The blockbuster three things bonus annual. Tell us three things you learned THIS SEASON. The deflated 2017 edition

[Twodogs]

That's right. Time to get three things off your chest about this season. Good or bad we really want to hear them.

[Twodogs]

1. I wish I'd thought of this last year.

[bulldogtragic]

Bump.

[boydogs]

1. Hunger and intensity were underrated ingredients in our premiership
2. Losing fringe players from a premiership side can still hurt you
3. Injuries can cruel any team, even off-season ones with a reduced preseason

[bornadog]

1. Football is a team game, and everyone needs to be firing and injury free.

2. Being best at Contested footy, clearances and stoppages wins you games

3. The Ruck position is still important in today's game.

[Bulldog4life]

1. We need a regular back 6 who get used to playing with each other....barring injuries of course.
2. I read...can't remember where...that we will be appointing a goal kicking coach from outside the Club. Great move.
3. Hopefully we can have a big pre season.

[westdog54]

1. Premiership hangovers are a thing.
2. Dalrymple's still got it, English, Young and Lipinski are gems.
3. A football department review with nothing off the table is needed. List, coaching, medical/injury management, training loads, the lot.

[ratsmac]

1. Premiership hangovers are a thing.
2. Dalrymple's still got it, English, Young and Lipinski are gems.
3. A football department review with nothing off the table is needed. List, coaching, medical/injury management, training loads, the lot.

The good thing about them though is it takes a premiership to get one.

[The Adelaide Connection]

1. It's not about who you play, but when (and where) you play them. Teams like Carlton and Fremantle were insipid for stretches of games and world beaters for other stretches.
2. There is something really wrong with Jake Stringer. It might be his body, it might be psychologically (confidence etc.), it might be personal life, it might be our forward setup killing him, it might be a mix of all of them. Hard to believe he is the same player he was from 2015 and the first half of 2016.
3. One flag isn't enough.

[The Adelaide Connection]

1. Premiership hangovers are a thing.
2. Dalrymple's still got it, English, Young and Lipinski are gems.
3. A football department review with nothing off the table is needed. List, coaching, medical/injury management, training loads, the lot.

We should also look at what the Crows are doing that we aren't. We've had a nightmare two years and they have barely had a player miss.

[ratsmac]

1. Bevo is human. He made some mistakes but it was all to try get the best out of what he had available. Swapping the coaching lines around wasn't the best idea it would seem.
2. 2017 was not fun. 2016 was fun and 2015 was fun but 2017 was definitely not fun.
3. Dale, Lipinski, McLean, Cordy, Young, English, Williams, Daniel, Webb, Boyd and of course the Bont are all 22 or under. The future is bright.

[Twodogs]

With all that's happened to him (no 1 draft pick, GWS/Bulldogs swap, million dollar salary, kicking a huge goal in a Grand Final, having time out of the game with mental issues) it is easy to forget that the the darling of the lazy journo looking for a cheap story, our Tom Boyd, is only 21.

[LostDoggy]

1. A lot of what happens in your season is determined by your preseason. The abbreviated preseason of a Premier is a definite negative, extra respect to those teams who go back to back.
2. Being reigning Premiers makes you a big deal and a target. Some individuals and, consequently, as a club we were not mature enough to deal with these pressures fully. Our horror record in Friday night matches this year reflects our discomfort at being expected to perform on a big stage as the champs. Next year we go back to being a young, midtable team with poential, which seems a more comfortable place for our psyche. Hopefully that changes as this group matures.
3. The overall skill level of our group is a long way off where it appeared to be in 2016. Kicking under pressure (even when clear) needs a lot of attention. A more cohesive game plan so that the players have more confidence in what their teamates are doing is also sorely needed.

[comrade]

3. Dale, Lipinski, McLean, Cordy, Young, English, Williams, Daniel, Webb, Boyd and of course the Bont are all 22 or under. The future is bright.

This is the silver lining of 2017. Plenty of kids got some good exposure at the top level, with Dale and particularly McLean breaking out. Add another top 10 pick to that mix, and one or two mid draft gems that Dalrymple regularly finds and we're well placed for ongoing success.

[Happy Days]

1. Our midfield is too small, especially if Wallis/Liberatore/Bont have to spend considerable time not in it for various reasons.

2. Our backline's general rubbishness has had a horrible effect on not only our capacity to stop gun forwards, but our ability to score. Talking of recruiting depth is misguided; we have the depth, we need to recruit the guys who play ahead of them.

3. The dismissal of the third man up rule reintroduced the art of ruckwork into the game, and between Roughy's finals form being an apparent supernova and Tom Boyd's illness we were severely left wanting. It's a bit chicken-and-egg with our midfield's general waif-itude, but I wonder how much better this season would have gone with (hypothetically) Paddy Ryder tapping the ball to our guys.

[The Bulldogs Bite]

Disagree re: depth. We had depth, we lost it last year and replaced it only with kids. No surprise that when injuries struck this time around, we were all at sea.

