Analysis The Real Mid-Season Review 2019

[dogwatch]

THE REAL MID-SEASON REVIEW
We have the bye so it's time to reflect. The club is running a public mid-season review tonight but does anyone really expect it to be warts-and-all brutally honest?
I'm hoping so, but I expect it will be more of a PR exercise and a revenue raiser. Maybe there'll be a more thoroughgoing one conducted behind closed doors but nothing we will see.

So it's time for our own BF Mid-Season Review. I want to make it pretty structured so we can be fairly concise and disciplined.
Otherwise we could be all over the place ... and that's not our style, is it?

Firstly, let's have a look at what we thought pre-season (Time Capsule):







With that in mind, let's have your thoughts:


1. How many wins will we finish the season with (currently 4)?

2. What position will we finish (currently 14th)?

3. Which players have performed below your expectations? Give reasons if you wish.

4. Which players have performed above your expectations?

5. If you were coach which three things would you do differently?

6. As a team, what is our biggest strength?

7. As a team, what are our three biggest weaknesses?

8. Name one gettable player you'd like to see as an off-season trade target.

9. What type of player is our number 1 priority in the National Draft?

10. What would you do with Bevo? (a) let his contract run to completion (b) extend his contract (c) put him on notice/please explain (d) sack him

11. What other non-playing personnel changes (if any) would you like to see in the off-season?

12. Anything else you want to add? Keep it to 3 lines max.

 

[Whoyagot]

1. 8 wins

2. 14th

3. Below expectations: Schache, Gowers, McLean, Richards, Wood . Interestingly all these players bar wood play forward.

4. Above expectations: Smith, Naughton, Crozier

5. 3 things I would do differently

• Bont 80/20 mid forward
• JJ, Suckling, Croz, Williams to take kick outs instead of Daniel
• Wallis and McLean to swap forward and midfield minutes

6. No real obvious strength but when we win we're clean in stoppage and can transition the ball quick with our half backs.

7. Biggest weaknesses

• s**t forward line with only one natural forward.
• lack of an A-Grade KPD
• Lack of pace throught the midfield and up forward

8. Would love Tom Papley in the side

9. We need a Connor Rozee, Izac Rankine, Jaiden Stephenson clone in our front half.

10. Let Bevo's contract run

11. Forwards coach should probably go, he's had long enough. We need an experienced senior overseer to challenge bevo. Just need some fresh eyes broadly.

 

[Dogsman16]

THE REAL MID-SEASON REVIEW
We have the bye so it's time to reflect. The club is running a public mid-season review tonight but does anyone really expect it to be warts-and-all brutally honest?
I'm hoping so, but I expect it will be more of a PR exercise and a revenue raiser. Maybe there'll be a more thoroughgoing one conducted behind closed doors but nothing we will see.

So it's time for our own BF Mid-Season Review. I want to make it pretty structured so we can be fairly concise and disciplined.
Otherwise we could be all over the place ... and that's not our style, is it?

Firstly, let's have a look at what we thought pre-season (Time Capsule):

View attachment 686429 View attachment 686431

View attachment 686435 View attachment 686438

View attachment 686443 View attachment 686448

With that in mind, let's have your thoughts:


1. How many wins will we finish the season with (currently 4)?

10 - Carlton, Melbourne, St Kilda, Fremantle, Essendon, Adelaide

2. What position will we finish (currently 14th)?

12th

3. Which players have performed below your expectations? Give reasons if you wish.

Williams, Lynch, Macrae (Macrae has been solid but not the AA level midfielder he has been)

4. Which players have performed above your expectations?

Daniel, Dunkley, Crozier

5. If you were coach which three things would you do differently?

Push Trengrove into main ruck role, English as the 2nd tall forward, and find our next elite small forward.

6. As a team, what is our biggest strength?

Quality inside mids and mid/small defenders. Both extremely well stocked in both positions.

7. As a team, what are our three biggest weaknesses?

Midfield depth pushes midfielders into other roles which they operate at about 60% effectiveness. Dunkley was this player before about 5 weeks ago and now Mclean and Libba are suffering as a result.

Weak, unathletic defenders give us no chance to shut out key forwards if there supply is even half decent

Forward pressure from players who should be providing this is far from satisfactory

8. Name one gettable player you'd like to see as an off-season trade target.

Need to take some risks here, Id be happy to throw a Boyd sized contract at a young player who has shown more and see if they bite. If that doesn't work out id be happy to throw some strong assets and money on the table for experienced players who fill roles (KPDs and Small forwards)

Charlie Curnow. If that doesn't work throw some coin at Jamie Elliott and an experienced KPD.

9. What type of player is our number 1 priority in the National Draft?

SmallMedium forwards (Conor Rozee, Jordan De Grey types)

10. What would you do with Bevo? (a) let his contract run to completion (b) extend his contract (c) put him on notice/please explain (d) sack him

Get him a senior assistant. A clear 2IC that is willing to challenge Bev on our revolving structure and forward line structures/personel.

11. What other non-playing personnel changes (if any) would you like to see in the off-season?

Sam power should be put on notice. Only been here a season but how we managed our KPP depth in the offseason is unacceptable. Losing Campbell, Collins, Adams, Redpath, Roughead and only adding Sweet left us hugely vulnerable in several KPP spots across the ground. He needs to rectify this, this off season or he can go.

