I am pissed off.
I am pissed off at the half-hearted poor excuse for an attacking performance mustered by the lacklustre Bulldogs on Friday night. I am pissed off at the plethora of talent that seems unable week in, week out to play to their potential. But, most of all, I am pissed off at Bulldogs head coach, Kevin Moore.
Friday night's loss was always coming. I knew before the first whistle the Dogs were in trouble. And it wasn't because Mick Ennis was missing through State of Origin duty. It was because barring a spectacular win against the Tigers in Round One, the Dogs have been playing poorly all year.
Even the games that we won, we were lucky to win. And because we came away with the points on those occasions, coach Kevin Moore seemed to remain under the erroneous impression that all was well in Bulldog-land.
Even following Friday's abysmal performance, Moore simply said "I have no doubt we can turn it around next week".
No, Kevin. A "she'll be right" attitude does not win football games. Discipline wins football games. Good defence wins football games. Creativity in attack wins football games. All the things a good coach should be instilling.
The right combination of players wins football games too. Moore in his stubbornness has persisted with the six-seven pairing of Kris Keating and Trent Hodkinson despite the fact that their styles are so similar that there's no attacking dynamism. Whilst creative playmaker Ben Roberts languishes in the NSW Cup playing in front of 100 fans at suburban grounds. Moore's treatment of Roberts this year has been disgusting. It's no wonder the former Kiwi international is off to Parra next year.
This is what needs to change if the Dogs want to make the eight this year (and no, I'm no longer at all confident that they will):
- Roberts should slot in at five-eighth NOW, with Keating moving to the bench
- DEFENCE: Moore needs to ensure the players rush up, rather than wait for attacking players to reach them: Too often we see opposing teams making 10 metres per tackle, an unacceptable statistic
- DIRECTION IN ATTACK: Several things need to happen here. One of the game's most talented centres, Josh Morris, is getting NO ball. Slotting Roberts in at six should correct this. Secondly, fifth tackle options have been abysmal in 2011. This needs to be corrected. There seems to be a "do or die" mindset every time the ref signals fifth tackle. Moore needs to drill it into the players that they don't need to be scoring on every play, they just need to be doing the little things right - kick deep, rush up to tackle, force repeat sets. Scoring tries will then take care of itself
It astounds me that in all the talk of coaches under siege in 2011 Moore's name has not been mentioned. If the Dogs do fail to make the top eight, the only choice is he has to go. Unfortunately it would seem that Bulldogs management, due to placing all their eggs in the Moore basket (perhaps because the famous "Moore" surname has the family club so romanticised they can't see the tryline from the goalposts), missed out when coaching talent was on the market a few months back.
Posts
