Autopsy Western Bulldogs 2023 season review

[weltschmerz]

Not going to quote everyone but I stand by the after game sprints stuff being absolutely unnecessary when you haven't come on as the sub. I'm also not going to pat a professional athlete on the back for putting in 'extra' work, especially when they are the ones pumping up their own tyres.

I've always gotten the impression that it's Baz being really hard on himself, almost a punishment.

 

[Nat Fyfe]

So according to a post season fixture analysis. We ended up having the third easiest draw.

Makes our season look even worse. Would hate to think what our W/L record would be with a harder one.

That was about the shallowest, most amateurish “analysis” you could possibly do on the fixture though (par for the course with AFL.com journalists). Didn’t take into account travel, home ground advantage, injuries, form of opposition, etc.

Not sure how we could have the third easiest draw when we played in Tassie, NT, GMHBA, Canberra and Ballarat. GWS and Adelaide are really the only ones who got worse in that aspect

 

[Dogs Rule]

I've always gotten the impression that it's Baz being really hard on himself, almost a punishment.

You're probably right, but it's like Plugger staying back to practice his goalkicking. Smith is an elite runner, everybody knows that. He doesn't need to prove himself to anybody in that regard. What we all are keen on is seeing an improvement in his kicking especially on the run.

 

[Dogs_r_barking]

So according to a post season fixture analysis. We ended up having the third easiest draw.

Makes our season look even worse. Would hate to think what our W/L record would be with a harder one.

I don’t believe that for a moment. The start of the season we were playing consecutive interstate games, an extra double up against Port Adelaide in gather round, Freo, and Hawthorn in Tassie. Didn’t play the Coasters until they got their players back.

 

[geoffjennings79]

Loved it, will watch again.

Opening scenes not great, middle bit got me interested. But that last part - I thought the script would go for the obvious "they finish top 4" as all the opportunities were repeatedly presented. But no, the director had integrity - no paint by numbers here.
Viewers were taken on a wild ride as the team constantly contrived to lose apparently winnable games.
Finally, the denouement we didn't expect! The heroic captain struggles to inspire his team-mates, in spite of, rather than because of, the villainous commander who keeps sending unprepared VFL players to their pointless doom..
Will the hero triumph? Alas not, the battle is lost, our Napoleonic villain is on the verge of exile.
It looks all over....

But wait! The little corporal will triumph after all. His conspiratorial lieutenants were the villains all along. The captain receives the highest honour, tired soldiers, on the verge of mutiny, see that the sun will rise again. This battle is lost, but not the war. Hoist the colours, sit straight in the saddle, we are not vanquished... prepare to ride again!

2024 Return of the Bonti

 

[Oliver G]

Not one Bulldog in the top 50 for retention rate from field kicks in 2023...

 

[dogwatch]

Not one Bulldog in the top 50 for retention rate from field kicks in 2023...

View attachment 1790212

Meaning we have to work way harder to get the same result as say Geelong who have 6?

 

[doggies ftw]

Not one Bulldog in the top 50 for retention rate from field kicks in 2023...

View attachment 1790212

What does this tell us? Either every player on our list is a s**t kick, possible, but very unlikely.

Considering we have a few who have been labelled as some of the best kicks in the comp in previous years, ie Bont, Dale & CD it’s more likely that our system is ******* dogshit and it’s near impossible for anyone to pickout a target in the trash

 

[Nat Fyfe]

What does this tell us? Either every player on our list is a s**t kick, possible, but very unlikely.

Considering we have a few who have been labelled as some of the best kicks in the comp in previous years, ie Bont, Dale & CD it’s more likely that our system is ******* dogshit and it’s near impossible for anyone to pickout a target in the trash

Yeah it’s quite telling that Dale went from among the best long range kicks in the competition (alongside Rich, Young) to being shaky at best. Half the time, he is tasked with taking high risk short kicks, which is Daniel’s bread and butter. I’m quite bullish on our list quality, I think coaching changes could result in a significant improvement very quickly. I’m just not confident necessary changes will happen

 

[dogwatch]

Pretty sure the move to more of a midfield role would have had a big impact on Caleb's DE% and retention rate. Pressure is much higher there.

Take a look at that list. There are probably only two legit top level midfielders in the top 20 for retention rate (Merrett and Walsh). Most of the top 20 on this list play roles where you get a little more time to look up and pinpoint your kick. Or they are just starting out and haven't attracted as much pressure from the opposition yet. You only need that extra instant to improve your disposal efficiency significantly.

That doesn't excuse Dale though.

 

[doggies ftw]

Yeah it’s quite telling that Dale went from among the best long range kicks in the competition (alongside Rich, Young) to being shaky at best. Half the time, he is tasked with taking high risk short kicks, which is Daniel’s bread and butter. I’m quite bullish on our list quality, I think coaching changes could result in a significant improvement very quickly. I’m just not confident necessary changes will happen

Dales job would be a nightmare, he’s tasked with making magic out of literally nothing when he looks up the ground and sees our stagnant mess ahead of him. Feel sorry for the bloke tbh.

But yeah I’m hesitant to judge anyone in the side too harshly when our elite kicks can’t even find a target anymore

 

[doggies ftw]

Pretty sure the move to more of a midfield role would have had a big impact on Caleb's DE% and retention rate. Pressure is much higher there.

