What They're Saying - The Bulldogs Media Thread - Part 3

[Fossie 32]

Awful hearing Kane Cornes comment that the tragic events had 'no effect on the performance'. Awful hearing Caro set up the punch with 'It's awful what's happened BUT' and awful seeing those contested differential numbers

That is pretty low

 

[Golden_6]

We've shat the bed and are in no man's land again.

I really don't want us to experience another rebuild or whatever you call our 2017-2019.

It is feeling a lot like 2017. A mediocre team that everyone is expecting to click into gear at some point but I just don’t see happening. There’s a lot more raw talent on the list in 2022 but the injuries to our thin KPP stocks and playing a bottom 6 that could be the worst in the comp are the biggest issues. When you add in playing with a lack of confidence, it’s easy to see why we are 2-4.

It’s not all doom and gloom because we still have a very young list with so many potential future stars but it’s shaping up to be a very big offseason and a minor retool could be on the horizon. Potentially losing a couple of very good players in order to try and balance the list.

 

[Bulldogs85]

Come on guys, FC has never traded on facts. Just Wilson, Hutchinson, Cornes and McGuire and their version of reality, which is getting to Tom Brown levels of "sources tell me" and "I'm led to believe". Quite possibly bordering on "voices in my head are telling me".

That show jumped the shark years ago. Either that or it's now a parody of themselves and they forgot to mention it.

Stopped watching that crap show years ago I didn’t mind Talking Footy

 

[Struggle]

I want to know which trainer abused the journo in the rooms, give that person a raise immediately

 

[W W Biscuit]

The underperformance of our midfield is a real head scratcher - as too is our historical ability to back up any semblance of on-field success. The view that we are lethargic, look demotivated and are simply not working hard enough - all of which are undoubtedly true - can only be attributed to Bevo and the coaching team to a point. My main concern is...who is driving individual standards? Mental toughness and competitive drive is a huge part of elite level sport, so who of our players - particularly our most talented ones - are looking at the slop we've been dishing up and saying, "No way, not on my watch."

I have no way of answering that question, but find it instructive to remember Jason Akermanis's observation about his early days at the kennel - that Moz was the only player in the group with the obsessive professionalism and drive to do what it takes to really succeed. Fast forward a decade...who is our Moz?

Tom Boyd speaks very candidly about his own lack of motivation to maintain elite level standards - hence his departure from the AFL. He was not a competitive beast, by his own admission. Who ARE our competitive beasts? Naughts? Libba? Do we have enough of them? I worry that Bev seemingly has to spin a narrative out of his backside every year to apparently inspire the type of efforts which should be a prerequisite at this level. If our standards and will to succeed are really that conditional, then its time to prioritise competitive instincts and leadership qualities during the draft and trade period.

As a mug punter in the stands, I just want to see more evidence of personal responsibility from the players. Insane repeat efforts. Bone crunching tackles. I would like to see them get sh1tty once in a while - with themselves and even with each other. Our underperformance is not just down to injuries. Our entire midfield is available, and that is where we are being smashed by much less celebrated opposition. At the moment, it looks for all the world that we are easy to predict and easy to play against. We are meek, nice and lost for answers. Did I hear somebody say, "Not on MY watch?!"

 

[Foxman98]

The underperformance of our midfield is a real head scratcher - as too is our historical ability to back up any semblance of on-field success. The view that we are lethargic, look demotivated and are simply not working hard enough - all of which are undoubtedly true - can only be attributed to Bevo and the coaching team to a point. My main concern is...who is driving individual standards? Mental toughness and competitive drive is a huge part of elite level sport, so who of our players - particularly our most talented ones - are looking at the slop we've been dishing up and saying, "No way, not on my watch."

I have no way of answering that question, but find it instructive to remember Jason Akermanis's observation about his early days at the kennel - that Moz was the only player in the group with the obsessive professionalism and drive to do what it takes to really succeed. Fast forward a decade...who is our Moz?

Tom Boyd speaks very candidly about his own lack of motivation to maintain elite level standards - hence his departure from the AFL. He was not a competitive beast, by his own admission. Who ARE our competitive beasts? Naughts? Libba? Do we have enough of them? I worry that Bev seemingly has to spin a narrative out of his backside every year to apparently inspire the type of efforts which should be a prerequisite at this level. If our standards and will to succeed are really that conditional, then its time to prioritise competitive instincts and leadership qualities during the draft and trade period.

