Analysis Some perspective amidst the chaos

[Anja_Nees]

Again we were by far the youngest and least experienced side in round 2. Average of 61 games experience with 11 players under 50 games played and an average age of 23.

No this is no excuse for our performances. The effort has been woeful. But it is food for thought as we all naturally think we should be on the improve after winning a flag so young in 2016. But we’ve actually lost a lot of experience and can’t discount the onfield leadership we sorely miss in losing Boyd, Murph and Morris. A lot of the newbies are also going to be a bit lost out there as they find their feet and having even one player out of sync can cause huge problems. So we are essentially in the midst of a mini rebuild. I think a year of pain is in order before another assault at it from 2019 onwards. Hopefully we can snag the no 1 pick out of this years low

It’s interesting though that Bevo doesn’t fault our effort. It could be more some of our players getting caught out of position badly that’s the problem.

 

[dogwatch]

It’s interesting though that Bevo doesn’t fault our effort. It could be more some of our players getting caught out of position badly that’s the problem.

Strong chance that this is partly to blame, especially watching Bev in the coach's box. We no longer have the backline generals in Moz, Murph and Moyd, only Wood. It's a young defence that hasn't played much together and gets changed around every week due to form, hunch or injury, so from one game to the next they barely know who they are going to be zoning with.

Must make it hard to get any understanding going.

 

[lateniter]

Again we were by far the youngest and least experienced side in round 2. Average of 61 games experience with 11 players under 50 games played and an average age of 23.

No this is no excuse for our performances. The effort has been woeful. But it is food for thought as we all naturally think we should be on the improve after winning a flag so young in 2016. But we’ve actually lost a lot of experience and can’t discount the onfield leadership we sorely miss in losing Boyd, Murph and Morris. A lot of the newbies are also going to be a bit lost out there as they find their feet and having even one player out of sync can cause huge problems. So we are essentially in the midst of a mini rebuild. I think a year of pain is in order before another assault at it from 2019 onwards. Hopefully we can snag the no 1 pick out of this years low

Great post, and you barrack for Spurs.
How good was that win over Chelsea?

 

[MJ_Dogs]

Great post, and you barrack for Spurs.
How good was that win over Chelsea?

Argh. NBA spurs. But I still enjoyed Tottenham beating Chelsea

 

[lateniter]

Argh. NBA spurs. But I still enjoyed Tottenham beating Chelsea

Hmm, didn't spot that unfortunate "Man U" underneath it.
Still, onwards and upwards for the Dogs. I liked your positive vibe.

 

[dergert]

So much of our future hinges on schache and Boyd... This makes me feel uneasy.

Our back line is set for the next decade imo, as long as we can keep naughton and young.

 

[Next Waiting]

Strong chance that this is partly to blame, especially watching Bev in the coach's box. We no longer have the backline generals in Moz, Murph and Moyd, only Wood. It's a young defence that hasn't played much together and gets changed around every week due to form, hunch or injury, so from one game to the next they barely know who they are going to be zoning with.

Must make it hard to get any understanding going.

It's that lack of experience in the back line and the effect/impact that that would have on communication, not only within that line but also in messaging up the lines, that made Wood's move forward so perplexing (aside from the value of his intercept marking). It always looked like a net negative.

Interestingly, Roberts was omitted on medical grounds last Sunday. I got the impression from the post game presser that he would likely have been selected if not ill. I'm quite certain that Roberts will be overtaken by the likes of Young eventually but I think he has a role to play this year in terms of experience and stability (communication and understanding being part of that).

 

[threenewpadlocks]

It's that lack of experience in the back line and the effect/impact that that would have on communication, not only within that line but also in messaging up the lines, that made Wood's move forward so perplexing (aside from the value of his intercept marking). It always looked like a net negative.

Interestingly, Roberts was omitted on medical grounds last Sunday. I got the impression from the post game presser that he would likely have been selected if not ill. I'm quite certain that Roberts will be overtaken by the likes of Young eventually but I think he has a role to play this year in terms of experience and stability (communication and understanding being part of that).

Especially with Morris being out after Murphy's and Boyd's retirement.

 

[JJHunter]

So much of our future hinges on schache and Boyd... This makes me feel uneasy.

Our back line is set for the next decade imo, as long as we can keep naughton and young.

