Rating our list 2020 Josh Bruce 17

[Hotdog60]

Well the season is done and dusted but the list rating still goes on as we continue to evaluate each player on our list starting with the highest number Lin Jong down to Matthew Suckling.
The poll will run for a week and when your post in the poll if you can give a reason on your thoughts so we can share your insights.
At the end we'll see how our list looks in the eyes of WOOF members.

[Hotdog60]

A few stats:
Age : 28
Height: 197cm
Weight: 101Kg
Games: 130

Key forward Josh Bruce joined the Bulldogs from St Kilda, in the 2019 Telstra AFL Trade Period. The 27-year-old agreed to terms on a four-year deal to call VU Whitten Oval home until the end of 2023. Bruce played every game for the Saints in 2019, kicking 36 goals and finishing ninth in their best and fairest. An experienced forward and powerful athlete, Bruce is a strong contested mark who consistently hits the scoreboard, having kicked 36 or more goals in four of the past five years. Bruce was originally selected by Greater Western Sydney as an ACT zone selection in 2010, before requesting a trade to St Kilda at the end of the 2013 season.

LINK (https://www.westernbulldogs.com.au/players/710/josh-bruce)

[soupman]

This'll be fun.

[GVGjr]

Incredibly poor season but a seriously good AFL quality player when in form

He needs to be in top top condition on his return to the club and he should have a substantially improved 2021 season

[bornadog]

Incredibly poor season but a seriously good AFL quality player when in form

He needs to be in top top condition on his return to the club and he should have a substantially improved 2021 season

Not much to add to this. So disappointed with him, thought he may even fire up in the finals.

Let's hope he is right next season.

[GVGjr]

Not much to add to this. So disappointed with him, thought he may even fire up in the finals.

Let's hope he is right next season.

We did him and therefore the team no favors by playing Bruce regardless of his form and I think it sets a really poor standard for the playing group knowing that some players are being asked to perform and at least one other are given a free passage

If we have learned one thing this year I hope it's the concept that form more than the name of the player should be the primary selection criteria going forward

[The Bulldogs Bite]

We did him and therefore the team no favors by playing Bruce regardless of his form and I think it sets a really poor standard for the playing group knowing that some players are being asked to perform and at least one other are given a free passage

If we have learned one thing this year I hope it's the concept that form more than the name of the player should be the primary selection criteria going forward

We've got issues if the MC needed to learn such lesson.

I was a big fan of Bruce's recruitment, but I have my concerns now. Obviously had a pitiful year, but what do we do with him if he doesn't perform next year? Lot of money tied up in a player that can only play one position. We're dictated to by availability to a degree but hindsight says a second ruck/forward would have been better for our side. His position makes it difficult for us to recruit a second ruck with Naughton and JUH/Schache.

Let's hope he has a big preseason because he needs to redeem himself.

[GVGjr]

We've got issues if the MC needed to learn such lesson.

I was a big fan of Bruce's recruitment, but I have my concerns now. Obviously had a pitiful year, but what do we do with him if he doesn't perform next year? Lot of money tied up in a player that can only play one position. We're dictated to by availability to a degree but hindsight says a second ruck/forward would have been better for our side. His position makes it difficult for us to recruit a second ruck with Naughton and JUH/Schache.

Let's hope he has a big preseason because he needs to redeem himself.

To me it's a simple concept in that we don't play him, or anyone else for that matter, who isn't performing. One rule for everyone
Bruce needs to be challenged to come back in peak condition and earn his pay cheque.

[DOG GOD]

No player should just be played based on their pay check, and that’s definitely what happened with Bruce this year in my opinion. I was also an advocate for recruiting him, but it was a massive failure, made more so by the MC playing him when his form didn’t warrant it. It must have sent terrible vibes to the likes of Schache and Lew Young.

[GVGjr]

No player should just be played based on their pay check, and that’s definitely what happened with Bruce this year in my opinion. I was also an advocate for recruiting him, but it was a massive failure, made more so by the MC playing him when his form didn’t warrant it. It must have sent terrible vibes to the likes of Schache and Lew Young.

