Western Bulldogs coach Brendan McCartney says his AFL side needs to learn to at least stick to the fundamentals of the game even when they are being thrashed.
McCartney said while the Dogs were outclassed by Essendon early in Saturday night’s 84-point loss, the way they finished the match was more disappointing.
“You’ve just got to hang in there and do the basics of the game,” McCartney told reporters on Tuesday.
“Early they played some fantastic footy that we just couldn’t match.
“But I would have liked us to hang in a little more.”
It was the Dogs’ second consecutive bad loss, having been thumped by 58 points by Brisbane a week earlier.
McCartney said rather than list all his side’s shortcomings, he would ram home a few key points to his players in the lead-up to Sunday’s clash with Fremantle in Perth.
“If you’re near a contest, we’re handling the first contest well,” he said.
“But if the ball goes to another part of the ground, you probably should be over there pretty quickly.
“I think that’s a pretty reasonable request.
“If the opposition have got the ball and they’re doing what they want with it, you probably should invest a bit of effort into helping get it back.”
McCartney believes the scoreboard mentally sapped his players against the Bombers.
“There were some efforts at times that could have been stronger,” he said.
“Sometimes your head will do that to you when you look up at the scoreboard and it smells and you haven’t had a great day.
“You think it’s probably time for this game to end.
“We’ve all been there.”
McCartney said that was partly due to inexperience, noting that three of the AFL’s youngest clubs – Greater Western Sydney, Gold Coast and Melbourne – also had big weekend defeats.
“The way the game is now you’ll see that a fair bit in the second half of the year,” he said.
“In no way is that a crutch or us accepting what we dished up on the weekend.”
McCartney said midfield star Ryan Griffen would be ready to face the Dockers despite experiencing a minor calf complaint against the Bombers, but a hamstring injury was expected to sideline Bob Murphy.