Three things you've learned. Round ten 2022 v Gold Coast Suns in Ballarat

[Twodogs]

Alright tell us three things you have learnt this afternoon

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

1. Richards game today franks the gains he has made this year. Just looks so composed and ready to consistently perform now. I didn't know he had a hard contested side to his aerial game. It was crucial today. He's moving very quickly up the rankings in our team from an importance point of view. He and Dale are very scary weapons to have in the back half.

2. I thought our team plan for today was executed very well. Gold Coast are one of the premier teams for contested ball and stoppage work this year. We didn't have to clearly win the hit outs, but we needed to just hobble the effectiveness of what Witts can do in terms of bringing guys like Miller, Swallow, Rowell and Anderson into the game. Rowell was totally blanked. And whilst Anderson and Swallow got clearances, they weren't as effective as they have been in recent weeks and our mids were able to win more than enough ball to generate our scoring chances. Our tactics really had a tangible impact in stopping their 1 one from hitting the fairway often enough.

3. The back half now looks settled, and not a cause for concern going into games each week. It would be good to just get the final, attacking third of the ground firing on all cylinders.

[DOG GOD]

1. Richards is really going to another level. I really love how he positions himself to almost take aerial marks on his chest and turning his body to protect the ball. His confidence is sky high and he’s playing like it. Making good decisions, and executing sound skills.

2. When we play our best, our mids run hard and share the ball well. We just need to get more consistency in this. The work ethic is mostly there, but it just seems our mids can take the foot off the pedal.

3. Our work inside 50 is still a problem, and teams that really rebound well will hurt us. McNeil is one of the best tacklers in the team and can see why he’s there, but I don’t know another team like ours, that gets the ball 20 metres out and literally can’t score.

[AshMac]

1. First half was best I’ve seen us play this year. We are slowly improving, I’m starting to buy into that now

2. I made a bet 5 years ago that Ed Richards would be AA. A season like today and I’m getting my money back (yes I cracked it and paid out)

3. I reckon our forward line looks a little better without Weightman there. I want him back, but perhaps in a different role

[westbulldog]

1. Richards played a very good game and is improving all the time.
2. Williams showed that he is coming back to his good form.
3. Cleary I thought did well and is composed, has potential.

[bornadog]

1. Sweet runs out of puff but needs to do more around the ground. 4 Disposals doesn't cut it

2. Great to see the backline coordinated and starting to click together, although a couple of brain fades cost us goals.

3. Richards has a good leap and great to see him take the game on

[Bulldog Joe]

1. Sweet runs out of puff but needs to do more around the ground. 4 Disposals doesn't cut it

2. Great to see the backline coordinated and starting to click together, although a couple of brain fades cost us goals.

3. Richards has a good leap and great to see him take the game on

Sweet at least laid a couple of great tackles.

[Danjul]

1. Sweet runs out of puff but needs to do more around the ground. 4 Disposals doesn't cut it

2. Great to see the backline coordinated and starting to click together, although a couple of brain fades cost us goals.

3. Richards has a good leap and great to see him take the game on
Isn’t Sweet competing for a spot with Cordy?

Every time Cordy goes into the ruck the opposition surges. We can’t afford to have that happen every week.

Why isn’t Sweet’s training program developing better stamina? What should be done differently? Any improvement could have a significant impact on the team.

[Bulldog4life]

1. Nice to see Robbie McComb kick 2 goals again as a small forward. Doing his job.

2. This year Richards has improved a lot. His overhead marking is seriously good. A definite keeper.

3. Treloar is one of our sides best kicks for goal. Running at full tilt or at set shots. A real gun too.

[Dry Rot]

1. Street is a serviceable ruckman. Should play ahead of Martin for the rest of the season.

2. Treloar has always been flashy, but I thought his grunt work in close, tackling etc was top notch.

3. I am not sure where to play Daniel. Down back does not seem that effective these days

[Grantysghost]

1. Street is a serviceable ruckman. Should play ahead of Martin for the rest of the season.

2. Treloar has always been flashy, but I thought his grunt work in close, tackling etc was top notch.

3. I am not sure where to play Daniel. Down back does not seem that effective these days

https://media.giphy.com/media/2bUpP71bbVnZ3x7lgQ/giphy.gif

[Grantysghost]

1. West is a player. Has awareness and poise and is bringing the heat in the contest. I really want to invest in this kid long term, and not lose him at the end of the year.

