The Dogs have been terribly inconsistent since a 2021 grand final loss, but there are a few things it can tweak this year to challenge for the flag, Cam Mooney writes.
Boxing: Cam Mooney and Tom Bellchambers have both promised a knockout in Wednesday night’s heavyweight thriller between the two ex-AFL stars.
A few weeks ago, the Dogs were a top six team, having beaten the likes of the Brisbane Lions and an emerging Adelaide Crows.
The top four was a realistic chance.
But in the past two weeks they have dropped games to the Gold Coast Suns and a battling, out of form, severely depleted Geelong, slipping to seventh.
Looking at the Dogs on paper, you can’t help but think this is a top four team.
But since their grand final loss to Melbourne in 2021, they’ve been terribly inconsistent.
Which is why I said they were gettable last round against the Cats, which they eventually proved to be, continuing a poor recent record against the reigning premier.
The Western Bulldogs have lost their past two games in a row to slip to seventh on the AFL ladder. Picture: Michael Klein.
It was all set up for the Dogs to get the four points.
The Cats had lost the last three, including a loss at home to GWS, and were still missing key components from its midfield.
But despite dominating possessions – they had nine of the top 10 ball winners – they lost by 22 points.
They’re a team I find hard to watch at times.
They play a high-possession brand, but it’s a lot of junk touches in the midfield and defensive 50.
On Saturday night, they had more than 70 possessions than the Cats while dominating the contested ball count.
It all counted for little.
Dogs fans did not see enough of this against Geelong, connection between the midfield and the forward line. Picture: Michael Klein
I’m also not seeing much connection between the midfield and the forwards in Rory Lobb, Aaron Naughton and Jamarra Ugle-Hagan, who are all great marks.
Too often they kick it long to Naughton.
He’s probably the best contested mark in the comp, but his numbers don’t reflect that fact.
Don’t get me wrong, I love the way he crashes a pack but he’s got to learn better forward craft to earn an easier ball for himself.
That being said, Lobb will need more time to feel fully at home at Western Oval while Ugle-Hagan is still emerging as a key forward.
However, I covered the game for Fox Sports with Dogs legend Brad Johnson and all we could think was: if not now for the Dogs, when?
They remind me a bit of St Kilda under Ross Lyon the first time around.
A great side on paper with plenty of stars, but they couldn’t quite get the job done for some reason.
Geelong coach Chris Scott embraces Jeremy Cameron as Bulldogs ruckman Tim English laments another recent loss. Picture: Michael Klein.
I think the Dogs need to tweak their style a bit, especially when it comes to ball movement.
There’s too much extra handball and sideways kicking.
If you over-possess the ball, you give the opposition time to set up in defence.
It needs to get inside their forward 50 quicker and make better use of some quality marking targets.
The Dogs have Port Adelaide this weekend, who are a great front half team.
The Power will simply smother the Dogs if they try to over possess the ball coming out of their defensive 50.
I also wonder if there’s enough leadership to support Marcus Bontempelli.
Geelong might have lost a great in Joel Selwood this season, but there are plenty of others to fill the void, like Tom Stewart, Tom Hawkins, Patrick Dangerfield and Mark Blicavs.
All is not lost though.
With more economical ball use, and more input from the Dogs’ leadership group, Luke Beveridge’s men still have time on their side to pinch its third premiership.
It’s just going to take a lot of work before finals time.