12. Anything else you want to add? Keep it to 3 lines max.

What happened to our third talls at either end. It use to be our strength and now we are completely devoid of this role, particularly in the forward line.

 

[Boyd oh Boyd]

1. I reckon 8-10. We'll win a few games we should win, drop a few we should win, and win a few we should lose.

2. Without giving it a lot of thought, I guess 13th or 14th. That really depends on what other teams do and I can't be stuffed looking at their fixtures.

3. I was hoping Greene or Cavarra would push into the team as a dedicated small forward but injuries stopped them. I was hoping McLean could turn himself into a dangerous small forward but he just looks like another mid pretending to be a forward. Dickson fell apart very quickly. I was hoping Schache, Richards, Lewie Young, Dale, Williams, Gowers and Lynch would continue to develop but they've stagnated or moved backwards (possible exception of Young).

4. I thought Naughton could be a pretty good forward but I didn't think he had that sort of potential in him (although it's been a few games since I've seen it). Duryea was more solid than I thought he'd be and I'm starting to miss him a little. Lloyd has more class than I thought. Wallis' midfield form is better than last year. Still a much better forward, but I'm no longer upset to see him in the centre. I thought Smith would have an impact straight away but didn't expect this much. Hunter only makes me pull out my hair half the time so that's something.

5. Reduce the amount of mids we bring into every game. At minimum, play two tall forwards, three tall defenders. Focus every player on developing their best role and only if they're struggling in that role, can't push into the team in that role, or have fully developed that role try them in a secondary position.

6. We have once of the deepest midfields in the league. The teams that match or beat us there are significantly older/more experienced so we could potentially overtake them soon. Haven't found the right combination though.

7. We can't convert, our zone defence is terrible, and almost every single player is horribly inconsistent.

8. Papley could be exactly what we need, as long as he stays forward.

9. Forwards, of absolutely any type.

10. Let his contract run.

11. I know we apparently have very highly rated assistants but I'd like to see someone to bring some fresh ideas, to challenge Bevo and the playing group.

12. Every week I think we've either chosen a very unbalanced team, or played players in positions that don't give us the best chance of winning, yet we've had our best performance in years (against Richmond) and some other good signs. In we draft/trade well, be brutal and cut a few players that aren't helping, and make a few game day changes, we could be a top teir team as soon as next year and stay there for quite a while. I'm still optimistic.

 

[Virgin Dog]

1. 8 wins
2. 12th
3. Ed Richards, largely due to being experimented with in multiple positions. Would rather we kept him at half back for at least his first few years so he can really learn his craft. Hate seeing him up forward when he seems to play his best footy behind the ball.
4. Caleb Daniel having his best season yet
   Josh Dunkley becoming one of the best midfielders in the competition, not just at the Bulldogs
5. a - Reduce the amount of versatility by establishing actual forwards and defenders instead of moving everyone around all the time. For every positive story (Naughton) there are multiple negatives (Richards, Wood, McLean, etc.)
   b - Write this season off as a development year since we are deep in a rebuild, and give guys like Lewis Young and Josh Schache an extended run at some games. Love what we're doing with Lachie Young right now, and would love the same for some others too
   c - Start getting in the ear of some established talls from other sides, not just free agents and fringe players. Guys like Cameron, Blicavs, Pearce.
6. Fluid movement of the ball to get out of congestion. No other team can move a ball around so naturally and fluently, although we do tend to overdo it at times and get caught out.
7. a - Awful spine, although will hopefully develop in time
   b - Lack of experience on-field. Second youngest team being fielded on average
   c - Terrible foot skills, especially in the forward half. Our best users are in midfield and defence
8. Tomlinson in terms of realistically gettable players
9. Forward with x-factor. Dylan Williams should be taken with our first pick
10. (a) Let his contract run to completion. List building takes time, and I'd like to see how his vision pans out. Wouldn't consider extending until he is in his final year of his contract, and it would depend on how we are performing at that stage
11. Bring in some tough assistant coaches to keep Bevo accountable. Our defence has gone an absolute mile backwards this year. Also need someone who can work with our tall forwards

 

[Yojimbo]

1. How many wins will we finish the season with (currently 4)?
A- seven

2. What position will we finish (currently 14th)?
A- depends on other teams, 16th.

3. Which players have performed below your expectations?
A- Many have regressed or failed to improve much.


4. Which players have performed above your expectations?
A- Caleb Daniel, should win the B&F at this rate, which makes me cringe.

5. If you were coach which three things would you do differently?
A- Structure, Balance and System.

6. As a team, what is our biggest strength?
A- Great white hoping young players.

7. As a team, what are our three biggest weaknesses?
A- As above, Structure, Balance and System.

8. Name one gettable player you'd like to see as an off-season trade target.
A- Michael Hartley, Toby Wooller, Mitch Hannan, Oleg Markov and Connor Menadue.

9. What type of player is our number 1 priority in the National Draft?
A- Brodie Kemp, 193 cm 82 kg Bont clone with better speed.

