Unofficial Preview Round 1 2019 Western Bulldogs v Sydney Saturday March 23, 7.30pm at Marvel Stadium

Who will win?


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He's back running but running does not equal full training.

Think of it as a delayed pre-season for Ling. Everything he's doing is a few months behind what the rest of the list is doing.

If I were to guess, I'd say he's in the equivalent of the November/December month of pre-season. That first stage where you're back after the lay-off, adjusting your fitness levels, doing laps and laps and laps and laps, except he probably needs to do even more than the regular players would because of the length of his lay-off (nearly 12 months as opposed to the six or so weeks the senior players usually have.) You can't rush someone back into full training, the real physical stuff that usually happens in the New Year, unless your certain they can handle it. Given his injury and his age, I'm not surprised the club is being cautious with the fitness stage of his pre-season.

Next step would hopefully be his return to full training, being able to do the competitive drills and physical contact, even some form of match sim throughout the weeks, just as the rest of the list was doing in January, except he will be doing it in April/May. If he can get through that and show the club that he is ready, I would expect him to be NEAFL-ready by late-May/early-June, which would be smack-bang during mid-season. He'd then have a solid block to mount a case for senior selection in the latter few months of the season.

Do you notice the problem with above though? It's all hypothetical. That's the plan, but things rarely go according to plan do they? He may not be ready for full training by April or May, or hell, he might even surprise us and be into it early. He might take longer to get himself ready for NEAFL than planned, or he might surprise and prove his readiness earlier than expected. These are all unknowns, which is why it would be reckless and misleading for the club to list him as anything other than 'indefinite.' So yes it's frustrating because we all want to see him in action, but if you put aside that frustration and think logically about it, he's on track with where he should be right about now, and all we can do is hope he stays on that course and avoids any more injuries or niggles along the way.

Hmnn. Just pessimistic I guess. Like everyone I want the kid to have the opportunity to strut his stuff. I bet he is as frustrated as hell.
 
It is very disappointing that Ling has struggled with this injury for as long as he has.

I'm not sure why you want to compound that by making up a story that our physios have not got him wearing appropriate shoes or suggest that he isn't going to play at all this year, though.

Was simply going on the reported long chat with the Physio about his runners. Surely to goodness we can and should get expert fitting and monitoring.
 

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Let's construct an entire narrative of the club's negligence based on seeing someone, from a distance, talking to someone else about their shoe.

Geebers. I accept I am paranoid about our injury list.
 

Caj

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He's back running but running does not equal full training.

Think of it as a delayed pre-season for Ling. Everything he's doing is a few months behind what the rest of the list is doing.

If I were to guess, I'd say he's in the equivalent of the November/December month of pre-season. That first stage where you're back after the lay-off, adjusting your fitness levels, doing laps and laps and laps and laps, except he probably needs to do even more than the regular players would because of the length of his lay-off (nearly 12 months as opposed to the six or so weeks the senior players usually have.) You can't rush someone back into full training, the real physical stuff that usually happens in the New Year, unless your certain they can handle it. Given his injury and his age, I'm not surprised the club is being cautious with the fitness stage of his pre-season.

Next step would hopefully be his return to full training, being able to do the competitive drills and physical contact, even some form of match sim throughout the weeks, just as the rest of the list was doing in January, except he will be doing it in April/May. If he can get through that and show the club that he is ready, I would expect him to be NEAFL-ready by late-May/early-June, which would be smack-bang during mid-season. He'd then have a solid block to mount a case for senior selection in the latter few months of the season.

Do you notice the problem with above though? It's all hypothetical. That's the plan, but things rarely go according to plan do they? He may not be ready for full training by April or May, or hell, he might even surprise us and be into it early. He might take longer to get himself ready for NEAFL than planned, or he might surprise and prove his readiness earlier than expected. These are all unknowns, which is why it would be reckless and misleading for the club to list him as anything other than 'indefinite.' So yes it's frustrating because we all want to see him in action, but if you put aside that frustration and think logically about it, he's on track with where he should be right about now, and all we can do is hope he stays on that course and avoids any more injuries or niggles along the way.

Accept all of that Ceasar and hopefully you're correct that its simply a delayed pre-season

Again I know i'm not part of the inner sanctum, but I find it puzzling that we've seen enough to extend his contract when he's barely played a Neafl match for us yet. When he did play he didn't find much of the ball, probably as a result of said injury
 
Accept all of that Ceasar and hopefully you're correct that its simply a delayed pre-season

Again I know i'm not part of the inner sanctum, but I find it puzzling that we've seen enough to extend his contract when he's barely played a Neafl match for us yet. When he did play he didn't find much of the ball, probably as a result of said injury

Like I said about Blakey, a club should always re-sign their first round draftees, and in some cases even their second round pick. If you don’t see them as being part of your future two, three or four years down the track, then you have no business using your first two draft picks on them.
 
Jun 27, 2010
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So, here's the AFL.com's stab at our Rd 1 team.

B: Heath Grundy, Lewis Melican, Jackson Thurlow
HB: Jarrad McVeigh, Dane Rampe, Jake Lloyd
C: Callum Mills, Josh Kennedy, Ryan Clarke
HF: Tom Papley, Sam Reid, Will Hayward
F: Ben Ronke, Callum Sinclair, Nick Blakey
Foll: Aliir Aliir, Luke Parker, Isaac Heeney
I/C: George Hewett, Ollie Florent, Zak Jones, Harry Cunningham
EMERG: Colin O'Riordan, Jordan Dawson, Justin McInerney, Robbie Fox

The interesting assumptions are:
- Conservative with Franklin (Agree. No point in playing him until he's ready)
- Aliir in the ruck. (Hadn't thought he'd play here regularly but he's a good tap ruckman and great midfielder.)
- Blakey. (Without Franklin we will rely on first-gamer for X factor.)
 
