Western Bulldogs plan slow start

[The Coon Dog]

Mark Stevens - Herald Sun - 14 Jan

THE Western Bulldogs could be without six to eight of their best 22 in the NAB Cup opener in a development sure to shake up betting markets for the pre-season competition.

All of the Dogs' stars are on track for Round 1 of the regular season, but the club will take a cautious approach for its February 14 NAB Cup clash against the Brisbane Lions at Canberra.

The club traditionally fields strong teams in the first week of the NAB Cup, with TAB Sportsbet rating the Dogs a $7.50 chance to win the title, behind only Geelong ($4.60) and St Kilda ($5.50).

Article in full... (http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/western-bulldogs-plan-slow-start/story-e6frf9io-1225818975654)

[The Underdog]

The club traditionally fields strong teams in the first week of the NAB Cup

Really? I would have thought us having 6-8 of our best 22 for the first round of the NAB cup is par for the course. It's not like we ever go out with the intention of winning the thing.

[Ozza]

Really? I would have thought us having 6-8 of our best 22 for the first round of the NAB cup is par for the course. It's not like we ever go out with the intention of winning the thing.

I think the papers might be searching high and low for footy stories at the moment. I agree - 6 to 8 players missing would be about standard. Would rather see more of the fringe players going hammer and tong trying to impress anyway.

[LostDoggy]

After all it is the plastic cup. Why would we risk anyone thats not 100% especially guys in the top 22. A perfect opportunity for the young guys 2 to 4 year players to step up and prove to rocket they're right to go for round 1. I think the mistake rocket made last year is that he didn't utilise the depth early enough in the season to see who he could have used late in the season for fresh legs. Give the young guns a run rocket!!

[comrade]

I'm heading up for the weekend, so hopefully I get to see Boumann run out in the red, white and blue.

[Mantis]

I'm heading up for the weekend, so hopefully I get to see Boumann run out in the red, white and blue.

It would be great if he could debut (in a way) being Valentine's Day and all.... I wonder which love of your life would receive the flowers to celebrate the big day?? :D

[The Doctor]

We would be mad not to try out some of our fringe and younger players. We need to get games into as many of them as we can while resting our older players for more important duties coming up.

i'd like to see these guys at least get a run;

Roughead - He's now our no.3 ruckman. He'll be needed if Hudson or Minson have to miss.

Markovic - He has replaced Wight on our list and is now our key defensive back up option. With Williams often absent he could become an important player.

Rose - 23yo lively small forward to give Johnno or Aker some cover

Moles - 24yo midfielder. he was picked for a reason so lets see him play.

Stack - had a taste last year with mixed results. An important year for him. He's the right age and perfectly built for a mid sized player. Time to shine.

Grant - Has to have a crack. just has to.

Hill - Would like to see him on a wing

Tiller - Similar position to Stack. He's the right age. Time has come.

Boumann - 2 years on the list making steady progress. I think we would all like to see how he goes.


Obviously we will be resting our injured or recovering players. We should also rest most of our 28+ players. we should still play most if not all our young veterans like Morris and Boyd along with rising stars like Higgins, Griffen, Harbrow and Everitt so we still field a strong younger team. hopefully some of the above players will do very well and make it difficult for some of the senior players to get back in. That's the way it should be.

[LostDoggy]

Like most i don't think the Bulldogs really try too hard in the NAB Cup. But I do expect Brisbane to come out firing............but then when the season starts, that fire will quickly burn out!

[comrade]

http://i675.photobucket.com/albums/vv120/brettmexico/stack.jpg

Speaking of Stack, here's a pic from his appearance at the AFLPA induction camp this week.

Welcome to the gun show!







Time to take a cold shower Rocco...

[boydogs]

Moles - 24yo midfielder. he was picked for a reason so lets see him play.

Can you play rookies?
I would add Addison, Callan, Wood and Thorne into calculations

[The Underdog]

Can you play rookies?
I would add Addison, Callan, Wood and Thorne into calculations

Yep no restrictions as far as I'm aware, would expect Moles, Daniels and Rose to play.

[Mantis]

Looks like Fev will be playing in the NAB Cup opener... but no Brown.

Read all about it here (http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/brendan-fevola-up-for-opener/story-e6frf9jf-1225819478848)

[Go_Dogs]

Welcome to the gun show!

His body has really taken shape hasn't it, he is looking like a very fit and strong athlete, very broad through the shoulders now.

[Swoop]

His body has really taken shape hasn't it, he is looking like a very fit and strong athlete, very broad through the shoulders now.
Yep, physically he's ready and he's had plenty of time to work on his game in the past few years at Williamstown. No excuses for Stack this year, football is a cut throat business these days and I think its make it or bust for Stack. I wish him all the best, I hope he can grab his opportunites and find greater consistency in his game as well as the ability to impact a game for longer periods. I guess he faces the same problems all young players do and that is minimizing the difference between their best and worst

[Sedat]

Roughead - He's now our no.3 ruckman. He'll be needed if Hudson or Minson have to miss.
By all accounts, Minson's toe injury has not improved much at all since the end of last season, so there is a very good chance that our ruck depth will be tested in 2010.

