A Message From Brendan McCartney

[bornadog]

Link (http://www.westernbulldogs.com.au/member%20message%20from%20brendan%20mccartney/tabid/18836/default.aspx)

Dear Member, ( and I hope you are one)

It was a hard day’s work at Etihad Stadium on Sunday — predominantly because we played a high quality opponent in West Coast.

They were able to mark the ball in their forward line and put a lot of pressure on our defence.

We were pleased with our contested ball and our ability to win clearances — both areas have been consistently good throughout the pre-season.

This morning we have already identified a couple of things that we will work with the players in a very positive and educational manner and we are confident that we will see some improvement. There will not be any major changes to the way that we play but rather implementing what we have worked on all summer a little better.

I think yesterday provided a lot of learning experiences for us, as did the games against Geelong, Carlton and Kangaroos through the pre-season.

The thing that I am so optimistic about is we had eight players out there yesterday who had played 20 games or less and they all stood up physically and handled the stress mentally — that is a positive sign for our future.

We also have three or four players who are still a little under done, getting up to full fitness and we are confident that we will get them there in the next two weeks.

We know we have a challenge in front of us again this week when we face the Adelaide Crows on their home turf.

They are a team who are playing with a lot of confidence and seem to be enjoying their new Coach and playing together.

As a coaching group and a group of players we are very keen to jump into next weekend and have a really good go at it.



Sincerely,


Brendan McCartney

[ledge]

Its all positive but the end worrys me a little.
Have a really good go at it, seems to mean we dont think we will win but will give it a go.

[Maddog37]

Maybe that is just your psyche Ledge. We interpret according to our own leanings.......

[LostDoggy]

Thanks Mr M for telling us probably what we already know , there is no point asking for more details Mr M plays his cards pretty close to chest , the midfield structure will stay the same and the defense and forward line will have one or two changes

The Bulldogs faithful are happy with the first 2 1/2 quarters , just not that enthusiastic with the fade out at the end and the under fire defense with no Plan B or C

.

[ledge]

Maybe that is just your psyche Ledge. We interpret according to our own leanings.......

whats your psyche on it?

[Maddog37]

A bit like West Dog. He is just saying what we want to hear although I am sure he is sincere. I cannot imagine him making major changes unless people are not complying with his ground rules. He will give players enough rope to hang themselves.

I am not even sure he is measuring by wins and losses at this stage as strange as that seems.

[BulldogBelle]

Lake, Cooney and Hargrave all underdone

Missing class without Griffin

Missing outside runners in Sherman, Tutt, Djerrkura and perhaps Veszpremi

Missing 1st choice defenders in Morris and Williams

We will get better as the season progresses - hopefully our skill execution will improve as the season progresses

McCartney and the team need to stay positive

[AndrewP6]

Lake, Cooney and Hargrave all underdone

Missing class without Griffin

Missing outside runners in Sherman, Tutt, Djerrkura and perhaps Veszpremi

Missing 1st choice defenders in Morris and Williams

We will get better as the season progresses - hopefully our skill execution will improve as the season progresses

And Griffen.

[Mantis]

We will get better as the season progresses - hopefully our skill execution will improve as the season progresses



While it's great (well not really) that we focussed our energies on our contested footy over the pre-season, but our ability to use the ball effectively has let us down big time in the past and I can't see it simply improving through the season.... It needs to be a big focus in our recruiting and player development for at least the next 2 or 3 years.

[Bulldog Revolution]

The Bulldogs faithful are happy with the first 2 1/2 quarters , just not that enthusiastic with the fade out at the end and the under fire defense with no Plan B or C

.

I think Plan A was to kick goals in the third quarter and when we missed it didn't really matter what Plan B or C were



While it's great (well not really) that we focussed our energies on our contested footy over the pre-season, but our ability to use the ball effectively has let us down big time in the past and I can't see it simply improving through the season.... It needs to be a big focus in our recruiting and player development for at least the next 2 or 3 years.

McCartney has commented he wants to build our game from the inside out, and I don't have a problem with that, but the run, and carry of our team/list is a concern.

Our failure to cut deeper over the last few years has effected this, but I agree it needs to be a major focus of recruiting at the end of 2012.

