Tara Murray
It’s a case of short term pain for long term gain for Point Cook this season in Western Region Football League division 1.
The Bulldogs have just one win after six rounds and find themselves sitting second last, only ahead of a winless Sunshine.
Bulldogs coach Brett Jacobs said “frustrating” was the best way to describe their start to the season.
“It’s been frustrating, not just from the wins and losses,” he said.
“The mistakes we are making. We’re letting ourselves down with our disposal and fundamentals.
“We have to keep working on it, to get better and better.
“Injuries have been a factor too. We don’t have the depth to cover the injuries like other teams.”
Jacobs said they had been able to show glimpses of what they can do, but hadn’t been able to sustain it for four quarters.
He said they were trying to educate the players on not dropping their heads when they made a mistake.
On Saturday, the Bulldogs were blown out of the water early by St Albans, losing 13.15 (93)-4.1 (35).
Jacobs said the focus for this season was about getting games into their younger players, with one eye on the future.
“We have to keep getting games into the younger players,” he said.
“We’ve got a good core and some good kids coming through. We’ve been playing some of our under-18s, which is a really good thing.
“A few of our under-18s from 2019 are playing their first year of senior football.
“We need to hang in for 2022, with the long term goal of preparing for sustained success.”
Jacobs said the break in 2020, with no football due to COVID-19, had hurt them as well. They lost a few recruits that they had brought in for that season and with a reduced salary cap, hadn’t been able to replace them as they would have liked.
Jacobs said while things were tough on field, everything was going well off-field.
He said despite the tough results so far, they still saw themselves as a division 1 side.
“We don’t want to just make up the numbers,” he said.
“While it doesn’t look good in the short term, we will be a strong long term team.”
The Bulldogs face Deer Park this week.
Jacobs said it would be a good test for the team.
“Hopefully we’ll challenge them.”
In other results on Saturday, Hoppers Crossing had a big win against Yarraville Seddon. The Warriors won 22.18 (150)-4.8 (32).
Werribee Districts suffered a shock loss to Deer Park, with the Lions winning 12.12 (84)-10.16 (76).
In division 2, Point Cook Centrals lost to Albion and Wyndhamvale was too strong for Glen Orden. In division 3, Tarneit was smashed by Albanvale, while Wyndham Suns had a big win against Sunshine Heights.
