Prediction Changes v Bombers (Sat 17 May, 7:35pm @ Marvel)

[JohnnySteel]

Jeez rough on poor Buss. Have a good debut and don’t see it again.

Think we needed him to go back and Lobb to go forward to help Naughton.

This is bloody bizarre. Play Buss. I’m seriously perplexed.

 

[Dog 36]

This is bloody bizarre. Play Buss. I’m seriously perplexed.

Maybe the fact he hasn’t played for 2 weeks any footy counted against him

 

[goodcop badcop]

Jones doesn't deserve to be in this week. Got a lot of the ball in the VFL, made way too many mistakes. Scott was better and can play the same role that Artie can, but better.

With Sir Doug Nicholls round on, it kinda looks like Jones is a DEI hire lol.

 

[JTCWBFC]

Really wanted Buss back. Gives us flexibility with Lobb, especially after naughtons stinker last week

 

[JohnnySteel]

Really wanted Buss back. Gives us flexibility with Lobb, especially after naughtons stinker last week

Agree, I think we need Lobb forward to give us that edge. We don’t look dangerous enough in the air up forward currently. Bringing Buss back in just made so much sense & we need to get games into him for when we have opposition that have three big forwards.

 

[Pencil case]

Did say VDM was a big chance of getting up.

Thank god too, because we’re a much better team with Vandermeer in it

 

[Foxman98]

Agree, I think we need Lobb forward to give us that edge. We don’t look dangerous enough in the air up forward currently. Bringing Buss back in just made so much sense & we need to get games into him for when we have opposition that have three big forwards.

You could somewhat justify it last 2 weeks with the heat/dew and wind but under the roof and given their defenders have been doing well intercepting it makes us unbelievably inflexible again

 

[JohnnySteel]

You could somewhat justify it last 2 weeks with the heat/dew and wind but under the roof and given their defenders have been doing well intercepting it makes us unbelievably inflexible again

Exactly my thoughts, if we wanted to bring Duryea in then Bramble should’ve been dropped with Buss coming in.

 

[my plums]

Interesting emergencies. You don’t normally see two talls.

 

[JohnnySteel]

Hoping my Buss emergency melts drives us to victory.

 

[Zeno The Great]

L Kennedy deserved a game more than Jones this week. Unfortunately I feel we've given Jones more than enough chances and he isn't up to it. Such a shame because he is a ripping kid. Doc deserves the recall. Thought Poulter was fine last week, a bit stiff, Gallagher was terrible when he came on so no issues sending him back.

 

[Mofra]

My guess is that Jones lines up on a wing and Bramble is sub.

Or JJ sub. Both are running defenders.
I suspect Arty plays high half forward and may take a few wing rotations

 

[TMoney22]

#selectionintegrity

 

[dogwatch]

 

[Bald]

Gardy being an emergency intrigues me a little more than it should.

 

[dogwatch]

I feel a bit sorry for Poulter and to a lesser extent Gallagher. Both came back into the side last week. Poulter worked hard made a few mistakes but got a fair bit of the footy all the same. Like a lot of his teammates he struggled to adapt to the slick conditions that didn't really suit his game. Next game is back on familiar territory, probably under the roof and ...boom! ... he's back in the twos. Gallagher a bit the same but of course he only came on late as a sub, and at least he's already had a few chances at it this year, unlike Poulter.

Anyway neither of them are in our top 20 so it's really only tinkering at the edges. If MC think Jones is a better option this week I'm happy to see him in the side.

Regarding the non-selection of Busslinger: I wonder whether MC have had a look at the stat reported mid-week that Essendon are one of the hardest sides to score against. I'm not very up to date on who's who at Essendon but perhaps MC is thinking the best way to break down the Essendon defence is not to outmark it with KPFs but to beat them at ground level. That after all is where most of our goals have been coming from since Darcy got injured. If that's the case then we have nominally got two marking targets in Naughton and mid-sized Khamis and then a bunch of smalls and midfielders. Bont and English may also drift forward at times to change things around a bit. That might also explain why Arty got the nod over Poulter who is less agile in traffic.

