Who's your favourite player?

[The Bulldogs Bite]

It's interesting that people have different 'measurements' to classify who or what type of player is their favourite. Some prefer the superstar full forward, the inside ball winner, the outside finisher, the flashy half back or the lock down defender. Maybe it comes down to the simple fact of having met one of the players. Either way, there can be a whole host of reasons. So to narrow it down:

A - Who is your current favourite player?
B - What type of player is your favourite and why?

For mine, my current favourite player is Ryan Griffen. I love how damaging he can be from both inside and outside the contest, and his ability to rise to the occasion in finals is inspiring stuff. My favourite type of player has probably shifted in recent years from the 'do it all' midfielder to the 'do it all' forward, particularly given our woes in that half of the ground since the retirements of Johnson, Aker and Hall.

[Dry Rot]

B. Type

For some odd reason, I've always liked defenders. Lake was my favourite and I admired Morris. I also like real hard nuts (Hodge is probably my favourite non-Dogs player)

A Player

Hard to answer after Lake is gone. Toss up between Picken (hard nut) and Murphy (silly skilled defender).

Is it just me, or is hard to have a favourite player amongst the youngsters? Admiration seems to be earned over time, at least for me.

[jeemak]

A - Cooney is still my favourite player. It's getting harder and harder to say that, and I'll give him one more year at the top of my list. Griffen is a close second, and I think Wallis will be a favourite soon enough.

B - I like good users of the football, who can win their own ball and be creative, but also receive and finish the good work of others. Think Darren Jarman types.

[SlimPickens]

A- Picken-probably no surprise to anyone but love a bloke who gives every inch of his soul for the red white and blue.

B- Leon Cameron- will always be my favourite bulldog, sublime skills. Was shattered when we traded him!

[Hotdog60]

A- Chris Grant would have been my favorite player but since he has retired I look more at the team instead of a player, this may change if someone comes along and becomes special.

B- The half forward flanker, someone who sets up the scoring opportunities or can take the shot himself.

[Jasper]

Favourite player is Dale Morris because he is the ultimate success story and someone who has maximized his strengths

Type of player is someone who can take a contested mark and its one of the reason why I want to see Liam Jones reach his potential

[always right]

Favourite player in bulldogs colours to watch is Robert Murphy. In a team of willing workers he simply stands out when he has the ball in hand. The way he thinks his way through situations has always been outstanding.

Favourite type of player falls in two categories for me;
1. The talented player who lifts you out of the seat when he gets the ball. Cooney in his prime falls into this category. Dahlhaus is the closest we have amongst the current crop.
2. The bloke who gets everything out of his ability. Think Picken, Morris and Cross.

[EasternWest]

A. Dylan Addison
B. I like gutsy players that work hard to overcome their limitations. It's a disease.

[Maddog37]

Favorite player by a mile is Dale Morris. Humble, did it the hard way and never lets you down. Plays on the big guys, the small guys and the running machines. There has never been a time where you would question his commitment or passion for his team. He is also a massively underrated player as seen by our back line weakness without him there.



Favorite types of players are the indigenous boys that play with flair and the odd bit of magic and the half back types that are not fast, not great kicks, not really outstanding at anything but always seem to be in the right spot at the right time. Corey Enright is my favorite non Dogs player.

[w3design]

It is great fun, and easy to admire the truly naturally gifted players, and I love/d watching EJ, C Grant, Coons at his peak, and Griff. But the guys I enjoy watching most are the ones who are not necessarily the most gifted, but by courage, sweat and sheer determination wring every ounce out of themselves, and bleed for the club. It is the Morris, Cross, Picken, Boyd and Addisons in our squad that perhaps I most admire. Guys who leave nothing in the tank at the end of the day, and never expect others to put in more effort than they readily do themselves.
These are not the kind of players you see remonstrating with team mates if things aren't going their way...unlike some others.

[strebla]

Wow this is a very hard one but for mine it's Murphy he is so cool under pressure Morris would be a very close second. My all time faves are Grant and Hawkins just absolute superstars. my favorite type of player are the silky mids Cooney before his knee problems was an absolute joy to watch and i will always love him.

