Bailey Dale

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Mattdougie said:
Not a defender and part of the reason our backline is poor when made to defend. Part of the reason nearly every media person and footy expert says our backline is our absolute weakness.

Add Daniel, Cordy and Gardner and You have half a back one that can’t defend.

Dale has been FAR FAR better than I imagined but he is an attached playing in the back half not a defender and the backline is why I don’t rate us a premiership chance this year and he is one of the reasons for that with the others.

He is clearly now our designated kicker out of defense which means his metres gained will always be very good.

Without question best 22 this year so kudos to him for the massive improvement.

I’m very interested to see how he goes tonight. Skinny ground and most likely with a tag, will be very big test for Bailey this evening. Is he up to it? We all shall see
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What is his defensive 1 on 1 loss %?
 
Boristown said:
What is his defensive 1 on 1 loss %?
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You think Dale is a good one on one defender do you?

Well I don’t and for the 28283838th time I don’t think Daniel, Cordy or Gardner are good either.

You can’t carry 3 imo and you aren’t dropping both Gards and Cordy. I’d move Daniel out of the backline also to tighten it up as it’s the weakness in our team. Love Dale to a wing and Daniel to a gap filler.

We aren’t winning a flag with this backline and again that won’t be Dales fault solely but he is part of the issue THAT does not mean he hasn’t been exceptional at the role given to him and for the 181723 time FAR BETTER than I expected
 

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Mattdougie said:
You think Dale is a good one on one defender do you?
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I think he's fine. He's rarely left one out due to the way Bevo sets them up, in fact he's only had 12 defensive one on ones all year and lost just 4 of them. You can check for yourself here: https://www.afl.com.au/stats/stats-pro#/Discover/CD_I996708/Dale-Bailey

I can recall him defending a certain Toby Greene goal deep in D50 one out, and he also won a key 1 on 1 against Richmond.

Nothing about the stats or even just watching him play suggests he isn't a good defender, and his attacking ability from D50 is absolutely elite.
 
Boristown said:
I think he's fine. He's rarely left one out due to the way Bevo sets them up, in fact he's had 12 defensive one on ones all year and lost just 4 of them.

I can recall him defending a certain Toby Greene goal deep in D50 one out, and he also won a key 1 on 1 against Richmond.

Nothing about the stats or even just watching him play suggests he isn't a good defender, and his attacking ability from D50 is absolutely elite.
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Fair enough, I don’t but that also isn’t too important if he is the only weaker defender in the team and he isn’t.

I think tonight will show a lot either way for the WHOLE backline and I think we will get another reality check. I hope I’m wrong but be able to watch the games live gave me now confidence in this backline and when bear every footy pundit says the same thing I’m pretty sore they all aren’t wrong
 
Mattdougie said:
Not a defender and part of the reason our backline is poor when made to defend. Part of the reason nearly every media person and footy expert says our backline is our absolute weakness.

Add Daniel, Cordy and Gardner and You have half a back one that can’t defend.

Dale has been FAR FAR better than I imagined but he is an attached playing in the back half not a defender and the backline is why I don’t rate us a premiership chance this year and he is one of the reasons for that with the others.

He is clearly now our designated kicker out of defense which means his metres gained will always be very good.

Without question best 22 this year so kudos to him for the massive improvement.

I’m very interested to see how he goes tonight. Skinny ground and most likely with a tag, will be very big test for Bailey this evening. Is he up to it? We all shall see
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Omg give up, he’s won 70% of the one on ones he’s been in this year (FACT) and his intercept possession numbers are very high. He’s a fantastic distributor but he is playing as a defender. He has not to this point been a liability one bit.
 
I have my opinion, if you don’t like it I still don’t care

Our backline is weak. Dale is part of that

Simple
 
Yeah he's had a good year I suppose, some are rating him as an All Australian half back this year, but not me. He can't defend. I can't think of a single one-on-one contest where he has been completely exposed but it's true. I was wrong about Daniel, he was an actual All Australian despite me ragging on him all year, I'm just too embarrassed to ever admit I was wrong.
Look, we are 10-2 with Dale playing well but let's see how he goes against Geelong, this is absolutely the only game that matters and if he doesn't have 30 touches and come across and spoil Tom Hawkins 5 times I will be proven right once again.
 
