Inside the Pack

[Remi Moses]

Think it's way to early to have BMac up there with some very good coaches at our club.
I look at what he inherited and signs of improvement in playing style and individual players.
He inherited an awful list in rapid decline, and I backed him because I thought it was an easy answer blaming him. The playing style improved markedly , and more players than not have improved under his stewardship. But we still finished 15th and have a long way to go yet.

[divvydan]

Episode 7 is out now http://www.westernbulldogs.com.au/bu.../insidethepack

[LostDoggy]

I've started to pat BMac on the back due to the consistent message and the improved performance on the field in the second half of the year.

I'm not yet ready to start putting his style ahead of the likes of Walls, Eade, Matthews et al. just yet.

Two of those three are premiership coaches, while one of them took our club from almost the most hapless position it has been in, over recent times and instilled within the players enough belief and teachings to figure in three preliminary finals in a row. If you think all of that was achieved by these coaches by only demonstrating the respective flaws reported of them you are kidding yourselves.

Yes, they had talent at their disposal, yes they had good leadership within their groups and probably some good staff to support them. But, they also knew their shit more than most others when it came to the strategy and practicalities of the game.

You get some good things with coaches, and you get some bad. None of them are perfect, some are just more effective than others.

I'm talking about BMac's people management skills, not his premiership credentials.

[jeemak]

I'm talking about BMac's people management skills, not his premiership credentials.

Appreciate that. I guess what I'm trying to point out is that it's easy for the media to paint people like Eade, Matthews and Walls as people who couldn't manage people effectively (or as well as Bmac) who just used the stick instead of the carrot. But that's bullshit.

Some people from some clubs think that was the case with them, though others from successful clubs would tell it differently.

You don't become a premiership coach without gaining the trust and respect from your playing group. You don't become a reasonable coach without gaining trust and respect from your playing group unless your playing group is sublimely talented and can do it by themselves. This rarely, if ever, happens.

Bmac's people management style is working very well for us at the moment, as we can see the results on the field and from what the players are saying. There is also continuity in the message he is presenting which is great.

I'm hopeful, but I'm yet to be convinced his player management style is any better or any worse than any other coach in the league at present, or any of the more successful coaches we've had as a club. What I am convinced by, is his ability to maintain a solid message and keep the club on point. Which is a huge win (until we start losing).

We have a long road ahead of us. I'm glad we gave Bmac an extension, as I actually think he can get us to where we need to be.

[Bulldog Joe]

Appreciate that. I guess what I'm trying to point out is that it's easy for the media to paint people like Eade, Matthews and Walls as people who couldn't manage people effectively (or as well as Bmac) who just used the stick instead of the carrot. But that's bullshit.

Some people from some clubs think that was the case with them, though others from successful clubs would tell it differently.

You don't become a premiership coach without gaining the trust and respect from your playing group. You don't become a reasonable coach without gaining trust and respect from your playing group unless your playing group is sublimely talented and can do it by themselves. This rarely, if ever, happens.
Bmac's people management style is working very well for us at the moment, as we can see the results on the field and from what the players are saying. There is also continuity in the message he is presenting which is great.

I'm hopeful, but I'm yet to be convinced his player management style is any better or any worse than any other coach in the league at present, or any of the more successful coaches we've had as a club. What I am convinced by, is his ability to maintain a solid message and keep the club on point. Which is a huge win (until we start losing).

We have a long road ahead of us. I'm glad we gave Bmac an extension, as I actually think he can get us to where we need to be.

While, as always, I respect your comments and opinions, I just have to disagree with the bolded part.

In the modern game it may no longer be possible, but I am sure there are plenty of instances in the past where the playing group performed despite poor relationships with the coach.

I am pretty confident that Hawthorn in 1991 won the flag despite there being no trust and respect for the coach.

[ledge]

I think the game has changed as well as the so called "coach" he is more a manager of all his coaches and just tells them what and how he wants the team to develop, that way he spends more time watching and checking the players are in the right head space and what players he thinks fit his plan mentally and physically, for sure he steps in to the old coaching style at times but it's different now.