There is something that I keep seeing on linkedin that mentions the one way to alienate good employees is accept poor performances from a colleague or two. I think this concept applies to footy clubs as well. Lets cut Bruce and the MC some slack for this year but it simply can't continue next year.

[bornadog]

There is something that I keep seeing on linkedin that mentions the one way to alienate good employees is accept poor performances from a colleague or two. I think this concept applies to footy clubs as well. Lets cut Bruce and the MC some slack for this year but it simply can't continue next year.

Because we didn't have VFL this year, I am prepared to cut the MC some slack.

[GVGjr]

Because we didn't have VFL this year, I am prepared to cut the MC some slack.

So you think the lack of a VFL is the reason why we played out of form players including Josh Bruce?
I think it raises a question on the development of some younger players but it doesn't really explain the selections of players down on form. We were incredibly patient with Bruce, backing him to come good when he had no form but it just can't go on next year
If he has any pride in his performances he should be ready for a big 2021 campaign but I wonder given the fact we played him regardless if we have properly incentivised him to push himself to improve

[Bulldog4life]

Hoping Bruce will do a May and come back in ripping condition and have a good year. Hoping.

[bornadog]

So you think the lack of a VFL is the reason why we played out of form players including Josh Bruce?

Partly because we couldn't get a full gauge on how players were tracking out of just training and scratch matches.

[Ghost Dog]

Well, I pretty much missed the season but I expected more of this bloke.
It's like checking your blue chip shares after a year on set and forget, and shockingly finding yourself in the red.
Shave your head of that Mullet in shame and kick some goals please.

[soupman]

I was very excited by the prospect of recruiting Bruce, I thought he was going to be great. One year on, I am considerably unimpressed.

I think he might be the player I have warmed to least out of everybody we have ever fielded. I think in my own internal rating system Jayden Schofield, Ed Barlow and Brennan Stack all get a game before Bruce if i had to pick a team.

He needs a monster preseason, where he gets his mobility back and relearns how to take a mark. Has a bit of the Crameri's and Gowers about him in that he is a big crash and bash style forward that constantly goes for dumb low percentage plays, he genuinely plays like we just unleashed a huge Labrador in our forwardline and just told him to "get amongst it".

[1eyedog]

Cramer was a one on one player but anyway, Josh will be ok he is limited and probably plays his best footy at Marvel but you don't lose his skill set overnight. Someone on here said he will frustrate let's just hope the frustrating games happen less next season.

[Ghost Dog]

he genuinely plays like we just unleashed a huge Labrador in our forwardline and just told him to "get amongst it".

Very Funny:D

[josie]

I reckon he will do ok in 2021. Settled in, lower expectations, focus on Naughts & JUH. Hopefully our delivery is more to Naughts as bought we kicked it to Bruce too much when both were playing and Bruce was at more acute angles to goal.

[Happy Days]

Bruce needs to look at what Charlie Dixon did over the 2019-20 off season. It might induce eyerolls if you bring it up to opposition supporters, but their physical styles of play and contested marking make them pretty similar types of players.

Dixon’s 2019 was absolutely putrid, barely going at a goal a game and offering the side nothing but empty physicality and cheap frees. But he worked himself into the best shape of his career by a mile, and suddenly with a +5 attribute boost to his speed and mobility he became an elite key forward.

Bruce clearly has talent and x-factor to his game, but after getting to see a whole season of him up close everything we were told about his lacklustre attitude to training and conditioning appear to be true, as does his tendency to offer absolutely nothing when he can’t get involved on the scoreboard. He absolutely can turn it around but I’m worried he can’t be arsed.

[soupman]

He absolutely can turn it around but I’m worried he can’t be arsed.

Well luckily we took a real hardline stand with him this year and due to his poor conditioning and woeful form made it clear to him it was unacceptable and thus...*checks notes*...played him in every game.

[Happy Days]

Well luckily we took a real hardline stand with him this year and due to his poor conditioning and woeful form made it clear to him it was unacceptable and thus...*checks notes*...played him in every game.

Maybe with the lack of scratch match footage out there this was a deliberate move by the coaching staff to ensure he ran at least 10km on the weekends?

[Ghost Dog]

Needs to watch some Videos of Mitch Hahn.
That might be a good thread. Old dogs our New Dogs could learn from.

