What They're Saying - The Bulldogs Media Thread - Part 2

[TBOW]

Yeah I agree that Finey is a self indulging twat.
Would always disconnect anyone who disagreed with him and berate the empty phone line for minutes.
I am surprised they axed him though, his waffling nonsense was tailor made to fill hours of empty graveyard airtime solo.

 

[MYOB]

Are you kidding me? All you had to do was listen to him. Cuts off callers, cuts off guests, spends 15 minutes getting his point across, is rude and arrogant when speaking and hates being disagreed with.

I listened to him for 13 years. Finey didn't cut people off because he disagreed with them, he may have cut them off because their argument was flawed. If you had a reasonable case to put forward he would engage in discussion with you, even if he disagreed.

 

[BEaston]

Are you kidding me? All you had to do was listen to him. Cuts off callers, cuts off guests, spends 15 minutes getting his point across, is rude and arrogant when speaking and hates being disagreed with.

Spot on. He was a tool.

 

[TBOW]

I can't believe peeps are complaining Triple MMM is too Bulldogs focused, I mean if the Heraldscum isn't covering Collingwood it's Essendon, SEN it's Melbourne and the Saints, TFS its Norf and Collingwood and Melbourne ffs give other clubs some air time.

Every person in AFL media is biased.
I can handle people who wear there bias like a badge and revel in it (ie. KB, Ox even Eddie) but I can't stand people in the media who act impartial but whose biases seeps through like a stench (ie. Lyon, Leach, Caro).
Saints and Demons fans tend to be the worst as they are so embittered that their jealousy and disappointment shows through more than their support.
I think there is still a massive hangover from the merger days where the clubs who were struggling were always desperate for another club to be struggling that little bit worse.

 

[Cadillac]

Would rather listen to Finey who actually knows the game instead of Sam McClure. He's a complete tosser. Would love to wipe that smirk off his face.

 

[Hard Ball Get]

'Pissed off' Schache wants to silence doubters.

QUESTION marks over his competiveness left Josh Schache "pissed off" and determined to prove the doubters wrong.

Three months after crossing to the Western Bulldogs from the Brisbane Lions in the final 30 seconds of the NAB AFL Trade Period, the 20-year-old is relishing life at Whitten Oval and being just an hour's drive from his family in country Victoria.

While he concedes he needs to improve the contested side of his game after being drafted by the Lions with pick No.2 in 2015, the key forward is fiercely determined to show the football world he has an appetite for the hard stuff.

"I think I'm competitive, and I was pretty pissed off when I heard I wasn't competitive enough," Schache told AFL.com.au.

"I'm not here to run around the ground and do the little things, I'm here to compete really hard and do what I need to do for the team.

"I want to prove everyone wrong and show that I am competitive."

Much like fellow early pick and new teammate Tom Boyd, Schache has been thrown into the ruck in a bid to improve his physicality and versatility under coach Luke Beveridge's flexibility mantra.

The change of role is paying immediate dividends, with Schache's confidence and conditioning improving considerably just over a month out from the JLT Community Series.

"In match simulation, I've been playing in ruck and trying to develop that side of my game, so I've pretty much half and half between the ruck and up forward," he said.

"I'm down to 95kg at the moment after being over 100kg up in Brisbane, and now I'm running and recovering a lot better.

"Now I need to build on the muscle side of things and make sure I'm harder to move in the contested situation, but I feel like I'm tracking OK in that area.

"It's not an excuse, but I'm up against guys more experienced and a bit heavier than me, so it's something I need to continue to work on."

Schache and Boyd, the 2013 No.1 pick, have discussed the pressures that come with being taken at the pointy end of the draft after both youngsters took time away from the game in 2017 to deal with the burdens that come with being a League footballer.

As well as conditioning his body for the rigours of the game, he also seeks the counsel of club psychologist Lisa Stevens to help him deal with the mental side.

"Lisa has been really good, and I go and see her every now and then," he said.

"She has been really good at helping me on and off the ground - just getting your mind back to the things you need to think about."

With Schache now settled and thriving, he is in a strong position to push for a round-one berth.

He'll vie with Boyd and Jack Redpath for what's likely to be two positions in attack for tall forwards, but the competition for spots has been a big factor in him finding enjoyment in his footy again.

