TooSerious

What we have here is the Western Bulldogs season review with thanks to Jason.

There’s no way to sugar coat it.  Whichever way you look at the year that was season 2011 for the Bulldogs, it was very disappointing.  Not very much went right at the kennel in 2011.  And plenty of things went wrong.  A lot of fixtures for the club during 2010 were well and truly gone by the end of season 2011.  The coach Rodney Eade, leading goalkicker Barry Hall, the bearded one Ben Hudson, Spotswood-born-and-bred Callan Ward and long-serving property steward Noel Kinniburgh – all gone.

Having made it to the Preliminary Final weekend in each of 2008, 2009 and 2010, finishing 10th with a less than 50% win-loss record was a long way short of where the Bulldogs were widely tipped to finish.  Before the season, Mike Shehan and plenty of other media commentators had the Bulldogs as a likely Grand Finalist.  Most had Bulldogs finishing at least in the final 8 at season’s end.   The President went on the public record (albeit slightly quoted out of context) saying he wanted a Grand Final berth.  I did too.  But it wasn’t to be.  (Start rant.)  And the haters rejoiced.  Go get a life, seriously.  What did the Bulldogs ever do to the haters to deserve the vitriol.  (End rant.)

Only 4 players played all 22 games with not enough senior players on the list getting on the park often enough to make it count.   To fill the voids in the 22, there were 10 AFL debutants blooded by the Bulldogs in season 2011.  Whilst theoretically that should have been a reason for Supercoaches to get excited, sadly the facts of the matter were that most of the hidden Supercoach gems weren’t actually to be found in the red-white-and-blue during 2011.

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Matthew Boyd – elevated to the captaincy for 2011, Boyd showed genuine leadership skills on field and relished the responsibility.  All Australian selection for the second time (2009 also) was a...

So once again we have some contentious calls in forming the All-Australian team, goal of the year and mark of the year.

All Australian Team for 2011:
B: Scarlett, Glass, Enright
HB: R Murphy, Reid, Davis
C: Thomas, Mitchell, Pendlebury
HF: M Murphy, Cloke, Swan
F: Milne, Franklin, Goodes
R: Cox, Judd, Ablett
INT: Boyd, Dal Santo, Petrie, Kelly

Goal of the Year: Ballantyne (Freo)
Mark of the Year: Krakouer (Coll)

My initial thoughts
- Good to have a "Leigh Brown role" player as all clubs have a ruck that plays a dual role these days. Petrie was the best of a bunch that would include players of the ilk of Paddy Ryder and Leigh Brown himself.
- Old Man Bob Murphy lucky to get a game, though if this was a team for a real game, hed be very handy with his ability to go forward.
- Scotland over Davis every day of the week.
- Scarlett v Gibson a difficult choice but I can understand the selectors choice
- SJ the most unlucky, had a huge year. Maybe ahead of the underrated Kelly
- The side seems to have too many mids.
- Correct choice of captain. Suck on that Robert Walls.

- The best goal of the year probably wasnt in the top 3. Personally thought the Judd and Thomas "reverse bananas" took the most skill, but neither in the top 3.
- I have always rated pack marks as better than individual "speckies". I can understand those who rate Walkers mark better as the leap was amazing and the camera close up absolutely perfect. Foxtels work with the other two left a bit to be desired in comparison. Naitanui over Darling was a bigger leap than Walkers, and took the ball at the highest point of all 3 marks. In the end Krakouer not just took the mark over his head (unlike Walkers chest), he took it in a pack of 5 and possibly most importantly at a crucial stage of the game, inspiring his team to victory. (Regardless if Id voted I probably still would have voted for Walker to prove my "unbias")

Discuss...

<div dir="ltr">If you havent already done so you can check out all the reviews that we have posted so far<a href="http://tooserious.net/category/reviews" target="_blank"> HERE[/url] If you would like to contribute and review a team that hasnt already been published please let me know in the comments and i will be in touch. Anyway thats enough from me, with thanks to Sainter who stepped upto the plate to do the Suns review its time we got into it.
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<div dir="ltr">Well, the Gold Coast Suns had their first AFL season, which included just the 3 AFL wins from the 22 games, with wins coming against Brisbane (15th), Port Adelaide (16th) and Richmond (12th). It doesnt look good with 3 wins in their first season, Bluey McKenna was obviously getting games into the young blokes, and Gary Ablett didnt kick on until a few rounds in, but their were plus coming from a season where 46 players played. Out of the 46 players, about 34 had never played AFL before, including NRL recruit Karmichael Hunt.

They won their first game against Port Adelaide in Round 5 at AAMI Stadium against Port Adelaide, which showed positive signs for the future, coming back from 40 points behind late in the 3rd quarter. Well you might ask, who stood up and helped the win, who kicked the goals? At the end of the 3rd quarter, goals were kicked by Captain and recruit Gary Ablett and youngster Luke Russell. Goals from GC in the last quarter came from (in order), Dixon, Dixon, Matera, Bennell, Matera, Russell (winning goal). All of the last quarter goals came from players in their first season, thats a positive sign for sure.


