Macca's Message - Round 2

[bornadog]

link (http://www.westernbulldogs.com.au/membership/maccasmessage.workstation?camefrom=EMCL_64644_4058379)

To our members and fans that came to the game on Saturday, thank you. The players commented after the game to me that your support was felt.

The game against Fremantle was won and lost in a matter of five or so minutes in both the first and third quarters. The scoreboard did not look great in the first quarter, and most of their goals came as a result of us not setting up the way we should be, when the game stops. By that I mean when there was a zone or a kick in we just were not organised enough and we have some work to do in that area.

The pleasing parts of the game was our stoppage work, when we set up properly, and our ability to get the ball away from congested areas and get the ball in space. The main thing to come out of the day was that we played a club that is very hard to move the ball against.

At times we did look a bit slow and hesitant, and a lot of that was due to Fremantle’s great defensive work — they are an outstanding defensive club. Statistically, they were certainly the best defensive team in the second half of last year. That is the challenge for us, when we have so many young people out on the ground, for them to keep their belief and back their confidence and ability to play — that will be our main learning curve to take into this week.

Our ability to fight back has been talked about a bit and it was pleasing. The unfortunate thing is when you are five or six goals behind, you just cannot afford to miss and not take opportunities and we did that a little bit.

It would have been nice to get the result closer, and we believe we probably could have and should have with just a little more diligence and care at times.

This week will be business as usual, we have an eight day break to prepare us for the Richmond Tigers who are in good form — they are a team that is not a lot older than us. In fact, we match up quite similarly with games played and experience.

With an optimistic approach to this week, we are looking forward to a good week of training and an opportunity to play another game of football. We are really confident of a great showing this week against Richmond in what is Daniel Cross’s 200th game. Daniel means a great deal to our football Club, and is admired by many, including myself, for his attitude and willingness to put the team first. He is a quality person, and a great example of what we want our younger players to be.


As mentioned last week, I urge our members and fans on behalf of our Club and our players in particular, to get to the footy and yell and barrack as hard as you can. Our boys notice it and appreciate it.

You are so, so important to us and play a part in how confidently and how positively our team takes to the field every week.

Have a good week, talk soon.


Brendan McCartney

[jeemak]

Lovely words about Daniel Cross, and I reckon I might back him to play in his 200th game on the basis of them!

What I like about these messages is they're not at all overly optimistic, and very much pragmatic. I thought at the start of his tenure that he had a tendency towards talking down the efforts of previous managers of the football department and the effort put in, though since then his style hasn't changed and I understand where he's coming from. The issue was with my understanding of his personality.

Well done Daniel Cross in carving out a very substantial, respect worthy and decorated career to this point.

[Greystache]

Good message this week, more specific information. There was a lot of positives to take out of last week, and were it not for the mentioned lapses in concentration we could have been right in the game against a good team. This week is a really good challenge, Richmond is a team we should be capable of beating and nothing but a good performance will be acceptable.

[bulldogsthru&thru]

Yeah this weeks game against the Tigers will be a great measuring stick. Brisbane were woeful, Fremantle will be right up there for the Premiership and may/may not have eased of a bit after getting that big early lead. The tigers however will be about halfway up the ladder this year so will be interesting to see how we shape up against them

[Ozza]

Agree with the sentiments about it being an important game.

Last year we were competitive against 2 good teams in the first two rounds and then were digraceful against St.Kilda in round 3. If we are as bad as that against Richmond - then the whole year to date takes on a different complexion to the improvement we've seen so far.

[F'scary]

What I like about his style is that in Round 1 he got right on board celebrating the win and congratulated the players heartily immediately after the game. In Round 2, analytical. Learn instead of blame, acknowledge & celebrate success seems to be how he approaches things. I prefer this to the purely process driven approach - the way some coaches and commentators talk, wins seem secondary to processes (bizarre).

[Murphy'sLore]

The more I see of Macca, the more I respect him. Glad we've got him at our club.

[Cyberdoggie]

Probably the best and most informative message from Macca,
Rather than just the usual rhetoric about cracking in and being hard, we are getting information on what we were doing and not doing specifically and in detail.

Only issue is i don't think the bit about us matching up comparitively (games played and experience) with Richmond is quite accurate.
For example the teams from last week:
Games Played:
less than 50: dogs 13, tiges 5
50-99: dogs 1, tiges 10

I'd say that shows that the tigers group are a couple of years advanced on us and aren't carrying many in-experienced players.

