Tom Boyd needs to find form in the VFL before an AFL recall, says coach Luke Beveridge

[bornadog]

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TOM Boyd simply isn’t in good enough form to earn a recall for the Western Bulldogs, according to coach Luke
Beveridge.With injuries to tall targets Jordan Roughead and Jackson Trengove, Boyd appeared the perfect replacement, but the talented forward was named only as an emergency for Sunday’s clash with Essendon.

Beveridge said now wasn’t the time for Boyd.
“He’s a really important player and part of our future, but we just need him to play well at the lower level and find his mojo as a forward,” Beveridge said.


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Recruit Josh Schache has a calf injury, but it’s hoped he can return to play VFL next week.“There’s been some good signs but even early in last weeks game he copped a knock and it incapacitated him for the rest of his day. He played but he wasn’t quite where he needed to be.

“Now’s not an ideal time for Tom to come in when he’s not playing so well and we’re not as a group.

“We’ll find the right time and hopefully that’s over the course of the next few weeks.”
Bulldogs recruit Josh Schache also hasn’t played this season and now has a calf injury.
Beveridge denied Schache, who moved from the Lions ahead of this season, was disillusioned with the game.

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Luke Dahlhaus and Tom Boyd share a laugh at training, but it’s been a sobering season for the Dogs.“We couldn’t be happier with Josh’s application, he didn’t miss a session pre-season,” Beveridge said.

“He’s definitely that young forward who is a work in progress ... we see him as a really bright prospect for us, unfortunately he’s got a calf injury at the moment but I think he’ll probably be right to play again (in the VFL) next week.

“He’s a great kid, we’re fortunate to have him.”

Former Bulldogs captain Bob Murphy said Boyd not playing was a “massive concern”.

“If he’s going anywhere near his capacity, he’d be one of the first picked, so yeah, it’s a big worry,’ Murphy told SEN radio.

[azabob]

Gee whiz I'm frustrated with those comments about Boyd.

Beveridge said now wasn’t the time for Boyd.
“He’s a really important player and part of our future, but we just need him to play well at the lower level and find his mojo as a forward,” Beveridge said.

Has Beveridge now settled on Boyd as a forward? If so why on earth has been played mainly as a ruck 2016 and first half of 2017?

[GVGjr]

Gee whiz I'm frustrated with those comments about Boyd.

Beveridge said now wasn’t the time for Boyd.
“He’s a really important player and part of our future, but we just need him to play well at the lower level and find his mojo as a forward,” Beveridge said.

Has Beveridge now settled on Boyd as a forward? If so why on earth has been played mainly as a ruck 2016 and first half of 2017?

He's apparently not ready to play and yet we have named him as an emergency.
It's hard to decipher what is going on.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Could we read Bevo's comments re Boyd in tandem with his being named as Emergency as reminder to Tom that he isn't far from consideration and moreover a motivation for him that once he hits certain benchmarks, that he is needed and wanted in the side?

[azabob]

Could we read Bevo's comments re Boyd in tandem with his being named as Emergency as reminder to Tom that he isn't far from consideration and moreover a motivation for him that once he hits certain benchmarks, that he is needed and wanted in the side?

I guess we could but to be honest, whatever Beveridge says regarding Boyd, I take it with a massive grain of salt.

[Greystache]

His comments here are as muddled as our game plan at the moment. He's important, we see him as a forward, but we're won't play him, and in the VFL we make him ruck. Seems sensible, i'm sure Tom isn't confused or frustrated by the message at all!

[Mofra]

We as a club have a woeful reputation in developing key forwards - would Boyd have developed differently at a different club? I'm thinking probably, yes.

[chef]

Pretty shit how every other club can seem to develop young KPFs in the seniors yet we cant.

[Twodogs]

If we had a time machine and went back to the mid 90s and recruited a 25 yo Wayne Carey and Mattew Richardson and then bought them back to the present day I wonder how long it would take us as a club to completely destroy any semblance of form or confidence they bought with them as the gun forwards of the competition?

They would be alternating CHB/sitting on the bench for Footscray by season's end.

