Training 2024 Pre-season training

[Dogs_r_barking]

I am at training, wondering if the Bulldog shop is open? Does anyone know?

 

[PocketRocket08]

I am at training, wondering if the Bulldog shop is open? Does anyone know?

Keep us updated live on match sim quarter by quarter if possible. Interested to see if they throw some players around.
Also how Marra & naughts connection continues to grow. Who’s are senior back 6 & how they measure up against our 6 fwds.
Also how our youngster are going.
Not long now until we play practise games again opposition 4/5 weeks.

 

[VitalDread]

Keep us updated live on match sim quarter by quarter if possible. Interested to see if they throw some players around.
Also how Marra & naughts connection continues to grow. Who’s are senior back 6 & how they measure up against our 6 fwds.
Also how our youngster are going.
Not long now until we play practise games again opposition 4/5 weeks.

Marra and Naughton are doing midfield mins at stoppages

 

[VitalDread]

Good to see Chatfield part of the VFL lads playing today

 

[Lee]

Good to see Chatfield part of the VFL lads playing today

Couldn’t work out who the other player was? Was running around in Number 42

 

[stefoid]

Also how Marra & naughts connection continues to grow. Who’s are senior back 6 & how they measure up against our 6 fwds.

marra seems to be our best at leading now that he is holding his marks.

Naughts gets manhandled standing under the long ball - he is unstoppable if he gets a run and jump at it, but experienced defenders simply dont let that happen, and worse tend to outmark him in a stand and deliver situation. I think his best position is old fashioned CHF where he can roam far and wide. He is wasted loitering near goal

as for the deep target, we have Lobb, Darce, English. these guys all have probably 15cm reach over naughts and wont get outmarked.

 

[doggies ftw]

Got down to WO this morning for the match sim - really good turnout must have been a couple of hundred people which surprised me.

Few notes I jotted down - full disclaimer these are more on the positive side, there was obviously negatives too but i don’t really feel like harping on that sort of stuff from a preseason match sim unless it was really noticeable/stood out. So if you’re looking for a fully unbiased report this probably isn’t the one but see below for some general notes and things I liked for the most part which stood out to me.

Midfield match ups were younger by design today - Richards, West, Sanders, Cody mostly etc - Smith/Croft ruck, Bont/Libba exclusively forward, Macrae forward too - But it’s tough to see sometimes with everyone wearing random numbers. Naughty & Marra took a few centre bounces as a mid too which is my wet dream Naughty in particular looked super comfortable basically as a rover around the ground before pushing forward. Please settle him as a genuine CHF this year and he’ll have a monster year.

Richards running around in the midfield all day - looks fantastic, he’s routinely the best ball user on the field, puts it out in front of the forwards, bigger, stronger and goes harder than majority of our midfielders - I know a lot of people are against this but it’s a no brainer for mine, and could transform our midfield especially with Baz down now. I’d suspect this is just a match ups/training thing and not indicative of any move as there was a lot of players out of position - but geez it must turn heads in the coaches box watching him run rings around everyone else in the midfield. Easily the best out there today, just a gun.

He was matched up on Sanders a lot, who was pretty quiet early but damn he’s clean inside the contest. Couple of moments that stood out and then really started to get involved in the 2nd qtr. and basically won just about majority of every clearance/hard ball get he was involved in from then. Just doesn’t really make any mistakes, super clean, runs hard and follows up offensively and defensively, kicked a nice goal. Didn’t overly stand out to me but I think that’s just because of the super high expectations. Kid is so ready to go it’s not funny, absolute lock for 23 games if he stays fit.

Cody midfield too - absolute terrier, looked clean. Adds a spark as he’s faster than most on the inside.

Freijah - nice hands in traffic, big unit - really impressed with his involvement, probably had more impact than any other winger at least from where I was sitting. Probably takes a bit too long to choose an option at times but there’s definitely something to work with. Saw him use both feet effectively so that was a nice sight considering he’s meant to be pretty one sided. Just knows where to be has that natural wing instinct, not sure he has a lot of weapons to his game but see him sort of as a dependable Ed Langdon

15

Ed Langdon

Age

28

Ht

182cm

Wt

78kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

21.0

5star

K

12.1

4star

HB

9.0

5star

M

5.0

5star

T

2.3

4star

CL

1.4

4star

D

20.3

5star

K

12.8

5star

HB

7.5

4star

M

4.5

4star

T

0.8

1star

CL

1.8

4star

D

13.0

4star

K

6.4

3star

HB

6.6

4star

M

3.0

3star

T

2.4

4star

CL

0.6

3star

type.