As a mug punter in the stands, I just want to see more evidence of personal responsibility from the players. Insane repeat efforts. Bone crunching tackles. I would like to see them get sh1tty once in a while - with themselves and even with each other. Our underperformance is not just down to injuries. Our entire midfield is available, and that is where we are being smashed by much less celebrated opposition. At the moment, it looks for all the world that we are easy to predict and easy to play against. We are meek, nice and lost for answers. Did I hear somebody say, "Not on MY watch?!"

For me it sounds like Treloar surprisingly. He is the best performer in the gym and always appears to be doing what he can to keep himself in peak shape. Dunks is similar as would Bont.

 

[dergert]

The VFL player reports are pretty benign imo.

I enjoyed Travis Varcoe

18

Travis Varcoe

Age

36

Ht

180cm

Wt

84kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

13.8

4star

K

6.5

3star

HB

7.2

4star

M

2.9

3star

T

3.5

5star

G

0.8

4star

D

11.0

3star

K

5.0

2star

HB

6.0

3star

M

1.3

1star

T

2.0

3star

G

0.3

3star

D

6.8

2star

K

4.2

2star

HB

2.6

3star

M

1.4

2star

T

3.6

5star

G

1.8

5star

's report a few weeks ago though.

 

[Virgin Dog]

The underperformance of our midfield is a real head scratcher - as too is our historical ability to back up any semblance of on-field success. The view that we are lethargic, look demotivated and are simply not working hard enough - all of which are undoubtedly true - can only be attributed to Bevo and the coaching team to a point. My main concern is...who is driving individual standards? Mental toughness and competitive drive is a huge part of elite level sport, so who of our players - particularly our most talented ones - are looking at the slop we've been dishing up and saying, "No way, not on my watch."

I have no way of answering that question, but find it instructive to remember Jason Akermanis's observation about his early days at the kennel - that Moz was the only player in the group with the obsessive professionalism and drive to do what it takes to really succeed. Fast forward a decade...who is our Moz?

Tom Boyd speaks very candidly about his own lack of motivation to maintain elite level standards - hence his departure from the AFL. He was not a competitive beast, by his own admission. Who ARE our competitive beasts? Naughts? Libba? Do we have enough of them? I worry that Bev seemingly has to spin a narrative out of his backside every year to apparently inspire the type of efforts which should be a prerequisite at this level. If our standards and will to succeed are really that conditional, then its time to prioritise competitive instincts and leadership qualities during the draft and trade period.

As a mug punter in the stands, I just want to see more evidence of personal responsibility from the players. Insane repeat efforts. Bone crunching tackles. I would like to see them get sh1tty once in a while - with themselves and even with each other. Our underperformance is not just down to injuries. Our entire midfield is available, and that is where we are being smashed by much less celebrated opposition. At the moment, it looks for all the world that we are easy to predict and easy to play against. We are meek, nice and lost for answers. Did I hear somebody say, "Not on MY watch?!"

This is the big reason why I always like Brendon Goddard, despite him being fairly unliked by fans. The dude was ultra competitive, even if he did take it over the edge at times.

 

[BulldogMuscle]

The underperformance of our midfield is a real head scratcher - as too is our historical ability to back up any semblance of on-field success. The view that we are lethargic, look demotivated and are simply not working hard enough - all of which are undoubtedly true - can only be attributed to Bevo and the coaching team to a point. My main concern is...who is driving individual standards? Mental toughness and competitive drive is a huge part of elite level sport, so who of our players - particularly our most talented ones - are looking at the slop we've been dishing up and saying, "No way, not on my watch."

I have no way of answering that question, but find it instructive to remember Jason Akermanis's observation about his early days at the kennel - that Moz was the only player in the group with the obsessive professionalism and drive to do what it takes to really succeed. Fast forward a decade...who is our Moz?

Tom Boyd speaks very candidly about his own lack of motivation to maintain elite level standards - hence his departure from the AFL. He was not a competitive beast, by his own admission. Who ARE our competitive beasts? Naughts? Libba? Do we have enough of them? I worry that Bev seemingly has to spin a narrative out of his backside every year to apparently inspire the type of efforts which should be a prerequisite at this level. If our standards and will to succeed are really that conditional, then its time to prioritise competitive instincts and leadership qualities during the draft and trade period.

