Luke Beveridge not fazed by Western Bulldogs’ biggest issue

Led by Marcus Bontempelli, the Bulldogs’ midfield tore the West Coast Eagles apart, but there’s still one big hole in the side’s game.

Bontempelli had a day to remember. (Photo by Daniel Carson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge insists that goal kicking inaccuracy creeping into his sides score lines is nothing to worry about.

The Bulldogs overcame an inaccurate start against West Coast in Perth on Sunday, kicking 4.12 in the opening half, to beat the Eagles by 55 points – with 13.20 on the board.

It was the fourth consecutive week the Dogs’ final score had more points kicked than behinds. They lost to Geelong by five points with 11.12 on the board in Round 14 and beat Fremantle by 28 points a week earlier after kicking 13.15. They needed to boot 5.5 on the last quarter to beat the Dockers though.

In Round 11, Melbourne beat them by 28 points after the Dogs managed 8.11.

Beveridge did admit it is frustrating, but said his players were working through it.

“When you’re missing pretty straight forward set shot when not that far out and not acute angles, you’re aware you’re missing opportunities,” he said.

“Every game is hard to win.

“The energy and commitment needed to do the hard work and have the emotional letdown, you’re more wondering how players are dealing with it.

“But the players are coping ok and persevering through.

“It hasn’t been an epidemic in our team; it happens here and there.

“You get frustrated, but our players care too much for each other to take it any other way than it’s part of the game. They keep telling each other, ‘you’ll get the next one’ and that’s what we do as coaches.”

In the Bulldogs’ only loss in the first 10 rounds of the season, to Richmond, by 22 points, they also finished with an inaccurate 7.13.

On Sunday against the Eagles though, the midfield was so dominant that they managed 60 inside 50s to the Eagles’ 38. So, it wasn’t that big an issue.

Josh Bruce, Tim English, Jason Johannisen, Tom Liberatore, Aaron Norton and Baily Smith all sprayed at least two chances at shots on goal that ended in behinds. A couple of them also failed to score with shots altogether.

While Beveridge lamented those shots, especially in the first half, and was concerned how the players would react, he applauded his players for not letting up.

The Dogs kicked 9.8 after half-time.

Amid all of the Covid-19 uncertainty throughout the country at the moment, the Dogs are expected to land in Melbourne on Monday and be allowed to head home after passing Covid tests.

While Tullamarine Airport is a Covid hotspot, the Dogs are expected to be able to find a safe terminal to arrive at.

They can then begin to prepare for next week’s game against North Melbourne in the same manner as the other Victorian-based sides.

Beveridge concedes that they will do that without defender Ryan Gardner, who was subbed out of Sunday’s game with a shoulder injury.

It appeared to pop out of place.

Gardner was playing his third game back after overcoming surgery to his other shoulder.

“It’s the side,” Beveridge said. “But it was the same incident as like earlier in the year and he had surgery.

“Not sure if he needs surgery this time, but he’ll miss some weeks.”

Beveridge’s Bulldogs were much too good for West Coast on Sunday. (Photo by Will Russell/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Eagles rocked

West Coast has welcomed back some of its midfield stars from injury in the past few weeks.

But coach Adam Simpson needs to get them back firing quickly if they want to challenge for this season’s premiership.

They were monstered in the middle of their home ground by the Western Bulldogs on Sunday.

They lost the clearances battle 44-29, with Dogs Marcus Bontempelli (10) and Tom Liberatore (8) doing most of the damage.

And while the Dogs midfield got plenty of the ball (Jack Macrae 32 touches, Bailey Smith 31, Bontempelli 29 and Lachie Hunter 27), no Eagles midfielder had more than 20 possessions.

Tim Kelly, Luke Shuey and Elliot Yeo have had significant stints on the sidelines recently, but Simpson wouldn’t use that as an excuse after the 55-point loss.

“We picked a side we thought could win and we didn’t beat what we knew was coming,” he said.

“It’s really difficult to come back from a long-term injury and build up a base that’s going to match it at AFL level.

“There’s no excuse. They were ready to play.

“I don’t think our boys will be putting up their hands to say we were underdone and that’s why we lost.”

It’s hard to see a scenario where the Eagles miss the top eight, but for the third season in a row, they look certain to be a victim of their poor percentage.

When the Eagles win, they don’t bury sides and some of their losses take a massive toll, such as Sunday’s defeat to the Western Bulldogs.

Poor percentage has cost the Eagles a top four spot in each of the past two seasons, where nine of the past 10 premiership teams have finished.

For the Eagles, top four not only means a double chance, but gives them a shot at hosting a preliminary final.

The loss to the Bulldogs and their 97-point loss to Geelong earlier in the season, leaves West Coast with the seventh worst percentage. Only Richmond’s, of the teams in the eight, is worse.

In 2019, the Eagles finished with the same wins as the fourth-placed Collingwood, but an inferior percentage relegated them to fifth.

In 2020, West Coast had the same numbers of wins as the third-placed Richmond, but the Tigers and the fourth-placed Geelong again had better percentages.

Simpson said with his side currently only one game clear of ninth-placed Fremantle, they are currently focusing on making the eight.

“Our goal at the start of the year was to qualify for finals as quick as we can, and at the moment we’re nowhere near that,” he said.

“We know what’s in front of us. The percentage is not where we need it to be, but the wins are the main ones. At the moment we’re still in the eight, so we’re still in the hunt.

“We’re still up for the fight.

“We need to learn from today, which we will. We need to get better, which I hope we will.

“We have to be pretty pragmatic about it, accept what’s in front of us and move on.”

