Preview Western Bulldogs VS GWS @ Marvel 31st July 2025

[Mucat]

Don’t see the issue with the team selected. VFL played Saturday so clearly we weren’t prepared to take anyone off a 5 day break.

Wasn’t surprised we went unchanged.

I don"t why we are at 1.44 and we have the weakest team ever i don"t beleave it

 

[Snarls Barkley]

I'd have to look up the others, but Castagna was an absolute whipping boy for Richmond and only got near 3 tackles as an average twice in his career.

In terms of inside F50 tackles, VDM is 35th in the comp which isn't bad at all. He's playing his role, noting a couple of shortened games in the mix too.


Pointing out that defensive work is the basis for their selection isn't white knighting, it's reality.

We ask want better from every player on the list but realistically, they guys taking up a massive % of our cap seen to cop only a small % of the criticism when our performances are below par.

Castagna copped a heap of shit from Tigers fans, Rioli did also. He averaged 3 tackles across 17/18/19 and 2.2 in the shortened quarter year

I don’t think they are performing their defensive roles well enough and the stats are showing that, so that’s more the reality I’m alluding too. Vandermeer started the year very solidly, and that’s not just his famed off the action stuff that only the keen eye can see. His last two months have been very poor that rival last season, he’s going to be given more chances so hopefully we see more of early season VDM

I would say that Naughton and English haven’t escaped anyone’s criticism in our below par performances over recent years. So it’s probably just Libba and Bont who are evading it, and even Bont was getting it after the final last year. I shall make sure those guys don’t escape any criticism going forward

 

[X_box_X]

I actruley dont mind Buku here to realeave Englisg

 

[Mofra]

Castagna copped a heap of shit from Tigers fans, Rioli did also. He averaged 3 tackles across 17/18/19 and 2.2 in the shortened quarter year

I guess that's how I view our HF guys - a thankless task but battling away, especially when you consider McNeill was a PSD/rookie and they're pretty low percentage guys to make it.

Castagna would be getting a game for us right now. We're just playing what we have.

I don’t think they are performing their defensive roles well enough and the stats are showing that, so that’s more the reality I’m alluding too. Vandermeer started the year very solidly, and that’s not just his famed off the action stuff that only the keen eye can see. His last two months have been very poor that rival last season, he’s going to be given more chances so hopefully we see more of early season VDM

I would say that Naughton and English haven’t escaped anyone’s criticism in our below par performances over recent years. So it’s probably just Libba and Bont who are evading it, and even Bont was getting it after the final last year.

In essence, it just seems like we have probably 3-4% of our cap copping 50%+ of the criticism.

Given we've pumped games into Dolan this year, it certainly seems like Bevo & co aren't on the 'McNeill or bust' train. I suspect Harmes plays if he wasn't building the kms into his legs after his illness.

 

[Norm De Guerre]

The counter-intuitive trope that Beveridge has his untouchable favourites is a pretty dumb one.

What he has is a dozen interchangeable fringe players, that he needs to sort through to find guys who will fill gaping holes in the list who can reliably adhere to team structures as required. As nice as it sounds, no team has 22 guns out on the field during a game, what they invariably have is a core 6-10 guns. a hand full of solid role players and rest is developing types and role fillers like this boards scapegoats for everything you don't like about team selection. Or losses.

If we are reliant on the last cohort to win. Then that loss has already happened.

From those that most would currently have in the side in place of name your own target.

Davidson has shown promise, but his form had been tapering off significantly before his omission. The MC clearly see something in his game that needs work. Id suggest it's his physicality and defensive efforts.

Harmes is solid a solid enough contributor and plays most weeks, but is returning from what must've been a pretty significant case of the flu and just isn't quite right to return. As somebody currently coming through 2 weeks of the same. I can understand why he wasn't considered for this week against a team whose game is based on hard running. The last thing we need is for a player to blow up during a game.

Khamis. A defensive liability against a side whose trademarked style is one of moving the ball in a giant wave of forward momentum. Im not sure what thats called.