As a mug punter in the stands, I just want to see more evidence of personal responsibility from the players. Insane repeat efforts. Bone crunching tackles. I would like to see them get sh1tty once in a while - with themselves and even with each other. Our underperformance is not just down to injuries. Our entire midfield is available, and that is where we are being smashed by much less celebrated opposition. At the moment, it looks for all the world that we are easy to predict and easy to play against. We are meek, nice and lost for answers. Did I hear somebody say, "Not on MY watch?!"

For me this circles back to 2020 and Dunkley wanting to leave. The club can come out and say what it wants but every jurno at the time was saying it was culture issues at the club, Dunks might be a pretty weird unit off the field (don't ever go searching for his family's personal website) but he does really push professional standards for himself with his various athletic trips he takes in the off season and engaging athletic coaches from outside the club (as seen on his Instagram). No wonder he got pissed off and wanted to leave after being locked up with the rest of the group and seeing standards slip to a woeful level, I get the feeling we kept him in 2020 and fixed these to keep him happy, hence the big up-swing of our midfield last season, but it seems now to me, a regular joe, that standards have heavily slipped again and we're back to 2017-2020 Dogs.

It's been said a few times, but something stinks down at the Kennel.

 

[adammonerz]

The underperformance of our midfield is a real head scratcher - as too is our historical ability to back up any semblance of on-field success. The view that we are lethargic, look demotivated and are simply not working hard enough - all of which are undoubtedly true - can only be attributed to Bevo and the coaching team to a point. My main concern is...who is driving individual standards? Mental toughness and competitive drive is a huge part of elite level sport, so who of our players - particularly our most talented ones - are looking at the slop we've been dishing up and saying, "No way, not on my watch."

I have no way of answering that question, but find it instructive to remember Jason Akermanis's observation about his early days at the kennel - that Moz was the only player in the group with the obsessive professionalism and drive to do what it takes to really succeed. Fast forward a decade...who is our Moz?

Tom Boyd speaks very candidly about his own lack of motivation to maintain elite level standards - hence his departure from the AFL. He was not a competitive beast, by his own admission. Who ARE our competitive beasts? Naughts? Libba? Do we have enough of them? I worry that Bev seemingly has to spin a narrative out of his backside every year to apparently inspire the type of efforts which should be a prerequisite at this level. If our standards and will to succeed are really that conditional, then its time to prioritise competitive instincts and leadership qualities during the draft and trade period.

As a mug punter in the stands, I just want to see more evidence of personal responsibility from the players. Insane repeat efforts. Bone crunching tackles. I would like to see them get sh1tty once in a while - with themselves and even with each other. Our underperformance is not just down to injuries. Our entire midfield is available, and that is where we are being smashed by much less celebrated opposition. At the moment, it looks for all the world that we are easy to predict and easy to play against. We are meek, nice and lost for answers. Did I hear somebody say, "Not on MY watch?!"

I've noticed this as well at the moment it only looks like Adam Treloar is the only one giving a **** about how shit we are right now saw him after the siren at Adelaide and he looked pissed, I personally don't feel like Bont is the best choice as captain to be personally honest, is he a gun player? Of ****ing course but I don't feel he has the nerve in him to call a bunch of our underperformers and undertrainers out for their shit. I think losing Wood in the dressing room is a bigger problem then we originally thought and we need to appoint a captain that has that ultra competitive mindset

 

[dogwatch]

Bailey Smith

6

Bailey Smith

Age

23

Ht

185cm

Wt

86kg

Pos.

M/F

Career

Season

Last 5

D

18.3

5star

K

8.5

3star

HB

9.8

5star

M

2.3

2star

T

3.8

5star

CL

2.7

4star

D

19.8

5star

K

9.6

4star

HB

10.2

5star

M

1.8

2star

T

3.2

4star

CL

3.2

4star

D

14.8

4star

K

7.6

3star

HB

7.2

5star

M

2.0

3star

T

3.4

5star

CL

1.6

4star

is also an obsessive trainer from all accounts. However he may still be too young to be pulling up older blokes and telling them their efforts are not good enough.