10. What would you do with Bevo? (a) let his contract run to completion (b) extend his contract (c) put him on notice/please explain (d) sack him
A- (a) let his contract run to completion.

11. What other non-playing personnel changes (if any) would you like to see in the off-season?
A- Don't know enough to comment, mainly concern myself with the on-field stuff.

12. Anything else you want to add?
A- Got to give to get and it pays to keep an open mind come trade time as some of the more passionate
could be in for a shock come the end of the year. Kick the ball, quit the handball club and teach the
right option be it long or short.

 

[Lex22]

1. I predicted 9-10 wins at the start of the year and I think that’s where we’ll still end up

2. 12th-13th I’m guessing.

3. Mclean - might be carrying an injury? Has looked flat all season.

Schache - Looked to have a breakout game against the Hawks then it was all downhill after.

Gowers - Failed to do much in that second/third forward role and should’ve improved with Naughton down there.

Richards - hasn’t been as bad most think but has gone backwards a little. Second year blues.

Lynch & Williams - 2 I thought that would go on with it now and showed promise last year.



4. Lloyd - recruited to fill a hole and has easily been in our best 10 players so far. Handier than expected recruit.

Naughton - pretty well transitioned straight away as our main forward/most exciting key position prospects in the comp.

Smith - started a little slow but has been one of our most reliable in the last 5-6 weeks. Mature kid.

5.

- pick Young and just stick with him. Perfect chance now to blood him a little further and he can play on any line really.

- Play Trengove in the ruck and only have English relieving for now. Also gives Tim games up forward to help hone his craft there.

- Pick Dickson. Probably on the way out but is still just about our best forward and deserves another crack at it. With another tall down there he could really cash in.

6. Our transition from half back is still as good as anyone’s when we’re on. Oppositely, we get slowed down too much when other teams put work into it.

7. Goal kicking, perhaps a little slow on the outside and our defense is leaking too many soft goals of late.

8. Back our smalls in for now unless a good one becomes available (ie Papley). My first priority would be getting Astbury in FA who will immediately improve that defense and then we go from there.

9. The best fast outside player available with elite kicking skills.

10. Bevo is on notice for sure. There’s been lenience with a little rebuild but that’s too good a list to be at 4 wins mid year next season. He’s safe for now, though.

11. New assistant coaches and preferably a strong senior assistant to challenge Bevo more. A Michael Voss, Ratten or even a Brad Scott should be high on the shopping list.

12. Important to finish off the year strong. We’ve got plenty of cash but with that, we need to be more of a destination club for recruits. A 6 win year won’t cut it.

 

[yebiga]

My only suggestion
5: - play Lewis Young and schache every game for the balance of the season

We desperately need accomplished talls at both ends
Find out if they are up to it - or move on

 

[Sharkey66]

What happened to our third talls at either end. It use to be our strength and now we are completely devoid of this role, particularly in the forward line.

They are still there, we just don't have any second or first tails.

 

[Snarls Barkley]

1. How many wins will we finish the season with (currently 4)?

7

2. What position will we finish (currently 14th)?

14th

3. Which players have performed below your expectations?

Bailey Dale and Bailey Williams. Thought both were in line for breakout seasons. Williams was great last year and thought he’d go up a level, Dale finished 2017 spectacularly and was expecting him to get back to that form. Neither has performed well in the seniors, both of their form has been good in the reserves and am hoping their season can still turn around.

4. Which players have performed above your expectations?

Aaron Naughton and Bailey Smith. Naughton had probably the best year for an 18 year old key defensive player for the last 15+ seasons but was expecting his transition to the forward line to be very difficult but he has performed great without a lot of help. Still think he’s better as a defender but not sure who is kicking the goals if it’s not him. Didn’t expect Bailey Smith to be this good this early. Thought he’d be in and out of the team for the first half of the year but he has adjusted quickly and is probably in line for a top ten B&F finish.

5. If you were coach which three things would you do differently?

Not sure I’m smart enough to be answering this question. Some of the things I’d like to see are moving Trengove into the ruck to share duties with English and keeping the centre clearance rotation to less players. Probably no need for anyone other than Bont, Dunkley, Macrae, Libba, McLean and Wallis to go through there. (Wallis should probably be spending less time in the middle and McLean more going forward).

6. As a team, what is our biggest strength?

Our midfield is as good as any in the comp and is as deep as any in the competition.

7. As a team, what are our three biggest weaknesses?

Too small in defence, a key position forward short, no quick pressure forwards.

8. Name one gettable player you'd like to see as an off-season trade target.

Robbie Tarrant

9. What type of player is our number 1 priority in the National Draft?

A key position player or a pressure forward. No more mids or half backs.

10. What would you do with Bevo? (a) let his contract run to completion (b) extend his contract (c) put him on notice/please explain (d) sack him

a. He still has enough credits in the bank but I wouldn’t be in a rush to extend his contract.

11. What other non-playing personnel changes (if any) would you like to see in the off-season?

Maybe a new senior assistant. Feels like we need to change something in the box.

12. Anything else you want to add?

I think we’d all have different answers if we hadn’t dropped the games against Carlton, Gold Coast and North. At 7-4 we’d be looking good for finals. No team that takes themselves seriously should drop games to Carlton and Gold Coast at home.

