Three things you've learned. Round four 2021 v Brisbane at Ballarat.

[Twodogs]

OK everyone. Tell us three things you know now that you didn't know the morning.

[GVGjr]

Bump

[bulldogtragic]

1. Young & Keath are a great combo
2. Flogging Martin in the ruck, cold, wet slog, while allowing English freedom is not a bad decision
3. Fun being us

[westbulldog]

Lewis Young thoroughly deserved his spot.
Bailey Dale has re-invented himself in defence, very composed.
Adam Treloar and Stef Martin are the recruits of the year.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

1. There might be some weeks we need to add anther tall, especially in defense, but I really am liking the cohesiveness today of this group, this is a group that can hurt teams physically but also with their offensive dash
2. Opposition coaches are now going to have to really think hard about how they handle Tim English, he really stretches team defenses, and with Naughton also providing a lot of defensive pressure, we're not top heavy
3. This group really looks to be much more focused and playing a team first game style. Seems to be less of the 10 minute switch offs we've had in the past that have really hurt us during games.

[DOG GOD]

1. The marking ability of English, Naughton and Bruce will cause the majority of defences, headaches.
2. Dale has really made the HBF his own. Great to see.
3. Daniel had a quiet one in conditions you’d think he’d thrive...that’s a good sign to get a win from that.

[Jeanette54]

1. The Bont might appear to have a quiet game occasionally, but he is always a contributor. He had by far the most metres gained by an Bulldog today.

2. Adam Treloar is prepared to do the hard stuff in and under. He is not just an outside player with a classy finish.

3. In spite of evidence to the contrary Caleb Daniel is human, and can have a sketchy day (but not too often we hope).

[Vred]

1. Might be some hope left for Young left, I was very impressed with him today
2. Bont, and Daniels both quiet but still manage to get a win
3. ugly football but we won so can’t complain.

[1eyedog]

1. The decision by the MC to play three tall forwards each week has been a master stroke obviously achieved through the appointment of Martin as our main ruck. Every opposition team has struggled to combat it and Bruce, Naughton and English have had their best, most consistent starts since all playing for us.

2. Not sure why Lewy Young has been in the waiting room for 18 months especially when I was told by a good source that he was our long-term future and ahead of Gardner, yet it takes an injury to Gardner for him to come into the team. The guy is a jet under the ball and played very well today. Why has it taken so long? He's a guy who excels in the 1sts and languishes away in the 2nds. I know you have to do the hard yards but its about time he was recognised fro the talent he is. Hoping he continues the trend.

3. I would prefer if VDM played further up the ground, he's playing too deep for my liking.

[bulldogsthru&thru]

Was Young ever involved in 1-on-1 situations? How did he go if so?

[AshMac]

1. The umpiring of holding the ball today was atrocious.
2. It’s amazing watching what tim English can produce when he isn’t exhausted every week
3. We played an exciting and hard to beat brand of footy - quick hands and strong tackles. Brisbane came to play hard and we out muscles then whilst not being phased by their pot shots

[bornadog]

1. Treloar is one of the best pickups in years.

2. Who would have thought having 3 big forwards, and at time 4 when you include Bont down there at times, would work

3. Our defence is really gelling together and are miserly.

[merantau]

1. Our aerial strength is impressive
2. Bailey Smith can do a double fend off
3 Bailey Williams has lots of confidence in his ability.. Running around Zorko who was standing the mark was a thing of beauty

[Mantis]

1/ Defenders need to intercept and we did that well today.

2/ Our small forwards are completely non-effective at present which is a big change.

3/ Our mids are sharing the load and by and large their work rate is outstanding.

[macca]

1. We now have 3 good marking forwards. Its something I thought would never had said in life. For years we were struggling to find a single key forward, with many tried . I would not mind seeing Bruce and Naughton rotating to be that running forward like how Riewoldt use to play in a game.
2. Our tackling is ferocious and pleasure to watch. I think teams are starting to fear us
3. Lewis young looks more composed now with the ball and his marking is really good. He looks bigger and stronger which is great to see his development. Our defense team marking was excellent today. Keith led the way and took some critical marks.
4. Our recruits not only have improved our side, but they have improved themselves. Do not discount Duryea , his in career best form atm. Crozier to come back, and we could rotate Duryea and Crozier in backline and run through the midfield. Today, Bruce did not take many clean marks ( only 3 today) but was presenting and running hard.

