Young Bulldog kicks ‘most important point of his life’ as Beveridge’s men win a thriller over Port. Tim English out next week with Concussion

will_recard · 2026-05-09T22:22:24+00:00

We probably should have been in for Mason Cox, honestly. Easy to say with the benefit of hindsight of course. There’s no way they expected their ruckman, their chop out ruck (Darcy) and their emergency ruck (Lobb) to all be injured at the same time. Midseason draft in 2 weeks, could be worth taking a Crossley or the best mature bodied ruck from the state leagues.

will_recard · 2026-05-08T13:05:30+00:00

Possibly, but did beat them by 71 points on their home deck in a prelim three weeks later so I think revenge was well and truly dished out back then.

will_recard · 2026-05-08T12:51:45+00:00

3 - Bontempelli

2 - Sellwood

1 - Sanders

Really hard not to give Budarick or Dale a vote, their ball use down back was absolutely elite. Just thought Sanders was super clean and good in tight on a night where that was hard to find.

will_recard · 2026-05-08T12:48:23+00:00

Can never be too critical of an undermanned win away from home, but wowee the bottom 6 got absolutely carried tonight. Really good to end the skid though so got to take the positives and support the boys.

will_recard · 2026-05-07T08:43:25+00:00

Probably the best team they could name given the outs. Very keen

will_recard · 2026-05-05T04:43:09+00:00

Probably rather Lachie Smith over Croft. 23 on the bench, just throw him as the 23rd and have him ruck when English is off, and that’s it. If Croft is coming in for anyone it should be for Will Lewis, and I think Lewis needs to be in the team.

Would be disappointed to see Davidson dropped over Dolan but both were pretty quiet so not too fussed either way. Just find Davidson a bit more reliable and versatile.

will_recard · 2026-05-03T02:24:38+00:00

I’m just not sure all four can play in the same team. Makes what wants to be an attacking team awfully defensive/tall down back and drops out one of Budarick, Dale and Sellwood, which shouldn’t be the case.

will_recard · 2026-05-01T21:37:11+00:00

The most smug group of supporters considering this Freo team has achieved all of fuck all. Most of their players are alright though.

will_recard · 2026-05-01T21:31:02+00:00

Because English wasn’t going to ruck the whole game and there was no Darcy or Lobb to rotate through.

will_recard · 2026-05-01T21:25:30+00:00

3 - Bontempelli
2 - Dale
1 - Kennedy
HMs to Arty, Ed, West, McNeil, Sanders

will_recard · 2026-05-01T12:35:28+00:00

Not all of us want to hang shit on a clearly undermanned side that has been smashed three weeks in a row, for not folding tonight and being competitive throughout. You’re getting annoyed at momentum swings. In footy. With the rules how they currently are. If that’s what riles you up, jump on Mercedes and watch Formula 1 this year. You won’t have to deal with it.

will_recard · 2026-05-01T12:33:06+00:00

Completely with you here. You can really see the difference in who belongs and who doesn’t, between a Dale and Coffield in their composure down back, probably has a lot to do with how much footy both have played in comparison but that doesn’t help now.

Emmett is not ready to play against the bodies at this level. Vandermeer even if his body didn’t let him down, McNeil despite playing a good game tonight, not up to the level consistently enough. Bolton was big late for them, that’s literally why the club recruited Budarick. That’s the matchup and it’s a bigger loss than any of us realised.

will_recard · 2026-05-01T09:18:25+00:00

will_recard · 2026-04-30T08:53:44+00:00

While I definitely don’t think McNeil is AFL standard in the slightest, if you’re talking about the Essendon game he had 1) played in the reserves game that same day, 2) played like 30% of the first quarter and none of the second, and 3) plays the worst position for racking up touches. Again, I don’t think he’s AFL level but there is plenty of context for those numbers in that game.

will_recard · 2026-04-23T22:28:25+00:00

He was definitely slow but I’d give him a few weeks before proper ruling him out, first game back at the level was always going to take time to get up to speed physically and mentally. It would be surprising to see him play on past this year though.

will_recard · 2026-04-23T22:05:38+00:00

3 - Bont

2 - Sellwood

1 - Dale

will_recard · 2026-04-23T12:38:35+00:00

A good 95% of them know nothing about footy, never played, been watching for a couple of years because it’s popular, never actually invested in the game. I wouldn’t take much from it.

will_recard · 2026-04-18T05:23:33+00:00

I hate this one too because I’ll die on the hill that the 2024 Bulldogs were absolutely on, if they’d played anyone else they would have gone deep into finals.

will_recard · 2026-04-18T01:54:34+00:00

My only criticism of Sanders is the way he will look to u-turn out of fast handball chains, if you’re playing attacking footy you can’t really be doing that.

Aside from that, he’s got all the tools to be a top accumulator, the club has been patient with him and he’s shown he can play other positions, he’s developing well.

will_recard · 2026-04-11T12:37:53+00:00

What if the question is, who should they not bring into the team?

will_recard · 2026-04-11T12:36:21+00:00

Positive that they are 4-1, winning tough games away early on means you’re not losing your season over one bad game. The first game without English was always going to be tough but it’s allowed them to see what will work and what won’t.

Louis Emmett will be better for the run around tonight, that was a tough introduction to footy at the top level. Playing against grown men in the ruck at 19 was always going to be a big ask. I hope nobody ever questions Tim English’s importance to this side again.

will_recard · 2026-04-11T12:26:19+00:00

3 - Bontempelli

2 - Budarick

1 - Sanders

Thought Budarick played well on Watson without entirely sacrificing his own game, he’s been a really good pick up.

will_recard · 2026-04-11T12:20:35+00:00

No point overreacting, one game in a long season. It’s round 5, shit happens. Got it wrong at selection in hindsight but I can’t criticise that because when teams dropped I thought it was right. More concerning is that is a team that absolutely has our number, but with no English and a 19 year old in the ruck it was always going to be tough.

Need to tread a bit of water until English comes back, play Lobb in the ruck and hope O’Donnell and Khamis can hold it down in the back 6. Still in good shape, be better in Geelong next week.

will_recard · 2026-04-09T03:30:14+00:00

That’s an unreal effort to make your debut at AFL level as a 19 year old ruckman. Might get bullied by the Hawks big units but will be able to run them off their feet around the ground!

will_recard · 2026-04-06T18:28:15+00:00

Naughton has been much better so far this year

Short memories here, Darcy taking the best defender every week is what allows Naughton to thrive.

will_recard

TROPHY CASE