Mick McGuane’s mid-season report card: Beware the dangerous Western Bulldogs
Marcus Bontempelli is a master. Can he lead the Bulldogs to another finals series? MICK MCGUANE looks at the Dogs’ season so far in his mid-season report card.
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At various stages this season Luke Beveridge has come under enormous pressure and scrutiny.
But the Western Bulldogs have now put together a solid patch of form that has industry experts backing them to play finals footy.
MICK MCGUANE looks at the Dogs’ rollercoaster of a year thus far.
MCGUANE’S MID-SEASON RATING: B
Beware of the Bulldogs.
Luke Beveridge’s team might sit outside of the top-eight for now, but they have shown they are one of the most dangerous teams around.
From their seven wins this season, the Bulldogs have recorded an average winning margin of 55.3 points — the most of any team.
They also have the second-highest percentage in the competition behind Sydney.
While consistency has lacked a little in the first half of the season, this is a capable team with a deadly front-half profile.
The Bulldogs’ onball brigade causes headaches for any opposition when they get their tails up.
There’s Tim English in the ruck, alongside Marcus Bontempelli, Tom Liberatore, Adam Treloar and some occasional speed injections in the form of Ed Richards.
This group ranks sixth for clearance differential and is even better at getting after loose ball if they don’t win it at stoppages.
As a result, the Bulldogs rank second in the competition for inside-50 differential and fourth for marks inside-50.
The midfielders are giving a potent and diverse attack ample opportunities to hit the scoreboard — and the forwards are holding up their end of the bargain.
The Bulldogs rank second for points for, despite injury and availability issues for some of their biggest stars in attack.
Four players have already kicked 22 or more goals this season, led by Jamarra Ugle-Hagan (23 goals) who is improving his goalkicking accuracy.
After six weeks off with an elbow injury, small forward Cody Weightman made a welcome return last weekend with three goals against Fremantle.
He is the barometer for the forward line, bringing great energy and enthusiasm to the group.
The rapidly-developing Sam Darcy will be back from suspension after the bye in a further boost, while Aaron Naughton is closing in on a return from a knee injury.
However, the strength of this forward group is that it’s not reliant on any one player.
Seven different players kicked two or more goals in their most recent match against the Dockers.
The one area of concern I have is the Bulldogs’ ability to defend opposition ball movement.
They rank 10th for scores against from the defensive half and 11th for scores against from turnovers.
As good as the midfield group is offensively, they need to be more selfless at times and conform to the team’s defensive set up.
They must embrace a “formation over possessions” mantra for the betterment of the team.
When they don’t, opposition sides find pockets of space in the corridor and move the ball with ease from defensive 50 to create scoring opportunities.
When the Bulldogs do get their defensive structure right and bring pressure up the ground, it fuels their own game.
Liam Jones is a dominant interceptor in the back half and from there the Bulldogs can counter-attack at speed with the likes of Bailey Dale and Lachlan Bramble across halfback.
BONT THE MASTER
If he’s not the best player in the competition right now, Marcus Bontempelli is clearly in the conversation.
The stats back up the enormous impact that the Dogs’ skipper is having.
According to Champion Data, Bontempelli has posted the highest-rated first 14 rounds to a season since Gary Ablett Jr’s 2014 campaign with the Gold Coast Suns.
Some midfielders win lots of disposals but don’t do much with it.
From Bontempelli’s 30 disposals against Fremantle before the bye, he logged a massive 15 score involvements including three goals and three goal assists.
The tag is back in vogue and Brisbane’s Jarrod Berry showed in round 13 that Bontempelli could be curtailed — at least for a little while.
More clubs must look to give Bontempelli similarly close attention in the run home.
He should never be seen in space by himself in any future games.
The challenge will then be put back on him and Beveridge to try and break the tag, whether it is by spending time forward or by having Bontempelli himself play an accountable role on the opposition’s best midfielder in an attempt to enhance some tactical advantages that will help the team.
MAKE OR BREAK
The next five weeks will determine the Western Bulldogs’ season.
Expect them to take care of North Melbourne after the bye, but then comes a tricky month of games against Port Adelaide, Carlton, Geelong and Sydney.
Beveridge’s team must win at least three of the next five games to keep itself in the mix.
At their best they are good enough to beat Port Adelaide and challenge Carlton.
The Bulldogs only lost to Sydney by 14 points in round 12 and Geelong by five points in round 5, so they would back themselves in those matches, too.
Originally published as Mick McGuane’s mid-season report card: Beware the dangerous Western Bulldogs
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