Can we salvage something in 2018?

[Eastdog]

Since that magnificent day in 2016 at the G and the next day celebrating with 30,000 Dogs fans at Whitten Oval where we reached the summit it has been downhill from there.

I would have thought 2017 we would go in motivated to try and do something special after our great success in 2016 and really be up for the challenge but we went in to me watching us last year totally unprepared and teams caught up. Missing the finals after winning the flag is a record I wish we didn't have but we do - simply didn't work hard enough.

2018 like 2017 there have been some good moments but more negatives for mine. We are around 13th 4 wins and 6 losses so now what can we salvage from this season that is really looking a little grim now. Finals look like the are pretty much out of the question unless we have a miracle.

Discuss?

[chef]

Finals were gone weeks ago. This is a development year and we need to be having a good hard look at our list in the rest of our games and cutting hard at the end of the season.

[DOG GOD]

No doubt injuries to key personal has hurt us, BUT I think it is the ARROGANCE of the MC that has completely and utterly destroyed all faith with the playing group. All the games I’ve watched since the GF I’m left scratching my head, not at only team selections, but more so game day matter. Guys who proved they are more than capable in certain positions, being outplayed to other positions just for the sake of being flexible is beyond insane.

Team list has struggled to keep up, with us holding onto to players too long, or not willing to really go strong at getting A graders instead of fill in types like Crozier.

So, where to from here?

It won’t happen, but FFS just pick the best 22 available in the positions they play their best footy in.

Schache FF
Boyd CHF_ 2nd ruck
JJ hbf
Wood hbf
Dahl fp
Wallis mid
Bonti mid
Etc etc etc etc

This year is a complete right off for mine, and I’m just glad I’m in Europe atm, missing this embarrassment of a season...I return the week of the port game, but get back to basics, and see who stays and who goes....we also need another A grade mid like a Kelly, and a FAST forward who can provide immense pressure....oh and a ruck who can RUCK, and provide body contact.

[LostDoggy]

I suppose there are 2 types of years you can look back on fondly, ones where you win lots of games and go deep into finals and ones where you identify lots of good youngsters and can see bright days coming.

On the first score, this year clearly won't be one we look back on fondly results wise so it's all about identifying young talent.

So far, I'd say Williams, English and Lipinski have made big strides towards showing that they have bright futures and first year Bulldogs Naughton, Richards and Gowers also have shown plenty. That's really not a bad list in the first 9 weeks.

That's what the year's about now for mine, Young and Schache have also given little glimmers, let's hope we can find more.

[The bulldog tragician]

I used to get quite irate when people downgraded our flag as though it were a fluke. While I still disagree with that, our subsequent performances have left me with a lot of questions about how we could have slumped so alarmingly.

Even allowing for a wretched run with injuries, I find myself wondering about things that we believed at the time.

Were we tactically well ahead of the field or was the real genius of the coaching team in fostering the overwhelming self belief that carried us through?

Did several of our players just happen to have had the most purple patch of their careers at the same time, given that they’ve not come close to replicating that over 18 months?

Were the older players much more instrumental in our success than we even believed at the time? Was Bob’s leadership and inspiration from the sidelines a greater factor than we thought? We thought we were awash in young leaders, but are we?

What about our forward line? It was more a question of desperately cobbling together goals through fanatical pressure than having a bona fide star forward - the only one close to it had a pretty poor finals series and was there just in case he might do something special. Did that make us complacent that we could continue kick winning scores with the likes of Clay Smith, Zaine and Dunkley chipping in regularly?

The most depressing question: has our club including the coaching panel just failed to deal with success, quickly losing its hunger and being unable to show the ruthlessness and renewal that has kept other clubs in continual contention?

Just questions. Don’t pretend to have the answers, but I suspect the way we are thinking about all of the above is a key to whether we can use this painful season to learn and contend again in the next couple of years.

[MrMahatma]

Should salvage a decent draft pick.

[Nuggety Back Pocket]

I suppose there are 2 types of years you can look back on fondly, ones where you win lots of games and go deep into finals and ones where you identify lots of good youngsters and can see bright days coming.

On the first score, this year clearly won't be one we look back on fondly results wise so it's all about identifying young talent.

So far, I'd say Williams, English and Lipinski have made big strides towards showing that they have bright futures and first year

Bulldogs Naughton, Richards and Gowers also have shown plenty. That's really not a bad list in the first 9 weeks.

That's what the year's about now for mine, Young and Schache have also given little glimmers, let's hope we can find more.
We still struggle to attract quality midfielders, which was a major factor in our defeat against Collingwood. The recruiting of Treloar Adams and Hoskin- Elliott from GWS, added to Grundy Pendlebury and Sidebottom gives them enormous ball use, when you compare it with just Macrae Maclean and the indifferent form of Bontempelli.

[bulldogtragic]

Development year.
Hope to see players take the next level.
Turn a minor refresh into a proper rebuild.
Retire Morris & Picken with the honour they deserve.
Pull our heads out of our arse with selection and playing players out if position.
Get a great draft pick (maybe pick 5), we have given pick 23 to Carlton from last year though.
Finally cut the list properly with retirements, delisting & trades/free agents out.
Balance out the list with outs and ins.
Hopefully pick up Rhylee West and a NGA or three, to get some small bonus benefits out of the draft.
Hopefully land a good free agent who can pass the ball by foot to our forwards on the full.
Hopefully get Bonts signed. Then Libba signed.
Turn over the coaching panel.
Have Ameet Bains do a full review of the club since October 2, 2016 to the end of 2018.

