bornadog
01-06-2014, 01:54 PM
http://images.theage.com.au/2014/05/31/5473096/1401525451313.jpg-620x349.jpg
Dog tired: Will Minson (right) looks dejected as he leaves the field after the match against the Suns. Photo: Getty Images
The Western Bulldogs faithful have been a patient lot over the years but even the most loyal must be getting sick of being competitive for large periods in matches but rarely good enough to go on and win them.
If I was a Doggies member, I would be driving to today’s game at Etihad Stadium hoping that we might be still in the match with Fremantle late in the game, but realistically knowing that a win is unlikely. That mindset would get my blood boiling. Ultimately close enough is just not good enough.
When discussing the Western Bulldogs with people I respect during the week, the common theme was that the Dogs give you exactly what you think they will. That is tight wins against the bottom four sides, competitive losses against the middle rung with the occasional upset. They will rarely challenge a top-four side.
That is not meant to be disrespectful but it’s just the reality of the Bulldogs' predicament and the statistics don’t lie. The Bulldogs finished 15th in 2012, 15th in 2013 and, after round 10, they sit 14th having lost four of their last five matches.
They average 82 points a game, which ranks them 13th in the AFL and they concede 98 points, which ranks them 15th. You can pore over a lot of meaningless stats in football but those two indicate why the Dogs are in the bottom rung of teams.
The club has some tough and courageous players who give you everything, every time. Dale Morris is a ruthless defender who would get a game in every AFL team, Ryan Griffen is as hard as he is skilled and takes a battering for his club every week and Tom Liberatore has become elite at his craft in the centre bounces and continually puts his head over the ball. That said, a lack of match winners at the top end and limited depth at the lower end is a major issue for Brendan McCartney as heroics from a few individuals will take you only so far.
The Bulldogs lack quality talls at both ends of the ground and lack genuine pace through the midfield. This is why they often find themselves in a scrap and can’t blow opposition sides away.
The Bulldogs have gone from the No. 1 contested ball winning team in 2013 to 16th this season. This is a big issue, as was shown on the Gold Coast last Sunday. If they can’t win it on the inside they are in trouble on the outside with only Griffen, Robert Murphy, Luke Dahlhaus and Adam Cooney capable of breaking the lines with any consistency. Jason Tutt is another who has the capabilities but he has been unable to gain a regular place in the side since bursting on to the scene in 2011.
The Bulldogs couldn’t go with the Gold Coast after half-time, which wasn’t a huge surprise given the pool of talent and the concessions the Suns have been given, but it must be of huge concern to the Dogs and the AFL that the gap is only getting wider. As the weeks and months pass, teams such as the Western Bulldogs, St Kilda and many others, won’t be able to compete with the Suns and the Giants in the coming years. The wealthier clubs can ride out the storm of lean periods but I do fear for the futures of the battling clubs who sit at the foot of the AFL ladder and are trying to rebuild their lists.
Stewart Crameri leads the Western Bulldogs goal kicking with 18 for the season. Crameri is a quality player and his departure left a hole in Essendon’s forward line, but he should be a second ot third-ranked forward in the team’s set up due to his size. After Crameri, Dahlhaus is next best with nine goals for the year and he has spent the majority of the season further up the ground and averaging 25 disposals a match.
Liam Jones is into his sixth year of AFL football and has played 63 games, but he is still a long way off being consistent due to a poor aerobic capacity and a flawed action in front of goal. Ayce Cordy, Tom Williams and Jarrad Grant have all been given opportunities forward but haven’t been able to cut the mustard, which is nothing new to Bulldogs fans as they haven’t had a home-grown star key forward since Chris Grant, who was taken at pick 105 in 1988.
Since 1995, the Western Bulldogs have picked 13 key position forwards from other clubs to try to solve their goal kicking woes. Of them, only Paul Hudson played over 100 games for the club and aside from him and Barry Hall, who kicked 80 and 55 goals in his two seasons, the rest failed to make any impact. Brad Johnson, at 182 centimetres, is the best forward I have seen at Whitten Oval.
Since the 1999 season, Johnson has kicked the most goals for the club with 482; Daniel Giansiracusa has 324 and then Grant rounds out the top three, dropping down to 198 goals. After Grant, the next key forward on the list is Barry Hall who comes in at 11th with 135 goals in his 39 games. Hindsight is a wonderful thing but you wonder if the Dogs would have snatched a flag in 2008-2010 had they landed Lance Franklin or Jarryd Roughead during the 2004 draft.
The Bulldogs will have the opportunity to select a quality key forward in the upcoming draft based on their current ladder position, but it is at least three to four year before a young forward finds his feet at AFL level, as we have seen with Tom Hawkins and Travis Cloke.
The Bulldogs have Fremantle on Sunday, Collingwood in round 13 and Port Adelaide in round 14 and they need to make a statement by taking one of them down in the next month of football. The battling club tag can win you respect in victory but it can also mask underwhelming performances in defeat and I think that is the case at Whitten Oval.
Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/time-for-the-dogs-to-bare-their-teeth-20140530-zrt06.html#ixzz33M9OuLLM
Dog tired: Will Minson (right) looks dejected as he leaves the field after the match against the Suns. Photo: Getty Images
The Western Bulldogs faithful have been a patient lot over the years but even the most loyal must be getting sick of being competitive for large periods in matches but rarely good enough to go on and win them.
If I was a Doggies member, I would be driving to today’s game at Etihad Stadium hoping that we might be still in the match with Fremantle late in the game, but realistically knowing that a win is unlikely. That mindset would get my blood boiling. Ultimately close enough is just not good enough.
When discussing the Western Bulldogs with people I respect during the week, the common theme was that the Dogs give you exactly what you think they will. That is tight wins against the bottom four sides, competitive losses against the middle rung with the occasional upset. They will rarely challenge a top-four side.
That is not meant to be disrespectful but it’s just the reality of the Bulldogs' predicament and the statistics don’t lie. The Bulldogs finished 15th in 2012, 15th in 2013 and, after round 10, they sit 14th having lost four of their last five matches.
They average 82 points a game, which ranks them 13th in the AFL and they concede 98 points, which ranks them 15th. You can pore over a lot of meaningless stats in football but those two indicate why the Dogs are in the bottom rung of teams.
The club has some tough and courageous players who give you everything, every time. Dale Morris is a ruthless defender who would get a game in every AFL team, Ryan Griffen is as hard as he is skilled and takes a battering for his club every week and Tom Liberatore has become elite at his craft in the centre bounces and continually puts his head over the ball. That said, a lack of match winners at the top end and limited depth at the lower end is a major issue for Brendan McCartney as heroics from a few individuals will take you only so far.
The Bulldogs lack quality talls at both ends of the ground and lack genuine pace through the midfield. This is why they often find themselves in a scrap and can’t blow opposition sides away.
The Bulldogs have gone from the No. 1 contested ball winning team in 2013 to 16th this season. This is a big issue, as was shown on the Gold Coast last Sunday. If they can’t win it on the inside they are in trouble on the outside with only Griffen, Robert Murphy, Luke Dahlhaus and Adam Cooney capable of breaking the lines with any consistency. Jason Tutt is another who has the capabilities but he has been unable to gain a regular place in the side since bursting on to the scene in 2011.
The Bulldogs couldn’t go with the Gold Coast after half-time, which wasn’t a huge surprise given the pool of talent and the concessions the Suns have been given, but it must be of huge concern to the Dogs and the AFL that the gap is only getting wider. As the weeks and months pass, teams such as the Western Bulldogs, St Kilda and many others, won’t be able to compete with the Suns and the Giants in the coming years. The wealthier clubs can ride out the storm of lean periods but I do fear for the futures of the battling clubs who sit at the foot of the AFL ladder and are trying to rebuild their lists.
Stewart Crameri leads the Western Bulldogs goal kicking with 18 for the season. Crameri is a quality player and his departure left a hole in Essendon’s forward line, but he should be a second ot third-ranked forward in the team’s set up due to his size. After Crameri, Dahlhaus is next best with nine goals for the year and he has spent the majority of the season further up the ground and averaging 25 disposals a match.
Liam Jones is into his sixth year of AFL football and has played 63 games, but he is still a long way off being consistent due to a poor aerobic capacity and a flawed action in front of goal. Ayce Cordy, Tom Williams and Jarrad Grant have all been given opportunities forward but haven’t been able to cut the mustard, which is nothing new to Bulldogs fans as they haven’t had a home-grown star key forward since Chris Grant, who was taken at pick 105 in 1988.
Since 1995, the Western Bulldogs have picked 13 key position forwards from other clubs to try to solve their goal kicking woes. Of them, only Paul Hudson played over 100 games for the club and aside from him and Barry Hall, who kicked 80 and 55 goals in his two seasons, the rest failed to make any impact. Brad Johnson, at 182 centimetres, is the best forward I have seen at Whitten Oval.
Since the 1999 season, Johnson has kicked the most goals for the club with 482; Daniel Giansiracusa has 324 and then Grant rounds out the top three, dropping down to 198 goals. After Grant, the next key forward on the list is Barry Hall who comes in at 11th with 135 goals in his 39 games. Hindsight is a wonderful thing but you wonder if the Dogs would have snatched a flag in 2008-2010 had they landed Lance Franklin or Jarryd Roughead during the 2004 draft.
The Bulldogs will have the opportunity to select a quality key forward in the upcoming draft based on their current ladder position, but it is at least three to four year before a young forward finds his feet at AFL level, as we have seen with Tom Hawkins and Travis Cloke.
The Bulldogs have Fremantle on Sunday, Collingwood in round 13 and Port Adelaide in round 14 and they need to make a statement by taking one of them down in the next month of football. The battling club tag can win you respect in victory but it can also mask underwhelming performances in defeat and I think that is the case at Whitten Oval.
Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/time-for-the-dogs-to-bare-their-teeth-20140530-zrt06.html#ixzz33M9OuLLM