You would expect us not to be competitive but i guess we'll see.

[bornadog]

Probably the best and most informative message from Macca,
Rather than just the usual rhetoric about cracking in and being hard, we are getting information on what we were doing and not doing specifically and in detail.

Only issue is i don't think the bit about us matching up comparitively (games played and experience) with Richmond is quite accurate.
For example the teams from last week:
Games Played:
less than 50: dogs 13, tiges 5
50-99: dogs 1, tiges 10

I'd say that shows that the tigers group are a couple of years advanced on us and aren't carrying many in-experienced players.

You would expect us not to be competitive but i guess we'll see.

This today:

With a shrinking injury list, competition for selection is growing.

Adding to the incentive, this week's clash against Richmond marks Daniel Cross' 200th game, a milestone the players want to celebrate with a win.

"I'm very confident our players will come prepared to crack in and play well, to represent their club well, and to make sure Daniel gets a good day," McCartney said on Wednesday.

[Cyberdoggie]

This today:

With a shrinking injury list, competition for selection is growing.

Adding to the incentive, this week's clash against Richmond marks Daniel Cross' 200th game, a milestone the players want to celebrate with a win.

"I'm very confident our players will come prepared to crack in and play well, to represent their club well, and to make sure Daniel gets a good day," McCartney said on Wednesday.

I spoke to soon. :)

[OLD SCRAGGer]

The more I see of Macca, the more I respect him. Glad we've got him at our club.

TOTALLY agree

[Sedat]

Good message this week, more specific information. There was a lot of positives to take out of last week, and were it not for the mentioned lapses in concentration we could have been right in the game against a good team. This week is a really good challenge, Richmond is a team we should be capable of beating and nothing but a good performance will be acceptable.
Agreed, none of the generic "learning and teaching" fluff that was spouted out most weeks last season. There are specific areas that need refinement and improvement, just as there are specific areas that have improved significantly and are working very well, which was articulated very well in this letter.

I reckon we are a massive show against Richmond - they are only just going at the minute, they have quite a few passengers not really contributing, and are relying on the brilliance of a few just to get over the line against two middle-of-the-road teams thus far. They have match winners but we have personnel well-suited to their match winners - Lower on Cotchin, Picken on Deledio and Morris on Reiwoldt all look terrific match-ups for us on paper. Where will Richmond cobble up a winning score without major contributions from these 3?

[Ghost Dog]

Agreed, none of the generic "learning and teaching" fluff that was spouted out most weeks last season. There are specific areas that need refinement and improvement, just as there are specific areas that have improved significantly and are working very well, which was articulated very well in this letter.



You don't think you are being a tad hard on our coach Sedat?
What else can you say as kids develop - as they need to. You think he was too easy on the players? or distorted the truth?

[jeemak]

You don't think you are being a tad hard on our coach Sedat?
What else can you say as kids develop - as they need to. You think he was too easy on the players? or distorted the truth?

I think Sedat is pointing out that last year's messages contained more generic material (albeit on-point) with a certain theme, though they didn't actually give a lot away.

He's actually giving credit to the coach for drilling deeper into the things that are working well and the things that aren't, from his perspective.

[Ghost Dog]

Agreed. I get that. we got smashed last year, and there's not many ways to paraphrase when the result is the same are there? I wonder if they write the same letters at Melbourne? You'd have to be the master of spin.

[jeemak]

I think their last couple would go something like this:

Dear Member,

Thank you for showing up over the weekend. Although we let you down horribly, and you were right to throw invisible rocks and swear at us as we left the field I can assure you we're working very hard to improve on the display we showed.

On a positive note, we managed to get through the game without any significant injuries due to our inability to arrive at a single contest. The 22 games of the AFL season can be tough on players, and we're ecstatic that to this point our list remains fresh.

This week at training we'll be concentrating on every single aspect of the modern game. We're confident that the solid training performances displayed by our players will translate to solid on-field performance by 2015, at which point you'll be glad to have stuck with us over the nine years of rebuilding the club has endured.

Sincerely, Mark.


N.B. There's probably still a chance Melbourne will finish above us on the ladder this year. It's a crazy game.

