Western Bulldogs vs St Kilda: JLT Review
Scores: St Kilda 14.9.93 defeated Western Bulldogs 12.7.79
That’s it! I said it on the podcast and I’m writing it here, the Bulldogs
stink!
Everyone’s second-favourite fell to St Kilda in Ballarat in a scrappy contest on Sunday afternoon.
The Saints are pushing a slower moving, precision based game plan for 2019 and there are some clear beneficiaries…sadly those beneficiaries are confusing and tempting me. Billings, Roberton and Steele all look like value picks and it hurts my soul.
The Dog’s have 76 midfield-forward hybrids and some really good pure midfielders…pick the non-confusing ones like Macrae and Libba.
Notable absentees
St Kilda: Jake Carlisle, Jack Steven, Dan Hannebery, Blake Acres, Max King, Billy Longer
Western Bulldogs: Liam Picken, Lin Jong, Roarke Smith
Injuries:
Paddy McCartin (head knock)
WESTERN BULLDOGS
Jack Macrae – MID – $689,700
He was physically in Ballarat but I’m not sure his mind was. Just rolling the legs over today but still got his 29 disposals and 14 contested possessions. An absolute lock.
Marcus Bontempelli – MID – $564,600
Took on the Saints in second gear and still looked like he had time and space with ball in hand. He’s going to have another good year but I think you can get better value in a Jack Steele/Angus Brayshaw/Crouch brother.
Lachie Hunter – MID – $555,500
Did exactly what you expect from him, got 23 possessions and 7 marks but you’re not going to pick him over any of the other Doggies are you? Fantastic mid-round draft option.
Josh Dunkley – FWD/MID – $516,800
This is the game I want to see from Dunkley. Had no issues finding the ball and tackled his butt off! My concern with the Doggies in 2019 is the sheer amount of midfielders they have and the limited amount of midfield minutes there are to go around. Will this be the Dunkley we see every week or will he swap around with McLean in the forwardline? Had 29 disposals, 13 contested possessions and 8 tackles. Really tempting me.
Toby McLean – FWD – $514,000
See above; played mostly midfield but found himself as a forward target a number of times. Seemed to be rotating with Dunkley and Wallis…not sure I can trust the people’s champion to be a consistent scorer. Just 18 disposals and 15 by hand…will have games where he scores 120.
Mitch Wallis – MID/FWD – $498,800
Yet another bloody Bulldog’s midfielder. Wallis was good today and got his fair share of the ball with 26 touches. He’s a cheap forward option who will average around 95-100 but he’ll give you plenty of 80’s along the journey. It’s a no from me.
Hayden Crozier – DEF – $428,900
Plays a nice role for the Dog’s and showed some dash today with 17 kicks alone but let’s not forget JJ has to come back into that defensive unit in the first few rounds. Better value in defence than Crozier.
Tom ‘Greasy’ Liberatore – MID – $300,400
Hasn’t put a foot wrong this preseason and has the best tattoo in AFL. Managed 21 disposals from 70% game time. He is the definition of value but what is your reason for picking him? Is it to flip him for a fallen premo later on? Is it to keep him? I’m so confused.
Bailey Smith – MID – $180,300
Managed to get 12 possessions in just 46% game time which is a reasonable return. Played outside of the contest but couldn’t hit the side of a barn…if he’s named round 1 he’s an option but not my first choice.
Lachlan Young – DEF – $120,400
Played about six seconds of the match, not going to play early…potential downgrade option.
Will Hayes – MID – $117,300
Played some midfield minutes but spent a lot of the match on the pine. The kid can tackle and that’s pretty good for Supercoach…cheap enough to slap on the bench if named round 1. Once again, not my first choice, but beggars can’t be choosers!
ST KILDA
Jack Steele – MID – $512,600
Will be the main man in the Saints midfield this year. Think he’s a really good pick who will outscore his price point. I want him but can’t drop a Cripps/Neale/Gonigliog to him. 25 disposals and ten tackles!