West is a ******* animal man, trains just as hard as he plays, hits harder than anybody out there. Yes he can be sloppy at times do too much and make a few mistakes with his ball use. But I’m adamant you absolutely take those downsides for the upside he brings. He’s a genuine physical weapon and any team would love that but we underutilise him? Why? Especially when that physicality and will to never lose a contest is something we’ve lacked big time, resulting in losses to dogshit teams.

Crofts ruck craft is legit, obviously he’s a stick and got bullied a lot but he’s got some real scope there in this part of his game IMO, I mean he’s 200cm - (super) mobile ruck anyone? He got well beaten by Smith across the day to be fair, hes probably better suited to a chop out but he’s capable there IMO. Good god he moves well and covers ground off the mark probably as good as anyone I’ve ever seen at that height. He’s pretty sloppy though with his ground level touch and ball use. Mostly by hand he’s super poor, whilst kicking can be hit & miss. Needs to clean that up big time if he’s to make it at the level.

Smith moves well, does some really nice things mostly in traffic/congestion. He’s not big though - I mean he’s listed at 203cm but that looks veeeery generous and that’s half neck and head to be honest . He’s genuinely tiny for a modern ruckman so I worry how much that will hold him back against modern rucks. Will have to become a seriously bulky unit to overcome that IMO. But he knows how to get involved in the play which I’m sure Bevo would love. Needs to become a bulldozer ruck without losing any mobility - in the Nank mould maybe?

Coffield is such a nice size, and mover - wasn’t overly involved today but a few nice moments. He starts round one and is going to be very dependable.

Gardners such a shame, was great defensively on Lobb. Really can be very hard to beat in the contest, super fit super strong but * me his skills and decision making aren’t good enough for this level, ie a half assed Friday morning training session. Can’t take a mark to save his life, you just need to be able to hold the simple intercept/contested marks to an okay level to be a key defender these days. He simply cannot. Depth at the absolute most please for the love of god.

Williams just gets fitter and fitter, he looks in great nick. More of a wingman build now.

Darcy, again probably didn’t wow me because of the high expectations. He’s just that good at everything, I really don’t see how he’s not the best forward in the comp for at least a part of his career. There’s just no one that can possibly stop that unit. Probably should have had 5-6 but missed some he should kick.

Just on that, goal kicking coach anyone? Where the * are they because it’s still clearly a big big issue.

JOD played mostly forward alongside Lobb, again assuming mostly for match ups. Few nice moments, but quiet - definitely prefer down back. Very vocal out there though which I enjoyed. Buss similar in defence, couple of nice things but very quiet.

Didn’t notice much of Clarke or Gags, Gags in particular seems to do most of his best work in tight so it’s hard to spot from the other side of the ground when he looks like every other short dark haired bloke on the field.

Bedendo is class, mostly played half forward - not as much involvement as you’d like but everything he goes near is gold. I’d like to see us utilise him as a wing as I think he’d be our best wing within 6 months and there’s no real path to game time for a medium forward in our line up. He’s very clearly in the top handful of the most talented players outside of our best 22.

Jones is an animal as expected, Lobb looked sharp. Marra was quiet but when he gets involved theres no one that can go with him. Pretty comfortable with our best 22 talls now in Naughty, Marra, Lobb, JOD, Jones. English running laps again and didn’t see Keath. Harmes was quiet but goes hard and will add something, just hope we don’t see him taking Wests spot because West is better.

Skills across the ground weren’t amazing, except for a few standouts ie Richards who is sublime. Cody impressive too. I think that’s just to be expected though when your best players aren’t really playing in their standard positions and of course you’re filtering your 22 across the full list of 40. Dale mostly forward and quiet, Daniel quiet. So without the footy in these guys hands it’s obviously going to be a bit sloppier.

Feel free to ask any questions

 

[VitalDread]

Couldn’t work out who the other player was? Was running around in Number 42

Think that was Rhett Montogomerie

 

[doggies ftw]

Also forgot to add:

Cleary had the hard job on Bont for most of the game and held his own in a couple of contests, built into it nicely. IMO one of the best ball users on our list he’s just class. But he’s still so slight and I don’t think will ever put on much size with that frame. It’s hard to see how he fits but I think he’s got the talent. Probably needs to be as a Dale distributor type, but for that role he needs to be more attacking with his decision making, he’s clearly got the leg for it but just too safe.

