Plenty of room in Dogs’ cup cabinet
To coach, load now is lighter
WESTERN Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge feels no weight of history ahead of today’s Grand Final against Sydney.
Beveridge said his team had already achieved some milestones in their barnstorming finals series and was determined to win the club’s second flag. The Bulldogs’ only premiership was in 1954 and they are in their first Grand Final since 1961.
“(There’s) not a weight — it’s exciting that we can possibly put the second cup in the cabinet,” Beveridge said at yesterday’s Grand Final media conference. “There’s a bit of room. “We’re looking forward to that challenge and, if anything, we’ve got a couple of gorillas off our back.
“Winning our first final together was a great milestone against the Eagles and the last two finals have been significant.”
So far in this finals series the Bulldogs have beaten West Coast in Perth, then ended Hawthorn’s premiership streak and last Saturday they upset the Giants in Sydney.
There were wild scenes in the Bulldogs’ rooms after the Giants’ win, prompting some observers to wonder about their mindset heading into today’s match. The Bulldogs will be the first AFL Grand Final team since St Kilda in 1997 with no prior experience in the big game.
But Beveridge is more interested in the massive reward if they win again. “This is just obviously, extremely unique and we have to keep it on an even keel emotionally,” he said.
“But there’s no doubt, how can you not consider it exciting, the prospect of taking that (the premiership cup) home.”
Sydney coach John Longmire, meanwhile, discounted his team’s overwhelming Grand Final experience as an advantage, saying it is only what happens on the day that counts.
“Not necessarily — I don’t really subscribe to that,” Longmire said when asked if their experience was an asset.
“Once the ball bounces, it’s just about who executes their plan the best for the longest.
“Both teams go in with enormous faith in (their) systems and both teams go in with really good form.
“You have a look at the Doggies’ finals form . . . it’s outstanding. That recent form is what you look at and that carries more weight, I think, going into the game.”
Sydney won an epic 2012 Grand Final, but Hawthorn bounced it in the first half two years later for an emphatic win.
Longmire said their most recent Grand Final highlighted how the Swans had to be on their guard against the Bulldogs. “You have to be at your best — always — and anything less than that, you leave yourself open,” he said “There’s no room for not being at your best. That’s the excitement of it, being at this time of year to have that in front of us.
“It’s the challenge that both teams are looking forward to, being at their best.”