Welcome to the Western Bulldogs Anthony Scott

[bornadog]

Scott earns AFL opportunity (https://www.westernbulldogs.com.au/news/867790/scott-earns-afl-opportunity)

https://resources.westernbulldogs.com.au/photo-resources/2021/02/25/ac3a3f8f-2a47-4fbe-919c-a7ef954f3cbb/HERO_250221Scott.jpg?width=952&height=592


Anthony Scott has signed with the Western Bulldogs for 2021.

The Footscray VFL product has trained with the Bulldogs since the start of the year and has now been added to the list as part of the AFL’s pre-season supplemental selection period.

Scott takes the place vacated by retired forward Sam Lloyd and will wear the number 28.

The 25-year-old utility joined the ‘Scray in 2019 and won the best and fairest in his first season, after crossing from Old Trinity in the VAFA.

He had been elevated to the role of VFL vice-captain for 2020, before the season was abandoned due to COVID-19.

General Manager of List Management and Football Projects, Sam Power, said Scott deserved his AFL opportunity.

“Anthony is a mature-aged, ready-made player who we believe has the ability to impact at AFL level,” Power said.

“He’s had a really strong pre-season with us, played some good footy in our intra-club games and impressed his coaches and teammates with the way he’s approached things.

“Anthony had a great VFL season in 2019 for Footscray, winning the best and fairest. He showcased his ability to play across all three lines and also to impact the scoreboard, kicking 19 goals in 18 games.

“That versatility will hold him in good stead coming into our AFL program. He covers the ground well, is a real competitor and has a penetrating left foot kick.


“Anthony has earned this opportunity for 2021 and we’re excited to see what he can do.”


Scott is the fourth player currently on the Bulldogs’ senior list to have come through the Footscray VFL program, following Will Hayes, Ryan Gardner and Mitch Hannan.

[Smads57]

Personally I don’t mind this selection (albeit him being another player of the ilk we have plenty of). It shows that there is a reward for effort playing in the Footscray team. This doesn’t guarantee success but should encourage young guys not drafted to look at our seconds team as a first option which may bring longer term benefits. He was also clearly the best player in 2019 when our reserves team were top 4. I am aware he played defence in the Hawks game and not sure I would have said this was his best position given I have always seen him more as a Brian Royal/Tony Mcguiness type ‘rover’ (if such a position exists these days)

[westbulldog]

Nothing against Scott, hope he does well but we seem to have overlooked the need for a big bodied talented KPD of whom we have none.

[azabob]

Nothing against Scott, hope he does well but we seem to have overlooked the need for a big bodied talented KPD of whom we have none.

Who is the big bodied talented KPD we overlooked?

[soupman]

Who is the big bodied talented KPD we overlooked?

I see your point but I think even if we grabbed someone like the Saints did with Frawley or Hawks with Hartigan then that would improve our list.

Having the option of a genuine big lockdown defender would be great. We wouldn't even have to use them, but knowing that we aren't forced to use any of Keath, Cordy, Gardner or the non-existent Young on guys like Hawkins or Dixon unless we wanted to would be amazing.

[comrade]

Hartigan would have been a good pick up. Definitely no world beater but he’s a big body and would give us coverage. Cost peanuts, too.

[bornadog]

Who is the big bodied talented KPD we overlooked?

I agree Aza, there isn't really anyone out there, unless we looked in the tier below around the country.

[westbulldog]

"overlooked the need " is what I said. perhaps monosyllables are needed.

[Happy Days]

Kyle Hartigan? Really?

[comrade]

Kyle Hartigan? Really?

Yes, our defensive stocks are that dire.

[Go_Dogs]

Kyle Hartigan? Really?

He’s come a long way since Jake did him in with a bag in 2015.

[GVGjr]

I'll be interested to see how Scott progresses, we've had him around the club for a while now so I'm hoping we see a specific role for him to fill with us.

We have a few like Hayes and Cavarra that haven't quite gone of with their chances yet. It's always nice to add good players to the list but normally a rookie list spot would be more about filling specific roles and I'm not sure that that is for Scott

[comrade]

He’s come a long way since Jake did him in with a bag in 2015.

