Coach asks for ‘more high-risk football’

The Gunnedah Bulldogs contest the Tamworth Swans on Tamworth soil in AFL North West senior men’s action this Saturday, following last Saturday’s representative match when the clubs had a bye.

Gunnedah remains at the foot of the table with six defeats and no wins, while the Swans sit in second place with four wins and one defeat.

The Swans had the bye in the previous round while the Bulldogs went down 21.22.148 to 3.9.27 against the top-placed Inverell on Gunnedah turf.

When the Bulldogs hosted the Swans back on May 31, the Tamworth team prevailed 17.18.120 to 11.9.75.

Bulldogs player-coach Jakob Vearing remained upbeat, saying his team had improved since the start of the season.

“We’re into round eight, so essentially that’s 16 hours of football,” he said.

“If we can take away one hour of football, our F and A (for-and-against) would be extremely different.”

Vearing said “a young side” such as this year’s Bulldogs would have concentration lapses, while “unfortunately in those five- or 10-minute lapses of concentration, teams are putting five, six, (or) seven goals on us”.

“If we look at it analytically, it’s hard to make comment on where we’re at as a side just looking at scorelines,” he said.

“And in terms of our transition, offence and everything, the team is developing really well.

Nathan Moore puts boot to ball during Gunnedah’s recent AFL outing, against Inverell.

“A couple more injections of talent, (and) a bit more experience would help.”

Vearing said other clubs were fortunate to acquire recruits from interstate, while the Bulldogs didn’t have this benefit.

As for whether he had any goals in mind for the Bulldogs for the remainder of the season, Vearing said, “I think I just want players to start taking a bit more risk.

“Football is one of those games where if you’re conservative, you don’t really learn much, so I’d like the boys to start playing with nothing to lose, stretching their limits and start getting out of their comfort zones and maybe start to play a little bit more high-risk football.

“I just want to see them learn, I guess, and the only way they’re going to do that is to get the footy in their hands.”