 

[Triple Baileys]

1. How many wins will we finish the season with (currently 4)? + 3 = a miserable 7.

2. What position will we finish (currently 14th)? 14th

3. Which players have performed below your expectations? Give reasons if you wish.
Tom Boyd, Liam Picken, Bailey Williams, Easton Wood, Brad Lynch, Ed Richards, Schache, McLean, Fletcher Roberts,

4. Which players have performed above your expectations?
Bailey Smith, Tom Liberatore, Will Hayes, Taylor Durea, Lachie Young, Josh Dunkley, Caleb Daniel, Mitch Wallis

5. If you were coach which three things would you do differently?
a) Kick the ball really long to really long leads or positions.
b) Kick the ball long down the line to minimise risks of turnovers, especially in dangerous positions.
c) Change the hand ball to kick ratio so that we are kicking the ball a lot more and kicking it long.

6. As a team, what is our biggest strength?
We are well above average in getting our hands on the ball.

7. As a team, what are our three biggest weaknesses?
a) Too much handball.
b) Too much short kicking game, especially laterally or backwards
c) Kick for goal.

8. Name one gettable player you'd like to see as an off-season trade target.
Lance Franklin. He nose he needs to get away from the city of Sydney for his own sake. He's not doing much for the Swans right now. They may be happy to part ways, couldn't rule it out. Worth a try.

9. What type of player is our number 1 priority in the National Draft?
Someone who is going to become a really nasty, tough, beefy utility type who likes to kick the ball long.

10. What would you do with Bevo? (a) let his contract run to completion (b) extend his contract (c) put him on notice/please explain (d) sack him.
a) Let his contract run to completion. And make succession plans.

11. What other non-playing personnel changes (if any) would you like to see in the off-season?
Get Brett Montgomery back.

12. Anything else you want to add?
Nein.

 

[ThirdLegUp]

1. How many wins will we finish the season with (currently 4)?
No F'n idea, see last question.

2. What position will we finish (currently 14th)?
Not in the 8 and not last.

3. Which players have performed below your expectations?
Gowers - effort is there, execution is way off.
Schache - he doesn't need to do anything more then show up as hungry as he was in round 2. It wasn't the 4 goals that made that his best game.
Bont - inconsistent, and i would rather a good solid, if average by his standards, 4 quarter performance, then the fits and starts or quarter of brilliance. The goal kicking doesn't help his case either.
There are others under performing that i could name, but i believe it is partly or maybe mostly down to poor positioning, but mostly because i can't be bothered.

4. Which players have performed above your expectations?
Lloyd - He was never brought in to be our most consistent and dangerous forward.
Crozier - I thought he was a good get and was playing well, but his season prior to injury was simply stunning. He is the only one who shows week to week the desperation and desire that our 2016 team did, ironically he was not a part of it.
Smith - to improve week by week as he has and make an argument for a supposed regular to be dropped over him, says everything really.

5. If you were coach which three things would you do differently?
only 3 huh? they need to have a big impact then. fair enough.
1- I would not have used 8 rounds of the AFL season on Hayes.
2- I would not be using integral mature age, All austrlian established players and trying to teach them new tricks that do not come naturally to them without any reason and thus ******* up their mojo completely.
3- I would simplify the game plan so footballers can understand it and it does not require players to be rotating like the prizes on wheel of fortune.

6. As a team, what is our biggest strength?
Impossible to plan for? our endless number of Mids? We don't have SOS at our club?

7. As a team, what are our three biggest weaknesses?
1- Versatility. A team filled with jacks will more often then not get you jack.
2- Game style. Any style that requires as much "versatility" as our system does, is a flawed system where you are not sure which flaw will be exploited week to week. Is Bevo playing battleship? Compare that to the system we played with in 2015-16, where even with multiple key players out, a soldier was enough to keep things from falling apart. Pretty simple. in the beginning Bevo made a style based around the players that he had, and he was masterful in that capacity, in recent years he is shoehorning players around a system he has in his head. Perhaps bevo is a Problem solver and not a master planner. A handyman not an engineer. Trying to create a team of Handymen, while getting the engineers we did have to fit a window or fix a leaky tap.
3- Inconsistency that comes from a musical chairs line up, the moment a player begins to show promise within a given role, he is shifted into another roll and all mojo killed off.

8. Name one gettable player you'd like to see as an off-season trade target.
Honestly don't know haven't put much thought into it. A KPD that can slot right in and run the show, Wood isn't up to it. Morris and Boyd were the true leaders back there.

9. What type of player is our number 1 priority in the National Draft?
Anyone that has performed against men already should be looked at and better yet someone that shows the DNA that he will be physically strong. i don''t want to see another Lapinski type selected in any position. you could juice that kid up with a metric tonne of steriods and all that would result is a thick beard and a grossly enlarged clitoris.

10. What would you do with Bevo? (a) let his contract run to completion (b) extend his contract (c) put him on notice/please explain (d) sack him
A followed by a C talk. Players, then system. ingredients then decide on the pizza. Don't promise me a Meatlovers then try and convince me the 4 inches of mushrooms and a banana will work if we all just have patients for them to change.

