Training 2026 Bulldogs Pre-Season

[Marsy]

Jay Clark reported we started Lobb, JOD, Coffield, Budarick, Dale and Jaques in the A side.

Coffield has been starting in this side for weeks now.

He also said Treloar will miss 1 week.

 

[dergert]

Bevo was out coached today

 

[Graeme Cook]

Good day at the footy - Apart from Maroochydore not opening up the canteen or bar which meant I had to nick to the servo at half time to prevent heat stroke and dehydration.

Club decided to play probables vs possibles in the first half. Before evening the teams up at half time. They didn’t make it best forwards on best backs. Just a mix of the two squads.
By the second half it was glorified circle work. It was hot and the boys were starting to tire.

As you would imagine the first half was very one sided. Starting in the centre for the probs was English, Bont, Richard’s and Freijah. They did as they pleased in the centre circle and around stoppages early. Poor Buku copped a huge knee in the back from Darcy from the first centre clearance. The rest of his day didn’t get much better.
Make no mistake. This is Darcy’s forward line and I’d imagine in the next 12-24 months his team. He only played a half and had at least 6-8 shots at goal. He is unstoppable when his opponent has to play by the rules.
In saying that Naughton was huge as well. At least 10 shots on goal for the day and looked to be moving really well. In the 2nd half he had O’Donnell and seemed to always be able to get a metre or two on him on the lead. Not sure if it’s concentration or slow off the mark but our key backs always seem to be a yard off the pace.
The back line to me will still be a concern. Buderick will be a good pickup and Jacques will slot in on the other back flank with Dale. Still not sold on Busslinger. Not quick, not overly strong.
It’s hard to compare setups on the ground with last year because I don’t see any live games. But it did look much more man on man in defence (rather than zone)and we didn’t look as highly pushed up the ground as we were. The last wall looked to be set up just over Centre.

Around stoppages it looked very similar. In/Out and back with a runner going past. Definite fed to a runner going by more than I remember us doing the last few years.

I won’t mention all the players but just a few who caught the eye, are popular around here or the familiar whipping boys.

Sanders - started at half forward and didn’t really get into the game until he went on ball. That’s where he belongs. Covered the ground well. Won’t say he looked quicker but was definitely linking up with one/twos. He’s going to be a good player. Just a matter of how good and whether it’s with us.

Artie Jones - was surprised to see him warming up. Thought he was injured. Like a few of the kids looks like he’s filled out a bit but definitely hasn’t lost any of his speed or agility. Always buzzing around but not quite clicking for him just yet. Needs a break out game then I think he’ll be off to the races.

Hynes - Was really looking forward to watching this kid. I think he is exactly what we’re lacking at the moment. Dangerous mid size forward who can play a few minutes on ball. Looked great in the warm up and did a few good things. Has nice hands. Don’t think he’ll ever be a big accumulator of possession’s but I’m playing him Rnd 1. Has a bit of X factor.

Gardy - everyone’s favourite. What hope do you have playing on Darcy when Richard’s and Bont are walking it out of the middle. Not much. Unfortunately even when he had a smaller, younger opponent in the second half he was still beaten.

Coffield - genuinely surprised he’s still on the list. Didn’t do anything wrong he’s just meh. Remember in U14’s there was the big Italian (Greek/Lebo) who dominated cos he was bigger and stronger than everyone else. But then by U18’s they are still the same size. They still go ok it’s just that everyone else has overtaken them. That’s how I feel about Coffield.

English - too hot for chilli today. Don’t think he bothered getting out of 2nd gear.

McNeil - the almost player. Runs hard, creates space, pressures well then drops a chest mark. Runs hard, creates spaces, gets the ball, then chooses the wrong option. Frustrating to watch

Cleary - wish he just had a bit more tenacity. Bit more mongrel. Everything he does is nice and safe. I’d say Jacques has gone past him

Jacques - run out of defence was excellent. Was one of the players continually running past to receive the handball and a good size. In my team against Brissie

Emmitt - thought he was pretty good. Was used a few times by the boys coming out of defence which tells me the boys have confidence in him. Not sure he’ll play Rnd 1 but wouldn’t be a shock.

Sellwood - this guy could be the second coming of Jesus. I honestly have no idea if he exists.
Walker / Sellwood / Busslinger basically anyone with shoulder length hair or longer today was ordinary.
I’m sorry and please don’t kick me off this board.

I tried logging on to my laptop to write all this but I couldn’t remember my password. I’ve had to use my phone and my thumb has had enough.
Any questions about players or the game in general just ask.

Great work cobber did you see Gallagher he's been killing it recently.
Has a crew cut now hard to reconise.

 

[Mantis Toboggan]

Coffield has been starting in this side for weeks now.

Depressing. I don’t know what he’s done to deserve being on our list, nevermind best 22/23.

 

[cecil]

Coffield at his best would definitely be best 22. He's surely at long odds to get back to it though

 

[oneoffpost]

Great work cobber did you see Gallagher he's been killing it recently.
Has a crew cut now hard to reconise.

took me a while to work out he’d had the buzz cut. I like him so once I’d worked it out I watched him pretty closely. Definitely spent some time in defence and his run and carry was good. Best thing was him lowering his eyes and hitting a target 30m away instead of just bombing it.

 

[oneoffpost]

Jay Clark reported we started Lobb, JOD, Coffield, Budarick, Dale and Jaques in the A side.

