By Peter Ryan
Disappointed Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge says the team has no option but to lick their wounds and head into the finals with a positive outlook despite being odds on to finish fifth after their two-point loss to Port Adelaide on Friday night.
Beveridge said they were expecting to play in their fifth elimination final in his time as coach, with the Brisbane Lions expected to defeat West Coast at the Gabba by a big enough margin on Saturday night to overtake the Bulldogs on percentage.
Luke Beveridge said the Bulldogs were feeling flat after their loss to Port Adelaide.Credit: Getty Images
The 2016 premiers had sat first or second on the ladder between rounds three to 21 but lost their final three matches of the season to make it likely they will finish in the bottom half of the eight for the fifth time in Beveridge’s seven seasons.
If they do finish fifth, Beveridge said the club would most likely nominate Adelaide Oval as their preferred finals venue, with Essendon their most likely opponent if results go as expected over the weekend.
“We have been able to stay positive, and we will because there is still lot to play for but we can’t lie and say we’re not pretty flat after that even though Port Adelaide were the better team for most of the night,” Beveridge said.
“We’re anticipating we are going to finish fifth and I spoke to the group about how we are all in their corner and ultimately we will walk out of the room, yes we will be absolutely flat and disappointed with the defeat but all we can do is believe we can stay the course and continue on and win as many games as we can from here on in and do our best to stay positive.”
The Bulldogs conceded the final three goals of the match after opening up a 15-point lead midway through the final quarter, but Beveridge bemoaned the team’s lack of care with the ball when they exited congestion which put pressure on the defence.
Beveridge played Tim English forward and tried Lewis Young and the undersized Mitch Hannan in the ruck, a move that surprised Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley.
He said it was necessary to try something different as English was not much more effective than Young in the ruck and could potentially provide them with an aerial target forward with Josh Bruce out injured.
“We threw Lewis Young the challenge. I thought he stood up as well as Tim has for most of the year in that role,” Beveridge said.
“We don’t have a dominant ruckman and Stef Martin has been out, playing just one game in three and a half months and he has only had the one full training session ... We have just got to make do and that is not easy.”
Lewis Young of the Bulldogs handballs during the Bulldogs’ loss to Port Adelaide on Friday night.Credit: Getty Images
Beveridge remains unsure whether Martin will be available in the first week of the finals, with the veteran to play a scratch match against Sydney on Saturday. He indicated that playing Martin would be a risk because of the lack of football he has played.
English kicked two goals and got his hands to the ball inside 50 but could not complete the mark.
“Ultimately you rob Peter to pay Paul maybe a fraction but those hit out numbers are very close, very similar to what we face every week,” Beveridge said.
Meanwhile, Hinkley said Port would enter the finals confident they are as good as any team in the finals, having won 11 of their past 13 matches.
He indicated that the veterans Robbie Gray and Travis Boak understood their chances of premiership success were dwindling so were prepared to do everything possible to win a flag.
Hinkley said they deserved a home final after finishing top two for the second season in a row.
“We will be as good as any team in the competition in September and we are going to have to play very, very well to keep going and keep winning, but I know we are good enough and I know we are ready to be a part of it,” Hinkley said.
He said Orazio Fantasia was likely to replace Mitch Georgiades for the qualifying final after the tall forward was subbed out of the game with a hamstring injury.
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