<div dir="ltr">Over the break Sainter continues a quick review of the season and then gets into reviewing the key players performances.
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<div dir="ltr">Gold Coasts first season in the AFL was a success, poaching arguably the best player in the competition and winning a few gaames while they were at it puts them in a...

Anyone that was around these parts over the footy offseason last year, would have seen that we had a cracking fantasy NBA league going. It was heaps of fun! We had 20 in the league; however only 18 ended up taking it (Too) seriously. Owen was the front runner at the end of the regular season; however it was Dabombers (or Dan) that won the granny in a tight contest against my own team (anthak).

If anyone is interested in reading any of the weekly writeups from last season, you can go <a href="http://tooserious.net/category/nba" target="_blank">here[/url] and have a browse through...

and <a href="http://tooserious.net/heat-v-mavs-dabomers-dan-the-inaugural-ts-fantasy-nba-champion-of-the-world" target="_blank">the season review can be found here[/url].

Anyway, I suppose we are all up to speed on the current goings-on over in The Merica - the lock out that is - but its hard to know what is really happening behind the scenes as almost anyone thats reporting on it has some sort of a vested interest either way; so it has been suggested that we should get going with the organising of the leagues so that we arent taken aback if given a short deadline to get it all sorted - which I wholeheartedly agree with.

And then there is the NBL thats about to start as well! Last season Parasite was trying to drum up some interest in a TooSerious fantasy NBL league; however he was largely met with cynicism and jibes (unfortunately), with (I think) only Owen and myself creating teams in the league, and we were both far from TS about it. ... But what a difference a year makes... With the Lock out in effect, and Patty Mills signing with the Tigers, Bogut about to sign as well, and possibly more NBA players - Wes Mathews etc - following suit, the NBL is building steam and the hype of this season is stronger than it has been for years!  So as Walesy said in the forum, we need to go crawling back to Parasite and get in on the NBL this season.

So over the break will be a...

The season that could have been: By lezyeoh

Melbourne finished 13th this year. Definitely a fail in the opinion of a Melbourne supporter. That said one more win and they would have finished 10th. Woulda Coulda Shoulda….

A season that started with so much promise ended up with Melbourne being the Jekyll and Hyde of the competition. When Melbourne won they won convincingly. When Melbourne lost, they got thumped.

With what I would have called a dream fixture at the start of the year including 2 games against port, GC, Richmond and West Coast turned out not as great as I thought. West Coast turned into a top 4 side and the potential at Melbourne was exactly that….potential. The biggest loss of the year broke all sorts of records against Geelong. 186 points, cost Bailey his job, most likely cost Green the captaincy and wrote off the rest of the season.


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The Good
Stefan Martin - Boy was I wrong about this kid. I predicted him to be struggling to make the 22 and would probably be delisted come end of the year. He proved me wrong. Coming in at basement price he was ideal for those that got him. He improved his kicking, his marking and no doubt his ruck work. Jarmars injury mid season coupled with Spencer, Robbie Campbell both being injured proved the catalyst. Thrusting him into the role of main ruck man he stood up. He ranked 19th of all defenders and had a price rise of 202,000. Whether hes worth it next year is another question. Could be good as Im predicting MPP. Could be good back up for ruck…but is it worth him taking a spot on the team for a premium?

Jeremy Howe - Jumping Jeremy, the boy from Tassie. Mature aged recruit. Came through and clunked come good marks. Slotted some goals and just had energy. Hes quick, can lead up and has agility too. Provided great protection for those towards the end of the year as the General kicked in. Wouldnt pick him...

Alright guys, 2 games this week- for mine it should be a near on conclusion, Hawthorn and West Coast, but hey- this is finals and funny things do happen!

As always, feel free to join us over in the live stats for a chat!

Massive news as Fremantle axes Mark Harvey, while Ross Lyon walks out on the Saints to fill his shoes.

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Honestly, the Lyon out rumours have been circulating for a while now, but it was to Melbourne that he was rumoured to be going.

Meanwhile, Harvey has been the head of Fremantle since taking over as a caretaker from Connolly back in 2007. Harvey took a, well, a bit of a rabble and turned then into final contenders last year. Decimated with more injuries than Ive ever seen in a year, its no suprise that the Dockers went backwards. Wonder if that means hell be coaching Melbourne next year- hes shown that he knows what hes doing.

That said however, Lyon to Freo will undoubtably make some big changes to how Fremantle go about it, so it will be very interesting to see what changes he makes- and more importantly, how benefits the most!

Any thoughts?

Woah, little late with the post-

So, we reckon Buddy will be a late withdrawal?

Its gunna be tough for the Blues with the Eagles Kerr in vs their Gibbs out- still, this is the kind of match you need to be able to win to have a shot against the other 3 in the top 4!