11. What other non-playing personnel changes (if any) would you like to see in the off-season?
Assisstant coaches. We win a premiership and everyone gets shifted. We do F all after that... so we leave it be? Dedicated assistance for a specific line would be better then an assistant who is simply trying to tick boxes off their checklist for their CV. We want a SPECIALIST!!! A doctor can diagnose and tend to your injured hand, but when it comes to operating he sends you to an Orthopedic hand surgeon. Who is our Orthopedic hand Surgeon? Ash Hansen.

12. Anything else you want to add?
This constant state of chaos is giving me the shits, there is no stability, the random nature of our line up is causing the Random nature of our performances. There is not a single game I can look at in the remainder of the season and declare for 80+% certainty we will win or lose, that is how far apart our performances are. This became very obvious to me when i looked round by round to answer the very first question. We went from the Men of Mayhem to the List of Mayhem.

 

[Triple Baileys]

good thread, Dogwatch. Great OP.

 

[Norm De Guerre]

1. How many wins will we finish the season with (currently 4)?

8-10. Its hard to see where the improvement is going to come from right now. A finish like last season seems a little beyond us at this stage.

2. What position will we finish (currently 14th)?

12-14

3. Which players have performed below your expectations? Give reasons if you wish.

Jack Macrae. It may be harsh to put Jack Macrae here but to my mind he easily our second best mid and just hasn't been as dominant or as effective as he has been over the past few seasons. He also seems to have reverted to trying to pull off the near impossible with the dinky little kicks that I thought he'd eliminated from his game.

Lachie Hunter. I know, my personal hobby horse. If you look at his stats Im sure he's tracking as well and consistently as he always has. However, Im not really interested in this metric, I prefer the damage that a player can do in offence and the amount of pressure they can exert in defence. Neither of the metrics are where Lachie excels, indeed he is as bad defensively as any player I have ever seen, as witnessed by his turning the wrong way twice in a row completely avoiding laying an effective tackle that led directly to two goals on the weekend.

Toby McLean. Looks slow and unable to get to contests, this may well be because the mc have been unable to settle him into one position, but he just hasn't been effective wherever he is being tried.

Ed Richards. Clearly has all the skill and dynamism that our plodding midfield is crying out for, though he may be suffering from the same issues that Mclean and any number of our developing mids are that of not being able to settle into one position. When he has he just hasnt taken his chances and his usual sublime skillset seem to have abandoned him. Needed to be sent down a couple of weeks before he was.


4. Which players have performed above your expectations?

Tim English. Ive been quite the critic of Tims during game day and autopsy threads because of his inability to physically go with the other ruckman in the competition so like much of what I post having him here may at face value seem counter intuitive. However, He's tracking about as well as you could expect for somebody who with the untimely retirement of Tom Boyd has been forced to carry the entire ruck load due to the match committees obvious preference to pump games into him and force his development and resist the urge to give him relief in the form of Jackson Trengove. Ive got no doubt that when he can bring physicality to his game he will be all that we hope for, its just going to be painful watching him get there.

Bailey Smith. Has been the standout in our team and have proven to be amongst our top few mid-field rotations in his first dozen games, which is an indictment on many of the other young mids on our list. If he can develop his left foot as a means of kicking the ball at some point in his career he will be the complete inside/outside player that we need.

5. If you were coach which three things would you do differently?

I would take a look at and play consecutive games with some semblance of a traditional set up. that has a spine that goes something like this.
fb. Gardner. Chb. LeYoung. C. Libba. Chf. Schache. FF Naughton. It may not be great on paper, but neither was the 2016 spine.

Settle the side down. We dont have an extensive injury list, so I dont have an understanding why some players are playing where they have been.
6. As a team, what is our biggest strength?

We havent had much luck with regards to tall with the departure of two players that the club only a couple of years ago would've expected to hold down the key posts at opposite ends of the ground in Boyd and Hamling for a very long time. With the club has proving that miracles can happen and that they know how to recruit a quality tall in Naughton, we just have to invest heavily in them with early picks. Having said that the recruiters are going to be faced with the usual bulldogs conundrum should an elite mid (either established or draftee) be available when we get to use what should be a pretty high draft pick this year.

7. As a team, what are our three biggest weaknesses?

It starts and ends in with a midfield that is. Not terribly quick. Not terribly damaging and not terribly defensive.

They just do not currently have the ability to stem the tide when a side gets a run on.

8. Name one gettable player you'd like to see as an off-season trade target.

Define gettable.

9. What type of player is our number 1 priority in the National Draft?

Aaron Naughton MkII.

10. What would you do with Bevo? (a) let his contract run to completion (b) extend his contract (c) put him on notice/please explain (d) sack him

A little of a, b and c. I see no rush to re-sign him at this stage.

11. What other non-playing personnel changes (if any) would you like to see in the off-season?

A refresh of coaching staff seems to be in order. However this board laid much of the blame at the feet of Gia for our post 2016 decline and he's been pushed sideways to Footscray and that doesn't seem to have had much effect on team performance.

