AFL 2021: Western Bulldogs grand final news, updates and feature stories
Most had Josh Schache’s papers stamped midway through this year — but not Luke Beveridge. Here’s how the Dogs forward got himself back in favour and capitalised on his chance.
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Finals wildcard Josh Schache has been hiding something under his shorts.
Before each final Schache has had a moulded guard made of hard plastic strapped around his waist to protect his fractured sacrum (near the tailbone).
Schache had made a bright start in the backline and his opponent, Essendon’s Peter Wright, had not recorded a disposal when the secret injury occurred in Round 21.
Wright went on to thump seven goals, four of which came directly on Schache, sapping a recent spike in support for the AFL’s newest swingman.
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A sore and sorry Schache also hyperextended his knee, which was the reason listed for his absence against Hawthorn the following week.
Really, it was the blow to the sacrum which sidelined Schache and once again appeared headed for the scrap heap.
Instead Schache enters Saturday’s Grand Final with access to the shortcut Tom Boyd took to hero status in 2016.
Schache had played only three out of the past 40 games — two of which included plenty of bench time — when he was recalled against Melbourne in Round 19.
Creative coach Luke Beveridge had long wanted a look at Schache as a defensive stopper and he sent the one-time spearhead from Seymour to line up on Ben Brown — after a grand total of three VFL quarters learning about life in the backline and some close tutelage with backline coach Rohan Smith.
“Bevo has floated the idea in the past,” Schache said.
“He’s a great man and the way he sees the game is awesome.
“I’m just very grateful for the belief he’s shown in me in the second part of the year.”
Schache was spared a rematch on Essendon giant Wright in the elimination final as the smooth goalkicker returned to his natural habitat for the Launceston clash.
But when Beveridge deployed an upskilled Schache as a defensive forward on All-Australian Aliir Aliir in the preliminary final the move became a masterstroke.
Schache played Aliir from behind and confused Port Adelaide’s architect, who let himself down through poor ball use.
“He’s an amazing player with the way he can read the ball, intercept and set their offence from the back end,” Schache said.
“For me learning that backman craft as well I was sort of trying to play on him as a backman and negate his influence in the air.
“It didn’t matter how many touches I was getting as long as I played the role for the team and brought the ball to ground.”
He kicked 1.3 and was unlucky not to have three or four in the romping win.
The Dogs paid a high price for Schache – giving up picks 25 and 40 moments after receiving 25 and 30 for Jake Stringer – and this was their premium return.
Will it be a rinse-and-repeat role for Schache against attacking backman Jake Lever in the big one?
Spirits were low when Schache and best mate Brad Lynch headed to an Air BnB on holiday after last year’s Queensland hub.
They reminisced on the good and bad times over a beer or two, which Schache needed convincing to drink due to a groin injury.
Lynch said it was cleansing.
“We talked absolute dribble about how shit it was to be up here, but then recognising how good we actually have it,” he said.
The footy world prematurely stamped Schache’s cards after he was spat out by Richmond’s defence in Round 7.
Schache was the quiet kid from the country who treated people with respect.
Polite and loyal, but perhaps not going to make it as an AFL footballer.
Somehow the 24-year-old never lost faith.
“I guess I’ve always been confident in how I’ve been playing this year,” Schache said.
“It didn’t look likely in the early part of the season, but I was always confident with the way I was playing in the VFL.
“I stayed optimistic when things weren’t really going my way but once that opportunity came I knew I’d make the most of it.”
And so did Lynch.
“I knew what his preparation was going into the year, the man is an absolute workhorse,” Lynch said.
“He’s got his own gym in his house. I’m pretty sure he works out every single day – Saturdays, Sundays – he’s developed this work ethic that’s almost like Kobe (Bryant) and Michael Jordan-esque.”
BAZ INC: IN-DEMAND DOG’S BRAND GROWS BY DAY
Scott Gullan
The Western Bulldogs wunderkind with the movie star looks and trademark mullet has just signed on with clothing giant Cotton On.