Its pretty dumb to look at a backline like it needs the rigid structure of the 1980's and not take into consideration how the team functions as a whole, or how much the midfield works both ways in the modern game. As if this is a negative. We are not unique in playing a team defence where on-field positions are so irrelevantly flexible that our MC took the piss out of the very notion completely for weeks on end. There is a reason why our side is statistically the best defence in the entire competition. A fact that the naysayers conveniently look past when looking for our flaws. Its like we are the only side with what on paper look like structural weaknesses.

Lets not forget that in 2016 we had a back six anchored on a gun undersized tall, an unproven actual tall and a fleet of quality mid-sized flankers and Fletcher Roberts.

Fast forward 5 years and I'd suggest that we are actually better off in this area than we were then. Is our back half perfect? Of course it isn't, but it is a much more offensive and better unit than the one that went all the way in '16. We are set up to consistently win games by outscoring our opponent not drag them down and fall over the line. Dale has been a big part of this mindset this year and his position move has ben a coaching masterstroke.

To say otherwise is just tilting at windmills for the contrarian, face saving sake of it all.
 
Mattdougie said:
I have my opinion, if you don’t like it I still don’t care

Our backline is weak. Dale is part of that

Simple
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Not saying our defending is a massive strength but to this point in the season we’ve got the best points against in the comp and we’ve played the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 6th and 8th highest scoring teams (and we’re 1st). As a unit it is working and you cannot deny that. And Dale is a big part of that
 
Lol how many times do I have to say Dale has been far better than I ever thought he could be?? 100? 100000?

Why when I’ve named 4 players in our backline I don’t have faith in to help us defensively win a flag is only one name the concern? Hmmmmm i think we all know the answer to that. Hero’s going over and over their “win” that Bailey has had a good year. I guess tiny wins on the internet are all some have.

The REALITY is don’t care about the 2016 backline. I care about 2021 and if they fail again tonight we have lost the 3 biggest tests we have had all year and no stat will deflect from that. We need to dominate midfield to win games(which we do mostly) because our backline isn’t strong enough to hold teams if required. Richmonds has been for 5 years which is why they win when they don’t dominate midfield numbers.

We need to win a big test before I can rate the backline and by extension this team as a legit flag contender because at present I don’t. And that’s all 22 players NOT JUST BAILEY F$CKING DALE.

Now continue to argue all you want I’m not responding, that’s my opinion at present
 

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So uhhhh how good has Bailey Dale become? Having an unbelievable season.
 
Wetdog said:
The beauty of our backline is that you can’t tag all of Dale, Daniel, Williams.

Dale and Daniel were brilliant today.
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You can add Duryea and Richards to the rotation of awesome.

Its crazy when you have Hayden Crozier as 6th in line for a slot in the back half.

If we are to win the flag this year this is from where it will be won.
 
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He’s just turned into an unbelievable footballer, how much confidence does this guy have? An absolute delight to watch
 
Bailey Dale has had a fantastic year
 
Bulldogs85 said:
Bailey Dale has had a fantastic year
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He has had an awesome year in a new position and has some great attributes for a HBF.

Will be interesting to see when club approaches him for new contract.
Do you do it this off season or wait till next season where if his form continues he will command more $ and interest from other clubs.
 
Dog 36 said:
He has had an awesome year in a new position and has some great attributes for a HBF.

Will be interesting to see when club approaches him for new contract.
Do you do it this off season or wait till next season where if his form continues he will command more $ and interest from other clubs.
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If his manager is smart enough he will tell him to wait and get more $
 
He's had a great year and should make the AA squad. Probably up against Rich, Amon, and Short for that designated kicker off half back role in the final team.

P.S. not including Tom Stewart as he is a lock for the back pocket.
 
Libba39 said:
He's had a great year and should make the AA squad. Probably up against Rich, Amon, and Short for that designated kicker off half back role in the final team.

P.S. not including Tom Stewart as he is a lock for the back pocket.
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Salem probably in that mix too. Any 2 of Salem, Amon and Dale for mine.
 
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