[Greystache]

We as a club have a woeful reputation in developing key forwards - would Boyd have developed differently at a different club? I'm thinking probably, yes.

I've no doubt he would've. We're always desperate to recruit them, always looking for anything they can't do, drop them without persisting with them, try to turn them into anything but a key forward, then write them off and chase another to repeat the cycle with.

[bornadog]

Could we read Bevo's comments re Boyd in tandem with his being named as Emergency as reminder to Tom that he isn't far from consideration and moreover a motivation for him that once he hits certain benchmarks, that he is needed and wanted in the side?

I tend to agree. I don't want any player that is not in form playing AFL. I think Jong and Daniel were under done last week, but what were we to do, put in another couple of debutants.

[mjp]

Pretty shit how every other club can seem to develop young KPFs in the seniors yet we cant.

McCartin

[GVGjr]

Could we read Bevo's comments re Boyd in tandem with his being named as Emergency as reminder to Tom that he isn't far from consideration and moreover a motivation for him that once he hits certain benchmarks, that he is needed and wanted in the side?

Perhaps but weve tended to go with convoluted reasons to explain our decision making rather than being as blunt as calling out form as the reason why a player gets named as an emergency each week. If its form related then we couldname other players as the emergency

[Greystache]

McCartin

Is he not currently playing seniors for the purposes of developing him as a key forward? He may not make it but they're giving it a go. They had good success with Bruce and Riewoldt as recent options too.

I'm assuming Chef's point is we've got 2, and both are playing ruck in the VFL while the seniors are getting belted each week by 10 goals.

[bornadog]

Is he not currently playing seniors for the purposes of developing him as a key forward? He may not make it but they're giving it a go. They had good success with Bruce and Riewoldt as recent options too.

I'm assuming Chef's point is we've got 2, and both are playing ruck in the VFL while the seniors are getting belted each week by 10 goals.

If you ask Tom what position does he play, he will respond with Ruck/Fwd, not Fwd/ruck.

[GVGjr]

If you ask Tom what position does he play, he will respond with Ruck/Fwd, not Fwd/ruck.

If you asked him the same question 12 months ago it was the other way around. If what you say is correct I'd say he is reading the coach better.

[Greystache]

If you asked him the same question 12 month's ago it was the other way around. If what you say is correct I'd say he is reading the coach better.

Exactly. He's probably at the point he'll say anything if he thinks it'll get him a game.

[bornadog]

If you asked him the same question 12 months ago it was the other way around. If what you say is correct I'd say he is reading the coach better.
Do you want me to find the article from over a year ago

[GVGjr]

Do you want me to find the article from over a year ago

If you like, I talked to him at the players sponsors evening last year, he said to me forward first, ruckman 2nd.

[bornadog]

If you like, I talked to him at the players sponsors evening last year, he said to me forward first, ruckman 2nd.
He may prefer that. Roberts told me he prefers forward

players have to play where the coaches say they have to play

[Greystache]

He may prefer that. Roberts told me he prefers forward

players have to play where the coaches say they have to play

So basically the opposite of what you were arguing earlier


If you ask Tom what position does he play, he will respond with Ruck/Fwd, not Fwd/ruck.

[comrade]

The point is moot. He’s pretty average at both at this point, but he’s less average at rucking than he is as a forward. At least as a ruckman, the ability to mark a ball - a skill he struggles to execute more times than not - isn’t as necessary as a key forward.

[GVGjr]

He may prefer that. Roberts told me he prefers forward

players have to play where the coaches say they have to play

It wasn't necessarily about where he preferred to play it was how he saw himself 12 months ago. He trained primary as a forward during the preseason and ended up as a ruckman due to injuries and with running thin on ruckman.

I might be wrong here, and apologies if I am, but don't you blame Malthouse not Hardie because Mick insisted that Hardie needed to add a defensive ethic to his game which lead to the Hardie departure?

[bornadog]

So basically the opposite of what you were arguing earlier

Sorry didn't explain properly, Roberts was an example of what Roberts prefers, yet he plays FB.

