and for the rest of the year.........

[djp57]

So where does a club with a 5 wins 10 losses ratio go.......well if it wasn't for GC and GWS and the pitiful Melbourne, we will probably end up fighting for 15th position with Port Adelaide, this is the same club that their President said way back in 2011 that a Grand Final position is the only place for us, well have the wheels dropped off, not only dropped off, but the body as well.

Without trying to rant and rave, you have to be realistic, this team lacks the old spirit of having a go, they are insipid, they provoke very little excitement, a few highlights bob up and down from time to time, but at the end of the day, I still keep heading off to the video collection and watch our 2010 pre season premiership, drooling over Bazza, Wardy, even Josh Hill kicking goals and even Johnno and Aker were there. Funny how life can bite you back, ever since Aker got the boot, the boot has literally been up our backsides. Which goes to my main point for this thread.

The Western Bulldogs problems are almost insurmountable, the older players are struggling, albeit Boyd who despite a few clangers is clearly our best player, Cross who keeps putting in week after week, Smith looks good, Dalhouse puts in, Libba and Wallis will have a future, but watching Cordy with that skinny 6'10"frame being pushed under the ball, being outmarked, out pointed gives me no reason to think that in 3 to 5 years he will reverse the trend.

As a former Footscray utility player said to me the other day, our older blokes are nearing the end of their careers, our younger blokes are still learning and our mid tier players are basically non existant.
The coach is a first year AFL Senior Coach, and our coaching panel hardly inspires you.

And we keep getting belted by 10 goals or so.

The first quarter was impressive, yep lots of mistakes, but they seemed to be having a go, but after half way through the 2nd quarter the effort was gone, albeit from the much maligned Higgins, who did little after half time, was part of a missing lost dogs outfit. They seem bemused, their forward structure is non existant, centre clearances were poor, back line tried hard, well Lake tried hard, without him we would have lost by 20 goals.

I keep reading the threads where various people are saying play the kids, I agree, play them all....play Panos, play Hill, play anyone who is on the list and prepared to have a crack, because right now the club is right at the crossroads, our recruiting has been exposed, there is very little to enthuse about the dogs in the future, and hard decisions have to be made now, play Redpath, he is a big bloke that wouldn't get brushed aside like Cordy and Roughead.

There are never any answers, in the old days, you could go out and win the next match and all would be forgiven, problem is don't know when we are going to win the next match

 

[djp57]

and I meant to mention Picken, he is an absolute goer, wish we had about 10 Pickens

 

[StringyDog]

and I meant to mention Picken, he is an absolute goer, wish we had about 10 Pickens

We basically do, That's our problem.

 

[fred cook]

We basically do, That's our problem.

and here are the Goers

Cross
Boyd
Picken
Adisson

 

[Rookie]

Let's be clear about the recruiting - we are victims of our success in the '99 draft, we tolerated Scott Clayton for far too long. Dalrymple's first two picks haven't come on yet but other than that he has been solid so far.

We are also paying for topping up in the hope of making a premiership. Moles, Sherman, DJ, Vez, Hooper, etc were bit players brought in to plug holes and give us that extra 5%. It hasn't worked and now there is too much barely AFL standard stuff clogging up our list. The club needs to cut deeply and find some stable recruits.

 

[Snarls Barkley]

I can understand the frustration but I think we all need to look at our list in perspective.

We built a team to win the flag in 08/09/10, but unfortunately fell just short numerous times against pretty unreal opponents in the Cats and Saints.

From those teams, we've lost a fair few guys to retirement. Murphy, Lake and Boyd are still playing at a very high level, Gia and Crossy have passed their peak but still playing well, Morris is injured and Hargrave and Gilbee are shadows of themselves of past seasons.

The biggest problem is the young guys though. From those the young stars were; Cooney, Griffen, Higgins, Ward, Harbrow and even Hill and Williams. Injuries have taken their toll on Cooney, Griffen is elite, Higgins isn't the player we predicted he would be by now (injuries have hurt him), Ward is at an expansion club, Harbrow is at an expansion club, Hill is at another club (thriving at WC but was playing horrible for us) and Williams is another injury affected player. So from those sides we expected to be carrying our club today, we only have Griffen operating at an extremely high level. Higgins is doing well also (which is good to see, one of my fav's).