I don’t know about that, it’s more that our defensive group has cratered since then.

Suggesting Hartigan would have been a decent pick up says more about our defence than it does about Hartigan lol.

[GVGjr]

I don’t know about that, it’s more that our defensive group has cratered since then.

Suggesting Hartigan would have been a decent pick up says more about our defence than it does about Hartigan lol.

There were w number of players available that might have added to our KPD depth but does the likes of Scharenberg, Daw, Oscar McDonald, Skinner and Marsh appeal?

I'm not sure what role Scott will cover for us but we've clearly seen enough that we thought he will be an option for some senior games

[Happy Days]

He’s come a long way since Jake did him in with a bag in 2015.

Maybe literally, Adelaide to Melbourne is about 10 hours by car.

Hartigan sucks. If we picked him up I would’ve been furious.

[Grantysghost]

How have we descended into such hysteria after one scratch match that Hartigan is a viable option! :cool:

[Hotdog60]

It's pre season jitters. Bring on the real stuff.

[comrade]

How have we descended into such hysteria after one scratch match that Hartigan is a viable option! :cool:

That and the entirety of season 2020.

[Grantysghost]

That and the entirety of season 2020.

I'm honestly more concerned with our high press than our ability to tackle the sprinkling of monster forwards that are in the AFL nowadays.
Those goals over the back...
I feel everyone's anxiety I just think we need more data this year.

[1eyedog]

Hartigan would have been a good pick up. Definitely no world beater but he’s a big body and would give us coverage. Cost peanuts, too.

I'd rather throw a big tackle bag inside D50 and hope one of their forwards trip over it.

[comrade]

I'd rather throw a big tackle bag inside D50 and hope one of their forwards trip over it.

Given the way our defence structured up at times last year, that might just work.

[Bulldog4life]

Good luck to Scotty. He sure has fought for this opportunity.

[Hotdog60]

Great Scott! High-octane job on hold as Dog's fairytale continues

https://resources.afl.com.au/photo-resources/2021/08/03/ce838afe-0eeb-4e4d-b890-adaae729c59d/07RiWB21QR674687986.JPG?width=952&height=592

FROM a season without football to being given a training trial, winning a place on the Western Bulldogs' list and then becoming a senior regular, this year has been a whirlwind ride for Anthony Scott.

And now the 26-year-old Bulldog can add a two-year contract extension to his list of achievements, with the versatile member of Luke Beveridge's side locked in at the kennel until the end of 2023.

Scott was a member of Footscray's VFL program before winning a spot on the Dogs' list via the pre-season supplemental period after an impressive block of training, as the Bulldogs warded off late interest from Essendon.

https://resources.afl.com.au/photo-resources/2021/07/31/79a3e96d-9fe8-4a36-8575-8615beb898a9/UbRfSwbP.jpg?width=1064&height=600

It kickstarted a run that has seen him play 18 games, including a couple as the medical substitute, for the top-of-the-ladder Bulldogs. After last year's COVID-19 wipeout of football in Victoria at lower levels, Scott has been a low-key but no less valuable recruit for the Bulldogs as they set the bar for flag contenders.

"It's been an amazing year, definitely the best year of my life thus far. With the uncertainty that last year brought in terms of footy where I didn’t actually play a game for points the whole year and then to get an opportunity with the Dogs at the start of this year and to work my way onto the list and to be now sitting where we are is pretty special," Scott told AFL.com.au.

"It's definitely reward for so much hard work that I've put in, not just this year but the last five, six, seven years through playing in the VFL and a bit of amateurs footy as well. But to have two years in front of me now at an AFL club fills me with a lot of confidence and personal belief. I think it's going to give me the opportunity to flourish even more."

Scott's emergence might have surprised some, but not himself. After he had been invited to train with the Bulldogs' AFL squad, but before he had actually started, he had set his sights on facing the Magpies in round one this season, a goal he clocked three months on.

