We are a still such a young team ...

[angelopetraglia]

One thing that continues to baffle me is the media's perception in regards to a teams experience and age. Brad Scott keeps talking about how young the Kangaroos are (they are actually the 8th oldest team and that was after they dropped Thomas and Swallow) and it's been repeated so many times (i.e. they are so young, they are making mistakes under pressure in tight games). Another I heard on the weekend was how a bunch of kids from Carlton beat last year's Grand Finalist. It has been well documented that the Swans have some young players, however Carlton fielded a more experienced team than Sydney on the weekend.

Also, no one is mentioning how young our team is. Teams that are normally Premiers and are serious contenders are normally towards to the top when it comes to the age profile of their team. The Bulldogs team that took the field last round was the 2nd youngest. Only the Lions were younger. We played 10 players with less than 50 games. No other team playing 10+ players under 50 games is competitive at the moment. We are an outlier.

The full list is below. This team still has so much upside. The key moving forward in the coming years is keeping the core players together.

This data is for Round #6. The list below is club, average age and the last number is the number of players in the team with less than 50 games.

Lions 23yr6mths 12
Bulldogs 23yr11mths 10
Suns 24yr0mths 10
Swans 24yr4mths 11
Blues 24yr7mths 10
Dockers 24yr7mths 11
Tigers 24yr8mths 8
Giants 24yr10mths 6
Power 24yr10mths 6
Demons 24yr11mths 9
Kangas 25yr0mths 8
Bombers 25yr4mths 7
Crows 25yr4mths 5
Saints 25yr5mths 8
Pies 25yr5mths 7
Hawks 26yr2mths 8
Cats 26yr2mths 7
Eagles 26yr10mths 5

[bulldogtragic]

Gee if Bob, Boyd & Morris all retire we can throw a 21st Birthday Average Party for the team. Alternatively, if we had America's 21yo drinking laws, more than 1/3 of the list couldn't even have a beer!

That's some impressive work AP. Great work/contribution.

[Mantis]

It was funny all the talk post the Brisbane game about how well their young side is developing, in that game they played 11 under 50, we played 10... Our overall numbers can be inflated when the likes of Murf, Boyd and Cloke are in the team, but by and large we are as suggested, very young.

[SlimPickens]

It's amazing isn't it? I'm constantly surprised by how often coaches will bring up a teams age, to me it gives the players an "out" which doesn't bode well for the group taking ownership of their performance.

In my recollection, Bevo has never done this. He picks players and sets standards and expectations on what is required for the team to succeed. I love that about our club, doesn't matter if you're Matty Boyd or Bailey Williams, come in, do your role, help the team.

[angelopetraglia]

Yes. Agree.

I was lucky enough to listen to Bevo talk to us at work for over two hours about his leadership philosophies. One that stood out for me is that he treats everyone equally. From Bob Murphy to the newest rookie. What he pointed out is that we used 39 players last year that is very unusual for a Premiership team (it also highlights how many injuries we had last year). However that adaptability for any player to come in and play his role was a crucial factor in our ability to win last year's Premiership (just for interests sake ... the Crows only used 29 players last year).

Bevo also went out of his way to mention that when he was at St Bedes that the Under 19s, Reserves and Seniors always trained together and were treated equally.

It goes without saying, but he is a fantastic leader of men.

[Twodogs]

Yes. Agree.

I was lucky enough to listen to Bevo talk to us at work for over two hours about his leadership philosophies. One that stood out for me is that he treats everyone equally. From Bob Murphy to the newest rookie. What he pointed out is that we used 39 players last year that is very unusual for a Premiership team (it also highlights how many injuries we had last year). However that adaptability for any player to come in and play his role was a crucial factor in our ability to win last year's Premiership (just for interests sake ... the Crows only used 29 players last year).

Bevo also went out of his way to mention that when he was at St Bedes that the Under 19s, Reserves and Seniors always trained together and were treated equally.

It goes without saying, but he is a fantastic leader of men.

And women. I was quite surprised when I went to the joint training session for the men's and women's teams earlier in the year and it was just that. Both squads doing the drills together and against one another. I don't know why but I went along thinking the two squads would train alongside one another and I reckon at most clubs they would. But not at a club Bevo coaches.

[Eastdog]

Great stuff AP. Yes it is amazing. So young and we won the flag last year and with so much more to come. Agree that it is very important to keep the Bulldog core to refine the team around that over coming years.

[Go_Dogs]

Good post, thanks.

As Mantis said, it can fluctuate based on the sides named week to week, but we continue to have a number of young players and don't hesitate to provide opportunities to those playing well, regardless of age.

Does this mean AFL is increasingly a young mans game?

[LostDoggy]

One thing that continues to baffle me is the media's perception in regards to a teams experience and age. Brad Scott keeps talking about how young the Kangaroos are (they are actually the 8th oldest team and that was after they dropped Thomas and Swallow) and it's been repeated so many times (i.e. they are so young, they are making mistakes under pressure in tight games). Another I heard on the weekend was how a bunch of kids from Carlton beat last year's Grand Finalist. It has been well documented that the Swans have some young players, however Carlton fielded a more experienced team than Sydney on the weekend.

Also, no one is mentioning how young our team is. Teams that are normally Premiers and are serious contenders are normally towards to the top when it comes to the age profile of their team. The Bulldogs team that took the field last round was the 2nd youngest. Only the Lions were younger. We played 10 players with less than 50 games. No other team playing 10+ players under 50 games is competitive at the moment. We are an outlier.

The full list is below. This team still has so much upside. The key moving forward in the coming years is keeping the core players together.

This data is for Round #6. The list below is club, average age and the last number is the number of players in the team with less than 50 games.

Lions 23yr6mths 12
Bulldogs 23yr11mths 10
Suns 24yr0mths 10
Swans 24yr4mths 11
Blues 24yr7mths 10
Dockers 24yr7mths 11
Tigers 24yr8mths 8
Giants 24yr10mths 6
Power 24yr10mths 6
Demons 24yr11mths 9
Kangas 25yr0mths 8
Bombers 25yr4mths 7
Crows 25yr4mths 5
Saints 25yr5mths 8
Pies 25yr5mths 7
Hawks 26yr2mths 8
Cats 26yr2mths 7
Eagles 26yr10mths 5

Maybe 'cause we won the whole thing last year that the media need to build up and focus on another team to come from the clouds.

[boydogs]

Does this mean AFL is increasingly a young mans game?

Plenty of 30+ players still going around. I think careers are getting longer at both ends with improvements in conditioning programs. Dunks last year was a beast in his debut season, Murphy/Boyd/Morris still going at 34