 

[Dog 36]

For me this circles back to 2020 and Dunkley wanting to leave. The club can come out and say what it wants but every jurno at the time was saying it was culture issues at the club, Dunks might be a pretty weird unit off the field (don't ever go searching for his family's personal website) but he does really push professional standards for himself with his various athletic trips he takes in the off season and engaging athletic coaches from outside the club (as seen on his Instagram). No wonder he got pissed off and wanted to leave after being locked up with the rest of the group and seeing standards slip to a woeful level, I get the feeling we kept him in 2020 and fixed these to keep him happy, hence the big up-swing of our midfield last season, but it seems now to me, a regular joe, that standards have heavily slipped again and we're back to 2017-2020 Dogs.

It's been said a few times, but something stinks down at the Kennel.

You may be right that something is amiss at the Kennel.

I think if there is something causing a stink at the Kennel this will become more evident over the next 5-6 weeks.

Not saying whether we win or lose will determine the above but more the way we go about it in terms of team selections, intensity, be prepared to work hard and real effort. I genuinely believe that an increase in the above and the results will take care of themselves.

I don't see any gut run at the moment, hard work and a genuine work ethic for your teammate and the club as a whole .

Huge chance to show something starting this week against an equally desperate side for a win.

 

[Golden_6]

Bailey Smith is also an obsessive trainer from all accounts. However he may still be too young to be pulling up older blokes and telling them their efforts are not good enough.

Bailey has his own things to work on. He's still only young but this year he has become an outside accumulator and lost his damage. He kicked 8 goals in last years finals series but has only managed 0.6 in 2022. Baz works had defensively in terms of gut running but at the moment his defensive work around the stoppage is quite poor and has been since he debuted. It could explain why we've been poor around the contest this year.

 

[dogwatch]

While most of our performances have been disappointing I hesitate to say that something stinks.

We make our most bitter criticisms of the club after a bad or unexpected loss. That's understandable but I think we need to give it a few weeks yet. For a start there were the sad deaths of two people close to those at the club last week. Hard to see that not having an impact. If we'd kicked one more goal and scraped over the line to be 3-3 after six games I suspect we'd still be concerned with how we're tracking but not quite throwing our hands up in anguish.

Secondly there have been plenty of instances over the years of clubs starting a season slowly for 6-7 rounds and then steaming home to make the finals, even winning a flag in one or two instances. Just as there have been teams that have gone nine straight wins and then faded as the year progresses. North did that about 5 or 6 years ago IIRC.

Yes, I'm concerned and I do think some corrections are needed but no I'm not ready to give up on 2022 yet. Nor to assume just yet that there's something seriously on the nose at the club.

 

[dogwatch]

Bailey has his own things to work on. He's still only young but this year he has become an outside accumulator and lost his damage. He kicked 8 goals in last years finals series but has only managed 0.6 in 2022. Baz works had defensively in terms of gut running but at the moment his defensive work around the stoppage is quite poor and has been since he debuted. It could explain why we've been poor around the contest this year.

That's fair comment. I was mainly referring to how he trains and whether he can set an example there for others to follow.

 

[Dogs_R_Us]

For me this circles back to 2020 and Dunkley wanting to leave. The club can come out and say what it wants but every jurno at the time was saying it was culture issues at the club, Dunks might be a pretty weird unit off the field (don't ever go searching for his family's personal website) but he does really push professional standards for himself with his various athletic trips he takes in the off season and engaging athletic coaches from outside the club (as seen on his Instagram). No wonder he got pissed off and wanted to leave after being locked up with the rest of the group and seeing standards slip to a woeful level, I get the feeling we kept him in 2020 and fixed these to keep him happy, hence the big up-swing of our midfield last season, but it seems now to me, a regular joe, that standards have heavily slipped again and we're back to 2017-2020 Dogs.

It's been said a few times, but something stinks down at the Kennel.

Cross and Moyd were huge drivers of training standards, last off the track, etc. Who is like that nowadays?

 

[dergert]

Cross and Moyd were huge drivers of training standards, last off the track, etc. Who is like that nowadays?

Hunter.

I recall Stringer saying in 2015 that he did his whole preseason with Hunter and went through a few pairs of runners.