12. Anything else you want to add? Keep it to 3 lines max.

I wish for the impossible and for the club to give its supporters a sense of what their short to medium term plans are for this side. As it stands its very hard to decipher what the * this team stands for and where its headed out on the field.

 

[TMoney22]

3. Which players have performed below your expectations? Give reasons if you wish.
JJ and Wood

4. Which players have performed above your expectations?
Crozier, Smith & Naughton

5. If you were coach which three things would you do differently?
Develop players in a primary position first which will lead to better team chemistry
Encourage more switching of play and plan it better using our half backs
Stop bringing half forwards into back line stoppages

6. As a team, what is our biggest strength?
Half backs - Suckling, Crozier, Daniel and JJ

7. As a team, what are our three biggest weaknesses?
Veteran leadership and the stability veterans offer on game day
Too many accumulators with no impact
Lack of speed

8. Name one gettable player you'd like to see as an off-season trade target.
Trade for Papley and David Mundy via FA

9. What type of player is our number 1 priority in the National Draft?
Speedy forward of centre impact player

10. What would you do with Bevo? (a) let his contract run to completion (b) extend his contract (c) put him on notice/please explain (d) sack him
B but only with new assistants

11. What other non-playing personnel changes (if any) would you like to see in the off-season?
New senior assistant coach (would take Brad Scott if he doesn't get the Carlton job)
New first time assistant coach: Hodge, Mundy, Simpson, Roughead etc)
More outside IP

12. Anything else you want to add? Keep it to 3 lines max.
Lapinski, Webb, Porter, Dale, Jong will never fit into a best 25 so turn them over now for needs.
Recruit a dickhead and handle them - we need more confidence in the group and these types of people can help that
Request more games at MCG

 

[dogwatch]

Here's mine:


1. How many wins will we finish the season with (currently 4)? Eight

2. What position will we finish (currently 14th)? 13th

3. Which players have performed below your expectations? Trengove, Wood, Macrae, Schache, McLean, Richards, Dickson, Williams, Lynch, English

4. Which players have performed above your expectations? Dunkley, B Smith, Crozier, Lloyd, Vandermeer, Naughton, Daniel, Lachie Young

5. If you were coach which three things would you do differently?

• Play at least five talls - Naughton and Cordy in defence, Trengove ruck, English forward/ruck, Gardner forward
• Insist on relentless pressure, reward those who nail their tackles and constantly harass - bring in West for that reason
• Find a new "story" for the players to believe in (as they did in 2016) - it all seems a bit haphazard right now

6. As a team, what is our biggest strength? nothing really - maybe our potential ... despite quite a few holes

7. As a team, what are our three biggest weaknesses?

• Lack of consistent pressure when not in clean possession
• We are too short and a poor contested marking side - this limits our tactical and game plan options
• Any list of weaknesses has to include our woefully inaccurate kicking for goal

8. Name one gettable player you'd like to see as an off-season trade target. Daniel McStay

9. What type of player is our number 1 priority in the National Draft? A robust physical KPP about 194-197cm with reasonable pace and a good mark - can be a forward or a defender

10. What would you do with Bevo? (a) let his contract run to completion (b) extend his contract (c) put him on notice/please explain (d) sack him (a) let his contract run and consider renewal at end of the year

11. What other non-playing personnel changes (if any) would you like to see in the off-season? I'm not convinced that Chris Grant is the right bloke to be in charge of footy operations but it's hard to know what's going on behind the scenes. Gradual turnover of assistants is a good thing, unless we are finishing top 4 every year. We clearly aren't, so I'd like to see an occasional new face with some new ideas. Not sold on getting ex-WB players but wouldn't mind if we got Matty Boyd back from Collingwood. I gather that's unlikely while Bevo's coach though. Pity.

12. Anything else you want to add? We haven't got too many excuses this year. Our injury list is the smallest it's been for years. We haven't had a terrible draw but we blew two games to weak sides. It looks like we are a long way off at the moment but these things change very quickly. We looked a cot case in October 2014 and two years later we were celebrating a flag. So I just want to see some promise of things to come - cohesive play and a couple of upset wins before the season ends.

 

[dogwatch]

...

8. Name one gettable player you'd like to see as an off-season trade target.

Define gettable.

...

By "gettable" I meant realistic. We're probably not going to prise the likes of Fyfe, Dusty, Heeney, de Goey, Tom Lynch (R) or Dangerfield from their current clubs. However for a fair price lots of other good to very good players could be withing scope. We do have some decent picks to use as currency and we have plenty of cap space.

Another way to look at un-gettable players is to consider our own list. Naughton, Bont, Macrae, B Smith and perhaps English would be the only players we would NOT countenance doing a deal for (unless some Stringer-type sh*t went down). Nobody is likely to enquire about Morris at his age. Pretty much everyone else could be tradeable for the right price.

Good post, BTW.

 

[Norm De Guerre]

By "gettable" I meant realistic. We're probably not going to prise the likes of Fyfe, Dusty, Heeney, de Goey, Tom Lynch (R) or Dangerfield from their current clubs. However for a fair price lots of other good to very good players could be withing scope. We do have some decent picks to use as currency and we have plenty of cap space.