So, here's the AFL.com's stab at our Rd 1 team.

B: Heath Grundy, Lewis Melican, Jackson Thurlow
HB: Jarrad McVeigh, Dane Rampe, Jake Lloyd
C: Callum Mills, Josh Kennedy, Ryan Clarke
HF: Tom Papley, Sam Reid, Will Hayward
F: Ben Ronke, Callum Sinclair, Nick Blakey
Foll: Aliir Aliir, Luke Parker, Isaac Heeney
I/C: George Hewett, Ollie Florent, Zak Jones, Harry Cunningham
EMERG: Colin O'Riordan, Jordan Dawson, Justin McInerney, Robbie Fox

The interesting assumptions are:
- Conservative with Franklin (Agree. No point in playing him until he's ready)
- Aliir in the ruck. (Hadn't thought he'd play here regularly but he's a good tap ruckman and great midfielder.)
- Blakey. (Without Franklin we will rely on first-gamer for X factor.)

Buddy will play.

Not sure I would have Blakey over Dawson. I’d take both.

Aliir in the ruck won’t be a thing IMO
 
Let's construct an entire narrative of the club's negligence based on seeing someone, from a distance, talking to someone else about their shoe.

How do you know they were talking about shoes and not hoes?
 

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MartinLifts130

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I've noticed Heeney seems to be a bit of a panic button for Horse. If something's not going right, he'll often deploy Heeney to provide a spark. In most cases that's inside 50, but he's also been known to drift back to help out (such as last year when he took the MOTY.) So I would only expect Heeney to play forward if we are in serious struggle town. So, use your tipping brain to figure out if we'll be in trouble against the Bulldogs or not :p

Buddy will play. It's more certain than taxes.
cheers, do u think hewett will tag macrae?
 

MartinLifts130

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yes.
Hewett will tag the **** out of him.
I pity the fool who puts the Big C on Macrae in his fantasy team.
Not that you were asking a fantasy related question...
i mean not that i ever denied it being a fantasy related question... but yes thank you
 
yes.
Hewett will tag the **** out of him.
I pity the fool who puts the Big C on Macrae in his fantasy team.
Not that you were asking a fantasy related question...
yes.
Hewett will tag the **** out of him.
I pity the fool who puts the Big C on Macrae in his fantasy team.
Not that you were asking a fantasy related question...

By half time George will have 17 possies and a couple of snags. Beveridge will be directing McRae to tag Hewett in the second half. This ploy will fail.
 
Jul 20, 2001
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So based on Ronke and Fox playing in the practice game, I think they will miss senior selection.

Therefore I would expect the team to be something like:

B: Lewis Melican, Heath Grundy, Dane Rampe
HB: Jarrad McVeigh, Aliir Aliir, Jake Lloyd
C: Oliver Florent, Josh Kennedy, Zak Jones
HF: Jordan Dawson, Lance Franklin, Luke Parker
F: Tom Papley, Sam Reid, Will Hayward
Foll: Callum Sinclair, Callum Mills, Isaac Heeney
I/C: George Hewett, Jackson Thurlow, Ryan Clarke, Harry Cunningham
EMERG: Colin O'Riordan, Ben Ronke, Robbie Fox, Nick Blakey

Can interchange Thurlow and O'Riordan, I am not sure which one will get the gig but I am sure it will be one of them.
The other option both play and Melican misses, but I cannot see the coaches doing that.

Something like that anyway.
 
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Jun 19, 2011
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So based on Ronke and Fox playing in the practice game, I think they will miss senior selection.

Therefore I would expect the team to be something like:

B: Lewis Melican, Heath Grundy, Jackson Thurlow
HB: Jarrad McVeigh, Aliir Aliir, Jake Lloyd
C: Oliver Florent, Josh Kennedy, Zak Jones
HF: Jordan Dawson, Lance Franklin, Luke Parker
F: Tom Papley, Sam Reid, Will Hayward
Foll: Callum Sinclair, Callum Mills, Isaac Heeney
I/C: George Hewett, Nick Blakey, Ryan Clarke, Harry Cunningham
EMERG: Colin O'Riordan, Ben Ronke, Robbie Fox, Justin McInerney

Can interchange Thurlow and O'Riordan, I am not sure which one will get the gig but I am sure it will be one of them.
The other option both play and Melican misses, but I cannot see the coaches doing that.

Something like that anyway.

Needs more Rampe.

Chuck him in for Thurlow and that could be it.
 
Jul 20, 2001
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Needs more Rampe.

Chuck him in for Thurlow and that could be it.

Haha I knew I missed someone. I used the afl predicted one and shifted players around and moved him for Aliir and missed him!

I actually moved Thurlow to the bench and Blakey to the emergencies. I expect one of Thurlow and COR to play.

Blakey to come back in if Buddy misses.

We always have 7 defenders so it makes more sense anyway (with the other three to be more midfield).
 
Feb 28, 2007
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Needs more Rampe.

A little bit of Rampe in my backline
A little bit of Kennedy by my side
A little bit of Buddy is all I need
A little bit of Blakey's is the future
A little bit of Sinclair in the ruck
A little bit of Papley running all night long
A little bit of Parker here I am
A little bit of Swans makes me your fan
 
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