Pre-season Intensity

[58er 6,539]

17 hours ago, Action Jackson said:

I don't think Tommo will ever go to the wing. Howes, Jordon and Woewodin would be given shots on the wing before him.

I'd say the club are now just waiting out until Tomlinson's contract finishes, while also having a pretty solid depth option at full back if required.

I still can't believe his contract doesn't finish until 2024.... that is probably the worst long-term contract we've done out of the current crop.

I wonder if things got tight, can we pay him out the final year to get it off our books? Or would it still come under the salary cap?

Do not agree that Club are just awaiting Tommo to be out if contract. Clubs can't afford to generally cast aside 3 or 4 players as finished as no one knows how good or bad injuries strike.

On the contrary Tommo for  his part has lost some weight with a view to greater mobility flexibility and pace. All to  give himself a chance of returning to AFL more consistently. Unfortunately Goody seems to write players off occasionally ( Lockhart, perhaps Bedford and Chandler last Year ) . 

Guess we won't know the full story till the end of 2023 but I believe Tommo May even as a depth player perform a part in our season if he recovers more from the ACL this year along with his fitness program. 

Could be Tmac all over again!!

[58er 6,539]

18 hours ago, jnrmac said:

Maybe Hunter can play half fwd?

Just because he has been a wingman doesn't mean he will stay one.

Jnrmac

Still haven't answered my question of why if we recruited Hunter snd he is training on the wing we would prefer other "wingers" to him? 

He prob  could play HF flank but no indication so far as wing is his to lose on the training notes. 

[jnrmac 20,158]

10 minutes ago, 58er said:

Jnrmac

Still haven't answered my question of why if we recruited Hunter snd he is training on the wing we would prefer other "wingers" to him? 

He prob  could play HF flank but no indication so far as wing is his to lose on the training notes. 

He most likely will but that shouldnt preclude him from playing elsewhere.

Thommo was recruited as a winger. How did that work out?

Brayshaw came 3rd in the Brownlow as a mid.

Pickett will likely spend good time in the midfield.

Flexibility & unpredictability will or should be the mantra this year. 

[58er 6,539]

13 minutes ago, jnrmac said:

He most likely will but that shouldnt preclude him from playing elsewhere.

Thommo was recruited as a winger. How did that work out?

Brayshaw came 3rd in the Brownlow as a mid.

Pickett will likely spend good time in the midfield.

Flexibility & unpredictability will or should be the mantra this year. 

Agree that flexibility is king and your examples are good and sensible.
BUT Tommo was a spare parts player for GWS and we gouncc do that he didn't come up to scratch as a winger. If he recovers or improves his flexibility and paces key defensive post as depth is his for the taking behind May Petty snd Turner or Adams who may need half a season at least because of pre season delays. ( Lever not really a KPD but very valuable interceptor) 

[layzie 33,989]

3 hours ago, binman said:

To be fair, his knee injury threw a spanner in the works. Wiped out his 2021 season (when he was in the starting 22).

And he never seemed to regain his mobility and lateral movement (which was not great even pre injury) in 2022. That's pretty common though.

Hopefully he is back to his optimal physical shape this season.

Though even if he does I think it is unlikely he'll make the ones

 

I do hope for his sake that he's able to throw everything he has at it and what will be will be. 

[Redleg 41,410]

Hawks say they like a bit of fighting between players and it has happened a few times this pre season.

Wonder if that includes at restaurants?

[picket fence 17,486]

On 1/22/2023 at 11:17 AM, dazzledavey36 said:

Would really liked to see Tomlinson trial as a  tall high half forward.

His endurance levels and work rate would easily blow up a lot of defenders which would be a huge strength to team structure.

Not a bad suggestion Dazzle at all. Now something else of interest. Spoke to a bloke ( Outside the Fence at Casey last training session) and he was checking out this venue  and he said his son is playing at Casey this year, but didn't provide his name. He is ( was) a Bulldogs supporter and has been to training this year and he stated very emphatically that DEES TRAINING INTENSITY AND FITNESS WAS THAT FAR AHEAD OF DISHLICKERS IT WASN'T FUNNY!. Interesting !!!!🤩

[DeeMee 877]

Really don’t see Tomlinson (and probably Turner) as anything other than excellent depth for the backline if we lose Petty or May or Lever. 

I am not as sold on TMac as some others seem to be (hope I’m wrong and yes I know “structure, covers territory, etc”) Doesn’t seem that long ago he was the subject of regular derision. Would really like to see Schache (no. 2 pick and over 200cm) and of course JVR given opportunities, they are more where our future forward talls lie. BBB is a great forward but realistically, like TMac coming to the end of his career.

One things for sure…Casey’s in for another top year.

[David-Demon 568]

On 2/2/2023 at 6:48 PM, 58er said:

Do not agree that Club are just awaiting Tommo to be out if contract. Clubs can't afford to generally cast aside 3 or 4 players as finished as no one knows how good or bad injuries strike.

