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Western Bulldogs Senior Coach Brendan McCartney is not just a developer of players - he is a developer of people.
From the moment he arrived at Whitten Oval, McCartney has been focused not only on playing a good brand of football but also helping build a strong culture of teamwork around the footy club.
A true believer of a team orientated approach, McCartney puts his faith in decent individuals - people willing to work hard, put their head over the ball and help out their teammates.
McCartney highlights that a lot of the emerging talent on the Bulldogs list fulfil that criteria as opposed to just showing talent on the footy field.
“I urge a little bit of patience and I urge… don’t look at young forwards in terms of what they don’t do, look at what they are trying to do,” McCartney told Triple M Radio.
“Find out a little about their character and personality, how driven and how ambitious they are, how much they want to be better at the game and learn and listen and then make some assumptions.”
The ambition and drive of these young men combined with their skills and abilities out on the track is what buoys McCartney’s optimism and solidifies in his mind that the Bulldogs are on the rise.
“The reason I am optimistic with some of those kids is you just see them do things at games and in training and go ‘that is not average, that is really, really, really good play’ but then it disappears for five minutes because they are playing on blokes that are a bit more experienced,” he said.
McCartney says a prime example is forward Jarrad Grant, setting him the challenge repeatedly coming back into the contest - a concept Grant was foreign to.
“There is one thing we have worked on with Jarrad and I have done edits with him every week myself, it is just to come back into the contest and when the ball lands and bounces actually come back to the ball,” he said.
“The measuring stick for him is when the ball is in dispute I need to see him back around the ball and back in the contest area.
“That will get him his tackles and that will get him his ground balls and that will get him involved in the game.”
The result of their hard work is beginning to emerge - 10 of Grant’s 13 disposals against North Melbourne were contested as were two of his three marks.
So far this year Grant has also laid 22 tackles, more than half of the total tackles he laid in the entire 2011 season.
Further proving Grant’s growth as a team player, in six games he has amassed 11 one percenters (denoting a defensive act such as a block, bump, shepherd or smother) as opposed to only contributing 15 last year.
Another player McCartney iskeeping a close eye on is Shaun Higgins who he believes can be a mentor in the forward line and has the talent to be a game breaker if he does the small things well.
“One thing is Shaun Higgins is a fantastic person and this Club means a lot to him and how we progress as a Club is important to him - he is very much a part of what we do,” McCartney said.
“I have known Shaun as a person for a long time since he was a little boy, I played footy with his dad and have seen him grow into a beauty.
“He is adding stronger contests to his game, he is helping the young forward group learn more about the game and he is setting the forward line up.
McCartney says Higgins must take the pressure off himself to be the match winner and instead focus on doing the little things well.
“It is probably resetting for Shaun how he wants to be seen and understanding that he doesn’t have to be the match winner, he doesn’t have to go into games and tear the game apart because he has enough talent to do it if he does the little things well,” McCartney said.
The development of players and the development of people takes time but McCartney is well on the way.
Western Bulldogs Senior Coach Brendan McCartney is not just a developer of players - he is a developer of people.
From the moment he arrived at Whitten Oval, McCartney has been focused not only on playing a good brand of football but also helping build a strong culture of teamwork around the footy club.
A true believer of a team orientated approach, McCartney puts his faith in decent individuals - people willing to work hard, put their head over the ball and help out their teammates.
McCartney highlights that a lot of the emerging talent on the Bulldogs list fulfil that criteria as opposed to just showing talent on the footy field.
“I urge a little bit of patience and I urge… don’t look at young forwards in terms of what they don’t do, look at what they are trying to do,” McCartney told Triple M Radio.
“Find out a little about their character and personality, how driven and how ambitious they are, how much they want to be better at the game and learn and listen and then make some assumptions.”
The ambition and drive of these young men combined with their skills and abilities out on the track is what buoys McCartney’s optimism and solidifies in his mind that the Bulldogs are on the rise.
“The reason I am optimistic with some of those kids is you just see them do things at games and in training and go ‘that is not average, that is really, really, really good play’ but then it disappears for five minutes because they are playing on blokes that are a bit more experienced,” he said.
McCartney says a prime example is forward Jarrad Grant, setting him the challenge repeatedly coming back into the contest - a concept Grant was foreign to.
“There is one thing we have worked on with Jarrad and I have done edits with him every week myself, it is just to come back into the contest and when the ball lands and bounces actually come back to the ball,” he said.
“The measuring stick for him is when the ball is in dispute I need to see him back around the ball and back in the contest area.
“That will get him his tackles and that will get him his ground balls and that will get him involved in the game.”
The result of their hard work is beginning to emerge - 10 of Grant’s 13 disposals against North Melbourne were contested as were two of his three marks.
So far this year Grant has also laid 22 tackles, more than half of the total tackles he laid in the entire 2011 season.
Further proving Grant’s growth as a team player, in six games he has amassed 11 one percenters (denoting a defensive act such as a block, bump, shepherd or smother) as opposed to only contributing 15 last year.
Another player McCartney iskeeping a close eye on is Shaun Higgins who he believes can be a mentor in the forward line and has the talent to be a game breaker if he does the small things well.
“One thing is Shaun Higgins is a fantastic person and this Club means a lot to him and how we progress as a Club is important to him - he is very much a part of what we do,” McCartney said.
“I have known Shaun as a person for a long time since he was a little boy, I played footy with his dad and have seen him grow into a beauty.
“He is adding stronger contests to his game, he is helping the young forward group learn more about the game and he is setting the forward line up.
McCartney says Higgins must take the pressure off himself to be the match winner and instead focus on doing the little things well.
“It is probably resetting for Shaun how he wants to be seen and understanding that he doesn’t have to be the match winner, he doesn’t have to go into games and tear the game apart because he has enough talent to do it if he does the little things well,” McCartney said.
The development of players and the development of people takes time but McCartney is well on the way.
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