Bulldogs have more to worry about than loss to Lions

Dougie getting a Boyd/ Paton type is probably a small part of the solution. But would an up-and-coming gun forward wanna stay long at the Doggies, with their underfunded coaching staff, underdeveloped facilities and midfielders who'll hit him on the chest once a month? Maybe to give the club real hope, they need to .... 1. tweak your Minsen idea: trade 2 of their glut of current slow midfielders (Picken, Liberatore, Boyd, Wallis and Higgins) and 2 of their glut of current medium-sized forwards (starting with Grant, who's had too many chances) for a big bunch of up-and-coming young players. In particular, the Doggies need a good rebounder to help the ageing Murphy, a couple of good talls (preferably Ben Reid types who can play at either end) and a skillful goal sneak who can pinch hit at helping Griffin, Cooney and Dalhaus run the ball through the midfield. Swans have a glut of these and may have one for sale at the end of this season. 2. find an image and game style that resonates with the growing population living west of Melbourne. There's potential to build their membership and sponsorship if they find the right formula then market more aggressively.

Ross Lyon and Paul Roos' game style is bad for footy. Imagine if we coached junior football that way? Leagues would introduce rules to stop it, like they have in the under 9s to stop congestion. Winning is paramount in the AFL and most clubs will do whatever it takes, although Freo and the Dees will take a different path to say, the Bombers (and Carlton, if we wind the clock back).

I wrote to the club last year imploring them to give up pick 4 (Bontempelli) and Will Minson (All Australian) to GWS for pick 1 and Jonathan Griffen. That was before GWS traded for Shane Mumford and would have delivered the Bulldogs a long-term gun, key forward in Tom Boyd. You've got to give something good to get that sort of player. Alternatively they could have done a straight swap of pick 4 for Patton. GWS would probably have accepted either of those deals, but the Bulldogs didn't have the balls.

The biggest problem for the dogs is their kicking skill just isn't where it needs to be (all over the park, but it's especially obvious going inside 50) -- you could give them Tom Hawkins and Kurt Tippett and they'd still struggle to put points on the board because their forward entries are so wayward, if the forward gets the ball to advantage it's a rarity.

Failure with the current direction gives you an excuse to experiment. Why not devise a game plan that doesn't require a key forward? The Dockers showcased one possible alternative game plan last year when, without Pavlich, their 'get-the ball- forward-fast-then-lock-it-in' strategy was very successful. Footscray's strength (if it has one) is its centre clearances but midfielders like Picken, Boyd, Wallis and Liberatore lack delivery skills and their forwards rank low in contested marking. So why not just bomb long, get the ball to ground level, and press up to make sure the ball stays there? McCartney is a good, conventional coach but Ross Lyon would have had the Bulldogs contending for the 8 by now.

Meh. I thought the Lions were good value for the win. The final margin was the closest the Dogs had been since halfway through the second quarter. I can't remember any really bad misses for the Dogs and they were generally pretty accurate.

Yes - everyone's after key forwards - and that's the point! What purpose did going after Crameri serve? What does he add that is different to Tory Dickson or Stringer? We should develop our own key forwards? How long do you reckon Jones, Cordy and Williams have been on our list? - all have been there five plus years. This is precisely the point - as far as key forwards go - we are nowhere - that means having to invest a further 3 or 4 years in developing key forwards - having just spent two plus years building up our contested footy capability - do you think anyone is going to wait for us to catch up with the rest of the comp? Are the Suns and Giants going to wait?

Chris Judd is 88kg, Stuart Crameri is 97kg. There is a very big difference in their remuneration and they play in totally different positions. Most teams are after key forwards and Essendon didn't want to lose Crameri. The Bulldogs should be looking at developing their own key forwards but be aware that this will take several years. The alternative is to pay $1m p.a. on the open market if such a player exists and the player will want to play for you. You may have better luck trading for a player with a couple of years of development behind them but you will need to see something that the other clubs can't. I have been picking up rumblings of dissatisfaction with the coach. "Macca('s) approach was worth a shot" -- but now?

I thought the Lions were a bit lucky to get the win. The Dogs were let down by some poor kicking at goal, if they'd kicked straight the result could have gone the other way.

it is fair to say Maccas approach was always about contested possession, I could be wrong here but his motto was "win the ball and the goals will take care of themselves" I do think we need to give the current forward line another season to develop some more. Jones on his day shows he has what it takes.

1. Chris Judd is 189cm tall as well. 2. I didn't suggest sacking the coach, I'm saying the current project was worth a try, but without proper key forwards, it's unlikely to come to fruition.

Crameri is 189cm tall which is OK for a running forward which he is, I am sure the Bulldogs didn't draft him as a tall forward. In order to draft well a team needs an accurate idea as to where they are at and I don't believe the Bulldogs have been realistic in their assessment of themselves. Sacking the coach always seems to appeal especially when the problems are elsewhere. Apparently coaching for the forward line is very new for the Bulldogs, don't expect your forward line to suddenly click in less than a season of development.

We Bullies fans were willing to accept the longer term project Macca was undertaking: bringing through a bunch of young blokes who can play contested footy, bringing them through together. It started to bear fruit in the back end of last season - you could really see where it was heading. But the problem is, and others have mentioned this already, no key forwards to contest the footy in the forward 50, and limited options down the back to defend the same. This is not a new problem for us - we had Kelvin Templeton in the late 70s and we had Chris Grant right through the 90s - but we've had precious little else outside of them - getting on to 40 years now. We are our own worst enemy. Who have we taken in recent drafts using high picks? Another skinny bloke in Jarryd Grant - as if we needed more skinny blokes!! We took one tall with an early pick, and he was a rugby union player!! We used another first round pick to get Ayce Cordy under the father-son rule, unfortunatley, six years on, it hasn't turned out. Liam Jones has shown occasional glimpses, but he too just falls short of having the necessary key position presence we need. We traded in the off-season for a forward, got Crameri, who is what? about 184 cm tall?? Similar size and build to Stringer. Now I honestly think that the Macca approach was worth a shot, but we are now just about the worst side in the comp in converting forward 50 entries into goals, and unfortunately, it now looks pretty clear that that is not about to change in a hurry.

They won't get any of the GWS three although they will try, they need Frawley and I hope they chase him

$$$$$ And big dollars too.

Why would they want to leave a club that will have AFL guaranteed success for a club like Footsgray?

I agree with you Tom,Brisbane played well and fully deserved there win,they deserve a pat on the back. Footscray are the type of side that Brizzy need to beat so they themselves can see they are improving.

Apart from a high end draft pick, what have the Bulldogs got to offer in order to gain a gun forward? If that is all they need they could pay big dollars for a free agent if such a suitable power forward exists, however you can't buy many players on such a basis and have a competitive team within the salary cap. Every club dreams of beating the others in trading and or using draft picks, but not too many can be successful doing this.

There not a NSW team Big Fish. There not an AFL priority.

'The Giants have three key targets that they may not require, the Bulldogs would be stupid to not attack that chance and try and get Jonathon Patton or Tom Boyd down to Whitten Oval.' There will be quite a few clubs salivating at getting these boys. And quite a few will have the money to spend overs to get them. The Brisbane Lions in particular will have a lot of money to throw at these boys and are so very desperate for a big forward so the Brown dog can be relieved of duty.