On the contrary Tommo for  his part has lost some weight with a view to greater mobility flexibility and pace. All to  give himself a chance of returning to AFL more consistently. Unfortunately Goody seems to write players off occasionally ( Lockhart, perhaps Bedford and Chandler last Year ) . 

Guess we won't know the full story till the end of 2023 but I believe Tommo May even as a depth player perform a part in our season if he recovers more from the ACL this year along with his fitness program. 

Could be Tmac all over again!!

Look I tend to disagree that Goody "writes players off". We have to remember that we have over 40 players eligible to play senior footy and a good balanced group of players vie for a position in the best 22. That is the way a great Team wins through competitive spots. Thommo by all accounts is a great Club man and gets involved in the Club culture. Teams do not do well culturally from within if players and Coaches clash on a "write players off " mentality. The Team is bigger than the individual. 

[Roost it far 8,575]

To avoid the pitfalls of limping into the finals, with this list, surely the club will be rotating tired players out of the team in the second half of the season. Cherry Ripe we must be in September.

[Roger Mellie 4,097]

14 minutes ago, Roost it far said:

To avoid the pitfalls of limping into the finals, with this list, surely the club will be rotating tired players out of the team in the second half of the season. Cherry Ripe we must be in September.

Yes, I recall seeing Chris Scott interviewed prior to finals where he said - everything had been planned to the minute so the players were fresh for the finals. I think we could have planned a lot better for finals rather than limping to the line.

[Bystander 903]

14 hours ago, DeeMee said:

Really don’t see Tomlinson (and probably Turner) as anything other than excellent depth for the backline if we lose Petty or May or Lever. 

I am not as sold on TMac as some others seem to be (hope I’m wrong and yes I know “structure, covers territory, etc”) Doesn’t seem that long ago he was the subject of regular derision. Would really like to see Schache (no. 2 pick and over 200cm) and of course JVR given opportunities, they are more where our future forward talls lie. BBB is a great forward but realistically, like TMac coming to the end of his career.

One things for sure…Casey’s in for another top year.

It must be a very committed group of Casey non listed players with limited spots available, particularly given the firsts relatively good run with injuries.

 

[dworship 3,342]

On 2/1/2023 at 10:09 AM, Deemania since 56 said:

Just an opinion when prompted by an article to consider his footballing role. I do rate Hunter whilst at the same time consider him to be very suitable for HFwd Flanking and using his good kicking to score on occasion. That left me thinking about the other wing and the speculation that he could fill it; or, was there someone else who could do the same? Tomlinson once again came to mind, simple as that in the argy-bargy about who, what, where, when ('23 season), why ... etc.

 

That's your mistake right there.

[58er 6,539]

12 hours ago, David-Demon said:

Look I tend to disagree that Goody "writes players off". We have to remember that we have over 40 players eligible to play senior footy and a good balanced group of players vie for a position in the best 22. That is the way a great Team wins through competitive spots. Thommo by all accounts is a great Club man and gets involved in the Club culture. Teams do not do well culturally from within if players and Coaches clash on a "write players off " mentality. The Team is bigger than the individual. 

I actually think the evidence is there to see. His refusal to give some players a go last year was so disappointing especially as we had some players injured and others tired and past best. 

Must not happen again this year we must use our full list and keep players on edge fighting for positions. 

[58er 6,539]

19 hours ago, picket fence said:

Not a bad suggestion Dazzle at all. Now something else of interest. Spoke to a bloke ( Outside the Fence at Casey last training session) and he was checking out this venue  and he said his son is playing at Casey this year, but didn't provide his name. He is ( was) a Bulldogs supporter and has been to training this year and he stated very emphatically that DEES TRAINING INTENSITY AND FITNESS WAS THAT FAR AHEAD OF DISHLICKERS IT WASN'T FUNNY!. Interesting !!!!🤩

Probably either a friend/relative of Josh Schache or Lachie Hunter. Not too difficult to guess I would say. That sort of backs up David King's post about a month ago of our intensity in our training being elite from all he has seen. 

[jnrmac 20,158]

On 2/4/2023 at 8:13 PM, DeeMee said:

Really don’t see Tomlinson (and probably Turner) as anything other than excellent depth for the backline if we lose Petty or May or Lever. 

I am not as sold on TMac as some others seem to be (hope I’m wrong and yes I know “structure, covers territory, etc”) Doesn’t seem that long ago he was the subject of regular derision. Would really like to see Schache (no. 2 pick and over 200cm) and of course JVR given opportunities, they are more where our future forward talls lie. BBB is a great forward but realistically, like TMac coming to the end of his career.

One things for sure…Casey’s in for another top year.

Schache is heading into his 8th year of footy. I think it would be hard to see a dramatic improvement in his known form. He is an upgrade on Weideman but would need to show significant improvement to be considered best 22 if all were fit.

[David-Demon 568]

13 hours ago, 58er said:

I actually think the evidence is there to see. His refusal to give some players a go last year was so disappointing especially as we had some players injured and others tired and past best. 

Must not happen again this year we must use our full list and keep players on edge fighting for positions. 

