Wreck It Ralph: 21 reasons the Dogs can’t blow it in week one of the finals yet again
The Dogs have been here before, bouncing towards finals full of steam before going home early. JON RALPH writes, now more than ever, Luke Beveridge can’t waste this side’s flying form.
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When the Western Bulldogs brains trust pointedly declined to extend the contract of their premiership-winning coach last year it was off one of the club’s hottest runs of form.
The Dogs didn’t limp into the 2024 finals, they strutted in full of bravado after a series of AFL beat-downs.
They had won six of their last seven games against footy’s best sides.
They beat finalists Carlton (14 points), then bashed preliminary finalists Geelong (47 points), Grand Finalists Sydney (39 points) and semi-finalists GWS (37 points) as well as the Demons (51 points) and North Melbourne (96 points).
Yet by the end of the first week of the finals Beveridge’s side had lost its fifth elimination final in 10 seasons.
That brains trust – CEO Ameet Bains, president Kylie Wheeler-Watson, football director Luke Darcy – let Beveridge’s contract drift into 2025 despite the clear evidence the list was building to something special.
We will never know how much the pre-final controversy that night as the Dogs pondered whether to play Jamarra Ugle-Hagan distracted the coach and playing group.
But the message is clear from the Dogs hierarchy – they require Beveridge to win finals, not assemble a side capable of convincing home-and-away runs.
And that’s fair enough too, with their off-season contract pause justified by early-season momentum.
As the football world lauds Beveridge for his outstanding coaching and list management 10 rounds in, the Dogs still sit outside the top four for all their spectacular play.
Put simply, they are too good a side to waste all these home-and-away season gains by only winning entry into a cutthroat elimination final.
Beveridge has argued the case that twice in his tenure the club has finished top four, but they have never finished there in a home-and-away season.
Their 6-4 win-loss record so far is utterly brilliant given the injuries to Adam Treloar, Sam Darcy, Marcus Bontempelli and Liam Jones.
And the losses are extremely respectable – a six-point round 2 defeat against Collingwood, 10 points in Darwin to the Suns, 16 points at Optus Stadium to Fremantle and 21 points against the Lions at a sweltering Norwood Oval in Gather Round.
But the team that annihilated Essendon on Saturday night has to find a way to put the foot to the throat of opponents this year to give itself a double chance.
Beveridge’s coaching career might yet depend upon it if the club continues its current timeline and doesn’t change its policy and sit down with the coach in the bye round.
The Dogs can’t waste this momentum with own goals and form stumbles that put it at risk of a hot rival coming from outside the eight late in the year to dump them from contention once more.
For all of Geelong’s finals heartbreak they have progressed far enough to lose six preliminary finals as well as win two flags in Chris Scott’s tenure.
Here are the 21 reasons why the Dogs cannot waste their 2025 gains with another elimination final flame-out.
1. STOPPAGE BEASTS
The Dogs are the highest scoring stoppage team since Champion Data started recording stats in 1999.
They average 50.1 points from stoppage, higher than Hawthorn in 2012 (46.5 points).
They don’t go backwards from stoppage, they rip the ball out of the contest at speed and do maximum damage with precise ball use.
2. THE QUARTET OF DYNAMIC DOGS
Since round 6 the Dogs have four players in the top 10 in AFL player rankings.
Ed Richards is No. 1, the returning Marcus Bontempelli is No. 2, Joel Freijah is No. 7 and Tom Liberatore is No.8.
They are incredible stats based on a midfield that is well-drilled, well-balanced and trusting in each other to get the job done.
3. BALL USE
The Dogs are the best team at transitioning the ball end to end since 2012.
It is a combination of elite ball use and exceptional midfielders.
Across the entire season Ed Richards is the No. 1 ranked player on AFL Ratings and Bailey Dale is the No. 5 ranked player, with Lachie Ash, Riley Thilthorpe and Andrew Brayshaw in between them.
4. ED RICHARDS
The half-back charger moved into the midfield to replace a concussed Tom Liberatore last year and never left.
Some pundits suggested this week he was the best player in footy.
He is certainly as well-rounded as any elite mid.
He wins a heap of the footy (27 touches a week), he is a huge metres gained player (571 a week), he wins clearances (ave. 4.8) and he kicks goals (0.8 a week).
This year despite his raking left foot he’s only been average as a kick according to Champion Data.
A player who turns 26 early next month hasn’t even reached his peak.
