Western Bulldogs’ best is top-eight worthy, worst is bottom-four horrible, writes Matthew Lloyd
MYSTERY surrounds Luke Beveridge’s men in 2018. Their best is top-four material but their worst is that of a bottom-four struggler. MATTHEW LLOYD looks at what to make of the Bulldogs.
Matthew Lloyd
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TOM Hanks in his role as Forrest Gump back in 1994 delivered this famous line: “My mamma always said, ‘Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.”
Fast-forward 24 years and Forrest Gump’s words of wisdom are entirely apt for the Western Bulldogs.
Mystery surrounds Luke Beveridge’s men in 2018.
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It has been fascinating to witness the wild fluctuations in their performance in the space of just four rounds.
It is hard to predict what they are capable of achieving this season based on what we have seen so far.
Their best would have them banging on the door of the top eight and their worst is that of a bottom four club.
Just how could the Western Bulldogs play with so much energy and effort in Rounds 3 and 4 yet be so listless in the first two rounds of the season.
I have watched the Western Bulldogs over the past 12 months and kept looking for answers and reasons as to how a premiership side of 2016 could drop off to such a level and not even make the finals in 2017.
The easiest and most logical explanation to give is that the Western Bulldogs were a young group of footballers who won a premiership ahead of time and didn’t know how to handle the aftermath and spoils that come with being premiership players.
There is never one sole reason, but the Dogs’ finals series of 2016 was that of a team playing on the edge. The Dogs were a youthful side with experienced heads at the top who were united and feared nothing.
That is lethal combination, which the Bulldogs famously proved to be.
When you lose your edge, become the hunted and then get struck down by injuries to key players, it doesn’t take much to fall back into the pack.
The Western Bulldogs won the premiership with a side that had an average age of 24 and just 81 games of experience.
The Richmond premiership side of 2017 was 25 years old on average and had 103 games of experience.
The Tigers boasted the classic age and experience profile of a premiership side.
To put that all into context, the Bulldogs side that took to the field against Sydney last weekend was both the youngest and the most inexperienced of any team in the competition.
The Dogs had on average just 60 games of experience, and the next closest to that was Carlton (76).
It explains the inconsistencies at the Kennel but shouldn’t be used as an excuse for just how bad they were in the first two weeks.
No side ever wants to be described as witches hats, which they were against West Coast in Round 2.
The Bulldogs are still in a precarious position at one win and three losses, but they would be ecstatic with the turnaround in the past fortnight.
Despite not getting the four points against Sydney, Beveridge was able to get the game played on his terms.
The forward 50m pressure the Dogs were renowned for is back and the Dogs are controlling possession of the ball with short precision passing, which worked to great effect against Essendon in Round 3.
I believe the reason for this strategy is to protect the young and undersized backline that the Dogs have at the moment.
It’s noticeable that the Dogs have not been as aggressive with their ball movement as they were in the first two weeks.
This allows for midfielders and defence to be in a better set-up in the case the ball is turned over, which had been a cause for concern for Beveridge.
This is smart coaching — adapting to what your current personal needs right now.
While effort cannot be questioned in the past fortnight, ball use and finishing in front of goal is not to the standard that will consistently win them games.
The Western Bulldogs are pups, we can’t forget that, but starting a season 1-4, which will be the case if they are defeated by Fremantle, can make for a very long year.
But if the Dogs are to take the chocolates in Perth, optimism and a friendly draw suddenly awaits the sons of the west.
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