"I was with a group of mates and we were going through a few New Year's resolutions and I said 'Collingwood, round one'. I got laughed out of the room a little bit. It was a semi-joke but I had pretty high aspirations and I always have for myself so I thought with the ability I’ve got, if I put the work in, I could be a chance to play," he said.

"I didn't really know how much of a chance I'd be at the start of pre-season but I just kept ticking the boxes as we went along through pre-season."

Having been a member of the VFL program, Scott assimilated quickly into the Dogs’ mix and has been a versatile option for Beveridge, who has used him across half-forward, half-back and most places in between.

"For me locking down a permanent position still remains to be seen as to where I’m best suited but I’m just happy to show up anywhere on the field and do what’s required," Scott said.

Scott's new deal has also meant he will have to put off a return to the finance world. He had been working with Telstra as a treasury analyst prior to joining the Dogs and continued to do one day a week remotely in his first two months of training at Whitten Oval before he had signed on as a pre-season rookie.

"Once I signed in February I was able to take a career break which I think was 12 months at that stage, so I might have to extend that out a bit further if we can. Telstra's been awesome even though I haven't been there at all really this year. They've been checking in regularly and seeing how I'm going," he said.

"It was a pretty high-octane job when we were going. Foreign currency, a few bond deals, dealing with $100s of millions of dollars at a time and I was front of house so we were clicking execute on the deals so if you made a mistake it would end up being a pretty big one. But I do like footy a lot more so I'm happy with where I'm at."

LINK (https://www.afl.com.au/news/659052/great-scott-high-octane-job-on-hold-as-dog-s-fairytale-continues)

[Hotdog60]

Bit of a bugger to sign an extension and he may get dropped this week.

[bornadog]

If Only we could add the contract extension to a dedicated thread.

[comrade]

Took some time to get up to speed but it's clear over his last month that he's up for it now and has become a bit of a Mr Fixit this year.

[Hotdog60]

I was trying to beat Axe to the punch and he got me by two minutes but in my defense I was adding pictures so my post looks prettier.

:)

[bornadog]

Unheralded Dog cherishing his journey (https://www.westernbulldogs.com.au/news/1106902/unheralded-dog-cherishing-his-journey)

ANTHONY Scott resigned last month. Twelve months after putting his career as a treasury analyst at Telstra on hold, Scott has been forced to part ways with the telecommunications giant. Not that he cares. His career in finance can wait; life in the AFL can't.


The 27-year-old had a life away from football in finance when Dogs list manager Sam Power and senior coach Luke Beveridge pulled the trigger on him during last year's pre-season supplemental selection period, swatting away late interest from Essendon to sign Footscray's 2019 best and fairest winner on the eve of the season.


Things have moved fast since then for someone who was playing for Old Trinity in the ammos at 23 only a few years ago and needed to be convinced by Western Bulldogs development manager Jamie Maddocks that it would be worth his time driving across the West Gate Bridge to play VFL again.


Scott made his debut in round one last season and played 21 of a possible 26 games – he was an emergency in the Grand Final – in a remarkable rise from anonymity to the big time that culminated with a two-year extension last August, adding four of five to start 2022 after overcoming an injury interrupted end to the pre-season.


It has taken time for Scott to realise just how different his life has panned out. He is no longer poring over numbers – big numbers with lots of zeroes – analysing foreign currency and bond deals. He is now a permanent part of Beveridge's best 22 and has just played his best game yet at AFL level in the Dogs' 68-point win over North Melbourne on Good Friday.


"I didn’t really get a chance at all throughout the whole year to reflect, but during the off-season it was good. I didn’t find out I was on the list until Feb last year and then round one was two weeks later. I ended up playing the first three or four months of the year. It all just happened so quickly and I was ticking one box after another," Scott told AFL.com.au.


"When we got to spend that time away [in Perth] for the Grand Final and then I got to stay interstate for a bit, I had a good break after the season it was good to finally catch up with family and friends, because we couldn’t even with COVID and everything.


"It was a special time and you realise how much your family and friends go along the journey with you; my dad, especially, I think he's enjoyed it more than I have potentially. It is good to just cherish the journey."