As a result of those guys, our list has a horrible imbalance. A bunch of young guys, a bunch of old guys and very few in their peaks. We're on the right track though, going to take a season or two, but our young guys are looking the goods. Libba, Wallis and Dahlhaus are in the elite group of 20 year olds and under and Smith will be a good player also (I see him as a Kieran Jack kind of player in a few years, he wasn't a great kick when he started either).

Big problem for us is when the 29+ players retire and we may need to go through another rebuild. Hopefully the next two drafts will go well for us and our current youngsters continue to improve so we can cope with the losses of the 200 game players when they finish (hopefully a few seasons away still for the likes of Boydy).

 

[the dog's kennel]

Let's be clear about the recruiting - we are victims of our success in the '99 draft, we tolerated Scott Clayton for far too long. Dalrymple's first two picks haven't come on yet but other than that he has been solid so far.

We are also paying for topping up in the hope of making a premiership. Moles, Sherman, DJ, Vez, Hooper, etc were bit players brought in to plug holes and give us that extra 5%. It hasn't worked and now there is too much barely AFL standard stuff clogging up our list. The club needs to cut deeply and find some stable recruits.

Greatest post in the history of the Bulldogs board (a little hyperbolic? Maybe )

But to come back immediately after a premiership tilt you need to have excellent recruiting or far-sighted list management. We have had neither. So what we are seeing now was inevitable.

What we are all desperately hoping is that we will have good recruiting in 2012-3, and excellent player development. If we don't have both, then it could be a long time between drinks.

 

[Dogs_r_barking]

I think the sooner supporters and members realise that we are rebuilding in part to the damage that was done by Rhode and to a certain extent Rocket the better. If you want to take a bit of heart, take a look at Richmond, they were a rabble a couple of years ago, and had to rebuild, now they are pressing for finals and playing a watchable style of footy. Have a bit of hope lads.

 

[wian]

ever since Aker got the boot, the boot has literally been up our backsides.

Sadly "The Boot" has well and truly been given to us since 1954 both on and off the field, in more ways than one ....

 

[nate drake]

I think the sooner supporters and members realise that we are rebuilding in part to the damage that was done by Rhode and to a certain extent Rocket the better. If you want to take a bit of heart, take a look at Richmond, they were a rabble a couple of years ago, and had to rebuild, now they are pressing for finals and playing a watchable style of footy. Have a bit of hope lads.

I don't think we should ever be looking to Richmond's example for anything. They will need to re-build again before they're capable of playing finals.

 

[josh the gent]

Take it easy mate. We are in year 1 of our rebuild - expect 2 more years of this. Just imagine in 2 years time, there will be 40 odd more games into all our younger players, plus we will have had some bloody good draft picks in the meanwhile.

Our performances are similar to that of GWS this year, typically quite competitive for a half, then drop away cos the young legs can't yet maintain the intensity. It will come.

Would be interested to see how Sherman goes playing off half-back, he looks lost as a half-forward.

Was pretty impressed with Tommy Williams at CHF - did we miss something with him for all this time?! That was his first go in the forward line I think, and he must have taken 6-7 lead up marks - not bad given the size of our defeat...

Ultimately, before 2011, one of the BigFooty posters said we look like we did in 2002. Couldn't have posted a truer statement in hindsight.

 

[Tallsies]

I can understand the frustration but I think we all need to look at our list in perspective.

We built a team to win the flag in 08/09/10, but unfortunately fell just short numerous times against pretty unreal opponents in the Cats and Saints.

From those teams, we've lost a fair few guys to retirement. Murphy, Lake and Boyd are still playing at a very high level, Gia and Crossy have passed their peak but still playing well, Morris is injured and Hargrave and Gilbee are shadows of themselves of past seasons.

The biggest problem is the young guys though. From those the young stars were; Cooney, Griffen, Higgins, Ward, Harbrow and even Hill and Williams. Injuries have taken their toll on Cooney, Griffen is elite, Higgins isn't the player we predicted he would be by now (injuries have hurt him), Ward is at an expansion club, Harbrow is at an expansion club, Hill is at another club (thriving at WC but was playing horrible for us) and Williams is another injury affected player. So from those sides we expected to be carrying our club today, we only have Griffen operating at an extremely high level. Higgins is doing well also (which is good to see, one of my fav's).