I

[AshMac]

Bruce did not take many clean marks ( only 3 today) but was presenting and running hard.

Agree with your sentiment completely. He isn’t going to kick goals every week, but if he works hard, competes well and moves his defender around the ground he puts in a good days work.

Shame that mark wasn’t paid in the last qtr.

[SonofScray]

1 Bont looks like his hip is sore already.
2 Treloar is a better player than what I anticipated. Closer to our absolute best than he is the rest of our good players.
3 Young is capable at this level, and IMO has been for a while.

[Go_Dogs]

Interesting on Bont. Hope he’s not too sore. Hasn’t noticed it myself at the ground, but would go some way to explaining a couple of quieter weeks. I’d been thinking it was more a share the load, next man up thing. Maybe if we rest Martin this week, Bont can spend more time forward in place of Timmy.

[bornadog]

Interesting on Bont. Hope he’s not too sore. Hasn’t noticed it myself at the ground, but would go some way to explaining a couple of quieter weeks. I’d been thinking it was more a share the load, next man up thing. Maybe if we rest Martin this week, Bont can spend more time forward in place of Timmy.

Do you think he is being sat on more? He needs to break away from the tags which is not an easy thing to do.

[Mantis]

I don’t see the hip issue with Bont and think he’s getting across the ground well.. he has had a bit more time out into him by the opposition, but in a stacked midfield I don’t see a concern as it’s allowing others to get off the chain. Was still a very effective game yesterday and in a territory game his metres gained stat was very important.

[bulldogsthru&thru]

Whenever Bont is quiet his hip suddenly looks wrecked :confused:

[Go_Dogs]

I don’t see the hip issue with Bont and think he’s getting across the ground well.. he has had a bit more time out into him by the opposition, but in a stacked midfield I don’t see a concern as it’s allowing others to get off the chain. Was still a very effective game yesterday and in a territory game his metres gained stat was very important.

Good point. Some of his chase down work and ability to get back and spoil does counter the sore hip argument.

[bornadog]

Good point. Some of his chase down work and ability to get back and spoil does counter the sore hip argument.

That effort in the last to knock the ball away from Charlie was huge as it stopped a certain goal

[ratsmac]

1. Caleb Daniel can struggle to find the footy. I did not know that!

2. Seeing Treloar playing really really good for us along side Dunkley (did you know they are besties :p) will never get old. To think that at the start of the trade period we were contemplating what life without Dunks would/could look like but instead we kept him, got him happy again and even got him a brand new friend that just so happens to be a great footballer. Oh yeah and Collingwood are paying for him to play for us.

3. Not relying on the same players every week to have to drag us over the line is holding us in good stead. We are having a broader more even contribution every week.

[Nuggety Back Pocket]

1. The defence looked a lot stronger with Lew Young’s inclusion
2. In the wet and windy conditions the marking of English and Naughton was a highlight
3. Macrae continues to amaze with his racking up of disposals

[azabob]

1. Trelor is an extremely accomplished player whose skills are better than I thought. I was take it or leave when he was linked to our club. So glad the trade went through.

2. English is a better forward than ruckman. I seriously hope Sammy Power is identifying our next #1 ruck

3. Our midfield can slog it out and play with a defensive mindset

[bornadog]

2. English is a better forward than ruckman. I seriously hope Sammy Power is identifying our next #1 ruck



This should be our goal at the next draft. We need to think ahead of time

[azabob]

This should be our goal at the next draft. We need to think ahead of time

We need a readymade ruckman also for either 2022 or 2023

Let’s just trade for Nankervis and be done with it.

[SquirrelGrip]

We need a readymade ruckman also for either 2022 or 2023

Let’s just trade for Nankervis and be done with it.

That’s exactly what to do.

[Twodogs]

We would have to give up a fair bit for Nankervis. A first rounder I reckon. We've already given up our second and third rounders from this draft I would think that we'd be looking at trading out a couple of first team players to get back in the draft than giving up draft choices.

Hopefully Martin will be keen and capable of going on next year.

