If your life depended on it: Defender

[bulldogtragic]

A couple of years back I posted a thread about which Bulldogs player in your life time you would pick to have a shot at goal if your life depended on it. I went with Giansiracusa, and I think most did.

This time, a Buddy/Lockett/Carey/Brereton/Dunstall/Capper type is isolated on one Bulldogs player in D50. If they mark it, and likely score then it's life over. But you get to select one Bulldogs player, in your time time, to impact the contest either with supreme body work, physical brut strength, pressure - both physical and implied by their presence, long arms/reach to punch, leap and/or closing speed.

Which defender of ours do you rely on for your life?

Even I need some think time. Lake & Morris come to mind as recent life saving reliable defenders. I don't remember enough of Kennedy, but Dermie regularly talks about if there was a one on one with Kennedy he'd punch the ball in the contest, or punch him in the back of the head. Making him the hardest opponent he faced.

[bornadog]

Rick Kennedy for mine. When he was on the ground, everyone stood tall. Toughest player I have ever seen. Jacko, a mad full forward in the 1980s said he use to try and intimidate any defenders playing on him but the only bloke he couldn't was Rick.

[Rocket Science]

Lakey's an appealing bet when in the mood but he's almost as likely to see you hang with a signature seagull moment.

Morris is more reliable and if he could bring the ball to ground you'd almost certainly live to see another day, but not immune to those freakish types getting a hold of him.

Love the Tits nomination ... if the game was being played and umpired in 1988.

Granty in his floating defender days deserves some serious love here.

But I'm going to go out on something of a limb here and say ... one Aaron Naughton.

Don't fail me son.

[bornadog]

Love the Tits nomination ... if the game was being played and umpired in 1988.

He would have to change his game style for the current period. :D

[Mofra]

Tits was my favourite player as a kid, I proudly wore no 8 on my back.

The question is a good one but given the scenario, I can't go past Moz even though he is giving up cms & kilos against a few of those listed above. He still has the best spoiling technique I've ever seen - if he doesn't hit the ball cleanly, his chest hits the core of the opposition without giving away a free, it's a hugely underrated aspect of his game.

I'd actually pick Granty over Lake if forced to choose next. Lake was phenomenal but it's a clutch scenario and Grant gets the nod for that reason alone. In a way he was so good everywhere that it actually hurt his legacy as never being remembered as one of the greatest ever in a single spot on the ground.

Lake could, on occasion, get burnt by forwards with a huge work load (e.g. Petrie in Archer's 300th, Buddy in the 09 elimination final, and he could never go with Fev).

One who should be in discussion - Kretiuk. If we're talking pound for pound he'd even be close to Moz, the guy was only 183cm and he used to take the monsters!

[Bulldog Joe]

Tits was my favourite player as a kid, I proudly wore no 8 on my back.

The question is a good one but given the scenario, I can't go past Moz even though he is giving up cms & kilos against a few of those listed above. He still has the best spoiling technique I've ever seen - if he doesn't hit the ball cleanly, his chest hits the core of the opposition without giving away a free, it's a hugely underrated aspect of his game.

I'd actually pick Granty over Lake if forced to choose next. Lake was phenomenal but it's a clutch scenario and Grant gets the nod for that reason alone. In a way he was so good everywhere that it actually hurt his legacy as never being remembered as one of the greatest ever in a single spot on the ground.

Lake could, on occasion, get burnt by forwards with a huge work load (e.g. Petrie in Archer's 300th, Buddy in the 09 elimination final, and he could never go with Fev).

One who should be in discussion - Kretiuk. If we're talking pound for pound he'd even be close to Moz, the guy was only 183cm and he used to take the monsters!

A few people seem to recall Buddy's brilliant 2009 final against us and attribute it as being against Lake.

However, Buddy kicked those early first half goals on Morris, who was asked to do the job because Tommy Williams was (not surprisingly) injured.

Lake was moved onto Buddy just before half time and really had the better of him from then on and continuously for the rest of his career.

On the question posed, I would think Chris Grant was our best backman who would cope with modern umpiring.

Kennedy was magnificent, when you could get away with a lot more scragging, but the nomination of Kretiuk has merit as he was seriously undersized and still did fantastically against the big forwards, while also being able to handle the smaller mobile players.

