forward.

[SlimPickens]

Shaun Higgins turned his footy around half way through this year, won more footy and improved his contribution to the side. Hopefully he continues on the upward curve.

Was super impressed with this bloke, haven't been his biggest fan but he offered us plenty and at times seemed the only likely type up forward. The finger pointing seemed to reduce dramatically as well. Hopefully he can build on this year and go from strength to strength.

[Eastdog]

The young brigade were a positive I took from a bad season. Dickson, Lin Jong, Dahlhaus, Libba, Wallis etc have had some good games. I hope the draft goes well for us and we cull the list to a certain extent not too much ensuring there is still experience to help these youngsters going forward. Cooney also in the last few weeks has been another positive.

[Maddog37]

He (Higgins) seemed to get a bit more power and speed back which really helped him attack the contest better.

[Eastdog]

He (Higgins) seemed to get a bit more power and speed back which really helped him attack the contest better.

He moved well in Sunday's game against Brisbane. How many games do you see Cooney play in 2013 as we have to manage his chronic knee problem.

[Ozza]

He (Higgins) seemed to get a bit more power and speed back which really helped him attack the contest better.

Absolutely. Confidence has a bit to do with it as well. Plays always look to be attacking the ball harder when they are confident (whether thats confidence in their body, or in their play). He spoke during the year about getting some clear messages about what he should be focussing on - and how much it has helped him.

[Maddog37]

He moved well in Sunday's game against Brisbane. How many games do you see Cooney play in 2013 as we have to manage his chronic knee problem.

Depends if the way he played in the last two weeks was a result of a new management/training regime or if it was simply from getting a solution jabbed into his knee as someone else alluded to previously.

I would hope that Cooney could play 80% of total match time. I am the optimistic type though so who knows.

[whythelongface]

And I will be the first bloke on here to say I was wrong...promise... all read it and print it, but if we are right, hope you can also say you were wrong.

I don't see the need for people to admit whether they are right or wrong in regards to this matter. We all have differing viewpoints and opinions (which we all should respect) on this subject, but one thing that we stand united on is that we all crave a successful footy team that will deliver the ultimate prize that we have all been craving. Who coaches this team matters not.

[Eastdog]

Depends if the way he played in the last two weeks was a result of a new management/training regime or if it was simply from getting a solution jabbed into his knee as someone else alluded to previously.

I would hope that Cooney could play 80% of total match time. I am the optimistic type though so who knows.

It is unfortunate that it has come to this stage because when he is at his best he is very dangerous. What role would you see him playing in 2013 so he can be effective while importantly managing his knee.

[Maddog37]

Cooney is as natural onballer as you would ever see. That is his spot plain and simple.