We're ready: Bulldogs coach Rodney Eade

[Mantis]

We're ready: Bulldogs coach Rodney Eade

* Jon Ralph
* From: Herald Sun
* November 23, 2009 12:00AM

Premiership windows are back in vogue, and if you listen to the pundits, Rodney Eade's Western Bulldogs will next year be fast approaching high noon.

The evidence isn't hard to find: five players over 30; players taking pay cuts to squeeze in Jason Akermanis and Nathan Eagleton; a high-risk recruit in Barry Hall.

But dig a little deeper and you'll see the green shoots of regeneration are springing up at the same time the veterans continue to prosper.

Beyond the elder statesmen are a battle-hardened crew of hungry Bulldogs ready to break the club's premiership drought.

And behind them is a wave of kids, including Callan Ward, Ayce Cordy, Sam Reid and Andrejs Everitt, that will spearhead the next generation of prosperity.

Eade says he can have the best of both worlds.

He doesn't believe the Bulldogs will face a sudden drop when his Dad's Army moves on, and says there is a contingency plan for the next batch of retirements, too.

MISSED OPPORTUNITIES

Jon Ralph: Watched the prelim yet?

Rodney Eade: Not yet.

Too hard? It was only seven points.

Nah. We have plenty of time until we start, so I will do that at the appropriate time. There are some things to learn out of it. I thought we executed pretty well, apart from our kicking for goals.

There were a couple of things at the end when we were charging and St Kilda were hanging on, that we didn't execute our kicking patterns. There is no sense going over it. I will probably do it in the new year.

Any what-ifs about what might have happened if you had made the Grand Final?

Not really. It's hard to have what-ifs if you aren't there. Sitting back, it shows there isn't a lot between the top three sides.

How much? Maybe a goal or two. We can compete, but we weren't in the Grand Final, so it's not really about lost opportunities.

Two consecutive preliminary finals now, but there hasn't been much reward.

People ask me, 'How do you improve?' Apart from individuals, it's just about maturity. We played a couple of finals in 2006, and then 2008 was the unknown. In 2009 they had belief.

They are battle-hardened. They have a harder edge. They know what is required and I am pretty sure they are prepared to do all the hard work to get there.

Is your backline good enough? People criticise it, even though Dale Morris and Brian Lake were outstanding in the finals.

We held St Kilda to nine goals. We don't see a side that stretches us with height. Maybe they do with talent, but does anyone play three tall forwards?

I thought Morris did a great job on Nick Riewoldt. People look for a glass that's half-empty. I wouldn't have thought height was an issue for (our) defence. We have (Tom) Williams, too.

THE LIST

Jason Akermanis and Brad Johnson clearly deserved another year, but it's hard to maintain your form over 30, isn't it?

It is, but Aker was in last week and looked really fit. Last year he looked a bit podgy at this time of year. We had a time-trial this week and Johnno turned up and ran and he looks pretty good.

What Barry (Hall) will do will actually not so much just add to us, but he will take pressure off Johnson and (Mitch) Hahn and (Robert) Murphy.

There are plenty of doomsayers about your list. Have you done enough to recruit for the new era?

Yeah, we have. Our list five years ago was all oldies or all youngies. Now we have quite a lot of mid-tier players.

That group from 25 to 28 is quite solid. We know we will have to replace them in three to four years' time, so our recruiting has been directed around that area.

Have you just made it harder on yourself by postponing decisions on Aker and Nathan Eagleton?

You have the famed window of opportunity, but we have done it pretty well with (Scott) West and (Chris) Grant and (Luke) Darcy and (Rohan) Smith.

People said once they go, the Bulldogs are buggered. Well, they went out and we have still got better as a side.

Once Brad goes and a few others go, I believe with the kids we have got and the leadership we have got, it will be a reasonable, smooth transition. We won't drop down much.

Surely it can't be that seamless?

It will depend on injuries, but I think Brad is the one who we will miss. He's such a key component of the forward line.

We will probably have a couple go next year and then maybe one or two the year after. They won't all go at the same time.

It seems like this is the full tilt for the premiership. You have paid every cent of your salary cap and every cent of your marketing budget. Does it create expectation?

Most teams spend most of their money, don't they? So we aren't the lone ranger. We have paid 100 per cent of the salary cap for the last few years, it's just our marketing component hasn't been all spent.

It's $100,000 or $150,000, which we have spent this time, and I don't think it's now or never. Not at all.

THE PLAYERS

Does Lake put pressure on himself by holding out for big dollars? It dragged on and on.

Yeah, it did drag out, didn't it? Which was probably unfortunate in many ways, but from our point of view there is no pressure. Externally there might be, but that's out of our control to a degree.

Brian was disappointed he didn't finish in the top three in the best-and-fairest, but it was very close between third, fourth and fifth.

You say there is no more pressure, but if he's getting paid at that level, he needs to perform at that level.

You get yourself into trouble if you start assessing players on the money they get paid.

It clouds your judgment on how they are going. We want Brian to be as good as he can be as a defender and that might mean he doesn't finish in the top 10 in the best-and-fairest.

