Welcome to the Western Bulldogs Rory Lobb

[Mantis]

Are you saying that because selection committee prefer Astro, Mara, & Darcy over Lobb in the forward line, then Spangher isn't doing his job?

As suggested I think it?s a strange path to go down.

[lemmon]

Really interested to see how he goes this week. Have to feel like Ken Hinkley are going to be looking to use Lobb's man at every opportunity to test out if he can actually defend.

Might be an interesting little byplay this week - you'd think Hinkley and Port will be trying to isolate Lobb and play through his man, where we'll be keen to get Jones onto the deepest and most dangerous forward.

[Mantis]

Really interested to see how he goes this week. Have to feel like Ken Hinkley are going to be looking to use Lobb's man at every opportunity to test out if he can actually defend.

Might be an interesting little byplay this week - you'd think Hinkley and Port will be trying to isolate Lobb and play through his man, where we'll be keen to get Jones onto the deepest and most dangerous forward.

Who will Hinkley use in this role? Not sure they will have a tall forward who might be capable of stretching or even testing us.

[lemmon]

Who will Hinkley use in this role? Not sure they will have a tall forward who might be capable of stretching or even testing us.

Whoever Lobb ends up on. I don't think Hinkley can do much to dictate the match-up (because as you say, their forwards are all pretty mediocre) - more that they'll try to isolate the pair and try to force Lobb defend one-on-one.

Lobb was great last week, but he's still a guy who's never played back there, so you'd want to test out what he's like when he has to stop his opponent marking the footy (even if that only on a Finlayson or a Lord).

[Dry Rot]

The other thing about Lobb's game was that he did seem to be enjoying himself them back.

[FrediKanoute]

Really interested to see how he goes this week. Have to feel like Ken Hinkley are going to be looking to use Lobb's man at every opportunity to test out if he can actually defend.

Might be an interesting little byplay this week - you'd think Hinkley and Port will be trying to isolate Lobb and play through his man, where we'll be keen to get Jones onto the deepest and most dangerous forward.

This. One week doesn't make a career and I think that we need to see how Lobb goes against some teams where the ball will be coming down quicker and better.

[Rocco Jones]

I think Lobb can 'defend'. More a mobility/match up concern but with Buku/JOD we were going with two 3rd talls trying to fill the 2nd KPD spot.

We need the right match ups for Lobb. Whoever we think is slower out of Lord or Finlayson. I think Port are a pretty good match up for him. Carlton will be interesting as they have two gun KPFs then go small (if TDK is R1). IDK what we do with Curnow as Jones/Lobb too slow and JOD not strong enough.

[comrade]

I think Lobb can 'defend'. More a mobility/match up concern but with Buku/JOD we were going with two 3rd talls trying to fill the 2nd KPD spot.

We need the right match ups for Lobb. Whoever we think is slower out of Lord or Finlayson. I think Port are a pretty good match up for him. Carlton will be interesting as they have two gun KPFs then go small (if TDK is R1). IDK what we do with Curnow as Jones/Lobb too slow and JOD not strong enough.

If we back in Lobb, he has to go to McKay and we just trust Jones to make it work on Curnow.

JOD to take TDK or the 3rd tall.

[D Mitchell]

The other thing about Lobb's game was that he did seem to be enjoying himself them back.

No wonder, didn't have to worry about Naughton, Ugle-Hagan and Weightman going for the big speccys in marking contests.

[bulldogtragic]

From the DPRK News:

RORY Lobb has addressed the speculation surrounding his future, saying he's determined to lock away his spot in the Western Bulldogs' senior side before he weighs up any other options.

Lobb, who is contracted at the Whitten Oval for a further two seasons until 2026, started the year in the VFL but has cemented his place in Luke Beveridge's plans over the past fortnight following an impressive display of his versatility.

The 206cm Lobb kicked three goals from 19 disposals as a ruck-forward against Fremantle, before swinging into the backline against North Melbourne last weekend and finishing with 16 disposals, five intercept marks and 12 intercept possessions.

Speaking to AFL.com.au this week, Lobb said he understood there would be commentary around his future while he was out of the side earlier in the season but said he was happy to remain at the Dogs if he found a consistent spot in the team.

"There's obviously going to be a lot of speculation when players aren't playing. I see myself as an AFL player and I know that I have a lot of good footy left in me. I just want to be playing at AFL level," Lobb told AFL.com.au.

"I honestly don't mind where it is, whether it's back, forward or midfield. I'm happy to just do whatever the team needs. But I've wanted to leave that [contract] stuff for the end of the year and into the future."

Any potential move would make Lobb a four-club player, having already had stints at Greater Western Sydney, Fremantle and now the Bulldogs across his 167-game career.

Talks around Lobb's future heightened earlier in the season when he was stuck behind Aaron Naughton, Sam Darcy and Jamarra Ugle-Hagan in a stacked Bulldogs attack, leading to just three AFL appearances in the first 13 weeks.

However, Lobb ? who signed a four-year deal when he joined the Dogs from the Dockers at the end of 2022 ? said he never sought clarity around his future during his extended stint in the reserves side.

"To be honest, I take it week to week," Lobb said.

"I want to be playing AFL. If I go down to the twos, I try to play the footy I want to play to get back in the team. Obviously, I want to string games together.

"It's been a bit of an in and out year, but hopefully I've found my spot down back and I can play the rest of the year in the AFL." ? Riley Beveridge

[Uninformed]

Seems like a very mature attitude from Lobb.