"It was a big drive for me to come to the Dogs and play with those boys," Schache said.

"Just working closely with Boydy and 'Red' has helped with my development.

"I think my kicking, my hands and match awareness are building, so I feel more comfortable with each training session.

"I'm enjoying coming to the club and seeing all the boys each day."

 

[Bemoreboyddog]

'Pissed off' Schache wants to silence doubters.

QUESTION marks over his competiveness left Josh Schache "pissed off" and determined to prove the doubters wrong.

Three months after crossing to the Western Bulldogs from the Brisbane Lions in the final 30 seconds of the NAB AFL Trade Period, the 20-year-old is relishing life at Whitten Oval and being just an hour's drive from his family in country Victoria.

While he concedes he needs to improve the contested side of his game after being drafted by the Lions with pick No.2 in 2015, the key forward is fiercely determined to show the football world he has an appetite for the hard stuff.

"I think I'm competitive, and I was pretty pissed off when I heard I wasn't competitive enough," Schache told AFL.com.au.

"I'm not here to run around the ground and do the little things, I'm here to compete really hard and do what I need to do for the team.

"I want to prove everyone wrong and show that I am competitive."

Much like fellow early pick and new teammate Tom Boyd, Schache has been thrown into the ruck in a bid to improve his physicality and versatility under coach Luke Beveridge's flexibility mantra.

The change of role is paying immediate dividends, with Schache's confidence and conditioning improving considerably just over a month out from the JLT Community Series.

"In match simulation, I've been playing in ruck and trying to develop that side of my game, so I've pretty much half and half between the ruck and up forward," he said.

"I'm down to 95kg at the moment after being over 100kg up in Brisbane, and now I'm running and recovering a lot better.

"Now I need to build on the muscle side of things and make sure I'm harder to move in the contested situation, but I feel like I'm tracking OK in that area.

"It's not an excuse, but I'm up against guys more experienced and a bit heavier than me, so it's something I need to continue to work on."

Schache and Boyd, the 2013 No.1 pick, have discussed the pressures that come with being taken at the pointy end of the draft after both youngsters took time away from the game in 2017 to deal with the burdens that come with being a League footballer.

As well as conditioning his body for the rigours of the game, he also seeks the counsel of club psychologist Lisa Stevens to help him deal with the mental side.

"Lisa has been really good, and I go and see her every now and then," he said.

"She has been really good at helping me on and off the ground - just getting your mind back to the things you need to think about."

With Schache now settled and thriving, he is in a strong position to push for a round-one berth.

He'll vie with Boyd and Jack Redpath for what's likely to be two positions in attack for tall forwards, but the competition for spots has been a big factor in him finding enjoyment in his footy again.

"It was a big drive for me to come to the Dogs and play with those boys," Schache said.

"Just working closely with Boydy and 'Red' has helped with my development.

"I think my kicking, my hands and match awareness are building, so I feel more comfortable with each training session.

"I'm enjoying coming to the club and seeing all the boys each day."

So he’s lost weight and needs to put some muscle back on. Really disappointed to hear that he’s been training in the ruck. How many freakin ruck options do you need Bevo? Roughead, Trengove, Boyd and Schache all in one team? Can’t we just let the kid concentrate on being a decent tall forward?

On another note, Cam Mooney says it’s hard being a specialist coach because you don’t get anywhere near the time with players. Said he got 5-8 minutes with the group when he was with us and 2 minutes of that was explaining what they were going to do. I’ve been wanting us to get a forwards coach for a while but after hearing that, seems quite pointless.

Football needs to move more towards footballers again and away from athletes.

 

[Hard Ball Get]

So he’s lost weight and needs to put some muscle back on. Really disappointed to hear that he’s been training in the ruck. How many freakin ruck options do you need Bevo? Roughead, Trengove, Boyd and Schache all in one team? Can’t we just let the kid concentrate on being a decent tall forward?

On another note, Cam Mooney says it’s hard being a specialist coach because you don’t get anywhere near the time with players. Said he got 5-8 minutes with the group when he was with us and 2 minutes of that was explaining what they were going to do. I’ve been wanting us to get a forwards coach for a while but after hearing that, seems quite pointless.

Football needs to move more towards footballers again and away from athletes.

