THE BULLDOGS’ 50-point loss to the Saints came as a result of the players' lack of confidence and not because of a lack in focus, according to coach Rodney Eade.

Eade denied his side wasn’t mentally switched on when facing the Saints on Saturday night at Telstra Dome, and said their continuing skill errors culminated in a collective loss of self-belief.

"They got a couple (of goals), and then we kicked one and it was three to one, then Brad (Johnson) missed an easy one and they went down and got a goal from that," Eade said, after the loss.

"I think we were (switched on), but I think the guys were a bit tense, if anything. Obviously they wanted to atone (for last week), training was good and I think their attitude was OK, but it was just those basic errors again that hurt us."

Eade said he had never seen his side lose so much confidence as a result of unforced errors, and said he would work towards addressing such an issue before the club's clash with the Tigers next Friday night.

"It's the first time I've noticed, except for maybe in 2005 when we got a couple of beltings and were maybe undermanned, that players went back into their shell when they made unforced errors," he said.

"We've played plenty of games where we've made a lot of errors, but they've been forced and we've been able to persevere. Whether they set high expectations for themselves and when the basic things are not done well, they start to doubt themselves, I'm not too sure.

"We're going to have to have a talk about that, but that seemed to be a bit of the case tonight."

The Bulldogs coach agreed his players' lack of effective disposals remains an issue, and was adamant they must move to correct it before it becomes a continuing psychological problem.

"We probably didn't give enough credit to Adelaide last week, but we made a lot of unforced errors, and we did the same again tonight," he said.

"We missed goals from 20 metres, and I think they missed goals as well, but just from our point of view, missed handballs, missed kicks, etcetera etcetera, which we don't normally do.

"I don't know this group well enough yet, over a long period of course … both games, after we made those errors, they seemed to maybe lack a bit of confidence, don't take as many risks, and play a bit conservative.

"That probably gets us into a bit more trouble as well. We've just got to work on that, we've got to hopefully correct those errors, but at the same time, be able to mentally persevere with it."

As far as regaining confidence is concerned, Eade, who last week said he needed to become a psychologist in order to understand what goes on in his players' heads, said "going back to the basics" will be the club's first move this week.

"It's the age-old thing, isn't it? There's one old coach I was involved with who said, ‘you can't go to the shop and buy confidence’," he said.

"I think you get your confidence back through hard work and doing the basics right, and don't try and be doing anything … well, in cricket terms, you don't go and try to hit a six with every ball.

"You've got to play the straight bat and hit the ones and the twos. That's what we've got to do, and that's where you get your confidence from. Just knowing your preparation is right from your hard work, and looking at the little things, the tackles and chases, and having a mindset on that.

"That will be able to build their form and confidence."