Optimism Levels For 2021

[yebiga]

I'm convinced, we will still lose some games.

 

[Bulldogs Legend]

Yes, but most often it DOESN'T prove his point, just proves it doesn't work. Must be frustrating for the players. Didn't Hardwick ask his players to contribute to the game plan and that's what they asked for, to play in their individual best positions?

Not sure about that but the Tigers have multiple versatile players who would be playing out of their preferred position. I reckon if Bolton had a choice he would prefer playing midfield full time. Reality is there are a lot of players who would prefer playing midfield

 

[Bulldogs Legend]

I hope we can go to the game

No problem vaccine will be in full swing by then

 

[Bulldogs Legend]

2016 was won largely on the back of Bevo tinkering with positions. M.Boyd at half back seemed ridiculous at the time and allowing Picken to play freely as a HF/Mid. Most of those moves were set very early in the season though. I'm not a fan of tinkering with things from week to week. We spent all of last pre season hearing about the possibility of a 3 pronged attack with Schache Naughton and Bruce and we never saw it once.

Hopefully the really weird sh*t stops next year. I wasn't a fan of Duryea coming in when all the players in his position were playing well and had been all year, wasn't a fan of Porter playing for seemingly no reason, wasn't a fan of Lachy Young being named without a spot on the field that suited him available, wasn't a fan of letting Bruce go goaless for so many games on the trot without change, wasn't a fan of the extremely odd tall team selection in round 1 and wasn't a fan of Gardner keeping his spot ahead of a few others/not needing 3 KPD's.

I think Bevo had a bit of a stinker last year. I'm hoping we have a better idea of what the 22 looks like by round 1 than last season.

the issue is that we don’t always know exactly what is going on so it’s difficult to judge

a good example was Croziers admission in the recent presser that he was still carrying an injury late in the season. This would have contributed to his move away from the backline

 

[Bulldogs Legend]

1. Adam Treloar in bulldogs colours. Adam Treloar playing in our midfield

2. Generational forward Talent in JUH taking his first steps in what will be a super exciting career.

3. Aaron Naughton fit and firing.

4. Bailey Smith breaking PB records and set to go to another level.

5. Steph Martin providing much needed ruck support and mentor ship to English.

6. games back at Marvel with a pretty solid fixture draw.

7. Quarters back up to 20 mins + interchange down to 75 to maximise our midfield depth.

Take your pick!

And us all back in the crowd giving it the opposition and enjoying the Dogs sticking it right up them!

 

[Libba39]

The premiership must be in the bag if Jon Ralph's best bulldog team does not include The Bont.



View attachment 1034894

My god that is gold...

 

[Bulldogs Legend]

Will not help at all. It all be very amusing when the country wakes up to the con they we being sold.

Ok don’t take it,me I’m more than happy to

 

[perro_loco]

I just want to see players played to their strengths. If I see Caleb at full back, Crozier or Woody in the forward line, Bont rucking, or any other “versatile” moves, I’ll explode.

I think Wood at full-forward will be a versatile move.

 

[Al dente]

Was browsing stats at and came across a detailed analysis of the 2021 draw, this is the conclusion, has us as with an easier schedule based on 2021 predicted performances.

An Analysis of Strength of Schedule for the Men's 2021 AFL Season — Matter of Stats

It feels slightly surreal that it’s only been a little over 12 months since last we did it, but it’s time to, once again, review the schedule for the men’s footy season ahead.

www.matterofstats.com

CONCLUSION
If we weight the two components of schedule strength - say average quality of the opposition faced at 75%, and net venue effects at 25% - we might summarise the teams' relative Strength of Schedules as follows (with teams’ final 2020 ladder positions shown in brackets)

• Tough Schedules: St Kilda (5th)
• Harder Schedules: North Melbourne (17th), Melbourne (9th), Collingwood (6th)
• Slightly Harder Schedules: Carlton (11th), Richmond (1st), Gold Coast (14th)
• Roughly Average Schedules: Essendon (13th), Brisbane Lions (4th)
• Slightly Easier Schedules: Fremantle (12th), GWS (10th), Port Adelaide (3rd), Geelong (2nd)
• Easier Schedules: Western Bulldogs (8th), Sydney (16th), Hawthorn (15th), West Coast (7th), Adelaide (18th)