2. Naughton is going to rip a game to shreds at some point. That was as dominant a display early as you'll ever see from a forward, seems the Suns had to resort to dirty pool to stop him.

3. Bont is still injured. I wouldn't mind resting him until after the bye. It's a tough one as he was probably the difference in the end but I want him fit at the pointy end of the season.

[GVGjr]

1. West is a player. Has awareness and poise and is bringing the heat in the contest. I really want to invest in this kid long term, and not lose him at the end of the year.

2. Naughton is going to rip a game to shreds at some point. That was as dominant a display early as you'll ever see from a forward, seems the Suns had to resort to dirty pool to stop him.

3. Bont is still injured. I wouldn't mind resting him until after the bye. It's a tough one as he was probably the difference in the end but I want him fit at the pointy end of the season.

The only knock on point 3 is that there might not be a pointy end for us if we don't keep winning and Bont plays a big part in that.
Dropping a couple of games earlier in the season that we should have won might limit our chances of giving him a couple of weeks off.

[ratsmac]

1. Williams on the wing works well. He already knows how to defend and he showed it a number of times getting into position to spoil. His ability to get forward and score is a massive plus. He should've kicked a least 4 goals yesterday. I can sense a bag coming if he stays on the wing.

2. Sweety's effort was great on the weekend. The stats sheet doesn't do him justice. When he was on the ground we controlled the clearances. He stopped Witts who is in AA form having it all his way. A few of his taps were rippers where he put in in the lap of a player running past. It's taken English 5 years to produce that sort of ruck work. The couple a tackles he did were rippers also. Still not sure how he stays in when English returns though

3. West has his dad's vision. A couple times and even last week I thought he should've gone to a better option, but he saw the best option and took it. He brings plenty of pressure and his a good user of the ball. I hope he keeps his spot, he's waited long enough.

[bornadog]

Isn’t Sweet competing for a spot with Cordy?

Every time Cordy goes into the ruck the opposition surges. We can’t afford to have that happen every week.

Why isn’t Sweet’s training program developing better stamina? What should be done differently? Any improvement could have a significant impact on the team.

Sweet is competing with Tim, not the second ruck role. Sweet can't be a second ruck, he doesn't currently have the ability.

[Grantysghost]

The only knock on point 3 is that there might not be a pointy end for us if we don't keep winning and Bont plays a big part in that.
Dropping a couple of games earlier in the season that we should have won might limit our chances of giving him a couple of weeks off.

That's certainly the risk. The Cats game would be very tough without him.

[Danjul]

Sweet is competing with Tim, not the second ruck role. Sweet can't be a second ruck, he doesn't currently have the ability.
But neither does Cordy. Averaging about 7 possessions and 5 hitouts in a full game isn’t acceptable. It has already cost games. Every time he goes near the centre bounce the opposition surges. (Close enough). We need to fix this limitation before we play the top teams. Who else have we got for the second ruck/ forward role?

[bornadog]

But neither does Cordy. Averaging about 7 possessions and 5 hitouts in a full game isn’t acceptable. It has already cost games. Every time he goes near the centre bounce the opposition surges. (Close enough). We need to fix this limitation before we play the top teams. Who else have we got for the second ruck/ forward role?

We don't have anyone else. Buku has done the role at VFL level, but can he do it at AFL level with only 3/4 games experience. Sweet can't.

[hujsh]

I think the question is if Sweet can fit into the forward line, do the necessary blocking and have the tank to not be a complete liability defensively.