As a result of those guys, our list has a horrible imbalance. A bunch of young guys, a bunch of old guys and very few in their peaks. We're on the right track though, going to take a season or two, but our young guys are looking the goods. Libba, Wallis and Dahlhaus are in the elite group of 20 year olds and under and Smith will be a good player also (I see him as a Kieran Jack kind of player in a few years, he wasn't a great kick when he started either).

Big problem for us is when the 29+ players retire and we may need to go through another rebuild. Hopefully the next two drafts will go well for us and our current youngsters continue to improve so we can cope with the losses of the 200 game players when they finish (hopefully a few seasons away still for the likes of Boydy).

I don't have much faith in dalrymple getting the next 2 drafts right, this is the guy who thought Howard and Smith were first round picks, what a joke.

 

[VitalDread]

I like Smith and Howard
Howard is still trying to find his way against experienced players
don't like my opinion, come at me bro.

 

[Tallsies]

I like Smith and Howard
Howard is still trying to find his way against experienced players
don't like my opinion, come at me bro.

Your opinion is like the bulldogs style of play, crap

 

[VitalDread]

Your opinion is like the bulldogs style of play, crap

coming from a bulldogs supporter, bandwagon facebook supporter much?

 

[StringyDog]

Far too early to judge Howard, he has had an up down few weeks but I think he must be playing with some sort of niggle as he has looked quite slow and his turning circle has been really noticable, when he generally has good speed, maybe hip issue again? But I would much rather he play up the field more like last year as I wrote in his dog tags his defensive skills are pretty poor which means he can be exposed at half back.

 

[VitalDread]

Far too early to judge Howard, he has had an up down few weeks but I think he must be playing with some sort of niggle as he has looked quite slow and his turning circle has been really noticable, when he generally has good speed, maybe hip issue again? But I would much rather he play up the field more like last year as I wrote in his dog tags his defensive skills are pretty poor which means he can be exposed at half back.[/quote]
Could move him up forward since he has a strong left kick from outside 50?

Think he got a wack or two during the same that slowed him down, not sure was working that game but i spotted that too.

 

[acker]

Let's be clear about the recruiting - we are victims of our success in the '99 draft, we tolerated Scott Clayton for far too long. Dalrymple's first two picks haven't come on yet but other than that he has been solid so far.

We are also paying for topping up in the hope of making a premiership. Moles, Sherman, DJ, Vez, Hooper, etc were bit players brought in to plug holes and give us that extra 5%. It hasn't worked and now there is too much barely AFL standard stuff clogging up our list. The club needs to cut deeply and find some stable recruits.

Spot on

And just on Howard I noticed he got badly legged by a Hawthorn player early in the game and looked in some discomfort immediately after it during a play I think ended in a Hawthorn goal, I was surprised the umpire didn't at least give Howard a free kick for it as the only part of Howard the Hawthorn player had any intent on tackling was his lower leg.

 

[the dog's kennel]

Ultimately, before 2011, one of the BigFooty posters said we look like we did in 2002. Couldn't have posted a truer statement in hindsight.

I believe that was me. People should listen to me more. I'm awesome.

 

[boydsno1]

Umpires were shocking in the first half. Stopped any momentum we were trying to gain as we were in control at times. Second half we were to play as we were just terrible.

 

[josh the gent]

Your opinion is like the bulldogs style of play, crap

I don't think I have ever seen you write 1 positive thing about the Dogs Tallsies.

Nonetheless, not sure why you would expect so much of Howard or Smith just yet, they've only played a handful of games.

Didn't see you write glorious things about Smith after round 1, you just seem like a *in whinger to me, happy to get the knife out when times are bad and silent when times are good.

 

[fronkalicious]

I can understand the frustration but I think we all need to look at our list in perspective.

We built a team to win the flag in 08/09/10, but unfortunately fell just short numerous times against pretty unreal opponents in the Cats and Saints.