[Ghost Dog]

Liam Picken
Local boy so I am biased but I love his attack and never say die attitude.
When we are 10 goals down he will be the last guy to throw in the towel. You just know the coach will single him out when we are thrashed. It's fine to shine with a bunch of winners, but give it up for a guy who keeps swinging even when the opposition is into three figures.
For his size, right up their with Cross for courage and perhaps the only player the opposition fears on an intimidation level.

[always right]

Liam Picken
Local boy so I am biased but I love his attack and never say die attitude.
When we are 10 goals down he will be the last guy to throw in the towel. You just know the coach will single him out when we are thrashed. It's fine to shine with a bunch of winners, but give it up for a guy who keeps swinging even when the opposition is into three figures.
For his size, right up their with Cross for courage and perhaps the only player the opposition fears on an intimidation level.

Not sure anyone is "feared" on the footy field nowadays but take your point on Picken. You feel that he would do anything for the team.

[LostDoggy]

I don't have a favourite player at the moment. Sometimes I go a few seasons without one. There's only been a few over the years - Michael McLean, Peter Foster, Daniel Southern...... my last favourite was Brad Johnson. For me it's a feeling and at the moment no one stands out. Currently I do like Picken, Addison & Wood, but none are a 'favourite'. :)

[LostDoggy]

Fav player is Cross. All you need to watch was the game last season when he hurt his shoulder to see how much footy and playing for our club means to him.
Fav type is the guys who you feel confident when they get the ball they will make the right decision or kick the needed goal.

[Go_Dogs]

Probably another where it's no surprise on my favourite player. It has to be Griff and if you want to know why, you just need to go back and look at his game against Sydney late 2012 and really, any of his finals performances, even on one leg.

As far as my favourite type of player, that's a tough one. I guess someone who can win the ball, accelerate away from the contest and deliver well or finish with a goal.

[turtle]

I can't split Cross/Boyd/Morris/Picken I love any player that gives every inch of their soul to the footy club.

Same reason Chris Grant, Steve Wallis & Libba (although I didn't like the tactics he employed in the back half of his career -) are all time favourites.

[Eastdog]

I can't split Cross/Boyd/Morris/Picken I love any player that gives every inch of their soul to the footy club.

Same reason Chris Grant, Steve Wallis & Libba (although I didn't like the tactics he employed in the back half of his career -) are all time favourites.

Add Griff and Cooney in there as well. It's so difficult to find one favourite turtle and pretty much splitting certain players is not easy as each one has something good to offer.

[Ghost Dog]

Not sure anyone is "feared" on the footy field nowadays but take your point on Picken. You feel that he would do anything for the team.

Hated perhaps is a better word. Look at the reactions from quality players like Goodes or Selwood when Liam is wearing them like a glove. Gets a reaction and you for a bloke who was sponsored by Willy to become the top tagger in an AFL team is a great effort.

[The Bulldogs Bite]

McCartney absolutely loves Picken too, uses him as a reference quite regularly.

[Eastdog]

McCartney absolutely loves Picken too, uses him as a reference quite regularly.

Picken is a player in our team that gives 100% when his out on the footy field. His a real hard nut. If only all of our team was like Picken except for a few players that put in the effort like Picken then we would be a very hard team to beat.

[jeemak]

It's interesting to see that many of the much admired players seem to be the lesser talented, but honest types among our supporter group.

This is by no means a criticism of those selecting them, though I often think the more talented types, who most frequently play creative roles, have the hard work they put in to their training and games a little underrated by supporters.

The roles played by guys like Picken, Addison and to some extent Morris are more geared towards honesty in effort, rather than making the most of creative talent. That's not to discredit their importance however, isn't it much harder to have a creative influence across a game when you're being marked by the oppositions equivelant to the abovementioned players than playing like them on a consistent basis?

I suppose that's why guys like Griffen, Cooney, Murphy, Chris Grant, West, Johnson and Lake have been so special for our club in recent times. Each of them has consistently delivered (when fit) a creative influence on a game.

The work each has put in to their respective games is the equal of any of the honest tryers we currently have on the list, and have had in the past.