[josie]

I loved watching Mitch Hahn play. Tough as, good mark and team player. Need more like him now. I think he is coaching - cannot recall where but recall read something.

[bornadog]

I loved watching Mitch Hahn play. Tough as, good mark and team player. Need more like him now. I think he is coaching - cannot recall where but recall read something.

Up in QLD - Neafl

[Sedat]

I have such low expectations of Bruce in 2021 that he will have to be utterly putrid not to exceed them. I've never seen a seasoned player with a proven on-field track record for a number of years get recruited to a club and be so consistently and utterly awful at his new club. There are big trade busts all the time, such as Beams and Hogan, but these have extenuating circumstances. With Bruce, it is almost as though he developed football amnesia during the first lockdown and completely forgot how to play the game.

We have blown a large hole in our salary cap for the next 3 years with him, and there is no chance whatsoever that another club will have the slightest interest, so he's our long-term problem and a large one at that. He owes the club and himself the biggest pre-season of his life to get his footy career back on track, because his 2020 form on the field is simply not acceptable

[1eyedog]

Wingard was terrible this year but for a game or two if it's any consolation. And we were in his ear as well. It happens for whatever reason. Bruce isn't a world beater but I'm optimistic he'll make a contribution next year.

[Axe Man]

Up in QLD - Neafl

Yep, Brisbane's NEAFL team to be exact. I guess Footscray could play them next year.

Bit of a Bulldogs connection on the Lion's coaching staff with Ben Hudson and Jed Adcock as assistants to Fagan as well.

[bornadog]

Wingard was terrible this year but for a game or two if it's any consolation. And we were in his ear as well. It happens for whatever reason. Bruce isn't a world beater but I'm optimistic he'll make a contribution next year.

Many rated Wingard as an A grade gun but showed very little of his talent. Perhaps a bullet dodged.

[jeemak]

Wingard was terrible this year but for a game or two if it's any consolation. And we were in his ear as well. It happens for whatever reason. Bruce isn't a world beater but I'm optimistic he'll make a contribution next year.

I endorse this objection to Sedat's summation because nothing is better on this forum than when Sedat is worked up sufficiently to use plain and scathing language about particular situations. And in this instance he's already delivered a solid start!

To add fuel to the fire, one might argue that having to relocate a partner and have a child just to keep a career going when already lacking family support could be considered extenuating circumstances, albeit those circumstances not being as usually recognisable as an excuse as death, cancer or mental illness etc. But, nonetheless I'm sure it would have taken some type of toll on him.

Wholeheartedly I agree that Bruce needs to get fit AF, and not be so tired that after training that he can't practice a bit of kicking, at goal and in the field because the way he put ball to boot this year was just about as disturbing as his chronic lack of timing in marking contests and his lack of awareness in game play.

[azabob]

I endorse this objection to Sedat's summation because nothing is better on this forum than when Sedat is worked up sufficiently to use plain and scathing language about particular situations. And in this instance he's already delivered a solid start!

To add fuel to the fire, one might argue that having to relocate a partner and have a child just to keep a career going when already lacking family support could be considered extenuating circumstances, albeit those circumstances not being as usually recognisable as an excuse as death, cancer or mental illness etc. But, nonetheless I'm sure it would have taken some type of toll on him.

Wholeheartedly I agree that Bruce needs to get fit AF, and not be so tired that after training that he can't practice a bit of kicking, at goal and in the field because the way he put ball to boot this year was just about as disturbing as his chronic lack of timing in marking contests and his lack of awareness in game play.

You are giving Bruce a massive out with hublife as a potential excuse.

Hub life isn’t the reason he was putrid in the first 4 odd games of the season.

Honestly I can’t see him changing his behaviour in 2021 as he was rewarded week in week out and only missed one game.

So far his recruitment has been a failure.

[GVGjr]

You are giving Bruce a massive out with hublife as a potential excuse.

Hub life isn’t the reason he was putrid in the first 4 odd games of the season.

Honestly I can’t see him changing his behaviour in 2021 as he was rewarded week in week out and only missed one game.

So far his recruitment has been a failure.

