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Player Watch Billy Dowling

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Trigger13 said:
Actually reminds me of Caldwell. Not overly gifted athletically and not amazing skills. But is a workhorse who makes good decisions. We have a few of these players now. What we need is a Sam Durham type to complement them. The way he exploded from stoppage last night was awesome.
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Mids that can kick multiple goals is a natural ability. It's not that common at all.
 
Going about his business with a minimum of fuss. Has settled in brilliantly. Has been able to find the ball as a wing/half forward too which is crucial as it's not yet another player in the queue for centre square midfield time.

Teams with deep midfields have players who get under your guard eg Mitch Duncan was never going to be tagged or get midfield time ahead of Selwood/Danger but still a threat who can rack them up.

Let's hear it for injuries
 
Seriously feel for Billy. Had a very solid back half of 2024 across Wing / HF (not his preferred position of inside midfielder), now banished to oblivion in 2025.

Whilst ANB, Peatling and Cumming have rightly taken precedence in those roles, there's been ample opportunity to give him a go, yet the likes of Smith, Taylor, Pedlar and now Murphy (!!) are getting looks in but no love for Billy.
 
Nicks hates this guy

Didn't want to pick him at all last year until injuries forced him to

Then had the temerity to play well which made Nicks look like even more of a goose

Paying the price this season
 

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Been unlucky so far with Cummings coming over on FA and Curtin muscling into the wing territory. Dowling is well and truly in no-mans-land when it comes to prospects, especially as we seemingly only see him as a winger.
 
Golumless said:
Been unlucky so far with Cummings coming over on FA and Curtin muscling into the wing territory. Dowling is well and truly in no-mans-land when it comes to prospects, especially as we seemingly only see him as a winger.
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Shouldn’t be in limbo as much as he seems to be, though. Clearly has some AFL talent
 
Golumless said:
Been unlucky so far with Cummings coming over on FA and Curtin muscling into the wing territory. Dowling is well and truly in no-mans-land when it comes to prospects, especially as we seemingly only see him as a winger.
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I'm not sure why though
 
He did well last year when he got the opportunity.
He is able to find the ball and make good decisions

I cant understand why we aren't playing him in the midfield i.e. CBA's in the sanfl, along with Edwards and Taylor.
Why do we keep playing our midfielders in peripheral roles in the sanfl, madness
 
TBM said:
Seriously feel for Billy. Had a very solid back half of 2024 across Wing / HF (not his preferred position of inside midfielder), now banished to oblivion in 2025.

Whilst ANB, Peatling and Cumming have rightly taken precedence in those roles, there's been ample opportunity to give him a go, yet the likes of Smith, Taylor, Pedlar and now Murphy (!!) are getting looks in but no love for Billy.
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I don't think Billy Dowling has ever been an "ïnside" midfielder, he's way more an outside leaning midfielder/forward and has always been decent accumulator.

One only has to look at Billy's contested/uncontested ratio as a junior to understand that.
 
Mr MysteryGuest said:
I'm not sure why though
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I'll preface with this that honestly, I'm not sure. My guess is it's to do with Billy's game, seeing he's good in the air and in his last AFL stint, not that productive in the pressure side of the game lends more to wing than half forward. It might also be as simple as collectively, we don't really rate Billy compared to the rest of our list and aren't too fussed to save him from a bad list situation (seeing the wing role got a lot harder to win in this campaign).

maxlilly said:
He did well last year when he got the opportunity.
He is able to find the ball and make good decisions

I cant understand why we aren't playing him in the midfield i.e. CBA's in the sanfl, along with Edwards and Taylor.
Why do we keep playing our midfielders in peripheral roles in the sanfl, madness
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Its the same reason why all these so called "midfielders" don't get used as such in the AFL. It's about player quality and the roles they can win at an AFL level.

In the end of the day, a players best position is the one they're playing, as the football world cares little for those who aren't at an elite level (or perceived to get there one day). The Rankine's of the world get to choose their lot. The Taylor's and Dowling's don't.
 
HUGE day in the SANFL today.

41 disposals (19 kicks, 22 handballs)
8 marks
3 tackles
3 clearances
7 score involvements
6 intercept possessions
2.1
148 ranking points

I know ANB/Cumming have squeezed him out this season, but he should be getting games ahead of Taylor / Pedlar / Jones, and a performance like that demands selection if any one of those three are average tomorrow. We know he can find the ball and play his role at AFL level.