If he lacks the stamina to ruck the full game the best case scenario is playing forward would keep him fresh enough to attack his time in the ruck at 100% but the worst case scenario is he's too puffed from chasing defenders to perform either role adequately.

For me it all revolves around his stamina and which role is more aerobically demanding for him. If he doesn't have the tank to play forward for at least 50% of his game time then he probably just can't play. If he can then I think he should be strongly considered. As ever it's the kind of decision you just have to trust the coaching staff on to know the players and the system better than we do.

[Danjul]

I think the question is if Sweet can fit into the forward line, do the necessary blocking and have the tank to not be a complete liability defensively.

If he lacks the stamina to ruck the full game the best case scenario is playing forward would keep him fresh enough to attack his time in the ruck at 100% but the worst case scenario is he's too puffed from chasing defenders to perform either role adequately.

For me it all revolves around his stamina and which role is more aerobically demanding for him. If he doesn't have the tank to play forward for at least 50% of his game time then he probably just can't play. If he can then I think he should be strongly considered. As ever it's the kind of decision you just have to trust the coaching staff on to know the players and the system better than we do.
That makes sense. Can anything be done to build his tank? If he is close, played 80% against Collingwood, might only need a top up. I remember that Peter Hudson got someone to teach him to run more efficiently.

[hujsh]

That makes sense. Can anything be done to build his tank? If he is close, played 80% against Collingwood, might only need a top up. I remember that Peter Hudson got someone to teach him to run more efficiently.


I guess it depends on the cause. Is he running enough? Probably just a case of running more. Is he too heavy? Again, probably just needs to run more and ease off the weights/ change the diet up. Does he have a low VO2 Max? Not sure you can do much to fix it if that's the problem. Happy for someone more informed to answer with regards to that (and the question in general of course)

We have the VU guys around so surely if this is an identified problem between them and the conditioning staff we have some plan to fix it (if we think it can be addressed which I assume we do given we retained him on the list)

[boydogs]

That makes sense. Can anything be done to build his tank? If he is close, played 80% against Collingwood, might only need a top up. I remember that Peter Hudson got someone to teach him to run more efficiently.

AFL level match fitness is difficult to replicate in training. It's not a 10km run, it's crashing into your opponent mid air, wrestling them, getting up and down the ground, flying for marks, sprinting after an opponent or with the ball, laying and taking tackles, and executing skills at pace and under pressure

The best place to develop that is in the AFL side

[The Bulldogs Bite]

I think the question is if Sweet can fit into the forward line, do the necessary blocking and have the tank to not be a complete liability defensively.

If he lacks the stamina to ruck the full game the best case scenario is playing forward would keep him fresh enough to attack his time in the ruck at 100% but the worst case scenario is he's too puffed from chasing defenders to perform either role adequately.

For me it all revolves around his stamina and which role is more aerobically demanding for him. If he doesn't have the tank to play forward for at least 50% of his game time then he probably just can't play. If he can then I think he should be strongly considered. As ever it's the kind of decision you just have to trust the coaching staff on to know the players and the system better than we do.

Agreed but this only highlights our inadequacy in trading/drafting some ruck depth if Sweet is STILL not at the level required to play 80% game time.

I keep banging on about it, but it's not like we didn't know what Sweet was at the end of last year. We offered him 1 year so clearly we had big question marks over his ability/fitness, yet we did absolutely nothing about it except put trust in Martin who can barely string together consecutive training sessions at this point.

Flogging a dead horse I know, but somebody needs to be held accountable at our football club.

** I get we 'targeted' Soldo. Fine. But we didn't get him and then we did... nothing? Great play **

Side note: If Sweet can't replace Cordy's 5-7 possessions a game with a couple of blocks, but offer much more as a second ruck, delist him today.

[Dancin' Douggy]

1. Ed Richards has more strings to his bow than I realised. Lifts his value immensely. I always thought he would be a good player but that game he elevated himself (literally and figuratively) to another level.

