AFL NEWS
McCartney to keep Dogs and opponents on a tighter leash
The Western Bulldogs' free-wheeling days are officially numbered.
While basing predictions on one NAB Cup outing is a business fraught with danger, the Dogs – under new coach Brendan McCartney – are in the midst of a massive game plan overhaul designed to rid the side of its tag as a "one-way" outfit.
Even at the height of their recent successes – including three preliminary final appearances from 2008-10 – the Dogs were considered vulnerable against the elite because of the numbers they had pushing forward of the ball.
Against disciplined and hard-working sides with equal talent, it was the equivalent of footballing suicide.
McCartney experienced it first hand while an assistant at Geelong. The Dogs have gone 2-8 against Geelong in their past 10 meetings, including finals defeats in 2008 and 2009.
The Bulldogs are 1-5 from their past six matches against Collingwood, winless in their past six matches against St Kilda, and have won only three of eight against Hawthorn.
That equates to a 6-22 record against the benchmark sides of the competition over the past few seasons.
And the common denominator is an inability to control the opponent's scoring over four quarters.
It was clearly evident last Saturday night that McCartney and his players are experiencing growing pains.
While the side won its share of the ball against Collingwood and Greater Western Sydney, without the helter-skelter running forward of the ball and with a more rigid defensive structure to adhere to, the Dogs struggled to move the ball with any semblance of system.
That will not help key forward Liam Jones fill the void left by retired spearhead Barry Hall.
Jones has talent, but at this stage lacks the endurance to impact contests over four quarters. He is not a natural athlete from an aerobic perspective and will need to greatly improve his running capacity in coming seasons.
The Bulldogs kicked eight goals for the night despite winning the inside-50 counts in both matches.
Ironically for Jones and the rest of the Dogs' forwards, their best friend could prove to be the newfound defensive mindset of players further up the field.
While the scoreboard might not tick over as swiftly as it has in recent years, the side might avoid being blown out of the water by rampant opponents.
While kicking only eight goals last weekend, the Dogs conceded just seven.
McCartney praised the side's ability to close the game down, but said ball movement and structure up forward was an issue.
Another club following the Bulldogs' lead in overhauling its game is Melbourne.
The Demons travel north this week to play Gold Coast and Brisbane and for rookie coach Mark Neeld the scoreboard is mostly irrelevant.
"We're trying to implement some structures and mindsets and that's what I'll be looking for," he said.
"When you're making significant changes it's going to take some time and there's bound to be some teething problems.
"We'll take it step by step but I'm not expecting it to happen overnight.
"We'll be looking for guys who are prepared to adapt to our defensive structure and who are keen to put their heads over the footy."
One such player is rookie James Magner, who will make his debut for the Demons on Saturday night.
The 24-year-old won Sandringham's best-and-fairest last year and at 182cm and 89kg is one Demon to have impressed the new coach during a brutal pre-season.
Neeld took the entire Melbourne coaching group to Blacktown to watch the NAB Cup opener between Collingwood, GWS and the Bulldogs.
