Toast English Class is in. Welcome to the Dogs Tim English Pick 19

[bresker]

Outstanding performance. The hit out stats will say that NicNat won by a landslide. But the game isn’t won on paper. Tim had the big marks , a goal, running all over the ground and competing not only against NicNat but WC’s second up ruck.

Im less convinced we need Martin or Sweet. He’s getting to the point where we can rely on Tim alone.

 

[Testekill]

I'd rather we have someone else as first ruck but that's because English is so threatening up forward that being a threatening tall forward that can have an extended run in the ruck is worth its weight in gold.

 

[Libba39]

Great follow-up work by English today. Another bug step.

 

[CDBulldog]

I’ve said this before (a couple of years ago) and I’ll say it again - he will be the best player in the comp - a couple of years away.

 

[maddog37]

He is starting to look like a footballer too now. Covered in mud and tape, blood above the eye. Tree trunk legs. A sight to behold in years to come.

 

[Northernsoul74]

Huge today. Maybe in time he can be a number 1 ruck which I was convinced he couldn’t.

 

[random__hero]

He looked a bit menacing when he had that blood streaming down his face

 

[stefoid]

Worked as a recruiter/scout for another Melbourne based team in 2016. Saw a lot of English that year, our group ranked him as the best of the WA crop, which included Powell-Pepper, Petrevski-Seton, Bolton, Fisher among others. Personally think he will be the best player in the competition at some stage. Side note, Naughton from Peel was on our watch list. Round 1, my report went back telling them forget the Naughton on the list, little brother Aaron is the one to watch.

Well lucky for us nobody listens to you!

 

[dogwatch]

Great follow-up work by English today. Another bug step.

 

[Fossie 32]

View attachment 1165717

Would be ok for a kiwi but would need to be stup not step

 

[Next Waiting]

Outstanding performance. The hit out stats will say that NicNat won by a landslide. But the game isn’t won on paper. Tim had the big marks , a goal, running all over the ground and competing not only against NicNat but WC’s second up ruck.

Im less convinced we need Martin or Sweet. He’s getting to the point where we can rely on Tim alone.

He was terrific today. Has good game sense and quite a bit tougher and harder than perhaps he looks.

I still think this year we'd be a fair bit better with a fully fit and in form Martin shouldering the load in close quarters for the bulk of the time, allowing Timmy more licence to roam, forward and back.

But today proved, if he has to he can. An important contributor to what was an outstanding stoppage and clearance demolition job by Bont, Libba, Macrae and Smith.

 

[FTP]

Hey Doggie fans,

We wrote about Tim English this week in our newsletter and why he may be the X-factor come Finals time.

Check out the full article here - https://footytalkingpoints.com.au/2021/08/03/a-key-piece-to-a-western-bulldogs-premiership/

If you like this kind of analysis - please subscribe to our newsletter!

The Western Bulldogs have a number of midfield superstars pushing them towards a second flag opportunity in as many years. However, arguably their most important midfield piece heading into finals isn’t who you’d expect. Tim English is their point of difference and will be key to a Bulldogs premiership.

Tim English (#44) has reached new heights this year and has grown into an A grade ruckman. His progression as a sole ruck (and forward) this year isn’t what many expected. The acquisition of Stefan Martin

8

Stefan Martin

Age

37

Ht

198cm

Wt

99kg

Pos.

Ruck

Career

Season

Last 5

D

16.4

4star

K

8.4

3star

HB

8.0

5star

CL

4.0

5star

HO

23.5

5star

D

6.4

1star

K

4.2

2star

HB

2.2

2star

CL

2.6

4star

HO

18.4

5star

D

11.6

3star

K

6.0

3star

HB

5.6

4star

HO

1.0

4star

suggests the Bulldogs didn’t think so either. They’d be thrilled with how things have turned out. At 23 years old, English has now developed into one of the best ruckman in the AFL with his defining qualities beginning to shine at an elite level. Let’s start with the Martin offseason trade.

