Dogs trio on track
CLUB NEEDS ‘CHANGE’
WESTERN Bulldogs believe injured trio Ryan Gardiner, Rory Lobb and Adam Treloar will push hard to take on Josh Dunkley’s Brisbane on Thursday as the club frantically tries to turn around a disastrous start to the season.
The Dogs were embarrassed by Ross Lyon’s St Kilda on Saturday night as the defensive system collapsed, the midfield was trounced and the much-vaunted forward line was impotent, kicking just five goals.
On Monday, the Dogs are set for what shapes as a brutal game review after a performance veteran Hayden Crozier said had let the club and its supporters down.
Dunkley’s move to Brisbane has exposed the Dogs’ midfield depth and again highlighted the drain of players to rival clubs.
But Gardiner (elbow), Lobb (ankle) and Treloar (hamstring) all trained well on Saturday and are in line to take on the Lions.
A five-day turnaround will mean limited track time to focus on the system failures that led the Dogs down.
But it will quickly give the Bulldogs players a chance to atone for a loss that highlighted the extreme lack of effort by senior players.
Club legend Brad Johnson called for urgent “change” to the club’s tactics on Saturday night given the defensive failures.
The Dogs do not believe fitness is an issue under fitness boss Matt Inness, despite Beveridge saying the players had been “outworked” in the first fortnight.
Much-hyped forward Sam Darcy has had eight possessions across two games and might have to go back into defence to spark his form in a team that still needs a legitimate interceptor.
Beveridge said he would need to be “innovative” to get his players up for Thursday’s clash at Marvel Stadium and Johnson called for match style tweaks on Fox Footy.
“It’s a passion and grit discussion when you add another layer to it,” Johnson said.
“Their good players are getting enough ball but is there enough coming from it? No.
“That’s part of the ball movement and it’s what St Kilda gave them, but the Dogs didn’t attempt to be creative to break through that.
“From a system perspective the Bulldogs weren’t able to break through at all.
“That has to alter immediately. Collingwood would kick 20 goals on them in a heartbeat the way they’re currently playing. Change needs to be made.”
Beveridge said the club’s early-season malaise was due to a combination of circumstances but it wasn’t about pure fitness.
“I think you would have to say the first two rounds we have been outworked. We had a really solid pre-season,” he said. “We have got 11 on the injury list at the moment but it’s not an excuse.”