Very happy to see Duryea in again. He was back in form in the VFL last week and his experience will be vital.

 

[Snarls Barkley]

Regarding the non-selection of Busslinger: I wonder whether MC have had a look at the stat reported mid-week that Essendon are one of the hardest sides to score against. I'm not very up to date on who's who at Essendon but perhaps MC is thinking the best way to break down the Essendon defence is not to outmark it with KPFs but to beat them at ground level. That after all is where most of our goals have been coming from since Darcy got injured. If that's the case then we have nominally got two marking targets in Naughton and mid-sized Khamis and then a bunch of smalls and midfielders. Bont and English may also drift forward at times to change things around a bit. That might also explain why Arty got the nod over Poulter who is less agile in traffic.

They have a lot of injured talls the Bombers. Bryan and Draper in the ruck, Jones forward, and Ridley and their debutant Hayes down back. Maybe that is a reason we've gone smaller as well

I don't love that we've decided to do it. I think we need the option of sending Lobb forward if things are breaking down again like they were early in the GWS game particularly

Have found the Busslinger weird. Thought he was pretty solid on debut, to then get moved to sub and then straight out is strange. Have seen a lot of awful KPD games in the Bevo era given a lot of chances to find their feet at the level

 

[Golden_6]

The thing that concerns me with Buss is that it’s clear that some on the MC just don’t rate him.

It’s hard to develop at AFL level if the coaches find every possible reason to not to select you for games which is what it feels like is happening.

 

[grassman75]

Cannot be a ticketed game. I surprised GA sold out probably get round 45,000 being dogs home game. If it was bombers home game it would be ticketed and round 50,000. Hope everyone can there we have been starved of Melbourne based games recently. GWS Canberra, Ballarat limited capacity, GC Darwin. Think it is a bad fixture for the continuity of bulldogs supporters wanting to go to games.

Note the game times and venues to be confirmed this week for rounds 18 to 24. I am lead to believe zero chance of the round 18 clash against the crows at Ballarat be moved.

Been two full seasons and have to wait til Rd 19 this year for a QLD game…now that’s starved of footy

You can see why the Sunny coast scratch match was so well attended

 

[TiAn_]

Busslinger isn’t really a key defender at AFL level. He’s a medium like Cleary. I wouldn’t want to see him on Wright. And he can’t play the other end so if he’s getting torched and need to move Lobb back again we have to sub him.

Essendon like to flood their defence and go slow and struggle when the game is quick and chaotic. Jones’ speed and pressure should add to how we challenge and test Essendon more than Poulter.

 

[Al dente]

The thing that concerns me with Buss is that it’s clear that some on the MC just don’t rate him.

It’s hard to develop at AFL level if the coaches find every possible reason to not to select you for games which is what it feels like is happening.

i thgink the MC share the same concern alot of us do with Buss. lack of pace

 

[TiAn_]

i thgink the MC share the same concern alot of us do with Buss. lack of pace

It’s weird how heavily Khamis has been criticised for being slow but many of the same people desperately want Busslinger in the side. I thought he was solid against GWS, but some of his follow up work after marking contests was pretty slow and he was unable to influence the next ground contest the way O’Donnell or even Lobb does.

 

[Al dente]

It’s weird how heavily Khamis has been criticised for being slow but many of the same people desperately want Busslinger in the side. I thought he was solid against GWS, but some of his follow up work after marking contests was pretty slow and he was unable to influence the next ground contest the way O’Donnell or even Lobb does.

Yeah, if he was a little bigger and stronger like a Weitering he'd get away with it

 

[TiAn_]

Yeah, if he was a little bigger and stronger like a Weitering he'd get away with it

Yeah he just really needs size and strength. Hopefully he keeps adding it over the next year or two.

 

[JohnnySteel]

Buss proved he was up to standard in his debut game though. Seems odd not to keep developing him in the 1’s when we have an opportunity.
Buss & JOD will make a great partnership.