Injury curse for unlucky Dogs

WESTERN Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge admits he’s at a loss to explain the club’s persistent injury woes as it prepares to face Gold Coast without skipper Easton Wood.

Wood will miss today’s game in Ballarat with a lowgrade hamstring strain, joining Tom Liberatore, Dale Morris, Marcus Adams and Jack Redpath on an injury list that’s been stacked for much of Beveridge’s four-year tenure.

The Bulldogs are hopeful Wood will return in a fortnight’s time. Nineteen-yearold Lewis Young has been named as his replacement, while Marcus Bontempelli will step in as captain for the youthful Bulldogs.

Beveridge has had to contend with a host of serious injuries every season since taking over in 2015, including the 2016 premiership year.

“We think about it often and we continually review and reflect,” Beveridge said.

“We definitely don’t push the boundaries as far as what we put them through on the training track. We’re quite conservative during the year at times ... there’s no alarm bells there for us.

“There’s no doubt we’ve had some bad luck [with] some collision and joint injuries ... our soft-tissue stuff has been pretty good. I think we’ve had a bit of bad luck.”

Beveridge said off-season recruit Jackson Trengove would continue to press for selection in the VFL.