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Opinion Expectations 2023

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TiAn_ said:
Depth really does look thin outside of key positions (oh how the turntables).

Looking at it, I wouldn’t be totally surprised if we traded one of our future firsts into this first round to try and get some combination of outside mid, KPD and small forward.
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Even key positions, not quite depth in numbers. Down back we have Khamis, then ... O'Brien. Up forward we only have Bruce and ruck we have Sweet and Martin. Not a whole lot on that department either to be fair.
 
Golden_6 said:
The concerns I have around next year are more our depth players. We've lost 6 players to other clubs in the past couple of years which isn't completely ideal. Taking the posters team above (which I agree with) our depth is as follows:

3x draftees, Bruce, Scott, Hannan, VDM, Roarke, McComb, Khamis, Wallis, Crozier, McNeil, Sweet, O'Brien, Bedendo, Cleary, Jones, Raak

A few of those guys can be role players in a best 22 but there isn't a heap of quality. I hope we hit on a couple of picks that can make an immediate impact or guys like McNeil, Bedendo & Cleary can make a significant jump next year.
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I doubt many others have a great second best 22. At least our depth has been tested

Brisbane's hasn't, and we saw how Melbourne's went this year
 
Golden_6 said:
The concerns I have around next year are more our depth players. We've lost 6 players to other clubs in the past couple of years which isn't completely ideal. Taking the posters team above (which I agree with) our depth is as follows:

3x draftees, Bruce, Scott, Hannan, VDM, Roarke, McComb, Khamis, Wallis, Crozier, McNeil, Sweet, O'Brien, Bedendo, Cleary, Jones, Raak

A few of those guys can be role players in a best 22 but there isn't a heap of quality. I hope we hit on a couple of picks that can make an immediate impact or guys like McNeil, Bedendo & Cleary can make a significant jump next year.
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I don’t think that’s the worst depth to be completely honest, you just cant have much more quality than that outside the best 23. We’ll struggle if we have more than a few of them playing in the same game but that goes for most teams depth IMO.

But hitting the draft with 6+ picks under 30 across the next two years is definitely needed
 
If 1-2 players from this draft make an impact in their first year plus Keath finding some form and I feel like we will have top 4 finish. Lobb, Jones and fit Maclean makes us a much better side on paper. I always rated Maclean at his best better than Dunkley personally.

Can easily can see us slipping to the 5-6 range again though too. A lot of IFs for us next year. The same as all teams. The great thing is that this list is solid in most parts of the ground for the first time I can remember.
 

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I think we have a top 4 list but even getting Jones (as much as I hate it) I still feel we need to move Naughton back (which I also hate). You absolutely do not win a flag with a flaky defence, you can with an average forward line. If we're relying on Jones, Gardner and Keath as our entire list of KPDs we are literally one injury away from being unable to compete with the top teams. A combination of Lobb/Darcy/Bruce/JUH as KPFs is obviously not ideal but better that than leaking 5 goals in 10 minutes in every match against a top 8 side. Also, as much as I hate to say it, we've got softer and worse in the contest as the influence of McCartney has faded. I remember Bevo saying early on that we already had that and he didn't need to work on it much, unfortunately I think that has continued to be the case and we've focused way too much on ball movement. Need to address that this off season.
Anyway I think this team can win a flag:

Duryea Jones Richards
Dale Naughton Khamis/Crozier
Treloar Bont Daniel
West JUH/Bruce Roarke
Weightman Darcy Lobb (backup ruck rotating with English obviously)

English Bont Libba

Macrae Williams JJ Scott/McComb/McNeil etc

We desperately need a Duryea clone and I don't think having Dale, Daniel and Richards in the same backline is ideal. We tend to play one of our wings as basically a sweeper around the back of the stoppage which is what Daniel is in this lineup. We also clearly need better pressure forwards, but every team has holes. The Khamis/Crozier selection would be ideal for balance but only if one of them is actually up to playing AFL level football - if Jones and Naughton are playing together and in form we can drop them, have no 3rd man up type down back and play another runner. Also imo Roarke is absolutely best 22 until someone takes his spot. We desperately need our role players to be tougher and more disciplined, he is that, and gets a game ahead of JJ/Vandermeer on that basis and is also a better player than McComb/McNeil/Scott. With much better team defence that side is capable, but I wouldn't have us favourites and the competition is likely to be much tougher this year than it has been since the early 2010s, at least at the top. Fwiw I have money on Carlton for top 4 and a flag, Brisbane, Melbourne and Geelong should also obviously be good, Richmond can go **** themselves and port are a chance for top 4 but no flag. Collingwood and Sydney to drop on the basis of midfield issues and taking advantage of a very weak field this season.
 
