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#1
There is a couple of Articles about the Bulldogs in the paper today.
One about Bob Murphy and his parents and this one:
WESTERN Bulldogs coach Peter Rohde is confident his team will be able to handle the physical brand of football dished out by premier Brisbane last weekend.
The Dogs withstood the Lions' ferocious attack to win a practice match by 18 points.
Rohde was buoyed by the performance, considering he wants to introduce a more physical style of game this season.
"Our younger, emerging players have got to work on the physical side of their game, as well as the attacking, skilful side," Rohde said yesterday after a training session at Whitten Oval.
"There's no doubt we've had some lighter players in the side during the past couple of years."
Rohde believes the Dogs have the bodies to adopt to the new style.
"I watched (Daniel) Giansiracusa standing next to Simon Black at the weekend, and, really, their physiques were the same," he said.
"Obviously Simon Black is a few years further down the track.
"But blokes like Daniel, Robert Murphy, (Patrick) Wiggins and (Wayde) Skipper are now getting physiques on them that at least make them competitive at senior level.
"It's an on-going process, and we've got to keep developing them as quickly as we can."
Skipper, 196cm and 85kg, is yet to play a senior game, but Rohde said the 20-year-old would be in contention for the opening-round match against Geelong.
"I'm not sure whether he'll play round one, but he's certainly in the mix for Round 1, and I'm pretty sure he'll play early on in the season at some stage," Rohde said.
"He's certainly got some athleticism and some height, the sort of things we're looking for.
"I was very pleased with his performance at the weekend. I thought he was very competitive and kicked an important goal at the end.
"He can play centre half-forward and centre half-back and he's not bad in the ruck, but he probably hasn't got the real height to be a genuine ruckman in today's footy.
"He's probably an inch or two short for that, so he's more of a back-up ruckman."
One player certain to play against Geelong is 190cm defender Scott Bassett, recruited from Norwood at the end of last season.
"He was stitched up by (Essendon's Matthew) Lloyd the week before, but other than that he had a solid pre-season," Rohde said.
"And even against Essendon, he went off Lloyd and did a good job in the second half.
"He'll certainly play round one and be a pretty handy player for us.
"I think he's going to be able to do some of the jobs Steven Kretiuk has done in the past to relieve Kretiuk to play on some of the smaller blokes."
One about Bob Murphy and his parents and this one:
WESTERN Bulldogs coach Peter Rohde is confident his team will be able to handle the physical brand of football dished out by premier Brisbane last weekend.
The Dogs withstood the Lions' ferocious attack to win a practice match by 18 points.
Rohde was buoyed by the performance, considering he wants to introduce a more physical style of game this season.
"Our younger, emerging players have got to work on the physical side of their game, as well as the attacking, skilful side," Rohde said yesterday after a training session at Whitten Oval.
"There's no doubt we've had some lighter players in the side during the past couple of years."
Rohde believes the Dogs have the bodies to adopt to the new style.
"I watched (Daniel) Giansiracusa standing next to Simon Black at the weekend, and, really, their physiques were the same," he said.
"Obviously Simon Black is a few years further down the track.
"But blokes like Daniel, Robert Murphy, (Patrick) Wiggins and (Wayde) Skipper are now getting physiques on them that at least make them competitive at senior level.
"It's an on-going process, and we've got to keep developing them as quickly as we can."
Skipper, 196cm and 85kg, is yet to play a senior game, but Rohde said the 20-year-old would be in contention for the opening-round match against Geelong.
"I'm not sure whether he'll play round one, but he's certainly in the mix for Round 1, and I'm pretty sure he'll play early on in the season at some stage," Rohde said.
"He's certainly got some athleticism and some height, the sort of things we're looking for.
"I was very pleased with his performance at the weekend. I thought he was very competitive and kicked an important goal at the end.
"He can play centre half-forward and centre half-back and he's not bad in the ruck, but he probably hasn't got the real height to be a genuine ruckman in today's footy.
"He's probably an inch or two short for that, so he's more of a back-up ruckman."
One player certain to play against Geelong is 190cm defender Scott Bassett, recruited from Norwood at the end of last season.
"He was stitched up by (Essendon's Matthew) Lloyd the week before, but other than that he had a solid pre-season," Rohde said.
"And even against Essendon, he went off Lloyd and did a good job in the second half.
"He'll certainly play round one and be a pretty handy player for us.
"I think he's going to be able to do some of the jobs Steven Kretiuk has done in the past to relieve Kretiuk to play on some of the smaller blokes."