2. I believe we have found a player in Cleary. Composed, neat and competent. A lot to work with.

3. Sweet is good enough. Small numbers I know. But he scrapped and tackled and blocked and made his presence felt. That's enough sometimes. Better than throwing Cordy in there (not having a crack at Cordy, he's just not big enough for the role)

[macca]

Question1 : Darcy Fort , had question over his fitness. His been able to string together some productive games this year for Brisbane. Apart from recovering from his injuries, what has improved his aerobic capacity ? I would like to know what Brisbane has done to improve his stamina and endurance.

Q2. Is it mainly application or attitude that is hindering Sweet's development?

Q3. Do we still have a ruck coach ?

Just want to understand why Sweet is not progressing, there is clearly a spot for him in the side.

[Mantis]

Question1 : Darcy Fort , had question over his fitness. His been able to string together some productive games this year for Brisbane. Apart from recovering from his injuries, what has improved his aerobic capacity ? I would like to know what Brisbane has done to improve his stamina and endurance.

Q2. Is it mainly application or attitude that is hindering Sweet's development?

Q3. Do we still have a ruck coach ?

Just want to understand why Sweet is not progressing, there is clearly a spot for him in the side.

No there isn't.

Sweet is a no.1 ruck... English is 100x better than him in that role so when English is fit & healthy then Sweet misses out.

[Axe Man]

Question1 : Darcy Fort , had question over his fitness. His been able to string together some productive games this year for Brisbane. Apart from recovering from his injuries, what has improved his aerobic capacity ? I would like to know what Brisbane has done to improve his stamina and endurance.

Fort has played every game bar 1 with McInerney so it's not really a like for like comparison to Sweet. I don't know what their ruck split is but I would guess something like 60/40 to McInerney. It's a bit less demanding than playing 80% as the sole ruckman with a part time chop out.

[Before I Die]

I don’t get this ruck conversation. We are second for clearances behind only Brisbane and we are about to get our best ruckman back. Sweet has shown he can hold his own when needed. What is the problem? We aren’t short a ruckman, we are short a key forward who can help out in the ruck. If Bruce can make a successful return, we are ok in that area as well. Marra will add to that next year as will Darcy the year after.

This ruck debate has become ideological rather than based in fact.

[bornadog]

I don’t get this ruck conversation. We are second for clearances behind only Melbourne and we are about to get our best ruckman back. Sweet has shown he can hold his own when needed. What is the problem? We aren’t short a ruckman, we are short a key forward who can help out in the ruck. If Bruce can make a successful return, we are ok in that area as well. Marra will add to that next year as will Darcy the year after.

This ruck debate has become ideological rather than based in fact.

Actually Melbourne are 10th for clearances, and yes we are 2nd, just behind Lions.

[Before I Die]

Actually Melbourne are 10th for clearances, and yes we are 2nd, just behind Lions.

Thanks BAD, I’ll bow to your knowledge and correct my post. I’m not sure what the data was that my Google search brought up. Also apologise to all for sidetracking the thread, though I think that had already happened.

[bornadog]

Thanks BAD, I’ll bow to your knowledge and correct my post. I’m not sure what the data was that my Google search brought up. Also apologise to all for sidetracking the thread, though I think that had already happened.

I wouldn't worry about side tracking.

I get stats from Footywire.com

[Danjul]

Agreed but this only highlights our inadequacy in trading/drafting some ruck depth if Sweet is STILL not at the level required to play 80% game time.

I keep banging on about it, but it's not like we didn't know what Sweet was at the end of last year. We offered him 1 year so clearly we had big question marks over his ability/fitness, yet we did absolutely nothing about it except put trust in Martin who can barely string together consecutive training sessions at this point.

Flogging a dead horse I know, but somebody needs to be held accountable at our football club.