Coffield has been starting in this side for weeks now.

He also said Treloar will miss 1 week.

Yeah it was. Coffield shaved his head as well so a few of the boys look the same from distance.
Treloar did a heap of running with Laith and Bramble on the adjacent oval.

 

[goodcop badcop]

Sanders - started at half forward and didn’t really get into the game until he went on ball. That’s where he belongs. Covered the ground well. Won’t say he looked quicker but was definitely linking up with one/twos. He’s going to be a good player. Just a matter of how good and whether it’s with us.

Are you sure you saw Sanders out there? Grassman75 said he didn't play and it was reported on afl.com he re did his hamstring not long ago.

 

[oneoffpost]

Will Darcy out there??

Was pretty windy and he nearly blew away. Didn’t see him touch it. Big couple of years in the weights room coming up

 

[oneoffpost]

Are you sure you saw Sanders out there? Grassman75 said he didn't play and it was reported on afl.com he re did his hamstring not long ago.

Definitely played

 

[Mantis Toboggan]

Coffield at his best would definitely be best 22. He's surely at long odds to get back to it though

You could almost say the same about anyone, though. Liam Jones’ best was best 22. Poulter’s best was best 22. Coffield’s ‘best’ was pretty good I suppose but we haven’t seen it in the RW&B.

 

[cecil]

You could almost say the same about anyone, though. Liam Jones’ best was best 22. Poulter’s best was best 22. Coffield’s ‘best’ was pretty good I suppose but we haven’t seen it in the RW&B.

Coffield has a top 5 B&F finish in a finals team under his belt. His best is far beyond anything Poulter produced.

I'm just saying that we shouldn't dismiss him being part of our back 6, as if hes over his injuries he COULD be a valuable piece. I think its unlikely though...

 

[BrisDog]

If Coffield is the answer to our backline in 2026 we had may as well place our membership cards in the microwave oven before this sh*t show begins.

 

[grassman75]

Thanks for the reports guys!

No c in Jaques, btw. Sounds like we're gonna need to get used to spelling his name given his preseason so far.

Just following tradition…Daniels etc

 

[grassman75]

Will Darcy out there??

He was there…not sure if he played. Had the red kit on so possibly. I had trouble seeing who was who for red unless I knew the player

 

[Doggies7]

I have a soft spot for Coffield still and that backline is screaming out for that versatile 3rd tall / medium defender... Saw the photo the other day of him and Naughton and he wasn't too much shorter than him and a solidly built lad so physically should be able to play the role.

Obviously his body has let him down and he hasn't shown he is up to it as a best 22 player for us really in the past so seems long odds to be the answer, but fingers crossed he takes his chance to lock down a spot as we need someone to step up in that backline. His disposal and decision making has been surprisingly iffy of late which points to a confidence issue so we'll see if that's improved.

Cleary would be the other one and Buku I notice someone said swapped in for Coff for the second half I think, but i'm personally not a Buku fan down back. Emmett i'm pretty confident is going to become a player but we have to temper expectations on 18 year old talls, he will need at least a year or two to develop before he's a regular best 23 guy, unless he's really special...

 

[dergert]

I'm backing Gallagher to be a solid b grader. He did some nice things when he was thrown in the midfield in his first handful of games

 

[grassman75]

Great work cobber did you see Gallagher he's been killing it recently.
Has a crew cut now hard to reconise.

I saw Gallagher there but didn’t notice him onfield….as you said, crew cut, lots of them out there

 

[Dogs Rule]

I think as far as percentages go, every club would likely have a similar percentage of players having off-field issues.

Those out of the Dogs may be a little bit more public but that comes down to how it is managed. Some clubs are hyper focused on player welfare, some turn a blind eye.

Exactly. Some clubs just have very big brooms, large rugs, and plenty of helpers in high places to help with the sweeping.

 

[VitalDread]

Im hoping for a big step in development for Croft this year

Feel like he could be that key third tall for us that pushes high up the ground. Meaning that Naughton and Darcy can play deeper inside 50

Also hoping for a strong VFL season for Walker
Reckon he's got the talent to be a great swing player

 

[Dougs Wing]

He was there…not sure if he played. Had the red kit on so possibly. I had trouble seeing who was who for red unless I knew the player

He kicked a goal.

 

[Dougs Wing]

Fred Valpied from our VFL side?

View attachment 2518922

There were around 14 of our VFL players there yesterday

 

[Dougs Wing]

Carmichael didn't play but was on the bourdary line with a number of our rehabbing players.
He only got out of the moon boot for Wednesday's session so it will be 3 weeks before he's back.

 

[Dougs Wing]

Im hoping for a big step in development for Croft this year

Feel like he could be that key third tall for us that pushes high up the ground. Meaning that Naughton and Darcy can play deeper inside 50

Also hoping for a strong VFL season for Walker
Reckon he's got the talent to be a great swing player

You're probably aware that he's mainly trained as a forward before his injured toe set him back. He's had a few runs in the ruck. I'd say he's an IC player who covers Darcy and Naughton and the occasional run in the ruck.

 

[Golden_6]

Carmichael didn't play but was on the bourdary line with a number of our rehabbing players.
He only got out of the moon boot for Wednesday's session so it will be 3 weeks before he's back.

That’s too bad. Round 1 is 5 weeks away so although it’s very unlikely as a 1st year player to debut off an injury, at least he’ll be ready before the season begins.