And with that, they moved on.
So it was a chirpy and chatty Eade who fronted up after the 29-point loss to Hawthorn at Etihad Stadium on Sunday. He walked into the media room with a big grin and was full of banter, even trading good-natured quips with one journalist who raised the issue of Eade's on-going tenure with the club in an article a fortnight ago.
He feigned wariness of saying too much to another who he knows has strong leanings towards the Hawks. It was eight minutes of free-flowing and assured conversation that might put to bed some of those who are assigning Eade to the unemployment queue sooner rather than later.
The strong conclusion to be drawn from listening to Eade on Sunday evening is that there is a plan to work the Bulldogs out of the mire and it is going to be led by the coach.
There are times in modern footy when leadership groups are charged with taking the bit by the teeth and while the leaders at Whitten Oval will no doubt have their part to play, the buck is clearly stopping with the coach for the foreseeable future.
"I was reasonably positive with them afterwards because you have to keep them upbeat which I think is really generated by the coach," Eade said.
Eade said he took an upbeat approach to his post-match de-brief with the players and wanted to communicate to them that while a 3-6 record and five losses from six matches since the round three bye is unacceptable, only hard work and sheer endeavour will get the side going again.
"I think morale has actually been pretty good but we just have to keep presenting and working hard. That's been the message and if they're working hard you have to give them a pat on the back, but obviously football-wise, there's a lot of areas we need to work on," he said.
Football-wise, it was a couple of early free kicks that presented Hawthorn with the opportunity to kick away.
Mindful of Hawthorn's penchant for uncontested football, Eade's approach called for man-on-man and accountability and he lamented lapses in the latter that allowed the Hawks to score.
The match could have got away from the Bulldogs when the Hawks slipped away to a 47-point lead early in the second half. But the Bulldogs had the better of the next 30 minutes of football and whittled the margin back to 23 points.
Given where his side had come from, Eade rated that a small victory.
"The second half was extremely pleasing. The endeavour and effort was good, but we have long a way to go. We could have dropped our heads in the second half [after last week's effort] and turned it in, but at least the effort and endeavour was there," Eade said.
Expectations have been shelved at the Bulldogs. The pre-season pick of many to make the Grand Final is now all about getting the next win on the board. The quest to do that continues at Skilled Stadium on Saturday against Geelong, unbeaten in all games this year and in its last 25 encounters at its home ground.
However, Eade knows the scoring potency for which his team has been renowned has all but disappeared. Barry Hall rolled his ankle early and was benched permanently after collecting just two touches, but skill errors, slow ball usage and inexperience in the front half have all played their part in preventing the Bulldogs (with the exception of the Richmond game a fortnight ago) from keeping the scoreboard ticking over at the same frequency as seasons' past.
"We're two games out of the eight and we haven't given up hope. It will be tough down there [at Skilled Stadium] with only a six-day break and when we get continuity and consistency with our effort we can start building for other things," Eade said.
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily of the clubs or the AFL