Smith, 20, will be an ambassador for Australia‘s largest global retailer who is renowned for being very selective when it comes to aligning itself with sports stars.
Not since Brownlow medallist Chris Judd and Geelong captain Joel Selwood has a young player made such an impact, transcending from the football field to fashion houses and boardrooms.
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Guys love how he plays and girls love all sorts of things about him, which is why his manager Paul Connors’ phone hasn’t stopped ringing.
The new relationship with Cotton On was sealed last week, adding to Smith’s growing sponsors portfolio which also includes drink company Monster Energy and Telstra.
“There is a strong commercial demand for Bailey and we’re being very selective with who we partner with,” Connors said.
“He has got an insatiable appetite to be the best footballer he can be — but at the same time he is also extremely humble, he’s polite, he’s respectful and that goes a long way.”
Smith’s electric finals series is growing his brand at a rapid rate. He started the finals series with 250,000 Instagram followers on his handle @bazlenka and after his four-goal performance in the preliminary final against Port Adelaide that has now soared to 270,000.
To put that in perspective, Brownlow medallist Ollie Wines has only got 47,000 followers.
WHEN THE DAM WALL BURST
In many respects Dale Morris was the perfect person to walk in at that moment.
The moment was when Bailey Smith let his guard down and cracked.
It was during his first season at the Whitten Oval and despite wowing his new teammates with his ultra professionalism, it had momentarily overwhelmed him.
He cut a sad figure sitting alone in the changerooms with head in his hands.
Morris, the revered premiership defender, was finishing up for the day in his role as development coach when he came across the distraught Smith.
“It just worked out that I was there when he was going through some things,” Morris recalls.
“Just to be there and be able to talk to him was important. I understand and I get it that he wants to be the best so it was all just talking him through different ways of seeing things and doing things.
“He doesn’t have to jump in both feet first, you need that balance and just talking to him about that and still being able to be the best footballer and person you can be with that balance and things will be OK.”
Morris, who played 253 games in 14 seasons at the Dogs, was renowned for being meticulous and dedicated to his craft but even he was taken aback when the 18-year-old Smith walked through the door.
“He was doing things even seasoned footballers hadn’t quite got on top of but he was always doing it when we drafted him,” Morris says.
“When you draft kids that come into the club, you almost spend a couple of years getting them up to scratch, up to expectations, the standards of the football club and what they need to do to become professional athletes and professional footballers.
“When Bailey came in he was quite the opposite, he was already there and then some, he was that full-on.
“Footy can be all consuming. We love it, and I was meticulous with my preparation and took my footy very seriously and it took me a little while to get that balance right with life and footy.
“I just talked to him about that because he was so full on, his dream was to play footy and he was just giving it absolutely everything which was great.
“To have a kid come in that you have to pull back, the signs were there that he was just going to be something special.”
It has always been that way as former Essendon ruckman Ryan O’Connor found out in his role as Sandringham Dragons boss when the kid from East Malvern came through the TAC Cup system.
“He would be continually asking questions,” O’Connor explains.
“He was hungry to learn more, find another way and what else could he add in.
“There were times where we did have to say to him, ‘We can’t keep adding things on for you to do, we need to knock a couple of things off. There is also your school work and you have to have a bit of fun with your mates’.”
DRAFT CONCERNS
Leading up to the 2018 National Draft the word was out that Smith wasn’t able to move interstate for medical reasons and fortunately he fell to the Western Bulldogs at No.7.
It is already looking like being one of the best drafts in history with Sam Walsh, who just finished fourth in the Brownlow Medal, taken at No. 1 while Smith’s Sandringham teammates, Max and Ben King, were taken at No. 4 and No. 6 respectively.
Bulldogs captain Marcus Bontempelli remembers Smith causing a stir when he arrived at the Whitten Oval.
It was the attention to detail in his preparation for training and games which was eye-opening from a teenager straight out of school.
“I thought I was good, then it was like, ‘Pheeeww have I got a few lessons to learn’,” Bontempelli said.
“I think it was probably overs in a way, he came in and some of us said this bloke has got most of us covered in terms of how he treats the game which can be a super benefit.
