It was evident the Bulldogs were out to silence their critics against the Kangaroos last weekend, as senior coach Brendan McCartney’s charges did their best to apply consistent scoreboard pressure throughout the first-half of the contest - that saw the Doggie’s trail by only 14-points heading into the major break.
Led by veterans Ryan Griffen, Robert Murphy and Daniel Giansiracusa, the Dog’s came out after firing after the half-time break kicking the first three goals of the quarter, but weren’t able to sustain the same effort in the final term as the Kangaroos raced away with the 54-point victory.
Riley, who along with his fellow coaches were in Melbourne to watch the match against North Melbourne, said this week provided another challenge for the GC SUNS.
“We get another opportunity against the Western Bulldogs and they’re certainly not going as bad as some say they are,” said Riley.
“We went down and watched them play against North Melbourne, who were a top 8 side last year, and like a lot of young teams they were very competitive for three quarters but couldn’t quite sustain it.”
With the GC SUNS having yet to claim the four points over the Dogs, Riley said the GC SUNS coaching staff were expecting a much-more competitive effort against the interstate visitors this time.
“When you have won six games in two years you do have some unflattering records and there’s no doubt we’ll be looking to fix that this weekend,” Riley said.
“We’re 3-4 and we think we’ve let a couple of opportunities slip… we have a long way to go but I can assure our members and fans that we’re working hard to make sure there is signs of improvement.”
There was an extra bounce in the player’s step in the lead-up to the Bulldogs this week, after their historic MCG victory over the Melbourne Demons.
“It was a pretty good win, we were happy with how we played at the MCG, and while you tend to get a lot of firsts at a new goal, we’ll certainly be looking to create history against the Western Bulldogs again as we aim to claim our first back-to-back victories for 2013.”
With key veterans Jared Brennan and Tom Murphy still being closely monitored by the club’s medical staff, Riley said the door would open for another senior player to showcase their talents against the Bulldogs if the experienced campaigners are unable to recuperate in time for the Round 8 clash.
“It’s in the hands of the club doctors now, with concussions we do the normal testing and procedure and if they come through then they’ll play, if not then a window of opportunity opens for one of our other players.”
Hardman Campbell Brown and twin towers Zac Smith and Tom Lynch are likely to receive plenty of attention from Dog’s defenders Jordan Roughead and Dale Morris, after their combined 8-goal haul dominated the Demon’s under siege backline.
But despite his forward’s high-scoring efforts in the side’s historic 60-point victory on the weekend, Riley says he’s more focused on seeing work-rate, growth and development across his forward structures.
“It’s not so much about goals as it is working hard and playing your role for the team,” Riley said.
“Campbell brings a lot of high energy and experience to our football club, and Zac has been progressing nicely after carrying the ruck in the last two weeks.
“It’s all about working as a collective and making sure the synergy is developing… it doesn’t happen overnight in football so we have to keep progressing as a manner.”
