The Western Bulldogs sit at four wins and just the one loss after five rounds. Last season, the Bulldogs only registered seven wins for the entire season, and only defeated one top-eight opponent – Richmond in Round 3.
So far this season the Bulldogs have managed to convincingly defeat West Coast, Richmond and the previously undefeated Adelaide, along with a tight win against last year’s minor premiers Sydney.
Their only failure to notch up a win came against the reigning premiers, Hawthorn.
So can they follow on from their recent good form and finish the season in the top eight?
Although the Western Bulldogs are a vastly improved outfit, they are still the third youngest team (in front of expansion clubs Gold Coast and Greater Western Sydney) with an average age of just 23.2. This leaves doubt as to whether the Bulldogs can continue this good form and finish out the season as strong as they have started it.
In 2014 the Gold Coast Suns, who had the second youngest side in the league, started off the season much like the Bulldogs have this year. The Suns had seven wins and just two losses by Round 10 to be sitting in second position on the ladder. However, once the second half of the season was under way, Gold Coast’s young list dropped off, winning only three of the remaining 13 matches, and leaving them in 12th position at the season’s conclusion.
The Western Bulldogs are currently third. With such a promising list, including undoubtedly the next crop of elite AFL superstars in Marcus Bontempelli, Jack Macrae and Tom Liberatore, can the Western Bulldogs maintain the style of play that has propelled them to a fantastic start in 2015?
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