** I get we 'targeted' Soldo. Fine. But we didn't get him and then we did... nothing? Great play **

Side note: If Sweet can't replace Cordy's 5-7 possessions a game with a couple of blocks, but offer much more as a second ruck, delist him today.
sweet not being able to play 80% game time is a myth.

He exceeded 80% against Carlton and St Kilda last year. He also did it against Collingwood two weeks ago. So he has managed it in 50% of his games.

Paddy Ryder has rarely exceeded 75% in the last few years, so it not a universal requirement.

[hujsh]

sweet not being able to play 80% game time is a myth.

He exceeded 80% against Carlton and St Kilda last year. He also did it against Collingwood two weeks ago. So he has managed it in 50% of his games.

Paddy Ryder has rarely exceeded 75% in the last few years, so it not a universal requirement.

I think we just saw this weekend that he wasn't really able to do it. Sure if he's part of a pairing like Ryder and Marshall it's not a requirement but it's not clear he can be part of a pairing like that without being the main ruck.

I also get that he physically did play 80% TOG at times but without going back and watching the games (no thanks) it's harder to say how well he ran out those games.

Witts had a 89% TOG and Sweet seemed to run out of steam in the second half with just 75% meaning we got to see Cordy in there for the other quarter of the game. English seems to be able to play 85% while also being influential around the ground and maintaining his influence throughout the match (from what I can see). Since they're both the same age I think it's a reasonable comparison.

[Mantis]

sweet not being able to play 80% game time is a myth.

He exceeded 80% against Carlton and St Kilda last year. He also did it against Collingwood two weeks ago. So he has managed it in 50% of his games.

Paddy Ryder has rarely exceeded 75% in the last few years, so it not a universal requirement.

Paddy Ryder is 34yo and plays with a team with a very good 2nd ruck in Marshall.

Jordan Sweet is 24yo and has Zaine Cordy to help him out.

[MrMahatma]

Actually Melbourne are 10th for clearances, and yes we are 2nd, just behind Lions.

The turn over game!

Maybe if we have a couple of key fwds that can keep May & Lever accountable, and we have some intercept capability of our own (which with our 3 taller defenders in, and Richards, we should), then we're in the mix.

Let's face it... our full strength team is still a massive threat to any team in the comp. Let's get it on!

[Danjul]

Paddy Ryder is 34yo and plays with a team with a very good 2nd ruck in Marshall.

Jordan Sweet is 24yo and has Zaine Cordy to help him out.
In the first three games this year Witts had significantly less than 80% game time. Don’t know if he is any good but he has increased his game time as the season has progressed, and the Suns seem to be ok with that. So I still have doubts about insisting a minimum of 80% for Sweet is in the team’s best interest. Especially since he has been able to exceed it.

[bornadog]

In the first three games this year Witts had significantly less than 80% game time. Don’t know if he is any good but he has increased his game time as the season has progressed, and the Suns seem to be ok with that. So I still have doubts about insisting a minimum of 80% for Sweet is in the team’s best interest.

Witts is currently ranked 1 for hitouts with a whopping 118 more than his nearest rival Nankervis

[MrMahatma]

Witts is currently ranked 1 for hitouts with a whopping 118 more than his nearest rival Nankervis

It's amazing isn't it. If he played for a Victorian club he'd be getting talked up as a Brownlow smokey!

[bornadog]

I asked Chris Doerre on twitter, about rucks in mid season draft



AFL Draft Expert (Chris Doerre ESPN/Knightmare)


There are numerous options. Ramdsen is the most likely project ruck, Brynn Teakle is the most likely readier prospect. Connor Ballenden (former Brisbane) has gotten some interest along with Liam Reidy.

[josie]

Do we have a pick in mid season draft? Presume we would have to put one of our players on long term injury list. Hannan could be only possibly?

[bornadog]

Do we have a pick in mid season draft? Presume we would have to put one of our players on long term injury list. Hannan could be only possibly?
Currently we don't have a pick.