[Dry Rot]

Looks like Fev will be playing in the NAB Cup opener

Early test for a fit Williams?

[Dry Rot]

By all accounts, Minson's toe injury has not improved much at all since the end of last season, so there is a very good chance that our ruck depth will be tested in 2010.

I have been thinking this too - and it's almost 4 months since he's last played.

How is Roughead's shoulder coming along?

[Mantis]

By all accounts, Minson's toe injury has not improved much at all since the end of last season, so there is a very good chance that our ruck depth will be tested in 2010.

Not sure how far away Will is from joining in full training, but in the match practice held this morning Roughead and Hudson were battling it out in the ruck.

Also heard that Murphy looked very lively which is a big positive, but in general the skills were on the scrappy side (I guess the norm for this time of year). The commitment of the players was also on show with quite a few heavy clashes taking place.

[LostDoggy]

How'd Roughy look against the bearded one?

[LostDoggy]

It will be good to see some of the young guys get a run in the nab cup. Not having to many injury problems last year kept a lot of guys off debut.

[Swoop]

It does pose an interesting question, with a few ageing players in the side and the idea being thrown up last year without success - What are people's thoughts on resting players at different stages throughout the season in order to get them to peak in September? When push comes to shove how much confidence do we really have in our 'depth'?

Obviously there are a fair few factors to take into account such as both team & individual form, injuries, depth player availabilties as well as opposition & matchups to name a few. Geelong successfully were able to provide certain players an opportunity to rest during the season and it helped come September, one argument that you could mount and Eade has been on record in saying that as a side we rely on everyone performing, we don't have the ability to coast through games without an even contribution. No doubt the biggest danger is to tamper with players form and potentially see them out of touch but I certainly look at Aker last season and think he was someone that could have benefited with a break leading into September.

[AndrewP6]

It does pose an interesting question, with a few ageing players in the side and the idea being thrown up last year without success - What are people's thoughts on resting players at different stages throughout the season in order to get them to peak in September? When push comes to shove how much confidence do we really have in our 'depth'?

Obviously there are a fair few factors to take into account such as both team & individual form, injuries, depth player availabilties as well as opposition & matchups to name a few. Geelong successfully were able to provide certain players an opportunity to rest during the season and it helped come September, one argument that you could mount and Eade has been on record in saying that as a side we rely on everyone performing, we don't have the ability to coast through games without an even contribution. No doubt the biggest danger is to tamper with players form and potentially see them out of touch but I certainly look at Aker last season and think he was someone that could have benefited with a break leading into September.

I'm not sold on the depth at the moment, to be honest. If we had players banging on the proverbial door to be selected, it would be different, but in 2009, it didn't seem as though many at Willy were putting their names forward (from accounts, GO'K was doing O'K (geddit?:)), then they gave him the royal A!) Grant showed he clearly wasn't up to it (at that point) and some others struggled to even play Willy seniors. Maybe the drafting strategy this year (with several "experienced" players drafted/rookied) could change things. THe initial plan in '09 was to give rests to some of the older brigade, and poor form put an end to that.

[Mantis]

It does pose an interesting question, with a few ageing players in the side and the idea being thrown up last year without success - What are people's thoughts on resting players at different stages throughout the season in order to get them to peak in September? When push comes to shove how much confidence do we really have in our 'depth'?

Obviously there are a fair few factors to take into account such as both team & individual form, injuries, depth player availabilties as well as opposition & matchups to name a few. Geelong successfully were able to provide certain players an opportunity to rest during the season and it helped come September, one argument that you could mount and Eade has been on record in saying that as a side we rely on everyone performing, we don't have the ability to coast through games without an even contribution. No doubt the biggest danger is to tamper with players form and potentially see them out of touch but I certainly look at Aker last season and think he was someone that could have benefited with a break leading into September.

I think we will be in a better position to 'rest' players this year as opposed to last year. I agree with some of the points 'AndrewP6' has made in regard to the lack of competition for spots last season, but with another year of development into the likes of Everitt, Grant, Stack, Wood & Reid one would expect that these guys would be looking to play many more games than they did in '09.

We will hopefully be able to give our older brigade a break when required and also be able to rest guys who are not quite 100% which will allow bothg sets of players to be in good shape come the business end of the season.

I agree on your points on Aker, we traded for him to make a difference in the finals and so far this hasn't happened. Is this because he is a little flat come finals time or is it because he can't adjust to the lift in tempo in the big finals games?

I guess we will find out more as the seaosn progresses.