Round 4 Footscray Bulldogs v Sandringham Zebras - Sunday 20 April 2025 • 2:05 PM

[NAUGHTY100]

Bit harsh on Buss, he missed probably 3 kicks for the day, one out on the full off the side of the boot, and the two miskicks into the corridor late but was trying to make something happen when the game was dead - that’s 3 out of how many, 20+? He’s a better user than Jones & Buku, and probably not as damaging as Lobb but similar to Buss Lobb is also prone to a miskick. They’re key defenders after all.

I think people (not you but the general Sentiment I see in regards to his games on forums) just have ridiculously high expectations for a young developing key defender. Hes becoming seriously dependable, probably only lost a handful of contests out of an absolute mountain of ball directed towards him.

His ground level work is seriously underrated, he’s composed in traffic, I reckon half of his 30 touches would have been intercepts today - he puts himself in great positions behind the ball to chop off forward attacks at both ground level and aerially. Hes just very very hard to get past, and turning into a very well rounded key defender who doesn’t do much wrong

Would like to see him back himself in the air a little bit more but I think that will come with strength and confidence, he kills a huge amount of contests though which is a good start, start clunking a few more and skies the limit.

He was seriously impressive today, our best player by a mile and developing beautifully for a 21 year old key defender IMO

I agree with your sentiments about Buss , his improving every week , his kicking can be a bit iffy at times but if your getting it 25 times a day and you miss 2 or 3 kicks your still going at 70 odd % efficiency , which isnt bad at all , but now im wondering if Bevos move of putting Lobb forward in that last quarter is something he is considering given Darcy going down ,and Marra being unavailable , makes sense if Buss can come in and hold down the key back post , i guess thats the 64 million dollar question . Next week if we go in with a Buku at center half forward , Tayor will destroy him , but then you can say the same about Buss on Hogan , so yeah i dont envy Bevo having to make thoes calls .

[NAUGHTY100]

Jaques looks brilliant. He looks more advanced than what Freijah did this time last year. Freijah probably has a few more weapons though given his speed and size.

Watched a few of intra clubs early this year and reckon he was a shoe in to debut round 1 had he been fit.

Totally agree with what youv said about Jaques, he has only played 2 games so far in the VFL and has stood out in both , he is building and wont be long before he debuts , nice comparison between Jaques and Freijah i think Jaques is a better mark but Freijah is a better runner , but Jaques will be a player .

[robb]

I believe that the buss and jaques will have good AFL careers. Not sure about anyone else from what I have seen at the VFL this year.

For 2025, I think buss is ready if we need someone to take on that third defensive role that O’Donnell and Buku have played. Unfortunately there are no other options for him. Body is definitely not ready for a key position role.

re Jaques, in more recent times you see players like sanders, freija and davidson in their first few games and just know they have got it. Jacque is the same. He can kick, mark and just knows how to find the ball. His size is okay for a young kid. It looks like they are preparing him for a HBF role and if we get an injury he will get his chance in 2025. I wouldn’t mind seeing him get a run through the midfield in the VFL to see how good his evasive skills are in traffic.

[Bigdog]

I believe that the buss and jaques will have good AFL careers. Not sure about anyone else from what I have seen at the VFL this year.

For 2025, I think buss is ready if we need someone to take on that third defensive role that O’Donnell and Buku have played. Unfortunately there are no other options for him. Body is definitely not ready for a key position role.

re Jaques, in more recent times you see players like sanders, freija and davidson in their first few games and just know they have got it. Jacque is the same. He can kick, mark and just knows how to find the ball. His size is okay for a young kid. It looks like they are preparing him for a HBF role and if we get an injury he will get his chance in 2025. I wouldn’t mind seeing him get a run through the midfield in the VFL to see how good his evasive skills are in traffic.

I was just about to post I hope they don’t play around with Jaques position hahaha.

I think our development of players has been really good but I thought we missed a beat with Lukas Webb years ago moving him from back to forward to mid. He looked good when he started as a half back. We should’ve settled him imo. I don’t want this to happen again. I like when young players are comfortable in their role. Which make the instructions easy to follow.

