Game Day Pre-season match thread - Bulldogs vs Hawks Thursday night in Tassie.

[King Harold]

Croft with a quiet 6 score involvements

Going to be a very good player in 12 months time.

 

[go_sports_team]

Going to be a very good player in 12 months time.

He was almost great, will be a gun next year. Love his attack and aggression on the ball. More of that please.

 

[ossie_21]

Marra can't even be arsed to watch us play

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No point dragging him to Tassie and he probably watched it on his phone like a bunch of other people did.

Did you want him chained to a desk at Whitten Oval watching it on a monitor for the social team to get a photo op to post up?

 

[Ted's Robot]

Good selection dilemmas coming up.
Cleary put his hand up, Poulter didn't.
Davidson could not have been more impressive. Still look a bit slow in the middle but seemed to have a plan to stop the hawks dominating us.

 

[WAbulldog]

Thought Cleary played a good game, would have him over Gags in the 22.

 

[Generation West]

Liked Cleary, Davidson, Dolan and Croft.

Arty Jones and McNeil should play round 1.

Hopefully have Bont, Dale, Richards and West available also.

 

[W W Biscuit]

No point dragging him to Tassie and he probably watched it on his phone like a bunch of other people did.

Did you want him chained to a desk at Whitten Oval watching it on a monitor for the social team to get a photo op to post up?

That's a bit dramatic, don't you think? Chained to a sofa in his living room would have been fine.

 

[stefoid]

Couldnt see the game, but question about Sanders - 22 disposals for 76 meters gained? ......

 

[Libbaaaa]

There was a play in the last few minutes of the game where Freijah was clearly going to be 2nd to a marking contest but he managed to spoil the ball deliberately to a teammate 10m away. Such a talent.

Also lovedddded Croft just abusing the midget Watson when he tried to give him stick after getting done holding the ball.

 

[MaxiBont]

Couldnt see the game, but question about Sanders - 22 disposals for 76 meters gained? ......

Had a lot of quick handballs out of the stoppage which were needed and set up a lot of good play. It’s an underrated skill in the modern AFL.

 

[Sentinel]

Couldnt see the game, but question about Sanders - 22 disposals for 76 meters gained? ......

He desperately needs to get this out of his game:

 

[bulldogs201616]

Cleary won me over tonight he should be a lock for round 1.

 

[Martyn_30_]

Davidson, McNeil, Jones and Cleary all put their hand up.
Harmes has a role, but I'd don't think he should be inside the centre he's better off on a wing/half forward where he played quite well last year.
The expectations of Sanders should be that he'll turn out to be a solid Bailey Williams level of player, anything else is just a bonus. Viewing him as a potential star is just setting yourself up for disappointment at the moment.
Naughton's role will be even more damaging with Ugle Hagen deep forward with Darcy. There were a number of times a non-threatening player ended up as the deep target.

Croft and Dolan showed something for the future but I don't thi know they're ready yet. Croft's developed quicker than you would expect for the type of player he was when drafted.

I still haven't seen anything that's shown me Gallagher is going to be a player, right now he doesn't have any strengths and even his supposed running ability doesn't appear during the game.

On SM-A166P using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[adogsfan5]

I still have absolutely no idea what sort of player Croft is haha… which is exciting.

 

[Doggies_13]

Really solid hit out with some close game scenario work.

We looked cooked in the last, a lot of players out on their feet but managed to steady and get a win.

A lot of the new guys were good and showed signs.

Dolan ran out of legs but showed signs.

Davidson just plays round one looks a gun.

Sanders needs to kick more and find more easy ball.

Kennedy looks a good pick up, very defensive minded which we need.

Thought jones was good when coming on.

Liked Cleary think having him and Duryea will help us defensively. Bramble freijah dale giving the run in round one would be enough.

We are quicker across the field and we stuck tackles better

 

[Struggle]

I don't see any way we lose a game this season

 

[King Harold]

Really solid hit out with some close game scenario work.

We looked cooked in the last, a lot of players out on their feet but managed to steady and get a win.

A lot of the new guys were good and showed signs.

Dolan ran out of legs but showed signs.

Davidson just plays round one looks a gun.

Sanders needs to kick more and find more easy ball.

Kennedy looks a good pick up, very defensive minded which we need.

Thought jones was good when coming on.

Liked Cleary think having him and Duryea will help us defensively. Bramble freijah dale giving the run in round one would be enough.

We are quicker across the field and we stuck tackles better

Not sure about your last point.
The amount of times Hawks mids broke tackles and got out of the phone box looked liked something I saw constantly last year.

 

[adogsfan5]

M Kennedy.

Some raised eyebrows that we just got someone worse than Macrae.

I’m telling you, it won’t be the case.

He’s Dunkley 2.0.

 

[Foxman98]

M Kennedy.

Some raised eyebrows that we just got someone worse than Macrae.

I’m telling you, it won’t be the case.

He’s Dunkley 2.0.

