{"id":152721,"date":"2024-03-15T12:00:31","date_gmt":"2024-03-15T02:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/?p=152721"},"modified":"2024-03-15T15:08:32","modified_gmt":"2024-03-15T05:08:32","slug":"time-to-build-on-foundation-says-top-dog","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/2024\/03\/15\/time-to-build-on-foundation-says-top-dog\/","title":{"rendered":"Time to build on foundation, says Top Dog"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WESTERN Bulldogs VFLW coach Rhys Cahir<\/strong> is coming into his second season in the role off the back of a very different preseason compared to his first year in the role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, he says it has still been a really positive preseason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been really good,” he said. “Obviously it\u2019s gone really quick, and we\u2019ve kept a fair whack of last year\u2019s group which is completely different to the year before when I took the role on, which is a head start, and most of our staff and coaching group have come back too, other then Tommy Cashin who got the job at Collingwood halfway through preseason, but it\u2019s been a pretty consistent group from last year and then added a fair bit to it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This also means Cahir could not name one particular stand out from preseason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe whole group really,” he said. “I guess we set pretty high standards last year and the ones that have come back have kept those standards up, and the new ones have come in and bought in really quickly, so it\u2019s actually been really overall the group\u2019s pushed along really quickly and developed together. So I wouldn\u2019t say there\u2019s been one stand out, but the group\u2019s been terrific\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite keeping a lot of the 2023 squad, there are still plenty of new faces at the Kennel this season. Cahir said that they \u201cpurposefully went out for a bit of leadership\u201d and that \u201cwe\u2019ve got a good mix of VFL experience and some younger delisted AFL players to help fil some gaps in our group.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of those new faces include former VFLW Bombers Courtney Ugle<\/a> and Mia-Rae Clifford<\/a>, former VFLW Cat Chloe Leonard<\/a>, former AFLW Blue Imogen Milford<\/a>, former AFLW Roo Cassidy Mailer<\/a> and former AFLW Saint Renee Saulitis<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI guess for us it was about building a foundation.\u201d Cahir said, reflecting on last season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen I took the role from the interview with Chris Grant and Nathan Burke, it was about building a development program which it certainly still is, and we\u2019re supporting younger players hoping to get back or to AFLW. I guess by doing that last year and focusing on young players I guess we were a lot more competitive than previous years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It was a good year and a frustrating year because we lost those five games by less than a kick, so we won our three games but those five games I think we focused on just doing a few extra things a bit better during games and hopefully we can turn those results around and set ourselves up for the year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last season saw a positive step forward for the Bulldogs, but Cahir said that there has not been a specific plan to build on that momentum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo real plan, I guess we\u2019re just focusing on getting better each session we\u2019ve done,” he said. “We kept a fair whack of the group from last year whereas the previous year we kept six out of 60, so it was a fresh start, new coach, new game plan, stuff like that, so just getting better at what we did well last year for longer is probably been a real focus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Nothing much has changed around that, it\u2019s just being consistent with it when we\u2019re at training and then being able to take it into games this year, and hopefully hold us in good stead for longer in games and we don\u2019t get runs of the opposition kicking three or four goals on us and then we fly back and just get beaten, we want to be consistent and have probably a bit more control of games.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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