Mulligan upgraded?

[GVGjr]

I have just been advised that James Mulligan has been upgraded to the senior list. The source is a good one but it would be great if anyone else could confirm it.

[Doc26]

I have just been advised that James Mulligan has been upgraded to the senior list. The source is a good one but it would be great if anyone else could confirm it.

Words out of his own mouth at the Bulldog B&F confirmed this.

[bulldogtragic]

Let's hope he busts his arse pre-season and rewards the faith.

[Sockeye Salmon]

We were told it was likely to happen so it's probably right.

[bulldogtragic]

Does the lack of talk on the others officially end White and Shaw (subject to being re-rookied). And perhaps Ogle if Jones is picked up???

[Sockeye Salmon]

Does the lack of talk on the others officially end White and Shaw (subject to being re-rookied). And perhaps Ogle if Jones is picked up???

I would be staggared if Jones was picked up.

Ogle looks a waste of space as well.

[bulldogtragic]

I would be staggared if Jones was picked up.

Ogle looks a waste of space as well.
Harsh but fair.

I just viewed some website with Jone's seasons stats.

15 games. 4 games didn't make the best 6 players for his team. Only on 4 occasions was he i the best 3 for his team. Not many goals either.

This NSW program is bearing less fruit than Fiji, and we all know how that is going...

[Rocco Jones]

If I didn't the access to inside goss that WOOF provides, I would have been very suprised by both O'Keefe being delisted and Mulligan being upgraded (not saying it's the wrong call at all).

[bulldogtragic]

If I didn't the access to inside goss that WOOF provides, I would have been very suprised by both O'Keefe being delisted and Mulligan being upgraded (not saying it's the wrong call at all).
Come to actually think of it, it would be a litle strange without the WOOF good oil. A guy can't get into the VFL 1's = Promoted. A guy who is in the bests in the 1's every week = Delisted.

I wonder what the message Eade is trying to send ;)

[Rocco Jones]

Come to actually think of it, it would be a litle strange without the WOOF good oil. A guy can't get into the VFL 1's = Promoted. A guy who is in the bests in the 1's every week = Delisted.

I wonder what the message Eade is trying to send ;)

Yep, there is obviously a lot more to being an AFL player than playing "in the bests" type VFL games.

GOK is dominant in the VFL but does very little guy running, which would/will be really exposed in the AFL. He doesn't seem able to fill any roles outside of the midfield either.

Mulligan on the other hand is the raw/project tall type and obviously ''talls'' get a fair bit more leeway.

[AndrewP6]

GOK is dominant in the VFL but does very little guy running, which would/will be really exposed in the AFL. He doesn't seem able to fill any roles outside of the midfield either.


Perhaps he does a little too much "Guy" running and not enough gut running! :)

[Nuggety Back Pocket]

We were told it was likely to happen so it's probably right.


Note comments by Doc26, which is spot on. Mulligan has definitely moved from rookie to senior list. Take it as read.

[Studentlib]

Reading this thread raised the thought of the struggle some players have making the jump from seconds to firsts. My earliest example that I remember is Kevin Jackman who won a Gardiner medal and probably a couple of Dogs reserves B&Fs, but always seem to flounder in firsts. Went on to a good career at Willie though. Looked up Dogs Gardiner Medallists and only one T. Liberatore had any career of substance.
Is it just a case for most, of natural ability only getting you so far and then being found out by attitude, effort at the elite level? Whereas for Libba it was the opposite.

[The Bulldogs Bite]

Mulligan on the other hand is the raw/project tall type and obviously ''talls'' get a fair bit more leeway.

It's always been like that from U14 footy upwards.

Clubs are fascinated by tall athletes. It's a shame most of them can't play the game. I'm not singling Mulligan out, but the reality is if he wasn't tall he never would of been picked up in the first place let alone promoted.

It'd be nice to see him prove me wrong though.

[Go_Dogs]

Does the lack of talk on the others officially end White and Shaw (subject to being re-rookied). And perhaps Ogle if Jones is picked up???

I guess the club is awaiting confirmation of the new rookie rules, as both White and Shaw could possibly be retained for a 3rd year under the proposal.

[Cyberdoggie]

I guess the club is awaiting confirmation of the new rookie rules, as both White and Shaw could possibly be retained for a 3rd year under the proposal.

