Training Preseason 22-23

[Inside The Kennel]

This is my revised 2023 Premiership Team, based on pre-season
*It pains me to not be able to squeeze the red players in, though it is a slender line, so I could quite easily mount a case for those six to leapfrog one or two players in the 23.

B: C. Daniel, R. Gardner, L. Jones
HB: B. Dale, A. Keath, E. Richards
C: B. Smith, T. Liberatore, A. Treloar
HF: R. West, J. Ugle-Hagan J. Johannisen
F: C. Weightman, A. Naughton, R. Lobb
Foll: T. English, J. MacRae, M. Bontempelli
Int: T. McLean B. Williams D. Bedendo L. Vandermeer
Sub: J. Bruce (to be used if any one of the six tall defenders or tall forwards are injured, or English)
Emerg: B. Khamis R. Garcia H. Crozier S. Darcy T. Dureya O. Baker, R. Smith, M. Hannan, J. Sweet, A. Jones, A. Scott, L. Cleary, L. McNeill, C. Raak, R. McComb, T. O'brien, C. Clarke, H. Gallagher, J. Busslinger.

 

[doggiesin08]

Bedendo has firmed as my smokey for a Round One guernsey. He has impressed beyond expectations over summer and is a very challenging match-up, given his leap, size and agility.

Where do you see him playing? Mix between forward (when one of our Big 3 are on the pine resting) and on the wing otherwise or is he agile enough to play along with those guys (and smart enough to not jump on top of them).

 

[Inside The Kennel]

Where do you see him playing? Mix between forward (when one of our Big 3 are on the pine resting) and on the wing otherwise or is he agile enough to play along with those guys (and smart enough to not jump on top of them).

He looks so dangerous forward. He can play small or leap tall, is strong, evasive and has some x-factor about him. He dominated on the wing in VFL last year, but based on what I've seen in the off-season, he looks like an incredibly dangerous addition to the forward line.

 

[doggiesin08]

He looks so dangerous forward. He can play small or leap tall, is strong, evasive and has some x-factor about him. He dominated on the wing in VFL last year, but based on what I've seen in the off-season, he looks like an incredibly dangerous addition to the forward line.

I like the look of your forward line with Bedendo as the 7th. Lobb, Naughton, Ugle-Hagan, Johannisen, Weightman, West and Bedendo is a nice mix with the last 2 able to rotate to the midfield/wing.

I wouldn’t want him missing too much game time but Bedendo is also a very compelling option as for the sub position given his versatility.

 

[Bulldogs Legend]

Disagree. His poor disposal resulting in rebounds hurt us this year. Being fast can’t be a cop out for poor disposal.

He needs to learn how to deliver. When he does he will realise his potential and could become a top 5 player. One lace out delivery is worth at least four sprayed i50s. Watch Bont.

We could do with some more of the damaging Baz we saw in the 2021 finals. With the adverse publicity of whitepowdergate now behind him I think there are reasons to be hopeful about 2023.

yeah nah his disposal woes are overrated

 

[Dogman 1]

Please replace vandermeer in that side, anyone else will do.

 

[adogsfan5]

B: Duryea Jones Keath
HB: Dale Bruce Richards
C: Baker Bontempelli Daniel
HF: JJ Naughton Smith
F: Weightman Ugle-Hagan Lobb
R: English Liberatore Macrae

Int: Treloar McLean Garcia West

 

[X_box_X]

I must say, I'm enjoying the vibes around here. The optimism is comforting and I'm now feeling bullish about next season.

I love your work, ITK. Thanks for the report. I love hearing about the coaches and the influence they have on the playing group so thanks for those insights.

 

[VitalDread]

Great seeing both Gardner and Jones rip it up during the pre Xmas period

Both of them as sweeper will become so important for our structure

 

[Angak]

This is my revised 2023 Premiership Team, based on pre-season
*It pains me to not be able to squeeze the red players in, though it is a slender line, so I could quite easily mount a case for those six to leapfrog one or two players in the 23.

B: C. Daniel, R. Gardner, L. Jones
HB: B. Dale, A. Keath, E. Richards
C: B. Smith, T. Liberatore, A. Treloar
HF: R. West, J. Ugle-Hagan J. Johannisen
F: C. Weightman, A. Naughton, R. Lobb
Foll: T. English, J. MacRae, M. Bontempelli
Int: T. McLean B. Williams D. Bedendo L. Vandermeer
Sub: J. Bruce (to be used if any one of the six tall defenders or tall forwards are injured, or English)
Emerg: B. Khamis R. Garcia H. Crozier S. Darcy T. Dureya O. Baker, R. Smith, M. Hannan, J. Sweet, A. Jones, A. Scott, L. Cleary, L. McNeill, C. Raak, R. McComb, T. O'brien, C. Clarke, H. Gallagher, J. Busslinger.