Seriously?
Training in the ruck doesn't mean we need him to play long term in the ruck.

Remember Stringer spending time as a defender? It's about building his game.

And that's rubbish from Mooney. More time is spent in specialist areas, than with the whole group.

 

[maddog37]

Playing him in the ruck simply allows him to develop more quickly. More freedom, more contests, more possessions etc.

 

[Norm De Guerre]

So he’s lost weight and needs to put some muscle back on. Really disappointed to hear that he’s been training in the ruck. How many freakin ruck options do you need Bevo? Roughead, Trengove, Boyd and Schache all in one team? Can’t we just let the kid concentrate on being a decent tall forward?

On another note, Cam Mooney says it’s hard being a specialist coach because you don’t get anywhere near the time with players. Said he got 5-8 minutes with the group when he was with us and 2 minutes of that was explaining what they were going to do. I’ve been wanting us to get a forwards coach for a while but after hearing that, seems quite pointless.

Football needs to move more towards footballers again and away from athletes.

I wouldn't consider Trengove a ruckman at all. In fact the time he spent battling manfully whilst covering for a suspended Ryder was a clear detriment to a career going nicely playing as a KPD.

For mine we have two competent Ruckman in Rough and Boyd, a possible pinch hitter in time with Schache, a kid developing Engrish and then Tom Campbell.

 

[dergert]

Tom Boyd to FB!

 

[Bemoreboyddog]

I wouldn't consider Trengove a ruckman at all. In fact the time he spent battling manfully whilst covering for a suspended Ryder was a clear detriment to a career going nicely playing as a KPD.

For mine we have two competent Ruckman in Rough and Boyd, a possible pinch hitter in time with Schache, a kid developing Engrish and then Tom Campbell.

I thought he did ok in the ruck at Port, just didn’t go well playing forward. I think he’ll spend a decent chunk in the ruck somewhere between 15-30%.

A part of me worries we’re going a bit too overboard with our versatility mantra. The only two on our list that i can’t see playing anywhere else are Redpath and Morris (even Morris can play tall or small though)

 

[Bemoreboyddog]

Seriously?
Training in the ruck doesn't mean we need him to play long term in the ruck.

Remember Stringer spending time as a defender? It's about building his game.

And that's rubbish from Mooney. More time is spent in specialist areas, than with the whole group.

He’s talking about specialist forward coach, not forward line coach.

 

[paulveed]

What was it that you didn't like about Finey

Total self possession and arrogance. So full of his own self importance, he overflowed. No one was allowed to dare contradict him.

 

[TMoney22]

At least Finey is entertaining. i love listening to him if i agree or not. Everyone else is the same old stuff, you need to have something different especially the times he was on.
Going by the comments on here over the years about the media, there is not one that does a good job. Maybe we are too biased

 

[Bemoreboyddog]

At least Finey is entertaining. i love listening to him if i agree or not. Everyone else is the same old stuff, you need to have something different especially the times he was on.
Going by the comments on here over the years about the media, there is not one that does a good job. Maybe we are too biased

Australian football journalism just is far inferior to that of other sports overseas. Some of the NFL commentators are superb. Some of the articles you see are great and what great about the NFL is when someone reports something, 90% of the time it’s true. NFL teams provide great access to players, media does a good job with it.

Everyone here seems to want to play secret squirrel and then the media have nothing but cliches and robot answers to go with so they create clickbait articles and take people out of context to get viewership up. It’s just terrible.

Both parties need to come together to sort something out otherwise, we the football public, will continue to dine out on the trash served up by the Herald Sun and others.

I like Nick Dal Santo, Jason Dunstall, Garry Lyon, Wayne Carey and Gerard Healy. Whately, Hunt, Hudson and McAvaney i like commentating games. Also Jason Bennett, no nonsense just a great solid job. Why he does VFL and women’s games while Basil freaking Zempilas gets Saturday nights is beyond me. Also feel BT gets a bad wrap. Can waffle on from time to time but for theatre i enjoy him.

Commentators, mainly special comments guys like Richo, Lingy, Lynch, Lake, Johnson, Ricciuto etc (jeez that’s depressing to look at that list) need to do more of is stop stating the bleeding obvious and provide some insight. Some of these NFL commentators know what the play is going to be before the play actually happens. It’s a joy to listen to.