“But I think over the course of his career he has worked out how to maybe ease some of those things off to be of more benefit so that you don’t have to be as locked in from Monday to Sunday.
“You can let yourself, and he has got a good mullet, he can let his hair down a little bit and he can find different elements that will benefit him in the long run.
“The thing about ultra-professionalism, and he was a tiny bit over, is it can wear you down over time because it’s a taxing game physically and mentally and he’s made great strides in that part of his life and his career.”
HOW RELIGION KEEPS HIM GROUNDED
Religion is something Smith has found, much in the same vein as his hero Gary Ablett Jr, which he says helps keep him grounded. He is a regular at Sunday mass in Malvern when his football commitments allow it.
He describes himself as an “over-thinker” and “perfectionist”, revealing earlier this year that he’d been dealing with mental health issues.
Morris says Smith had managed to find a better balance over the past 12 months which shows in his performances.
“You don’t want to stop him doing what he’s good at and what he loves to do,” Morris said.
“He loves footy, he loves preparing and getting the most out of his body and his talent.
“You never want to take that away from him but when you talk to players like that you want them to understand that to be even better, to have this balance will actually make them a better player and help them in their football journey, they will enjoy it a lot more
“When you prepare and go all in on something it brings a lot of stress and anxiety so to relieve that stress and anxiety, if you don’t have that balance in your life, how are you going to let it out? Where is it going to go?
“It is going to manifest and it‘s going to get worse, it will internalise and that is a dangerous thing.
“If you are all in and consumed by footy these things can get to you, I was a bit like that early days in my career, I’d make mistakes and I would think about them for days, weeks and months.
“As a backman, you make a mistake and there’s a goal against which could cost you the game so I was quite stressed early days because I wanted to be perfect pretty much.
“It took me a while to realise and understand that it’s OK not to be perfect, you are going to make mistakes, everyone is going to make mistakes, it’s how you process those mistakes and move on and learn from them.”
Smith hasn’t missed a game since his debut in Round 1, 2019 with Saturday’s Grand Final his 67th game.
He has kicked eight goals in the finals series and been one of the most influential figures in the Dogs rise through September.
It has warmed Morris’ heart to watch the kid who cried on his shoulder become the hottest player in the game.
“You see him playing so well in this finals series and throughout the season, he is able to do that because of the way he prepares,” Morris said.
“Because of the way he plans, because of what he does at training, the little things he does, it could be the touch, the handball, it comes out in his game.
“So in those big moments, the high-pressure situations he is able to do that because he has worked and prepared for that.”
How Dog responded to online attacks after free kick furore
— Rebecca Williams
Cody Weightman has always been the laid-back type.
Describing himself as a happy-go-lucky character, the boy from the Beaconsfield footy club with the shaggy blond mane admits he was just “going with the flow” after he left school, got drafted and arrived at the Whitten Oval to start his AFL career.
The 20-year-old – a first-round selection at No. 15 overall in the 2019 national draft – would go on to play three games in his debut season for the Western Bulldogs, including a miraculous goal from the boundary line with his first kick.
Yet, despite making the step up to full-time footballer, Weightman felt he was still lacking the necessary routine and structure in his life to help him elevate his game.
Some post-season reflection and research opened up Weightman’s mind to some small, yet significant changes, which could make a difference.
Now Weightman sets his alarm at the same time every morning and does cold water therapy and meditation each day to help get himself in the zone.
“I got curious in the off-season about things that could help me and I listened to a few podcasts and stuff like that which interested me, and from there I started to understand myself a bit and what makes me work a bit more,” Weightman said.
“Nothing too crazy, but just to start my day and finish my day just to make sure that whatever
happens between either end of the day, it’s started the same and it’s finished the same.
“I wake up in the morning at the same time every day now rather than last year, where I would get my treatment schedule for the morning and I would try to get there within a minute of treatment to maximise my sleep, then you end up rushing.
“After that, I try to do cold water therapy in the mornings and I find that wakes me up straight away and really makes me feel alive from the get-go.