Buku was okay down back, genuine aerial presence took a big mark and he reads the play really well behind the ball always getting himself in the right position. Ball use let him down a bit tho. Definitely a defender

 

[Graeme Cook]

Darcy apparently finished dead last in the 3km time trial. Talk of him replacing English in the medium term is fanciful

Darcy a lock for Round 1 marked every thing today.
Pure experimental today Croft and Smith in the ruck.

 

[Graeme Cook]

Pure experimental today Rucks Croft v Smith mids Richards McNeil Daniels Naughton JUH Gallagher.
Gardiner had the better of Lobb 2Goals Darcy 8 marks 4 pts was a standout.
Poulter bog ran hard all match back and forward Richards not far behind outstanding. Harmes and Dale very solid West is a beast thankfully had midfield roll today Buko took a hanger but beaten by Darcy.
I Like Smith hard at it & tackles nice left foot, Bont played frd well held by Cleary, Coffield solid down back Sanders has great hands a lock for round 1
Gallagher is good in tight.
Surprisingly O'donnell played frd while O'driscoll is a smokey quick had a great 2nd half.

Keith English Bramble A Jones ran laps.

 

[Dannnnnnnnnn]

Surprisingly O'donnell played frd

[Laughs in Luke Beveridge]

 

[doggies ftw]

Darcy clearly outperformed Lobb in a similar deep role today, haven’t seen the rest of preseason so can’t comment there but if it’s been similar it’s hard to see how you could justify picking Lobb over him for round 1. Man he’s good. Poor goal kicking today though but not alone there

 

[dergert]

In a match sim where Croft and Smith were our two ruckman, Bont was forward and Richards, Naughton and JUH played bursts in the midfield, casual know it all David King things Naughton will be in a new role this year.

FMD

 

[House_of_Dahl]

Richards running around in the midfield all day - looks fantastic, he’s routinely the best ball user on the field, puts it out in front of the forwards, bigger, stronger and goes harder than majority of our midfielders - I know a lot of people are against this but it’s a no brainer for mine, and could transform our midfield especially with Baz down now. I’d suspect this is just a match ups/training thing and not indicative of any move as there was a lot of players out of position - but geez it must turn heads in the coaches box watching him run rings around everyone else in the midfield. Easily the best out there today, just a gun.

Love this. Really hope he gets more opportunities in the middle

 

[doggies ftw]

In a match sim where Croft and Smith were our two ruckman, Bont was forward and Richards, Naughton and JUH played bursts in the midfield, casual know it all David King things Naughton will be in a new role this year.

FMD

Haha to be fair he would have been very confused rocking up today, positioning was all over the shop.

I liked it, gave some lesser types some more opportunity to be around the ball and get involved, and who knows you can learn a thing or too sometimes. Wasn’t too long ago we swung Dale to defence for 30mins in a preseason game for the first time and now he’s an AA!

 

[LondonBulldog]

Got down to WO this morning for the match sim - really good turnout must have been a couple of hundred people which surprised me.

Few notes I jotted down - full disclaimer these are more on the positive side, there was obviously negatives too but i don’t really feel like harping on that sort of stuff from a preseason match sim unless it was really noticeable/stood out. So if you’re looking for a fully unbiased report this probably isn’t the one but see below for some general notes and things I liked for the most part which stood out to me.

Midfield match ups were younger by design today - Richards, West, Sanders, Cody mostly etc - Smith/Croft ruck, Bont/Libba exclusively forward, Macrae forward too - But it’s tough to see sometimes with everyone wearing random numbers. Naughty & Marra took a few centre bounces as a mid too which is my wet dream Naughty in particular looked super comfortable basically as a rover around the ground before pushing forward. Please settle him as a genuine CHF this year and he’ll have a monster year.

Richards running around in the midfield all day - looks fantastic, he’s routinely the best ball user on the field, puts it out in front of the forwards, bigger, stronger and goes harder than majority of our midfielders - I know a lot of people are against this but it’s a no brainer for mine, and could transform our midfield especially with Baz down now. I’d suspect this is just a match ups/training thing and not indicative of any move as there was a lot of players out of position - but geez it must turn heads in the coaches box watching him run rings around everyone else in the midfield. Easily the best out there today, just a gun.

I've been pushing for Richards in the middle for over a year now on big footy. Need to constantly improve the middle and he is the best we have to give it an immediate push.

 

[Whoyagot]

Got down to WO this morning for the match sim - really good turnout must have been a couple of hundred people which surprised me.