Beveridge has used Scott all over the ground to plug holes in his first 25 games. But it was a return to a wing for the first time this season that produced an equal career-high 17 disposals, eight score involvements, 387 metres gained and two goals in a sign of things to come with Jason Johannisen sidelined and Roarke Smith out of the side.


"I played a fair bit of wing across junior footy, under-18s and VFL, so it is a role that I know pretty well. I just made the most of the opportunity to be on the wing and I was pretty happy with how I went. Hopefully spend a bit more time there now," Scott said, who played junior footy with Jack Billings, Jack Sinclair, Jake Kelly, Luke McDonald and Will Hayes at the Kew Comets.


"I think if I can put in a performance like I have today, it will hold me in good stead on a wing week in, week out. We've had a few guys roll through that position. I played in the backline a couple of weeks ago against Sydney in the second half and spent time up forward, so I am happy to play wherever Bevo needs me. But I think wing suits me well."


Scott's head has taken a battering so far this year. He missed round one after fracturing his skull and eye socket when he was elbowed in the face by an unnamed ruckman at training six weeks before the season-opener, which required two plates to be inserted into his face, one on the side of his eye, the other in his cheekbone.


Last week he copped a blow to the head against Richmond and only played 40 per cent of the game after being left with blurred vision. The eye socket was in the clear and Scott was cleared of concussion protocols and able to face the Kangaroos at Marvel Stadium.


"I just got a knock and I've had it before – actually had it last year – where if I get a head knock in the wrong spot I get a bit of blurred vision. Last year it was classed as concussion. I passed all the protocols but they wouldn’t clear the blurred vision part," he said.


"So that in the future I wouldn’t have to be classed as concussion if I got the blurred visionwe saw a neurologist in the middle of last year and he was able to show that it was a migraine that caused the blurred vision and not actually a concussion, when I had that last week against Richmond."


Pre-season supplemental selection period signings have been in vogue to start 2022. Paddy McCartin, Patrick Naish and Jarrod Lienert have reignited AFL careers that appeared all but over. Jack Hayes has made the most of an opportunity that never looked like arriving and Nic Martin has already earned a NAB AFL Rising Star nomination after being overlooked in previous drafts.


Scott, who went from playing in the VAFA in 2018 to starring in the VFL in 2019 to the great unknown of no football in 2020 amid the pandemic, believes the ability to audition for a spot on a list helps those who have slipped through the cracks over time.


"It's an awesome thing that the AFL brought in because there are guys that have missed out for whatever reason, whether they were already on a list and unlucky with injury or just good local or VFL footballers who are on the cusp but just can't quite get a look in," he said.


"To get the chance to go train at an AFL club, if you can hack it with the best at the club then there is no reason why you shouldn’t be at a club no matter what age you are. It's a really good thing that the AFL has done."


The job at Telstra may no longer be on hold for Scott, but he is certainly making the most of his new day job.

[azabob]

Took some time to get up to speed but it's clear over his last month that he's up for it now and has become a bit of a Mr Fixit this year.

I know this post was last year but I’m really impressed with his ability to go forward, back and now midfield in the space of one game.

[Mofra]

I know this post was last year but I’m really impressed with his ability to go forward, back and now midfield in the space of one game.
I quite liked his game on the wing. We'll see how he goes against better opposition now but the spot is his to lose.

[bornadog]

I quite liked his game on the wing. We'll see how he goes against better opposition now but the spot is his to lose.

Thought he played one of his best games on Friday

[GVGjr]

I quite liked his game on the wing. We'll see how he goes against better opposition now but the spot is his to lose.

He's been a very good spare parts addition to the team. The recruiting team and development coaches should be thanked for getting him to this point. He's earned his spot.

[Testekill]

He's been a very good spare parts addition to the team. The recruiting team and development coaches should be thanked for getting him to this point. He's earned his spot.

Yeah every team needs foot soldiers that get out there and get the job done.

[GVGjr]

Yeah every team needs foot soldiers that get out there and get the job done.