“I just chuck the shower on fully cold and just submerge in that for a bit or jump in the pool, whatever I can and then I do a bit of meditation.
“It’s amazing how consistent my energy feels now rather than last year when some days I would feel great and other days I would be tired and a bit sluggish and stuff like that. I just feel a lot more balanced.”
FINALS FIT
It’s that energy that has come to define Weightman’s game for the Bulldogs this season.
They might be small changes but the sum of all parts has helped deliver a breakout season for the electric small forward, who has played 15 games and kicked 26 goals this year.
Weightman is now eyeing off a Grand Final berth against Melbourne in just his second AFL season after missing the Dogs’ preliminary final win over Port Adelaide due to concussion protocols.
“It’s a bit surreal, to be honest,” Weightman said.
“Just being at a club in your second year is amazing to be a part of success and obviously I haven’t been picked – or not yet, just waiting to see.
“But it’s super exciting, so hopefully I’m out there.
“I’m cherry ripe now, completely fine. I have been feeling great pretty much for most of the time since (the concussion) now.
“The concussion certainly won’t have an impact on me going forward. It’s a crap feeling being concussed and I’ve had a couple now so I sort of knew what to expect this time.
“You don’t wish it upon anyone. It’s never nice. But I’m feeling fine now.”
Weightman’s untimely knock came in the Bulldog’s thrilling one-point semi-final win over the Lions in Brisbane, forcing him to sit out the preliminary final against the Power the following week in Adelaide.
It wasn’t easy being a spectator as the Bulldogs fought for a place in the grand final.
“I thought I handled it quite well during the week in terms of my jealousy of not being able to stand out there and help the boys,” Weightman said.
“Once I was sitting in the box watching the game, that’s when it kicked it thinking ‘Geez, I would love to be out there’.
“But fortunately the boys did not need me at all, they were fantastic and my nerves and anxiety watching the game were taken away pretty early, so I kept the fingernails for one more week.”
Weightman’s enforced exit from the semi-final came the week after he set the field alight in an eye-catching elimination final performance against Essendon in Launceston.
Playing in his first final, he kicked an equal season-high four goals to help ignite the Dogs’ finals campaign, which would see them travel from one corner of Australia to another en route to Perth for the decider.
“I feel like there have been a few games this year where I have really been happy with my game and they haven’t been as statistically appealing (as that one),” Weightman said.
“But it was great to play an important game in the finals. I enjoy playing finals – like everyone – and to have an impact on that game was something that I really enjoyed and hopefully I can do that again.
“I am pretty proud of the way that I have been able to have a go at it this year and, on the back of those three games last year, I have been able to learn a lot and make myself a better footballer and better person as well.”
THAT’S JUST FOOTY
After his elimination final heroics, Weightman experienced the darker side of the game when he was attacked online after all four of his goals came from free kicks.
He copped plenty on social media, and his injured forward teammate Josh Bruce turned online protector putting trolls back in their place.
“I’m not too worried about that at all. Everyone has got their opinion – that’s the day and age we live in and everyone thinks they’re right,” Weightman said.
“I didn’t even read the comments, to be honest, and any that I accidentally stumbled across I was pretty quick to discard. I don’t really put a price on people that want to be negative.
“As long as I’m listening to the good people and the good voices that I’ve got around me then I’ll be in good hands and getting the right advice.
“I think every player gets some (free kicks) that they don’t deserve and miss some that they do deserve. I think it all evens out a fair bit. That’s just footy.”
The youngest of four children, Weightman grew up on a small hobby farm in Officer, the son of a plumber and a hairdresser.
The family keeps cattle on the farm and they welcomed two young bulls last week, which his parents have been sending him photos and videos of.
Weightman joked that one might get named “Flea” – his nickname – if he makes the grand final team and the Bulldogs salute.
“I am excited for the weekend and looking forward to testing myself out,” Weightman said.
“This is why we live in a way to put ourselves under pressure and test the limits a little bit and I am just excited for that opportunity.
“It has been a great journey so far and I’m just hoping that there’s more to come.”
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