Senior Coach Brendan McCartney brought perspective to his analysis of Sunday’s loss to West Coast, confident that one game would not define the year ahead for the Bulldogs.
“I think it is really important to not measure a whole year by one week,” McCartney said.
“This season will evolve and it is really important for us that we analyse what we didn’t have right and be constructive with it and move forward, like a good club should.”
Instead of lamenting the loss, McCartney quickly switched focus to the Bulldogs’ next opponent North Melbourne, and the areas of his team’s game he’ll look to address on the training track in the ensuing days.
“Isn’t that the mark of a good player and a good team and a good footy department, to bounce back quickly?” he said.
“I am looking forward to that to be honest, I am looking forward to the week with the players.
“You can take a big loss one of two ways, you can hide away from it or you can review it the right way.”
Building greater consistency on-field through the back half of last season, and continuing to evolve through the recent NAB Challenge, McCartney says this week is about reminding his players of the hard-edged brand of football they want to be known for.
“Everyone takes collective responsibility, in particular me as the coach, and then you really gee up for another big game next week and a strong performance,” he said.
“So when people watch us play next week we are playing the right way, our way.
“We won’t have to invent anything new next week, we’ve just got to get back to doing what we know we can do well.”
As competition for senior spots builds at the kennel, McCartney indicated playing to task, as much as form, will determine which players line-up week-to-week.
“They earned the right to play [Sunday] with their [pre-season] performances and they got rewarded, now to stay in the team obviously you have to deliver, output,” he said.
“We will manage that during the week and in the next couple of weeks… the boys that deserve it will get a chance and the ones that aren’t playing the way we all want people to play – they will miss out.”