5. JAMES O’DONNELL
When Beveridge dropped Liam Jones some wondered why he had backed in O’Donnell but veteran Dogs watchers knew the son of Simon was on the march.
Since then he has grown before our eyes with six intercept marks against Gold Coast and a pair of contested grabs on Nate Caddy in another tidy performance against Essendon.
If the Dogs can secure a 10-year full back from a Category B rookie and former cricketer it would be a spectacular bit of recruiting as he grows more confident he can play on the big dogs of the league.
This 22-year-old has the height, the reach, the closing speed and aerial power to be a key back of enormous substance.
6. ATTACK
Only Geelong is within cooee of the Dogs’ season tally of 1038 points so far (101 points for per game), with the Cats second in attack (971, averaging 95 points per game).
The Dogs have done it without Marcus Bontempelli early, lost Sam Darcy a month ago and have been without Ugle-Hagan or Cody Weightman all season.
It is an incredible performance given the Dogs don’t have a player in the top 16 in the Coleman Medal.
Rhylee West leads the Dogs goalkicking tally (18) ahead of Aaron Naughton (16), Darcy (14), Matt Kennedy (11) and Lachie McNeil (10) but 11 Dogs have seven or more goals.
Naughton hasn’t even been in good form but the Dogs keep churning out massive scores.
7. DEFENCE
The Dogs gave up only 41 points to Port Adelaide, which drags their average points conceded down to 83. The Pies have conceded 80 less points and have an elite full-ground defensive system.
But the Dogs have midfielders who run two ways, a quality defensive pair in Rory Lobb and O’Donnell and a ruckman in Tim English who can drop into holes to intercept mark.
What better test of that defensive make-up than Geelong at GHMBA Stadium, where the Dogs have won their last two encounters?
8. RHYLEE WEST
The headline when West was drafted at pick 26 was that he was “like his dad, but with more tricks”.
It was a bold call given old man Scott West is a seven-time Charles Sutton Medallist, five-time All Australian and Bulldogs legend.
Who would know how hard it has been to follow in dad’s footsteps.
But West has carved out a niche as a clever small forward who gets better by the year.
This year playing a bigger role without Weightman by his side he is elite for inside 50 marks and inside 50 ground balls.
That’s an exceptional combo for any player.
He doesn’t just kick goals, he racks up big numbers (19 against Essendon, 24 against Brisbane), he averages 1.4 score assists and 3.4 tackles.
Against the Dons he kicked two of those goals from marks on the lead, one chasing down a Dons defender for the goalmouth snap then another throwing off Archie Roberts with strength for a 30m snap at goal.
He’s classy, talented and versatile.
And he’s only 24.
9. RYLEY SANDERS
Thirteen months ago as Sanders was subbed out of a game against Essendon he was criticised for his body language after throwing a water bottle to the turf.
“Pull your head in,” he was advised by Mark Robinson on AFL360.
A year on he had only had four kicks against that same rival.
But he also had 20 handballs, 89 ratings points and had logged another extremely tidy and effective game.
The Dogs gave up so much to get up the draft order for him and while Joel Freijah and Richards have got more plaudits this year he’s had a super start to his second season as a No. 6 draft pick.
He will never be footy’s most damaging kick but he will play 200 very very good games for the Dogs.
10. RORY LOBB
Rory Lobb is utterly dependable down back.
It was something you could previously never have said of the GWS, Fremantle and Dogs forward across his career.
Yet Beveridge lauded his contribution post-match as he and O’Donnell held up when the Bombers started to win some territory.
For the third week in a row he hauled in three intercept marks while stopping his man.
The 32-year-old has a new contract until 2027 and is well on his way to justifying his trade price after the Dogs gave up pick 30 and a future second-rounder to lure him to Whitten Oval.
11. MATT KENNEDY
The Dogs didn’t need the punishing running power of the departing Bailey Smith this year or the clever left-footed kicking of Jackson Macrae.
They needed inside grunt with Marcus Bontempelli and Adam Treloar injured and they got it in Kennedy, part of the Smith deal in a trade that got them first-round pick Cooper Hynes.
Kennedy has four games with nine or more clearances, he averages 6.4 a game and he has 11 goals (with four games with multiple goals).
It’s a unique contribution to be so hard at the footy but so able to push forward to kick goals.
He wanted to find a club where he could play inside mid and he’s done it perfectly at the Dogs under Beveridge.