Honestly the thing I hope we /fix/change the most is loosing games after having a comfortable lead (at least three goals) or looking in control. Some examples starting with the obvious are

2021 GF. 19 points up midway through the third. Loose by 70 points

R1 V Melbourne. on a roll, kicked 8 in a row, 4 goals up midway through the second. Loose by 26 points.

R16 V Brisbane. Three goals up in the second. Loose by 40 points

R20 v Geelong. Kick the first 5 goals of the game. Looked all over them. Loose by 30 points.

Then the worst of them all. 42 points up against Freo. Loose by 13.

We also had some games where we just switched off for the quarter and that cost us the game (Geelong, Carlton).

Now I obviously know that its very rare to go through a whole season without having at least a couple of those games where you have comfortable leads and loose. It's footy. However I feel like it happens to us too much. Whosever issue it is coaching or playing. I think it needs to be fixed. It probably ranges from coaching to lacking leaders who can get behind the young players. We have a lot things to this offseason but I really hope this issue is fixed.
 
Expectations are real high because our best players have room for growth/return to the peak of their powers. Bont alone can perform at 20% better week in, week out than he did last year.
 
The way I see us improving the most is if the match committee tone down their fetish of playing midfielders out of position.

McComb is not a small forward.
Treloar is not a half back.
Garcia is not a small forward.
Hannan is not a defender.

Our side each week was too heavy for midfielders. Now we've lost one of our best ones, I hope we don't plug it with another one like McLean. Having one less in the rotation won't be the end of the world. Will just mean they won't be playing out of position just to fit them in.
 
In the Johnno - King exchange hard to disagree with anything King said.
Bevo will be under intense media scrutiny from Round 1 next year.
 
Golden_6 said:
The concerns I have around next year are more our depth players. We've lost 6 players to other clubs in the past couple of years which isn't completely ideal. Taking the posters team above (which I agree with) our depth is as follows:

3x draftees, Bruce, Scott, Hannan, VDM, Roarke, McComb, Khamis, Wallis, Crozier, McNeil, Sweet, O'Brien, Bedendo, Cleary, Jones, Raak

A few of those guys can be role players in a best 22 but there isn't a heap of quality. I hope we hit on a couple of picks that can make an immediate impact or guys like McNeil, Bedendo & Cleary can make a significant jump next year.
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Depth is clearly an issue.

The thing that killed our depth is the amount draft picks that we used up to match bids for Marra & Darcy.

Luckily they both look like guns + long term players. If they were duds we would've wasted two whole drafts. We need to draft heavily in the next 2-3 years as the draft will compromised with the tasmanian coming into the competition.
 
Angak said:
Depth is clearly an issue.

The thing that killed our depth is the amount draft picks that we used up to match bids for Marra & Darcy.

Luckily they both look like guns + long term players. If they were duds we would've wasted two whole drafts. We need to draft heavily in the next 2-3 years as the draft will compromised with the tasmanian coming into the competition.
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Yup absolutely, only really Bedendo & Garcia out of our main side who IMO will definitely make it as good players with Cleary & Jones maybes (Cleary obviously more likely than Jones at this stage)

We’ve got a great opportunity over the next two years to take 6 or more picks in the top 30 though and completely refresh that depth whilst pushing out the battlers. That’s why I’m even happy to swap 11 out for an extra pick too - we need quantity over quality which is rare. Our top end young talent is genuinely elite.

With our two first rounders next year we can start to rebuild the next gen midfield, this year I’m plugging holes IMO - defence, wing & small forwards. Maybe rookie a ruck
 

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Marvnation said:
We need 16 wins to finish top 4. We had 10 losses this season, pick 4 of these we win.
  1. Melb - 6
  2. Carlton - 12
  3. Rich - 38
  4. Adelaide - 1
  5. Port - 17
  6. Geel - 13
  7. Bris - 41
  8. Syd - 53
  9. Geel - 28
  10. Freo - 17
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A number of those losses we were in the game before our ruck got tired…..
 