It could also be a matter of waiting to see what's available come draft time.
If there is nothing left we may look to these players again as a safe option.

[LostDoggy]

Reading this thread raised the thought of the struggle some players have making the jump from seconds to firsts. My earliest example that I remember is Kevin Jackman who won a Gardiner medal and probably a couple of Dogs reserves B&Fs, but always seem to flounder in firsts. Went on to a good career at Willie though. Looked up Dogs Gardiner Medallists and only one T. Liberatore had any career of substance.
Is it just a case for most, of natural ability only getting you so far and then being found out by attitude, effort at the elite level? Whereas for Libba it was the opposite.

Nipper Jackman had the same problem as GOK - lack of pace

[Sockeye Salmon]

I think the major list management meeting is sometime this week.

[LostDoggy]

Nipper Jackman had the same problem as GOK - lack of pace

Coached me in juniors to a U/12A grand final win. Couldn't pronounce his "R's" though :D

[Topdog]

Harsh but fair.

I just viewed some website with Jone's seasons stats.

15 games. 4 games didn't make the best 6 players for his team. Only on 4 occasions was he i the best 3 for his team. Not many goals either.


Braedon finished second in the Balmain Dockers Best and Fairest.

Apparently he has been asked to move to Melbourne by the Doggies and they will Rookie List him.

[lemmon]

Heard the same things about Mulligan from a top source, I'd say its true

[NSW Dog]

Harsh but fair.

I just viewed some website with Jone's seasons stats.

15 games. 4 games didn't make the best 6 players for his team. Only on 4 occasions was he i the best 3 for his team. Not many goals either.

This NSW program is bearing less fruit than Fiji, and we all know how that is going...

As already stated, he finished second in the team;s B&F count. Played very well throughout the course of the year. Was very unlucky not to make the AFL Sydney side to play AFL Canberra during the year. Is a very good run with player who has good skills.

[bornadog]

How did every one see Mulligan last night. Do you think he showed some potential? Has he got a footy brain or are we trying to make another athlete into a player.

I particularly like his size, he is fast, but he is still work in progress.

[soupman]

Very impressive physique. Looked a little panicky out there though, and at least half a season in Willy's firsts would do him a lot of good.

[Dry Rot]

Was it Mulligan or Williams who used a good old rugby league style fend off when carrying the ball out of defence?

[comrade]

Was it Mulligan or Williams who used a good old rugby league style fend off when carrying the ball out of defence?

Williams. I loved that.

Mulligan just needs to play more games. Hopefully he's given an opportunity to settle in to a key defensive role for Willy (seniors) and develop that footy brain of his.

We're not exactly flush with big, fast key defensive options so he's worth persevering with.

[Dry Rot]

Williams. I loved that.


I'd like to see more of it.

I don't think that most AFL players are particularly good at head on tackling. Obviously there's the free given if you're caught in possession, but I'd like to see big bastards like Williams, Minson, Hahn and Hall just running full tilt at opposition players and using the fend off.

[GVGjr]

How did every one see Mulligan last night. Do you think he showed some potential? Has he got a footy brain or are we trying to make another athlete into a player.

I particularly like his size, he is fast, but he is still work in progress.

I saw nothing different in him to what he has displayed at the Williamstown 2nds.
His athleticism is great but I just haven't seen enough footy smarts from him. The good part is that he is on a senior list and he's injury free. Hard to say at the moment if he can be more than a Cameron Wight.

[comrade]

I'd like to see more of it.

I don't think that most AFL players are particularly good at head on tackling. Obviously there's the free given if you're caught in possession, but I'd like to see big bastards like Williams, Minson, Hahn and Hall just running full tilt at opposition players and using the fend off.

With our association with KooGa, we should see if Greg Inglis and the Storm boys can come down to Whitten Oval and teach our 'big bastards' a proper fend off technique.

[Bulldog Revolution]

I saw nothing different in him to what he has displayed at the Williamstown 2nds.
His athleticism is great but I just haven't seen enough footy smarts from him. The good part is that he is on a senior list and he's injury free. Hard to say at the moment if he can be more than a Cameron Wight.

His handballing let him down at times, but he is a great athlete, and I thought showed improvement based on the practice match snippets I've seen of him previously

Looks fit and physically ready, so we should find out this year whether he can take a big step forward

[The Bulldogs Bite]

I thought Mulligan looked out of his depth last night. IE. Getting caught with the ball, and then trying to bounce it? I doubt you'd see that at U14 level.