I recall him playing a brilliant game in the 1993 last round clash at Whitten oval against West Coast with an outstanding defensive performance on Peter Matera.

[bornadog]

Guys it was the 2008 Qualifying and I agree with BJ. Why Morris was on Buddy I will never know.

[bornadog]

Another Pretty good fullback was Crofty - he stitched up Carey a few times.

Going back a long time, (when I was a little kid), David Darcy (Luke's Dad) was a brilliant Fullback playing on some greats of the time like Peter Hudson, Doug Wade, Peter Mckenna and rarely had a bag kicked against him. Was also FB for the Victorian Side.

[NoseBleed]

In (about) 1982, Mark "Jacko" Jackson ran onto the Western Oval with his team (Melbourne?), and pranced down to the Geelong Road End goalsquare, where he proceeded to stand beside the goal umpire and let the Bulldog cheer squad know how awesome he was going to be today.

He then trotted backward to the top of the square, turned, and was met straight up the middle by Rick Kennedey's hip, shoulder, and elbow, all at full steam.

Jackson flew backwards, and landed on his back in the mud puddle in the middle of the square.

Kennedy then trotted slowly over him (long nylon stops and all) taking at least four steps on his prone form, and ambled up to introduce him self to the goal umpire, who'd watched it all unfold, and decided that as his official part in the game didn't start until the whistle blew, all he could do was shake RK's hand.

As a pimply faced 90 pound cheer squad member, I'll always remember the moment Rick Kennedy became an immortal in my eye's.

One of Jacko's few quiet days against us back then, regardless of the jumper he wore..

Cheers Rick.

NB

[Axe Man]

Lukas Markovic. I like to live dangerously.

[Flamethrower]

To be honest if MY life depended on it, the only person I would trust would be me. And considering I played about 10 games with the Footscray little league team in the late 1970s, I reckon I qualify as a "Bulldogs player". To make sure of stopping said forward, I will be arming myself with an AK47 in one hand and a stressed black mamba in the other - no way Buddy is getting near the pill.


As a back up, I will also nominate Zaine Cordy and get him to unleash hell.

[bulldogtragic]

Lukas Markovic. I like to live dangerously.

Men.

Ready.

Aim.

Stop!!

Lukas Markovic got a cramp jogging to the contest, stopped and is now standing in the way of our firing squad and his guts are preventing a clear shot from all angles. We have to let Axe Man go. Until we meet again Axe Man. Until we meet again...

[Happy Days]

I love Dale but I'm definitely taking 2009-2010 Brian Lake. Hard to get past that game where he ruined John Anthony's career and possibly life for the most complete defensive performance I've ever seen.

I don't recall answering that sharpshooter question but I'm taking Dickson, 4th quarter Bont and 2009 home and away Shaun Higgins over Gia. Possibly even Will Minson too, who I'm pretty sure never missed a set shot.

[Doc26]

Unabashed fan of Peter Foster in this space.

Dermott claims he was one of his hardest ever opponents.

[Go_Dogs]

Brian Lake, followed by Chris Grant.

I never saw Kennedy.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Given the calibre of opponent, its clearly a % game. Enough chances and they will get it done. Therefore I want to match them up against someone who is most likely to bring their best to every contest, to not have a brain fart, or get caught napping. So for that reason I'm choosing Moz.
No one would give more, as often.

[Smads57]

Peter Foster for me as well. Could mark, kick and was agile for a tall defender. Was ever reliable as well.

[Dry Rot]

Another Pretty good fullback was Crofty - he stitched up Carey a few times.



Over the years, there have been some cracking Bulldogs vs North games.

I recall the game when the North midfielder Stevens was returning after his head was almost cut-off from a falling pane of class.

Before the bounce, Smith ran up to Stevens and shook his hand. All class.

As I said, it was a cracking game with lots of lead changes. Then, in the dying moments, the Bulldogs were ahead by just a few points. There so little time left, I was confident we had the game in the bag.

But North won the ball and sent it forwards. Remember Pagan's Paddock? All that was down there was Carey and Croft.

It was a good forward entry. Whoever marked the ball, would win the game.

