Can Western Bulldogs finally dig deep enough to end the drought of all droughts?

LAST year a lack of squad depth hurt the Western Bulldogs. This year it may just be in their favour as they bid to end the longest of finals droughts.

Western Bulldogs’s win over Port Adelaide marked out their title credentials.

WHEN the Giants knocked over Sydney in their 100th game on Sunday some remarked how quickly time had flown.

That’s not a finals drought, this is a finals drought.

Saturday’s match against Port Adelaide was the 1200th since the Western Bulldogs’ last Grand Final appearance, and the 1331st since the 1954 premiership flag.

It is the sickening stat which shows why the Dogs should be everyone’s second-favourite team this year.

If there is romance in football this year, it is the fairytale charge of the Dogs all the way to football’s Holy Grail.

Especially when the four premiership contenders they must topple have the shortest premiership droughts: Hawthorn (12 games), Sydney (86), GWS (100) and Geelong (105).

Hawthorn, Sydney and Geelong have been able to topple the pillars of equalisation as they again surge into premiership contention.

And yet the very quality equalisation is supposed to prevent — legitimate depth of talent on your list — might just be the Doggies’ secret weapon.

Long-term injuries to Sydney’s Kurt Tippett and West Coast’s Nic Naitanui this week remind us the only law of the AFL jungle is survival of the fittest.

Last year Beveridge’s Dogs had to overcome their own injury crisis before they hit the Adelaide-shaped brick wall in the elimination final.

Jarryd Roughead (finger tendon) and Johannisen (calf) missed the game and Bob Murphy (groin) and Stewart Crameri (hip) were on one leg, with Jake Stringer injured early in the match.

This year the 9-3 Dogs have already thrived despite constant injuries, and might just top the Giants as the deepest list in the AFL.

They toppled Port Adelaide in the game of the year so far, without any of this list of players who were injured or playing VFL.

Easton Wood, Marcus Adams, Jason Johannisen, Nathan Hrovat, Lin Jong, Tom Boyd, Clay Smith, Jed Adcock, Bailey Dale, Kieran Collins and Will Minson.

Just quietly, in the VFL Boyd had 20 possessions and five clearances, Smith returned from a knee reco with 36 touches, Jong had 32 and two goals, Adcock 26 and Minson 26 hit-outs and a goal.

Tom Boyd, on a six-year $7 million deal, played for a mandatory second-year contract last year which means that figure is effectively spread out over five seasons.

It means his salary over this year and the next four seasons is effectively $1.4 million a year, with suggestions it is front-ended this year to seize on some salary cap space.

It would make it potentially the highest salary in football this year, given only four players made $1 million last year.

But Western Bulldogs president Peter Gordon made an effective defence of it on SEN on Saturday, with the proof in the pudding after a batch or recent re-signings.

Insiders say these players are on a journey towards a premiership that no one wants to jump off.

“First of all I don’t like talking about individuals amounts. But if you look at the long-term re-signings in the last 12 months they have included (Marcus) Bontempelli, (Jackson) Macrae, Jake Stringer, Lachie Hunter,’’ Gordon said.

“All that noise goes on outside the club and you don’t hear a skerrick of it inside the club.

“He is a fine young man and I think he’s going to be a terrific player for us over the next 10 years and the camaraderie he has got with a lot of players you mention is evident.”

Gordon said the club’s fundraising and ability to bank previous salary cap savings allowed it to be adventurous with its recruiting.

If he is right — and the Dogs can keep together a list rivals will want to poach in coming years — that drought cannot last forever.

Just imagine a Grand Final pitting the AFL’s newest team and the one saddled with its longest premiership drought — now that is something to look forward to.