There's a lot to salvage, and if we don't do it right it will compound the problems. Winning games regularly won't be happening.

[G-Mo77]

Only positive out of this season will be a high draft pick. We'll probably stuff that up as well and win a few meaningless games late.

[bornadog]

We still struggle to attract quality midfielders, which was a major factor in our defeat against Collingwood. The recruiting of Treloar Adams and Hoskin- Elliott from GWS, added to Grundy Pendlebury and Sidebottom gives them enormous ball use, when you compare it with just Macrae Maclean and the indifferent form of Bontempelli.

Spot on NBP, that is what I said from round one when the GWS mids blitzed us, and same happened again last night. To get some A grade mids, it won't be coming from the draft pool, we need to do a Collingwood and identify and entice some top mids to the club.

[merantau]

Agree with the points made about playing players in positions they are most suited to.
One of our problems is that quite a number of our 2016 side have just not improved as expected or have gone backwards.
Shane Biggs - has been dropped.
The Bont has been inconsistent - At times poor even
Tom Boyd - has missed a lot of football and is playing poorly.
Zaine Cordy is tracking ok down back but you wouldn't say he's setting the world on fire.
Josh Dunckley - dropped
Caleb Daniel - has been in and out.
Tory Dickson - crippled with injury. Can't get a run at it.
Dahl - skills have deteriorated.
Hunter - Can't kick right foot, Can't nail a set shot but has overall been one of our more consistent performers.
J J - a major disappointment. Just not providing drive and is NOT a forward.
Libba - major fail in '17.
McLean - big improved but his foot skills are not as damaging as they could be.
Macrae - stellar performer.
Roberts - dropped
Roughead - injured and form is indifferent.
Clay Smith - dropped/injured.
Wood - badly out of form.

So we need to get games into players who we think are up for it. I think English should be played as much as possible. Get games into the young blokes. Play Roberts as a forward in the VFL - let's see what he's got.
Rookie list Reuben Williams. He is young and quick. He uses the ball well.
We need to think about next year now because this year is gone.

[Twodogs]

I tend to agree with the rest but I think you're being a bit harsh on Zaine Cordy there M. I think he's played pretty well (he's pretty much held the defence together since all of our other key defenders (especially Naughton) went down. Zaine is never going to be in the talent stakes of Royce Hart or Peter Foster but he leaves nothing out on the ground each week.

[Sedat]

JJ is an interesting one - if he is as disappointing as people say, how did he finish within a whisker of winning the B&F last year? I tend to think that JJ is a good or better player 6-7 games out of 10, but when he's bad he really stinks it up.

[Mofra]

We've found half our new backline, and to really challenge you need a backline that plays a lot of football together.

Naughton will be amazing, albeit frustrating at times with his footskills.
Cordy won't just be a part of it, he'll lead it.
Richards will be incredible for us.
Williams is 20 and one of our most important players right now, may transition into the midfield in time though.

JJ/Wood/Trengove/Suckling to fill other spots for various amounts of time.

I've been surprised by Lipinski too. Thought he was a clever but slow goalsneak, really covered the ground well on Friday (4th in distance covered for our team) and his disposal is excellent, really stands out.

[angelopetraglia]

I've been surprised by Lipinski too. Thought he was a clever but slow goalsneak, really covered the ground well on Friday (4th in distance covered for our team) and his disposal is excellent, really stands out.

Lipinski has a big tank which is a wonderful asset in the current game. These are the results from the 2016 Draft Combine:

Beep test
Jarrod Berry (level 15.1)
Oliver Florent (15.1)
Griffin Logue (15.1)
Harry Morrison (14.12)
Dylan Clarke (14.12)
Sam Powell-Pepper (14.7)
Liam Baker (14.5)
Tom Williamson (14.5)
Patrick Lipinski (14.5)
Jordan Gallucci (14.5)

[LostDoggy]

We've found half our new backline, and to really challenge you need a backline that plays a lot of football together.

Naughton will be amazing, albeit frustrating at times with his footskills.
Cordy won't just be a part of it, he'll lead it.
Richards will be incredible for us.
Williams is 20 and one of our most important players right now, may transition into the midfield in time though.

JJ/Wood/Trengove/Suckling to fill other spots for various amounts of time.

I've been surprised by Lipinski too. Thought he was a clever but slow goalsneak, really covered the ground well on Friday (4th in distance covered for our team) and his disposal is excellent, really stands out.

Agree with all that and could include Young as well. I know he has some developing to do, but has all the attributes and is an excellent athlete. Will build a bigger body and gain confidence and should be a serious AFL footballer.

[bornadog]

Agree with all that and could include Young as well. I know he has some developing to do, but has all the attributes and is an excellent athlete. Will build a bigger body and gain confidence and should be a serious AFL footballer.

He can also switch to the forward line - pretty sure that is where we recruited him for.