Changes Round 8 vs Freo

[Doggies7]

My 4th crack before teams are named:

IN - English, Jones, Coffield, VDM

Out - Emmett, Hynes, Gardner, ADS (just a feeling he doesn't get up)

 

[BigFloppa]

watching Bevo is in his presser i feel like Treloar might not get picked

Wouldn't be surprised. Bloke can't run. If you can't run you can't play.

 

[theburst]

watching Bevo is in his presser i feel like Treloar might not get picked

i didn't feel that but we'll see...thought he was upbeat and looking forward to Fri....

a bit inspirational was he stating whether players selected were inexperienced or not 'periods like this can build reputations'...

basics like Contested Possession (well down) and backhalf turnovers (worst ranked differential of league) have been a focus.

 

[Optimistic Dog]

Unfortunately, the end may be near for one of my favourite Bulldogs of all time Libba. Hope he gets to retire on his own terms at the end of the season, but it is up in the air.

Similarly, I think soft tissue injuries has seen the game pass ADZ. When his body has allowed it, he has been great for the dogs, B&F winner, AA and our best player in a GF unfortunately a losing one. Plus, he has always said how much he loves it at the dogs.

 

[House_of_Dahl]

I think this discussion is a bit harsh on O'Donnell, who is still only 23, only reached 50 games experience this year, and got better over the course of last year and started this year well.

He might not become a top 5 key defender in the league or whatever, but the club were correct to take stock of the fact that he's a rapidly developing and improving key defender. And like the English discussion, it's just after-the-fact discussion that an injured player has to be covered by a weaker player (O'Donnell/Gardner). Every team's 5th best key defender would appear equally as bad. Do people honestly think that the expected performance out of someone like Oscar Adams at Gold Coast (similar key position depth) would be any better if called upon at AFL level?

JOD has been great. Considering his cost and limited AFL experience he is tracking great

 

[bresker]

I wonder how much of Adz's problems are mental ?

I used to turn off the overdrive limiter on my 2005 Corolla so I could pass cars on the highway. The acceleration is surprisingly good . But then i overheated the engine, the spark plugs went early & and now i'm afraid.to turn off the overdrive.

Maybe he's afraid of turning off the overdrive. .

 

[Philthy1]

I wonder how much of Adz's problems are mental ?

I used to turn off the overdrive limiter on my 2005 Corolla so I could pass cars on the highway. The acceleration is surprisingly good . But then i overheated the engine, the spark plugs went early & and now i'm afraid.to turn off the overdrive.

Maybe he's afraid of turning off the overdrive. .

I think it is just cumulative effect on the body of a constant stream of calf and hamstring injuries. Eventually, the body just says no more thanks.

He runs around in 2nd gear in the centre square playing a gather / distribute type role because that's all he can do.

 

[bresker]

JOD has been great. Considering his cost and limited AFL experience he is tracking great

Didn't he get coaches votes a few games back ? He was building up after a shaky start to the year

 

[BigFloppa]

JOD is a great player already with a very high ceiling. Think Alex Rance.

 

[HK_Bulldog]

Watching Treloar play against Sydney was like watching Jong in his last couple games. It was sad how restricted they looked. It looked like they took the least physically demanding option available as they just didn’t have the power or agility to attack.

 

[Marsy]

The biggest issue in the backline is Buku. He plays so far off his opponent, he is in a different time zone. He had 5 goals kicked on him and if his opponent didn’t have a shot at goal they gave it to another player who did.

Teams are starting to play through him like they did last year. He needs to change how he defends or he wont be in the team.

 

[Doggies7]

The biggest issue in the backline is Buku. He plays so far off his opponent, he is in a different time zone. He had 5 goals kicked on him and if his opponent didn’t have a shot at goal they gave it to another player who did.

Teams are starting to play through him like they did last year. He needs to change how he defends or he wont be in the team.

It seems crazy and people won't like it after settling him down back, but I wonder if they are tempted to throw him forward and play Buss, Gardner, Coffield down back. If he gets beaten like he has the last couple of weeks and we look ordinary at both ends, it may be something they consider...

Saying that, I personally wouldn't and when he is back fit, I would look for Lobb to play the Darcy fwd / 2nd ruck role for the rest of the season, and go with JOD, Buss and Buku / Coff down back.

