The Bulldogs are the first team since Adelaide of 2000 to miss finals for two years after winning a flag. Photo: AFL MEDIA
WESTERN BULLDOGS
2018 record: 8 wins, 14 losses (13th)
List age ranking (oldest to youngest): 13th
List experience ranking (most to fewest games): 11th
Footyology draw ranking (easiest to hardest): eq.3rd
THE INS
Taylor Duryea (Hawthorn), Sam Lloyd (Richmond), Bailey Smith (Sandringham Dragons), Rhylee West (Calder Cannons), Laitham Vandermeer (Murray Bushrangers), Ben Cavarra (Williamstown), Will Hayes (Footscray), Lachie Young (Dandenong Stingrays), Jordon Sweet (North Adelaide), Buku Khamis (Western Jets)
THE OUTS
Luke Dahlhaus (Geelong), Jordan Roughead (Collingwood), Marcus Adams (Brisbane), Clay Smith (retired), Shane Biggs (retired), Kieran Collins (delisted), Nathan Mullenger-McHugh (delisted), Jack Redpath (retired), Tom Campbell (delisted – North Melbourne), Mitch Honeychurch (delisted)
THE BEST 22
B: Dale Morris, Zaine Cordy, Easton Wood
HB: Jason Johannisen, Aaron Naughton, Matt Suckling
C: Lachie Hunter, Tom Liberatore, Toby McLean
HF: Tory Dickson, Josh Schache, Sam Lloyd
F: Marcus Bontempelli, Tom Boyd, Liam Picken
R: Tim English, Jack Macrae, Ed Richards
Inter: Jackson Trengove, Caleb Daniel, Josh Dunkley, Billy Gowers
Emerg: Hayden Crozier, Bailey Dale, Mitch Wallis, Taylor Duryea
THE PROGNOSIS
The Western Bulldogs are living proof of how quickly the AFL landscape changes in the modern era. Premiers in 2016, the Dogs have won just 19 of 44 games since, finished 10th and 13th on the ladder, and only 15 of the 22 players who were part of that famous victory remain at the club.
The Dogs are the first side since Adelaide in 1999-2000 to miss finals for the next two years after winning a premiership.
And far from proving a springboard for a sustained tilt at success, the drought-breaking flag has instead proved a one-off, coach Luke Beveridge now working with different personnel for different objectives, simply making finals now enough of a challenge.
Two things might give Dogs fans some optimism going into the new season. One is the decent form they displayed over the last month of 2018, winning three games in a row and losing the final hit-out to top-of-the-ladder Richmond by just three points.
The other is the extent to which injuries sabotaged last year. The Doggies missed out on more than 200 games service from players who would have been in their best line-up, the most of any team in the competition.
Tom Liberatore and Liam Picken played one game between them. Tory Dickson, Bailey Dale, Lin Jong, Dale Morris, Matt Suckling and skipper Easton Wood missed at least half the season. No team could lose that calibre of players for that long and not have its performance dramatically impacted.
That said, the mediocrity of the past two years isn’t going to magically disappear unless some serious corrections are made.
In their flag year, the Bulldogs were No.1 in the AFL for contested ball differentials, their hardness and pressure their greatest asset. That ranking slipped to No.8 in 2017. By the end of last season, it was dismal 16th.
The forward set-up and their capacity to score has been the single biggest achilles heel, however. Even in 2016, the Dogs ranked only 12th for points scored at an average 84 points per game. Last year, it was a ranking of 15th at just 71 points per game.
Billy Gowers was a most unlikely leading goalkicker with just 26, and he, Marcus Bontempelli and Mitch Wallis were the only players to reach even 20 goals for the season. It’s not a shortfall that’s going to be easily rectified, either, despite the recruitment of Taylor Duryea and Sam Lloyd.
While the return of Liberatore and hopefully Picken to the midfield should allow Bontempelli and the likes of Josh Dunkley more time trying to conjure goals, the absence of potential spearhead Tom Boyd for probably half the season with a back injury is a major blow, leaving much in the lap of a gradually improving but still not completely reliable Josh Schache.
The defence looks a lot sturdier given the presence of Aaron Naughton (who ran fourth in the best and fairest in his debut year), Zaine Cordy and Jackson Trengove, the latter dependent upon Tim English’s capacity to hold down the No.1 ruck spot.
There’s plenty of “ifs” about that equation, though. Which is a little like how the Bulldogs measure up as a unit this season.
THE PREDICTION
14th. The new rules seem more than likely to increase the premium on scoring. That spells danger for the Bulldogs, for whom the lack of serious key forward options looms as a major obstacle.
THE LADDER SO FAR (click on team to read)
14. WESTERN BULLDOGS
15. FREMANTLE
16. CARLTON
17. ST KILDA
18. GOLD COAST