[always right]

While it's great (well not really) that we focussed our energies on our contested footy over the pre-season, but our ability to use the ball effectively has let us down big time in the past and I can't see it simply improving through the season.... It needs to be a big focus in our recruiting and player development for at least the next 2 or 3 years.

Agree...but it won't hurt if we can get players with kicking skills like Griffen and Tutt into the team playing well.

[Mantis]

Agree...but it won't hurt if we can get players with kicking skills like Griffen and Tutt into the team playing well.

Griffen is a proven performer and will help no doubt in many areas, but his field kicking isn't elite.

Tutt has played one good game against a team that was as bad as any over the past 10 years... While he looks a nice kick he has to prove that he can consistently play at the level required before we look to him for help.

[bornadog]

Missing outside runners in Sherman, Tutt, Djerrkura and perhaps Veszpremi

Ves is not proven at AFL level, so I wouldn't be banking on him and Tutt has a long way to go.

[Ghost Dog]

A bit like West Dog. He is just saying what we want to hear although I am sure he is sincere. I cannot imagine him making major changes unless people are not complying with his ground rules. He will give players enough rope to hang themselves.

I am not even sure he is measuring by wins and losses at this stage as strange as that seems.

Smorgon is greatly concerned about our membership retention figures. Together they have decided to be a bit proactive about it I guess.

[Mofra]

The Bulldogs faithful are happy with the first 2 1/2 quarters , just not that enthusiastic with the fade out at the end and the under fire defense with no Plan B or C
It was our Plan B that was the problem - we put a spare man in defence (Higgins) that robbed us of run and they cut us up in the 3rd quarter because of it.

[DragzLS1]

It was our Plan B that was the problem - we put a spare man in defence (Higgins) that robbed us of run and they cut us up in the 3rd quarter because of it.

That plan did worked for the first 10minutes.

After we missed our chance to bring the game back (maybe even take the lead) the momentum shifted back west coasts way.

Lets put this game behind us. The season starts NOW!

[ledge]

I put the loss down to silly misses at goal, 4 at least which brings it back to 26 points and how many of those were direct turnarounds ? 2 or 3?
That brings it back to quite a close game,bring with it momentum, confidence etc and who knows.
50 points wasnt a good indication in my opinion.

[Cyberdoggie]

It was our Plan B that was the problem - we put a spare man in defence (Higgins) that robbed us of run and they cut us up in the 3rd quarter because of it.

Yeah i was bothered by a couple of things,

1. Picken on Kerr and no one tagging Priddis
2. Kennedy tearing Markovic a new one, Other talls with uneven matchups
3. Ruckmen getting smashed by Natanui's leap. It took almost half a game for them to realize if you try and out jump him he just jumps into you and gets and even bigger leap.

After listening to the coach's press conference i can understand his point on Markovic. Fine, don't shoot him down by moving him but give him some support. Yes there are other big men down there but Kennedy is the only one kicking goals so tag team him when applicable. We really lacked some leadership in defence i thought. Lake played like it was his first game and he wasn't a veteren taking charge.

How obvious was it that cox or natanui would get the tap, it would fall in priddis's hands and he would offload it to the others! I know his work is done very quickly but i think you just have to put someone on him to at least try and put pressure on his disposals. For me there was no point in tagging Kerr as we were getting smashed in the middle anyway, you might as well go for the heart of the engine room, not one of the limbs.

Also our ruckmen weren't too bright in their methods on Natanui. The guy loves it when you try and out jump him because he just jumps higher, then gets a second spring off his opponent and wins easily. You have to make contact with him before he jumps higher than you best case scenario, if not then let him jump first then jump later to make contact with him, if you jump the same time you lose, easy. If you are unlucky and infringe then so be it at least he would be kicking it after he gets up off the deck and get back on the mark, and it doesn't come flying out via Priddis and co.

Anyway that's what annoyed me in particular about our coaching moves.

I also don't like letters like this from the coach after one game, i know people are unhappy and member numbers aren't high but he shouldn't have to provide written excuses to try and appease supporters every week. I don't think he would have wanted to do it himself, which means someone has suggested it and that also bothers me. I want to be confident that he is running the show and not a puppet on a string.

[Ozza]

Yeah i was bothered by a couple of things,

1. Picken on Kerr and no one tagging Priddis
2. Kennedy tearing Markovic a new one, Other talls with uneven matchups
3. Ruckmen getting smashed by Natanui's leap. It took almost half a game for them to realize if you try and out jump him he just jumps into you and gets and even bigger leap.



