Bulldog Revolution
03-01-2008, 12:59 PM
http://www.abc.net.au/sport/columns/200704/s1898359.htm?afl
Bulldogs a one-trick pony
By Dan Lonergan
In elite team sports, some teams just expect to be at the top or near it most or all of the time.
The media and their supporters expect it, but these weight of expectations don't weigh them down and they deliver the goods regularly.
In the AFL, West Coast is one case in point. They have missed the finals just four times in their 20-season history and are the only undefeated team after four rounds this season, so expect them to feature heavily in September again in 2007.
At this stage they deserve to be favourites to defend their 2006 flag.
For many years in the VFL, power houses like Carlton, Hawthorn, North Melbourne and Richmond in the 1970s, Essendon, the Hawks and the Blues in the 80s and Melbourne in the 1950s were expected to win regularly and did.
Brisbane made an art form of it in the first half of this decade along with Port Adelaide in home and away football.
It's a lesson the always struggling clubs must take onboard. Too many of these sides have one or two excellent seasons by their standards and then seem to get caught up in all the glory when the expectations rise and as a result they can't cope and go back to the mediocrity that they are accustomed to.
Fremantle and the Western Bulldogs are examples of that. The Dockers had the best of their 12 seasons last year, winning nine of their last 10 to finish top four for the first time and make the preliminary final.
Over the summer they added experienced pair Chris Tarrant and Dean Solomon to their playing list and were rated highly to win their first premiership, but three matches in and they are one of four teams without a win.
Although it's not panic stations yet and they only had a 50 per cent record after 12 rounds last year before storming home, the Dockers need wins and require them quickly if they are to finish top four, which is where you must be to give the flag a shake.
They may have got ahead of themselves or started believing all the favourable publicity from the media, who right across the country have been bullish about the Dockers chances.
However it seems the weight of expectations placed on a club who have become used to letting them and their fans down has got to them.
Don't rule them out but the next month will test them. They have a trip to Melbourne to play another winless team in the Demons, then it's an emerging Adelaide at home, a rejuvenated Brisbane at the Gabba and an improving Hawthorn. They require at least two wins just to stay in touch.
Fremantle has to begin acting like a team that can win a premiership. It certainly has the playing list to be a contender.
The disappointing Western Bulldogs are in the same boat. This is a club that has been littered with a mediocre culture for more than 80 years. They have one flag, two grand final appearances and 31 finals to their name and 11 victories.
Because of their short history, take Freo and Port out of the picture and the Dogs are close to the worst performed team ever in the league.
St Kilda may give them a run for their money, having been in the league 28 years longer. They have played 41 finals for 16 wins, but have five grand final appearances.
The Saints have picked up the most wooden spoons by a long way, so their history is as tragic as denounced by former Carlton president John Elliott when referring to the Bulldogs in 2000.
The Saints though look in much better shape than the Dogs. They at least have a number of game plans and a multitude of big-bodied star forwards like Nick Riewoldt, Fraser Gehrig and Justin Koschitske.
'One-trick pony'
The Dogs were touted like Fremantle to be genuine top four chances and even in contention for the premiership, but after an OK win over Geelong, when they played one outstanding quarter, they have been completely outplayed by Adelaide and St Kilda in the past week.
Teams have worked them out. As one Bulldogs fan said to me over the weekend, "they are a one-trick pony".
They play an exciting and skilful brand of football, when if given space will chop up the Opposition, but Brisbane (preseason), the Crows and the Saints haven't allowed them any room to move, so skill error after skill error keeps occurring, caused by real and perceived pressure.
Their forward line when open is creative and wonderful to watch, with all those light weight quick runners running down the ground and finishing beautifully, but if the space is blocked up they panic and overuse the footy.
They need a Plan B and I'm surprised that Rodney Eade, who has a reputation as one of the best coaches in the league, hasn't come up with one.
That is obviously his task this week for the clash with Richmond, who are yet to win but have been pretty competitive in all three games.
Their coach Terry Wallace and assistants Brian Royal and Jade Rawlings know the Dogs well, so expect them to shut them down also and then isolate the tall forwards.
Too many Bulldog stars of last year have been found out, especially two of their best, Adam Cooney and Ryan Griffen.
Daniel Giansiracusa, Nathan Eagleton and Farran Ray must learn to get more contested possessions. This is an area the Dogs have been smashed in so far.
