BW511

My favourite thing about Dusty is that he didn’t have to be dirty or disadvantage his opponent, he just beat them as honestly as you can, every time.

I wonder how Bailey would fare in a team that played to his strengths, I think he’d comfortably kick another 15-20 goals a year - his working day would certainly be a lot more enjoyable. I bet he’s had some very lucrative offers float his way in recent years

I’d be interested to know what the view on this is inside clubland versus fans versus AFL house. I believe the 5 day breaks have far too much of an influence on results and the league has gone too far in its quest for equalisation. Really hope crowd numbers and tv audience backs that up so the ship can be steadied for 2025

I’ve heard (from people that know) that Leppitsch is a real hot head, would be a pretty big cultural shift from the mentality of the current coaches.

I’m firmly in the camp that even two later first rounders is too much, given there seems to be plenty of talent. Of course we would love to land the next Trac or peak Clarry but I’d argue we only need to improve on Viney/Sparrow/ANB to significantly improve our mix. Interestingly, I saw a BigFooty draft contributor mention in his thread that he thought the draft was very even because he doesn’t think any/many become match winners at AFL level from this crop - noting i’m paraphrasing. Again, take it with a grain of salt. Perhaps there’s plenty of good honest players but a known elite quantity eclipses good honest toilers. If the club thinks we are an elite HBF away from being back in contention, then no amount of draft picks will help us.

There’s also ‘overtraining’ which may not have happened as a result of this year alone, however the cumulative effect of 3-4 years of the most taxing gameplan could certainly do it. I have been pretty convinced we have been going about things in a fashion that’s far more difficult than it needs to be.

Best thing about Bont is he does it every single week

I still think Sydney’s best is better than anyone else, so if they can sneak a few guys back over the next few weeks I’m on them. Otherwise, would love to see the dogs come from afar and snag one again. Mainly just because Bont deserves it

Absolutely, this type of Ruckman is exactly the one that stifles us. If you can’t beat them, join them

Surely Hunter is done. If Goody picks him his selection integrity will be questioned forever. Think this is a bit of a blessing for Caleb, can hit preseason fresh and really hit 2025 hard. He’s been immense this year, we haven’t seen that kind of excitement and youthfulness for a few years. Very refreshing

Absolutely it has, look at Sean Darcy. He looks like a very unfit club ruckman, he’s just enormous

My bulldogs supporting mate thinks this was their entire recruiting strategy for a few years, chase anyone that had one decent game against them (Hello, Tim O’Brien)

I think we need two, so there’s genuine pressure on Clarry and Viney for their spots. Both can be great, no doubt, but if we go into next year heavily relying on Gawn, Trac, Clarry and Viney again, we may as well pull up stumps before it begins. They are not dynamic enough to compete with the best midfields every week

Fair grab from Danger on the 3/4 time siren

I’m not sure why everyone thinks Judd McVee goes to the midfield any time soon. We have no one else who can lock down on the dangerous small forwards and he’s very important to our ground ball game in the defensive half

In an era where first and second year players can have a genuine impact, I’d be looking to split Pick 9 for two picks in this draft. Particularly with the depth being spoken about. We’d be best trying to find a deal for Houston with a player and future/later pick.

Are you suggesting Barrass doesn’t fit into our side?

Two firsts for a HBF seems excessive

Really like the possibility of this happening, a prodigious kicking half back is something we dearly lack at the moment. McVee, Rivers, Salem and Bowza all favour the dinky, safe kicks. Houston was an All-Australian last year driving the powers ball movement, would love him to come over and be given some freedom to keep doing his thing.

Following on from @dazzledavey36, I can easily see a situation where the current version of Clarry is the best version, from a mental/personal wellbeing perspective, and that takes priority over his former manic preparation and ball winning ability. If Clayton the person had to devote a lot of time/energy to being the best version of himself, footy could easily fall down the pecking order. After all, it still comes pretty easy to him so all the extra 1% things he used to do don’t happen anymore. This situation would really test the clubs strength due to the conflict of enormous salary versus club led mantra that people/family come first. Regardless of the emotion attached, it’s still business and very cut throat at that

You can bet the club is looking into the Oliver situation closely, no one in their right mind would be keeping a bloke on that much money for the output he’s giving. Yes, his stats are ok compared to others but he’s not getting paid ‘ok’ money. After 18 months of no return on investment, something has to give. It may even be from Olivers side to test the waters

I recall last week he copped one and really winced, yesterday he had plenty of times where he protected his hand

No doubt he can/could do it but who does he replace? Has to be the Sparrow role and whatever that is, it is obviously considered quite important because he is definitely not doing anything with the footy. Will not be ANB or Chin, their running appears to be the cornerstone for our defensive structure. If not those he’s in a fight with quite a few blokes with more modern skill sets

Someone has to go out of the midfield mix to get the required skills or speed in there. For that to happen, Clarry, Viney or Trac have to be shifted out. Trac has to be there because he can win games on his own. Viney has to be there because it would rip the fabric of the club apart and also, he probably can’t play anywhere else. Clarry has to play because of his insane contract so where to from there?

Hypothetically speaking, if Clarry returns to his best, does he help or hinder our future team? I think if we front up next year with Trac, Clarry and Viney as our starting mids, we will see results more like 2024 than 2021. The midfield mix that Freo had today was streets ahead of ours in terms of speed, skill and two way running. Including Andy Brayshaw, who isn’t known for his disposal by foot