Western Bulldogs players leave the MCG after losing the AFL 2nd Qualifying Final to the Geelong Cats
Despite a valiant performance from the Western Bulldogs in Saturday’s tight 14-point loss to Geelong at the MCG, the game highlighted a few worrying signs from the Bullies that suggest their premiership aspirations are gone.
The Bulldogs came into this September’s finals series with plenty of reason for optimism following late season victories over top 4 clubs Geelong and Collingwood.
But Saturday’s loss to the Cats left Dogs coach Rodney Eade denying claims that his side’s flag hopes were dead in the post-match media conference.
As they say a week is a long time in football, and a lot can change in a short space of time and it has for the Dogs’ premiership hopes.
Eade said after Saturday’s loss (which means they’ll face Brisbane at the MCG next Friday), “It makes it more difficult because you’ve got to play another game and you don’t get the week’s break, so obviously Geelong is in the box seat and whoever wins tomorrow (St Kilda) is going to be in the box seat – there’s no doubt about that.
“But having said that, there is a bit of character amongst the group and we’ve shown over the last three weeks what they can deliver.”
Indeed, the Bulldogs’ Round 21 and 22 wins over the Cats and the Magpies were impressive, but Eade can’t afford to gloss over their failings on Saturday by referring back to those victories.
Saturday’s loss to Geelong showed the increased stakes of finals footy and how the Dogs (who bowed out in the preliminary final last season) are short of what is required to win these important matches.
Without doubt the Dogs showed a lot on the weekend and with a bit of luck and a bit of accuracy in front of goal, they may have been singing the song at 5.30pm on Saturday afternoon.
Their inaccuracy in front of goal was one of the stories of the afternoon, but there was a reason for those failings. Pressure.
Not only was there the pressure of the occasion with a huge crowd in attendance or the pressure of what was at stake, but also their opponents Geelong applied relentless pressure, especially early.
But pressure is what finals footy is all about, as players are desperate to reach every single contest, making the game more intense.
Under that duress, the Dogs made bad decisions and errors they normally wouldn’t, with usually reliable goalkickers Shaun Higgins and Adam Cooney guilty of a few glaring misses.
But beyond their inaccuracy in front of goal, the Bulldogs also struggled to handle the pressure around the ground, as they frequently reverted to pumping the ball long into their forward line.
It’s not that going long is a bad tactic in finals, it’s just that the Bulldogs haven’t got the personnel to exploit it.
Indeed, the recurring criticism of the Dogs (that they need a power forward) rears its head again but there’s little they can do about that now.
As a result of the Dogs’ panicked bombs forward, Geelong’s backline had a birthday with Matthew Scarlett best on ground, while fellow defenders Corey Enright, Andrew Mackie and David Wojcinski all had fine afternoons.
Should the Dogs overcome the Lions this Friday, they’ll face the Saints in the preliminary final. St Kilda, of course, has this season’s stingiest defence and with players like Sam Fisher, Brendon Goddard, Sam Gilbert and Jason Gram, the Saints won’t provide any let up.
So it’s hard to find answers for the Bulldogs looking ahead and Eade’s bemused gesturing during Saturday’s match suggests he’s short of ideas too.
It seems now it comes down to the players and whether or not they can handle the pressure better in the future.
But for a side who’ve finished third after 22 rounds for the last two seasons, some of the problems of the past have re-occurred and not been resolved.
Unfortunately for the Dogs, who’ve not won a premiership since 1954, the wait may last a little longer yet.
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