Spiritless Bulldogs lose bite
WE called it a premiership hangover.
When the Western Bulldogs slid down the ladder last year on the back of a flag, we all gave them a season’s grace to work it out.
But the excuses about complacency and being hard-hit by injuries don’t wash with footy fans anymore.
Forget the 2016 flag — the footy the Dogs have dished up over the first fortnight has been junk.
Thank goodness for West Coast jack-in-the-box Liam Ryan, whose continual attempts to take mark of the year yesterday not only helped lighten the mood but showed the mature-age WAFL star can make an instant mark at AFL level after 73 majors in the state league last year.
He reeled in a screamer on top of Jack Darling in the second term and added to the highlight reel after halftime with a right-foot checkside goal on the run. Flyin’ Ryan, we are calling him. But the Eagles weren’t the story in the 51-point win at Etihad Stadium. It was the slumpshouldered blokes in red, white and blue after a second straight thrashing.
Naturally, we all thought the Western Bulldogs’ snarl would return in some form this season. But the cold, hard reality is the club’s start to the year has been putrid.
And the Bulldogs’ headaches need more of a cure than a Berocca and a good night’s sleep.
We’ve said it a bit, but yesterday there was again none of the intensity, defensive pressure or thirst for the contest that was the hallmark of their play two years ago.
Now they are just a soft side, the Dogs.
A nice side. An average side at best. They deadset looked spiritless at Etihad Stadium.
After an 82-point shellacking from Greater Western Sydney last week, the Dogs produced arguably their most dismal first-half performance in Luke Beveridge’s three-and-a-bit year reign as coach.
They just had to respond, but instead they served up only 21 tackles and had kicked three goals at half-time.
The backline got exposed again without injured pair Dale Morris and Marcus Adams.
And if Beveridge gave them a cook at half-time, it barely worked as the Dogs managed only another 11 tackles in the third term.
All we want is to see some effort, at least.
So let’s draw a line on the 2016 flag now.
Yes, it’s been a dramatic drop-off. But the premiership is no longer a relevant reference point, they are so far off that level.
“They’re a shadow of their former selves,” Paul Roos said on Triple M.
At half-time, the Dogs trailed by 39 points and had been belted in contested possessions 73-50.
The Dogs went goalless in the second term, got punished by Nic Naitanui and Scott Lycett in the ruck and were toothless in attack.
In the third term, Billy Gowers was the Dogs’ most used target in attack. He was in his second game.
If we were to colour-code the Dogs’ effort, we would go with vanilla. Maybe grey.
Beveridge, who had all the secret herbs and spices back in 2016, looked flummoxed midway through the second term as he put his head in his hands.
He must have lost count of how many times the Dogs’ new-look defence was outnumbered by Eagles jumpers in the backline.
Early in the third term West Coast had three spare players in the goal square when the ball landed in their laps again. West Coast had 21 marks inside 50m by midway through the last term.
That’s a belting, and there were sirens wailing in the first few minutes when Shannon Hurn kickstarted the rout with a few of his 50m bullets into the West Coast forward line.
The Eagles haven’t had an easier day than this in Melbourne in a long time and four-goal star Jack Darling cashed in, while Andrew Gaff, Ryan, Lewis Jetta, Lycett and Naitanui were all major contributors in their impressive win.
Darling was last year dubbed the biggest under-performer in the AFL, but he was excellent yesterday, showcasing his marking power and mobility inside 50m.
We all had question marks on the Eagles this year but they were encouraging against the Swans last week and yesterday will deliver another hit of confidence.
Coach Adam Simpson handed the reins to Jaymie Graham after flying back to Perth to be with his daughter, who was ill.