Mick McGuane: What has gone wrong at the Western Bulldogs as club eyes another wasted year

The Bulldogs top level talent is as good as that at any club. It’s the output of the next tier that is an issue at the Whitten Oval.

How can the Western Bulldogs be taken seriously?

Chances are they will play finals football this year, thanks to a favourable run home.

Luke Beveridge’s team still has games to come against bottom-10 sides in Greater Western Sydney, Richmond, Hawthorn and West Coast in the final six weeks, which they should be winning.

However, the Bulldogs’ record against top-eight sides this season leaves a lot to be desired.

From seven matches against fellow finals contenders, the Bulldogs have won just one.

That was a 14-point win over Brisbane at Marvel Stadium way back in round 3.

Given that record, rival September-bound sides aren’t exactly shaking in their boots about what the Bulldogs could do to them come finals.

So what has gone wrong at Whitten Oval this year?

This hasn’t been the season many expected from the Bulldogs. Picture: Getty Images

THE MIDFIELD

The Bulldogs’ key strength also looks like their Achilles heel at the moment.

Their much-lauded midfield brigade is finding plenty of the footy, but it isn’t getting bang for buck for its clearance dominance.

Since round 12, the Bulldogs have logged 54 more clearances than their opposition, which ranks third in the competition.

However, over the same period the Dogs rank 14th for points from clearances differential with -38 points.

Too often, the Bulldogs onballers appear to collapse space off the contest.

There must be a focus put on formation rather than possession, because some players look like they are constantly chasing stats rather than playing their roles in the defensive set-up.

That might explain why Jack Macrae has been moved to half-forward and wing roles more often this year.

His centre bounce attendances have dropped from 64 per cent last year to 34 per cent this year, with the reason appearing to be that he is not conforming to his role within the team’s defensive structure.

Do Macrae and the other Bulldogs’ midfielders – with the exception of Marcus Bontempelli – have the humility to sacrifice their egos and play their part in a strong team defence?

Jack Macrae has played less time on ball this year. Picture: Michael Klein

In a copycat industry, the lack of players the Bulldogs have used through the midfield this year also stands out.

Geelong had 20 different midfielders attend centre bounces last season on its way to a premiership.

The Bulldogs have used only seven players at centre bounces this season – Bontempelli (371 attendances), Tom Liberatore (337), Adam Treloar (265), Macrae (154), Bailey Smith (120), Caleb Daniel (104) and Toby McLean (2).

There aren’t the leg-driving midfielders that other clubs have in this group and there appears to be a reluctance to develop the next generation of players in that area of the ground.

Why can’t Rhylee West get a look in as a midfielder?

Why not look to evolve Cody Weightman’s game and give him some centre bounce exposure? Is 22-year-old Riley Garcia ready for midfield minutes and is he going to become a depth midfielder beyond this season?

Losing Josh Dunkley and Lachie Hunter during the trade period last year has hurt the Bulldogs significantly.

Dunkley’s hardness and Hunter’s width and shape off the contest is sorely missed.

This current onball brigade are fast becoming a victim of their own success.

It’s time to share the load more than they currently do.

THE FRONT HALF

It’s not just the Bulldogs’ midfield that is not defensively strong enough.

The Dogs aren’t winning enough of the ball back in their front half.

They rank ninth in the competition for forward-half intercepts – an area which must improve if they want to be a strong territory team on the back of clearance dominance.

The ease at which the ball often exits the Bulldogs’ forward line is also hurting the side at the other end of the ground.

The Bulldogs can’t stop opposition back-to-front ball movement and have coughed up an average of 40 points a game from opposition defensive-50 chains against top-eight teams this year.

Offensively, Beveridge’s team has kicked 11 goals or less in 10 matches this season.

Those kind of scores are unlikely to win you a final in September when the best teams in the competition like Port Adelaide, Collingwood and Brisbane can all pile on quick goals.

Having key targets Aaron Naughton and Jamarra Ugle-Hagan lead to different areas could help.

Too often, the pair run tram-track leads up the same side of the ground rather than one cutting away from the other to provide the ball carrier with two different options.

Bailey Dale doesn’t like close attention and the rest of the competition knows that. Picture: Michael Klein

THE BACK HALF

If you’re not brave, you’re not going to win many games against the top sides.

The Bulldogs regularly play safe coming out of defensive 50 and it is not working for them.