 

[bresker]

The biggest issue in the backline is Buku. He plays so far off his opponent, he is in a different time zone. He had 5 goals kicked on him and if his opponent didn’t have a shot at goal they gave it to another player who did.

Teams are starting to play through him like they did last year. He needs to change how he defends or he wont be in the team.

Having been at the game last week, there's nothing positive i can say about Buku.

 

[Optimistic Dog]

I do not think Tim gets up this week but will be ok for the Port game.

 

[go the dogs]

i didn't feel that but we'll see...thought he was upbeat and looking forward to Fri....

a bit inspirational was he stating whether players selected were inexperienced or not 'periods like this can build reputations'...

basics like Contested Possession (well down) and backhalf turnovers (worst ranked differential of league) have been a focus.

More when asked about Tim. He mentioned we will only select players that can help in transition on turnover which automatically made me think a subtle dig at treloar. Find out tomorrow

 

[TheScriptorWL]

Having been at the game last week, there's nothing positive i can say about Buku.

It was truly dire stuff in person. Especially near HB, where I was sitting. At least 5 metres off his direct opponent at all times. It wasn't like he was lost in the shuffle of play, too; he started adrift and had to slingshot back furiously when the inevitable happened.

No, the true problem really lies in the likely fact he's not doing this without some sort of deluded instruction by a coach, be it back or Head. Lobb and O'Donnell do this as well, though Buku does seem by the old eye test especially susceptible.

 

[Snarls Barkley]

It was truly dire stuff in person. Especially near HB, where I was sitting. At least 5 metres off his direct opponent at all times. It wasn't like he was lost in the shuffle of play, too; he started adrift and had to slingshot back furiously when the inevitable happened.

No, the true problem really lies in the likely fact he's not doing this without some sort of deluded instruction by a coach, be it back or Head. Lobb and O'Donnell do this as well, though Buku does seem by the old eye test especially susceptible,

100%. Sydney are probably the fastest ball movement team in the comp. All our defenders are giving up skill, strength and height to Curnow. Yet we decided the best course of action was to play in front and give them acres of space out back?

I thought they'd shifted away from this positioning the first three games. This was the hallmark of previous years. Have always thought JOD would be a good defender but there insistence of playing him in front has held him back, would get lost in his positioning constantly. Maybe they hadn't and we were able to slow the ball down enough that Buku and the others were able to recover and impact the contest. There was only one way that Curnow match up was going to go and we saw it on full display

We'll see what happens. Buku started on Curnow and was clearly doing something they weren't happy with because Gardner started on him in the second. When that went equally poorly they shifted back to Buku. He kept playing the same way so if they weren't happy they didn't do a great job of communicating it

 

[bresker]

He didn't just lose his man , he seemed to completely lose track of the flight of the ball. Like he was dazzled by the lights or like someone who forgot his contact lenses . And the minimum of body contact did for him. He went to ground & was out of the game.

I feel bad writing this as he was good in earlier games. But at his age, we can't give him a free pass because we've got injuries . He can't just be the 'third back', the loose interceptor . He's a senior player.

Maybe it was a bad game, but we need more.

 

[Snarls Barkley]

watching Bevo is in his presser i feel like Treloar might not get picked

It will be an interesting watch for sure. Not just the coming weeks but for the season as a whole

I think he needs to stay in without Libba and with Bont and Richards clearly not 100%. However it was worrying signs with his movement last week. Was just doing the Cliff Young shuffle because he clearly can not trust his body to go at any higher speed. The thing that probably stuck in everyones head was when he marked at half forward and the Treloar of old would have scooted past the mark and kicked a goal, with no trust in his body handballed to Kennedy in a far worse position and turned it over. He wasn't able to run defensively the entire game and not sure you can have that in the mix, for now I'd still trust him more than the other candidates just outside the team

Just shows how talented the man is that he was going at 60% and was still dominant in the first quarter and able to rack up 25 touches in 61% game time

 

[theAthenian]

some selection thoughts:

if the match committee drop treloar they should drop themselves first
all he needs is a couple of weeks back at afl level

VDM is a must for hynes who is overrated and has shown nothing . Watching him hide in those hard to reach spaces is starting to become cringe

as for coffield must play gardner is NOT an option
Busslinger needs games give him games and watch him blossom

freijah west and sanders - the vfl is calling - being a gun means being consistant! all 3 seem to have a high opinion of themselves and their worth.

as for dale IF YOUR INJURED PUT YOUR HAND UP AND SIT IT OUT!

arty will probably play - so what!
he is only as good as the players around him
in a poor team he struggles - we are a poor team .

i will be betting on this one - MY bet : the dockers to win by 50-70points whatever we do
come to papa!

