SOURCE: Sunshine Coast Daily
LINK: http://www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au/news/heat-of-region-appeals-to-dogs-purposeful-bulldogs/2526770/
WESTERN Bulldogs captain Robert Murphy cannot pinpoint just one area for his team to improve upon, so they will need to fix the whole darn thing instead.
The Bulldogs arrived on the Sunshine Coast yesterday ahead of a nine-day training block.
They will base themselves at the Maroochydore Multisport Complex.
The club's hierarchy would be desperate for the team to improve on its form of recent seasons and give their 30,000 members something to cheer about.
The club has not made the finals since 2010 and its sole premiership came in 1954.
"It would be fair to say after finishing 14th and 15th the last couple of years that we have to make big improvements in all areas," Murphy said.
"With the ball, we need to find some avenues to goal and we need to defend better, which are the basics of footy, really.
"There is a mountain of work ahead of us, but we have got some keen climbers here."
They will need their harnesses and trekking poles if they are to ascend the dizzy heights of the AFL again to be regarded as a genuine premiership contender.
After five years in the cellar, the Bulldogs enjoyed a mini-dynasty from 2008-10, when they finished third each year and made preliminary finals in 2009 and 2010.
Lean years followed, but some good off-season buying has many touting the Bulldogs as the likely improvers of 2015.
One young man who will have to prove his worth is former Greater Western Sydney forward Tom Boyd.
Boyd has signed a seven-year, $7 million deal with the Bulldogs after playing just nine games for his former club.
Murphy said he was excited by the 19-year-old's potential, but urged caution in putting too much pressure on the million-dollar baby.
"He's still learning the caper and trying to get the body fit enough and strong enough," he said.
"I wouldn't expect the club to put too many expectations on him.
"He has only played nine games and we just want to get some continuity into his footy, get him fit and I am sure with his talent, that will come over time."
The Bulldogs are the fifth AFL club to visit the region in the past three months, illustrating how highly regarded the Coast is among professional sporting outfits.
Murphy said he saw many benefits in visiting the Coast.
"It seems to be a bit of a trend at the moment," he said.
"The Sunshine Coast offers up a lot of what AFL teams want at his time of the year and obviously the heat is one of them," he said. "The beach offers a few different kinds of activities that you can do and the facilities are good and we are well looked after up here."
The Bulldogs will hold an open training session at the Maroochydore Multisport Complex on Sunday from 9.30am.