The Bulldog’s acquired Martin for two reasons:

1. To protect English’s development by not burdening him with the sole ruck responsibility. In prior years, English would wear down as games went on and he would become a liability against the AFL’s best ruckmen;
2. With Martin taking most of the ruck reps and English pinch hitting in the ruck – it would allow English to develop his forward craft and improve his long term prospects by adding positional versatility to his game.

It worked well early on. Martin became a mentor for English who started to impact games as a tall marking option. He kicked 8 goals in his first 4 games. But Martin is susceptible to injuries and this year has been no different. The English-Martin pairing lasted six games and aside from a Jordan Sweet five-game-cameo, English has been given another opportunity as the sole ruck. He hasn’t disappointed…

English is averaging 14 disposals, 5.3 marks (2[SUB]nd[/SUB] in the AFL amongst ruckman) including 1.7 contested marks (ranked 6^th in the AFL for rucks), 5.7 hit outs to advantage, 4.6 score involvements and 1.1 goals a game (1^st for ruckman). There are a few things to note regarding English’s improvement. The first is his bigger size. English entered the AFL at 86 kg – extremely light for a +200cm ruck. Now at 103 kg in his 5[SUB]th[/SUB] season, the improved strength is evident. English no longer gets pushed off the ball easily or manhandled in the ruck and has a stronger upper body to combat physical pressure when he flies for marks.

The strength component is always an interesting topic for skinny ruckman entering the AFL. It’s difficult to ascertain whether they struggle with the physicality simply because of their skinny build or whether the size is inconsequential and it’s more of an issue with their timing and feel for protecting space. Luckily for Bulldogs fans, for English it seemed the former. A random anecdote to put this into context is English’s duels against Grundy – one of the premier ruckman in the competition. Since his debut season, Grundy would manhandle and outwork English in those match ups. He beat him soundly in ruck contests both in the air with tap work and on ground level and would kill English on the spread around the ground. For any fantasy fans, most would remember Grundy as the automatic captain selection any time the Bulldogs played Collingwood. How much that has changed now.

English easily won the match up in Round 1, kicking four goals as a forward but dominating Grundy around the ground when he went into the ruck. His body work and added size really troubled Grundy.



From my perspective that game felt like the one for English – the game he realised he had arrived. Since then, the confidence is evident. His contested marking game has gone to new heights and he is now one of the best marking bigs in the league. This makes him threat around the ground given his aerobic fitness and he really challenges opposition ruckman. He’s equal second among rucks for marks inside 50 and often hunts mismatches on a defensive switch when he pushes hard forward. If his direct match up is ball watching (as O’Brien does here), he’s too big for opposition defenders to impact the contest in the air.



There’s a reason he averages a goal and two shots a game (both rated elite per AFL standards). Defensively, he gets back to chop out his defenders and doesn’t mind sitting in the hole.



It isn’t just aerially that English has impressed. Given English’s height, it’s remarkable how clean and skilled he is. He’s really improved on his follow up work at ground level and is more often than not a one touch player below his knees.



English is also a steady ball user. At times he looks like an extra midfielder. How many other ruckman can hit this kick? (and how many midfielders would actually give this to their ruckman?)



It’s unlikely English ever reaches the heights of a Naitanui or even a Darcy when it comes to his clearance work. He rates quite poor in this category currently. But these clips are a source of optimism that his clearance numbers can improve and at worst, he can be a dangerous post clearance outlet. This point is emphasised further given that his poor clearance numbers are somewhat a consequence of the midfield talent around him.

Another area of improvement is English’s tap work. At 207cm, English should be ranking inside the top 20 for both hit outs and hit outs to advantage. Whilst those numbers are a little misleading given his time forward earlier this year, he needs to provide more favourable delivery to his midfielders.

