It canNOT be done

[the ghost of alby smedts]

Like all teams the Bulldogs aspire to win the AFL flag.
The reality is that this cannot be done without key position players.
I cannot think of one side that has been able to do it yet.
People talk about the great mossie fleet at Carlton in the 70s but even that side altough overflowing with great small men (Ashman,Armstrong Keogh ect) they had very solid genuine key position players (Southbey,Maclure,Perovic ect).Bar Grant we have none.
We attemped all this back in the 90s and it did not work and as the game has become more physical there is no way we are going to make it happen now. That is the sad truth.
So its time to throw caution to the wind. Keep alternating the likes of Skipper,Harris Wiggins,Bowden and any 190cm+ young player until one or more of them steps up. We should have at least 3 of these types in the side at any given time. This will allow quicker development, as opposed to having one in and the rest at Werribee or sitting on the bench. As I see it,it is the only way to go.

 

[SCRAY72]

Starting this week. Nothing to lose, The Bombers will be severely depleted this week.
Bruton to alternate in the ruck with Darcy with Darcy to spend time at CHF. If Bruton is ever going to play it is THIS WEEK.
Skipper in for his debut game.
Bandy to the bench or Werribee.
McGuinness in, only 188cm but he plays tall and can take a grab.
The Bombers have lost Wellman and possibly Lloyd and Barnard.
They are vulnerable. If our talls can't have an impact this week they never will.

 

[Chops]

Originally posted by SCRAY72
Starting this week. Nothing to lose, The Bombers will be severely depleted this week.
Bruton to alternate in the ruck with Darcy with Darcy to spend time at CHF. If Bruton is ever going to play it is THIS WEEK.
Skipper in for his debut game.
Bandy to the bench or Werribee.
McGuinness in, only 188cm but he plays tall and can take a grab.
The Bombers have lost Wellman and possibly Lloyd and Barnard.
They are vulnerable. If our talls can't have an impact this week they never will.

Once again if Burton plays this week it will be a miracle and we will win the premiership. The only way he will play if Bandy or darcy are injured and even then its duobtful.

I just watched the game V Melb and we had patches of good, but more patches of bad. Its all about structure and players following instructions.

 

[Bulldog1954]

Originally posted by SCRAY72

Bandy to the bench or Werribee.

Don't drop Bandy after 2 poor games, round 1 he was good and remember how well he did against Essendon last season.

 

[Mr. Walker]

Originally posted by the ghost of alby smedts
Like all teams the Bulldogs aspire to win the AFL flag.
The reality is that this cannot be done without key position players.
I cannot think of one side that has been able to do it yet.
People talk about the great mossie fleet at Carlton in the 70s but even that side altough overflowing with great small men (Ashman,Armstrong Keogh ect) they had very solid genuine key position players (Southbey,Maclure,Perovic ect).Bar Grant we have none.
We attemped all this back in the 90s and it did not work and as the game has become more physical there is no way we are going to make it happen now. That is the sad truth.
So its time to throw caution to the wind. Keep alternating the likes of Skipper,Harris Wiggins,Bowden and any 190cm+ young player until one or more of them steps up. We should have at least 3 of these types in the side at any given time. This will allow quicker development, as opposed to having one in and the rest at Werribee or sitting on the bench. As I see it,it is the only way to go.

I agree. We have tried the midget forward line and the wide receivers and it has come unstuck every September. At the moment Rohde and Wallace before him felt that we did not have the talls and the only possibility of getting a win was to go with smaller but more talented players. This worked to a certain extent but we were eventually exposed and without Grant have been horribly shown up now.

I agree that the likes of Bowden (done beter than I thought he would) Harris Skipper and Wiggins should be perservered with in the hope that two at least will develop.

i do not agree that Bruton should be promoted. I think a spot has to be earned and the reports are that he has done nothing to date at Werribee to earn promotion. If ll you have to do to get a game with us each week is to be big then the guy in our cheer squad would be the first one picked.

 

[The_Flying_Egg]

Originally posted by SCRAY72

Bandy to the bench or Werribee

So you're big plan to fix our key position problems is to drop our best key position and tallest player An out of form Bandy is better than the alternatives

 

[chels_09]

It can be done!!!

Peter Rohde has been our coach for about 6 months now, learning a new style of play, learning to actually stick on a player and play accountable footy is going to take a few games to put together, especially as these were the things that Terry Wallace never picked up on.

Give the new and young players time to adapt, this week things will be different, the team will be different, but Rohde needs to stick to his word and drag those who dont do what they are asked of, its the only way they are going to learn.

As for Bruton, i hope he gets a game this week, he deserves a chance, and our lack of height was definatly demonstrated on Saturday, so bring in the tall, and hopefully Skipper and Harris will return to.

Bandy, well what do we do with bandy, his form is horrible, but we need him, as one of our only key position talls. SHould he be let to drift across half forward, cause when he seems to go in the ruck we seem to go backwards.

AND ROHDE, PLEASE, MOVE BROWN FROM FULL FORWARD FOR A WHILE.

 

[-PC28-]

Originally posted by The_Flying_Egg
So you're big plan to fix our key position problems is to drop our best key position and tallest player An out of form Bandy is better than the alternatives

Yeah you're right. At least we'll have some to abuse as he fails to mark, kick or even get to general play.