 

[Libba39]

What was it that you didn't like about Finey

Personally I liked Finey to begin with but towards the end he became very much a sensationalist and some of his views were a little off-putting.

 

[TiAn_]

Playing him in the ruck simply allows him to develop more quickly. More freedom, more contests, more possessions etc.

Playing Tom Boyd in the ruck has really allowed him to blossom as a forward [fart noise].

 

[bobby2]

I listened to him for 13 years. Finey didn't cut people off because he disagreed with them, he may have cut them off because their argument was flawed. If you had a reasonable case to put forward he would engage in discussion with you, even if he disagreed.

I can't say I'm going off anywhere near that amount of listening to him, but that was mostly because I'd intentionally switch off when he came on. I remember one time he got incredibly angry at a caller over something minor and told him to go jerk off his tiny dick with a pair of tweezers. The caller had his kids in the car with him. Finey then refused to apologise and continued to berate the caller. It was completely classless.

 

[littlenails]

I can't say I'm going off anywhere near that amount of listening to him, but that was mostly because I'd intentionally switch off when he came on. I remember one time he got incredibly angry at a caller over something minor and told him to go jerk off his tiny dick with a pair of tweezers. The caller had his kids in the car with him. Finey then refused to apologise and continued to berate the caller. It was completely classless.

Well if that story is true (I have no reason to doubt you), then he should be off the air. Initially I didn't like Finey because of his St Kilda bias, but eventually I got to like him. From what I have listened to, sometimes he cut people off, but I thought they deserved it, they were mostly silly people. I think that he cut a lot of people off over the Essendon drug saga who argued from a false proposition.

He was always ready to listen to an argument that had some substance. He knew his stuff, he had a good memory for footy stuff. He was a clever man but obviously just not clever enough.

 

[Hard Ball Get]

FLYING in the face of the past two premiership formulas, the Western Bulldogs are open to playing three tall forwards in the same side this season.

The Bulldogs in 2016 and Richmond last year lifted the cup on the back of small and unpredictable attacks, but with recruit Josh Schache joining Tom Boyd and Jack Redpath as key forwards at Whitten Oval, the Dogs are considering a similar set-up to 2017 runner-up Adelaide.

Forwards Taylor Walker, Josh Jenkins and Tom Lynch all stand over 191cm and were key planks in the Crows finishing on top of the ladder after the home and away season.

With all three Bulldogs also able to play in the ruck, forwards coach Ashley Hansen told AFL.com.au the Dogs are open-minded on the selection of Boyd, Redpath and Schache.

'Pissed off' Schache wants to silence doubters

"There's no reason why they all can't play in the same forward line," Hansen said.

"It's a great headache to have if they're all marking the ball. If they're all converting on goal and providing defensive pressure, they'll all play.

"Being opened minded is really important in our game because it depends on the opposition and who you've got available for selection.

"You certainly reflect on who went well last year, and it's really important that we learn from who won the flag, but we took a lot away from what Adelaide did as well.

"(Small forward lines) have been in vogue over the past two years, and it worked for us and Richmond, but we've seen the power of Adelaide's attack with their height, and that won them the most games last season, so clearly that works as well.

"I think (our height) is a strength of ours going into the season."

Another interesting subplot in the Bulldogs' 2018 campaign is how they go about fixing the inefficiency and accuracy problems that plagued them in attack last year.

Hansen is hoping another pre-season of building chemistry between all areas of the ground will go a long way to improving the vitally important elements of the game.

The Dogs finished 2017 last in goal kicking accuracy with a dismal 43.1 per cent.

"We're making sure all our areas (of the ground) are covered but certainly focusing on refining (our ball use inside 50) to get maximum return for the good work we do in the midfield and backline," Hansen said.

"It's knowing how each player likes the ball to be delivered, so hopefully our list can continue to get training hours into them."

The Dogs are considering taking a similar approach to JLT Community Series as in previous years by using one game to field their best side and the other to give some exposure to younger players.

The Dogs will host Hawthorn at Ballarat's Mars Stadium on March 3 before travelling to Moe to face Collingwood on March 10.

"I'd like to think with one less game (this year), we'd pick our best side (for both games)," Hansen said.

