southerncross
18-04-2007, 05:33 AM
Eade urges on Bulldogs (http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/common/story_page/0,8033,21576113%255E19742,00.html)
WESTERN Bulldogs coach Rodney Eade says his team must start "playing for their lives" to arrest their form slump against Richmond at the MCG on Friday night.
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/imagedata/0,1658,5452046,00.jpg
Lacking confidence: Rodney Eade puts the Western Bulldogs through their paces. Picture: Andrew Tauber
Eade admitted yesterday the Bulldogs were down on confidence after successive heavy losses to 2006 finalists Adelaide and St Kilda. The coach was at a loss to pin-point where the Bulldogs had strayed, but said the team needed to find more urgency.
"For whatever reason we have gone back into our shell a fair bit," Eade said.
"Whether that's a young group or whether that's a team and a club that is not used to being the hunted.
"There is a whole range of things. I am not really sure of the answer. Certainly confidence has gone down in a couple of weeks, but you can get that back pretty quickly.
"I think across the board everyone just needs to be playing as if they are playing for their life," he said.
Despite the Dogs' dramatic form slide after their Round 1 win over Geelong, Eade refused to label the match a must-win against the winless Tigers.
"If you talk about must-win, then you talk about panic if it does not happen," he said.
"We have seen teams make finals who were 0-4 or 1-4. St Kilda in '97 were 1-5 and made the Grand Final.
"It's not dire straits, but certainly for the confidence of the group we need to win."
After reaching the semi-finals against the West Coast Eagles last year, the rejuvenated Bulldogs were touted as one of Victoria's top finals hopes in 2007.
However Eade said the Dogs had not set such high expectations for themselves.
"I think the buzz is generated from outside," he said.
"Certainly from our point of view, we weren't talking top four or premierships as people in the media have been.
"We're talking about that we want to get in the top eight again, but the reality is it's only Round 3.
"There is still a long way to go, but we still need to get back on the bike pretty quickly."
WESTERN Bulldogs coach Rodney Eade says his team must start "playing for their lives" to arrest their form slump against Richmond at the MCG on Friday night.
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/imagedata/0,1658,5452046,00.jpg
Lacking confidence: Rodney Eade puts the Western Bulldogs through their paces. Picture: Andrew Tauber
Eade admitted yesterday the Bulldogs were down on confidence after successive heavy losses to 2006 finalists Adelaide and St Kilda. The coach was at a loss to pin-point where the Bulldogs had strayed, but said the team needed to find more urgency.
"For whatever reason we have gone back into our shell a fair bit," Eade said.
"Whether that's a young group or whether that's a team and a club that is not used to being the hunted.
"There is a whole range of things. I am not really sure of the answer. Certainly confidence has gone down in a couple of weeks, but you can get that back pretty quickly.
"I think across the board everyone just needs to be playing as if they are playing for their life," he said.
Despite the Dogs' dramatic form slide after their Round 1 win over Geelong, Eade refused to label the match a must-win against the winless Tigers.
"If you talk about must-win, then you talk about panic if it does not happen," he said.
"We have seen teams make finals who were 0-4 or 1-4. St Kilda in '97 were 1-5 and made the Grand Final.
"It's not dire straits, but certainly for the confidence of the group we need to win."
After reaching the semi-finals against the West Coast Eagles last year, the rejuvenated Bulldogs were touted as one of Victoria's top finals hopes in 2007.
However Eade said the Dogs had not set such high expectations for themselves.
"I think the buzz is generated from outside," he said.
"Certainly from our point of view, we weren't talking top four or premierships as people in the media have been.
"We're talking about that we want to get in the top eight again, but the reality is it's only Round 3.
"There is still a long way to go, but we still need to get back on the bike pretty quickly."