This post makes me feel uneasy!

Naughton and young (and Adams/cordy) both have the same 20-30 kicking deficiency! Either can’t hit the target at that distance regularly enough or in Corey’s case at least don’t penetrate and give opposition looks.

A decade of that has me worried

 

[the conch]

The last 2 weeks have been pretty bad and there are all sorts of theories flying around from coach and player disharmony to puzzling team selections and
complete list rebuilds etc etc.

But from what I've seen we are just plain unfit.

What have the fitness coaches been doing all summer ? We clearly look unfit compared to most other clubs.

We no longer have that closing down speed on the opposition ball carrier to tackle and pressure or within the defensive zone to intercept.

Even the cleanest players like the Bont and Caleb are fumbling and players missing targets by foot is a classic symptom of being unfit.

I'm old school so the simple fix for this is put the balls away for a few weeks and get the miles in the legs and get stuck into the sprints.

Get the tackling bags out and see which players are serious. I know its not gonna happen but it should.

Its the only way to get the workrate and agression up so we don't embarrass ourselves in games.

Go dogs.

I remember Bev was pissed when our 2016 fitness coach was poached ... and that was an important part of 2016 ... running game ... pressure ... contested ball ... team defense

 

[Mofra]

Just how young we were in round 2 is enlightening:

 

[ScragCity]

Just how young we were in round 2 is enlightening:

Anyone who hasnt figured out that we are rebuilding by now should take a look at this.

 

[lachy]

Just how young we were in round 2 is enlightening:

This is insanely young and inexperienced.

Great development opportunity but ensure we play as many senior genuine best 22 in their best positions to help develop and encourage the younger players.

 

[ScragCity]

The thing is that in 2015/2016 most on this board recognised the fact that we were hugely lacking players in the 26-32 year bracket. The fact that once we lost those older players we would fall off a cliff shouldn't have surprised anyone. We attempted to offset this with recruiting of Suckling, Trengove, Cloke etc. but it hasn't been enough. The boots of Murph, Boyd, Morris and Picken are too big to fill. We will surely have at least one or two down years but we will be back once the lineup is settled and the new leaders establish themselves.

 

[Snake Livermore]

It’s interesting though that Bevo doesn’t fault our effort. It could be more some of our players getting caught out of position badly that’s the problem.

Bev does fault the effort. I think he's been misquoted / misunderstood here a lot. What he's said is that the hunger is there. The players want to win. They want desperately to be back contending for a premiership again.

But on field the effort is not matching this. It can drop away for a variety of reasons and I guess that's what he's trying to fix. But he sees exactly what we see in terms of effort and workrate. We just equate that to hunger, which he doesn't.

 

[dergert]

What isnt helping the cause is the club's silence on the 'rebuild' in the media. Be truthful, don't dance around it. It is a rebuild/reset.
Instead bont, wood and to a bog extent Bob are voicing their shock at the results. Ugh.

 

[dogwatch]

What isnt helping the cause is the club's silence on the 'rebuild' in the media. Be truthful, don't dance around it. It is a rebuild/reset.
Instead bont, wood and to a bog extent Bob are voicing their shock at the results. Ugh.

To be fair Bont and Wood shouldn't be addressing issues like rebuilds. It's not their brief. Theirs is rightly a week to week focus.
Haven't been reading Bob's stuff this year but he's always been more "in the moment" than strategic, so it's no surprise if he hasn't addressed it.

 

[Dogs Rule]

Just how young we were in round 2 is enlightening:

More than 300 games less than Brisbane and Gold Coast and 500 less than Saints who had their arses handed to them by Norf. Amazing.

 

[maddog37]

Bev does fault the effort. I think he's been misquoted / misunderstood here a lot. What he's said is that the hunger is there. The players want to win. They want desperately to be back contending for a premiership again.

But on field the effort is not matching this. It can drop away for a variety of reasons and I guess that's what he's trying to fix. But he sees exactly what we see in terms of effort and workrate. We just equate that to hunger, which he doesn't.

Bit of a vicious cycle imho when you lose confidence you lose work rate and become very conservative. The old back to basics idea is just about setting small achievable goals that can be clearly measured and rebuild lost confidence. That’s where we are at isn’t it?