Whether you get paid two dollars or $2 million, you can't say they need to perform at a certain level. I don't think it's right.

Once he gets paid, money should be taken out of it. Just because he got a pay increase doesn't mean we expect more.

Can Tom Williams ever get his body right?

He's training well at the moment, as he always does . . . the more I talk about Tom, the more pressure gets put on him.

We think he has some real talent. The game he broke his foot against Brisbane in Round 20, he broke it in the first five minutes and played his best game for the year, so it shows he is mentally tough. He adds the extra dimension if he can stand up.

What about Jarrad Grant? High draft pick, but there are lots of question marks. Can he be the player you expect?

Oh yeah, for sure. He has got some real talent and a good attitude. Jarrad put pressure on himself because he was taken high in the draft (No. 5 in 2007).

He came out of the private school system, had osteitis pubis, hadn't had the training, and his body hasn't been able to adjust. He just needs more strength.

People said Barry Hall might stop his development. I think it's going to help younger players like him.

What can we expect of Robert Murphy next year when his knee seems dodgy?

He's good. Great. He played with pain the whole year and on a lot of injections last year and couldn't train much.

He has had a bit cut out of his patella and they found a cyst at the back of the tendon and drained it and he's the best he had felt for a while. He will start jogging in early December, but he should be right for the NAB Cup.

The Everitt saga over trade week was messy. What actually happened?

It was unfortunate in many ways, but I understood it. Ricky (Nixon) spoke to me and said, 'As a good manager, I have advised Andrejs I will look around for it (opportunities)', which was fine.

I don't think Andrejs was overly keen about it either, but he understood it. A few teams spoke to him.

We said he's a required player, but if there is a good deal we would look at it. So we are rapt he stayed.

But like any player, he has to work hard. We won't give him games on a plate. It's the same with Josh Hill, who missed out in the finals. He needs to come back with an attitude that he wants to tear the house down.

Adam Cooney mixed a little of the Brownlow blues with a pretty serious injury last season, but he came good late.

He had a reasonable year considering he played on needles most of the year. He has had a clean-up on his kneecap, but he's running.

Him and Murphy are two of our best five that didn't have great years by their standards. If we can get them pain-free, we expect a whole heap of improvement out of those two players.

ROCKET'S FUTURE

Your contract negotiations dragged on as long as Lake's. Why?

It was going to be done at the (split round), but they had spoken to me and said we will get it done but they would like me to talk to the footy committee about where I saw the club going and what we needed for resources.

I was happy to do that. Then a couple of people were away, and (president) David (Smorgon) was away, and then it got pushed back by four or five weeks. It was never any drama.

268 games as a coach and still no premiership. We rate you as a coach, but you still don't have a flag.

Is that right? I knew it would come up at some stage. How can I say it? (pause) It's not at the forefront of my mind that I have to win one.

It's about the group. I was fortunate to win four as a player and would certainly love to win one as coach, but I am down on the pecking order of priorities compared to other people.

It's all driven to help this group, and if it doesn't work out, it doesn't. I am not going to cry into my soup if it doesn't.

[EasternWest]

Go Rocket!

[comrade]

No Boumann-related questions? Ralph is a hack

[LostDoggy]

Just want it all to start!!!!!!

"this could be the start of something big" -Bart Simpson

[Mantis]

But like any player, he (Everitt) has to work hard. We won't give him games on a plate. It's the same with Josh Hill, who missed out in the finals. He needs to come back with an attitude that he wants to tear the house down.

Is this the little 'rocket' Hill needs to get him back on track knowing that he turned up to training last week 'underdone'?

[comrade]

Is this the little 'rocket' Hill needs to get him back on track knowing that he turned up to training last week 'underdone'?

Dropping Hill's name in response to a question that was solely related to Everitt is a not-so-subtle hint that Josh needs to lift his game.

[Bulldog Revolution]

Is this the little 'rocket' Hill needs to get him back on track knowing that he turned up to training last week 'underdone'?

I thought it was a delightful quote from Rocket

[AndrewP6]

Good honest insight again from Rocket. Really like his straightforward approach. Hope he's right re: the team not dropping away once the "old brigade" have departed. I'm not so confident, but he is in charge, after all.

[LostDoggy]

(It's all driven to help this group, and if it doesn't work out, it doesn't. I am not going to cry into my soup if it doesn't.)

I don't really that response from our coach. I would have like him to have said that he would be
very disappointed or something along that line.

Trying to keep the lid on.

[Bulldog Revolution]

Good honest insight again from Rocket. Really like his straightforward approach. Hope he's right re: the team not dropping away once the "old brigade" have departed. I'm not so confident, but he is in charge, after all.

The acid really needs to be put on our young players this summer

Griffen, Higgins, Ward, Everitt, Addison, Wood, Stack, Hill, Grant etc and many others need huge pre-seasons to really make the grade. Reid & Tiller are obviously also in that group but injured.

[LostDoggy]

Great read that, thanks for posting.