1. How many blokes should we have tagging? We were going one short at the centre bounce stoppages as it was with Picken being defensive on Kerr. Boyd was 'head to head' with Priddis - and despite Boyd getting more footy - he didn't impact more on the game.

3. How would you suggest the Ruckman handle Natanui then? With the centre bounce ruck circle it makes it pretty hard to stop a freak like Natanui who can jump out of his skin.

[mighty_west]

Like the fact McCartney is open and transparent, us all "experts" watch and read the game intimatly enough to kinow what's going on, so it's definatly not ground breaking, but non the less there's not much more the coach can put out there.

[SlimPickens]

After listening to the coach's press conference i can understand his point on Markovic. Fine, don't shoot him down by moving him but give him some support. Yes there are other big men down there but Kennedy is the only one kicking goals so tag team him when applicable. We really lacked some leadership in defence i thought. Lake played like it was his first game and he wasn't a veteren taking charge.

WCE did incredibly well on clearing space for Kennedy. Decoy Lynch did very well at dragging Lake, Hargrave out of the way to give Kennedy space to work in to. Our defensive unit needs a little bit of time to sort itself out. Lake and Marko have played very little football together.

[ledge]

Yeah i was bothered by a couple of things,

I also don't like letters like this from the coach after one game, i know people are unhappy and member numbers aren't high but he shouldn't have to provide written excuses to try and appease supporters every week. I don't think he would have wanted to do it himself, which means someone has suggested it and that also bothers me. I want to be confident that he is running the show and not a puppet on a string.

Maybe he intends to do it every game, with teams now doing their own footy show we are maybe going along another line as in a letter from the coach, its more personal and from the man who is running the players.

[Greystache]

Maybe he intends to do it every game, with teams now doing their own footy show we are maybe going along another line as in a letter from the coach, its more personal and from the man who is running the players.

That's my expectation, and to be honest I quite like it.

Although I didn't get it, I might need to look at my contact details.

[Cyberdoggie]

1. How many blokes should we have tagging? We were going one short at the centre bounce stoppages as it was with Picken being defensive on Kerr. Boyd was 'head to head' with Priddis - and despite Boyd getting more footy - he didn't impact more on the game.

3. How would you suggest the Ruckman handle Natanui then? With the centre bounce ruck circle it makes it pretty hard to stop a freak like Natanui who can jump out of his skin.

If you read my post all the way i suggest how you handle Natanui.
I'm not saying it's easy but that's the approach you need to take for best results. To Minson and Rougheads credit they started to do that as the game went on but it was like a broken record at the start, and we were very slow to react.


I don't suggest we have everyone tagging, my point was that we were tagging kerr and not priddis. Forget kerr, he hasn't been an elite footballer for a while now. Priddis is the engine room and he smashed us last time we played them and he was a major factor again. If we were able to apply a bit more pressure on Priddis then perhaps the ball wouldn't of got down there as easily and Kennedy wouldn't have had such a field day.
West coast were just getting goals far too easily from center bounces and free kicks, and we had to get them the hard way.


While i'm at it i thought Grant was a ridiculous sub option.
In the end we had to sub a midfielder for a low possesion forward when the game was in their favour.
Either pick someone who can play dual roles or a midfielder, not sure what the coaching staff were thinking with that one.

[always right]

It's called engagement with supporters. Like it or not I certainly don't think there was any pressure placed on him to do it. His style is all about inclusiveness and unifying everyone behind the common goal.

[always right]

I don't suggest we have everyone tagging, my point was that we were tagging kerr and not priddis. Forget kerr, he hasn't been an elite footballer for a while now. Priddis is the engine room and he smashed us last time we played them and he was a major factor again. If we were able to apply a bit more pressure on Priddis then perhaps the ball wouldn't of got down there as easily and Kennedy wouldn't have had such a field day.


I would need to watch the replay but my impression was that Libba typically picked up Priddis rather than Boyd.

I also don't think Priddis got his posessions in open play.....the majority were in close where he has a happy knack to get the ball away in traffic in much the same vein as Westy used to....and Libba Jnr for that matter. If he is going to get his posessions in this manner there are very few taggers who can prevent it.