This is a good line up.

From all reports Caleb is going to play higher up the ground in 2023. I'd have Duryea in the backpocket and Caleb on the bench/wing with Bruce coming out of side. We have so many talls in the side adding Bruce even as a sub would be excessive.

 

[Fossie 32]

Would be surprised if Darcy isn’t in for the first game but hard to fit them all in

 

[Inside The Kennel]

This is a good line up.

From all reports Caleb is going to play higher up the ground in 2023. I'd have Duryea in the backpocket and Caleb on the beach/wing with Bruce coming out of side. We have so many talls in the side adding Bruce even as a sub would be excessive.

Caleb has spent time in the middle in each of the three match simulations I've seen this month. Having said that, as it is an intra match, we are effectively playing two teams of midfielders. Whether that means he will get a gig in there or that they are simply building his tank or challenging the other midfielders with a quality opponent, is yet to be seen. I personally love him off half back, as he is able to launch so many attacks, with his vision and dare.

As for Dureya, he is not getting any younger and I fear he has been leapfrogged by a few. Let's hope he has another solid season in him, as he is such a capable shutdown defender.

Bruce, I'd agree, would be an unlikely sub option. I just couldn't bring myself to leave him out, and given the shape and form he has returned in, will be very difficult to not pick in his own right.

 

[NthBondiDoggies]

Weightman Bruce Lobb

JUH Naughton West

Daniel Macrae Trelor
English Bont Libba

Dale Keath Richards

Gardner Jones Duryea

Int: B. Smith, García, McLean, Darcy

Sub:Khamis or Williams

This a a strong team on paper - if all fit it could a nightmare for other teams.

I know Bruce has been training back but his is still our best FF and commonly scores 20 goals a season more than Lobb. Lobb is not a great contested mark and is better on the lead and so he is not really a FF (even someone as average as Taberner played there for Freo). JUH is not ready yet (he will be) and so as a third tall is a great threat.

In defence Gardner, Keath and Jones is a better mix of speed and size. Gardner as a third is a good proposition and will help him to keep developing.

Darcy will rotate with Lobb when English goes off and he or Bruce can go back if needed.

Despite all this - I would be staggered if Bevo didn’t spring a surprise with one of the new draftees or something weird from one of his favs like Hannan

 

[weltschmerz]

Weightman Bruce Lobb

JUH Naughton West

Daniel Macrae Trelor
English Bont Libba

Dale Keath Richards

Gardner Jones Duryea

Int: B. Smith, García, McLean, Darcy

Sub:Khamis or Williams

This a a strong team on paper - if all fit it could a nightmare for other teams.

I know Bruce has been training back but his is still our best FF and commonly scores 20 goals a season more than Lobb. Lobb is not a great contested mark and is better on the lead and so he is not really a FF (even someone as average as Taberner played there for Freo). JUH is not ready yet (he will be) and so as a third tall is a great threat.

In defence Gardner, Keath and Jones is a better mix of speed and size. Gardner as a third is a good proposition and will help him to keep developing.

Darcy will rotate with Lobb when English goes off and he or Bruce can go back if needed.

Despite all this - I would be staggered if Bevo didn’t spring a surprise with one of the new draftees or something weird from one of his favs like Hannan

Four talls up front, three down back, one on the bench?

 

[BulldogMuscle]

Four talls up front, three down back, one on the bench?

As long as the ball doesn't touch the ground we're golden.

 

[Martyn_30_]

As for Dureya, he is not getting any younger and I fear he has been leapfrogged by a few. Let's hope he has another solid season in him, as he is such a capable shutdown defender.






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If Duyrea played in the final there’s a good chance the team would have won the game. Right now he’s the only reliable lockdown small defender on the list.

 

[_Cerberus_]

If Duyrea played in the final there’s a good chance the team would have won the game. Right now he’s the only reliable lockdown small defender on the list.

I'm happy we improved our defensive tall stocks in the offseason, and drafted another. But I still thought it was small forwards and mids that hurt us more. If Doc takes a step back this season, or gets injured, we need Dale and Richards to step up or we are gonna be hurt a few times on the scoreboard. Felt we were also slow leg speed wise, as we seemed to keep getting burnt on the lead.

Small defender and wing is my only concern at the moment. Doc 100% starts down back, and please, NO Daniel in defence. He competes hard, but our structure fell apart to much, and left him trying to defend 100m tall giants.

 

[Dogs_R_Us]

As for Dureya, he is not getting any younger

If Duyrea played in the final

Guys, I know it’s a weird name but he’s been here long enough - it’s spelt Duryea. I’ve no idea why it’s pronounced “Dyou-ray”, but you can remember the spelling by thinking “Dur-yay”.

 

[willofwest]

When does training restart?