Few notes I jotted down - full disclaimer these are more on the positive side, there was obviously negatives too but i don’t really feel like harping on that sort of stuff from a preseason match sim unless it was really noticeable/stood out. So if you’re looking for a fully unbiased report this probably isn’t the one but see below for some general notes and things I liked for the most part which stood out to me.

Midfield match ups were younger by design today - Richards, West, Sanders, Cody mostly etc - Smith/Croft ruck, Bont/Libba exclusively forward, Macrae forward too - But it’s tough to see sometimes with everyone wearing random numbers. Naughty & Marra took a few centre bounces as a mid too which is my wet dream Naughty in particular looked super comfortable basically as a rover around the ground before pushing forward. Please settle him as a genuine CHF this year and he’ll have a monster year.

Richards running around in the midfield all day - looks fantastic, he’s routinely the best ball user on the field, puts it out in front of the forwards, bigger, stronger and goes harder than majority of our midfielders - I know a lot of people are against this but it’s a no brainer for mine, and could transform our midfield especially with Baz down now. I’d suspect this is just a match ups/training thing and not indicative of any move as there was a lot of players out of position - but geez it must turn heads in the coaches box watching him run rings around everyone else in the midfield. Easily the best out there today, just a gun.

He was matched up on Sanders a lot, who was pretty quiet early but damn he’s clean inside the contest. Couple of moments that stood out and then really started to get involved in the 2nd qtr. and basically won just about majority of every clearance/hard ball get he was involved in from then. Just doesn’t really make any mistakes, super clean, runs hard and follows up offensively and defensively, kicked a nice goal. Didn’t overly stand out to me but I think that’s just because of the super high expectations. Kid is so ready to go it’s not funny, absolute lock for 23 games if he stays fit.

Cody midfield too - absolute terrier, looked clean. Adds a spark as he’s faster than most on the inside.

Freijah - nice hands in traffic, big unit - really impressed with his involvement, probably had more impact than any other winger at least from where I was sitting. Probably takes a bit too long to choose an option at times but there’s definitely something to work with. Saw him use both feet effectively so that was a nice sight considering he’s meant to be pretty one sided. Just knows where to be has that natural wing instinct, not sure he has a lot of weapons to his game but see him sort of as a dependable Ed Langdon type.

West is a ******* animal man, trains just as hard as he plays, hits harder than anybody out there. Yes he can be sloppy at times do too much and make a few mistakes with his ball use. But I’m adamant you absolutely take those downsides for the upside he brings. He’s a genuine physical weapon and any team would love that but we underutilise him? Why? Especially when that physicality and will to never lose a contest is something we’ve lacked big time, resulting in losses to dogshit teams.

Crofts ruck craft is legit, obviously he’s a stick and got bullied a lot but he’s got some real scope there in this part of his game IMO, I mean he’s 200cm - (super) mobile ruck anyone? He got well beaten by Smith across the day to be fair, hes probably better suited to a chop out but he’s capable there IMO. Good god he moves well and covers ground off the mark probably as good as anyone I’ve ever seen at that height. He’s pretty sloppy though with his ground level touch and ball use. Mostly by hand he’s super poor, whilst kicking can be hit & miss. Needs to clean that up big time if he’s to make it at the level.

Smith moves well, does some really nice things mostly in traffic/congestion. He’s not big though - I mean he’s listed at 203cm but that looks veeeery generous and that’s half neck and head to be honest . He’s genuinely tiny for a modern ruckman so I worry how much that will hold him back against modern rucks. Will have to become a seriously bulky unit to overcome that IMO. But he knows how to get involved in the play which I’m sure Bevo would love. Needs to become a bulldozer ruck without losing any mobility - in the Nank mould maybe?

Coffield is such a nice size, and mover - wasn’t overly involved today but a few nice moments. He starts round one and is going to be very dependable.

Gardners such a shame, was great defensively on Lobb. Really can be very hard to beat in the contest, super fit super strong but * me his skills and decision making aren’t good enough for this level, ie a half assed Friday morning training session. Can’t take a mark to save his life, you just need to be able to hold the simple intercept/contested marks to an okay level to be a key defender these days. He simply cannot. Depth at the absolute most please for the love of god.

Williams just gets fitter and fitter, he looks in great nick. More of a wingman build now.

Darcy, again probably didn’t wow me because of the high expectations. He’s just that good at everything, I really don’t see how he’s not the best forward in the comp for at least a part of his career. There’s just no one that can possibly stop that unit. Probably should have had 5-6 but missed some he should kick.

