Eade said the focus this week would be to reassure the players of their ability ahead of the clash with either the Sydney Swans or Carlton, rather than to dissect where they went wrong against the Magpies.
“Now we’ve just got to get the mental state right for next week,” he said after the 62-point loss at the MCG.
“We can’t look backwards. We can’t change the result so it’s about now, this far into a season, getting the team right for next week.
“Next Saturday night is the next battle we’ve got to look at. There’s no good poring over tonight.
“We’ve got to get them up and they’ll probably have an easier week on the track, but we need to get them up mentally and physically.”
Eade said the side’s recent history of recovering from lost qualifying finals to win the following week would help in the quest to rebound.
“I’ve got confidence in that. We’ve done it before,” he said.
“We got beaten by Hawthorn here two years ago by 60 points and were able to win the next week.
“We were beaten last year [by Geelong] and we won the next week. That’s what we’re doing.”
Eade said deviation from the game plan in the first and second quarters cost the Dogs, which meant they had to take risks in order to give them a chance.
Then, he said his players failed to capitalise on opportunities when they managed to break open the Pies’ structure.
He admitted the Bulldogs would continue to be hamstrung at the selection table next week given their injury list.
“Obviously [Brodie] Moles was a little bit stiff ... there’s a couple of other players we might be able to bring in,” he said.
“We’re certainly limited with what we can do.”
Eade backed the decision to recall Brad Johnson and Shaun Higgins from injury and said the pair simply had down games.
“In hindsight, I don’t think they were unfit,” he said.
“Brad’s form has been ok but he had a bad one tonight. He’s a victim of his own standards and standing in the game. He didn’t play well but everyone has a bad game at some stage. Brad will be playing next week.”
Tom Williams, Brian Lake and Callan Ward picked up minor injuries but are expected to play next week.