[GVGjr]

We would have to give up a fair bit for Nankervis. A first rounder I reckon. We've already given up our second and third rounders from this draft I would think that we'd be looking at trading out a couple of first team players to get back in the draft than giving up draft choices.

Hopefully Martin will be keen and capable of going on next year.

We need to find someone who is serving an apprenticeship now but capable of being a number 1 ruckman in 2 years.
I just glad that it's been proven to Bevo that ruckman still have a place in our side and I hope that he knows we need to add someone who can play that role during the trade and recruiting periods.

[The Bulldogs Bite]

We need to find someone who is serving an apprenticeship now but capable of being a number 1 ruckman in 2 years.
I just glad that it's been proven to Bevo that ruckman still have a place in our side and I hope that he knows we need to add someone who can play that role during the trade and recruiting periods.

What are the options?

I don't think we need a superstar- a player similar to Martin (even age wise) would be fine.

[GVGjr]

What are the options?

I don't think we need a superstar- a player similar to Martin (even age wise) would be fine.

We could go down the the road of topping up with experienced types each year or two or make an investment in a ruckman much like we did with English.
The other options is to go hard at a player like Ladhams or Darcy.

The important thing is that for years we have resisted this approach and now I think most of the supporters see the merit in having some depth in the role especially when English has proven he has a lot of ability up forward.

[Twodogs]

We need to find someone who is serving an apprenticeship now but capable of being a number 1 ruckman in 2 years.
I just glad that it's been proven to Bevo that ruckman still have a place in our side and I hope that he knows we need to add someone who can play that role during the trade and recruiting periods.

It sounds like Jordan Sweet if he was at another club.



I'm OK with a player who is an actual ruckman. Not a bloke who happens to be the right height and plays a bit of time as a ruckman when they aren't playing in defence of attack. If Martin has taught us anything, it's that ruckmen are a specialist players who spend years learning their craft. They aren't just tall.

[Vred]

We would have to give up a fair bit for Nankervis. A first rounder I reckon. We've already given up our second and third rounders from this draft I would think that we'd be looking at trading out a couple of first team players to get back in the draft than giving up draft choices.

Hopefully Martin will be keen and capable of going on next year.

Martin has an option in his contract to trigger another year, very good chance he stays on in 2022

[jeemak]

Martin has an option in his contract to trigger another year, very good chance he stays on in 2022

It's a games trigger as well, so I don't think he'll be wanting to take any weeks off if he doesn't feel like he needs to.

[boydogs]

I don't mind the English style ruck - someone that can offer a contest in the ruck to stop the controlled, uncontested hitout to advantage, like we conceded when putting Dunkley/Jong in the ruck, without winning the hitout count, but hurt them elsewhere on the ground. Bruce as 2nd ruck is fine with Naughton up forward and means another runner in for Martin. I think we've been put off a bit by some of the lamb to the slaughter stuff we've seen with English rucking by himself whilst still developing

[jeemak]

1. We can change our game to meet needs. Our tackle count and our general ability to defend the game was decisive across the four quarters. Brisbane were stifled in close and wide and couldn't use their run

2. Players can sacrifice themselves for the greater good. I didn't see too many acts on the day and then on the replay of players putting their own needs ahead of the team's needs

3. System based footy versus free flowing footy is opposition dependent. The good teams will keep it tight across the ground always but may open it up if they are playing less credentialed opposition, and when two good teams play each other things will tighten up a lot. That's how modern footy should be.

[macca]

What are the options?

I don't think we need a superstar- a player similar to Martin (even age wise) would be fine.

I have a feeling Grundy could be a gettable in 24 months time in a fire sale type scenario. the pies have screwed up their salary cap and signed him on a mega deal. Its going to take them a few years to sort out. Sydney has shed some of their senior players(eg mitchell, Jones, alir alir ) to clear up salary cap and prepared to play the kids. They have lost a few players due to the Franklin mega deal . So I see pies following in the same way, maybe not sydney like results .

Bucks doesn’t rate hit outs , Grundy has had something like 50+ big outs each game in his last 3 weeks but the pies have not dominated the clearances . I don’t have the stats on hand but it’s a sign their midfield needs rejuvenation . They have lost Adams due to injury and Pendlebury and sidebottom are in their twilight years. They spent all their money on winning hit outs but lose out on midfield depth .