 

[X_box_X]

Until recently, I had been feeling uninspired about our chances next year.

Losing four players from our Grand Final team (Dunkley, Hunter, Schache, Cordy), not having much confidence in Bevo's support crew, worried about our game plan, and I wasn't too enthused about our recruitment of Lobb and Jones.

If any supporters are uninspired / pessimistic like I was for any combination of the above reasons, perhaps you may take comfort in reading my thoughts.

Dunkley and Hunter (on talent) appear to be the biggest losses from our departures. The other two were merely depth players.

When you lose talent, you immediately begin to focus your attention on who will replace them or step in to fill the void. A positive here is I am almost certain the likes of West, Garcia, Roarke Smith and co will thrive on two spots opening up. Those players haven't been given a consistent go and it's possible they may have previously been discouraged from putting in a power of work to build up a huge aerobic tank. I.e. Having the mentality that even if they do the extra yards, it will be to no avail. I am confident these three, and possibly a few others, will now be extra motivated to make the most of their opportunity. It will create a healthy competitiveness for spots and the net result will be improvement from multiple players... Players who were previously fringe players who are now likely to become at worst a good player. I'm really encouraged by the work Westy has done this preseason and I'm sure he isn't the only one.

I'm prepared to back the club in and trust we have a good mix of coaches to support Bevo. Even though we have only added Lade, I feel a positive is the relationships and trust our players appear to have for Bubba and Spangher (and obviously Bevo). This is important. Lade has been around success so I'm very happy with his arrival.

The jury is still out as to whether we have addressed the issues in our game plan. I'm confident we have. This will go a long way to achieving success in 2023 but from early reports the signs here are encouraging.

Lobb is a couple of months shy of his 30th Birthday so he's no spring chicken, but based on his 2022 form, he has shown no signs of slowing down. If he can match his 2022 output, we'll be happy with that. I look forward to seeing his role. He's a very difficult matchup.

Jones is 32 in February and the oldest player on our list. That doesn't sound too appealing, but 32 isn't THAT old. He seems to have kept himself fit and taking good care of himself. Plenty of players are able to play well into their 30s so I'm fairly confident we'll get very good service out of Jones.

The fixture looks tough but bring it on.

 

[NthBondiDoggies]

Four talls up front, three down back, one on the bench?

True - certainly looks too slow. I just liked the idea that we could play that tall. Never before have we had that many good talls.

First game is Melbourne. They can match up

Defence match ups:

Brown: Keath
Gawn: Jones
Petty/McDonald: Gardner
Fritsch: Richards
Kickett: Duryea
?? Bullen/Spargo They have a few small: Dale

Our Forwards

Naughton: Lever
Bruce: May
Lobb: Petty
JUH: Tomlinson
Weightman: Rivers/Hibberd
West: Salem

If Darcy plays then that is probably excessive. Khamis gives us more flexibility and speed.

 

[adogsfan5]

True - certainly looks too slow. I just liked the idea that we could play that tall. Never before have we had that many good talls.

First game is Melbourne. They can match up

Defence match ups:

Brown: Keath
Gawn: Jones
Petty/McDonald: Gardner
Fritsch: Richards
Kickett: Duryea
?? Bullen/Spargo They have a few small: Dale

Our Forwards

Naughton: Lever
Bruce: May
Lobb: Petty
JUH: Tomlinson
Weightman: Rivers/Hibberd
West: Salem

If Darcy plays then that is probably excessive. Khamis gives us more flexibility and speed.

I think it’ll look a little different. I can see Pickett playing more midfield minutes and Brown not even playing. I also reckon Bruce will start back. There’s no way we can play 4 tall fwds.

Can see Melbournes forward line being Gawn, McDonald, Van Rooyen and one of Schache/Petty. I think Brown is done.

Gawn- Jones
McDonald - Bruce
Van Rooyen/Petty - Keath

Just my opinion!

 

[paulveed]

Standing 'on' the mark, rather than behind it will only help if the umps call play-on as soon as the ball carrier moves off his line. If they continue to allow him 4-5 strides before permitting the marker to flinch without being penalized, by the time he reacts, the carrier will likely have traveled one,two or more strides at pace. If the carrier hasn't already passed the marker by then, he will still have little chance of having any impact anyway. The resolution is obvious, get rid of the ridiculous 'stand' rule, and let the man on the mark be part of the game, rather than just a useless observer.

 

[paulveed]

Similar principle to training Bruce in defence, possibly. Already know what he can do at the other end.

Perhaps a learning/training experience, finding out how the 'other half' work and think. Make them both better at their 'own' roles, and perhaps a bit more adaptable for alternate roles if needed, Bevo seems to look for that flexibility with his players.

 

[Dogs_R_Us]

Bruce: May

May took care of Bruce pretty easily in the last game, even allowing for Bruce’s lack of fitness.