A monkey would do better than Bandy at the moment. If he's injured, DROP HIM!!!!!!

If he's not injured, then god help us.

 

[OldSchool]

Ghost,

Agree that we need good talls if we are to be a real contender but I would argue that Brisbane wins because of their smalls rather than by the weight of their talls. Lynch and Brown are very good forwards, Leppa and Michael are not really classic tall defenders but are both solidly built and rarely beaten. A couple of decent ruckman but hardly a tall team.
However, the majority of their team is strongly built and they are rarely brushed aside in a contest and that is what makes them such a great team.
We have plenty of players with some height however, most of them are physically immature.
I started a thread a while ago where I suggested that we might have to refine some draft selections to look for some bigger bodied players and still believe that it is the right way for us to go.
We dont have a lot of options availble to us at the moment so we should stick with the younger guys and see how they develop.

 

[stefoid]

yep, put the taller blokes on the paddock and instruct the midfield to kick to them and be damned. Id rather see us fail trying to do the right thing rather than fail in the same tried and true fashion.

and just drop blokes who dont go in hard and mind their man.

Id rather see cross and birrs learning the trade than eagletons and alveys skiing around the field for another year.

 

[X_box_X]

Originally posted by Bulldog1954
Don't drop Bandy after 2 poor games, round 1 he was good and remember how well he did against Essendon last season.

Exactly.

 

[sigscotty]

Originally posted by chels_09

Bandy, well what do we do with bandy, his form is horrible, but we need him, as one of our only key position talls.

Thats true, and he plays like a guy who knows he can't be dropped. I would give him this week (due to his potential to really expose the dons), and if he has another shocker drop him. It may hurt us for a week or two (may not too, would be hard to imagine Skipper playing worse than Bandy did on Sunday), but hopefully it will give him the wake up call he seems to need before performing at the level he should be at(2 best seasons have come at times when his career was on the brink).

 

[Dry Rot]

Originally posted by stefoid
yep, put the taller blokes on the paddock and instruct the midfield to kick to them and be damned. Id rather see us fail trying to do the right thing rather than fail in the same tried and true fashion.

and just drop blokes who dont go in hard and mind their man.

Id rather see cross and birrs learning the trade than eagletons and alveys skiing around the field for another year.

Couldn't put it better myself. We're not going to make the finals without Grant, so let's build a good platform for 2004.

 

[jordy23]

we will improve u wait and see

 

[Knackers]

I don't believe our main problem is lack of height. I'm convinced that our real problem is lack of physicality and strength. Melbourne aren't overly strong bodied but easily brushed our players aside in packs, marking contests and winning the ball at ground level.

Our players must learn to use their bodies correctly when contesting. Lighter players like West and Murphy are very successful as they know how to position their frames and play to their strengths.

We must play guys who are willing to play physically and hold their ground.

We can't afford to play Alvey, Eagleton, McMahon, Hargrave, Power and Bowden in the same team. As displayed last Sunday, when we do, we get slaughtered.

Brisbane, Collingwood, Port Adelaide and Adelaide are the best teams in the comp because they play physical, intimidating football.
For this reason we must also fast track and play guys like McGuiness, Wiggins, Minson and Wight.

The core of our team must be strong bodied, physical players in order to be successful. I believe we need to offload some our small midfielders/forwards in exchange for draft picks or bigger guys. Those mentioned above would be in line, eventhough some are highly regarded, we simply don't have the luxury to maintain them all on our list.

 

[Fossie 32]

Originally posted by Knackers
I don't believe our main problem is lack of height. I'm convinced that our real problem is lack of physicality and strength. Melbourne aren't overly strong bodied but easily brushed our players aside in packs, marking contests and winning the ball at ground level.

Our players must learn to use their bodies correctly when contesting. Lighter players like West and Murphy are very successful as they know how to position their frames and play to their strengths.

We must play guys who are willing to play physically and hold their ground.

We can't afford to play Alvey, Eagleton, McMahon, Hargrave, Power and Bowden in the same team. As displayed last Sunday, when we do, we get slaughtered.

Brisbane, Collingwood, Port Adelaide and Adelaide are the best teams in the comp because they play physical, intimidating football.
For this reason we must also fast track and play guys like McGuiness, Wiggins, Minson and Wight.

The core of our team must be strong bodied, physical players in order to be successful. I believe we need to offload some our small midfielders/forwards in exchange for draft picks or bigger guys. Those mentioned above would be in line, eventhough some are highly regarded, we simply don't have the luxury to maintain them all on our list.

Basically agree though Alvey, Eagle and co would be are out of form the last couple of weeks as well as not being robust in build. Alvey was good most of last year and Hargy and the others were looking promising - apart from Eagle whose game against Geelong was about the only good one I can recall from him. Power was a victim of circumstance last week having to play in defence.

 

[sigscotty]

Originally posted by Fossie 32
Power was a victim of circumstance last week having to play in defence.

I hope Rohde is not trying to turn him into a "half tall". I see Power as a guy to add to our lowest number category of players...big bodied midfielders.