“Play your role.” It’s the coaches' expectation of their players, and it’s the ambition of the Footscray Bulldogs coming to fruition.

Preparing the Club’s emerging talent for their role in senior football, Development Manager Chris Maple has begun seeing the rewards of the Club’s new standalone VFL side, noting the immediate impact players stepping-up to AFL level have had after stints in the state league.

Encouraging the players to read the game contest to contest, Maple said he is building a tenacious group who won’t hang their heads when the score isn’t in their favour.

“I think it’s just the competitive nature of the players, to make sure that [at] each contest - no matter what the score is - they are competing to the best of their ability,” Development Manager Chris Maple said.

“That’s what we want from them, we don’t want the scoreboard to dictate how hard they try.”

Noting the importance of game plan and structures to team success, Maple said the strength of the standalone side is the continuity it provides for players on game day.  While the competition changes, their roles stay the same.

“I think all the boys that have played at VFL football level that have gone up to AFL footy have had an impact, which is important,” he said.

“And those that have come back from AFL to VFL, we have tried to make…things as basic as possible for them to help them [find] some form and so they can get back into the AFL side.”

While building chemistry among the group was always going to take time, Maple said the boys had embraced each other and were beginning to really develop that bond on and off the field.

“I think the boys are all comfortable with each other now, you walk into the locker room and they are all laughing and joking,” he said.

“We are starting to see the dividends of that out on the ground.”

Currently sitting fifth on the VFL ladder with three wins from six games, Maple is calling on the Footscray players to become ruthless in their defensive efforts and build on their current form.

“I just want to see us scoring off the back of good defence and making sure that we turn our contested possessions into uncontested possession that we can use the ball well,” he said.