I’ve been talking Jaques up all pre season, but I don’t think he has the body to go in the midfield at this stage. And frankly I think half back is important as a role as anywhere

[Bigdog]

I believe that the buss and jaques will have good AFL careers. Not sure about anyone else from what I have seen at the VFL this year.

For 2025, I think buss is ready if we need someone to take on that third defensive role that O’Donnell and Buku have played. Unfortunately there are no other options for him. Body is definitely not ready for a key position role.

re Jaques, in more recent times you see players like sanders, freija and davidson in their first few games and just know they have got it. Jacque is the same. He can kick, mark and just knows how to find the ball. His size is okay for a young kid. It looks like they are preparing him for a HBF role and if we get an injury he will get his chance in 2025. I wouldn’t mind seeing him get a run through the midfield in the VFL to see how good his evasive skills are in traffic.

Croft will also have a good afl career. He showed really promising glimpses last year.

I don’t think he will ever be a dominant key forward. More a dangerous role player to compliment the other key position guys. I think his defensive work, height and athleticism could make him a low possession a grade role player.

IMO he is one of the very few players that will be better at afl level where there is more structure. His weapons will help our structure defensively and could also break other teams down offensively as he will be a hard player to go with if our ball movement is good.

[Bornadog]

Croft will also have a good afl career. He showed really promising glimpses last year.

I don’t think he will ever be a dominant key forward. More a dangerous role player to compliment the other key position guys. I think his defensive work, height and athleticism could make him a low possession a grade role player.

IMO he is one of the very few players that will be better at afl level where there is more structure. His weapons will help our structure defensively and could also break other teams down offensively as he will be a hard player to go with if our ball movement is good.

He has the talent, you can see that and as he matures will be a handy tall player to slot in either back or forward.

[Hotdog60]

I wonder if Croft was doubting himself that he would get a go at AFL with Darcy, Naughton, Lobb, Jones and to lesser extent Buku and JOD in the side.
Could Darcy being out give him an extra bit of impetus to grab Darcy's spot if he can put together some good games in the VFL.

[Smads57]

I wonder if Croft was doubting himself that he would get a go at AFL with Darcy, Naughton, Lobb, Jones and to lesser extent Buku and JOD in the side.
Could Darcy being out give him an extra bit of impetus to grab Darcy's spot if he can put together some good games in the VFL.

But he's not a key fwd (nor a back up ruck option) at present - certainly not based on his games in the VFL so far this year. Yesterday he looked so much more competitive when moved to the wing at half time.

[doggies ftw]

I guessed in here the other day that Buss must have had about 15 intercept possessions and just came across this on social media.

Ive seen a lot of people downplay his game as he “gets a lot of easy ball”. He does get a lot of easy ball but it’s not like he’s having 10-15 touches mostly ‘easy ball’, he’s having 20-30 so it’s just a bit of a cop out IMO. 15 possessions won directly off the opposition, must have killed
/spoiled at least another 10 contests aerially. His defensive positioning is elite, becoming a brick wall down there - very hard to get past and repelling a LOT of oppos entries

not saying he’s not without weaknesses, he obviously has some things to work on but I feel people are very quick to write off his good play as easy or not impactful which IMO is very wrong. He’s a slow burn but really think he’s developing nicely

[Bornadog]

I guessed in here the other day that Buss must have had about 15 intercept possessions and just came across this on social media.

Ive seen a lot of people downplay his game as he “gets a lot of easy ball”. He does get a lot of easy ball but it’s not like he’s having 10-15 touches mostly ‘easy ball’, he’s having 20-30 so it’s just a bit of a cop out IMO. 15 possessions won directly off the opposition, must have killed
/spoiled at least another 10 contests aerially. His defensive positioning is elite, becoming a brick wall down there - very hard to get past and repelling a LOT of oppos entries

not saying he’s not without weaknesses, he obviously has some things to work on but I feel people are very quick to write off his good play as easy or not impactful which IMO is very wrong. He’s a slow burn but really think he’s developing nicely

Can't disagree at all. He has to work on his short kicking and decision making plus the club wants him to improve his one on one.

He should be debuting very very soon.