Trent Barrett is doing it tough in his first season as a head coach of the Bulldogs, with his team sitting on the bottom of the ladder and licking their wounds from a 52-18 mauling from premiers Melbourne. But when I think of the predicament Barrett is in, my mind goes back 20 or so years to a touching moment I witnessed when he was one of the game's glamour boys with the Dragons. I just happened to be stalking the sidelines at Kogarah moments after the Dragons under 20s handed a Central Coast side a dreadful 70-plus point mauling in the curtain raiser to the NRL clash.
The crowd were taunting the young team from up the coast and Barrett, who also happened to be down among the players, noticed several players in tears. The former Test five-eighth wandered quietly over to the young team and told them to hold their heads up, they did their best, that football was a game of highs and lows and they would bounce back. His words were like a magic spell, instantly lifting the spirits of the previously down-and-out Coast team. It was a lovely gesture that was greatly appreciated by the downcast players - and makes me think that the Bulldogs are in good hands… and that things will eventually turn their way.