Scott West and Daniel Cross as usual try hard and get plenty of the footy, but their effectiveness is being reduced. They require more hard bodied onballers.
They have one quality forward in Brad Johnson, but he's just over six foot. They have no tall forwards to speak of and if the delivery in the forward line is pressure laced, they have no chance of scoring.
Former skipper Luke Darcy, who can play the role of a power forward and the creative Robert Murphy are miles off their best after knee reconstructions.
It's early days but after a two-year lay-off, Darcy is battling to keep up with the pace of the game.
It seems the clubs have plotted how to stop the Dogs and looking at the efforts of Adelaide and St Kilda, it appears to be pretty easy.
The Bulldogs are also hamstrung with replacements for the many out-of-form players, while gun Brisbane recruit Jason Akermanis, whose best footy might be behind him, is out injured. Anyway, he is an outside player and a quality finisher.
Chris Grant, one of their better key position players but also their oldest, won't be seen until at least the half way mark of the season, which will probably be too late.
There are big wraps on top 10 draft pick Tom Williams becoming a key defender, but he hasn't played a senior match yet due to a string of injuries. To expect him to make an immediate impact is folly.
There's not much else as the club's recruiting policy seems to concentrate on picking up light-weighted, quick and skilful ball carriers.
Other than Brian Harris the Bulldogs haven't recruited a decent key forward or defender for more than 10 years.
There is no way the Dogs will achieve a top four finish at the moment and they will be hard-pressed to make the eight.
If they don't it will be a wasted season, which is not uncommon for this club from Melbourne's western suburbs.
It's likely Eade's men will be one win and four losses when they take on the West Coast Eagles, who destroyed them in the finals last year with their strong bodies.
They will do so again, leaving the Bulldogs out of the picture and probably contemplating a bottom four performance.
Let's see if this club can throw away the mediocre tag and find a way of overcoming the opposition's stifling tactics, which are starting to work a treat.
It's the first time since he took over that Eade will be under pressure at the Whitten Oval.
He and the players have put together a game plan they believe in and has worked to a certain extent, but the good and strong teams have countered it.
What are the so-called 'new-look' Western Bulldogs made of?
As a Bulldogs supporter, taking my media hat off, I'm not optimistic they can succeed and change as they don't have enough cattle to significantly alter their style.
They've got a tough job in front of them.
Bulldogs a one-trick pony
By Dan Lonergan
In elite team sports, some teams just expect to be at the top or near it most or all of the time.
The media and their supporters expect it, but these weight of expectations don't weigh them down and they deliver the goods regularly.
In the AFL, West Coast is one case in point. They have missed the finals just four times in their 20-season history and are the only undefeated team after four rounds this season, so expect them to feature heavily in September again in 2007.
At this stage they deserve to be favourites to defend their 2006 flag.
For many years in the VFL, power houses like Carlton, Hawthorn, North Melbourne and Richmond in the 1970s, Essendon, the Hawks and the Blues in the 80s and Melbourne in the 1950s were expected to win regularly and did.
Brisbane made an art form of it in the first half of this decade along with Port Adelaide in home and away football.
It's a lesson the always struggling clubs must take onboard. Too many of these sides have one or two excellent seasons by their standards and then seem to get caught up in all the glory when the expectations rise and as a result they can't cope and go back to the mediocrity that they are accustomed to.
Fremantle and the Western Bulldogs are examples of that. The Dockers had the best of their 12 seasons last year, winning nine of their last 10 to finish top four for the first time and make the preliminary final.
Over the summer they added experienced pair Chris Tarrant and Dean Solomon to their playing list and were rated highly to win their first premiership, but three matches in and they are one of four teams without a win.
Although it's not panic stations yet and they only had a 50 per cent record after 12 rounds last year before storming home, the Dockers need wins and require them quickly if they are to finish top four, which is where you must be to give the flag a shake.
They may have got ahead of themselves or started believing all the favourable publicity from the media, who right across the country have been bullish about the Dockers chances.
However it seems the weight of expectations placed on a club who have become used to letting them and their fans down has got to them.
Don't rule them out but the next month will test them. They have a trip to Melbourne to play another winless team in the Demons, then it's an emerging Adelaide at home, a rejuvenated Brisbane at the Gabba and an improving Hawthorn. They require at least two wins just to stay in touch.
Fremantle has to begin acting like a team that can win a premiership. It certainly has the playing list to be a contender.
