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TAKE the game on. That's the bold message to the young Western Bulldogs team against the powerhouse Geelong outfit tomorrow night.
But Bulldogs' coach Brendan McCartney warned that any ultra-positive approach must be tempered by the need to defend against the unbeaten Cats at Etihad Stadium.
"We may have to look at subtly doing things a little bit different and still have the courage to be prepared to move the ball and use the ball,'' McCartney said before training today.
"Part of that is not to always go crazy-fast with the ball, but at the same time, it's worse to go slow and safe with the ball. There's got to be a combination.
"The best teams with the ball generally handle what's in front of them. When teams defend you really well, the obvious option is to kick it to a contest. If they give you a little time and space, then you should take that too.
"We are encouraging them every week, and we do drills every week, to encourage people to have the confidence to shift the ball into space and move it a bit quicker.
"Some times young people, under high pressure and fatigue and the game's going really fast, in their head forget that.
"At the moment, as with times last year, we've got a lot of those players. There will be contests where you think 'Gee, they've actually done better than they probably should've with the opponent they're against'. And probably the ones, when the game gets hot, they respond to it.
"There's no doubt some of our younger players will have patches in the game where it's getting away. It's how well they get themselves back.
"That's almost the definition of maturity. In any job, if you have a bad minute, you don't let it become a bad day or week. You can correct it and they've got to learn to do that. And, just as important, they've got to learn to help each other do it.''
The Dogs have been ravaged by injuries, with Ryan Griffen (shoulder) and Daniel Giansiracusa (shoulder) this week joining the casualty list.
McCartney, a former assistant coach at Geelong, has used Cats premiership performers and Dogs' specialist coaches Matthew Scarlett and Cameron Mooney to help prepare his injury-depleted team for the massive task.
"We understand how they play, no different to any other club, and the two boys who were champions down there have gone about the work with our young forwards and defenders this week just to help prepare them for people they may know a little more about. That's the only difference,'' he said.
"What we're really clear is not burdening our players with too much information before a game. They need enough preparation to know wherever there's a stoppage, to have a very clear idea of what their role is and understand we defend better when we do these things and also move the ball better when we do certain things.''
McCartney said he was trying to incorporate components of Geelong's sustained success into his long-term plans, while preserving the Western Bulldogs' identity.
"We're not Geelong. We're the Western Bulldogs, but you can't ignore patience and clear stability and developing a brand of footy where the harder the game is, the more it stands up and doesn't dissolve.
"And to drive that style, you need certain types of people and players. But we're our own entity and we'll develop long-term great players,'' he said.
"It's funny, people who have worked in that club are going to have great respect for that club because what was built down there wasn't just one or two people. It was a group of fantastic people who worked together for a long time. And it did take a long time.
"We've got to remember it took that club six or seven years of patient building and clear philosophy to get to where they wanted to be. And they've been remarkably good at sustaining it and that's probably a bigger accolade. They have pioneered and led the way how to do it over a long period of time.''
TAKE the game on. That's the bold message to the young Western Bulldogs team against the powerhouse Geelong outfit tomorrow night.
But Bulldogs' coach Brendan McCartney warned that any ultra-positive approach must be tempered by the need to defend against the unbeaten Cats at Etihad Stadium.
"We may have to look at subtly doing things a little bit different and still have the courage to be prepared to move the ball and use the ball,'' McCartney said before training today.
"Part of that is not to always go crazy-fast with the ball, but at the same time, it's worse to go slow and safe with the ball. There's got to be a combination.
"The best teams with the ball generally handle what's in front of them. When teams defend you really well, the obvious option is to kick it to a contest. If they give you a little time and space, then you should take that too.
"We are encouraging them every week, and we do drills every week, to encourage people to have the confidence to shift the ball into space and move it a bit quicker.
"Some times young people, under high pressure and fatigue and the game's going really fast, in their head forget that.
"At the moment, as with times last year, we've got a lot of those players. There will be contests where you think 'Gee, they've actually done better than they probably should've with the opponent they're against'. And probably the ones, when the game gets hot, they respond to it.
"There's no doubt some of our younger players will have patches in the game where it's getting away. It's how well they get themselves back.
"That's almost the definition of maturity. In any job, if you have a bad minute, you don't let it become a bad day or week. You can correct it and they've got to learn to do that. And, just as important, they've got to learn to help each other do it.''
The Dogs have been ravaged by injuries, with Ryan Griffen (shoulder) and Daniel Giansiracusa (shoulder) this week joining the casualty list.
McCartney, a former assistant coach at Geelong, has used Cats premiership performers and Dogs' specialist coaches Matthew Scarlett and Cameron Mooney to help prepare his injury-depleted team for the massive task.
"We understand how they play, no different to any other club, and the two boys who were champions down there have gone about the work with our young forwards and defenders this week just to help prepare them for people they may know a little more about. That's the only difference,'' he said.
"What we're really clear is not burdening our players with too much information before a game. They need enough preparation to know wherever there's a stoppage, to have a very clear idea of what their role is and understand we defend better when we do these things and also move the ball better when we do certain things.''
McCartney said he was trying to incorporate components of Geelong's sustained success into his long-term plans, while preserving the Western Bulldogs' identity.
"We're not Geelong. We're the Western Bulldogs, but you can't ignore patience and clear stability and developing a brand of footy where the harder the game is, the more it stands up and doesn't dissolve.
"And to drive that style, you need certain types of people and players. But we're our own entity and we'll develop long-term great players,'' he said.
"It's funny, people who have worked in that club are going to have great respect for that club because what was built down there wasn't just one or two people. It was a group of fantastic people who worked together for a long time. And it did take a long time.
"We've got to remember it took that club six or seven years of patient building and clear philosophy to get to where they wanted to be. And they've been remarkably good at sustaining it and that's probably a bigger accolade. They have pioneered and led the way how to do it over a long period of time.''
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