Another way to look at un-gettable players is to consider our own list. Naughton, Bont, Macrae, B Smith and perhaps English would be the only players we would NOT countenance doing a deal for (unless some Stringer-type sh*t went down). Nobody is likely to enquire about Morris at his age. Pretty much everyone else could be tradeable for the right price.

Good post, BTW.

I know. I was just having a poke at this boards obsession with naming random players as getable when it comes to trade hypertheticals. I myself prefer to spin my wheels on other pointless discussions.

 

[WallyStringhaus]

1. How many wins will we finish the season with (currently 4)?
Nine - Blues, Dees, Saints, Dockers, Bombers

2. What position will we finish (currently 14th)?
13th

3. Which players have performed below your expectations?
Toby McLean, Ed Richards, Bailey Williams

4. Which players have performed above your expectations?
Bailey Smith, Aaron Naughton, Lachie Young

5. If you were coach which three things would you do differently?
Play more One on One defense. The zone was critical to our Premiership win and will be integral to our next one but we just don't have strong enough bodies to hold up the more experienced teams and are being scored against too easily.

Drop a mid (maybe two) and bring in a specialist forward. Dunks, Macrae and Bont are untouchable and Smith is not far away. One (or two) of Liber, McLean, Hunter, Wallis or Lipinski needs to make way for Dickson, Schache, West (Clay role) or Greene/Cavarra when they are fit enough.

Bring back the 2015 joy. Free the players up to play to their strengths and take the game on. Macrae, Hunter, Liber, McLean, etc are all playing far too safe. It's only a game boys, go out there and enjoy yourselves!

6. As a team, what is our biggest strength?
Generating Inside 50's.

7. As a team, what are our three biggest weaknesses?
Capitalizing on the Inside 50's and Marks Inside 50 generated. We've had 100 more Inside 50's and had 32 more Scoring Shots than the reigning premiers. They sit 4th on the ladder, we are 14th.

Forward half pressure. What made us so good in the 2016 finals series was that we never missed a tackle in the front half of the ground. Clay(38 tackles), Dahl(27), Dunks(26), Dicko(13) and Picko(14) in particular were maniacal in their pursuit of the man in possession. It placed so much pressure on the opposition and allowed our zone defense to flourish, creating opportunity after opportunity (particularly late in quarters and games). Too often our tackles around the F50 mark get broken or the oppo get a quick h/ball out and in the blink of an eye, it's Joe the Goose time.

Bringing the ball to ground in a marking contest. We are far and away the worst side in the comp for Contested Mark differential. We need the ball on the ground to play to our strengths.

8. Name one gettable player you'd like to see as an off-season trade target.
Alex Keath or Jack Martin

9. What type of player is our number 1 priority in the National Draft?
A player with speed, skill, elite forward half pressure and deadly around goals. Charlie Cameron clone.

10. What would you do with Bevo? (a) let his contract run to completion (b) extend his contract (c) put him on notice/please explain (d) sack him
Extend. Give him another four years.

11. What other non-playing personnel changes (if any) would you like to see in the off-season?
None. I'm one of the few who actually likes the continuity within our coaching group. We've won a Seniors and two Reserves flags in the last five years. I'm of the belief that they know exactly what they are doing and that we have a good team of good people in place.

12. Anything else you want to add?
Great thread Dogwatch

 

[flamethrower]

1. How many wins will we finish the season with (currently 4)? 5-6 (max 2 more wins - we have toughest remaining fixture)

2. What position will we finish (currently 14th)? 16

3. Which players have performed below your expectations?
Jackson Macrae, Toby McLean, Easton Wood, Josh Schache, Billy Gowers, Ed Richards.

4. Which players have performed above your expectations?
Aaron Naughton

5. If you were coach which three things would you do differently?
1. Employ a psychiatrist / goal kicking coach to try to improve goal kicking.
2. Play the players where they best contribute to the team, rather than trying to turn them all into multi-positional midfielders.
3. Consult BF for team changes (joking).

6. As a team, what is our biggest strength?
Ball winning ability in close.

7. As a team, what are our three biggest weaknesses?
Ruck, tall defenders, below average skills.

8. Name one gettable player you'd like to see as an off-season trade target.
Stephen Coniglio

9. What type of player is our number 1 priority in the National Draft?
Best player available, preferably 200cm midfielder with elite speed, stamina and skills

10. What would you do with Bevo? (a) let his contract run to completion (b) extend his contract (c) put him on notice/please explain (d) sack him.
a then b

11. What other non-playing personnel changes (if any) would you like to see in the off-season?
Hire a senior assistant coach like Brendan Bolton.

12. Anything else you want to add? We have too many VFL/WRFL level players on our list - we really need to stop drafting VFL players (eg Hayes) and stop retaining list cloggers who always seem to be injured or recovering from injury (eg Webb, Jong).

