Melbourne coach Mick Stinear says AFLW sides have a responsibility to fans to play attractive football after a dour Friday night battle drew backlash from supporters.
The 2022 premiership coach said there was a “delicate balance” between keeping a team competitive and playing with “spirit and creativity” after the Western Bulldogs threw numbers behind the ball to avoid a blowout in front of 4000 fans at Whitten Oval on Friday.
The Bulldogs, coached by Stinear’s former Melbourne assistant Tamara Hyett, managed only 0.3 (3) in their third goalless performance this season.
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Hyett said their defensive set-up, which was met with widespread criticism from commentators and former coaches online, had been deliberate as part of an “education phase for her team”.
“Defence for us is crucial in developing for our second phase, which we hope will be a little bit more attractive,” Hyett said after the game.
“The game looked how we wanted it to look pre-game. Forward of the ball we just had no connection, so that’s a disappointing thing.”
Stinear said players in his side, whose core is significantly more experienced than the Bulldogs, would potentially take issue with a game plan that defensive.
“From my point of view, you’ve got to give the team the best possible chance of winning,” he said after the Demons’ win over St Kilda on Sunday.
“But you’ve got to manage the team as well – the team’s love of the game, their passion and enjoyment and bring out their spirit as well.
“That’s what you’ve got to grapple with – I know for our team personally, if we went overly defensive, you’d probably snuff out some of their spirit and their creativity.”
Stinear said it was important that teams played in a way that fans enjoyed the game.
“You’ve got to still give your team a chance to be in every game, and there’s times when you need to defend, and defend hard, to keep a lead or against the breeze, but in terms of our group, you want to harness that creativity and still give them a chance to express themselves,” he said.
“You’ve got a responsibility for the fans to come to the game and enjoy the footy as well – it’s a delicate balance, but I feel like we’re in a good spot at the moment.
“We defend when we need to defend well and then give our team the best chance to create scoring opportunities.”
Saints counterpart Nick Dal Santo said his side had to defend more than he would have liked against the Demons but could do little else when they were beaten so heavily on the inside.
“I’m a little bit mixed on (the tactical debate). I’m not here to speak on behalf of the Western Bulldogs, but they’ve got every right to play a brand of football that they think is best for them,” he said.
“That’s up to other people to say whether they enjoy watching it or not.
“From my perspective, we’re openly trying to score, but we’re openly trying to defend at the right time.
“In (Sunday’s game) we probably defended more than we would’ve liked to because the Dees had the footy, and they got it done around the source.”
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