[LostDoggy]

Yeah this weeks game against the Tigers will be a great measuring stick. Brisbane were woeful, Fremantle will be right up there for the Premiership and may/may not have eased of a bit after getting that big early lead. The tigers however will be about halfway up the ladder this year so will be interesting to see how we shape up against them

Yeah. Ninth.

[Remi Moses]

Probably the best and most informative message from Macca,
Rather than just the usual rhetoric about cracking in and being hard, we are getting information on what we were doing and not doing specifically and in detail.

Only issue is i don't think the bit about us matching up comparitively (games played and experience) with Richmond is quite accurate.
For example the teams from last week:
Games Played:
less than 50: dogs 13, tiges 5
50-99: dogs 1, tiges 10

I'd say that shows that the tigers group are a couple of years advanced on us and aren't carrying many in-experienced players.

You would expect us not to be competitive but i guess we'll see.
No excuses for The Tiges you'd think. Pretty compelling, and you'd flip that around 4 years ago .

[Cyberdoggie]

I think we'll be in with a good shot here.
If we can start well then we'll be in it.

I still have my doubts on Richmonds mental qualities. They shut shop and should of lost to Carlton if Yarran and others could of kicked straight. Also let the saints in the game when they probably should of buried them.

Two in a row for the first time in ages, tiger army up and arrogant, coming up against a "weak" bulldogs side, i can see us causing an upset if we stick with them.

This game will be the opposite of the Freo game, should be fast flowing and lots of goals.

Positive Factors for a dogs win!:
* Should be a more open game, bringing our small forwards into the game.
* Tigers might get ahead of themselves
* Pre-season match showed Lower can shut down Cotchin and our mids will have a good game
* Tigers still suspect mentally, and not convinced they can close out games
* Crossy 200th
* Morris is a good match up for Jack, Roughy for Vickory
* Minson will come out at least even against Maric

Negative Factors
* Jones and Cordy need to start taking some marks around the ground, in particular Jones needs to work harder and push up further to be an option, lose/tire his man, and get in the game
* Forward pressure needs to improve. Wasn't so good last week, usual suspects featuring heavily, Tigers have plenty of run from the back half and we need to shut them down.

[Ozza]

The last time the Tigers won the first 2 games of a season was in 1997.

In 97 - they met the Bulldogs in round 3 and were beaten.

Hopefully history will repeat.

[bornadog]

Negative Factors
* Jones and Cordy need to start taking some marks around the ground, in particular Jones needs to work harder and push up further to be an option, lose/tire his man, and get in the game
* Forward pressure needs to improve. Wasn't so good last week, usual suspects featuring heavily, Tigers have plenty of run from the back half and we need to shut them down.

One thing in our favour is Richmond are short in the backline, so hopefully Cordy and Jones can take some marks.

[LostDoggy]

The last time the Tigers won the first 2 games of a season was in 1997.

In 97 - they met the Bulldogs in round 3 and were beaten.

Hopefully history will repeat.

Walking encyclopedia.

[azabob]

The last time the Tigers won the first 2 games of a season was in 1997.

In 97 - they met the Bulldogs in round 3 and were beaten.

Hopefully history will repeat.

Would be nice if 1997 could repeat in someways, but not other ways....

[Ghost Dog]

I think we'll be in with a good shot here.
If we can start well then we'll be in it.

I still have my doubts on Richmonds mental qualities. They shut shop and should of lost to Carlton if Yarran and others could of kicked straight. Also let the saints in the game when they probably should of buried them.

Two in a row for the first time in ages, tiger army up and arrogant, coming up against a "weak" bulldogs side, i can see us causing an upset if we stick with them.


* Minson will come out at least even against Maric

.

Worth laying a bet this weekend. Quite a return on $3.75
Daniel Cross's 200th. Bunch of seniors had a horror day out last week. Should fire us up a bit.

[wimberga]

Worth laying a bet this weekend. Quite a return on $3.75
Daniel Cross's 200th. Bunch of seniors had a horror day out last week. Should fire us up a bit.

Agree this is a good bet.

FYI you can get $4.20 on Luxbet currently. Some real discrepancies coming through depending on the agency.

On another note, it appears Markovic, Macrae and Wood have been named on an extended bench. Markovic is an interesting choice in my opinion, but suspecting perhaps both Wood and Macrae will play.