Relative to the AFL’s intentions, you could make a case based on this listing that:

• North Melbourne and Gold Coast (and maybe St Kilda) were hard done by
• Geelong and Port Adelaide (and maybe Brisbane Lions, West Coast and Western Bulldogs) did better than they might have expected

As I said last year, Strength of Schedule is quite a challenging metric to define and measure, so you’ll get a better sense of it and be more able to make your own assessment by reading a variety of approaches.

 

[Leon]

IMO the big question of our 2021 fortunes is whether or not Luke Beveridge re-discovers some form as coach.

 

[ScragCity]

Will Hayes

40

Will Hayes

Age

28

Ht

181cm

Wt

77kg

Pos.

M/F

Career

Season

Last 5

D

15.6

4star

K

8.6

3star

HB

7.0

4star

M

4.0

4star

T

3.3

5star

CL

0.9

3star

No current season stats available

D

15.8

4star

K

8.4

4star

HB

7.4

5star

M

4.2

4star

T

2.6

4star

CL

0.4

3star

' endurance will give us an edge this year with the return of 20 minute quarters. I can envision Bevo doing something edgy this year and having Hayes/English on the wings. Stef Martin/Lewis Young

33

Lewis Young

Age

25

Ht

202cm

Wt

99kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

11.6

3star

K

7.5

3star

HB

4.1

3star

M

4.4

4star

T

1.6

4star

MG

197.9

3star

D

4.0

1star

K

3.0

1star

HB

1.0

1star

M

3.0

3star

T

0.0

1star

MG

26.0

1star

D

14.4

4star

K

8.2

4star

HB

6.2

4star

M

6.4

5star

T

2.0

4star

MG

181.6

3star

to ruck. Lachie Hunter to play more inside mid like he was in practice games last year. I think Roarke will be used but not sure if as wing or to play as an interceptor on half back.

 

[Leon]

Will Hayes' endurance will give us an edge this year with the return of 20 minute quarters. I can envision Bevo doing something edgy this year and having Hayes/English on the wings. Stef Martin/Lewis Young to ruck. Lachie Hunter to play more inside mid like he was in practice games last year. I think Roarke will be used but not sure if as wing or to play as an interceptor on half back.

Is this one of your sarcastic posts?

Please say yes.

 

[Yesterday Dog]

I genuinely do not understand the vitriol towards Hayes on this site. Then again it's been the same old s**t for the last 15 years that I've seen here. It was Eagleton back then however.

 

[Dogs_R_Us]

I genuinely do not understand the vitriol towards Hayes on this site. Then again it's been the same old sh*t for the last 15 years that I've seen here. It was Eagleton back then however.

Eagleton was a Yesterday Dog too

Hayes is heading for the whipping boy title, especially if he actually gets picked to play, in one of the MC’s mad moves. There will be other contenders, don’t worry.

 

[Yesterday Dog]

Eagleton was a Yesterday Dog too

Hayes is heading for the whipping boy title, especially if he actually gets picked to play, in one of the MC’s mad moves. There will be other contenders, don’t worry.

If only we could channel our powers of insight, experience and cognitive development and provide an inclusive atmosphere from an understanding, empathetic and developmental mindset as apposed to.. "target the * out of their weaknesses", full well knowing that even a 1% improvement of the mental health of our players would net an increase of team performance and improve our chances of success.

But nah, it's easier just to run their names into the ground.

 

[ScragCity]

If only we could channel our powers of insight, experience and cognitive development and provide an inclusive atmosphere from an understanding, empathetic and developmental mindset as apposed to..

Where exactly do you think you are right now?

 

[Bulldogs Legend]

I genuinely do not understand the vitriol towards Hayes on this site. Then again it's been the same old sh*t for the last 15 years that I've seen here. It was Eagleton back then however.

They used to say about Bruce Springsteen that if he didn’t exist the Rock critics would invent him.