[dog town]

How can Bevo play Boyd if he can't get a kick in the VFL? He plays him ruck because he has shown an inability to play as a forward. We need to get value for the abilities he does have so playing him ruck at times is definitely the right move.

Don't disagree that we have been poor at developing key forwards but name a current successful key forward with the same attributes as Boyd? I can't think of any off the top of my head. They are all either lightning quick on the lead, athletic, jump at the ball or a different body shape completely. Tom Hawkins is the closest and he is a liability at times. The blueprint for Boyd needs to start with rucking and slowly build his confidence as a forward option. I want a big key forward as much as the next person but just wanting it won't make Boyd something he is not.

[Bulldog Revolution]

Seems to be building - was reportedly better on the weekend

What I want to see from Boyd is fitness and consistent effort - once he ticks those two then I’m sure he will be back in the side

[MrMahatma]

How can Bevo play Boyd if he can't get a kick in the VFL? He plays him ruck because he has shown an inability to play as a forward. We need to get value for the abilities he does have so playing him ruck at times is definitely the right move.

Don't disagree that we have been poor at developing key forwards but name a current successful key forward with the same attributes as Boyd? I can't think of any off the top of my head. They are all either lightning quick on the lead, athletic, jump at the ball or a different body shape completely. Tom Hawkins is the closest and he is a liability at times. The blueprint for Boyd needs to start with rucking and slowly build his confidence as a forward option. I want a big key forward as much as the next person but just wanting it won't make Boyd something he is not.

Boyd can jump and has shown he can be strong overhead and on the lead. He's strong. He's historically been a decent kick for goal.

But keep playing him in the ruck and he's not going to hone those raw attributes into something suitable as a forward.

And to say "Hawkins is a liability at times" is to forget that pretty much every footballer in every team has weaknesses and can be a liability. Hawkins just gets played to his strengths and Geelong continue to benefit from that.

[dog town]

Boyd can jump and has shown he can be strong overhead and on the lead. He's strong. He's historically been a decent kick for goal.

But keep playing him in the ruck and he's not going to hone those raw attributes into something suitable as a forward.

And to say "Hawkins is a liability at times" is to forget that pretty much every footballer in every team has weaknesses and can be a liability. Hawkins just gets played to his strengths and Geelong continue to benefit from that. Boyd marks better when the ball drops on his head. Never been a strong mark in front of his eyes. It's a major difference and is often the thing that's holds people back from becoming forwards. Some if the best intercept markers the game has seen can't catch it as a forward in front of their eyes. See it at all levels of footy every week.

[Mofra]

How can Bevo play Boyd if he can't get a kick in the VFL? He plays him ruck because he has shown an inability to play as a forward. We need to get value for the abilities he does have so playing him ruck at times is definitely the right move.

Don't disagree that we have been poor at developing key forwards but name a current successful key forward with the same attributes as Boyd? I can't think of any off the top of my head. They are all either lightning quick on the lead, athletic, jump at the ball or a different body shape completely. Tom Hawkins is the closest and he is a liability at times. The blueprint for Boyd needs to start with rucking and slowly build his confidence as a forward option. I want a big key forward as much as the next person but just wanting it won't make Boyd something he is not.
Tom Hawkins is criminally underrated.
Has a B&F to his name as a KPF which is difficult to especially considering the stars of the Geelong era, a 2nd in their B&F, led their goal-kicking 6 times, has two flags, an equal second in the Coleman more than once, been AA in 2012 and in the squad more than once.

He is clearly a no 1 KPF and the lynchpin of Geelong's entire forwardline in an era of top-four finishes. If Boyd gets to half of that level we'll be over the moon.

If we had any forward that came close to that record we'd be in fits of joy.

[Twodogs]

Simon Beasley (at his peak) running toward the ball carrier demanding the ball or drifting across the front of a pack plucking the ball out of a defenders hands would be handy in this team. He kicked 82 goals in his first season and the papers were saying he was a bit of a dud.

[Ghost Dog]

Needs to find Tory Dickson's barber.