Jack Billings – FWD – $437,600
Pros – Played really well on the wing today, was used as an outlet for switching at times and got a hell of a lot of marks. Patch has him in is team. Patch was good at Supercoach last year. He is cheap. Has had a good JLT series. Had a good end to 2018. Had 25 touches and 9 marks today.
Cons – Patch has him in his team. He is Jack Billings.
Jade Gresham – FWD – $429,600
He’s a very talented forward for the Saints but I don’t think this is the year it translates to consistent Supercoach scoring. Played as a key forward option at times today and got a couple goals for his hard work…not the St Kilda forward I’d be looking at.
Jack Newnes – MID – $356,100
Didn’t this guy break out in defence one year? Today he was on fire in the midfield! Unfortunately he’s a midpriced midfielder without a history of high scores. Nope.
Rowan Marshall – FWD – $341,100
I’m not a Saints man but boy I hope they put Longer out to pasture because this kid has something. I mean sure he was playing against the Bulldog’s “ruckmen” all day but he really showed a more complete game than I’ve seen him play before. If you knew you’d get today’s performance from him every week, 18 possessions and 37 hitouts, you’d consider him as a POD. Draft gold.
Dylan Roberton – DEF – $297,500
Started the match on fire but finished it looking like a burnman…I’m so confused…please read my thoughts below.
Man I really don’t want to pick him but he’s done everything we need him to…HE’S EVERYWHERE IN THE FIRST TERM!
Second term – mhmm, yep, still dominating, time to open Supercoach.
Third term – Alright, he’s in my side…wait where’d he go?
Fourth term – KICK IT TO HIM YA DOGS!
Now – Out of my team again…WHAT DO YOU DO ROBERTON!?!?!?
Had 24 disposals and 7 marks. Has keeper potential as much as he has burnman potential…think I need to restructure my defence…again.
Nick Hind – MID – $117,300
He played today, I’m not sure he’ll play in the Saints next game. Wasn’t good but wasn’t bad…we have better midfield rookies to select from.
Matthew Parker – FWD – $117,300
Took an awesome mark to start the match. Found the ball at high half forward a few times and was pumping it into the attacking 50. Should play Round 1, slap him on your bench because I don’t think we’ll have many other options.
Callum Wilkie – DEF – $124,900
Wasn’t on the ground very much and probably hasn’t done enough to lock in a round 1 selection. Could be a good downgrade option at some stage in 2019.
Darragh Joyce – DEF – $123,900
Showed some courage going with the flight a couple of times, kid will likely become a very serviceable defender. Unfortunately he’s a key defender and I don’t like selecting those…Carlisle and Brown are out for the Saints so he could play round 1…are you picking him? 12 touches and 8 marks today.
I’m all over the shot atm!!
Thoughts??
Back: laird-Williams-smith-Roberton-Collins-Clark (Duursma,hore)
Mid: Cripps-Oliver-Neale-Martin-b.crouch-libba-Walsh-butters (Constable,bewley,gibbons)
Ruck: Grundy-goldy (some cheap loophole)
Fwd: danger-heeney-boak-Greene-setterfield-drew (Burgess, Parker)
Rohan Marshall not RUC. He's FWD Only. Yes more confusion
Yeah not technically Ruck, he's a Fwd but was playing as a Ruck, and could be from now on, could be a nice Fwd option who scores the added ruck points.
Ah god yep my bad, I’ll fix that
Pretty solid I think Cal, not sure about the Boak pick though, could be better options out there.
Boak is a good pick in the fwd line, will be playing majority isn’t he mid this year
Scores anyone?
Didn’t see the game. Where was Caleb Daniel playing ? Worth a punt ?
Mostly back again Hotch…on guys 10 inches taller than him lol
Cheers Russty. Just looked at his stats, 18 touches isn’t enough for me
That Henry Catts guy…English didn't get towelled up, he only played 45% TOG after half time, got 4 kicks, 4 handballs, 1 mark, 4 tackles and 18 hitouts.