Even had a ruck contest as tribute

 

[Doggies_13]

Not sure about your last point.
The amount of times Hawks mids broke tackles and got out of the phone box looked liked something I saw constantly last year.

Maybe in the second half we missed a few here and there but I put that down to fatigue. First half we constantly nailed the tackles especially in transition

 

[VitalDread]

I really liked Vanders and McNeil change in roles tonight
Def feel they will be played at their strengths

 

[Graeme Cook]

Why isn't Marra in the vfl squad for tomorrow

 

[Norm De Guerre]

Shout out to a few lesser lights of the team that Im not always the biggest fan of.

McNeil. He's shown flashes that he capable of what we saw today, But I think this was his most complete game by far. His being in the right spots and the pressure he brought to bear was fantastic. Its little wonder that the MC have so much faith in him when us experts dont.

Jones. Probably didnt get a lot but looks much cleaner with his disposal when he did. Brought his usual pressure to opposition ball carriers, but did it for longer periods. Would have to be very close to playing round 1.

Cleary. I dont know if there is a place for him in a fully fit side, but he does everything with a level of calmness and lacking of panic that a number of teammates could learn from. Especially compared to what the likes of Garcia and Gallagher displayed when the ball was camped in the Hawks forward line late when the game was in the balance.


Other wonkily random thinkings.

Croft. Hes as raw as a teenagers penis. He has a very high ceiling something evident by Beveridges willingness to use him all over the ground. Given the coach likes to throw talls into teh deep end earlier than expected I reckon he's on a rocket ship to debut in the second half of the season. Especially if JUH is a bust or there is an injury to Naughton, Darcy or we're in need of a 200cm wingman.

Poulter. Still dont see it. Granted he seemed to spend most of his time away from his preferred position on the wing at half forward. And has clearly been surpassed for that slot by Davidson and even Croft early.

Davidson. Looks like a guy just made to run all day up and down the wings. The winger that I have been moaning about our inability to recruit for years about may've finally fallen into our laps.

Garcia. Try as he might, he just butchers the ball. Especially when under pressure.

Gallagher. See above.

Sanders. I think Im just going to have to accept that his first instinct is to handball and that he's not a kicker of the ball. I cant say Im not concerned that he still hasn't got his propensity to hot potato the ball to a teammate under more pressure out of his system.

Josh Dolan. Looked quite good with his pace and game awareness early but looked pretty gassed half way through the game. A long way to go, but a promising debut nonetheless.

Kennedy. Solid if unspectacular. Pretty much what Ive come to expect whenever I watched him at Carlton.

JO'D Its not hard to see why the MC seem to love him. Will be in the side more than he's out of it even when Jones returns.

Harmes. Was ok, but he'll need to make his bones forward of the ball. Not in the centre.

Freijah, Williams, Duryea and Bramble are almost indistinguishably reliable and consistent. We're well stocked for medium sized utilities who can play in the back half. Especially when you consider that the best of them wasn't playing today.

English. Thought he was pretty good. Halved the ruck contests but dominated around the ground. He's going to carry a heavy load this season.

Libba. The only time the game looked to be slipping out of our grasp, was in the 3rd when the Hawks gained control over a second string starting midfield consisting of Sanders, Harmes and Kennedy? Beveridge let this roll for about 10 minutes and then shifted Libba back into the middle and he began the task of righting the ship in the captains absence. The guy is just a freak. Im sure Im not the only one who had concerns when in the opening minutes when a not fully switched Libba trailed in behind Weddle. But that didnt last long.

Naughton. It was amazing listening to the commentators talk about the power of work he does up and down the ground and the pressure he brings like it's a new thing. Once he got on his bike, Barass' early dominance faded like a fart in a hurricane. Looks set for a big year if he can avoid his annual multi-week injury that always seems to derail his season.

Darcy. Despite being manhelded early in the game it made little difference to him, he just knuckled down and went to work. I have no doubt that he'll be the most dominant player in the game by the end of the year. He's so much like his dad when he rucks in the forward line. He's always looking to use his reach and grab the ball out of the air and snap at goal. Because hit outs are for dumb ruckman and he's above such nonsense.

Overall a pretty good result given how many top 10 players on the list weren't available. Pressure on the opposition ball carrier was outstanding.

But if we cannot address our set shots then we are going leave more games on the table than we need to.

 

[adogsfan5]

Why isn't Marra in the vfl squad for tomorrow

Too busy at the basketball tonight

 

[weltschmerz]

Libba. The only time the game looked to be slipping out of our grasp, was in the 3rd when the Hawks gained control over a second string starting midfield consisting of Sanders, Harmes and Kennedy? Beveridge let this roll for about 10 minutes and then shifted Libba back into the middle and he began the task of righting the ship in the captains absence. The guy is just a freak. Im sure Im not the only one who had concerns when in the opening minutes when a not fully switched Libba trailed in behind Weddle. But that didnt last long.

That's our vice captain right there.