Bulldog Revolution
19-05-2008, 08:55 AM
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/1,9191,23719905-19742,00.html
Dogs planned for Freo choke
Jay Clark
May 19, 2008 12:00am
RODNEY Eade has told how his troops were fully prepared for Fremantle to fold like a deck of cards late in the Dogs' miraculous comeback win at Subiaco yesterday.
While delighted his team fought back from 18 points down midway through the last quarter to pull off its most spirited win of the year, Eade was adamant his unbeaten side was not yet closing the gap on Hawthorn and Geelong.
The Western Bulldogs coach conceded his team was ordinary for the first three quarters and needed a get-out-of-jail free card to record the three-point thriller at Subiaco Oval.
But Eade provided fascinating insight into their match planning, saying the team was well placed to secure the audacious win after holding mid-week talks about Fremantle's trend of fourth-quarter failures.
"We spoke during the week about what they were like as a fourth-quarter side, but we didn't mention that at three-quarter-time," Eade said.
"Stats sometimes do lie, but the fact is they are the worst-performed fourth-quarter team in the competition and I think we are either the best or second-best, and that was some comfort for the guys.
"But I think it was more comfort knowing that we have also been challenged during the past seven weeks and we were able to answer that challenge."
The Dogs' fightback, which stunned the Subiaco Oval crowd and leaves Fremantle gasping with one win from the first eight games, sealed the Bulldogs' second straight interstate victory.
But Eade refused to listen to his own team's hype, saying the Dogs did not deserve to be rated up with the ladder-leading Cats and Hawks.
"No, not yet, it's too early in the season. They are obviously the standouts and Geelong is the premiership side and they're undefeated, so it's a fair chance they are the No. 1 team in the competition," he said.
"And Hawthorn are playing fantastic footy. We are still a young side and we've got a long way to go. We didn't play well today."
Even for Fremantle, which has surrendered massive leads against Geelong (39 points) and Melbourne (51 points) this season, the Dockers' surrender was staggering.
Coach Mark Harvey put a positive spin on the result, pointing out the Dockers had lost their past three games by a combined 10 points.
"It seems to be a common trend with us," Harvey said.
"They just don't seem to show enough composure in the last quarter."
Some good news for Fremantle was the shining form of Essendon discard Kepler Bradley in his first Dockers match and a four-goal return from Chris Tarrant.
Dogs planned for Freo choke
Jay Clark
May 19, 2008 12:00am
RODNEY Eade has told how his troops were fully prepared for Fremantle to fold like a deck of cards late in the Dogs' miraculous comeback win at Subiaco yesterday.
While delighted his team fought back from 18 points down midway through the last quarter to pull off its most spirited win of the year, Eade was adamant his unbeaten side was not yet closing the gap on Hawthorn and Geelong.
The Western Bulldogs coach conceded his team was ordinary for the first three quarters and needed a get-out-of-jail free card to record the three-point thriller at Subiaco Oval.
But Eade provided fascinating insight into their match planning, saying the team was well placed to secure the audacious win after holding mid-week talks about Fremantle's trend of fourth-quarter failures.
"We spoke during the week about what they were like as a fourth-quarter side, but we didn't mention that at three-quarter-time," Eade said.
"Stats sometimes do lie, but the fact is they are the worst-performed fourth-quarter team in the competition and I think we are either the best or second-best, and that was some comfort for the guys.
"But I think it was more comfort knowing that we have also been challenged during the past seven weeks and we were able to answer that challenge."
The Dogs' fightback, which stunned the Subiaco Oval crowd and leaves Fremantle gasping with one win from the first eight games, sealed the Bulldogs' second straight interstate victory.
But Eade refused to listen to his own team's hype, saying the Dogs did not deserve to be rated up with the ladder-leading Cats and Hawks.
"No, not yet, it's too early in the season. They are obviously the standouts and Geelong is the premiership side and they're undefeated, so it's a fair chance they are the No. 1 team in the competition," he said.
"And Hawthorn are playing fantastic footy. We are still a young side and we've got a long way to go. We didn't play well today."
Even for Fremantle, which has surrendered massive leads against Geelong (39 points) and Melbourne (51 points) this season, the Dockers' surrender was staggering.
Coach Mark Harvey put a positive spin on the result, pointing out the Dockers had lost their past three games by a combined 10 points.
"It seems to be a common trend with us," Harvey said.
"They just don't seem to show enough composure in the last quarter."
Some good news for Fremantle was the shining form of Essendon discard Kepler Bradley in his first Dockers match and a four-goal return from Chris Tarrant.