Right now it appears that he's not going to be a 25 possession type player but he can fill a few spots and can kick a goal. He's a very good option for us.

[SquirrelGrip]

Is he our new Liam Picken?

[Mofra]

Right now it appears that he's not going to be a 25 possession type player but he can fill a few spots and can kick a goal. He's a very good option for us.
That kick to Marra late in the game was a thing of beauty
If he becomes a 15 disposal wingman who manages an assist like that per game, he'll be handy.

[azabob]

I’ve been a fan of his since he arrived at the club.

Definitely our Mr.Fix it.

With Baker taking his wing role he’s slotted into our F50 very nicely.

Hard not to be impressed with him.

[bulldogtragic]

I’ve been a fan of his since he arrived at the club.

Definitely our Mr.Fix it.

With Baker taking his wing role he’s slotted into our F50 very nicely.

Hard not to be impressed with him.

A handy player to round out the 22. Taking his opportunity where others haven’t in this role. If he keeps up contributing, out of contract guys like Hannan & McLean will becoming a little nervous without contracts for next year.

[hujsh]

A handy player to round out the 22. Taking his opportunity where others haven’t in this role. If he keeps up contributing, out of contract guys like Hannan & McLean will becoming a little nervous without contracts for next year.

That's exactly it. He's not the first picked but if he's forced out of the team there's a decent chance we're flying.

[Mofra]

A handy player to round out the 22. Taking his opportunity where others haven’t in this role. If he keeps up contributing, out of contract guys like Hannan & McLean will becoming a little nervous without contracts for next year.
Scott's well in front of both right now.
Can take wing rotations but has just been taking his chances in front of goal, many couldn't today,

[Testekill]

Scott is in that 18-25 range, doing his job and hitting the scoreboard which is all that you really want out of a player in that position on the list. We can play him in multiple roles as well and Bevo loves flexibility in players.

[jeemak]

I reckon players are reading WOOF mid-game. This week Libba stopped doing silly things at half time because I was upset with him, last week Scotty must have read a poster calling him out as horrible in the first quarter or so, because he's kicked five goals since and been really solid.

He's such a neat footballer who is starting to finish consistently and hold his tackles.

[GVGjr]

How good was that crumbing goal by Scott? He doesn't get a lot of the ball but he's been very effective.

[bulldogsthru&thru]

I reckon players are reading WOOF mid-game. This week Libba stopped doing silly things at half time because I was upset with him, last week Scotty must have read a poster calling him out as horrible in the first quarter or so, because he's kicked five goals since and been really solid.

He's such a neat footballer who is starting to finish consistently and hold his tackles.

The whole list needs to play better.

Kick better.

Make better decisions.

Kick more goals.

Or do I have to say this mid game?

[macca]

The whole list needs to play better.

Kick better.

Make better decisions.

Kick more goals.

Or do I have to say this mid game?

I just want to say thank you for whoever is passing on the coaching tips to the team mid-game

Bevo or the players must be listening.

Of course we are keyboard warriors know what we are doing and its sOOOO easy from the comfort of our lounge chairs as we type away.

AFL is a high pressure game, its fast , requires real skill and clean possession. They have to pickup ball cleanly at the right moment and be able to kick and mark with timed perfection. Some players never seem to be able to seize that moment.

Even when we grind a win with an imperfect game, I do appreciate the whole team in trying their guts out.

[EasternWest]

I reckon players are reading WOOF mid-game. This week Libba stopped doing silly things at half time because I was upset with him, last week Scotty must have read a poster calling him out as horrible in the first quarter or so, because he's kicked five goals since and been really solid.

He's such a neat footballer who is starting to finish consistently and hold his tackles.

That explains Dunkley then.

[Scraggers]

That explains Dunkley then.

Too soon … too soon

[jeemak]

Too soon … too soon

I have no idea how you have any of what he's talking about.....

[bornadog]

50 games already, has slowly cemented his place as a versatile soldier.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Fz1ZtmIaQAAKO5N?format=jpg&name=large