What’s in front of them is one of those sides above them, Sydney, currently scheduled to be played in Geelong due to Covid conditions in New South Wales.

After that, they have four games that would usually offer opportunities to improve that percentage, or at least win enough games to cement that finals spot.

They face four teams currently outside the top eight - North Melbourne (home), Adelaide (away), St Kilda (home) and Collingwood (away); although Covid outbreaks threaten to change where those games are played.

Simpson said the Eagles had no issues of being on the road for multiple weeks, if that’s what the AFL called on.

“That doesn’t affect us at all. The fact we’re playing at Geelong doesn’t affect us either,” he said.

“For us to get anywhere this year, we’ve got to win anywhere, at any time, and we’ve got to play at our absolute best, especially against a side like the Bulldogs.

“We’re just not at that level.

“If it’s a few weeks on the road, we’ll do it. Honestly I think all those issues and challenges about how to handle it, they’re in the past. Just tell us what we’re doing, and we’ll do it.”

Luke Shuey was among the stars who returned for the Eagles on Sunday. (Photo by Daniel Carson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

The Western Bulldogs’ Marcus Bontempelli-inspired win over West Coast at Optus Stadium on Sunday can’t be underestimated in terms of this AFL season.

Lose, and the Dogs’ hold on to second spot on the ladder was extremely wobbly.

Win, which they ended up doing in style, and they would have fallen back into a group of sides eyeing off the advantage that top-two spot brings with it.

The 13.20 (98) to 6.7 (43) win looked ugly at times. But the 50,000-odd crowd was banned by the WA Government only three hours before the first bounce, while the Dogs were in a bus on the way to the game.

That regular noise that gets the Eagles moving when need it, wasn’t there when they started to gain some momentum in the third term.

Life is now a lot harder for West Coast, who would have been just one win off second spot with a win. Not being in the top four has eluded them for the past couple of seasons and now looks a difficult task again.

The Dogs captain, Marcus Bontempelli, made sure his team overcame their sloppy start against the Eagles.

‘The Bont’ finished the day with three goals and a goal assist to go with his 29 disposals, seven tackles and 10 clearances.

Three goals in the final quarter from Aaron Naughton, sealed the result.

After celebrating a great win over Richmond at home, missing several key players, and having a bye to freshen up, the Eagles suffered their biggest ever loss at Optus Stadium since moving there in 2018.

The Dogs also kept them to their lowest score at the venue.

For the Dogs, it was their first win against West Coast at Optus Stadium and the first against the Eagles in Perth since the 2016 Elimination Final.

The Bulldogs went on to win the flag that season.

A shoulder injury to defender Ryan Gardner in the third quarter was the only concern for the Dogs.

The Eagles were forced to play their home game without a crowd. (Photo by Daniel Carson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Good kicking is good footy

The Bulldogs have trailed at quarter-time only once this season (in Round 11 loss to Melbourne) and led West Coast by 13 points at the first change.

But they should have had a matchwinning lead as early as that.

In the first term, they went into attack 17 times, compared to the Eagles’ eight and took six marks in goal kicking range.

They had 10 scoring shots to West Coast’s two, but led 2.8 to 1.1.

Josh Bruce and Bontempelli missed set shot chances they should have kicked. Bruce had 0.1 on the board, but he had two other shots from inside 50 that failed to score.

Dogs bring the bite

The Bulldogs did take the intensity to the game.

One week after a devastating after-the-siren loss to Geelong and having spent a week in quarantine in Perth, the Dogs hunted the ball from the first bounce.

They went into the quarter-time huddle with 18 more contested possessions than the Eagles, led by Bontempelli, Bailey Smith, Jack Macrae and Lachie Hunter.

They set up many of their early scoring shots from the 12 turnovers they forced in their front half.

And Bontempellii and Tom Liberatore ensured their side were controlling clearances.

Bonts class of 2021

At halftime, the Eagles top three possession winners were defenders – Brad Sheppard, Josh Rotham and Tom Barrass, who was struggling with a rib-injury sustained in the first term.

The first two quarters were played in wet conditions and Eagles ruckman Nic Naitanui was their highest midfield possession winners, with 12.

Not-so the Bulldogs, with Bailey Smith (17 touches), Bontempelli (16) and Macrae (15) all getting plenty of it.

Bontempelli also had two goals to his name; the sixth time this season he has been a multiple goal kicker in a game. He finished with 29 touches (17 of them contested), 10 clearances and three goals.

Tim Kelly and Luke Shuey were returning from injury lay-offs and Elliot Yeo was playing his fourth game since being sidelined for an extended period.

The usual fluent ball movement the Eagles show, especially at home, just wasn’t there.

EAGLES 1.2 2.4 5.6 6.7 43

BULLDOGS 2.8 4.12 7.15 13.20 98

ELBOROUGH’S BEST Eagles: Sheppard, Naitanui, Barrass, Rotham, Hurn. Bulldogs: Bontempelli, Smith, Macrae, Hunter, Liberatore, Naughton.

GOALS Eagles: Allen 2; Kennedy, Gaff, Cripps, Petruccelle. Bulldogs: Naughton 4; Bontempelli 3; Smith 2; McLean, Weightman, Macrae, Garcia.

INJURIES Eagles: Barrass (ribs). Bulldogs: Gardner (shoulder, replaced by Wallis).

UMPIRES Dalgleish, Whetton, Johanson.

VENUE Optus Stadium

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

BRAD ELBOROUGH’S VOTES

3 Bontempelli (Bulldogs)

2 Smith (Bulldogs)

1 Macrae (Bulldogs)