He did pretty well for the time he was on the ground.
DYLAN ROBERTON
St Kilda's doctors had to address the playing group to allay serious fears over Dylan Roberton. After a heart scare last year, Roberton felt "wonky" post-game.
Oh… shite, I hope he is ok… but he will not be in my SC team..
Could Savage be a decent pick this year?
Don't see any reason why he'd be better or worse than last year, if you want a very inconsistent output that averages out to 90 then that's what you'll get but after having him all season last year its a firm no from me
Giday Eric, I think he's a decent pick, could also be getting the majority of kick ins this year with Roberton gone from the team.
I think I heard that Tim English only played second half … is that right? Good return of 85, even if he didn’t have much opposition. 3AW commentators made the point that he is most recent first round ruck pick since Brodie Grundy. Looks the number one ruck … can he average 80 as stepping stone to Gawn by about R8-10?
Very good return Borko, and yes he came on after half time, played 45 %…he had Rowan Marshall who's not a number 1 ruck but he had a good game as well…English held his own nicely. He could go better than 80 I feel.
Josh Dunkley 107
Jack Macrae 104
Sam Lloyd 101
Marcus Bontempelli 96
Mitch Wallis 89
Tom Liberatore 87
Tim English 85
Hayden Crozier 85
Lachie Hunter 76
Aaron Naughton 68
Dale Morris 68
Toby McLean 66
Bailey Williams 65
Easton Wood 63
Zaine Cordy 61
Taylor Duryea 60
Caleb Daniel 52
Jackson Trengove 50
Josh Schache 47
Bailey Smith 41
Billy Gowers 31
Will Hayes 29
Matthew Suckling 26
Ed Richards 23
Lachlan Young 9
ST KILDA
Jack Newnes 117
Jack Steele 115
Rowan Marshall 112
Tim Membrey 108
Shane Savage 102
Sebastian Ross 101
Luke Dunstan 99
Jack Sinclair 80
Jack Billings 80
Jarryn Geary 73
Ben Long 72
Hunter Clark 70
Dylan Roberton 68
Jade Gresham 67
Josh Bruce 64
Josh Battle 61
Darragh Joyce 53
Jimmy Webster 51
Dean Kent 49
Matthew Parker 36
Jack Lonie 35
Nick Hind 29
Ed Phillips 27
Paddy McCartin 27
Callum Wilkie 18
He is a FWD. They don't change the position in SC.
That's what I though David. Rusty saying " he could be from now on" suggested they do now.
I meant, he could play as a Ruck but Dave is right, they don't change positions in Supercoach, just meant he could benefit score-wise from the rucking points.
What do we see Steele averaging boys he looks bloody good
M crouch went from a 92 average odd up to 110 the next year, could this be there year that Steele does it? 94 average last year
I've been watching him for a few years, plays a sc game. Think hell ave like 105-110 problem is he is an awkward price if he hovers at 99-102, hard to go up but to expensive to go down. Currently tossing up between him and brayshaw
Could be Sam but you'd have to consider him a top 8 mid otherwise you'll have to trade him out eventually.
Newnes is fed 356k does that change your opinions?
Fwd
Fwd/mid
Newnes not really supercoach relevant Sainter.
Do we take a chance on Dunkley playing mainly as a midfielder like last year, as a ready made replacement for D.Smith, who won't be getting the same midfield time as last year, or do we go with a mid priced player like Billings, Higgins, Greene to get the job done.
I'm taking the chance John, he's shown he has a good ceiling so fingers crossed he gets the mid time.
If he had played the same in the first JLT game as this one he would be sitting at F3 in my team no worries, just can't be sure how it is going to go with Libba back in the midfield.
I reckon if Bevo doesn't play him in the midfield, knowing how well he's gone there when he does put him in, he's a bad coach and an idiot.