There is no evidence there to support your argument as for one you are not in the "inner circle" and in that regard I have full faith in the coaches. I assure you that you will not find a Coach deliberately display angst against a listed player as that will or would have consequences across the whole Club. Just remember, a Coach's decision is carried out for a reason and just sometimes we are not privy to "that reason" nor should we be for Team unity.

[58er 6,539]

2 hours ago, David-Demon said:

There is no evidence there to support your argument as for one you are not in the "inner circle" and in that regard I have full faith in the coaches. I assure you that you will not find a Coach deliberately display angst against a listed player as that will or would have consequences across the whole Club. Just remember, a Coach's decision is carried out for a reason and just sometimes we are not privy to "that reason" nor should we be for Team unity.

DD if it was'nt my theory then OK why have so many Dees fans supported the theory that we should have used more players last season when clearly about a third of our 23 played  injured and also some down on form. We know the results of the last half fade outs of the team and no attempt was really made to solve this issue. 

[Kent 2,913]

3 hours ago, David-Demon said:

There is no evidence there to support your argument as for one you are not in the "inner circle" and in that regard I have full faith in the coaches. I assure you that you will not find a Coach deliberately display angst against a listed player as that will or would have consequences across the whole Club. Just remember, a Coach's decision is carried out for a reason and just sometimes we are not privy to "that reason" nor should we be for Team unity.

so you play guys with broken legs

[old55 23,687]

We finished 2nd after the H&A. Do people really think we would have won the finals against Sydney and Brisbane if we played Dunstan for Oliver, Jordon for Petracca, JVR for Brown and Bowey for Salem. Realistically they were the options we had.

[Damo 3,374]

Bowey for Salem for sure.

Jordan for Petracca, was the leg broken before both those finals? Yes for Sydney at least.

Gawn for Majak Daw, who should have been encouraged to hang in there as he was monstering VFL.

Watching the finals again, these small changes may have made a big difference, but not enough for a flag.

Was Goody wrong in not playing our Flag winning VFL players? No doubt in my mind. In fact my personal jury is out on my support for him this year.

Is it because I have memories of not seeing my name for the 1sts on the board late on a Thursday, when some named haven't attended training? Yes. Still, I see Goody differently now.

[Bombay Airconditioning 6,408]

Geez I’m bored, hurry up Rd 1.

[dworship 3,342]

4 hours ago, 58er said:

DD if it was'nt my theory then OK why have so many Dees fans supported the theory that we should have used more players last season when clearly about a third of our 23 played  injured and also some down on form. We know the results of the last half fade outs of the team and no attempt was really made to solve this issue. 

Because we're fans and not the selection committee. It's called group think, "yeah, those fools , that's right , I could do a better job, correct, what are they doing, gee Goodwin is stubborn, blah, blah, blah", ad nauseam. There are some very astute people working at the Club. I cannot imagine they haven't gone back and looked at how they could do things better and not in a looking for blame way. Hindsight is 20/20 and a lot of posters on here seem to have perfect vision. 

I'll pass my soapbox to the next person now.

Edited February 6, 2023 by dworship

[old55 23,687]

2 hours ago, Damo said:

Bowey for Salem for sure.

Jordan for Petracca, was the leg broken before both those finals? Yes for Sydney at least.

Gawn for Majak Daw, who should have been encouraged to hang in there as he was monstering VFL.

Watching the finals again, these small changes may have made a big difference, but not enough for a flag.

Was Goody wrong in not playing our Flag winning VFL players? No doubt in my mind. In fact my personal jury is out on my support for him this year.

Is it because I have memories of not seeing my name for the 1sts on the board late on a Thursday, when some named haven't attended training? Yes. Still, I see Goody differently now.

We had a very tough fixture into the finals and I think plan A was "play our best players even if injured, finish top 4 and win the Qualifying final so we get a weeks break into the PF to get some injury recovery time". On this path, we might have won our way into the GF if we could finally get past Collingwood, but I think Geelong would have beaten us in the GF anyway.

It didn't work out because Sydney were too good for us in the QF and then we were too beaten up against Brisbane in the SF, and if we had won that then Geelong would have belted us in the PF anyway.

The other path would have been to rest injured stars late in the H&A, finish 5th to 8th and have to win 4 finals in a row for the flag.  That wasn't happening, I preferred plan A even though it didn't work.

Geelong were always winning the 2022 flag.

[58er 6,539]

2 hours ago, dworship said:

Because we're fans and not the selection committee. It's called group think, "yeah, those fools , that's right , I could do a better job, correct, what are they doing, gee Goodwin is stubborn, blah, blah, blah", ad nauseam. There are some very astute people working at the Club. I cannot imagine they haven't gone back and looked at how they could do things better and not in a looking for blame way. Hindsight is 20/20 and a lot of posters on here seem to have perfect vision. 

I'll pass my soapbox to the next person now.

Far too generalised DW.  We are not all parrots just copying each other. What was presented by many about our Finals campaign was common sense. Your astute comment is noted but really that's assuming astute people always make smart decisions.  That was certainly not correct and in this case IMO and others and did not happen.