 

[ScragCity]

What isnt helping the cause is the club's silence on the 'rebuild' in the media. Be truthful, don't dance around it. It is a rebuild/reset.
Instead bont, wood and to a bog extent Bob are voicing their shock at the results. Ugh.

Bev isn't going to come out and say we are rebuilding because:

1. It's a cop out.
2. It lowers the expectation within the group on what we can achieve.

2015/2016 we were rebuilding too but Bevo never once addressed that fact. He is on record as saying he doesn't believe in "premiership windows" etc.

But if you listen to his press conferences and read between the lines even a fraction it's bloody obvious that we are rebuilding. I mean just look at the teams we are naming. You shouldnt need to have it spelled out for you.

 

[Dogs Rule]

Bev isn't going to come out and say we are rebuilding because:

1. It's a cop out.
2. It lowers the expectation within the group on what we can achieve.

2015/2016 we were rebuilding too but Bevo never once addressed that fact. He is on record as saying he doesn't believe in "premiership windows" etc.

But if you listen to his press conferences and read between the lines even a fraction it's bloody obvious that we are rebuilding. I mean just look at the teams we are naming. You shouldnt need to have it spelled out for you.

Also, you never know when a team or a club will click.

We did out of nowhere in 2016, Tigers did last year and it'll happen to us again and we mightn't even see it coming.

 

[Libba39]

Also, you never know when a team or a club will click.

We did out of nowhere in 2016, Tigers did last year and it'll happen to us again and we mightn't even see it coming.

I think the bones of the team were in place then. Mainly a midfield with 2-3 years experience, veterans at the peak of their games, a captain coming off an AA year, and guys like Hamling and Maclean waiting in the wings.

Can't see it now. List is skewed to being too young.

 

[Bulldogs_6]

Great post.

It shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that a team so young has so many glaring deficiencies that are directly attributable to exactly that, inexperience.

Contested Footy - As was touched on, our boys are being beat up all over the ground, for a team that in the past has prided itself (and masked its weaknesses) on contested footy, but then to be -30CP at half-time the other day just shows you where we are at.

Composure / Delivery inside 50 - The game seems to be a little bit fast for most of the lads to this point, and that's OK, there is scope for improvement here. Our stand-out performer through 2 rounds is Macrae, and it's no surprise again that he has the ability to wait that extra second, lower his eyes, and put it to his mans advantage. Would love for the kids to use Jack as an example.

Zone - this deficiency mixed with CP stats is the biggest contributor to where we are at right now as a unit. 4 of our starting back 6 the other day had less than 40 games experience IIRC, 2 of which were in key posts (Naughton / Zaine). When the blokes up the ground aren't winning first use of the ball, automatically the backs are under pressure. The single biggest killer though, is setting up after someone has turned the ball over. In Round 1 we conceded ~85 points from turnovers, a mark we hadn't (I don't think) reached under Bevo (a mark of a great coach, by the way). Round 2, this was exceeded and the Eagles scored ~90 points from turnovers. Broadly this is a concentration thing, and we shouldn't expect a bloke with less than 40 games is able to implement for 4 quarters at a time (let alone 1/2 games!).

For the record, the 2nd quarter the other day was the only howler, so again, our young blokes are doing 1/2 or 3/4 of the job for the most part.

The good news is, we do have some top end talent, and a good mix of it. While we do as a fan base expect some consistent improvement, we should appreciate the current predicament the club is in, trust that our head office are the right people for the job, and stay unified. Leave the booing at HT/FT for the other teams, and help our kids along the way, hey?

 

[Sharpiesadog]

Interesting that some have questioned the effort put in by the team. According to the tracker stats on the AFL App, against West Coast we covered 280.1km collectively while they covered 284km. Divide by 22 players and they ran on average 177m per player further than us during the game. Hardly a huge differential. Running to the right places at the right time is what we lack at the moment, not effort. Of course that will come with age and experience.

As a side note, Carlton and Gold Coast ran 213km and 211km at the same ground the previous day - an entirely different style of game was being played, much more stoppages and clinches. We are struggling to create those at the moment if we don't get first use, we aren't holding the ball in so it becomes a running contest. We had high Km's v GWS round 1 also, as did they.

 

[Tommycash]

The games played and age stats are not that surprising given we have no Wallis, Dickson, Morris and Picken at the moment. If they were fit and in form it would make a huge difference I am sure.