Croft marked. Took a few steps back, and then the siren.


Dogs won. Thank you, Matthew Croft.

Legend.

[Hotdog60]

I would have to go Tits but in this day and age he wouldn't survive under the 10 million camera angles they would use.

[bornadog]

Over the years, there have been some cracking Bulldogs vs North games.

I recall the game when the North midfielder Stevens was returning after his head was almost cut-off from a falling pane of class.

Before the bounce, Smith ran up to Stevens and shook his hand. All class.

As I said, it was a cracking game with lots of lead changes. Then, in the dying moments, the Bulldogs were ahead by just a few points. There so little time left, I was confident we had the game in the bag.

But North won the ball and sent it forwards. Remember Pagan's Paddock? All that was down there was Carey and Croft.

It was a good forward entry. Whoever marked the ball, would win the game.

Croft marked. Took a few steps back, and then the siren.


Dogs won. Thank you, Matthew Croft.

Legend.

That was a great game. The next day I was in the office and walked past the marketing managers office and who should be there but Croft Of course I slipped in and we had a great chat about the game.

[Bulldog Joe]

Lukas Markovic. I like to live dangerously.

That is not dangerous, just a suicide mission.

[Mofra]

Peter Foster for me as well. Could mark, kick and was agile for a tall defender. Was ever reliable as well.
I'll never forgive Paul Deer

[Mofra]

Another Pretty good fullback was Crofty - he stitched up Carey a few times.
Was he our first really, really agile big guy? I seem to recall he started his career on the wing for the first couple of games.

He was also an effective forward Crofty, even if "Our Mastermind" couldn't see it. I think Croft is one of those guys who would be a very good player in the modern game.

[Testekill]

First really good defender that I saw play for us was Croft so going him. Still love Kritters though

[jeemak]

Was he our first really, really agile big guy? I seem to recall he started his career on the wing for the first couple of games.

He was also an effective forward Crofty, even if "Our Mastermind" couldn't see it. I think Croft is one of those guys who would be a very good player in the modern game.

I remember watching a preseason game at Waverley and Croft was springing about like a gazelle, up the ground in what is probably a high half forward role these days. It's a shame his 'strings weren't able to be relied upon, as I think this impacted his athletic ability as his career wore on.

[Nuggety Back Pocket]

In the past 50 years I haven’t seen a better defender than Dale Morris who was rarely if ever beaten. Other stand outs have been Chris Grant Matthew Croft Brian Lake and Peter Foster.

[S Coast Simon]

Didn’t spend long in defence but I loved Matty Boyd. He was impassable some days. If he didn’t get it his body stop the ball or the opponent. Don’t realise how much we have missed him the last couple of years. No one beats Morris though. Would nearly be the best defender to ever play if you looked at percent of contests won

[strebla]

Some great names and except for David Darcy watched them all play a lot of football. Tits, Moz ,Kritter , Grant and Crofty. love each one but Daniel Southern gets my nod left nothing in the tank ever never took a backward step or gave a sideways glance. I think if in this situation he was outmarked he would also take the bullet for you.

[1eyedog]

Kennedy or Foster. You really need a guy who is prepared to die if things don't go to plan and both of the above were.

[Bulldog Revolution]

Im not content to just stop a goal - i want to load up and kick one

Im going with Lindsay Gilbee - one of my favourite all time footballers - good aerially for a guy his size, and then likely to want to run the other way and have a shot

[lemmon]

Im not content to just stop a goal - i want to load up and kick one

Im going with Lindsay Gilbee - one of my favourite all time footballers - good aerially for a guy his size, and then likely to want to run the other way and have a shot

Which he'd probably dob too. Could genuinely argue he's the best kick of the Sherrin to have ever played

[Eastdog]

Didn’t spend long in defence but I loved Matty Boyd. He was impassable some days. If he didn’t get it his body stop the ball or the opponent. Don’t realise how much we have missed him the last couple of years. No one beats Morris though. Would nearly be the best defender to ever play if you looked at percent of contests won

I reckon Matt could have played another year but he made the decision to retire in the end. Will miss Dale when he retires. What a legend.

[Ghost Dog]

The tackle on Buddy, with a broken back.....