Senior Coach Brendan McCartney wants the Western Bulldogs to play the game contest by contest and remain focused on areas of the game that they can control.

As the game ebbs and flows, McCartney said the players need to be consistent in how they setup around the ground and not get caught up in what has happened in the immediate past.

“I’ve often said if you kick a goal all you can do next is get in your positions and the blokes in the middle set up again,” McCartney said.

“If you get a goal kicked against you, well you set up and go again - that is the scope for improvement.”

“We are not on top of it yet but nor are a lot of teams just being able to just knock it over minute by minute.”

McCartney said it was also the coaches’ responsibility to help the senior players identify problems on the fly during games and know how to respond quicker. 

“The thing for us to do as coaches – me in particular – is to go ‘why?’,” he said.

“To be able to do that and help our players especially our senior players drive that on the ground and give them the tools to see it, recognise it and do something about it.”