 

[BallaratBulldog]

1. How many wins will we finish the season with (currently 4)?

8

2. What position will we finish (currently 14th)?

13

3. Which players have performed below your expectations? Give reasons if you wish.

Bont - accuracy massive letdown and is a critical burden for the team
McLean - gone missing in the forward line role
Wood - no where near the player he used to be
Shache - can’t hold seniors spot in a terrible forward line
Gowers - the momentum killer, no pressure, poor skills, why is he in the middle sometimes!??
Dickson - finished but thanks for the service
Richards - second year blues I guess

4. Which players have performed above your expectations?

Young - made debut and growing with each game, should be left there rest of season
Lipinski - better than the VfL and getting games at AFL
Naughton - doing all he can in the forward line under circumstances

5. If you were coach which three things would you do differently?

Play players in their actual position
Learn some goal kicking
Stop playing favourites

6. As a team, what is our biggest strength?

Run of half back is pretty good
Midfield core is strong particularly inside

7. As a team, what are our three biggest weaknesses?

Forwardline
Tackling
Height in defence

8. Name one gettable player you'd like to see as an off-season trade target

Martin /Anyone who can mark forward for center!

9. What type of player is our number 1 priority in the National Draft?

Tall both ends/small pressure forward

10. What would you do with Bevo? (a) let his contract run to completion (b) extend his contract (c) put him on notice/please explain (d) sack him

See out his contract but new assistants

11. What other non-playing personnel changes (if any) would you like to see in the off-season?

New assistants and Alberti to replace Gordon last term if that is this end of year

12. Anything else you want to add? Keep it to 3 lines max.

 

[josh the gent]

1. How many wins will we finish the season with (currently 4)?
8
2. What position will we finish (currently 14th)?
13th
3. Which players have performed below your expectations? Give reasons if you wish.
Schache, Bailey Dale, Williams
4. Which players have performed above your expectations?
Naughton, Lloyd, Caleb Daniel
5. If you were coach which three things would you do differently?
Practice more set shot accuracy, practice lowering eyes i50, play a pure structure for the rest of tge season (i.e. i don’t wanna see Cordy in the ruck..... ever)!
6. As a team, what is our biggest strength?
Flexibility and handball
7. As a team, what are our three biggest weaknesses?
Bombing i50, no current competitive ruck (English good but gets bullied at all stoppages bar centre bounce), 2nd kpf (Schache won’t make it)
8. Name one gettable player you'd like to see as an off-season trade target.
Jack Martin would be amazing.
9. What type of player is our number 1 priority in the National Draft?
Best available, we have no glaring weakness in our youth.
10. What would you do with Bevo? (a) let his contract run to completion (b) extend his contract (c) put him on notice/please explain (d) sack him
B
11. What other non-playing personnel changes (if any) would you like to see in the off-season?
Get the 2016 banner guy back - our banners have been lame since.
12. Anything else you want to add?
We all love you dogwatch

 

[Mattdougie]

1. How many wins will we finish the season with (currently 4)?
7

2. What position will we finish (currently 14th)?
15th

3. Which players have performed below your expectations?
Wood
4. Which players have performed above your expectations?
Naughts and Smith
5. If you were coach which three things would you do differently?
Pick a spine aNd stick with it
P!ss off flexibility cr@p
Stop playing favourites

6. As a team, what is our biggest strength?
Midfields ability to get share of ball

7. As a team, what are our three biggest weaknesses?
Coaching
Coaching
List depth

8. Name one gettable player you'd like to see as an off-season trade target.
McKernan

9. What type of player is our number 1 priority in the National Draft?
KP back with some size

10. What would you do with Bevo? (a) let his contract run to completion (b) extend his contract (c) put him on notice/please explain (d) sack him
c to a to b

11. What other non-playing personnel changes (if any) would you like to see in the off-season?
Complete overhaul from Grant down

12. Anything else you want to add?
Make no coaching changes this year and I believe we will lose Bont at the end of this contract

 

[dogzrule]

Wins- about 7

We will finish 15th

Below Expectations - Scashe

Above Expectations - Gardiner ( he kicked 1 more goal than I thought he would)

3 Things to coach differently
- play a taller structure
- play Bont in the middle more
- stop selection so many half back flankers in team and playing them in different positions

Biggest Strength - half back runners

Biggest Weakness- forward line players / structure

Player to Target - tank and get Rowell

Number 1 draft target - Rowell

With Bevo - get him a coaching director

Non Playing Changes - bring in Brendan Bolton as assistant

 

[Next Waiting]

Going slightly "off piste" (Im sure you Canberrans know all about that)...

Naughts. Yes it's all very well and good that hes a serious marking target forward and can kick goals (btb his goal kicking and goal kicking range has genuinely surprised me).

But, hes also a very defender. Depends a bit on your philosophy I suppose but I believe you should build from middle to back to forward in that order.

More than happy with the midfield talent we have.

But the back six and with Naughts forward we are bereft of a quality tall back. And Naughts is quality....Scarlett quality and can we imagine Scarlett forward, or more to the point, not in the backline.

Again it depends on your philosophical bent of building a team, but I think our team would act and play more assertively and confidently with Naughts back, as I imagine the Cats did back then and West Coast do now with McGovern. Hes on the threshold of entering that league as a defender in my view.

I suggested in another thread that if he plays back and hes busy then we're at least in good hands. If he's not busy then as a team were probably having a day out. But if he's forward and not busy then were getting pumped and a team member capable of arresting a slide is at the very least under utilised and more likely impotent.

Its a change (back) I'd like to see. The goals will then take care of themselves....