By Marc McGowan
Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge has emphatically declared he remains the right man to lead the club after a horror defeat to a historically bad West Coast left their finals hopes in tatters.
Projected to enjoy a timely percentage-booster, the consistently unpredictable Bulldogs instead suffered a seven-point loss to the Eagles, who climbed off the bottom of the ladder and above North Melbourne. The Roos are now in pole position to pick boy wonder and anointed No.1 pick Harley Reid.
A jubilant Jamie Cripps celebrates one of his goals in the Eagles’ win over the Western Bulldogs.Credit: AFL Photos
The Dogs have lost consecutive matches to bottom-four rivals, including last week’s defeat to Hawthorn, at a time they desperately needed wins.
The result could have major ramifications across the competition, with their finals fate now resting on them not only beating Geelong at GMHBA Stadium for the first time in 20 years but the Giants losing to Carlton.
The Bulldogs underwhelmed last season in barely making the top eight and bowing out in an elimination final – 12 months after leading the grand final in the third quarter against Melbourne – but this season has been an even greater disappointment to date.
Beveridge, who signed a contract extension through the 2025 season in December, bemoaned the lack of intent from his players on Sunday, which he noticed from the start, that contributed to their rollercoaster season continuing. But he is adamant he is “absolutely” the best person to remedy the situation.
“I mean, ultimately, sometimes you just need to evolve and if, at the moment, we’re in this sort of static area from a performance point of view, we’ll work out why it is,” Beveridge said. “But, from a leadership perspective, and coaching the team and the club; yeah, I’m really comfortable with my tenure.”
Barring a Kangaroos victory over Gold Coast in the final round, they will collect a third consecutive wooden spoon – and the ‘prize’ for that ignominy is Reid.
Reid oscillated between being an Eagle and a Roo in the second half before West Coast charged from nine points down at three-quarter-time to kick the first four goals of the final term and set the stage for a huge upset.
Bailey J. Williams flies high for the Eagles in the ruck against Tim English.Credit: Getty Images
Tim Kelly, Jamie Cripps, Oscar Allen and Jeremy McGovern were enormous for the Eagles, who lost by more than 100 points for the fifth time this year last week, amid ongoing conjecture that coach Adam Simpson’s contract could be torn up.
Three of Cripps’ five goals came in a match-winning fourth-quarter performance, and none of them was easy.
Simpson announced on Friday he was up for the challenge of resurrecting the once-mighty club, but said post-match two days later that “whatever they decide, they decide”.
It has been a tumultuous period for both him and West Coast, and he hit back on Sunday at the tanking allegations that followed from some quarters after their one-point defeat to Essendon in round 21, also at Marvel Stadium.
“I’m just really proud of the players ... Last week was pretty heavy [after losing to Fremantle], but I was more disappointed about the criticism three weeks ago, about the tanking stuff,” Simpson said.
“That probably cut me a bit deeper, so we put that to bed. The performance of the players, the leaders, in particular; they stood up really well [and] obviously galvanised throughout the week, after a bad game against Fremantle, and our younger players followed our leaders.”
Marcus Bontempelli looks to get the ball away.Credit: Getty Images
Simpson also spared a thought for Reid, who has been relentlessly linked to the Eagles and discussed throughout this year, most recently for ‘liking’ a story on Instagram about the club’s board deciding whether to sack Simpson.
“I feel for Harley. Did he send some sort of ‘like’? My son liked the same thing, so maybe he should be on the back page,” he said.
“That stuff is just white noise. I’m not worried about that stuff. And as a club, we would take this win any day of the week, to help build what we’re trying to do in the future. What will be, will be, in the draft.”
Debate has raged for much of the season on whether West Coast would be wiser to trade the top selection, but it looks like that headache may no longer be a factor.
West Australian teenager Daniel Curtin now looms as an Eagle, although there could be one more twist if North Melbourne defender Ben McKay exercises his free-agency rights and potentially earns the Roos the No.2 pick as compensation.
The Bulldogs conceded five of the first six goals and spent the rest of the game playing catch-up against a side with only four wins from its previous 47 matches.
They eventually did catch up – hitting the front before three-quarter-time on the back of more Marcus Bontempelli dominance, and seemed to have broken West Coast.
Harley Reid.Credit: AFL Photos
Bontempelli (32 disposals) won seven of his 12 clearances in the third term alone, as the Dogs kicked five goals to two to swing the match in their favour.
But the Eagles unexpectedly rose again in the fourth quarter, with Cripps and McGovern emerging as heroes at either end of the ground, while Kelly was inspirational from go-to-whoa in an outstanding display.
“There is always a danger against anyone, whether it’s West Coast, or anyone that’s at the bottom of the ladder,” Beveridge said. “You know what you’re going to be up against. When you play teams that are higher up the ladder, you think about their influence and what they’re capable of, and with West Coast today, you can’t go there [with that] because they haven’t had the most outstanding performances throughout the course of the year. But they obviously found something today, and we couldn’t quite match it. That sums it up.”
WEST COAST EAGLES 5.3 7.6 9.7 14.8 (92)
WESTERN BULLDOGS 3.2 5.7 10.10 12.13 (85)
GOALS
West Coast:Cripps 5, Allen 3, Darling, Yeo, Hunt, Maric, Darling, Trew.
Bulldogs: Lobb 3, Scott, Naughton, English, Baker, Treloar, Bontempelli, Ugle-Hagan, West, Weightman.
BEST
West Coast: Cripps, Kelly, McGovern, Allen, Duggan, Yeo.
Bulldogs: Bontempelli, Treloar, Lobb, Daniel, Dale, Richards.
INJURIES
West Coast: Yeo (hamstring).
Bulldogs: None.
UMPIRES
Chamberlain, Tee, Birch, Jones.
CROWD
23,965 at Marvel Stadium.
Keep up to date with the best AFL coverage in the country. Sign up for the Real Footy newsletter.