From those teams, we've lost a fair few guys to retirement. Murphy, Lake and Boyd are still playing at a very high level, Gia and Crossy have passed their peak but still playing well, Morris is injured and Hargrave and Gilbee are shadows of themselves of past seasons.

The biggest problem is the young guys though. From those the young stars were; Cooney, Griffen, Higgins, Ward, Harbrow and even Hill and Williams. Injuries have taken their toll on Cooney, Griffen is elite, Higgins isn't the player we predicted he would be by now (injuries have hurt him), Ward is at an expansion club, Harbrow is at an expansion club, Hill is at another club (thriving at WC but was playing horrible for us) and Williams is another injury affected player. So from those sides we expected to be carrying our club today, we only have Griffen operating at an extremely high level. Higgins is doing well also (which is good to see, one of my fav's).

As a result of those guys, our list has a horrible imbalance. A bunch of young guys, a bunch of old guys and very few in their peaks. We're on the right track though, going to take a season or two, but our young guys are looking the goods. Libba, Wallis and Dahlhaus are in the elite group of 20 year olds and under and Smith will be a good player also (I see him as a Kieran Jack kind of player in a few years, he wasn't a great kick when he started either).

Big problem for us is when the 29+ players retire and we may need to go through another rebuild. Hopefully the next two drafts will go well for us and our current youngsters continue to improve so we can cope with the losses of the 200 game players when they finish (hopefully a few seasons away still for the likes of Boydy).

Fantastic post.

We were right to try and top-up for a tilt at the flag during the Eade years. We've been waiting since '54 so fans would have been outraged if we didn't go all in to try and win one. I have no issue with that.

We've been smashed by the expansion teams. Losing Ward and Harbrow really really hurt us given our lack of depth in the early/mid 20s range. We've also had a 22 year old brownlow medalist wiped off the face of the football earth by a knee injury. these are big big blows.

Lets not forget all the doom and gloom that was around when Grant, West, Smith, Darcy were to retire. We actually improved a hell of a lot when they did!

The things that keep me a little optimistic are that we have outstanding young inside mids with Wallis, Libba, Smith and even Picken. We also have good young big prospects in Roughie, Campbell, Cordy and Jones. Now before everyone chimes in about how disappointing these guys have been, think for 1 minute about the kind of service/delivery they've received from our forwards. Look back at how well Jones played when he had some quality service from the mids over the last 2 seasons.

We have A LOT of rubbish on our list. Gilbee, Hargrave, DJ, Sherman, Hooper, Mulligan, Moles, Markovic to name a few. We will cut deep into the list this off-season and we will have 3 early picks (including an early second rounder) in which we'd expect to pick up genuine quality in a non-compromised draft.

We'll also have platy of cap room to use in the coming years as well to lure a top end talent or 2. This thing can turn around. It will take 2 years at least for us to challenge for the top 8 again, but when we do, I feel like we'll be in a position to make another nice, sustained run like we did under Rocket.

 

[Barkly St End]

We all remember our inglorious 2003 season, only 9 years ago.

Wins were hard to come by that season, and we certainly looked light on in a number of areas, and we probably were carrying too many skinny outside runners at the time, but I do recall seeing glimpses of a game style that would serve us well in future years, a capacity to move the ball lightning quick on the rare occasions we were able to win the footy.

No matter how bad things get, you have to always be on the lookout for these sorts of glimpses that might be windows to a better future.

Are we getting any such glimpses with the dogs right now?

 

[LondonBulldog]

Howard is not quick and never has been, I've watched him enough. Getting out on your own recieving the ball doing a little run then kick is not quick. Dogs will persist with him as we do with first rounders but will never be a great player. Bad first pick.
Tutt on the other hand is quick and exactly what we need. Run for 5 metres with burst type speed and quick it 50 metres into the forward line quicker. From my Willy watching have always rated Tutt ahead. Win some lose some.

 

[UnCani]

I think the sooner supporters and members realise that we are rebuilding in part to the damage that was done by Rhode and to a certain extent Rocket the better. If you want to take a bit of heart, take a look at Richmond, they were a rabble a couple of years ago, and had to rebuild, now they are pressing for finals and playing a watchable style of footy. Have a bit of hope lads.