Full teams over the break
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Hawthorn

B: Thomas Murphy, Josh Gibson, Brent Guerra

HB: Grant Birchall, Ryan Schoenmakers, Paul Puopolo

C: Jordan Lewis, Sam Mitchell, Isaac Smith

HF: Luke Hodge, Lance Franklin, Cyril Rioli

F: Brendan Whitecross, David Hale, Michael Osborne

Foll: Max Bailey, Shaun Burgoyne, Brad Sewell

I/C: Chance Bateman, Liam Shiels, Matt Suckling, Benjamin Stratton

Emg: Jordan Lisle, Shane Savage, Luke Breust

In: Benjamin Stratton

Out: Luke Breust

Sydney Swans

B: Rhyce Shaw, Ted Richards, Lewis Roberts-Thomson

HB: Martin Mattner, Alex Johnson, Nicholas Smith

C: Josh P. Kennedy, Adam Goodes, Jarrad McVeigh

HF: Ryan O’Keefe, Sam Reid, Gary Rohan

F: Jesse White, Matt Spangher, Ben McGlynn

Foll: Shane Mumford, Jude Bolton, Kieren Jack

I/C: Tadhg Kennelly, Craig Bird, Daniel Hannebery, Luke Parker

Emg: Paul Bevan, Nick Malceski, Lewis Jetta



West Coast Eagles

B: Shannon Hurn, Darren Glass, Will Schofield

HB: Sam Butler, Eric Mackenzie, Beau Waters

C: Luke Shuey, Matthew Priddis, Andrew Embley

HF: Mark LeCras, Josh Kennedy, Mark Nicoski

F: Jack Darling, Quinten Lynch, Nic Naitanui

Foll: Dean Cox, Adam Selwood, Scott Selwood

I/C: Daniel Kerr, Chris Masten, Patrick McGinnity, Andrew Gaff

Emg: Bradley Ebert, Ashley Smith, Ashton Hams

In: Daniel Kerr

Out: Bradley Ebert



Carlton

B: Aaron Joseph, Michael Jamison, Jeremy Laidler

HB: Christopher Yarran, Bret Thornton, Nick Duigan

C: Kade Simpson, Mitch Robinson, Heath Scotland

HF: Jeffrey Garlett, Lachlan Henderson, Andrew Carrazzo

F: Eddie Betts,...

Thanks to TooSerious member "Sean" for this review of Sydneys season.

[span style="text-decoration: underline">Rambling Swans Report


It’s been a season of three halves for the Swans. After the draw against Melbourne, they got away well, with wins over the Dons and West Coast.  Out at ANZ against the bombers that day and watching us sneak home late, I remember thinking there was a bit of the ’05 vibe about the boys. We had a habit of coming back strong in the second half in that era and we pulled it off that day.

Things kind of went as expected for the year until round thirteen, which would see a distressing mid – season slump with some expected losses, but also some unexpected to the Crows (in an awful wet game) and culminating in the defeat by Richmond in round 21. Won only 2 from 8 (against GC and WBD) and things were looking dire.

This would all turn around to beat the Saints after some early inaccuracy, and culminating in a brilliant victory down at the Cattery. Definitely the highlight of the H+A season.

Typically the Swans have been strong in the midfield and backs with players like Grundy, Bolton, Matner, and Richards continuing the hardworking Bloods ethic.

Most of the issue all year has been the forward line and the missing big target that can really impose himself on a game. Jesse White looked OK early, but with a good defender seems to be negated pretty easily. These days he seems to be deliberately moving the key defender he inevitably draws out of the forward line so perhaps not a bad thing. But he found himself in and out of the team.

Former Defenders Andrejs Everitt , and LRT have been effective options, and even Rhys Shaw has had a go. Fortunately for the Bloods, Sam Reid is looking like a great pair of hands, and if he can bulk up a bit, we should see a great future from. And of course a resting Goodes, ROK, and Mumford have all pulled some good shifts through the forward line.

Finally, for the last few...

Its everyones lucky day today with the West Coast review. Why you ask, well the simple answer is because I have 2 different reviews from 2 different people. Which if i must say is brilliant because it gives us 2 different views on the West Coast season. Considering their remarkable turn around this year, from wooden spooners to top 4 it makes for interesting reading. The first review is done by JPK &amp; the 2nd one by silacious. So get yourself a cuppa and get comfy and join us over the break for both the reviews.

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I’ve been asked if I can do the West Coast Eagles 2011 season review, so I thought I’d give it a crack and we’ll see how it works out.  I should clarify that I’ve been living in the footy-blackspot that is South America all year, so I basically haven’t seen any footage of the footy, nor attended any games, training, or anything else footy related (unless the round ball counts???). This however does mean that I have been rather focused on the names and the stats, more than on the heart.  So, here we go:

Its fair to say that the Eagles were the surprise packet of the AFL this season, going from 2010’s wooden spooners to the top four and a genuine, although outside, shot at the cup.  I’m actually writing this after the loss to the Pies, which while sad was probably expected, but at least the boys showed enough heart to fight the entire game and not get blown away by the toughness of finals footy or the dominance of the Pies players.  Actually, the AFL website has a great line with a small quote from Mick Malthouse, simply saying that the win was “one of the "gutsiest" in his time at the club”.  Clearly Mick thought the Eagles boys came to play!  The big thing is that to most Eagles fans, this season did not come as a huge surprise – we were rather decimated by injuries last year (not in the same way as the 2011 Dockers, but still), and we didn’t quite have the list going that we needed. Woosha stuck to his...