He did a few OK things afterwards but with Bulldog bias aside, he looked shakey and rather ordinary.

[Mantis]

I thought Mulligan looked out of his depth last night. IE. Getting caught with the ball, and then trying to bounce it? I doubt you'd see that at U14 level.

He did a few OK things afterwards but with Bulldog bias aside, he looked shakey and rather ordinary.

From memory I don't think he has played a senior VFL game so no doubt he would have been fairly nervous which probably accounted for some 'rookie' errors.

Hopefully he learnt a lot from the experience and will go back to Williamstown knowing the areas he has to improve on such that when he gets another opportunity he will be well prepared.

[Hotdog60]

If his smart hopefully he will learn by his experience playing with the big boys, no doubt he'll go over the replay and see what he needs to improve on.

There are positives and I hope he builds on them because he looks a likely type.

[G-Mo77]

I thought Mulligan looked out of his depth last night. IE. Getting caught with the ball, and then trying to bounce it? I doubt you'd see that at U14 level.


I think you'll find that was Everitt.

[comrade]

I think you'll find that was Everitt.

Definitely Mulligan.

[wb_age]

Definitely Mulligan.
I'll second that.

[LostDoggy]

With our association with KooGa, we should see if Greg Inglis and the Storm boys can come down to Whitten Oval and teach our 'big bastards' a proper fend off technique.

Better yet, let's try & convert Inglis over to AFL. We could plonk him up forward with Bazza, imagine defenders walking down pre game looking at those two giants :D

[The Underdog]

I saw nothing different in him to what he has displayed at the Williamstown 2nds.
His athleticism is great but I just haven't seen enough footy smarts from him. The good part is that he is on a senior list and he's injury free. Hard to say at the moment if he can be more than a Cameron Wight.

ATM he's a poor man's Cam Wight. He looks good in a guernsey but he has a very long way to go.

[LostDoggy]

I thought they would have play Boumann before Mulligan. Perhaps Eade was showing the kid how much he needs to work to get to this level.

[mighty_west]

ATM he's a poor man's Cam Wight. He looks good in a guernsey but he has a very long way to go.

At least Cam Wight never tried bouncing the ball when being tackled...:D

[LongWait]

Mulligan looked completely over-awed last night but we need to cut him some slack. I remember my first senior game in the Ovens and Murray - I played half forward in a practice game. I made a fool of myself and I'm sure I embarrassed my parents and friends. Once I got over the stage fright I was fine - for some it takes a while and Mulligan is not even a senior player at Willi yet. The experience will do him good imo.

[LostDoggy]

ATM he's a poor man's Cam Wight. He looks good in a guernsey but he has a very long way to go.

don't agree. He looked like he struggled with pace of game, but thought he put his head over it - he wasn't the only backline player that struggled under the conditions so I think we need to cut him some slack... He looked quick and agile and has something to work with. Give him a few games and some confidence and he might have something.

[GVGjr]

Mulligan looked completely over-awed last night but we need to cut him some slack. I remember my first senior game in the Ovens and Murray - I played half forward in a practice game. I made a fool of myself and I'm sure I embarrassed my parents and friends. Once I got over the stage fright I was fine - for some it takes a while and Mulligan is not even a senior player at Willi yet. The experience will do him good imo.

I've certainly cut him some slack because it wouldn't happen often for a guy to have been at the club for 2 year and who has never even played a senior game for the the VFL side gets selected in the senior side for the NAB cup games.

If I thought it was just stage fright I'd be very sympathetic but having seen him play a fair bit, I knew he was nowhere near ready.

[LongWait]

I've certainly cut him some slack because it wouldn't happen often for a guy to have been at the club for 2 year and who has never even played a senior game for the the VFL side gets selected in the senior side for the NAB cup games.

If I thought it was just stage fright I'd be very sympathetic but having seen him play a fair bit, I knew he was nowhere near ready.

I agree he is nowhere near ready.

[bornadog]

At least Cam Wight never tried bouncing the ball when being tackled...:D

Thats because he couldn't get his hands on it .....lol

[Dazza]

Cam wight was serviceable in the first few rounds of 2008. Sure you could count on him costing us a goal at least twice a match but I thought he went OK for a little while there.