Then you have players who are much maligned, such as Daniel Giansiracusa and Shaun Higgins, who are playing in possibly the hardest positions on the ground (particularly in our most recent season), and but for a perceived lack of defensive pressure and tackling ability will never get the plaudits some of the other less talented types do. The amount of time they put in to their games often gets forgotten, and they bare the frustration of many fans as a result of the short comings of our list, and their own games which have areas for improvement just like any player on our list. But when you think about it, they are the best finishers we have, and they are sacrificing their natural games and careers to do their best to get a result for the club.

[Maddog37]

Disagree a touch on that one Jeemak. I think Morris is heavily underated for the skills/talent he has, it is just that these skills are defensive. They are just as hard to master as some of the more attacking ones.

Reading of the play, body positioning, timing of the contest etc etc

[jeemak]

Fair call on Morris.

[F'scary]

A: Austin & Markovic because they play as if they were robots.

B: Players that are so well programmed at running straight ahead that it takes time for them to compute that they need to change direction and then even more time to execute a direction-changing manoeuvre.

Players that show such tremendous auto-neurone concentration that they run into things before they have registered that they are going to run into the thing.

Players that exhibit complete organisation of cognitive processes such that one can study them as they decide that they may need to dispose of the ball, then how to dispose of it, then where to dispose of it, then the body starts to execute the disposal detail by detail. For some reason these players get tackled a lot before they dispose of the ball – I do not understand.

Players whose kicking skills have such advanced programming that they kick it backwards every time they have a mark or a free.

Players who have the superior mechanical ability to turn uncontested possessions into contested possessions. Contested possessions is an important statistic, the more the better.

[China Dog]

Callan Ward was my favorite and even though he did the 'dirty on us', I can understand him taking the money from GWS. I only hope he decides to come back to us one day. I'm hoping that Clay Smith will take up the challenge and become our next centre-line 'hard-nut'.

[AndrewP6]

A) probably Griff,one of few top liners we have. Assuming he continues his fine career ( with us!), II can see Dahl becoming a favourite. Excitement plus.

B) favourite type is the sort of player who is exciting, makes things happen and who can take charge in a game. Johnno a good example, Bazz had some terrific games for us.

[LostDoggy]

B. Type

For some odd reason, I've always liked defenders. Lake was my favourite and I admired Morris. I also like real hard nuts (Hodge is probably my favourite non-Dogs player)

A Player

Hard to answer after Lake is gone. Toss up between Picken (hard nut) and Murphy (silly skilled defender).

Is it just me, or is hard to have a favourite player amongst the youngsters? Admiration seems to be earned over time, at least for me.
I'm with you DR - drawn to defenders and no nonsense types (Chapman for mine as favourite non-Dog). And it will take time for me to get to know the new young ones (Dahlhaus seems to have a fantastic playing attitude).

Morris and Picken are standouts for me - then there's the great work ethic of Cross, Boyd, Addison (surprised he's been mentioned so often in this thread, usually he gets panned). I can't pick just one fave at the moment. Luke Darcy still has pride of place on my fridge :)

[Ghost Dog]

It's interesting to see that many of the much admired players seem to be the lesser talented, but honest types among our supporter group.



The roles played by guys like Picken, Addison and to some extent Morris are more geared towards honesty in effort, rather than making the most of creative talent.

.

That's where you are wrong, so wrong. Have a look at the mark he took in the Brit game and tell me if Addison or Morris or a dour type could ever do that. He's a creative player on a tagger's leash. It's not that he is a player with only honesty in effort to offer, it's how coaches choose to use him. His Dad was one of the best marks for his size that every played and he has tons of that creativity. should be in our forward line. Easily as flashy as Grant but with 200% more dedication.

THE KID IS BUSH RAT SMART.

But who would do his job if not for him? who could? And so it goes. The dour tag sticks. Like Chris Grant, and Brian Lake, two of the best full forwards who never were, Liam Picken, crying out to be a forward player, La Cras like abilility, used as a blunt instrument, tagging. Boo Hoo what a waste. Rant over.

http://www1.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/Liam+Picken+AFL+Rd+17+Western+Bulldogs+v+Carlton+sgqW4Yh0z5s l.jpg

Mark Murphy is blinded by the glare of Liam Picken's brilliance.

[EasternWest]

He's a creative player on a tagger's leash.

I'm with you here GD. Liam Picken is a damn good player.