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Joined September 2021
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Selected for two teams but he has a hammy and won’t play for either. Also if he plays for the dogs it will be down back.
AFL pre-season power rankings
Essendon won only 11 games last year. The only contender they beat was the Bulldogs who had their tall defenders out injured and 2 meter Peter kicked 7 goals. How much of their storming finish was due to them playing the bottom sides in the second half is hard to say. The free kick count in the 49 point finals thrashing was dogs 17 and the bombers 14. You guys need to get over it. Essendon do show promise but until they can regularly beat top sides they run the risk of missing the finals altogether. 11 wins won’t do it.
AFL 2022 Radar: 'If they don't win a final, it will be a wasted year'
I think your first four are right but as the article is about players the dogs can’t afford to lose, it isn’t about their best players but the most important to the structure. Libba is a gun, but if he was injured really Dunkley is just as good. In the first six rounds he led the league for SuperCoach points, now I know they are not everything, but it is something. Bruce was a loss up forward but the dogs won three finals away without him. I would rate Naughton at 4. His ability to crash packs opens up the forward line and is instrumental to the dogs which for most of the season were the highest scoring team in the league. It is Naughton not Bruce who gets the best defender. His big weakness is set shots for goal from under 20 meters. If he kicked them he would win the Coleman. My just missed out is Tim English. I know he had a poor GF but he was so important against both Essendon and the Lions in those finals. He rucked all day against Gawn when the dogs beat Melbourne and without him, there is only Stefan Martin at 35 and Jordan Sweet who has played 6 games.
The five players your team can least afford to lose: Western Bulldogs
Martin/English matched up on Gawn in the last match of the community series. Martin is really strong and pushed Gawn over twice. Gawn probably still held sway but just. The dogs ran all over them. Melbourne then went on to win 9 in a row.
Five questions ahead of the 2021 AFL grand final
I think you are right to mention Schache as a chance to make an impact. He normally is a terrific shot at goal but against Port missed four or more shots. If he had kicked 4, we would all be talking about him now. With Naughton and English attracting the focus in the air, he won’t need many opportunities to make an impact. Also Melbourne play a little loose, backing their own judgement. He was able to find space against Aliir who plays the same way. Melbourne deserves to be favourites but as a doggie supporter I am not that worried by them. It won’t take a miracle to beat them. We played them two months ago without Treloar, Dunkley, Wood, Martin, Vandermeer and Gardner – all of whom are in our best side. What’s more Keath was subbed off after 10 minutes and Richards went down just after half time and we were a rotation short. We will miss Bruce and that is where Schache might help.
Five questions ahead of the 2021 AFL grand final
Destiny is a two edged sword. The story is different if you don’t win. Just ask any bulldog supporter after 97. The AFL Grand Final is a furnace. Just watching the 2016 GF yesterday, 10 furious minutes without a score. In that furnace, it doesn’t matter what has happened before, if there is a sense that it is your turn or if you have the longest drought. Just last week Port were up and about thinking history was there for the taking. Melbourne has been magnificent in its two finals but they have hardly played tough matches. What matters is how you stand up to that heat. The dogs have 9 players who have shown that they can do it, and half of them did it as teenagers. Until Melbourne lift the cup they are unproven. Yes sides like the dogs and Richmond have shown that it can be done. Melbourne will start favourites but ask Port, or Brisbane or any of the sides the dogs beat in 2016 whether this made a difference. History, destiny, mean nothing. It is what happens Saturday in a hundred tiny moments that will determine the day.
'Another Cinderella story about to happen': History says Melbourne are due to deliver
Yes I think you are right. In round 23, Port stopped the dogs momentum keeping the ball off them, chipping it around, tiring them out. They clawed back a 3 goal deficit and scraped home by 2 points. However the pressure in finals makes this so hard to maintain. There is more energy in defence, more pressure on the kicks and it only takes a costly turnover to make it look terrible. At times Port tried to do this again, had half a dozen possessions to end up nowhere. It is a style that won’t win many finals.
Sorry Port, the jig is up
I think there are 2 main battles that will determine the game. The midfield battle where Melbourne has the edge in the ruck but the dogs have the edge in depth. Twice this year Melbourne tagged Libba, they were the first to do it and it surprised the dogs first up. They jumped to a 27 point lead in the first quarter, the dogs settled and lost by 28 points but it was Melbourne’s tactical approach to shut down Libba and control the corridor that won the day – that and the usual brilliance of May and Lever. The next time Bevo addressed these issues. They were ready for the tag and it didn’t work. They also tagged May with Hannan. Hannan and Naughton just pushed them around in the goal square and drove them nuts. Picking apart Melbourne’s defence is the second key battle. Can the dogs do it again? It is interesting that Melbourne has beaten the top sides who have tried to play their own game, but struggled with lower sides who paid much more attention to the Demon defence. The dogs beat Melbourne last time they met and this time they will play with perhaps 6 or 7 players that were absent last time through injury. They lost Keath in the first 10 minutes and then lost Richards just after half time. They will think they can win. I do too.
The three ways the Demons or the Bulldogs can win the flag
It was one time out of three this year. That is probably where it stands. That one Port win was a come from behind 2 point game that could have gone either way. The other two were solid dog wins. You know that two point game, if flipped would have had the dogs finishing second and Port fourth. The dogs are better than Port and you can see it by their results against the top teams.
Red, white and through: Dogs smash Port to set up blockbuster grand final
Performance against the contenders is important when trying to understand where a side is really at. Port’s only victories against a top 5 side came against the bulldogs in round 23 and Geelong in the first final. Second spot on the ladder is rarely won with just one major win against the genuine contenders during the home and away season. To go all the way you have to beat three of them in a row. Port had a great win. I know they wanted more but it was their best win of the season. I would give them a “C”. Essendon also, 11 wins for the season would rarely get a side into the 8. Yes they beat the bulldogs but this was their only win against a finalist for the season. They are not ready for finals and it showed. Essendon did well just to get there, but with 11 wins, it relied on luck. I would give Essendon a C for staying in it for a half.
2021 AFL finals report card: How each team fared
I just happened to watch that final between the dogs and Essendon and it was a close first half, the dogs powered away and Essendon couldn’t match them. The dogs did go 6 wins and 6 losses in the last 12 home and away games. With three of those losses coming in the last 3 games with a severely disrupted side with key injuries to their tall backs and leading goal scorer. Towards the end of the season they had just got Dunkley, Treloar and Vandermeer back and were struggling to get their mojo back. I am sorry, but their finals wins were impressive. They played away every game. They thrashed Essendon and Port Adelaide, and beat Brisbane in a gutsy match at the Gabba and led Melbourne in the GF close to three quarter time. Throughout the season, they beat most of the finalists, unlike Port Adelaide and Essendon who really got there with consistent wins over bottom 8 sides. After giving Melbourne their biggest defeat of the season, (and only one against a top 8 side) they had kicked more goals than anyone else and had the second lowest score kicked against them. I think they will be a force again this year. Yes they had a bad one against Hawthorn. Melbourne got beaten by Adelaide! Every side had a bad one during the year. You gotta get over those frees. It is colouring your judgement.
AFL 2022 Radar: 'Will the real Western Bulldogs please stand up'