[mighty_west]

Cam wight was serviceable in the first few rounds of 2008. Sure you could count on him costing us a goal at least twice a match but I thought he went OK for a little while there.

His goal on the run after a bounce against the Saints was awesome, the game where the Saints got the jump on us, only for a big turnaround after quarter time.

[soupman]

Cameron Wight's biggest problem was that his first quarters were always terrible. This meant that for the rest of the match he had to do everything to try and regain some credibility. If we had've somehow gotten him to play the first quarter before the match started he would have been alright.

[Cyberdoggie]

Cameron Wight's biggest problem was that his first quarters were always terrible. This meant that for the rest of the match he had to do everything to try and regain some credibility. If we had've somehow gotten him to play the first quarter before the match started he would have been alright.

He struggled mentally. His lack of confidence in himself showed as soon as he made a mistake.

Early in his career with us he played some fantastic games at Werribee. :eek:

[LostDoggy]

I saw nothing different in him to what he has displayed at the Williamstown 2nds.
His athleticism is great but I just haven't seen enough footy smarts from him. The good part is that he is on a senior list and he's injury free. Hard to say at the moment if he can be more than a Cameron Wight.

Great call. He looks physically the part, but from all the practice matches and the few times I've seen him he's struggled with the pace of the game with his disposals, ie. lacking footy smarts, and on Friday night really looked the most 'out of place' of our junior players -- the only thing making it hard to be objective was the fact that he was big and had a Doggies jumper on. For all the bagging that Cam Wight got over the years, Mulligan looks unlikely to be a heck of a lot better, but I couldn't be happier to be proven wrong.

[comrade]

Wight’s agility only extended to running in straight lines – in my opinion, Mulligan is a much more powerful athlete. Whether he can be a decent footballer, however, is a different question all together.

Considering he’s only taking the last place on our list, I’m happy to give him time to develop without judging him too harshly (yet).

[Mofra]

At least Cam Wight never tried bouncing the ball when being tackled...:D
Minson did and he is in our best 22.

Stack and Hill received senior debuts before they were ready IMO - both improved their form at Willy because of it, and Hill has really kicked on. I would hope Mulligan can force his way into the senior VFL side this year and I would expect the experience of last week to help him in some way.

Simply looked like he was overawed but when the heat was on and he didn't have to think, just compete, he did ok (especially in the 2nd half). Will be better for the run.

[mighty_west]

Minson did and he is in our best 22.

Stack and Hill received senior debuts before they were ready IMO - both improved their form at Willy because of it, and Hill has really kicked on. I would hope Mulligan can force his way into the senior VFL side this year and I would expect the experience of last week to help him in some way.

Simply looked like he was overawed but when the heat was on and he didn't have to think, just compete, he did ok (especially in the 2nd half). Will be better for the run.

I look forward to seeing how German juggles Mulligan, Boumann & Markovic, add Tiller in there as well for a rather tall Willy backline.

Unfortunatly the few times i saw Willy play last year, was always too late to catch any reserves games, so i never really got to see Mulligrub play, so i hope he does get gametime in the ones this year.

But you would think going on past form, Mulligan would be last in the pecking order there, Markovic was captain of Box Hill, and from reports a pretty solid performer down back, Tiller is a walk up start in the Willy ones, you would think Boumann as well given his form late last year as well.

[Bulldog4life]

I look forward to seeing how German juggles Mulligan, Boumann & Markovic, add Tiller in there as well for a rather tall Willy backline.Unfortunatly the few times i saw Willy play last year, was always too late to catch any reserves games, so i never really got to see Mulligrub play, so i hope he does get gametime in the ones this year.

But you would think going on past form, Mulligan would be last in the pecking order there, Markovic was captain of Box Hill, and from reports a pretty solid performer down back, Tiller is a walk up start in the Willy ones, you would think Boumann as well given his form late last year as well.

He also has to fit into the backline Willy's new recruit Peter Fauks as well. Maybe we will see Tiller in a forward role.

[Mofra]

He also has to fit into the backline Willy's new recruit Peter Fauks as well. Maybe we will see Tiller in a forward role.
I'd like to see Tiller used elsewhere. Marcovic did well as a forward prior to his injury troubles, although with Grant, Cordy and Jones down there and Roughead's cameos (not to mention Little & Rose being permanent fixtures) Tiller may end up playing a Hargrave-like role off the HB flack.