Take a look at that list. There are probably only two legit top level midfielders in the top 20 for retention rate (Merrett and Walsh). Most of the top 20 on this list play roles where you get a little more time to look up and pinpoint your kick. Or they are just starting out and haven't attracted as much pressure from the opposition yet. You only need that extra instant to improve your disposal efficiency significantly.

That doesn't excuse Dale though.

It’s a strange list when you look more in-depth, it’s dominated by forwards which you’d think would be the hardest position for kick retention when it’s a lot harder to spot up a kick inside 50 then it should be coming out of defence

 

[Optimistic Dog]

I will keep this review short we lost to WCE at home with finals on the line. Say no more.

 

[geoffjennings79]

I will keep this review short we lost to WCE at home with finals on the line. Say no more.

So... is that a pass?

 

[doggiesin08]

Dales job would be a nightmare, he’s tasked with making magic out of literally nothing when he looks up the ground and sees our stagnant mess ahead of him. Feel sorry for the bloke tbh.

But yeah I’m hesitant to judge anyone in the side too harshly when our elite kicks can’t even find a target anymore

I think his job would be easier if the 20-30m lateral option was to Cleary, Williams, JOD (for more of the year) rather than Keath / Bruce / Gardy. The opposition are super happy to leave those blokes open, preferring to congest the area where Dale is trying to find an option.

 

[Dogs Rule]

Garbage.

Thats it.

 

[Dog 36]

I will keep this review short we lost to WCE at home with finals on the line. Say no more.

Review the week from getting on the plane in Tassie to come back after Hwaks loss to Sunday night after the West Coast game that is all that is required IMO

 

[Tommycash]

It’s a strange list when you look more in-depth, it’s dominated by forwards which you’d think would be the hardest position for kick retention when it’s a lot harder to spot up a kick inside 50 then it should be coming out of defence

A good call. I looked at it a little bit to work out why that might be and found this helpful summary:

"Fair bit of confusion on this table so I thought I'd add some context (the table isn't mine)​

​

This is the 50 players who have taken the most field kicks this season. It's not the 50 best rated kicks. It's only field kicks, so the number of kicks won't match up with footywire or afl.com.au's kick totals, because those totals include shots on goal.​

​

Within those 50 most prolific players this list is sorted by one thing - retention rating.​

​

Retention Rating is how likely, compared to the league average, for a given difficulty of kick, a teammate will end up with the ball.​

​

For example: two players end up having their kicks retained by a teammate half the time they kick it. However, one of them takes most of their kicks as short kicks off the half-back line where it is fairly easily to find a free teammate. The other is taking most of their kicks searching for a target in their forward 50, where it is much harder. The second player will have a significantly higher retention rating, despite them both having the ball retained 50% of the time."​

​

I suppose forwards kicking inside 50 have some of the hardest kicks, so that may explain the presence of a lot of forwards (if they can make it come off they will have high retention ratings).

​

 

[King Harold]

Dales job would be a nightmare, he’s tasked with making magic out of literally nothing when he looks up the ground and sees our stagnant mess ahead of him. Feel sorry for the bloke tbh.

But yeah I’m hesitant to judge anyone in the side too harshly when our elite kicks can’t even find a target anymore

Nail on head
A lack of a genuine option can make a great kick look very ordinary.
This happened to Dale a lot this year at games I went to.

 

[Munnez]

100%

Not strong enough just yet. Would have been mauled by AFL forwards.

Needs a big preseason in the gym, has a good frame just needs to fill it out.

 

[Freshwater]

2023 was a wasted year for the development of Luke Cleary. How he was only given 1 game, in windy Ballarat and got a game in Ballarat the year before was negligent of the coaching staff. He showed a fair bit in each of those games too. Especially when you consider our injuries in the backline but mostly when you consider VDM was getting games back there

 

[Dazb86]

2023 was a wasted year for the development of Luke Cleary. How he was only given 1 game, in windy Ballarat and got a game in Ballarat the year before was negligent of the coaching staff. He showed a fair bit in each of those games too. Especially when you consider our injuries in the backline but mostly when you consider VDM was getting games back there

Clearys development has been odd. He was seemingly our best performer in the VFL but couldn't get a crack. I would have had him ahead of Duryea for the last half of the year.

Not sure what the story was.

 

[cleveland]

Clearys development has been odd. He was seemingly our best performer in the VFL but couldn't get a crack. I would have had him ahead of Duryea for the last half of the year.

Not sure what the story was.

Bevo

 

[Eastdog]

Late to the party.

Very disappointing season. I really was hopeful this would be the year we would make top 4 and genuinely challenge for the flag but it was not to be and we lost a lot of close games and games against lesser opposition which was the difference in the end. The loss to West Coast was awful. Crazy they wanted that more and we were fighting for a finals spot!

We need to make a much better start to the 2024 season because the first round can set the tone for the rest of the season.

 

[Mr. Walker]

Very early days yet in the AFLW but if the performance continues then all three of our teams will,imo, face a review framed around “performance well below expectations “. I know the VFL had a great late run but the start and the finish was poor ditto the AFL team sadly.
(PS not claiming this as great insight)