Bulldogs on the right track

Cameron, I agree the Bulldogs list is developing well and is in good shape. I'm a big fan of McCartney. But we've only won 6 games and a quick look at the fixture only suggests two more likely victories, meaning we will most likely end with the same amount of wins as last year (8) unless we can jag a victory against the likes of Essendon or North. I like our future but are circumspect about our pace of development. And with Murphy, Morris, Cooney, etc. fading out of the team in the next two to three years, the gains of new talent may be offset by the departure of old talent. McCartney identified a problem with our list not containing enough players between 23 and 26 years of age a couple of years ago and smartly recruited a few seasoned, average footballers (e.g. Lower, Goodes, Markovic, Young, Stevens) to shield the younger bodies temporarily while they developed. He is an astute, brilliant club leader and the best man to take us forward. We have bout 8 young players that genuinely ook like being future guns, and not many clubs can say that. But it will be 2-4 years before they generate consistent team success.

I think you are being a little harsh Simpson di win the Blues B&F last year and Jamison does a pretty good job at Full Back but overall what you are saying proves my point, while the doggies young players may be better at this point they will lose more quality quicker which brings them back to the pack.

Don't mention the 'tanking' word Macca.

Macca, each one of those Bulldog players has been an All Australian at some stage, except Gia and Picken, so yes, they will be a huge loss. Can't say the same about Waite, Carazzo, Simpson, Walker, McLean, Jamison, Armfield, Warnock, Wood and Murphy though. My point being, that with the exception of Walker and Murphy, you won't lose much when those blokes retire or get delisted. Some of them can't even crack a game for Carlton.

CAmeron brought up the blues and I responded and the conversation went from there, I haven't prevented anyone commenting baout the dogs

Good to see an article about the blues....I mean dogs! Good on you macca, way to get off topic!

Thanks Gene, Could you define an efficient kick though as I want to be sure that playing at a lower level with lower teammates on worse grounds doesn't lead to lower efficiency. I would also not that a number of his worse games were played in the wet, the worst being against Geelong when Melbourne had 15mm of rain. Did you also notice the tackle counts? And overall my point still stands, he has consistently been 25 plus touches and laying 8 plus tackles and getting planty of clearances and consistently being amongst the best players yet has only ever played as the sub and only 2 games have been consecutive - he deserves more. Also have a look at Blaine Johnsons stats.

http://www.foxsportspulse.com/team_info.cgi?action=PSTATS&pID=192414675&client=1-118-10464-294689-20320225

Gene - Could you provide the Disposal Efficieny stats and the definition of an efficient disposal. In the AFL this year he is going at 65.2% DE (on a very small sample size I admit), Bontempelli is going at 65.6%, Brock McLean is going at 65.3%, Luke Dahlhaus is going at 64.8% and Kieren Jack is going at 65.4%. He may not be the best user going around but he will learn more and quicker playing at the better level and has performed well enough to get more of an opportunity than he has.

dogs

looking at his entire season his disposal efficiency, especially by foot has not been very good. He probably does deserve a run, just pointing out he may have been told he needs to work on that part of his game. Being named 6th best of your side could mean he was the 12th or 20th best on ground (VFL names 6 best from winners and 5 best from losers) that's hardly awe inspiring, sure it definitely better to be in it than not but its not the be all end all you seem to assume it should be.

BLues

This is what SEN has said about his games 2014 1 PM Strong match in the midfield. Had 30 touches. 2 Northern Blues didn’t play. 3 VFL OK early but really got going in the second half. 4 Melb Late inclusion for Robinson never a factor. Under pressure every time he got it. 5 VFL Played his role in midfield without starring. Solid. 6 VFL Held to just a handful of touches by Tim McGenniss. 7 VFL Closely checked by Coburg midfielders. Not his best. 8 VFL Closely watched by Scorpions midfielders. Didn’t find space. 9 VFL Bye. 10 VFL Had it 30 times and played a lone hand in the middle. 11 VFL Bye. 12 VFL Strong outing in the Blues midfield. 31 disposals, two goals. 13 Haw Sub. On late in third term for a handful of touches. Lacks the zip to be a sub. 14 VFL Didn’t stop working all day to will his team over the line. 15 VFl Rarely given space by Schroeder, but battled hard. 16 VFL Solid outing in midfield with 23 possessions. 17 Syd -Did quite well when introduced as the substitute. 2013 (he had a knee injury until round 12) 12 VFL Among the Blues best in first game back. Good start. 13 VFL Did well in and around the contests. Found a bit of ball in space. 14 VFL Again looked at home at this level. Good final term capped a nice effort. 15 VFL Battled hard to break free in midfield under heavy attention. 16 VFL Bye. 17 VFL Won plenty of contested ball and was clean by foot. Nearing a debut. 18 VFL Keeps finding the ball. Had 33 possessions and used them all well. 19 VFL Keeps knocking on the door for a debut. Racked it up. 20 VFL Played his part in midfield without putting up big numbers. 21 Rich Sub. Showed some polish and poise late in the game. 22 Ess Sub. Came on early for McLean and not disgraced in his second outing.

Gene - If you looked back in to 2013 you would see more mentions in the best players for him. Also if you looked at the weather conditions on those 2 games it might explain some of the poor disposals. Also And I think that if a young player is consistently in the best players at the lower level, is getting 25 plus touches most weeks, plenty of clearances and tackles plus kicking a goal most weeks you have to give him an extended run at the top level, especially in a side that won't make finals. Also in his last 2 AFL games he has had 22% and 23% TOG and got 6 disposals in both games against Hawthorn and Sydney/

N. Graham has played 10 VFL games this year and been named in best 8 times. Keep in mind VFL bests are named 6 players from each side. (6th best, 4th, 0, 0, 2nd, 4th, 2nd, 5th, 4th, 6th) Interesting that in the last two weeks N. Graham has been named in the Bests despite woeful disposal efficiency. 29/6: 5 effective kicks, 13 ineffective kicks, 9 effective handballs, 2 ineffective handballs = 29 possessions @ 48% efficiency 6/7: 5 effective kicks, 11 ineffective kicks, 5 effective handballs, 2 ineffective handballs = 23 possessions @ 43% efficiency

This is one of the best articles I have read in ages. Well done Cameron. On Weekend Sunrise I couldn't help but notice how the other games got a wrap and at the end there was a shot of the ball going thru' the sticks and the comment was "And the Bulldogs had a 28 point win over the Suns" My blood curdled every half hour news spot when this was all we received. When Bonti kicked his four goals a few weeks ago the focus was all Bonti, Bonti , Bonti and the club was in the background.

Have a look at the number of times Nick Grham has been in the VFL best since he returned from injury mid last year.

There is a difference between giving kids a go and actually rewarding them when they've earned a game. I don't follow Carlton so probably don't know the form of a lot of the blokes in the VFL but Mick seems the type to reward form.

I agree and it is the reason I am frustrated with Malthouse, you look at what the Bulldogs are doing getting games into quality uyoung players and you see the results, the blues have wasted almost 2 years simply by not exposing young blokes enough.