The disappointing Western Bulldogs are in the same boat. This is a club that has been littered with a mediocre culture for more than 80 years. They have one flag, two grand final appearances and 31 finals to their name and 11 victories.
Because of their short history, take Freo and Port out of the picture and the Dogs are close to the worst performed team ever in the league.
St Kilda may give them a run for their money, having been in the league 28 years longer. They have played 41 finals for 16 wins, but have five grand final appearances.
The Saints have picked up the most wooden spoons by a long way, so their history is as tragic as denounced by former Carlton president John Elliott when referring to the Bulldogs in 2000.
The Saints though look in much better shape than the Dogs. They at least have a number of game plans and a multitude of big-bodied star forwards like Nick Riewoldt, Fraser Gehrig and Justin Koschitske.
'One-trick pony'
The Dogs were touted like Fremantle to be genuine top four chances and even in contention for the premiership, but after an OK win over Geelong, when they played one outstanding quarter, they have been completely outplayed by Adelaide and St Kilda in the past week.
Teams have worked them out. As one Bulldogs fan said to me over the weekend, "they are a one-trick pony".
They play an exciting and skilful brand of football, when if given space will chop up the Opposition, but Brisbane (preseason), the Crows and the Saints haven't allowed them any room to move, so skill error after skill error keeps occurring, caused by real and perceived pressure.
Their forward line when open is creative and wonderful to watch, with all those light weight quick runners running down the ground and finishing beautifully, but if the space is blocked up they panic and overuse the footy.
They need a Plan B and I'm surprised that Rodney Eade, who has a reputation as one of the best coaches in the league, hasn't come up with one.
That is obviously his task this week for the clash with Richmond, who are yet to win but have been pretty competitive in all three games.
Their coach Terry Wallace and assistants Brian Royal and Jade Rawlings know the Dogs well, so expect them to shut them down also and then isolate the tall forwards.
Too many Bulldog stars of last year have been found out, especially two of their best, Adam Cooney and Ryan Griffen.
Daniel Giansiracusa, Nathan Eagleton and Farran Ray must learn to get more contested possessions. This is an area the Dogs have been smashed in so far.
Scott West and Daniel Cross as usual try hard and get plenty of the footy, but their effectiveness is being reduced. They require more hard bodied onballers.
They have one quality forward in Brad Johnson, but he's just over six foot. They have no tall forwards to speak of and if the delivery in the forward line is pressure laced, they have no chance of scoring.
Former skipper Luke Darcy, who can play the role of a power forward and the creative Robert Murphy are miles off their best after knee reconstructions.
It's early days but after a two-year lay-off, Darcy is battling to keep up with the pace of the game.
It seems the clubs have plotted how to stop the Dogs and looking at the efforts of Adelaide and St Kilda, it appears to be pretty easy.
The Bulldogs are also hamstrung with replacements for the many out-of-form players, while gun Brisbane recruit Jason Akermanis, whose best footy might be behind him, is out injured. Anyway, he is an outside player and a quality finisher.
Chris Grant, one of their better key position players but also their oldest, won't be seen until at least the half way mark of the season, which will probably be too late.
There are big wraps on top 10 draft pick Tom Williams becoming a key defender, but he hasn't played a senior match yet due to a string of injuries. To expect him to make an immediate impact is folly.
There's not much else as the club's recruiting policy seems to concentrate on picking up light-weighted, quick and skilful ball carriers.
Other than Brian Harris the Bulldogs haven't recruited a decent key forward or defender for more than 10 years.
There is no way the Dogs will achieve a top four finish at the moment and they will be hard-pressed to make the eight.
If they don't it will be a wasted season, which is not uncommon for this club from Melbourne's western suburbs.
It's likely Eade's men will be one win and four losses when they take on the West Coast Eagles, who destroyed them in the finals last year with their strong bodies.
They will do so again, leaving the Bulldogs out of the picture and probably contemplating a bottom four performance.
Let's see if this club can throw away the mediocre tag and find a way of overcoming the opposition's stifling tactics, which are starting to work a treat.
It's the first time since he took over that Eade will be under pressure at the Whitten Oval.
He and the players have put together a game plan they believe in and has worked to a certain extent, but the good and strong teams have countered it.
What are the so-called 'new-look' Western Bulldogs made of?
As a Bulldogs supporter, taking my media hat off, I'm not optimistic they can succeed and change as they don't have enough cattle to significantly alter their style.
They've got a tough job in front of them.