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His first quarter against Fremantle was unbelievable. Only overshadowed by Walsh’s final quarter that day.

It’s harder to play that contested burst style over four quarters but I can’t wait until he figures it out.
I was at that game and couldn't believe what I was seeing. From memory it was like 12 disposals 4-5 score involvements and maybe even a goal. His kicking also improved out of sight. Also love his work in congested areas - hopefully will have a huge season in 2022.
 
His first quarter against Fremantle was unbelievable. Only overshadowed by Walsh’s final quarter that day.

It’s harder to play that contested burst style over four quarters but I can’t wait until he figures it out.
Managed to clock up 14.6kms against the Saints this year and was a big part of the 1st quarter dominance in that game. Hopefully with a good preseason he can build on his tank and that becomes the norm.
 
I was at that game and couldn't believe what I was seeing. From memory it was like 12 disposals 4-5 score involvements and maybe even a goal. His kicking also improved out of sight. Also love his work in congested areas - hopefully will have a huge season in 2022.

Has great hands.
Timing of his release splits the congestion wide open …
 
Dow has had to play HF - was only til the back end of 2021 that he was playing full games as a midfielder. Just needs to find a way to be more consistent across 4 quarters but it will come with experience. Controversial I know but Dow's best quarters in the midfield were crazy good this year - I'd even go as far as saying as good as Walsh's

So he has had to do what so many young players do as part of their AFL education.

Test their ability to adapt, to react to a bit of adversity and when the coaches ask them to do a job do it.

They aren't going to keep putting an inconsistent onballer in the middle, you want time in the middle you better be consistent.
 

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Dow has a long way to go and will have to make it next season or he will most likely be done.

The biggest issue with Dow is he lacks footy IQ and has absolutely no defensive aspects of his game. He's always out of position, doesn't get much of the ball in open play and doesn't go when he has to go.

Dow has some tools such as speed and he is ok with the ball in hand, he has a good highlights reel but that's it and this is the issue.

I think he's been poorly coached, he needs to be a see ball get ball player, he's not quick enough between the ears to be a clever player. He's often standing when he should be going and a lot of the time appears as if he doesn't know what to do.

Dow needs to get better and knowing when to go for a start and significantly improve his defensive efforts before even considering him as an ok player.

I think for his age his possession numbers are ok however his defensive game gets a 1 out of 10 and that's a guy who has pace and should be able to do defensive acts such as chase chasing and making contests.

What we need to see from Dow is more involvement, more competing, efforts to get to where the ball is to make a contest, chasing the opposition with intent and repeat efforts. If he brings this to his game he won't have to be getting 30 possessions every week however this is what he lacks and this is why he goes missing so often.

Will he make it? I don't know, I am leaning towards no but we will see. A new coach coming in and he's another year older he has an opportunity to get better. I just don't hold high hopes for players who aren't really good when it comes to the defensive aspects of the game.

If he's going to make it you work on him making sure when the ball is in his area it must be a contest and repeat efforts and you work on his chasing and defensive game. Strip his game back to basic footy where if the ball is in your area you go hard at it until it's not then you run to position. Work on him getting to contests, not over thinking and competing. But this I feel will be done in the VFL until he really comes on.
 
PLus the boys running past to get it, our outside run hasn't been great either. It's all grunt and bombs!

On the other hand I want Cripps to be first option far more than he does. How many HTBs this year - a dozen?
 

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Dow has a long way to go and will have to make it next season or he will most likely be done.

The biggest issue with Dow is he lacks footy IQ and has absolutely no defensive aspects of his game. He's always out of position, doesn't get much of the ball in open play and doesn't go when he has to go.

Dow has some tools such as speed and he is ok with the ball in hand, he has a good highlights reel but that's it and this is the issue.

I think he's been poorly coached, he needs to be a see ball get ball player, he's not quick enough between the ears to be a clever player. He's often standing when he should be going and a lot of the time appears as if he doesn't know what to do.

Dow needs to get better and knowing when to go for a start and significantly improve his defensive efforts before even considering him as an ok player.

I think for his age his possession numbers are ok however his defensive game gets a 1 out of 10 and that's a guy who has pace and should be able to do defensive acts such as chase chasing and making contests.

What we need to see from Dow is more involvement, more competing, efforts to get to where the ball is to make a contest, chasing the opposition with intent and repeat efforts. If he brings this to his game he won't have to be getting 30 possessions every week however this is what he lacks and this is why he goes missing so often.

Will he make it? I don't know, I am leaning towards no but we will see. A new coach coming in and he's another year older he has an opportunity to get better. I just don't hold high hopes for players who aren't really good when it comes to the defensive aspects of the game.

If he's going to make it you work on him making sure when the ball is in his area it must be a contest and repeat efforts and you work on his chasing and defensive game. Strip his game back to basic footy where if the ball is in your area you go hard at it until it's not then you run to position. Work on him getting to contests, not over thinking and competing. But this I feel will be done in the VFL until he really comes on.
dows development has been a bloody disgrace he is a midfielder he has been poorly coached and poorly developed like a lot of carlton players
 
Marchy, Parks, Gov, Plowman cannot 'cover' for a key defender. Last season OMac was our only proper KPD depth, which is why trading in Young was so important.
How many sides have a laundry list of back up key defenders?

3-4 is normal

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what's he to do when he can't get to the ball?

His chasing efforts are about as poor as I have seen. His all round defensive game is really poor, often see his man meters forward of him when the opposition break. The game has moved well past players who don't defend/pressure well.

