The Bulldogs are one of the better teams in the AFL and should play finals. Hawks are bottom 4. At this stage we appear to have gone backwards from 2023 and don’t forget our last game against Freo was poor. Nash has looked lost in the few games we’ve seen this year and YES, goodbye beard. Cam Mackenzie is a LOCK and should do well along side Day. I want Hustwaite in the team as I firmly believe he will be a significant player by year’s end. I also think Watson and Ginny play well together. Reeves can ONLY ruck, no other skills. If a tall CAN’T mark, there is NO point being there. Chol was terrible. Ward will NOT win the PCM Andrew Weiss. D’Ambrosio used the ball well. If Newcombe improves his ball disposals, he will win a Brownlow. Finn nullified Weightman, I wish he had played on Libba. It is going to be a very long season and at this point I can’t blame Free To Air avoiding Hawks games.
We had an ineffective ruckman and our two more experienced midfielders - Worpel and Nash had less than 30 possessions between them. Compare that to Liberatore, Bont and Treloar. If our midfield can't be competitive, we will suffer some heavy losses and this game did highlight just what a serious loss Will Day is. Hustwaite was very good, but he's a two gamer and Mackenzie's first half was excellent, but he's played only handful of full senior games. We were up against the premier ruckman and arguably the best midfield in the game. Finding a role for Josh Ward that works is critical - his finish to season 2023 was slightly disappointing and we really want to see him take some big strides this year. A few other things:
1. Watson's 7 score involvements from 34 inside 50s was great to see
2. If Finn isn't tagging, there's no role for him in the team
3. Clearly, the Lewis / Chol combo is a work in progress and we need to be patient there
4. Frost had a couple of awful panic moments, but we'll just have to accept that
5. Our other more experienced players such as Sicily and Hardwick also had poor games, though Hardwick's game was largely due to lack of supply. It's vital that our handful of more experienced players are playing near their best
6. Given how sluggish Big Ned has looked in these two games, do we need Ramsden in the 23, especially as he has some ability to play forward?
7. Stemming lumps of opposition goals appears to still be an issue, but we couldn't win the ball whcih goes to our midfield in those periods
We really want to avoid those heavy losses as they are soul destroying for supporters and our youngsters.
The Bulldogs are one of the better teams in the AFL and should play finals. Hawks are bottom 4. At this stage we appear to have gone backwards from 2023 and don’t forget our last game against Freo was poor. Nash has looked lost in the few games we’ve seen this year and YES, goodbye beard. Cam Mackenzie is a LOCK and should do well along side Day. I want Hustwaite in the team as I firmly believe he will be a significant player by year’s end. I also think Watson and Ginny play well together. Reeves can ONLY ruck, no other skills. If a tall CAN’T mark, there is NO point being there. Chol was terrible. Ward will NOT win the PCM Andrew Weiss. D’Ambrosio used the ball well. If Newcombe improves his ball disposals, he will win a Brownlow. Finn nullified Weightman, I wish he had played on Libba. It is going to be a very long season and at this point I can’t blame Free To Air avoiding Hawks games.
Hope to see Finn in Rd1. Whatever the consequences.
Would you play him on Zach Merrett or Nic Martin? I think he has to play as well.
Not breaking the glass just yet
Dogs are top 4 on paper.
Bont, English, Libba, Treloar, Jamarra, Naughton are as good a Top 6as you'll see
Good in patches. We fell away badly.
There was enough to like and plenty to work on
The problems are clear.
Need to give it a little time
We had an ineffective ruckman and our two more experienced midfielders - Worpel and Nash had less than 30 possessions between them. Compare that to Liberatore, Bont and Treloar. If our midfield can't be competitive, we will suffer some heavy losses and this game did highlight just what a serious loss Will Day is. Hustwaite was very good, but he's a two gamer and Mackenzie's first half was excellent, but he's played only handful of full senior games. We were up against the premier ruckman and arguably the best midfield in the game. Finding a role for Josh Ward that works is critical - his finish to season 2023 was slightly disappointing and we really want to see him take some big strides this year. A few other things:
1. Watson's 7 score involvements from 34 inside 50s was great to see
2. If Finn isn't tagging, there's no role for him in the team
3. Clearly, the Lewis / Chol combo is a work in progress and we need to be patient there
4. Frost had a couple of awful panic moments, but we'll just have to accept that
5. Our other more experienced players such as Sicily and Hardwick also had poor games, though Hardwick's game was largely due to lack of supply. It's vital that our handful of more experienced players are playing near their best
6. Given how sluggish Big Ned has looked in these two games, do we need Ramsden in the 23, especially as he has some ability to play forward?
7. Stemming lumps of opposition goals appears to still be an issue, but we couldn't win the ball whcih goes to our midfield in those periods
We really want to avoid those heavy losses as they are soul destroying for supporters and our youngsters.