My expectation for this year is to see a more coherent game plan and a team that plays with more passion and unity.

If we see that in the early rounds, pretty sure the goals will kick themselves and the wins will come.

If we dish up something similar to this year early doors, it's gonna be a long year.
 
I feel we need to get away to a good start something like 4 wins out of first 5 games. If we are one or two wins after 5 games the pressure and media speculation will build on Bevo in his last season of his contract. Bevo is no favourite of journos some of it is own doing and if they can come for him they will not hold back.

The club will be in a no win situation if they need a good season to reappoint. They should not reappoint just to take away the media speculation and the way around this is for the dogs to be flying in win versus losses and the club would be in their rights of offer a 3 year contract mid season.
 
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I’m expecting us to miss the 8.

I’m hoping for a ride like 2016 where we exceeded expectations and took us on one hell of a ride.

Naughton to be a lock in SC as playing higher up and running amok.
 
Barking Mad said:
I’m expecting us to miss the 8.

I’m hoping for a ride like 2016 where we exceeded expectations and took us on one hell of a ride.

Naughton to be a lock in SC as playing higher up and running amok.
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I think it is wide open next year. Love or hate him Selwood retiring is massive for Geelong, he will leave a massive void on and off field plus they have re-tooled with young unproven talent rather than established veteran talent which they have never done. Sydney is fine but should not be a runaway better team than us, Brissy could make a leap but I'm not sure they have enough top end talent, Collingwood have to back up a miracle season and win another 10 games by less than a kick, Melbourne have the worst forward line in the comp, Freo as well drilled as they are are not a bonafide walk up contender while the Tigers are still heavily reliant on their older blokes, even with Taranto/Hopper now on board.

Carlton and Port are the only real challenge outside the 8 compared to this year.
 

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BIG_BONTS said:
It would be shocking to me if we had an even worse year with this list, coaching group and organisation in 2023. We beat 3/4 of the top 4 last year.
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A fair bit of work needs to go into coaching next year. I don't think the way we defend is getting it done any more (including defending a run on from centre clearance)

It could be argued we are a little worse off list wise than previous years. A fair chunk of depth has just departed and we'll be relying on a few guys to really cement spots in the 22 that were on the fringes this year.
 
This is the first time we have genuine KPP quality and depth at both ends in forever.

KPFs: Naughton, Lobb, Ugle-Hagan
KPDs: Keath, Jones, Gardner
Rucks: English, Sweet
Swingmen/Backup: Darcy, Bruce

Depth: Khamis, O'Brien (both can pinch hit at each end)

Presumably, we'll also add a draftee or two in the first/second round to bolster the KPP depth.

If you compare to our available squad to start 2022, we've essentially replaced Schache and Cordy with Lobb, Jones, Darcy and Bruce. A pretty big step up in quality and depth. One or two injuries shouldn't necessitate desperate makeshift moves like Cordy and Khamis as key forward/ruck in 2023.

Even allowing for injuries, we should have a more settled structure with clearly defined roles for the KPPs, which should give the team a higher floor in games against good opponents and something to fall back on in-game when the going gets tough. With the sort of height and contested marking ability we'll be putting on the park, we should be able hold our own if we get dragged into or force a kick down the line slog.

If Gardner can play as a more traditional full back and allow Jones and Keath some room to operate as interceptors, we might actually be able to turn some of the spoils, loose balls and stoppages in D50 into intercept marks and rebound opportunities.

Our wings/half forwards are a weakness, but with Bont, Macrae, Smith and Treloar able to spend time in those roles, it's not a problem that should reduce us to a team looking in from outside the 8.

If we improve our defensive setup across the ground to an average level, where we don't allow record amounts of uncontested marks on a weekly basis and incredibly easy ball movement, the setup we have at each end and the quality of our inside midfielders should carry us to 13-15 wins and another finals appearance.
 
Seriously we should always be aiming for top 4 and a preliminary final. All teams should be but we have a list more than capable.

Luck in many ways dictates where we go from there but making a prelim should always be the aim each and every season

On SM-G996B using BigFooty.com mobile app
 
The Bulldogs very rarely have two bad years in a row, at least since I started following them

I think we will come out snarling, new coaching ideas, more balanced team structure, players being in positions of strength I.e. Treloa, big chilly with some help finally in ruck. I am hoping we also pick up a gun first round pick who plays most games.
 

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