A tour de force from Mike Sheehan. Article of the year.
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Western Bulldogs coach Rodney Eade on Brian Lake
Mike Sheahan | April 11, 2009 12:00am
I DON'T think I have a whipping boy as such, but, if there is one, Brian is probably the player I give a bit of attention to.
He is a terrific person and he's obviously a terrific player; he just needs the cattle prod every now and then.
He just fluctuates a bit in his concentration, his attention to detail.
As a coach, you've got to find the buttons for each person. You wouldn't go that way with other players. You just know that Brian reacts in a very positive fashion.
He takes it on board and says, 'OK, I'm not concentrating'.
It's mainly when you have given him instructions about certain situations and he goes against them . . . and it's probably the 10th time it's happened.
You wake Brian up and he's fine. He moves on, no problems at all.
You can give him the biggest bake and then, two or three minutes later, he will come back to you with something funny.
I remember the day we played Hawthorn in Tassie last year. It was a pretty big game (Hawthorn was on top, the Bulldogs third).
It was still in the balance at three-quarter time and we were all pretty tense at the break and Brian comes up and says, 'Did you see my left-footer. Good one, wasn't it?'.
I just said, 'Shut up, Brian, will ya'.
This year in the NAB Cup game against Essendon, we chipped it back to Brian.
He decided to try this little boomerang kick round the corner. Straight to an Essendon bloke and they got a goal.
I didn't go off at the break, I just said, 'Brian, what were you doing?'.
He said, 'Yeah, I know, I know; it was wrong, wasn't it?'.
Then he started to try to explain the rationale behind the decision.
I just said, 'Brian, please'.
There's probably been a couple of 'Oh, Brian's this year, but no 'Oh, bloody Brian's'.
He's a terrific mark, he reads the play well, he's courageous, really strong, and he is quite a good kick.
My heart's only ever in my mouth with him when he wants to kick off one step.
He's terrific for this group; he's got a good sense of humour, and humour is a vital part of any sporting group when you're together so much of the time.
A lot of my directness to him has a humourous undertone. Players and staff will laugh and just say 'Brian again'.
I don't rip into him, that's too strong a term. I'm certainly on his case more than anyone.
It's more about, 'Brian, I'm sick of telling you a, b and c'.
We get on really well.
He'll walk past my office, just give me that little look of his and keep walking. The next time, he will throw in 'I'm good, thanks' and I haven't spoken to him.
Early in my time here, a lot of players were very frustrated with him.
They were concerned about his consistency of effort and, I suppose, professionalism.
He's become a very good player. He's got good pace and he's a very good kick on the run. He's extremely valuable because we haven't got a lot of tall defenders.
He's just got to go to another level now as a leader to be able to direct players and take charge down back because Dale Morris does most of that.
He's funny at team meetings. He doesn't get involved a lot and often looks like he's about to fall asleep.
I know after two minutes sometimes he's somewhere else. Looking at the ceiling, at the floor.
I'll ask him a question, and he'll have a smart answer, and I like that. Adam Cooney does that, too. It makes you laugh.
It's a tough environment and I like their humour.
If you make it intense all the time, it becomes a chore.
Brian Lake on Western Bulldogs coach Rodney Eade
Mike Sheahan | April 11, 2009 12:00am
I'VE got a saddle on my back, yeah. He rides me pretty hard.
Not really. There have been times when he's given me a pretty good cook, but I guess he knows what sort of person I am and that I can take it.
It keeps me on my toes. I know every time I make a mistake the coach is watching.
I like his humour and the fact he doesn't beat around the bush. That's good for me. I need that.
It's very easy to put it in cruise control and just roll through. That's one thing I can do, zone out every now and then, drift off.
The only time it's really got to me was the Collingwood game (2006) when Murph (Robert Murphy) did his knee.
'Rocket' mentioned that if I didn't fumble, Murph might not have done his knee.
It was a bit greasy that night. I fumbled the ball and it went behind me. Murph's taken it, Rocca's tackled him, bang, he's done his knee.
I thought, 'Geez, I've cost Murph a year of football'.
Normally a stuff-up might cost you a goal but when you do a stuff-up that might cost a teammate a season, it can be upsetting.
The good thing with Rocket is he doesn't hold grudges. In previous relationships with coaches, they might not speak to you for the next week after you've mucked up.
The only time he scares me when he's got lollies in his hand and he's about to abuse you.
He'll put 'em in his mouth and start letting them fly. You've got to beware of him around lollies.
I know he's on to me about the meetings. There's so many meetings these days. So much talk about midfield changes and forward line set-ups. Probably no need for me to really be concerned about that stuff.
He says 'Brian . . .' then, for the next 10-15 minutes, I'll just stare at him. Won't take my eyes off him.
I've never challenged him about anything he's said to me. With my personality, I like to assess things first before I speak. Like to think about it, ask myself, 'Is this the right way to say it?'.
When I do something wrong, like the attempted boomerang, you feel very embarrassed.
I knew straight away. I looked up to the box, put my hand up.
I think now he says, 'Brian knows'. Sometimes you just know by his eyes and you think, 'probably wasn't a good idea'.
I've never felt humiliated by anything he's said.
The funniest one was a game against Sydney a couple of years ago, when he gave me three separate cooks at halftime.
He had a go, moved on then remembered something else, came back did it again, and then he remembered something else. All the boys had a giggle.
The coach said in his press conference after the game, 'Brian didn't show up today'.
I had a bit of a laugh when there was a picture in the paper next day with the heading: 'Brian did rock up.'