12. TIM ENGLISH
In a season with so many elite ruckmen (Max Gawn, Tristan Xerri, Lloyd Meek, Tom De Koning, et al) the 2023 All Australian is having a sneaky good year.
In the last three months he has had 17, eight and 11 score involvements.
He’s back to winning huge possession numbers – 18.4 a game – and after a pre-season abdominal injury that saw the club trialling Brayden Crossley he’s played every game.
13. DISTRACTIONS
They are gone, apart from Beveridge’s own contract and you could argue that is pushing him to greater coaching heights.
Beveridge will have to integrate Sam Darcy when he’s fully fit, not just when he’s medically cleared.
But the Dogs are thrilled with Jamarra Ugle-Hagan’s progress away from the club while also not having to answer questions about his daily appearances.
Now they need to beat Geelong using the motivation of Bailey Smith’s departure without getting sucked into verbal spats or silly push-and-shoves.
14. JAMES HARMES
Another value pick who the Dogs secured for a third-rounder.
He rates elite for contested possessions as a wingman and he has racked up at least 20 touches in five of nine games so far. He can also hit the scoreboard, kicking four goals against GWS.
He chose the Dogs when he left Melbourne because he believed Beveridge and Sam Power believed he could play a key role and he’s returned the faith.
15. THE BAILEYS
Bailey Williams is having a hell of a year playing wing and slotting back into defence when needed even if he hasn’t got the credit so far.
Bailey Dale’s 49-possession game against Essendon was exceptional and with the Dons kicking only six behinds it wasn’t filled with cheapies from full back.
Beveridge lauded his intercept game as well as his kicking against Essendon in a games with 1017 metres gained in a year where he’s averaged an intercept mark a game and 5.9 intercept possessions.
16. THE DRAW
The Dogs travel out of Melbourne only twice more after a heavy road schedule so far that Victorian clubs would believe was horrible and non-Victorians would say is par for the course.
They take on Brisbane at the Gabba and Sydney at the SCG but have games against St Kilda, Richmond, North Melbourne, Essendon again, Melbourne and West Coast.
That is by any measure an excellent back-end fixture.
17. BUKU
Buku Khamis has seven goals in four weeks playing forward after spending his first month or so in defence. Can he find a role when Darcy returns?
He played his best game against Essendon with three goals so he’s taking his moment.
18. THE ROLE PLAYERS
The Shane Biggs types got it done in 2016 on the way to the flag.
Beveridge has backed in the likes of Lachie Bramble, Laitham Vandermeer and McNeil in recent years and this year they have all come up trumps.
McNeil has kicked goals in every game, Vandermeer’s body is holding up to give his explosive pace a chance to shine and Bramble breaks lines from defence.
Luke Cleary has added to the mix as a general defender who is a nice tidy kick who doesn’t make many mistakes.
19. JOEL FREIJAH
The odds of securing an elite inside midfielder at pick 45 are ridiculously small.
Yet the Dogs secured Freijah and Sanders (giving up a future first in the package) and we haven’t even seen pick 15 Jordan Croft yet.
He’s 19 and yet he has breakaway pace, racks it up (21.4 touches a game) and kicks goals (six in total).
He will do it all as a second-year player playing on a base of $160,000 who will earn as much as $90,000 in match payments.
He is the quarter million dollar star.
20. TOM LIBERATORE
Libba appeared punch-drunk last year.
Those series of worrying concussions without strong contact from rivals had the football world pleading for him to retire.
Yet while Aiden O’Driscoll’s brain chemistry was altered after a single concussion Libba’s tests kept coming up clear.
You can see his impact at critical stages of big games this year.
The stats are incredible and should have him in contention for that elusive All-Australian jumper.
He ranks elite for disposals, contested possessions, clearances and pressure, with Libba taking the captaincy in his stride before Bontempelli returned from injury.
His coach kept talking about how his dodgy knees meant he might be gone from the game but he has just turned 33, has 244 games under his belt and isn’t slowing down.
21. BEVO’S COACHING
Let’s not damn him with faint praise.
He coached exceptionally well and handled the controversies of the summer with aplomb.
Even his decision to hit back hard at David Koch was targeted, the coach aware it would draw headline but keener to support his players than keep a low profile.
His players are playing for him and his left-field selections are paying off.
Now to use the platform the Dogs have established to roar home and if possible even secure a home final against a non-Victorian side.
Originally published as Wreck It Ralph: 21 reasons the Dogs can’t blow it in week one of the finals yet again
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