Should be in the frame for at least a Sub role.
 
Somewhere along the line Dowling got typecast as a winger at AFL level, but he was drafted on the back of midfield accumulation, and he also demonstrated an ability to convert up forward in his appearances last year.

I'd love to see him given a chance again, even if just as a sub to come on and slot in wherever.
 
cmndstab said:
Somewhere along the line Dowling got typecast as a winger at AFL level, but he was drafted on the back of midfield accumulation, and he also demonstrated an ability to convert up forward in his appearances last year.

I'd love to see him given a chance again, even if just as a sub to come on and slot in wherever.
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He's versatile enough to play wing, HF and an inside-mid accumulator. The first two being where he's more likely to (initially) succeed at AFL level. Sub role perfect for him. Deserves a shot in the last two games.
 

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I'm starting to root for him to go. On multiple occasions he's showed he clearly belongs at AFL level, however he keeps getting usurped by the enigma Murphy at every turn.

Has he even been named as an emergency this season? He could've been a real asset come finals had he been given more of a chance.
 
WeeBlake said:
I know this is a bit too obvious, but still:

View attachment 2391121
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Lachie should be happy to finish up on those numbers.

Hes a guy we can plug and play in every area of the field. Would happily have him in ahead of Taylor and Jones, and im a fan of both those guys.

Hes just got something.
 
Given that positions 21-23 in the squad are far from settled (presently Taylor, Pedlar and Jones) there's plenty of opportunity for him to replace one of them if they have a quiet game this week. While I think Pedlar is currently holding Rachele's role, Taylor is the last half-forward/extra mid spot and Jones the specialist sub, I think realistically Dowling could do any of those roles if he's replacing a quieter player. Taylor's role is the neatest fit.
 

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NSolis said:
Given that positions 21-23 in the squad are far from settled (presently Taylor, Pedlar and Jones) there's plenty of opportunity for him to replace one of them if they have a quiet game this week. While I think Pedlar is currently holding Rachele's role, Taylor is the last half-forward/extra mid spot and Jones the specialist sub, I think realistically Dowling could do any of those roles if he's replacing a quieter player. Taylor's role is the neatest fit.
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It's possible, but outside of Jones, I think if we saw Dowling as an option, he would have been used months ago.

It's not like we've been settled at all with our small forward choices. Seems more like we've tried everyone we think will do OK in a bottom forward role and are just cycling through those options until something sticks/Rachele is healthy.
 
Golumless said:
It's possible, but outside of Jones, I think if we saw Dowling as an option, he would have been used months ago.

It's not like we've been settled at all with our small forward choices. Seems more like we've tried everyone we think will do OK in a bottom forward role and are just cycling through those options until something sticks/Rachele is healthy.
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I think getting 40+ and a couple of goals in the SANFL will move the needle a bit. I agree that he's been further back in the queue but if Pedlar comes out and has 7 touches and no goals I would expect them to make the change.

We've brought in Cook, Pedlar and Jones on the back of strong SANFL form earlier in the season.
 
NSolis said:
I think getting 40+ and a couple of goals in the SANFL will move the needle a bit. I agree that he's been further back in the queue but if Pedlar comes out and has 7 touches and no goals I would expect them to make the change.

We've brought in Cook, Pedlar and Jones on the back of strong SANFL form earlier in the season.
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I have no doubt Dowling will be the sub next week, no matter how Jones goes. You can't leave a player out who puts up a 40+2 performance.

The thing is, I don't think he's even in the queue for the small forward roles. So the likely best case here is he gets stuck as a sub for a few weeks.
 
NSolis said:
Given that positions 21-23 in the squad are far from settled (presently Taylor, Pedlar and Jones) there's plenty of opportunity for him to replace one of them if they have a quiet game this week. While I think Pedlar is currently holding Rachele's role, Taylor is the last half-forward/extra mid spot and Jones the specialist sub, I think realistically Dowling could do any of those roles if he's replacing a quieter player. Taylor's role is the neatest fit.
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I think this is it. It's not necessarily about Dowling not performing, but we're testing some depth with Pedlar, Jones, Cook etc to end the year. They're all contracted for next year, but we're testing some depth out to see where it's at. Dowling moves into that spot next year, but he's at least had some very good SANFL form now to make you think he could cement a spot in the 22 in ways that Pedlar, Jones and Cook haven't been able to.
 

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