BACCHUS Marsh coach Dave Callander was lost for words trying to explain his team’s goalless performance against North Ballarat in the Ballarat Football League.
Last week the Cobras’ tally was just 23 points and Callander was hoping for an improved performance from his players.
Instead, he received a nasty shock as his side lost to North Ballarat 26.12 (168) to 0.5 (5).
Click on the image below for our gallery of the match.
Callander told the Weekly he couldn’t explain the Cobras’ poor performances since they had a bye during the Queen’s Birthday weekend.
“I really don’t know how to explain a loss like that.
“I tried something different in the first half, which other clubs including AFL sides do, but it wouldn’t have stopped us from scoring.
“It came down to the players … I’m not sure if they lost confidence or gave up once the scores didn’t come.
“I spoke to the captain the day after the game and he said that since the bye the players seemed to have lost confidence.”
Callander said his players needed to exert more pressure on their opponents. Too often they got away from the contested ball too easily.
He said he would talk with the players during the week about what they wanted from the rest of the season.
“They need to think about how they want to be seen in public.”
Callander said he wouldn’t be making wholesale changes to the side.
“We’re not in the position to do that, but we have the players to be better than that.
“It comes down to everyone playing their role.
“They’ve got to enjoy the game and get their confidence back.”
This week the Cobras face bottom-placed Sebastopol. “Three weeks ago we would have been favourites to win. Hopefully the confidence can return and we can get a win.”