Most professional footballers earning the sort of salary Bruce were been able to adjust to the new demands.
Is the issue just with Bruce or the fact that we played him all the way through the season with just one good game and maybe three serviceable ones? He should have been dropped regardless that there was just scratch matches for him

What is incentive for Bruce in 2021? He's still earning a good salary and the club accepted his mediocre form.

Hopefully his pride will be challenged and we will be prepared to drop him next season if he can't produce an acceptable level of football.

[SonofScray]

He's just put in one of the worst seasons of footy I've seen from a regular member of the senior squad. Statistically he'd sit in amongst some really mediocre footballers that have pulled on our jumper.

I think he is a capable footballer and was happy we brought him in. Hopefully the output this year has stung a little and we see a more professional approach to his footy in 2021. Seems a bloke that will benefit massively from improved fitness.

[Sedat]

I endorse this objection to Sedat's summation because nothing is better on this forum than when Sedat is worked up sufficiently to use plain and scathing language about particular situations. And in this instance he's already delivered a solid start!
As a 25 year veteran of marketing, PR and brand management, I very much enjoy cutting through the spin and BS when it comes to commentating on my passion projects, of which the Bulldogs is most definitely one.

Plain and scathing language is fine when it is honest and true. And if Bruce was honest with himself he'd know that the season he just produced was woefully inadequate for a professional and experienced sportsman of decent talent. He has shown more than sufficient ability in multiple seasons past, so he has it in him to really contribute at our club and make us a better team. But another stinking season like 2020 and it will almost be better for us to pay out the remainder of his contract and cut our losses on a dud investment.

On a smaller financial scale, Chris Mayne was in a similar situation after his first season at Collingwood. So was Liam Jones at Carlton. Both these players turned their careers around and became valuable players for their respective clubs. I really hope Bruce can do likewise - I'm not confident. Perhaps he should swap roles with English and ruck most of the game if he cannot provide anything of value as a key forward in 2021? Because if he can't get it done up forward he has severe limitations to be able to play anywhere else other than Footscray.

[Bulldog4life]

I have such low expectations of Bruce in 2021 that he will have to be utterly putrid not to exceed them. I've never seen a seasoned player with a proven on-field track record for a number of years get recruited to a club and be so consistently and utterly awful at his new club. There are big trade busts all the time, such as Beams and Hogan, but these have extenuating circumstances. With Bruce, it is almost as though he developed football amnesia during the first lockdown and completely forgot how to play the game.

We have blown a large hole in our salary cap for the next 3 years with him, and there is no chance whatsoever that another club will have the slightest interest, so he's our long-term problem and a large one at that. He owes the club and himself the biggest pre-season of his life to get his footy career back on track, because his 2020 form on the field is simply not acceptable

You could be talking about Steven May in his first season Sedat. Similar output. Hopefully Bruce can follow his lead.

[Mofra]

I thought he competed hard towards the back end of the season after a very poor first half. Certainly not a dominant no 1 KPF but at least a mature body to kick to. He'd want a much better 2021 though.

Worth noting that almost every KPF struggled in 2020, Tom Hawkins aside. Jeremy Cameron, Ben Brown two other notables.
Is modern football just not conducive to KPFs having a big impact?

[GVGjr]

I thought he competed hard towards the back end of the season after a very poor first half. Certainly not a dominant no 1 KPF but at least a mature body to kick to. He'd want a much better 2021 though.

Worth noting that almost every KPF struggled in 2020, Tom Hawkins aside. Jeremy Cameron, Ben Brown two other notables.
Is modern football just not conducive to KPFs having a big impact?

Isn't that also the absolute minimum you would expect from an experienced and highly paid player? I can't give him any credit for the way he performed during the season. Even when he had a chance to kick goals his set shot efforts were poor
I guess it's not his problem that we kept picking him regardless but if he's got any pride he must know he has to come good next season.

[Jeanette54]

I am going to go out on a limb here, and predict a much improved 2021 for Josh Bruce.

With an uninterrupted pre season I believe we will see a leaner, fitter version; fronting for the new season. Hopefully living away from the AFL co-vid "prison" existence will also have a positive effect on his performance.

He has had a year to settle in and showed his willingness to expend the effort late in the season. I think the results will start to show on the field pretty quickly next season.