1. The Coaching group needs to change moving forward and it has to start with Bubba going back to being the Backline Coach. I'd like to see us bring in some fresh ideas from elsewhere, not convinced on Gia. King should be ruck/mid coach or nothing.

2. Fix our awful skill level. It's the worst in the comp; we can't hit targets consistently and let us not even mention our goal conversion. This has to be both a skill that is practised as well as personnel.

3. TBoyd must play FF with rare stints in the ruck, not the other way around. I don't mind him being put into the ruck if he's struggling up forward, but FFS, put the full time ruck experiment to bed.

[LostDoggy]

1.This has been a singularly uninspiring premiership defence and so different to expectations as the start of the year. I think I only enjoyed one or two games (first game against the swans, and against the bombers). Most wins were clawed back by force of will after coughing up substantial leads.

2. Our contested marking was way down all year. The players that got us through in this area in the finals - T Boyd, Roughead, Wood, Picken, and to a lesser extent Cordy, Dunkley and Hamling (at least they weren’t regularly outmarked) - couldn’t deliver again for various reasons. Although a number of players improved this year these tended to be onballers rather than players who could take a contested grab (cameos to Young, Big Red and Adams probably the only exceptions).

3. It still burns we haven’t beaten the cats under Bevo and

4. For all that went wrong (form, injuries whatever), we still only missed the 8 by a game and percentage. Hoping (and fairly confident) that we'll bounce back strong next year.

[AndrewP6]

With all that's happened to him (no 1 draft pick, GWS/Bulldogs swap, million dollar salary, kicking a huge goal in a Grand Final, having time out of the game with mental issues) it is easy to forget that the the darling of the lazy journo looking for a cheap story, our Tom Boyd, is only 21.

Just turned 22,but your point is spot on.

[Twodogs]

Just turned 22,but your point is spot on.

There you go. My invitation must have went to the wrong address.

Presumably it went to someone actually invited to his birthday party.

[AndrewP6]

There you go. My invitation must have went to the wrong address.

Presumably it went to someone actually invited to his birthday party.

Hahaha. Don't be sad, it was only on Friday.

[Twodogs]

Hahaha. Don't be sad, it was only on Friday.


Oh well Friday! Nah, I always have fish and chips with my dear old mum on friday. Couldn't let the old dear down now could I?

[EasternWest]

I didn't realise Lachie Hunter was still so young.

When I said to people after we won the flag last year, "I don't even care about next year", I was wrong.

The Lamb Souvlaki at Etihad is actually really good.

[Daughter of the West]

1. Hangovers suck. Both alcohol related and premiership ones.

2. I am a deeply flawed and horrible person. Melbourne missing out on the finals in the most Richmond of circumstances gave me far too much perverse joy.

3. Being driven by emotion can pick you up to enormous heights, but dump you hard and fast just as quickly. Technicalities aside, I think it's very hard to find that crazy, deep level of emotional drive all over again and it makes it far easier to be swept in the other direction. The team needs to now be more like soulless, army crushing foot soldiers. Just smash all comers, all of the time.

[boydogs]

3. Being driven by emotion can pick you up to enormous heights, but dump you hard and fast just as quickly. Technicalities aside, I think it's very hard to find that crazy, deep level of emotional drive all over again and it makes it far easier to be swept in the other direction. The team needs to now be more like soulless, army crushing foot soldiers. Just smash all comers, all of the time.

Very interesting point. "Hangover" has implications with poor discipline and lack of effort, I think you've said it better

[Twodogs]

Very interesting point. "Hangover" has implications with poor discipline and lack of effort, I think you've said it better


Said it perfectly. I don't like the hangover connotations of being lazy and the "you've personally let me down" stuff we've been aiming at the players. It's a learning process for all of us and I think I'll hold off on the judgemental stuff for a bit.

[Nuggety Back Pocket]

1. For whatever reasons our fall from grace mirrored similarities with 1954 and 1961.
2. Remarkable to think that our decline was across the board with only McLean Macrae Cordy and Dale being exceptions.
3. Our 2016 was a miracle in the manner the flag was achieved after 62 years.Maybe our feeling of contentment and pleasure rubbed off on the playing and coaching group in a similar manner as a major contributor to such a disappointing year.

[Twodogs]

1. For whatever reasons our fall from grace mirrored similarities with 1954 and 1961.
2. Remarkable to think that our decline was across the board with only McLean Macrae Cordy and Dale being exceptions.
3. Our 2016 was a miracle in the manner the flag was achieved after 62 years.Maybe our feeling of contentment and pleasure rubbed off on the playing and coaching group in a similar manner as a major contributor to such a disappointing year.


Training in front of a thirty foot sign that said PREMIERS 2016 for the entire preseason probably should have been avoided for a start.

[bornadog]

Training in front of a thirty foot sign that said PREMIERS 2016 for the entire preseason probably should have been avoided for a start.

But Oh what a feeling :)

[merantau]

1. If we had kicked straight we would have been in the 8 but we would have been making up the numbers
2. We weren't fit enough to carry out the same high intensity, forward press, contested possession, team defence type of game plan.
3. We struggled to overcome our injury toll.