"But the then again, we have to meet as a match committee and might decide to invest and have a look at our youth in one of those games.

"I think two games is a good preparation."

 

[Pugz89]

FLYING in the face of the past two premiership formulas, the Western Bulldogs are open to playing three tall forwards in the same side this season.

The Bulldogs in 2016 and Richmond last year lifted the cup on the back of small and unpredictable attacks, but with recruit Josh Schache joining Tom Boyd and Jack Redpath as key forwards at Whitten Oval, the Dogs are considering a similar set-up to 2017 runner-up Adelaide.

Forwards Taylor Walker, Josh Jenkins and Tom Lynch all stand over 191cm and were key planks in the Crows finishing on top of the ladder after the home and away season.

With all three Bulldogs also able to play in the ruck, forwards coach Ashley Hansen told AFL.com.au the Dogs are open-minded on the selection of Boyd, Redpath and Schache.

'Pissed off' Schache wants to silence doubters

"There's no reason why they all can't play in the same forward line," Hansen said.

"It's a great headache to have if they're all marking the ball. If they're all converting on goal and providing defensive pressure, they'll all play.

"Being opened minded is really important in our game because it depends on the opposition and who you've got available for selection.

"You certainly reflect on who went well last year, and it's really important that we learn from who won the flag, but we took a lot away from what Adelaide did as well.

"(Small forward lines) have been in vogue over the past two years, and it worked for us and Richmond, but we've seen the power of Adelaide's attack with their height, and that won them the most games last season, so clearly that works as well.

"I think (our height) is a strength of ours going into the season."

Another interesting subplot in the Bulldogs' 2018 campaign is how they go about fixing the inefficiency and accuracy problems that plagued them in attack last year.

Hansen is hoping another pre-season of building chemistry between all areas of the ground will go a long way to improving the vitally important elements of the game.

The Dogs finished 2017 last in goal kicking accuracy with a dismal 43.1 per cent.

"We're making sure all our areas (of the ground) are covered but certainly focusing on refining (our ball use inside 50) to get maximum return for the good work we do in the midfield and backline," Hansen said.

"It's knowing how each player likes the ball to be delivered, so hopefully our list can continue to get training hours into them."

The Dogs are considering taking a similar approach to JLT Community Series as in previous years by using one game to field their best side and the other to give some exposure to younger players.

The Dogs will host Hawthorn at Ballarat's Mars Stadium on March 3 before travelling to Moe to face Collingwood on March 10.

"I'd like to think with one less game (this year), we'd pick our best side (for both games)," Hansen said.

"But the then again, we have to meet as a match committee and might decide to invest and have a look at our youth in one of those games.

"I think two games is a good preparation."

That is really interesting, explains our abundance of talls and how we plan on using them though. Better than letting 2/3 of the talls on our list flounder at VFL level. If we can get our forward 50 entries right, it could work but it does fly in the face of our forward pressure game imo.

 

[bresker]

So Mark Fine finally gets taped on the shoulder.
Quite frankly he was embarrassing , just another blithering idiot.
I always assumed he had photos of someone ?

Love him or hate him, Finey put in a huge amount of work for SEN and had to handle so many dickhead callers over the years. I liked him, he’s a very intelligent man with a huge breadth of knowledge and incredible memory. I’m shocked they got rid of him. He talked too much rather than listen on the footy phone ins but jeez he put in the hard yards for that station.

 

[Bemoreboyddog]

Is Ash Hansen high? Can Schache, Boyd and Redpath play in the same team? At a pinch, yes if Boyd is the starting ruckman.

Can they play in the same forward line? Jesus, i hope not. It works for Adelaide because Lynch and Jenkins are both very mobile and Walker isn’t terrible. Redpath can lead, mark and goal. Anything else is almost out of the question. Boyd’s mobility has improved since arriving at the club but his forward line pressure just isn’t there. Could it improve? Time will tell. Schache is the only one for me who looks like he has some decent mobility.

 

[threenewpadlocks]

It's not so much about forward pressure as much as it is versatility of roles. Lynch can play as a high-half-forward pushing up to the half-back flank that many medium sized players have played over the years. It remains to be seen whether someone like Schache or Boyd can do that. Especially if we're playing one as Roughy or Campbell as first ruck.