Dogs flew west and took eye off ball

Hmmmmm interesting.....

Dogs flew west and took eye off ball
The Age
Rohan Connolly | May 7, 2009

WESTERN Bulldogs coach Rodney Eade has conceded that his team's concentration on recovering from two early road trips to Perth may have come at the expense of its skill level.

The Bulldogs, struggling at 3-3 having lost their past three games and facing another uphill battle against Adelaide at AAMI Stadium on Sunday, have been uncharacteristically sloppy with the football in 2009.

While Eade maintains he is happy with his side's physical effort, he has acknowledged that its execution has left a lot to be desired. And he admitted yesterday that a lack of ball work on the training track might have been a factor.

"I think our first four or five weeks was all about recovery, so we need to touch the balls a bit more often," he said. "Our skill levels have been down. Our 'clangers' are the most in the competition, which has normally been a strength. We were fourth best in the comp last year I think, and we're last this year.

"Obviously it's a concentration thing. Whether the first four or five weeks we didn't touch the balls enough and didn't practise enough, whether that's dropped away … I think at the weekend it was mainly due to the opposition (St Kilda) pressure; that was very good."

The Bulldogs defeated Fremantle at Subiaco in round one and managed to eke out a narrow victory over North Melbourne on one day's less preparation the following Sunday. But they were well beaten by West Coast in Perth in round four and have since lost another two games, to Carlton and the Saints at their usually happy home of Etihad Stadium.

Adelaide, while also 3-3, represents a significant hurdle for the Bulldogs, who have lost nine of their past 12 clashes with the Crows, and their past seven straight at AAMI Stadium. Their most recent away win against the Crows was in 2001.

The decline of the Bulldogs' skills has had a sharper impact on Eade's team than the toll it might have taken on their rivals, with an undersized forward structure requiring quicker and cleaner ball movement.

"The fact we haven't got any tall forwards means we can't afford to play a slow game," Eade said.

"We just haven't got a marking target, so you've got to play to the strengths you've got … our game revolves around being able to hit some targets, and at this stage we're missing them."

Eade conceded that there were few selection alternatives in attack, with Scott Welsh yet to play a game this season because of a back injury, and due to return to football this weekend with Williamstown in the VFL.

The Dogs have thrown regular full-back Brian Lake forward at stages of their past two defeats in order to find a marking presence.

Eade said the form of Daniel Giansiracusa, who has been a target for some flak from Bulldog fans over the past few weeks, was "OK without being great".

But he nominated the Bulldog runner as one of a group of senior players whose performances so far this season had fallen short.

"Gia's first game was terrific," Eade said.

"Obviously, he's tapered off in the last three or four weeks.

"I think probably he's in that group of players in that 150-game bracket — (Mitch) Hahn, Gia, (Lindsay) Gilbee, (Ryan) Hargrave, Lake, those sorts of players who have been around quite a while now, and who probably haven't reached their full capabilities at this stage."

But Eade continues to take solace from his team's capacity to at least make a contest, which he believes means a revival is around the corner.

"I think from a pleasing point of view, we didn't play very well (last Sunday) but hung in there, and I think if you can do that and certainly put your bodies in, that gives you a good foundation to build on," he said.

Adelaide has labelled Sunday's clash with the Bulldogs as a "statement game" after the ignominy of a comprehensive defeat by Port Adelaide.

The Crows' midfield, ruck and overall game plan were questioned during the 26-point loss, which coach Neil Craig described as the club's worst effort of the season, leaving it at 3-3.

Adelaide midfielder Brent Reilly said that Sunday was going to be all about proving that the Crows were not a team of midfield lightweights.

I don't cop this one.

In the pre-season when we made 31 kicking errors against the Saints it was said that we were in a heavy phase of fitness training and as such we hadn't been practicing our skills enough. It was reported that in the lead up to the season proper a heavy focus would be placed on our skills to ensure that we were sharp come round 1. Well it worked as we were as 'sharp' as any team in the competition after a clean & crisp performance against Freo.

I now read that we dropped the ball so to speak and didn't work enough on our skills and surprise, surprise we start using the ball like an under 12's team.

I thought we would have learnt our lesson the first time around when the games didn't mean as much as they do now.

Indeed, the hard-arse in me wants to know why we're starting to sounds like a team that can't walk and chew gum at the same time...

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Originally Posted by Rocket Science

Indeed, the hard-arse in me wants to know why we're starting to sounds like a team that can't walk and chew gum at the same time...

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I suppose Eade is trying to stay positive through some spin?

I don't want to say it...infact it disturbs me to say it...but as I read the piece I couldn't help myself thinking of Wallace's deflective shtick.

What else can he do I suppose?...It's tough in the media for a coach when his team's losing.

I've never really cared what Rocket says in front of the cameras because it is rarely of genuine interest - everything he says is guarded and contains nothing but shades of grey. And that is fine with me.

It would only concern me if Rocket went down the Wallace path and started to make ill-advised short-term decisions on the welfare of senior players purely because he is in the last year of a contract and is in survival mode. We aren't anywhere near that stage IMO, but later in the year if immediate results started to totally dictate the coach's mindset and over-rode other critically important factors like experienced player welfare and young player development, that's when I'll start worrying.

FWIW, I think Rocket has done an excellent job nurturing and developing the players on our list since 2005 - have a look how many players drafted between 1999-2004 have significantly developed and improved under Rocket, with some of these players staring football oblivion in the face when he arrived. He flat out resisted to flood in great numbers and we've since seen the benefits of this to our defensive core, which is now the most stable part of our on-field structure. We've also significantly developed our inside midfield clearance work, which will only stand us in good stead come September when the heat goes up 10-20% in games. We definitely need some tweaking here and there, but if your senior 10-12 players are not performing to the expected level, there's not a hell of a lot that the coach's box can do to change the course of games.

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Originally Posted by Rocket Science

I don't want to say it...infact it disturbs me to say it...but as I read the piece I couldn't help myself thinking of Wallace's deflective shtick.

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It's ok RS, you are not alone the same thought ran through my head also...hence the Hmmmmm at the beginning of the article. We need a few good wins to keep the wolves at bay! :)

Can't argue with much of that, and certainly not seeking to generate debate about Eade's record with us or his future tenure. I'm an unadulterated fan.