Nonetheless, the English improvement is an interesting subplot heading into the finals. English could be the missing link to a Bulldogs flag. The one weakness or question mark over their midfield going into this season was their ruck department and how it was going to work with both Martin and English. Unless it works structurally playing an extra tall, it seems unlikely now that Martin plays finals. English has well and truly stepped up to the plate. He’s gone from a liability to a genuine match winner. Why English could be so important to their flag tilt is that the quality of ruckman, especially in the Top 4, is quite suspect. The only other top 4 team with a better ruckman is Melbourne. English is now a point of difference for a Bulldogs midfield who already possess a number of match up problems with their absurd midfield depth on the inside and outside. Leveraging English’s stoppage work at ground level plus his offensive spread from contests against the likes of Stanley, McInerney and even Hickey could be the difference between a finals win or loss. He gets nowhere near the same attention as his teammates but make no mistake – Tim English is a key piece of the 2021 Bulldogs premiership puzzle.

Let us know if you agree.

 

[schmuttt]

I come in peace, do you guys feel his year has gone under the radar? IMO was unlucky to miss the AA squad, but maybe the dogs games I’ve watched have been his best.

 

[flipper83]

I come in peace, do you guys feel his year has gone under the radar? IMO was unlucky to miss the AA squad, but maybe the dogs games I’ve watched have been his best.

He's missed a pretty big chunk of the year through injury so if he had played a full season at his average output I think he would have been in.

 

[Testekill]

I come in peace, do you guys feel his year has gone under the radar? IMO was unlucky to miss the AA squad, but maybe the dogs games I’ve watched have been his best.

He missed a big chunk of the season and he has a tendency to struggle for the first couple of weeks after coming back from a concussion. If he played every game of the season then he'd be in AA discussions.

 

[Next Waiting]

He missed a big chunk of the season and he has a tendency to struggle for the first couple of weeks after coming back from a concussion. If he played every game of the season then he'd be in AA discussions.

Hopefully he doesn't get many, if any, more. It clearly lingers with him.

 

[doggies ftw]

He missed a big chunk of the season and he has a tendency to struggle for the first couple of weeks after coming back from a concussion. If he played every game of the season then he'd be in AA discussions.

Plus the flu/Covid knocked him around severely too, let’s hope he gets a good run at it next year

 

[weltschmerz]

100 game milestone in what is surely his first AA season.



I appreciate the slow mo replay of an impressive falcon at 1:20.

 

[ScragCity]

What a star. First time he's been able to put a great season together without a significant injury or concussion setting him back. Let's hope it's the first of many (in our colours).

 

[hatescaptcha]

Going to be the best ruckman in the league for a long time. Such a force. Well done Chilli’


Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com

 

[Mantis Toboggan]

Read an article the other day where Will Schofield

31

Will Schofield

Age

35

Ht

196cm

Wt

94kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

10.6

3star

K

6.5

3star

HB

4.1

3star

M

3.9

4star

T

1.8

4star

MG

154.0

2star

D

5.0

1star

K

2.5

1star

HB

2.5

2star

M

0.5

1star

T

1.5

2star

MG

70.5

1star

D

7.4

2star

K

5.4

2star

HB

2.0

2star

M

3.2

4star

T

1.8

4star

was saying he should be the Eagles #1 trade target. Don’t blame him for suggesting it but surely it’s the last trade we’d be willing to do. We’ve invested so much into Tim we’d be mad to let him go when he’s finally hitting his prime, even if the compensation was pick 1 plus more.

Threw Naughton’s name in the mix too.

Obviously there’s the WA factor at play but I’d say these two would be on a par with Bont in terms of trade-ability. Absolutely indispensable.

Edit: This is being discussed on the trade thread. Please ignore me.

 

[weltschmerz]

All-Australian ruckman, Tim English.

 

[Bulldogs85]

 

[lachy]

Had an excellent overall season with still room for more improvement.

His best rucking years are still ahead, rest him a little more up forward and a bit more strength in the ruck contests and who knows how far he can go

On SM-G996B using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[Dogs 13]

Had an excellent overall season with still room for more improvement.

His best rucking years are still ahead, rest him a little more up forward and a bit more strength in the ruck contests and who knows how far he can go

On SM-G996B using BigFooty.com mobile app

Get him in the Robert Walls ring