[bornadog]

I also don't think Priddis got his posessions in open play.....the majority were in close where he has a happy knack to get the ball away in traffic in much the same vein as Westy used to....and Libba Jnr for that matter. If he is going to get his posessions in this manner there are very few taggers who can prevent it.

Spot on - also pointed out by MJP.

[Greystache]

Spot on - also pointed out by MJP.

Agreed, but we didn't do much to reduce the effectiveness of his possessions, particularly from the centre bounces which I was frustrated by. Often we had no one starting on the defensive side of the circle even matched against an opponent, and at no stage did we have a defensive sweeper despite conclusively losing the first possession stakes. We'd have been better to concede first possession and limit the damage rather than trying to halve them.

We also didn't have a defender coming in off halfback to try to pressure the ball carrier if West Coast did gain a clear possession. All of this meant our defenders were under the pump right from the bounce. I assume there was a reason for it, but I don't know what it was.

[FrediKanoute]

Lake, Cooney and Hargrave all underdone

Missing class without Griffin

Missing outside runners in Sherman, Tutt, Djerrkura and perhaps Veszpremi

Missing 1st choice defenders in Morris and Williams

We will get better as the season progresses - hopefully our skill execution will improve as the season progresses

McCartney and the team need to stay positive

I agree. The new style and game plan, new coaching methods added to the mix means that our guys were always going to struggle early in the season. But, its about laying a foundation for the 2nd to thirds of this season and beyond.

[always right]

Agreed, but we didn't do much to reduce the effectiveness of his possessions, particularly from the centre bounces which I was frustrated by. Often we had no one starting on the defensive side of the circle even matched against an opponent, and at no stage did we have a defensive sweeper despite conclusively losing the first possession stakes. We'd have been better to concede first possession and limit the damage rather than trying to halve them.

We also didn't have a defender coming in off halfback to try to pressure the ball carrier if West Coast did gain a clear possession. All of this meant our defenders were under the pump right from the bounce. I assume there was a reason for it, but I don't know what it was.

To be fair...that was not just a Priddis issue. All their mid fielders bar Kerr enjoyed this freedom.

[Greystache]

To be fair...that was not just a Priddis issue. All their mid fielders bar Kerr enjoyed this freedom.

That's true, S. Selwood had a field day too.

[OfficialBulldogs]

Thanks for the feedback on Macca’s message. Macca was keen to communicate directly with Members from the outset of the Season 2012, providing his weekly insight into the Club’s performance on the field. Macca’s message kicked off in the first week of the NAB Cup, and will be included in each Members Edition of the Club’s weekly e-newsletter ‘ Dogs Insider’ throughout the season.

If you’re a Member and currently do not receive Macca’s message, drop us a line on 1300 46 36 47 or email membership@westernbulldogs.com.au, and we’ll ensure your email address is current and accurate on our records.

Any feedback on the Dogs Insider, feel free to send it through the channels above. We’re keen to improve our weekly offering in the e-newsletter.

[always right]

Thanks for the feedback on Macca’s message. Macca was keen to communicate directly with Members from the outset of the Season 2012, providing his weekly insight into the Club’s performance on the field. Macca’s message kicked off in the first week of the NAB Cup, and will be included in each Members Edition of the Club’s weekly e-newsletter ‘ Dogs Insider’ throughout the season.

If you’re a Member and currently do not receive Macca’s message, drop us a line on 1300 46 36 47 or email membership@westernbulldogs.com.au, and we’ll ensure your email address is current and accurate on our records.

Any feedback on the Dogs Insider, feel free to send it through the channels above. We’re keen to improve our weekly offering in the e-newsletter.

Thanks for posting this. From my point of view the newsletter is a positive thing although I would prefer more of a question and answer format where you create a forum for supporters to ask Macca some questions about the game and he responds. Clearly he couldn't divulge everything but it would have been interesting for example if he could have explained the set up in the middle and how we had planned to offset the anticipated dominance of Cox and Natanui. It was like a freeway coming out of the middle in the first part of the game.

[AndrewP6]

To be honest, I very rarely read the Insider e-mail. I am yet to read/see anything in in that isn't available on the website, and if I can see my email, I can also see the website. To me, it needs to actually offer a point of difference to the site to make it worth paying any attention to.