Just on that, goal kicking coach anyone? Where the * are they because it’s still clearly a big big issue.

JOD played mostly forward alongside Lobb, again assuming mostly for match ups. Few nice moments, but quiet - definitely prefer down back. Very vocal out there though which I enjoyed. Buss similar in defence, couple of nice things but very quiet.

Didn’t notice much of Clarke or Gags, Gags in particular seems to do most of his best work in tight so it’s hard to spot from the other side of the ground when he looks like every other short dark haired bloke on the field.

Bedendo is class, mostly played half forward - not as much involvement as you’d like but everything he goes near is gold. I’d like to see us utilise him as a wing as I think he’d be our best wing within 6 months and there’s no real path to game time for a medium forward in our line up. He’s very clearly in the top handful of the most talented players outside of our best 22.

Jones is an animal as expected, Lobb looked sharp. Marra was quiet but when he gets involved theres no one that can go with him. Pretty comfortable with our best 22 talls now in Naughty, Marra, Lobb, JOD, Jones. English running laps again and didn’t see Keath. Harmes was quiet but goes hard and will add something, just hope we don’t see him taking Wests spot because West is better.

Skills across the ground weren’t amazing, except for a few standouts ie Richards who is sublime. Cody impressive too. I think that’s just to be expected though when your best players aren’t really playing in their standard positions and of course you’re filtering your 22 across the full list of 40. Dale mostly forward and quiet, Daniel quiet. So without the footy in these guys hands it’s obviously going to be a bit sloppier.

Feel free to ask any questions

What position did Daniel play?

 

[stefoid]

Darcy clearly outperformed Lobb in a similar deep role today, haven’t seen the rest of preseason so can’t comment there but if it’s been similar it’s hard to see how you could justify picking Lobb over him for round 1. Man he’s good. Poor goal kicking today though but not alone there

Lobb might be our #1 ruck early this season, who knows?

 

[doggies ftw]

What position did Daniel play?

Honestly I’m not really sure sorry, didn’t notice him a whole lot tbh, think he moved around abit and didn’t really see him much on my side of the play. Didn’t play midfield from what I saw though mostly around the flanks pushing up into the contest

 

[VitalDread]

I've been pushing for Richards in the middle for over a year now on big footy. Need to constantly improve the middle and he is the best we have to give it an immediate push.

I reckon Richard is a sneaky pick for future Captain

 

[dogwatch]

I've been pushing for Richards in the middle for over a year now on big footy. Need to constantly improve the middle and he is the best we have to give it an immediate push.

We haven't been able to do this in the past because our backline was as slow as treacle. Assuming you didn't want the ball in the hands of Gardner or Keath or Cordy we only had Dale, Daniel, Richards and Duryea to bring the ball out (JJ being injured for a lot of the time or even played forward).

Now we have options who are better interceptors (Coffield, Khamis, O'Donnell) speedy (Dale, JJ, maybe Gallagher) or good ball users (Cleary, O'Donnell, JJ etc). As well as Jones of course. Plus either Gardner or Keath if we want to play a third tall defender (I wouldn't).

So with Bailey Smith out for the season it is a perfect opportunity to bring Richards into the midfield rotations. His delivery will be better than Bailey's and on form for the last 18 months he has been the better player. Of course being in the middle is quite a difference to playing in the back half so who knows. If it doesn't work in the first 4-6 games he can always slot back as a running defender and we simply try someone else (eg Cody).

It's such a logical and sensible move that I'm convinced Bevo won't do it.

 

[Bulldogs85]

 

[NthBondiDoggies]

Brilliant that Naughton played some midfield. We still drop off when Bont leaves the square - was made much worse when Jack was played in a different role but doing a Carey/AblettSnr and rotating through midfield would be a nightmare for opposition.

Would also give us a plan against the bigger midfields - even Hawthorn stitched us up by being bigger and meaner.

 

[doggies ftw]

Brilliant that Naughton played some midfield. We still drop off when Bont leaves the square - was made much worse when Jack was played in a different role but doing a Carey/AblettSnr and rotating through midfield would be a nightmare for opposition.

Would also give us a plan against the bigger midfields - even Hawthorn stitched us up by being bigger and meaner.

Agreed it’s something I’d like to see utilised here and there, we have so many potential weapons yet we’re so so stale in our midfield rotations for whatever reason. I’d be shocked to see us do it in game unfortunately but he looked pretty comfortable, basically played a lot of the game as a rover and covered the ground so well getting to contests, makes things happen whenever he’s near the ball