L. Jones. I see no reason to take that backwards step. A break glass option in case the Busslinger trial is a monumental cluster****. But it's a trial we really need to undertake.

A. Jones. Stop it, you're being silly.

Things aren't as bad as they seem when Joel Freijah is named on the bench. Along side a flock of scapegoats.

 

[X_box_X]

 

[go_sports_team]

View attachment 2381954

This HAS to be a troll account but the commitment to butchering every sentence is very impressive. Like they're using AI in reverse - "rewrite this as if I had a frontal lobotomy"

 

[Mofra]

View attachment 2382047

Listed emergencies: [38] Josaia Delana,[30] James Leake,[35] Max Gruzewski

 

[The White Mouse]

This HAS to be a troll account but the commitment to butchering every sentence is very impressive. Like they're using AI in reverse - "rewrite this as if I had a frontal total lobotomy"

 

[Norm De Guerre]

This HAS to be a troll account but the commitment to butchering every sentence is very impressive. Like they're using AI in reverse - "rewrite this as if I had a frontal lobotomy"

I think we all know who it is that has this kind of dedication to multi account bit.

Hope he is better at keeping his multi-ducks in a row than this cracker...

 

[House_of_Dahl]

This HAS to be a troll account but the commitment to butchering every sentence is very impressive. Like they're using AI in reverse - "rewrite this as if I had a frontal lobotomy"

Pretty sure scrag could fill a whole thread just with his alts..

 

[Mucat]

Castagna copped a heap of shit from Tigers fans, Rioli did also. He averaged 3 tackles across 17/18/19 and 2.2 in the shortened quarter year

I don’t think they are performing their defensive roles well enough and the stats are showing that, so that’s more the reality I’m alluding too. Vandermeer started the year very solidly, and that’s not just his famed off the action stuff that only the keen eye can see. His last two months have been very poor that rival last season, he’s going to be given more chances so hopefully we see more of early season VDM

I would say that Naughton and English haven’t escaped anyone’s criticism in our below par performances over recent years. So it’s probably just Libba and Bont who are evading it, and even Bont was getting it after the final last year. I shall make sure those guys don’t escape any criticism going forward

I agree Vandermeer is hot and cold he can not put a full together and a player like Arty can't crack a game it show"s bevo got his faverits and i personally hate it

 

[Munnez]

I don"t why we are at 1.44 and we have the weakest team ever i don"t beleave it

This aged well

 

[Mhiggo]

Wonder if the plastic GWS franchise will melt in the Marvel pressure cooker

Yes as it turns out!

 

[stefoid]

The counter-intuitive trope that Beveridge has his untouchable favourites is a pretty dumb one.

whaaaat? He has a track record of giving certain players game after game, then belatedly delisting them. I dont need to list them, we all know who they were

 

[Norm De Guerre]

whaaaat? He has a track record of giving certain players game after game, then belatedly delisting them. I dont need to list them, we all know who they were

Only in the minds of experts on the sidelines who know better.

Speak to any football supporter or look at other boards here on bigfooty and he same trope about coaches playing favourites and that clubs hang onto their duds for far too long is a common whinge. Especially when the team is playing like garbage and an easy scapegoat is needed.

Its a story as old as a rock.

The lot of a fringe player is bouncing in and out of the team filling holes until their inevitable delisting.

 

[stefoid]

Only in the minds of experts on the sidelines who know better.

Speak to any football supporter or look at other boards here on bigfooty and he same trope about coaches playing favourites and that clubs hang onto their duds for far too long is a common whinge. Especially when the team is playing like garbage and an easy scapegoat is needed.

Its a story as old as a rock.

The lot of a fringe player is bouncing in and out of the team filling holes until their inevitable delisting.

We arent talking about fringe players, we are talking about fixtures that play 2/3rds of a season without impact and then get delisted.

 

[Norm De Guerre]

We arent talking about fringe players, we are talking about fixtures that play 2/3rds of a season without impact and then get delisted.

We could continue to have a semantic argument over what a fringe player is until the cows come home.

But what you describe is my definition of a fringe player.

So I'll just go with that.