3 Things Learned - Round 6, 2025 vs St Kilda

[azabob]

1. I was on the Josh Dolan bandwagon since draft night. An astute piece of drafting, we were screaming out for a small gut running forward who has an extremely high footy IQ. Not many joined me on the bandwagon but it is now filling up fast.

2. Luke Cleary; clearly in our best back 7. Coaches tried to give us the hint by playing him when he was fit, it will take a while for us supporters to realise, but that’s ok.

3. Aaron Naughton; he still has it. Like a switch was flicked when Darcy went down. Hopefully he can tidy up his goal kicking and get back to his accuracy levels early in 2024.

[Bulldog Joe]

I admit that I was seriously wrong on Luke Cleary. I advocated he be delisted at the end of 2024, but he has been terrific as a reliable half back foot soldier. Not spectacular but effectively efficient.

Matt Kennedy for Jack Macrae was the best option we could have for our side.

Ryley Sanders might have been slower but he has made our 2023 draft elite addition to the list with Joel Freijah.

[Bornadog]

I admit that I was seriously wrong on Luke Cleary. I advocated he be delisted at the end of 2024, but he has been terrific as a reliable half back foot soldier. Not spectacular but effectively efficient.

Matt Kennedy for Jack Macrae was the best option we could have for our side.

Ryley Sanders might have been slower but he has made our 2023 draft elite addition to the list with Joel Freijah.

I was similar to you on Cleary, but he had a contract for this year. Has been terrific.

Caught up with a neighbour who is very senior at Carlton, and he said they didn't want to lose Kennedy, but he wanted more midfield time which they couldn't offer.

[azabob]

I was similar to you on Cleary, but he had a contract for this year. Has been terrific.

Caught up with a neighbour who is very senior at Carlton, and he said they didn't want to lose Kennedy, but he wanted more midfield time which they couldn't offer.

The whole more midfield time is a massive rouse to get out of a club. I dare say Kennedy, Dunkley, Smith, Lipinski, etc have all played same amount of midfield time at their new clubs compared to their old clubs.

[Bornadog]

The whole more midfield time is a massive rouse to get out of a club. I dare say Kennedy, Dunkley, Smith, Lipinski, etc have all played same amount of midfield time at their new clubs compared to their old clubs.

Yeah, always more to it

[doggies ftw]

The whole more midfield time is a massive rouse to get out of a club. I dare say Kennedy, Dunkley, Smith, Lipinski, etc have all played same amount of midfield time at their new clubs compared to their old clubs.

Yeah especially considering Kennedy then moved to a club with a better & deeper midfield! Carlton’s drops away very quickly after Cripps, Walsh & Hewett.

Kennedy even said himself that Bevo didn’t even promise him a spot in the side but told him there’s a spot if he works for it - was a pretty open interview I thought

[Mofra]

1. I was on the Josh Dolan bandwagon since draft night

He's doing a lot more in just a few weeks than his debut game. His running ahead of the contest when we won the ball was excellent, and even if he wasn't used it makes the opposition defend more options.

[mal68]

1. Short socks are better than long socks
2. We looked better as a team when Darcy was off the field. Not a knock on Darcy but the first quarter was just typical get it in long and fast to the forwards and it didn't work. With him off we were forced to actually look for a target and kick to advantage a little more
3. Freijah can literally play anywhere. Looked equally comfortable on the wing as he did in the middle. What a player he is going to be

[angelopetraglia]

1. Sanders is going to make it. He look so composed last night with the ball in hand. It’s fantastic to see how quickly he has progressed.

2. JOD is a better defender than forward. But I like we have a few players who can play multiple roles.

3. Bont is unbelievable. When we watch him week in and week out we take him for granted. Not having him for five weeks made the Bulldog fans appreciate him even more. The noise and love when he kicked his first goal was off the charts.

[Curly5]

I was similar to you on Cleary, but he had a contract for this year. Has been terrific.

Caught up with a neighbour who is very senior at Carlton, and he said they didn't want to lose Kennedy, but he wanted more midfield time which they couldn't offer.

I thought Carlton needed to offload some money and gave Matt the option of maybe not being in the team consistently or seeking a new club, expecting him to take the latter, which he did.

[chef]

I thought Carlton needed to offload some money and gave Matt the option of maybe not being in the team consistently or seeking a new club, expecting him to take the latter, which he did.

Kennedy leaving probably had more to do with Voss after his treatment in his last game.

[Bornadog]

Kennedy leaving probably had more to do with Voss after his treatment in his last game.

That's what I thought

[kickit2Koly]

1 . The stat less tap on or knock into space for a teammate is our new handball club. Bont has done this for a long time but it seems the rest of the midfield are now embracing it. The Kennedy tap to freijah who knock it on to Bont who laced out Naughton was a thing of beauty.

2. Sanders has now adjusted to the pace of the game and is looking really comfortable at the level.

3. We looked to have different modes last night. We look our best when we play on and moved the ball fast but were also able to score through slower kick mark ball movement.

[mighty_west]

1. Not having Bont until last night was almost a blessing in disguise, last year i thought Libba was on his last legs, yet he is in arguably the best form of his career and taking on that responsibility of leading the team has given him a new lease of footy life , Freijah also in his absence has again gone to another level and now becoming a more dangerous player for us since moving into the midfield mix, he along with Sanders and Ed, our midfield brigade is on top of it's game and the overall mix is probably as good as it's been in recent times, all this with Treloar out as well, with Bont back it just takes that midfield group to another level.

2. The loss of Darcy until finals really sucks, however all is not lost, it makes Naughton top forward Dog and as a group will be expecting him to lead that front half which he seems to thrive in being the number 1 key forward, having Bont possibly spending more time up forward still gives us a dangerous set up and our improved mid field group will allow Bont to play more up forward, i'd be also giving Tim more forward time too and keeping Lobb back which he thrives in, he's just much better down back.

3. Having JJ back is huge, his run out of defense also takes some pressure off Dale who can cop a tag, can you tag both Dale and JJ? Can you tag both Ed and Bont, and Libba in the midfield? Saints put a tag on Ed which didn't really affect our midfield group but it affected their game which played in our hands.

[ibonttobreakfree]

1. Libba has his body really right. I thought they'd put him in cotton wool after the run down tackle but they left him out there for ages. Clearly they trust his conditioning.
2. Fridge is the new 'tap on to advantage' king.
3. On a fast deck inside we can zip the ball around. So of the turnover goals went end to end so quick.