 

[GetDimmaBack]

While most of our performances have been disappointing I hesitate to say that something stinks.

We make our most bitter criticisms of the club after a bad or unexpected loss. That's understandable but I think we need to give it a few weeks yet. For a start there were the sad deaths of two people close to those at the club last week. Hard to see that not having an impact. If we'd kicked one more goal and scraped over the line to be 3-3 after six games I suspect we'd still be concerned with how we're tracking but not quite throwing our hands up in anguish.

Secondly there have been plenty of instances over the years of clubs starting a season slowly for 6-7 rounds and then steaming home to make the finals, even winning a flag in one or two instances. Just as there have been teams that have gone nine straight wins and then faded as the year progresses. North did that about 5 or 6 years ago IIRC.

Yes, I'm concerned and I do think some corrections are needed but no I'm not ready to give up on 2022 yet. Nor to assume just yet that there's something seriously on the nose at the club.

Fair points, DW.

On the basis that 'things are never as bad, or as good, as they seem', I think it's time to cool the jets on our collective angst.

As the season plays out, any internal problem(s) that exist will come to light.

At the moment I'm prepared to say that Keath and Bruce, and more recently English and Hunter, are significant losses. That was demonstrated clearly last week when we looked off-balance, to say the least.

We are all impatient for more success, which is a fantastic cultural shift for us overall. Long may this attitude prevail!

At the moment, though, we need to see how the season unfolds. It may be something as basic as the late start to pre-season due to our being in the GF. It may be something else - who knows?

Now is not the time for doomsday scenarios.
It's important the we support the club, its players and staff.

We are 'supporters', aren't we?

 

[Dogs_R_Us]

Hunter.

I recall Stringer saying in 2015 that he did his whole preseason with Hunter and went through a few pairs of runners.

But is he still? Or have personal problems got in the way? Covid and hubs and isolation and quarantine hotels have messed with everyone but we seem less resilient, hope that's not true.

 

[TBOW]

Hunter.

I recall Stringer saying in 2015 that he did his whole preseason with Hunter and went through a few pairs of runners.

Please. Back in the day Jake could have done a preseason with my 80 year old mother and thought that was hard work.

 

[ScragCity]

The best time to support a footy club is when you're on an upward trajectory. Even if you win 8 games for the year, if you only won 4 the previous year then you're reasonably happy. It's difficult to be moving in the other direction and feel okay about it. We made a GF last year, we were as close to the ultimate success as you can get without actually achieving it. After 6 rounds we are probably something like a 0.05% chance of making the top four or winning a flag (we would realistically need to win 14 of our next 16 games). There's no doubt that we have gone backwards as a collective. If anyone wants to hold out hope for a miraculous turnaround then that's their decision and it's not for anyone else to judge. But personally I try to keep realistic expectations because I'd rather be pleasantly surprised than let down.

It's tough to stomach the years in which your club takes a step backwards. Especially when it happens so early in the season that the outcomes of our games will lose a lot of their significance pretty quickly. At that point what are you even hoping for? For me I'll just be looking for signs that we can bounce back next year. A lot of that will be in watching the young players. Even if we are a mathematical impossibility of making finals, we could still derive some pleasure from seeing JUH kick six or Arthur Jones getting a rising star nomination. Maybe seeing Bruce back later in the year and building back some form to set himself up for a big 2023. Maybe even a Sam Darcy debut. I hope we can enjoy at least a few nice moments over the course of this season.

 

[Golden_6]

Please. Back in the day Jake could have done a preseason with my 80 year old mother and thought that was hard work.

Stringer literally came out a couple of months ago and said he hadn't run over 2km in years. Absolutely baffling.

 

[W W Biscuit]

This is the big reason why I always like Brendon Goddard, despite him being fairly unliked by fans. The dude was ultra competitive, even if he did take it over the edge at times.

Yes, in fact many of the players that we love to hate have that manic competitiveness. Truth is, we could do with a couple of those players ourselves.

 

[doggies ftw]

How’s Lloyd having a dig at O’Brien, literally just got coaches votes and has been good - tell us you didn’t watch the game without telling us…

 

[W W Biscuit]

Stringer literally came out a couple of months ago and said he hadn't run over 2km in years. Absolutely baffling.

Even worse, I think he meant cumulatively.