 

[BigFloppa]

It will be weird going into a fourth straight game expecting to be flogged and then it probably happens. Must be how it feels to be a West Coast supporter over the last few years.

 

[Optimistic Dog]

It will be weird going into a fourth straight game expecting to be flogged and then it probably happens. Must be how it feels to be a West Coast supporter over the last few years.

Yes, what a real downer and I think we are all in a bit shock. Last season we did not get flogged in any game. Then we start the season 4 and zero. I still had my reservations about how good we were but thought we were top 6.

It is ironic that for years we queried Tim as a ruckman tap ruckman. They change the rules like they were written for Tim with the centre bounce and fast footy, with few ruckman getting up and down the ground like him. He becomes just about our most important player and gets injured.

Sam and Astro are like Batman and Robin they need to operate together to put fear into the opposition. now Sam goes down

Then and already suspect backline succumbs to injury. Bont, ED and Astro are playing injured

So, in a sort time we go from flying to getting flogged that is why we are in shock. Like they say a week is a long time in footy.

 

[lachy]

It seems crazy and people won't like it after settling him down back, but I wonder if they are tempted to throw him forward and play Buss, Gardner, Coffield down back. If he gets beaten like he has the last couple of weeks and we look ordinary at both ends, it may be something they consider...

Saying that, I personally wouldn't and when he is back fit, I would look for Lobb to play the Darcy fwd / 2nd ruck role for the rest of the season, and go with JOD, Buss and Buku / Coff down back.

It's not about Buku, its about the team. He is either up to the role or he is not and the last couple of weeks have been alarming. JOD, Buss and Coff/Cleary as the 3rd with Lobb playing the Darcy role is a significantly better proposition when players are available. In the meantime Gards is better than Buku until JOD returns

 

[lachy]

An interesting aspect about Bev's comments about transition from the backline is that though many blame the coach for out now crab like movement from the backline, but it mainly falls on the players not executing.

There is the obvious skill execution, but that can also be the lack of quick movement forward of the ball to create those opportunites to breakdown opposition zones.

Trealor moving as he is may have been one of those contributors to that last week. Many here look at names and beleive that should be playing because of what they could do in the past or fully fit. 2 facts of great players, they drop off ik the main at a certain stage of their career or they cannot mentally carry injuries. Maybe Trealor fits one or both of those categories so it will be intersting to see tonight from those in the inner sanctum what way they go.

An example of a plauer who can carry an injury, Bont clearly hampered yet judged second best on Ground by 2 coaches in an 11 goal loss

 

[Boyd oh Boyd]

It's not about Buku, its about the team. He is either up to the role or he is not and the last couple of weeks have been alarming. JOD, Buss and Coff/Cleary as the 3rd with Lobb playing the Darcy role is a significantly better proposition when players are available. In the meantime Gards is better than Buku until JOD returns

Personally I'm just not sure why is role was to be lined up on Curnow. Even though we're undermanned, has Buku even shown he can play that sort of role? Buss at the very least had a good game on Hogan last year, if we're desperate and Gardner can't handle it why wasn't that our go to?

Khamis is a limited player but he can play well when it's within that limitation. First few games he was really the spare defender that didn't really follow his opponent that closely. He was mostly there to intercept the ball when pressure was on the kicker and come in as the third man in marking contests. Occasionally had to cover an opponent but that was mostly when there was a breakdown in another matchup.

We've moved away from having that spare behind the ball for some reason and he's struggled. Pressure up the field has also dropped off. Playing on Dangerfield or Curnow just isn't going to work for him but knowing Bevo we'll persist and then drop him when it continues to not work instead of reverting to the style that had our defence looking good.