Beware the Bulldogs ... when they get their eye in

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/...14-p5adjq.html

As we approach round five, there have already been significant ebbs and flows in the season. The footy circus has been in full swing.

After a single game, Brett Ratten was under the pump, only for St Kilda to bounce back and sit inside the top four a few weeks later.

By round two, Collingwood were apparently September-bound in some parts - but we’ve since seen there’s plenty of work to be done.

Carlton were built up as a premiership fancy before that swift reality check against Gold Coast last weekend.

Then there’s the curious case of the Western Bulldogs.

Losing by Richmond and slumping to 1-3 is far from ideal and will certainly make reaching the top-four difficult.

Concerning the Dogs, it seems there are now as many non-believers as there are believers. But I am still very much a believer. What they do well, they do as well as anyone.

Yes, they are easy to score against at times, but right now their problems are all at the other end.

With the game on the line in the final quarter against the Blues in round two, they booted 2.7. Against Sydney a week later they should have won by more than they did.

Against the Tigers, 7.19 was never going to get it done. Poor goalkicking saps the confidence and energy of everyone.

Finishing the good work done further up the field provides an important “high” for players right across the ground. It’s the key defender being rewarded for his spoil, the on-baller for putting his head over it, or the wingman hitting their full-forward lace out.

Kicking goals provides a psychological advantage that’s almost immeasurable.

You’re not going to kick every goal, far from it, but lack of scoreboard pressure is keeping the Dogs’ opponents in games. Who knows how differently those games would have unfolded if they’d kicked straight early?

So, how do they fix it?

I’ve watched at close range some of the best kicks the game has seen in Tony Lockett and Jason Dunstall, and spoken with many others about their philosophies over the years.

All of them admit to having doubts. It’s the little person on your shoulder saying: “You’re going to miss! You’re going to miss!”

It’s an awareness of the stakes of a close game or a final. It’s pressure. But there are ways that the best players keep those mental demons at bay when it matters most.

It starts with a sharp focus at training.

After every kick a player should be analysing what they’ve done well and what they haven’t. Good ball drop, tick. Bent leg, cross, and so on.

When they evaluate on the run, players should be able to work out what has gone wrong with every miss.

Of course, not every issue is technical. But while negative thoughts might creep in, you can also harness them.

It might sound simple, but what worked for me was changing my thought pattern from “better not miss this one” to “I will not miss this one”.

You simply can’t let negative thoughts build.

On the training track, visualisation can be an important tool in simulating pressure moments in games.

Arden Street in the ’90s was a far cry from the coliseum that is the MCG, but I would often mentally place myself at the ’G when goalkicking. I would visualise a heaving crowd, and imagine every kick was the last kick of the game.

That would be part of my routine, both before and after training, and if I thought I was struggling I’d grab a mate and head down to the local oval on a day off for a few shots.

It mightn’t be what the sports scientists want, but if those extra hours make a difference ... It’s difficult to think of anything more crucial to peak performance and winning.

Repetition is the key. Repetition produces confidence in knowing how to deliver when your head might be scrambled, or you’re fatigued.

Fatigue is often said to affect modern goalkicking, but it’s a convenient excuse. Practice under fatigue. Simulate game conditions.

Footy clubs are adamant they have enough goalkicking in their programs, but I’m still not convinced.

It seems the modern player puts a lot of time into kicking around corners and shots from the boundary because they’ve become incredibly proficient at these kicks in recent years.

Are the required time, focus and resources being placed into set-shot, drop-punt goalkicking? Watching last year’s Coleman medallist Harry McKay snap from about 50 metres against the Suns just didn’t sit right.

I think kicking around corners gives players an out, a mental excuse as if that kick is somehow harder than a standard drop punt.

A number of games this year already have been decided by critical goalkicking moments, so clearly, it’s worth a greater focus.

I’m sure the Dogs haven’t ignored it behind closed doors, and while goalkicking is not an overnight fix, I’m certainly not writing off Luke Beveridge’s men yet.