[Sedat]

You could be talking about Steven May in his first season Sedat. Similar output. Hopefully Bruce can follow his lead.

May was out with soft tissue injuries multiple times in his first season at Melbourne off the back of not doing the work in pre-season. Bruce only missed 1 game all season as 'managed' (ironically Naughts kicked 6 goals as the lone forward target that game). I'm not sure the comparison is apples with apples.

He's got the big contract and we need an awful lot more from him than "competing hard". I hope he can raise his game accordingly in 2021.

[Danjul]

I am going to go out on a limb here, and predict a much improved 2021 for Josh Bruce.

With an uninterrupted pre season I believe we will see a leaner, fitter version; fronting for the new season. Hopefully living away from the AFL co-vid "prison" existence will also have a positive effect on his performance.

He has had a year to settle in and showed his willingness to expend the effort late in the season. I think the results will start to show on the field pretty quickly next season.

Sorry, cannot agree. In his last six games he averaged 7 possessions a game and kicked a total of 2 goals.

No other player in the history of the universe has been treated this softly.

His guaranteed selection made a mockery of everything professional sport stands for.

He should not have been in that finals team, just as Dunkley should not have been in the ruck.

These weak selection decisions are costly and the club is suffering.

[soupman]

I thought he competed hard towards the back end of the season after a very poor first half.


Isn't that also the absolute minimum you would expect from an experienced and highly paid player?

Completely agree. I understand being optimistic but saying his year was anything other than a disaster is way to rose coloured for mine. I've said it before but I am confident Fletcher Roberts at FF would have given us just as much as Josh Bruce did this year, North game anomaly aside.

[Go_Dogs]

Many rated Wingard as an A grade gun but showed very little of his talent. Perhaps a bullet dodged.

3rd in Hawks B&F.

[GVGjr]

3rd in Hawks B&F.

They would be happy enough with his 2020 season

[The Pie Man]

He clearly didn’t look senior fit once the season resumed (after looking in good nick against Port in the pre-season) but night games on the Goldy must be a forwards nightmare. No coincidence his best game of the year came under the roof at Marvel.

Still hold out hope he can contribute

[Vred]

Anyone seen the latest videos of Bruce from his Instagram? Whatever extra weight he was carrying during the season, it's already gone. He posted some pool-side video and his looking lean and very ripped.

[boydogs]

I thought he competed hard towards the back end of the season after a very poor first half. Certainly not a dominant no 1 KPF but at least a mature body to kick to. He'd want a much better 2021 though.

Worth noting that almost every KPF struggled in 2020, Tom Hawkins aside. Jeremy Cameron, Ben Brown two other notables.
Is modern football just not conducive to KPFs having a big impact?

16 minute quarters didn't wear everyone out enough to create space for them. Scoring was way down

[comrade]

Anyone seen the latest videos of Bruce from his Instagram? Whatever extra weight he was carrying during the season, it's already gone. He posted some pool-side video and his looking lean and very ripped.

That's what happens when you don't have a hotel breakfast buffet to worry about :D

[Vred]

That's what happens when you don't have a hotel breakfast buffet to worry about :D

I was thinking the same thing, having hotel catering 24/7 would be a real worry, specially by all reports the food at the hubs was really, really good.

I hope Bruce surprises people next season, hopefully that's what his setting up for.

[westbulldog]

Bruce was a liability this year and most of the time should not have been selected. 2021 had better see marked improvement, which I hope happens, otherwise delist him.

[Axe Man]

Bruce was a liability this year and most of the time should not have been selected. 2021 had better see marked improvement, which I hope happens, otherwise delist him.

Given he will still have 2 more years on his contract at the end of 2021 the only way he would be delisted is if he punched Ceasar or shagged Bevo's wife! The only way to get rid of him would be via a trade where we pay half his salary.

[Grantysghost]

Bruce was a liability this year and most of the time should not have been selected. 2021 had better see marked improvement, which I hope happens, otherwise delist him.

It's probably a long bow, but if you haven't watched his 2019 highlights. It's contested mark after contested mark. If he can get back to that form and fitness he will be like a new recruit. I'm expecting a big year from him in 2021.

Edit :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjTY5fFLx6w