They rank 17th in the competition for corridor use exiting defensive 50 and consequently sit 16th for converting defensive-50 chains to inside-50s.

Yes, the Dogs might be trying to protect an undersized – and currently depleted – defence.

But you also need to give your forwards a chance to kick a winning score if you want to win games.

With the ball users they have across half-back – including Bailey Dale, Ed Richards and Caleb Daniel (who needs to return there permanently) – the Bulldogs should not be constantly going as wide as they are.

Opposition sides have worked out that they can get to Dale, too.

If I was coaching Essendon this week, I’d be sending Matt Guelfi to Dale as a defensive forward because such moves rattle him.

Dale hates having his space denied and as a consequence he starts thinking more about attacking the game rather than defending it.

The loss of key defender Liam Jones to a broken arm over the past three weeks shouldn’t go understated, either.

But where is the next soldier to step in?

Does Bailey Williams sacrifice his wing role and become a part of the Bulldogs backline again?

The recruitment of Rory Lobb has not worked. Picture: Michael Klein

THE LIST

At the start of the year, Glenn McFarlane and I rated every list in the competition.

The Bulldogs came out in fifth spot – but maybe we got that wrong.

This is a side that is too reliant on too few.

The top-end talent is great, but it quickly drops away.

If Bontempelli has a bad night or Liberatore doesn’t get his hands dirty, who is the next player to go into the middle and step up?

You have to question the decisions made by the club during the trade and draft period last year.

They lost two pre-eminent midfielders in inside onballer Dunkley and outside runner Hunter.

On the flip side, the Dogs added two bookends in forward-ruckman Rory Lobb and key defender Jones, and used their first draft pick on another key defender in Jedd Busslinger.

Jones looks a good short-term fix down back, but signing Lobb to a four-year deal has not worked so far.

Lobb was dropped to the VFL last weekend after having little impact across the year. He is averaging just 9.2 disposals, 2.6 marks and 0.9 goals at AFL level.

Why didn’t the Dogs instead look to bolster a midfield group which is ageing and lacking depth?

Liberatore is 31, Treloar is 30, Macrae is 29 next month and Bontempelli turns 28 in November.

The one young gun who is part of the regular midfield mix is 22-year-old Bailey Smith, and there is speculation he is unhappy, with some suggestions he be traded at the end of the year.

The Bulldogs simply can’t let that happen.

Smith needs to start at the first centre bounce against Essendon on Friday night and be given a role working on and off Bombers captain Zach Merrett.

His form has been down this year, but the Bulldogs need his speed through the midfield and Beveridge must back him in to rediscover his best football.

So why not give Smith a challenge and use Merrett as a competitive starting point at the start of the game?

THE LEADERSHIP

It seemed a touch hasty when the Bulldogs extended Beveridge’s contract for a further two seasons just before Christmas last year.

Why the hurry when he still had a year to run on his current contract?

Any premiership coach has credits in the bank – and rightfully so – but some of the inconsistencies that have been displayed by the Bulldogs over recent seasons have been worrying.

Even Beveridge himself is clearly frustrated, evidenced by news that he broke his hand when he punched a whiteboard during halftime in last week’s loss to Sydney.

The Dogs never seem to know what their best team looks like.

They have played 35 players already this year, and some of the week-to-week selection decisions are puzzling.

James O’Donnell looks like a future talent, but was he really ready to make his AFL debut earlier this year after 35 days at the club?

Does Luke Beveridge have too many ‘yes’ men around him at the Bulldogs? Picture: Michael Klein

Lachlan McNeil, Robbie McComb, Oskar Baker and Ryan Gardiner appear to be among other favourites of the coach and also get games when their form perhaps doesn’t warrant them.

I wonder whether Beveridge is too stubborn and if he has surrounded himself with ‘yes’ men, which has left him as the judge, jury and executioner.

In any match committee, strong debate is very healthy for your environment as long as whatever is said in match committee stays there when you leave there.

Without being on the inside, it is hard to know exactly what goes on at the Bulldogs’ weekly match committee meetings.

You can only hope that Beveridge is being challenged in the right way to get the best out of everybody.

If that is not happening, it needs to start now.

If it doesn’t, 2023 will once again be a wasted year and that would not sit comfortably with the club’s highly-respected captain Bontempelli.