Same can be said for Hayes/Eagleton etc if they didn’t exist BF would invent them

 

[Dazb86]

Hopefully we go ok. Feels like on paper this team should be challenging for the next few years.

 

[Mutt]

Moved a few dozen posts to the COVID thread....please try to stay on topic

 

[RedWhite&Blue]

I reckon our whole season will hinge on which tall is moved to the backline and how they take to it.
Bruce is the number one candidate in my opinion but maybe English could play the Scotty Wynd role and take the centre bounces and then drop into the CHB spot and cut off everything. Maybe we see exponential improvement from Gardner and he becomes that reliable stopper that we crave.
Whatever happens down back will dictate how we go.

 

[Boyd oh Boyd]

I reckon our whole season will hinge on which tall is moved to the backline and how they take to it.
Bruce is the number one candidate in my opinion but maybe English could play the Scotty Wynd role and take the centre bounces and then drop into the CHB spot and cut off everything. Maybe we see exponential improvement from Gardner and he becomes that reliable stopper that we crave.
Whatever happens down back will dictate how we go.

I was thinking a similar thing this morning, but I don't think we'll see anyone move to the backline. It'll be who moves out that will make or break us. Playing all of Keath, Cordy, Gardner, Wood, Daniel, Duryea, Williams, JJ and Crozier in the final really screwed us. Our running game doesn't work if we play 3 talls + Wood. Cordy is the one that has to miss in my view. A third tall that doesn't intercept or rebound and isn't good enough to shut down any above average medium just doesn't have any place in the game. Then JJ is up the ground and we have a backline that should hold up. Still have my fingers crossed that Young has a huge jump in form and is ready to take Gardner's place as well, that would be perfect.

 

[TempletonTheRat]

English could play the Scotty Wynd role and take the centre bounces and then drop into the CHB

playing two rucks allows us to do this - one defensive and one forward.

From a structural viewpoint, Martin is the game changer we were looking for

 

[RedWhite&Blue]

I was thinking a similar thing this morning, but I don't think we'll see anyone move to the backline. It'll be who moves out that will make or break us. Playing all of Keath, Cordy, Gardner, Wood, Daniel, Duryea, Williams, JJ and Crozier in the final really screwed us. Our running game doesn't work if we play 3 talls + Wood. Cordy is the one that has to miss in my view. A third tall that doesn't intercept or rebound and isn't good enough to shut down any above average medium just doesn't have any place in the game. Then JJ is up the ground and we have a backline that should hold up. Still have my fingers crossed that Young has a huge jump in form and is ready to take Gardner's place as well, that would be perfect.

Yes Young has got to step up this year.
He's shown heaps in his few games.
Didn't he come in a for that elimination final against GWS and play well? - I thought he held his own and looked like he should be out there consistently.

 

[Whoyagot]

I was thinking a similar thing this morning, but I don't think we'll see anyone move to the backline. It'll be who moves out that will make or break us. Playing all of Keath, Cordy, Gardner, Wood, Daniel, Duryea, Williams, JJ and Crozier in the final really screwed us. Our running game doesn't work if we play 3 talls + Wood. Cordy is the one that has to miss in my view. A third tall that doesn't intercept or rebound and isn't good enough to shut down any above average medium just doesn't have any place in the game. Then JJ is up the ground and we have a backline that should hold up. Still have my fingers crossed that Young has a huge jump in form and is ready to take Gardner's place as well, that would be perfect.

the game has moved past wood IMO, crozier, Williams and Duryea intercept just as well but are 10x better ball users. He’ll be solid depth but I don’t think he’s best 22 anymore.

 

[Woof]

I’m a little worried about how Bevo will adapt to the new man on the mark rule. For better or worse much of our game plan revolves around our whole-of-team defence which relies heavily on guys guarding space. Not being able to protect space from the mark will open a lot of territory for opposition to create space and propel forward. On the flip side, it will be a huge advantage to our running backs and strong kickers who have a bit more space to hit targets and run. I love the rule change but am worried about the consequences for us. It’s not like we have the best recent history of adapting well to rule changes either.