A lot to learn from Melbourne in how they applied pressure in the preliminary final and grand final. It was simple, the ball is in your area you go as hard as you can at it. The entire midfield had the will and the ability to get to contests, lose balls and opponents that many of our blokes either couldn't get to or wouldn't try hard enough to get to. This here is Carlton's biggest issue. IMO these two games were massive eye openers. You have a midfield of Kennedy, Cripps and Dow they are down the very bottom for their ability to do these things while Melbourne are outstanding at the top. The frustrating thing with Dow is he has no excuse. Cripps and Kennedy are slow and lack agility, Dow doesn't but he doesn't do what the Melbourne midfield do so well.

IMO with Dow he needs to focus on effort based football and if he gets that right the rest will follow. I'm sure sure the new coach will have ideas here.

dows development has been a bloody disgrace he is a midfielder he has been poorly coached and poorly developed like a lot of carlton players

Yes and no. A lot of what is wrong with his game is effort based. IMO effort comes from the leadership and culture around the players, which I believe is lacking at Carlton, but it also must come internally. He's played plenty of footy in the midfield, not uncommon for young players to play on a flank while they are developing. Probably should have played a lot more VFL however we have been extremely poor and young players have been exposed to senior footy earlier than they would have at stronger clubs. I think Dow has been overcoached, his role in the midfield is not one he has been able to grasp and a lot of that comes down to having players ahead of him such as Cripps and Walsh. His footy IQ IMO is poor so he's not flexible in what role he can play and IMO is suited to a simple see ball get ball role. Go hard at it if it's in your area. Run hard back when the opposition get it. That kind of thing. Does this work in the highly structure based game that is AFL though?
 
His chasing efforts are about as poor as I have seen. His all round defensive game is really poor, often see his man meters forward of him when the opposition break. The game has moved well past players who don't defend/pressure well.

A lot to learn from Melbourne in how they applied pressure in the preliminary final and grand final. It was simple, the ball is in your area you go as hard as you can at it. The entire midfield had the will and the ability to get to contests, lose balls and opponents that many of our blokes either couldn't get to or wouldn't try hard enough to get to. This here is Carlton's biggest issue. IMO these two games were massive eye openers. You have a midfield of Kennedy, Cripps and Dow they are down the very bottom for their ability to do these things while Melbourne are outstanding at the top. The frustrating thing with Dow is he has no excuse. Cripps and Kennedy are slow and lack agility, Dow doesn't but he doesn't do what the Melbourne midfield do so well.

IMO with Dow he needs to focus on effort based football and if he gets that right the rest will follow. I'm sure sure the new coach will have ideas here.



Yes and no. A lot of what is wrong with his game is effort based. IMO effort comes from the leadership and culture around the players, which I believe is lacking at Carlton, but it also must come internally. He's played plenty of footy in the midfield, not uncommon for young players to play on a flank while they are developing. Probably should have played a lot more VFL however we have been extremely poor and young players have been exposed to senior footy earlier than they would have at stronger clubs. I think Dow has been overcoached, his role in the midfield is not one he has been able to grasp and a lot of that comes down to having players ahead of him such as Cripps and Walsh. His footy IQ IMO is poor so he's not flexible in what role he can play and IMO is suited to a simple see ball get ball role. Go hard at it if it's in your area. Run hard back when the opposition get it. That kind of thing. Does this work in the highly structure based game that is AFL though?
Hard to fault this. Plenty of Dow fans on here and it is not hard to tell why. In full flight is ultra impressive, however his impact is rarely more than a quarter and never more than a half of footy. Certainly scope to improve his work rate, however it is his defensive absence that is the massive go slow. Even when ‘up and about’ rarely runs defensively and his tackling efforts when chasing are feeble. Is able to stick a tackle in close quarters, but absolutely no chance of halting a player with momentum. This is particularly difficult to do when merely throwing out one arm is your staple.

I have him behind the likes of Kennedy and a fit Setterfield or Cuningham. A fit Williams could relegate him, then there are Stocker, Kemp, Carroll and Philp all with the scope to step up dramatically.

I know plenty won’t agree but he has more work to do than most to entrench himself in that midfield.
 
dows development has been a bloody disgrace he is a midfielder he has been poorly coached and poorly developed like a lot of carlton players
Correct.
Hopefully Teague and coaching group gone have not done so much harm that some of these guys development that cannot be salvaged in time.
Too late for SPS but not for some others.
 

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No, I brought Walsh in because he's in the same environment as Dow and has succeeded.

As has McKay, Weiters, Stocker, TDK, JSOS.

So you are suggesting the system can't fail a kid because others have succeeded within the same system?

Bizarre.
 
I think Dow as a 23-27 year old is suited to a true inside mid role. Has a good hand pass and strong legs to hold his ground.

What confuses things is he has the speed that a hybrid or outside mid has. This leads us to play him as an outside mid most of the time due to Cripps Being preferred inside.

Outside mid is not really Dow’s go due to a poor weighted kick, average afl IQ and terrible terrible turning speed when opposition has the ball.

His decision making in the heat of pressure isn’t that great for mine. So a role of see ball get ball would really help and then lessen the need for rebound defensive runs which is his weakness.

The curse we currently have at Carlton is Cripps, Setterfield, Stocker, Kennedy and Dow all are ‘best placed’ as an inside midfielder.

Even more of a curse is that the club sees Cripps untouchable in that role when he has been terrible for 2 seasons. This faith stalls Stocker and Dow.
 

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