If we come with salary cap relief and maybe 1st or second round picks with some sort of swap I reckon we in with chance. Also treloar put in a good word how great the club is and our premiership chances .... anything is possible ???

Question for Grundy would be want to be a potential premiership player and earn 200k less ?

[Mofra]

I have a feeling Grundy could be a gettable in 24 months time in a fire sale type scenario. the pies have screwed up their salary cap and signed him on a mega deal. Its going to take them a few years to sort out. Sydney has shed some of their senior players(eg mitchell, Jones, alir alir ) to clear up salary cap and prepared to play the kids. They have lost a few players due to the Franklin mega deal . So I see pies following in the same way, maybe not sydney like results .

Bucks doesn’t rate hit outs , Grundy has had something like 50+ big outs each game in his last 3 weeks but the pies have not dominated the clearances . I don’t have the stats on hand but it’s a sign their midfield needs rejuvenation . They have lost Adams due to injury and Pendlebury and sidebottom are in their twilight years. They spent all their money on winning hit outs but lose out on midfield depth .

If we come with salary cap relief and maybe 1st or second round picks with some sort of swap I reckon we in with chance. Also treloar put in a good word how great the club is and our premiership chances .... anything is possible ???

Question for Grundy would be want to be a potential premiership player and earn 200k less ?
7 x $1m contract, I don't think we bite. Back in a Martin replacement with an English 60/40 split

[FrediKanoute]

1. Lewis Young is a highly mobile, tall marking defender that offers a lot to the side. Will be interesting to see how he matches up on King this week;

2. Our pressure is intense - something that has been lacking for a long time - tackles, smothers, bums, harassing, getting from contest to contest a a group. The score flattered Brisbane as they were never in the contest;

3. English has a great pair of hands and is a pretty neat kick for goal. Releasing him forward hasn't overcrowded the forward line rather its provided another serious aerial threat for sides to think about.

[GVGjr]

1 - The rumours of Dunkley not being happy about still being at the club or problems with team mate can't be true. He is in terrific form.
2 - Young still has plenty to off us and his best football is still in front of him.
3 - Timmy just needed support over the last couple of years. He's going to sort out a few teams this year up forward.

[whythelongface]

1. Always thought Treloar was good but he really is sublime. He just complements our team so well.

2. Our defensive structure is working nicely. Keath has been excellent both intercepting but also at one-on-one defence (what I thought was a perceived weakness); Gardner and now Young competing well - really pleased with Young’s efforts this week; the Baileys - good readers of the play, plenty of run and excellent disposers; Duryea composed and provides experience; Daniel whilst down on form still provides run and general disposal is excellent; Wood another who is back playing well.

3. I was non-plussed about Dunks leaving. So glad he didn’t as he is a critical part of our midfield.

[Ozza]

I don’t see the hip issue with Bont and think he’s getting across the ground well.. he has had a bit more time out into him by the opposition, but in a stacked midfield I don’t see a concern as it’s allowing others to get off the chain. Was still a very effective game yesterday and in a territory game his metres gained stat was very important.

Yeah don't see any issues with Bont and think that suggestion of a hip injury has no basis. Kicking the ball further than ever, and ran 15kms on Saturday which was a game high.

[Ozza]

We need a readymade ruckman also for either 2022 or 2023

Let’s just trade for Nankervis and be done with it.

We'll have Martin and English in 2022
We'll have English and Sweet in 2023.

Simples.

[Vred]

We'll have Martin and English in 2022
We'll have English and Sweet in 2023.

Simples.

I am fine with this, Sweet this year alone in the VFL practice games is showing real promise.

[Mofra]

TBH I'd still add a rookie or late pick ruck to the list at the end of the year.

[bornadog]

TBH I'd still add a rookie or late pick ruck to the list at the end of the year.

If we take young Darcy as our developing ruck, would you still take a more mature ruck as well?

[Mofra]

If we take young Darcy as our developing ruck, would you still take a more mature ruck as well?
Martin, English and Sweet should be enough for rucks able to handle AFL games. Sam isn't eligible for a couple of years though is he?

[comrade]

Martin, English and Sweet should be enough for rucks able to handle AFL games. Sam isn't eligible for a couple of years though is he?

He's draftable this year.